NCDPI – AIG Instructional Resource: Background Information
Resource Title: Extending Fahrenheit 451: Which Book Would You Save?
Subject Area/Grade Level (s): ELA/9
Time Frame: 3-4 class periods (depending on the
number of students completing this lesson)
Common Core/Essential Standard Addressed:
RL.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity
band proficiently with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
SL.9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
SL.9-10.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of
reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
SL.9-10.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
Additional Standards Addressed: NA
Brief Description of Lesson/Task/Activity: This lesson extends an independent or group reading of the novel Fahrenheit 451. Students are asked
to consider what makes a piece of literature important and then select one particular text and defend its importance in a speech to their peers.
Type of Differentiation for AIGs (include all that apply):
Adaptations for AIGs:
x Content
Process
x Enrichment
Extension
Acceleration
x Product
Explanation of How Resource is Appropriate for AIGs: This resource requires students to think critically as they evaluate a wide body of
literature. Each student must then create a short speech that addresses a particular piece of literature and provides substantive evidence to
support his/her opinion. Along the way, students must find a way to define “important” in terms of literature.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project
Needed Resources/Materials: Instructions for creating a rubric (for example, http://assessment.uconn.edu/docs/How_to_Create_Rubrics.pdf)
Sources: NA
TEACHER NOTES: This resource can be used with students in a differentiated classroom who have the opportunity to read a novel (Fahrenheit
451) based on their reading level or interest or can be used as the result of curriculum compacting. While the lesson is designed to completed by
a small group of AIG students, it could be adapted for use with only one student.
This resource can be used at any point before, during, or following the reading of the novel.
NCDPI AIG Curriculum Resource Outline
STAGE ONE: ENGAGE
Pose the following question and provide time for the students to share and discuss their responses: What makes a piece of literature important?
Encourage students to share examples of important literature as they discuss the question. Point out that literary critics, university professors,
English teachers, etc. have spent years debating this question as they’ve worked to create a “canon” of literature.
What if you could save only one book from extinction? What would it be? Why? Ask the students to work as a group to create a list of these
possible books. If the group is larger than six, break it down into smaller groups.
Optional homework assignment: Ask students to interview at least 3 people outside of their school, posing the same questions as above and
noting the responses.
STAGE TWO: ELABORATE
Assign the students to pairs or triads. Their task in these groups is to create a rubric for evaluating the importance of a piece of literature.
Remind them of their previous discussion. What criteria did they discuss for judging whether or not a book is important? The groups’ rubrics
must address at least 4 different criteria (for example, quality of writing, depth of story, development of characters, challenges readers to think).
Once the groups have come up with their criteria, they should create varying levels (a scale) for each criterion.
To help students move through the process of creating a rubric, show them the visual at
http://assessment.uconn.edu/docs/How_to_Create_Rubrics.pdf OR model the creation of a rubric for them. It may also help to show them
examples of rubrics.
Once the groups have completed their rubrics, invite them to share them, and ask them to evaluate some of the books they included on their
lists during the first part of the lesson. Using their rubrics, which books are deemed important? Which are not? Any surprises? Why?
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project
STAGE THREE: EVALUATE
Provide each student with the following assignment:
Your task is to create a 3-5 minute speech in which you identify the most important book of all time. To do this well, you must incorporate the
following:
 An Introduction to the book and its author(s): Give a brief description of the book (for example, plot, historical time period, genre).
 An explanation of the importance of this book. What is its actual or potential impact?
 A justification for why this book should be saved before other similar ones. You must be sure to address its possible competitors.
When finished, the students deliver their speeches to a group of peers who will then vote on which book they think should be deemed most
important.
Assess the students’ speeches based on some or all of the following criteria using either a rubric or a checklist:
 Strong, compelling beginning
 Memorable closing
 Provides strong justification for stated opinion
 Focused on message (no rambling)
 Appropriate length
 Good delivery (volume, pacing, etc.)
 Appropriate body language
 Well practiced/rehearsed
TEACHER NOTES: NA
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project