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Collaboration Activity:

 

Title:
Comparing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with literature from a German classroom.

Grade: 8-9

Introduction / Directions / Resources / Evaluation / Summary

Introduction:
Using E-PALS, students will send samples of the literature they are reading to a German classroom of an equal grade in order to compare the themes and topics with those which eighth or ninth grade American readers discuss.  Students (in groups) will send e-mails every two weeks on Friday to a selected German classroom.  The emails will include quotes and phrases taken from the literature they are reading (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) which they find interesting or unique.  Through this, students begin to understand what their peers from other countries are reading and discussing, while learning factors that influence them and their societies.  Furthermore, the students are also creating their own ideas and conclusions based on what they have to read.  Each email will be one to two typed pages long.

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Directions:
Students will first be introduced to Net Rules.
The teacher will use Yahoo to create a free email account for each group, which will be set up to block all spam and any email from anyone other than their German "pals."
Students will break into groups of five (assuming the class encompasses about thirty people) and create an email which will be sent to a German classroom. 

Some topics discussed will include:    
    A selected Author’s style.
    Important themes permeating throughout the book.
    How each character is affected in the novel.
 

Questions concerning German literature:
    What novels are you currently reading?
    What are the major themes you discuss in class?
    Why do you discuss these themes?  How have they affected your current/past society?
   
   

After sharing a total of 5 emails, students will each write a brief paper (1-2 pages) discussing what they have learned and if/how it was beneficial to their understanding of German culture and also their own culture/literature.  Our society generally identifies slavery as the most important theme throughout the novel.  Is this true of other cultures?

All emails will be approved by the teacher!

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Resources:
Based on a classroom of thirty students, there will need to be at least six computers (one per every five students).

Teachers will use Yahoo to create and email account for the students.
http://www.yahoo.com/

Search for classrooms at E-Pals.
http://www.epals.com/?sessf=486942

Inspiration project comparing Huck to Jim created by Casey John Lewis.
http://www.romeoandjulielit.com/INSPIRATION1/huck.html

This site provides several good links concerning the novel.
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/huckfinn/huchompg.html

A German Website covering The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
http://weidauer.huckfinn.de/

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn full text to copy and paste quotes and passages to an email.
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Twa2Huc.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all
(All text copied from the novel WILL be cited using MLA style.)

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Evaluation:

Performance Criteria	Points Possible	Your Score	Group Score
Was the internet used effectively - Students focused on the subject at hand and were not off topic.	10
Were the emails the students sent acceptable and included themes/characters/issues the novel presents.	10
Students used the proper resources supplied	10
Final Paper - Did the paper meet the length requirements and include a title, introduction and closing paragraph?	20		---------NA---------

Summary:
After completing the lesson students will gain a better knowledge of the novel and also understand the importance of the themes.  Furthermore, students will gain an understanding of German culture and the literature they read.  In fact, they may read the same novel which allows the class to further discuss the difference between the themes of each classroom.

 

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