Speak/Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie: Pre-reading Activities November 4, 2015
Journal #1: INDEPENDENT TASK- respond in paragraph format. *15 minutes
a) What does the term “survival” mean to you?
b) Are there different types of survival (physical/mental/emotional)?
c) How do people survive?
d) Are there specific character traits a survivor must have in order to survive (a way
of thinking about life, the way we see ourselves, etc.)
e) Share (write down) a personal survival experience- it can be yours or someone
you know, like a family member, or friend.
Now, share and compare your answers with students around you.
Next, answer the following questions: a) Does survival mean something different to
everyone? b) Do we have some of the same ideas as others around us about survival?
c) What shapes our ideas of what it means to actually survive?
Learning Activity: Clans, Cliques and Outsiders * 15 minutes
1. Read the following passage from Speak:
Older students are allowed to roam until the bell, but ninth graders are herded
into the auditorium. We all fall into clans: Jocks, Country Clubbers, Idiot
Savants, Cheerleaders, Human Waste, Eurotrash, Future Fascists of America, Big
Hair Chix, the Marthas, Suffering Artists, Thespians, Goths, Shredders. I am
clanless. I wasted the last weeks of August watching bad cartoons. I didn’t go to
the mall, the lake, or the pool, or answer the phone. I have entered high school
with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have
anyone to sit with. [p. 4]
Answer the following questions about the excerpt from the novel, Speak. *** Are
there any you guys don’t know what they mean? (from above) This part of today’s
lesson is an INDEPENDENT TASK- write your answers down on the same page
that you wrote your journal from above.
a) How does the speaker feel about this situation being described?
b) How do you know (what words make you think this?)
c) Are the cliques similar to the ones at the middle school you came from?
d) What are some of the cliques here at Riverside?
e) Where do you fit in? Are you in a clique? If so, what is it? If not, why?
2. Next, form groups of four and discuss the following: Make sure to decide which
person will record both the questions and the group’s responses to the questions. Be
sure to include ALL participants’ responses (write the question and then record the
answers from the team with their names beside their personal answers**** each
student MUST say something DIFFERENT!!!) See questions below:
Critical Thinking Questions:
Why are the ninth graders treated differently than “the older kids”?
Given the circumstances in the passage above, how would you feel?
Have you ever felt like the speaker? Describe in detail a time in your life when
you feel you could relate.
Why do you think the speaker is facing this problem? Is she really an outcast?
High school is a time when things like hair and clothes can make an immediate
difference in the way you are treated.
Why do you think these things are so important in high school? Does this change
in life after high school?
Why is it important to have a “clan”?
** Whole group discussion- Each team will share their responses with the whole class.
Pay attention to the similarities and differences for each question.
Group responses are DUE TODAY!!! Label the assignment Critical Thinking
Questions- Teamwork Makes the Dream Work. Be sure to include everyone’s
name on the document, along with today’s date, and the block.
This part of today’s lesson is an INDEPENDENT task. Use the same page you wrote
your other personal tasks on. DON’T put your personal answers on the same page at
the team responses- these must be on a separate piece of paper!!!
Down here…..
3. Journal #2- In your opinion, who has it harder as freshmen in high school, boys or
girls? (In other words, who has it harder? What makes you feel this way -provide
specific examples to support your statement).
Homework: Think about all the topics covered in today’s lesson. What do you think
our next novels will possibly be about? (Predict) What makes you think this? Jot this
down and be ready to turn it in at the beginning of our next class.
News Alert… This is our first homework assignment for Quarter 2. Let’s get off to an
amazing start guys!!
