Fahrenheit 451 - Methodology

Title of Activity
Bums on the outside, libraries inside

Description of educational activity
Duration: 5 hours
Pupils’ age: 15-16
Organization of the class of pupils: individual, pair and group work

The aim of the lesson: We'll pass the books on to our children, by word of mouth, and let our children wait, in turn, on the other people" says one of the roamers to Montag, the protagonist, because he thinks it is precious and worth being remembered. Remembering entails passing on memory in order to prevent dust and oblivion from burying volumes. Therefore, it could be meaningful and crucial to involve students in an performing workshop based on the texts selected by them so that they could rediscover the ancient/primordial long-lasting power and beauty of memory, which is frequently forgotten nowadays. And, meanwhile, getting to the aim of the activity, that is, helping students grasp and retain memory and knowledge, thus preventing some sand from sifting through the sieve.

Support materials:

selected passages from the book Fahrenheit 451, pp.166-180
passages chosen by students

Activities:

This activity should be suggested after reading the book

Reader as bums on the outside, but libraries inside

After carefully reading the final pages of the novel ( Montag and Granger's group), students will have to turn into book-people: they will memorise passages abridged from books, novels, essays, which they find extremely meaningful, and recite them in front of their classmates. This activity will be suggested monthly. This year each student is to learn two passages following the pattern bellow

First task (February)

Suppose you were a book-man: choose and memorise and act out an extract from the book you read or from a literary work you studied at school and impressed you most

Second task (February- March)

Imagine you were a book-man, choose and memorise and act out a passage from Fahrenheit 451

Final task: shoot a video on all students' reciting moments

At the end of the workshop, great importance will be given to debriefing: a moment devoted to reflection, reassembling and analysis of the activity, thus promoting the collective exchange of opinions, the detection of difficult problems and, finally, the results of the learning process.

Evaluation and assessment method: In order to evaluate the activity, students are asked:

to recite the selected passages

Effect of the activity on RSP reading: Making students aware of the reason why books should be treasured and passed on to future generations. They will also realize that individual and collective memory is a crucial and effective means to fulfil this purpose.

Connection to curriculum

Grade: 2^nd grade

Scientific curriculum: during the second year the study of literature is focused on

improving oral and written skills and competences.
improving reading skills, understanding and analysing, specifically, literary texts, but also devoting attention to non-literary texts and non-verbal languages.
learning how to build up and understand the historical and cultural context regarding the texts

Knowledge:

Recognising the context, the aim and the addressee of communication
Using the different reading strategies
Developing reading fluency
Improving reading comprehension
Improving reading personal pleasure

Skills:

Dealing with different communicative situations
Applying different reading strategies
Singling out the different elements of communication
Searching, finding and selecting information
Expressing ideas and supporting arguments 
Selecting the appropriate media
Reflecting on learning 
Learning by playing
Drawing conclusions 
Asking clarifying questions
Improving presentation before an audience
Improving use of vocabulary, spelling, syntax and expression

Bibliographic reference to be used during the activity

Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451

English version

Publisher: Simon & Schuster - January 10th 2012, 60th anniversary edition, Hardcover

ISBN: 1451673264 (ISBN13: 9781451673265)

Page count: 251

Year of issue: 1953

Edition language: English

Italian version

Translator: G. Monicelli

pubblisher: Mondadori

Collana: Oscar classici moderni

Edizione: 16

Anno edizione: 2000

Formato: Tascabile

Pagine: 210

EAN: 97888044877

Digital sources

Results

At the end of the activity, the students will be able to:

choose the most meaningful books among those they have read
select the most important parts according to their likes, the content and the meaning of the texts
consider memory as a successful learning tool to favour a" new humanism" in a highly technological world

Recommendations

Such a methodology, based on the selection and memorisation of the texts, encourages students to: