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How to Throw a Gatsby Party as PreReading Strategy
Teaching The Great Gatsby is a massive task, but setting up students during prereading is a critical moment to help them feel successful as they’re tackling the novel from the start. Here’s how to use a Gatsby Party as a stations activity that helps students get to know each of the major characters in the novel.
How to Throw a Gatsby Party as PreReading Strategy
There is no shortage of blog posts in the world about English teachers throwing Gatsby parties for their classes before or after their study of the great American classic. What I want to show you here is how you can use this party as a gateway activity to the book and a prereading strategy that sets students up for early success in reading. So, instead of waiting until the very end of the unit to celebrate, let’s start things off with a classroom transformation that will engage students from the start!
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WAIT! DO YOU HAVE A COLOR SYMBOLISM TRACKER TO USE FOR YOUR UNIT? GRAB THE ONE PICTURED ABOVE RIGHT HERE AS MY GIFT TO YOU!
SHOULDN’T PARTIES BE FUN?
Yes! No matter when, where, or how you throw your party, there should be plenty of fun. Of the many goals of the party, getting students hyped up to read and feeling the energy of the story, is a huge priority. If you have some money to spend, spend it on items that can be reused for a few years -- that makes the investment worth it. You’d be surprised at how a Dollar Tree raid can add up and then at the end of the party all get thrown away and be completely disposable.
Era costume pieces, tapestries to hang as backdrops, photo props, or even centerpiece items from thrift shops are things that can be packed up and used year after year. I like these posters ($10) and once they’re laminated, they’ll last forever. Here is a huge collection of ideas that I have stored on my Amazon Storefront — I like to use this as a vision/mood board while brainstorming what I’ll do each year.
If you’re not going to spend any of your own money, there’s plenty to do to set the mood for free: YouTube playlist of music from the movie or Jazz Age music, cover your whiteboard in hand-lettered quotes, grab white paper from the supply closet for tablecloths, etc. I even make my students invitations to the party and hand them out a few days ahead of time. Most of them look at me and roll their eyes, but enough of them appreciate the dorky gesture.
Embrace the Thematic Tie-ins
The Great Gatsby is rife with themes that resonate with students - the American Dream, social class, love, and the illusion of happiness. Use the party as a springboard to introduce these themes in a subtle yet engaging way. Consider incorporating décor or activities that hint at these concepts. For example, you could have a "Dream Wall" where students write their aspirations before they’ve even started their discussions about dreams (and their potential to inspire or destroy). By weaving these themes into the party, you're not only setting the mood but also planting seeds of inquiry that will bloom as students delve into the text.
PREREADING WITH STATIONS
Now that you’ve set up the energy and atmosphere of the party, it’s time to do the behind-the-scenes work of getting students ready to read. For those of you reading this post who prefer to do your party at the conclusion of the novel, consider moving it to the beginning of the unit instead.
HERE’S WHY YOU SHOULDN’T WAIT:
Authenticity & Joy: Classroom transformations like a Gatsby party serve as a seamless way to pique interest in an authentic way.
Frontloads Key Information: By introducing students to the characters, setting, and themes at the outset, you give them a foundation to build upon as they read. This empowers them to make connections and comprehend the text more deeply.
Creates Anticipation and Excitement: A party atmosphere generates buzz and curiosity about the story, making students eager to dive in and discover what unfolds.
Sets a Collaborative Tone: The interactive nature of stations encourages discussion and teamwork, establishing a positive learning environment for the unit.
Enhances Engagement from the Start: Immersive experiences like a Gatsby party are more memorable than traditional introductions, capturing students' attention and motivating them to actively participate.
Builds Schema: The party helps students connect their prior knowledge and experiences to the novel's context, making the content more relatable and accessible.
As I set up my room, I create 5-6 large tables that I’ll use as the stations. This blog post will walk you through everything that I do in my lesson which can be found here completely ready for you to print and use!
Never used stations before? I’ve got a quick and easy guide to using stations here as well as how I use this learning strategy for back to school here!
Designing Stations to Support Readers
Whether you’re doing prereading stations for Gatsby or any other book, you need to consider what students need to support their reading experience. In the case of Gatsby, I’ve found that the earliest struggle students have with the novel is knowing who is who. Because of this, four of my stations are designed as “Meet the Character” stations. I pull a passage of description of Nick, Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy. At each of these four stations, students read the passage “meet” the party guest, and then jot down a record of their initial impressions of who they just met at the party.
This is a quick (but important) prereading exercise disguised by fun. In the passage selected for each character, students are getting:
Familiarized with Fitzgerald’s language
Context around each character’s personality
Basic characterization
These may seem like small things, but in the world of reading comprehension, they’re critical. Imagine reading Gatsby for the first time completely blind to the story. Now, imagine reading it witht the mood of the party that you’ve created and an initial understanding of the personalities and roles of each of the main characters. This is a huge win!
OTHER NON-CHARACTER BASED STATIONS
The other stations are flexible. Here are a few other ideas I’ve used:
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Book Cover analysis: have students look at various different versions of published book covers. What does the art reflect about the focus of the story? How does the artwork make you feel in terms of what mood you’re expecting to encounter? What are the colors used in each? How might that be reflective of the story you’re about to read?
Setting analysis: Choose 1-2 passages that capture important setting descriptions. Where will this story take place? How does the energy of the setting match or seem different from that of our “Gatsby Party” atmosphere? What are the colors, textures, sounds, smells, and visuals included in the description? You can even have students attempt to draw exactly what they’re reading in the description for an added “party game”.
Music/lyric analysis: Pull a Jazz age song and its lyrics for students to read and analyze. What were the values of this type of music? What did the music center? What kind of energy does this music give?
Trailer analysis: Set up one table with several of the Gatsby film trailers pulled up. Students can compare and contrast, make predictions, etc.
The Mysterious Gatsby Station: Compile a collection of rumors and gossip about Gatsby from the novel. Have students read these snippets and create a "Wanted Poster" for Gatsby, highlighting his enigmatic persona and the questions surrounding him.
Symbolism Scavenger Hunt Station: Hide various objects around the room that symbolize key elements in the novel (e.g., a green light, a clock, a pair of eyes). Have students find these objects and speculate on their potential significance.
Roaring Twenties Slang Station: Provide a glossary of 1920s slang terms. Have students translate a few passages from the novel or create their own "flapper" dialogue.
The Ripple Effect
Remember, the Gatsby party isn't just a one-off event. It's a catalyst for deeper learning and engagement. The enthusiasm and curiosity generated during the party will carry over into your subsequent lessons, making the study of The Great Gatsby an unforgettable experience for your students. Don't be afraid to get creative, think outside the box, and tailor the party to your students' interests and your teaching style. By setting the stage with a memorable and meaningful experience, you're paving the way for a literary journey that will stay with your students long after the final page is turned.
If you’ve been partying at the end of reading Gatsby and still love it, by all means, continue to do what brings you joy! But I do hope that at the very least, these character stations activity will provide a strong foundation for your readers at the start of the study of the novel. I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!
Ready to think more through the Gatsby reading experience? Watch below!
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How to Write Essential Questions that Engage Students
For a long time, English teachers have been teaching in three very specific ways: novel-based, skill-based, and theme-based units. This was how I started my career, too. But then, I learned the power of Essential Questions.
For a long time, English teachers have been teaching in three very specific ways: novel-based, skill-based, and theme-based units. This was how I started my career, too. There were a lot of struggles that I faced in my early years, and it wasn’t until around my sixth year of teaching that I realized that it wasn’t my classroom management that was a problem or my own competence that was a problem: it was that my units were too narrow and I was working way too hard lesson-by-lesson to dance and sing in an effort to get my students to be engaged. 100% of the work was on me and none of it was on the kids. By controlling every unit by the book, theme, or skill of my choosing, I was forcing an agenda that could only be controlled by me, leaving students distant unless I put on a show every day and (as you know) that is how you get on the fast track to Burnout City.
When I first learned about Essential Questions, I was skeptical. I was pretty set on not changing my ways (even as a young teacher!), but because I so highly respected my department chair at the time, I decided to hear her out and read the research. Then, slowly, we started experimenting with using EQs. At first, we had mixed success. And then, we started Fahrenheit 451, and we got it. And I even have developed a MASTERCLASS to help you get started writing your own EQs!
BEFORE
I wish I had some amazing transformation photo to show you, because that’s what this experience felt like. It was like losing 350lbs or having my life changed on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. But curriculum transformation doesn’t really photograph as well, so you’ll have to read what I have to say and picture it in your head.
Before, our unit was called Fahrenheit 451. That was it. We focused on close reading skills (figurative language), characterization, and plot structure kinds of things. Nothing that stellar and, to be honest, we were really struggling getting kids to read it in the first place. The assessment was something literary analysis related and I can’t remember any shining stars in that bunch, either.
AFTER
The first Essential Question we ever wrote, we really had no idea what we were doing. We were just trying to write a question to get our boss off our backs and to “cover” the things that we were already covering in the unit. We came up with this: to what extent is America a dystopia? And it. Was. Brilliant.
This little shift changed everything and every day, we were scrambling to meet together to talk about the new opportunities for critical thinking that were opening up every day. Think about the power of this question:
It asks students to qualify an amount - how much of America is dystopian?
It asks students to define what dystopia is so that they can qualify it
It is prime for argument at a variety of levels (most E2 students could answer it in some way)
It pairs a fictional genre with a real place and invites comparison
So now that we had this question to guide our unit, we had an entirely new perspective on teaching Fahrenheit. Suddenly, “characterization” wasn’t that important: uncovering Montag’s evolution and exploring in what ways we are being lied to or choosing not to seek out the truth became the central focus. We stopped writing down character traits and started looking at Montag and his world and comparing it to America. We were still doing “characterization”, but we were doing it better and more critically. And now that our unit was focused on a question, Fahrenheit was no longer the only text in play. We added “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Leguin. We added a YouTube playlist of dystopian film trailers for students to watch and attempt to uncover patterns and define dystopia on their own. We watched “Inside North Korea” from National Geographic and “Generation Like” from PBS Frontline (see freebie download below!). The more we talked about the questions, the more texts we added to the pile for consultation. We even added the picture book “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” to the list for a few years and had so much fun deconstructing the dystopian / utopian premise of the story. Here’s a look at that lesson in action from my Brave New Teaching co-host Marie Morris:
THE RESULTS & THE WHY
I’m not saying that I performed some kind of miracle here and that some kind of crazy magic took over my classroom, but I will say that the engagement level shifted dramatically. Essential Questions became both the predictable structure I needed (they know what and why they’re learning the day’s content -- to find the answer!) and the authentic element of building curiosity and discovery (again, the desire to find the answer to the question!). This has given me permission to stray away from the core text and intentionally build units that do MORE than teach comprehension of a single novel. Even though I was integrating other texts before, I always felt guilty that they were taking time away from the novel or I couldn’t exactly explain to the kids why it was relevant. The Essential Question gives me the umbrella I need.
Let’s continue our discussion over in my Facebook group, The Adventurous Teaching Academy.
And, I have an awesome freebie for you! Here’s a film guide for the PBS Frontline documentary Generation Like that I frequently use within EQ units that feature dystopian types of texts. Enjoy!
