Sunday, December 4, 2016

A Dickensian Christmas

As we head into the holiday season the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students will spend the next couple of weeks studying Charles Dickens and his story, A Christmas Carol. A major focus of this study will be on the Victorian Era and how it impacted Charles Dickens. This was the time period of Charles Dickens. His writing was highly influenced by what he observed during this time. Students will gain an understanding of this time period through videos and readings. They will then read A Christmas Carol and find examples of where Charles Dickens wove in his feelings during this time. They will look for examples of the time period through descriptions of the setting and determine if Charles Dickens's representation is accurate. Students will also focus on symbolism and theme throughout this unit of study. Students will also participate in a web quest where they will complete a series of tasks via online links. Students will analyze the characters of A Christmas Carol and then take on the role of a character attending a Christmas party hosted by Scrooge. They will need to represent an understanding for this time period, the personality of Scrooge, and the behavior of characters during this time. This is a great tie-in to our trip to the Grand on December 9th where we will watch the play version of A Christmas Carol.