Learning task 2

Post reading
Class or group discussion on student predictions and questions.
What surprises were there? How many questions were left
unanswered?

expert (RTF 3KB) . Learning about the plot, themes and characters.

Choose a quote
Visual presentation of a quotation from the novel.

Students to use either their own choice of quotation or one of the

following quotations as the basis for a poster which conveys the
mood or atmosphere of one part of the novel. Before they do this
there should be a teacher-led discussion the on the qualities of an
effective (RTF 1KB) . Prints of paintings, film posters and earlier
student work would be useful in this. The completed posters to be
displayed together to give an impression of the range of moods or
the overwhelming mood/atmosphere of the novel.

Quotations
A letter to the editor
Students are handed out copies of Tearaway or school newspapers
and given time to read the letters to the Editor. Discussion on style,
length, organisation, number of points, etc follows. Using the
material that they have gathered in the course of this unit, students
are then instructed to write the first draft of a letter to the editor in
which they express their opinion on whether or not The Fat Man is a
suitable book for fourth formers to read. This first draft to be
exchanged with another student and critiqued according to criteria
(RTF 1KB) supplied by the teacher. Students then work on
producing a final copy of their letter suitable for publication. This
final letter to be assessed.

A paragraph on theme
The class revises what it knows about paragraph construction
following the work completed at the beginning of the unit. The main
ideas of The Fat Man are brainstormed onto the board. Students
decide which one they consider to be the most important and get
into groups accordingly. After discussion each group reports back to
the class the reasons for its choice of main idea, with supporting
evidence. All students take notes. Students then, either as a timed
class exercise or for homework, write a paragraph of about half a
page on the main theme of The Fat Man. They should hand in for
assessment both their final paragraph and at least one draft.