Drawing of Thoreau's cabin by his sister Sophia

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Lesson 1: The life and times of Thoreau

Lesson 2: Thoreau's philosophy of government

Lesson 3: Thoreau's writing style

Lesson 4: Imprisonment and individuality

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Lesson 4:  How can we debate Thoreau’s ideas on imprisonment and individuality?

Instructional Objectives: Students will be able to criticize Thoreau’s philosophy, and they will be able to express the reasons why that same philosophy is appealing and is still relevant today.  They will be able to use a digital "instant message" chat feature to discuss Thoreau’s beliefs with another student.

Time:  One forty minute class

Motivation:   Students do a quick read of Reading #4 and write the answer to the following question:  What happens according to Thoreau when an acorn and a chestnut fall side by side?            

Vocabulary:

Avail – to be of use or advantage

Perchance – by chance

Development: 

  1. Reading #4 is read again, aloud by the teacher who poses a couple of comprehension question before proceeding.
  1. The teacher presents the following scenarios to students who have been partnered.  They are to use an instant message program, such as MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, or another free download which allows the user to save the dialogue and print it. 

 

Note:  I have chosen an IM platform for this dialogue because students are very comfortable with this form of communication at home, yet it is rarely used in an academic environment. I thought it would provide a "fun" alternative to the traditional assignment.  If your school has an Internet policy against using chat functions, then the assignment could be altered.  For recent research on the disconnect between home and school use of the Internet, including IM, see this article.

The anti-Thoreau student should start first.  Let the students know how much time they have so they’ll both get a chance to write at least five times.

  Scenario 1 – Anti-Thoreau

             Scenario 2 – Pro-Thoreau

 

Summary:   Have the students print out their dialogues and share them with another pair; or, if you recognized any that were particularly interesting as you facilitated the exercise, you may have them read aloud to the class.  As they are listening, have students develop a t-chart in their notebooks with anti-Thoreau statements on one side and pro-Thoreau on the other.  This will assist them in their homework assignment.

Homework:  Develop your side of the dialogue into a well-written paragraph using appropriate transition words.

Extension:  Thoreau’s writings, like those of many of his contemporaries, are filled with aphorisms.  The reading material offers an opportunity to review what an aphorism is and read some examples.  See this Aphorisms handout

Evaluation:   The students' performance in this lesson will be assessed by the successful completion of these performance indicators:  students scanned the reading and wrote the answer to the motivation question; they successfully engaged in a "digital dialogue" with a fellow student as a defender or detractor of Thoreau; and their homework assignment was well-crafted in terms of ideas, use of transition words, and grammatical/spelling accuracy.