Huckleberry Finn

 

Prefatory Statement
Huckleberry Finn is a young boy in a coming of age adventure story. While readers enjoy the adventures that Mark Twain has crafted, they can also begin to look into a deeper meaning that Twain intended for us. Students need to read this novel for a number or reasons. The most obvious being that school boards have deemed it a necessary part of the junior English curriculum. The reasons why they have deemed it necessary is why it needs to be taught. First, this book is a story that can be carefully examined by students for a theme and deeper plot than just a young boy's adventure. The main character is at a time in his life when he is forced to make decisions and begin to form his own beliefs. Students reading this novel are approaching a similar time in their lives. This book not only will serve as a way to experience one of the great pieces of American literature; it will also serve as a valuable history lesson. Rather than learning dates and facts, they will learn through experiences, the experiences of Huck and Jim. Students are often aware that there is some controversy surrounding the book. This controversy can prove to be helpful in heightening their interest. There is the possibility of students being offended by Twain's use of the word nigger. That is why it is very important that a mini lesson dealing with Twain as an author and his beliefs surrounding slavery be taught.

Throughout the course of this unit, students will be reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Along with the reading of the text, students will be giving a classroom presentation, writing reading responses and writing a final position paper. The class will read several chapters at a time and discuss them in class in a variety of ways including large and small group discussions. In addition to the reading of the text, we will take some time to study Twain and the time period in which the story takes place. The book will be broken into three sections and a test will be given after each section. For a final assessment students will be writing a position paper. This will include their opinion on whether or not this is a good book and if it should continue to be taught as part of the canon of literature. The students will be asked to use at least three outside sources to support their opinion.

Class Specifications
This unit is designed for a junior English class in northern Minnesota. During students' junior year is when Huck Finn is most commonly taught in any school district. The reason that it is important to teach the novel then is that students may not have the skills necessary before this time to understand that this is more than just an adventure story. Themes such as racism, religion, allegiance, and friendship run throughout this novel. It is necessary that students become aware of how to pull themes from literature; Huck Finn provides us with an excellent opportunity to do this. Another important aspect is the history of the time in which the events of the book were happening, through this students will gain insight into why Twain wrote as he did.

Significant Assumptions

  • Students are capable of doing a close reading of a text.
  • Students are aware of prejudice/ racial issues and able to discuss and deal with them in a classroom setting.
  • Students are able to distinguish and understand dialect in a text.
  • Students learn well in cooperative group settings and can engage in meaningful class discussions,
  • Students have some prior knowledge of slavery and the civil war.
  • Students are able to do library research and are able to incorporate research into an organized paper.
  • Students are able to give class presentations.
  • Students are capable of critical thinking

    Standards
    Academic Writing
  • Students will be able to "analyze patterns and relationships of ideas, topics, or themes (e.g., literary analysis, ethnography, academic essay)"
  • Students will be able to "construct support for a position, argument, plan, or idea"
    Public Speaking
  • Students will be able to "construct and deliver messages for specific audiences" Arts Analysis & Interpretation
  • Students Will be able to "apply a critical approach to interpret and analyze works of art (literature)"
  • Students will understand "the elements and structure of the art (literature) and how it is used to create meaning"
  • Students will understand "artistic (author) intent and historical, cultural and social background of selected artworks (literature)"

    *The above come from the July 1997 edition of The Minnesota Graduation Standards. There are three separate standards represented here, none of which are in their entirety.

    Desired Outcomes
  • Students will learn to form and develop opinions about the text.
  • Students will learn to critically look at text and take critical analysis and articles to help them form opinions and understanding.
  • Students will learn to trust their opinions and respect the opinions of others.
  • Students will learn to engage in reflective thinking through reading response papers.
  • Students will learn how to pull main points from the text and present it to the class in the form of "class teachings".
  • Students will gain an understanding of the inner conflicts that people had during the time of slavery and how society played a role in that.
  • Students will feel a sense of accomplishment after studying one of "the great pieces of American literature".

    Possible Whole - Class Activities
  • Out loud teacher/student readings of text.
  • Class discussions about text.
  • Reading literature pertaining to slavery or Lincoln's Emancipation proclamation.
  • View movie about Mark Twain or a version of Huck Finn.
  • Go to see a production of Huck Finn.
  • Discuss the impact of Twain's book on the civil rights movement.
  • Discuss why the book has been banned in some school systems.
  • Library research for paper.
  • Students teaching chapters or students acting out chapters.

    Possible Small - Group Activities
  • Small group discussions of text where each group is assigned to be the "experts" on a specific chapter.
  • Small-group generation of question of text for other "expert groups".
  • Peer editing of position paper.
  • Small group presentation of new fact about Mark Twain every day at the beginning of class for the duration of the novel.
  • Readings of other pieces of literature pertaining to Huck Finn then reporting back to the class.
  • Acting out skits about the chapters in the book.
  • Writing in different genres about the text. (ex. One may write a review of the book, one a poem about the book, another a reading guide to a chapter, etc.)

    Possible Individual Activities
  • Student reading response papers.
  • Keeping a reading journal about their reactions to the text.
  • Research for paper.
  • Preparing a lesson and teaching a chapter of the book to the class.
  • Write a letter to either Mark Twain or one of the characters about what they are feeling.
  • Create a map of the river that Huck and Jim are traveling down.
  • Re-write the ending from where Huck meets up with Tom.

    Ongoing Activities
  • Reading response papers.
  • Daily reading check quizzes.
  • In-class reading time.
  • Personal journal writing.
  • Outside reading project.
  • Reading of criticisms of the book throughout the unit.
  • A Twain fact a day
    Student Resources
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  • Library and computer lab accesses.
  • Journal notebook.
  • Lesson plan template.
  • Handouts on Mark Twain, and other historical information.
  • Copy of letter from George from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.
  • Copy of an excerpt from Fredrick Douglass' "What the Black Man Wants" (attached)

    Mark Twain- Unit Launch-Week 1/Day 1
    Rationale:
    This lesson is essential so that students get an understanding of who the author of the book is. Twain is an important figure in American literature and students need to know that he is more than just a name. Many aspects of Twain's life went into his novel Huck Finn, it is important for students to be able to recognize these similarities. This lesson will also help students to understand why twain uses the word nigger and Twain's own beliefs about slavery.

    Standards:
    This lesson does not fall into a specific standard in The Minnesota Graduation Standards. It however fits into one of the ten areas of learning, that is the Read, View and Listen portion. Students will be reading and listening to background information about Mark Twin in hopes to prime their prior knowledge before we begin the book.

    Methods: 48-minute class period
  • Tell students that we are going to beginning a unit in which we will read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ask students what they know about Huck Finn, brainstorm some ideas and write them on the board. (10 minutes)
  • Out of the brainstorming we will go into Mark Twain. I will begin by showing some pictures of Twain through the years. Tell students of some other things that he has written that they may be familiar with. (8 minutes)
  • Present a timeline in which I will show when other important literary works about the same subject were written. In addition to the literary works, let students know about the historical significance's surrounding the book. (10 minutes)
  • Get students into small groups and give them each a biographical sketch from different sources. After ten minutes of work I will ask them to come back to the group and report what they found. (20 minutes)

    Assessment
    I will know if students have learned things about Twain by the information that they report back to the class.

    Day 2- Tuesday December 2nd
    Introduction to Huckleberry Finn. Today we will talk about what we already know about the book from yesterdays brainstorm and lesson on Twain. We will focus in on why this book has remained a part of the American Canon of literature that is so often taught and the controversy surrounding it. I will read some quotes other authors have said about Twain and Huck Finn. I will show a clip from the video "Mark Twain's America". Students will get a chance to share what they already know and ask questions about what they don't know. We will also use today to wrap up anything else about the history of the times that we didn't have time to address yesterday.

    Day 3- Wednesday December 3rd
    Criticism reading and read in. In today's lesson the students will get into small groups and read essays supporting the use of Huck Finn in the classroom and denouncing it. Each group will get an essay and ask to pick out three main reasons the author is either for or against the teaching of the novel. When we get back into a large group we will list these reasons on the board and have a discussion about these thoughts. This is hopefully going to get them thinking about these arguments when reading the novel so that they can write a more informed paper at the end of the unit. The last ten minutes of class will be spent with the me reading students into the novel; I will probably get through the first two chapters or so.

    Day 4- Thursday December 4th
    Please see attached lesson plan (Huck-7)

    Day 5-Friday December 5th
    Introduce chapter teachings (please see attached lesson plan template, Huck-8)
    Today I will introduce our presentation aspect of the class to the students. I will tell each student that they will be signing up for a chapter to "teach" to the class on Monday. Students are allowed to switch with other students once they sign up but must be prepared to present the day that their name appears on the posted sign up sheet. Students will be given a lesson plan template and they need to fill this out and hand in the day of their presentation. They will be expected to give a five minute minimum presentation to the class, teaching them about their chapter. The teacher should be ready to teach all chapters every day incase a student is not there or to fill in important areas students have left out. We will go over the lesson plan template in class and as a group fill it out for chapter ten. The teacher will have been modeling how this teaching will be done the day before and today.

    Chapters 1-5 Week1/Day4
    Rationale:
    This lesson is the first day that we will be discussing the reading. It will serve as a model of how I would like students to think about presenting their chapter teachings to the class. The first five chapters of the book set up who the main characters are. We will talk about the characters and what is going on thus far. It is important to take it section by section like this so that students don't get overwhelmed with reading.

    Standards:
  • This lesson fits into the Arts Analysis and Interpretation standard of The Minnesota Graduation Standards. This standard asks that students be able to "interpret and evaluate complex works of literature". After this lesson students should be able to understand how to a close reading of Twain's text. They will be picking out such things as character traits, setting, plot, main ideas, etc.

    Methods:
  • The first five minutes of class will be taken up with a pop, reading check up quiz. (5 minutes) The following are the two questions I will ask:
    What is the trick that Huck and Tom play on Jim? How much money did Huck and Tom find in the cave?
  • After the quiz I will ask for a volunteer to share the answers with the class. (If you are going to do this, you need to have new questions for each class.) (5 minutes)
  • Following the quiz we will get into five small groups and each group will be assigned a chapter on which they will be asked to report back to the class on. As students are in groups I will circulate around the room answering any questions. ( 18 minutes)
  • After the groups report back to the rest of the class. As a class we will fill in the gaps and talk about the necessary points of the chapters that were not covered. (20 minutes) Assignment: Read chapters 6-10 for Friday

    Assessment:
    I will know if students are reading if they answer the quiz questions correctly. Students will be asked to take notes on their group discussions and hand in a copy at the end of the hour. The quality of the classroom discussion will let me know if I am approaching the book from the right direction.

    Lesson Plan


    Chapter__________
    Teacher__________

    Summary:

    Background/Setting/Mood:

    Character Development:

    Conflict:

    Quote or Passage of Significance:
    Vocabulary/Figurative Language:

    Tone:

    Connection to Today's World:

    Prediction of What Will Happen:

    Question You Are Left With:


    Day 6-Monday December 8th
    Today students will sign up for their chapter teachings. They will pick one of the chapters in the book that they will present to the class. Once they have signed up they may switch but will be responsible for the day their name appears. In class we will discuss chapters 11-15 and I will again model ways to go about doing a chapter teaching. We will fill in the lesson plan template as a class for chapter 15. I will remind the class that the first presentations are tomorrow and that those students with chapters 16-18 should be ready to go tomorrow.

    Day 7-Tuesday December 9th
    We will start out class today with reading response writing. Students will be given ten minutes to respond to the question I have put on the board. (Please see attached reading response writing topics.) Chapters 16-18 will teach and the remaining time will be used for class discussion of these chapters.

    Day 8-Wednesday December 10th
    Today will be used as a review day before our test tomorrow. We will start out class by watching a clip from the Huck Finn movie; it will be scenes from the beginning of the book to chapter 18. (If you are going to show the video, your test questions cannot be able to be answered by watching it alone.) Following the viewing of the tape we will re-cap some of the major themes we have talked about thus far.

    Day 9-Thursday December 11th
    Today students will take a teat covering Twain Information, historical information and through chapter 18. When students are done I will pass out a supplemental piece of reading, George's letter from Uncle Tom's Cabin, they can read it and whatever they don't finish in class will be homework to read for tomorrow. Remind the people with chapters 19-21 that they will be teaching on Monday.

    Day 10-Friday December 12th
    We will be looking at George's letter from Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. I will give students a brief background on Stowe and her novel. Be sure to include Lincoln's famous quote, "So you're the little lady who wrote the book that started this war", in reference to the civil war. Talk about different conditions of the slaves and Jim's condition versus George's. Assign chapters 19-21 for Monday.

    Day 11-Monday December 15th
    Give a reading check pop quiz. Students with chapters 19-21 will teach. Follow up discussion in class. Assign chapters 22-25 for Tuesday.

    Day 12- Tuesday December 16th
    Have reading response writing at the beginning of class for ten minutes. Students with chapters 22-25 teach. Follow up with discussion in class. Assign chapters 26-29 for Wednesday.

    Day 13- Wednesday December 17th
    Give a reading check pop quiz. Students with chapters 26-29 teach. Small group discussions of text with predictions of where the story is going to go from here. Groups will hand in predictions at the end of the hour. Assign chapters 30-33 for Thursday.

    Day 14- Thursday December 18th
    Have reading response writing at the beginning of class for ten minutes. Chapters 30-33 teach. Assign supplemental reading, pages 209-211 in Literature book for Friday. (see attached copy)
    Day 15- Friday December 19th
    Give students some biographical information on Fredrick Douglass. Make connection between Douglss and Stowe, point out that Douglass was helpful in the writing of Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Talk about how people like Douglss became free and what sort of impact this had on society. This may also be a good time to read the last chapter of Stowe's novel to the class; it talks about calling for change. She focuses on the northerner's responsibility. Tell students to have a good break!

    Day 16- Monday January 5th
    Since the students have been on break for two weeks today will spent trying to get the students brain back to Huck Finn. We will start out by writing down some of the major events in the book that have happened so far. We will also list the characters that we have been introduced to until this point. After about twenty minutes of discussion we will take a look at the Huck Finn video from chapters 19-33. These things will hopefully spark students' memory about what we were studying before the break.

    Day 17- Tuesday January 6th
    Start class with reading response writing. Since all students were probably not in class yesterday due to the break, today will be another day of review before the test. Students will be divided up into groups and each group will be assigned a chapter from chapters 19-33. The groups will be given fifteen to twenty minutes to become experts on the chapter, they will then report to the class. The other groups will be able to ask our experts questions.



    Test Questions- Section 2
    Point out at least three weak traits and three strong traits in Huck. How have these traits helped and hindered Huck and Jim's trip down the river?

    Some say that Jim is a father figure to Huck, site evidence in the book that either agrees or disagrees with this thought.

    Who is the "hero" in the novel thus far? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

    Day 19- Thursday January 8th
    Today I will introduce the writing assignment in class. I will give the specifics to students as detailed out in a handout. I will tell them that they will have three days in class work time, either in the library or the computer lab. Any remaining time in class will be used for SSR. Remind students that ch 34-36 are assigned for tomorrow and students with those chapters will be teaching.

    Day 20- Friday January 9th
    Give a reading check pop quiz. Students with chapters 34-36 will teach. Assign chapters 37-39 for Tuesday.

    Day 21- Monday January 12th
    Library work day

    Day 22- Tuesday January 13th
    Have reading response writing at the beginning of class for ten minutes. Students with chapters 37-39 teach. Assign chapters 40-Afterword for Thursday.

    Day 23- Wednesday January 14th
    Library/Computer work day

    Day 24- Thursday January 15th
    Give a reading check pop quiz. Students with chapters 40-Afterword will teach. Remind students that tomorrow is our last day in class in the computer lab and their papers are due on Wednesday.

    Day 25- Friday January 16th
    Computer work day

    Day 26- Monday January 17th
    Please see attached lesson plan

    Day 27- Tuesday January 18th
    Test-3

    Day 28- Wednesday January 19th
    Position paper due by 3pm!

    Review of Chapters 34-Afterword-Day 26

    Rationale:
    This lesson is important to ensure that students have gotten a full understanding of the novel. The end of the novel will be what we are focusing on. Some have said that Twain just got bored with it so he ended it abruptly and this caused a terrible ending. Others argue that Twain had no choice, that if he had continued down the river with the story that Jim would have been hanged and Huck put in jail. Students need to know of these ideas so that they can write informed papers.

    Standards:
    This lesson once again fits into the Arts Analysis and Interpretation standard of The Minnesota Graduation Standard. Let's face it, these standards are just not very accommodating to literature. I want students to realize that they have tackled a difficult novel and that they have formed their own opinions about it. I think it is important for students to know that their opinions about literature, even "the classics" are relevant in my classroom.

    Methods:
  • First, I will write some of the predictions that students made about the novel in the beginning of the unit. I will ask students to write for five to ten minutes when they get to class about if their predictions came true and if this novel is "all it is cracked up to be". (10 minutes)
  • After we are done writing I will open this up to the class for discussion. (10 minutes)
  • After we discuss for a while, I will read one criticism of the ending of the book to the students. ( 5 minutes)
  • After I read the criticism I will pass out other criticisms to groups of students, they will then examine the criticisms and report back to the class. ( 23 minutes)
  • Before we leave class I will remind them that we are having our last test tomorrow. I will tell them that they have the option of either taking the test that I have prepared or that they can come to class prepared to write for forty minutes on how they would change the ending of the novel.

    Assessment:
    1. I will know if students have engaged in this book by the type and amount of discussion generated today.
    Suggested Topics for Reading Response Writings

    Twain is able to find humor in situations that most people would find serious. Do you find any humor in the novel thus far? Give examples. If you don't find it humorous, why?

    Why do you suppose Huck is so against Miss Watson "sivilizing" him? Do you ever feel like Huck in that regard?

    Would you say that Huck regards Jim as his friend? Is there any evidence in the book to support or challenge this?

    As you know, this book was published after the abolition of slavery. Do you think that the book would have been received differently, or would we be studying it today if it had been published earlier? Later?

    After reading both Douglass' and Stowe's work, would you say that Jim is a "typical" slave? What sort of things make you feel this way?

    Do you think that this book should continue to be taught in the eleventh grade classroom?

    Do you see Huck maturing throughout the novel? Is he changing as a person?

    What are the feelings that Huch experiences as he is now free from the restraints of the recent past?

    When Dupin sells Jim (at a discount, no less) what issues of conscience and morality does Huck think about?

    Huckleberry Finn
    Writing Assignment

    You will be writing a position paper for your writing assignment for this unit. The topic is set, but the focus you wish to explore is up to you. I would like to see between three and five double-spaced, typed written pages. The paper should be free of all spelling and grammatical errors, this is the age of computers and you will have plenty of access to them. I encourage you to have your friends and family proofread your paper before you turn it in. If you are unsure about something, feel free to ask me.

    The topic for this paper takes the form of a question:

    After reading and studying The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn do you feel that this book is deserving of the high praises it often receives? Do you think that this book should continue to be taught in American school why or why not?

    Your paper is to be based upon your opinion, however your opinion needs to be supported by evidence. You need to use a minimum of three outside sources when developing your argument. All good arguments are backed up by detail. You may want to pull quotes or passages from the book or from Twain himself.
    For years literary scholars have debated whether this book is valuable, too simplistic or too complicated, and whether it should be taught to students like yourselves. This is your chance to let them know what you think is right for students.
    This assignment is due by 3pm Wednesday, January 21st. If you are absent with an excused absence it is due the first day you are back in school. If it is not turned in on time, you will loose one full letter grade for every day it is late. This means that if it is a "B" quality paper and you turn it in on Friday, you will receive a "D." Please don't be late with this paper.


    Teacher Resources

    Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Any edition will work, preferably a classroom edition.
    Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Any edition will work.

    Carey, Gary and Roberts, James L. Cliff's Notes on Twain's Huckleberry Finn. 1997.

    Kaplan, Justin. Born to trouble -one hundred years of Huckleberry Finn. Library of Congress, Washington. 1985.

    Daniels, Harvey, Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom. York, ME: Stenhouse, 1994.

    The United States in Literature. America Reads/Seventh Edition, 1985.

    Article "In defense of Huck" - see attached copy.

    Access to a computer lab and library.

    Video- "Mark Twain's America" - NBC News, Project Twenty "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" -MGM CBS Home Video Presentation.

    Huckleberry Finn
    Grading Plan

    The following is a layout of the points for our unit on Huckleberry Finn. The quizzes will be pop quizzes, they are only intended to make sure you are doing the reading. If you read, you will have not trouble answering the question. However if you only read the Cliffs Notes, you will have trouble. The reading response papers are a way for me to see if you are understanding the reading. There will be three tests. The chapter teaching will have two grades, one for your lesson plan, the other for your presentation. If you are not in class on the day of your presentation and don not have an excused absence you will not receive any of these points. The last item is a position paper. It will be three to five pages in length and require some research. The good news is that it will be based on your opinions. I will give you the requirements for the paper further into the unit.



    Five Pop Quizzes @ 2pts each 10 pts
    Five Reading Response Writings @ 5pts each 25 pts
    Three Tests @ 50 pts each
    Chapter Teaching 50 pts
    Presentation @ 20 pts
    Lesson Plan @ 30 pts
    Position Paper 75 pts

    TOTAL 310 pts


    100-93 = A 76-74 = C
    92-90 = A- 73-70 = C-
    89-87 = B+ 69-67 = D+
    86-84 = B 66-64 = D
    83-80 = B- 63-60 = D-
    79-77 = C+ 59-0 = F