Room by Emma Donoghue MS. STUART

Essential Understandings Students will understand how the past plays a role in the present. This includes how challenging situations are dealt with in different instances depending on the individual’s life experiences. This also includes the role that relationships with family, peers, and others have in childhood, and the importance of learning to move on with life with what the past has taught.

Essential Questions How does our childhood contribute to forming our identities? How do our thoughts, values, and beliefs change over time with new experiences and awareness? Within adverse conditions, what roles are parents supposed to play in their children’s lives? How does fiction connect to real world experiences?

Anticipation Guide/Sociometric Exercise When given the statement, go to the side of the room you most identify with. Once in your groups, each student shares why they agree/disagree with the statement. As a group, come up with a sentence or two about why you agree/disagree with the statement. Each group with share with each statement.

Mothers should always sacrifice for their children. Agree or Disagree?

Five year old children are too young to understand much about the world. Agree or Disagree?

People can accept almost any living arrangement to survive. Agree or Disagree?

It is better to accept your life situations than to fight them. Agree or Disagree?

Life is better for kids than it is for adults. Agree or Disagree?

“Danae and Perseus – Adrift” Clearly communicate the connections you see between “Danae and Perseus - Adrift” and Room. Why do you think this is important? What predictions can you make using this epigraph?

Section Two - Unlying

Section Two - Unlying Was Ma right in telling Jack everything was not real and trying to protect him from the outside? Do you think she revealed the truth in the right way? What could she have done differently, if anything? What sort of parenting styles do you see with Ma and Jack?

Reader Response How does this text reflect the experience, beliefs, and understandings of its reader? Describe your own response to the text, using evidence and explanation. React to the text as a whole, expressing the subjective and personal responses it engenders. Context (Factors around you) Reader (What personal qualities or events relevant to this book might influence my response?) MEANING Text (What textual features might influence my response?) Context

Reader Response Sentence Starters I like/dislike this author’s writing because.... I wish the author had included…. This part is very realistic/unrealistic because.... My opinion of (name of character) is… My opinion of the illustrations, table, and figures is… I think the relationship between _______and _______ is interesting because... As I read, I felt… This section makes me think about ___________, because... Questions I have after reading are… Something I learned from my reading… I like/dislike (name of character) because... A prediction I have for what may happen next is ______________. I think these things will happen because…(What details in the section support your prediction?) This situation reminds me of a similar situation in my own life. It happened when... The character I most admire is ________ because... I began to think of… If I were (name of character) at this point, I would... I love the way… I can’t believe... I wish _______________ had happened…

Section Three - Dying Page 138: “I am not in Room. Am I still me?” What do you think this means for Jack as a character and for the story? How does this connect to our understanding of home and identity?

Section Four - After Why is Ma so defensive about Jacks health and treatment while in the room? Consider all the situations she’s been asked (doctors, parents, interview) What do you admire about Ma? What about not agree with? What would you have done differently? Even if you disagreed with some of Ma’s choices, could you understand why she made the choices?

Section Four - After Remember the video at the beginning of the section. What is your reaction to the events at the end of the section? Does this change how you see Ma as a parent? As a human? In what ways has the media become important in this section?

Qualities of an Persuasive Essay IDEAS The writing is clear and focused. The reader knows what is important and why. The claim is supported with credible evidence. ORGANIZATION Writing has a strong lead that moves the argument forward. The evidence is arranged in a way that makes sense and the elements work together. There is use of transitional sentences to connect strands of evidence to one another and to the central argument. The conclusion draws the evidence together into a unified whole.

Qualities of an Persuasive Essay VOICE The voice is appropriate for the audience. There is a confident and efficient voice that holds the readers attention and shows a command of the subject. WORD CHOICE There is use of original, ear-catching phrases. Writer uses strong verbs, clear nouns and fewer adverbs and adjectives. Meaning is illuminated by vivid, precise words.

Qualities of an Persuasive Essay SENTENCE STYLE Smooth, fluent sentence structures that work to advance the argument. Writer has paid attention to repeating structures and altered them, as well as varied sentence lengths and beginnings of sentences. CONVENTIONS Punctuation (of dialogue, colons, semi-colons, and possessive nouns) is perfect. There is no use of contractions (except in quotes), and capitalization is correct.

Practice Question: Is Ma’s father (Jack’s grandfather) justified in how he reacts to Jack?

Section Five - Living How would you define a victim? How would you define a survivor? What is the difference between them?

Section Five - Living Is Ma a static or dynamic character? Does she change or stay the same? If she changed, what forces are making her change? If she isn’t, how is she consistent? Is Jack a static or dynamic character? Does he change or stay the same? If he changed, what forces are making him change? If he isn’t, how is he consistent?