II. Group Activity/task
Participants and volunteers:
- Form their small groups and complete the reading of The
Spirits of the Railway.
The instructor:
- Distributes open-ended questions which provide a focus for the
post-reading discussion - refer to Box 21.
BOX 21:
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS TO PROMOTE AESTHETIC RESPONSES TO READING AND
AN APPRECIATION OF THE AUTHOR'S CRAFT
- Does the story as a whole create a mood or feeling? What is the
mood? How is it created?
- Every writer creates a make-believe world and the characters who
live in it. Even if the world is far different from your own, how
does the author make the story seem possible or probable.
(Adapted from Harste, Short and Burke, 1988)
III. Summarizing and Extending Concepts
The instructor:
- Leads a large group discussion in which participants share their
responses to the discussion questions.
- Makes explicit the value of sharing responses to reading:
We need the chance to respond to what we read. This
gives us a chance to be more reflective and helps us to extend our
understanding.
When we hear how others respond, we are given another
perspective on the story. This gives us another point of view and
forces us to question and clarify our own thinking.
- Directs participants and volunteers to read at least one story
from Tales of Gold Mountain at home before the next session
and to share that story and discuss their responses in Literature
Circle next time.
NOTE: Any other selection in The Tales of Gold Mountain may
be chosen as a focus for this or subsequent sessions. Among the stories
in the anthology that interest and challenge adult women readers are:
Sons and Daughters, Ginger for the Heart, Forbidden Fruit, and
The Revenge of the Iron Curtain. |