{"id":947,"date":"2023-11-14T01:02:41","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T01:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seizethedayinela.com\/?p=947"},"modified":"2024-04-30T21:03:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T21:03:43","slug":"freaky-fantastic-frankenstein-activity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seizethedayinela.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/14\/freaky-fantastic-frankenstein-activity\/","title":{"rendered":"Freaky Fantastic Frankenstein Activity"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Reading <\/span>Frankenstein<\/span><\/i> with my seniors is probably one of the highlights of my career thus far.\u00a0 Going into the unit, I knew I had to find the perfect Frankenstein activity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Better yet?\u00a0 I found not one Frankenstein activity but five favorites.\u00a0 And I want to share them with you.<\/span><\/p>

A General Overview of my Class and Unit<\/b><\/h2>

\"\"<\/span><\/p>

Before I dive I find you the perfect Frankenstein activity, it might be helpful to tell you a little bit about my class.<\/span><\/p>

To start, <\/span>Frankenstein<\/span><\/i> falls within our British Literature curriculum.\u00a0 It\u2019s an elective at our district. This means students do not have to take the course but might opt to.<\/span><\/p>

Also, it\u2019s a semester-long course.\u00a0 I met these kids in September, and we\u2019ll part ways in January.<\/span><\/p>

And of my 16-kid class, 15 of them are seniors.\u00a0 I have one awesome junior who was able to work this class into her schedule.<\/span><\/p>

When planning my <\/span>Frankenstein<\/span><\/i> unit, I carved out about 8 weeks total to cover the text.\u00a0 This includes building in time for the culminating Frankenstein activity: their assessment.<\/span><\/p>

The Reading Schedule within our <\/b>Frankenstein<\/i><\/b> Unit<\/b><\/h3>

\"\"<\/p>

I could find a different Frankenstein activity to cover more than an entire semester\u2019s worth of lessons.\u00a0 But, the truth is, with a limited timeframe, our minutes are precious.\u00a0 And limited.<\/span><\/p>

So before we even tackled our first Frankenstein activity, I made sure my students understood they would do the majority of their reading outside of class.<\/span><\/p>

At my district, we follow block scheduling.\u00a0 On average, I see my classes once every two days.\u00a0 When I assign chapters to read in British Literature, I\u2019m cognizant of how long it\u2019ll be before I see them again.\u00a0 If a weekend stands between us and our next class, I\u2019ll assign a bit more.<\/span><\/p>

On average, I assigned about two chapters to read per night.\u00a0 If students read the assigned chapters outside of class, that set us up for success when it came to the next day\u2019s Frankenstein activity.<\/span><\/p>

A Typical Day within our Frankenstein Unit<\/b><\/h3>

Each class began with a warm-up.\u00a0 A half dozen times or so, I would quiz students on the previous night\u2019s reading.\u00a0 Other times, I would have them pair up or otherwise interact with movement.<\/span><\/p>

Depending on the planned Frankenstein activity, we would then transition into the main part of the lesson.\u00a0 In a typical 84-minute class period, this would take us about 40 minutes.<\/span><\/p>

Finally, we\u2019d end class with a summarizer.\u00a0 This could be an exit slip or short open-ended response.\u00a0 Whatever I could draw up to help assess students\u2019 understanding of our Frankenstein activity for the day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

If time remained, I would allow students to start reading the assigned chapters for homework.<\/span><\/p>

Finding the Perfect Frankenstein Activity<\/b><\/h2>

Truly, just one of these six activities would be a great start if you\u2019re looking for inspiration in your classroom.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t have just one Frankenstein activity.\u00a0 I\u2019m more than willing to share a half dozen!<\/span><\/p>

Introductory Digital Breakout Activity<\/b><\/h3>

\"\"<\/p>

On the first day of the unit, I started with this Frankenstein activity: a digital breakout activity.<\/span><\/p>

I used AI to write three informational nonfiction articles for me.\u00a0 Each related to our upcoming unit: Mary Shelley (biography); the Romantic Age (an overview); and Art in the Romantic Age.<\/span><\/p>

Students had to carefully read each article.\u00a0 For this Frankenstein activity, I highly encouraged taking careful notes using a pencil and highlighter.<\/span><\/p>

When they thought they read the article closely enough, they turned their sights to the Google form that housed our digital breakout.<\/span><\/p>

I accompanied each article with 10 multiple choice questions (again: \"\ud83d\udc50\ud83c\udffb\" AI).\u00a0 The combination of correct answers (i.e. ABCBAA) provided the right \u201ccombination\u201d to break out of the first stage of this Frankenstein activity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Once they successfully cracked that code, they could move on.<\/span><\/p>

Other tasks within this breakout included other articles with multiple choice questions, riddles, a crossword puzzle, and Rebus puzzles just for fun.<\/span><\/p>

To say my upper-level seniors were challenged by this Frankenstein activity would be an understatement.\u00a0 It was definitely engaging and rigorous!<\/span><\/p>

And worthwhile: I treated the winner to a free beverage of their choice from our local coffee shop.<\/span><\/p>

The Myth of Prometheus<\/b><\/h3>

\"\"<\/p>

It\u2019s no secret how heavily Mary Shelley was influenced by the myth of Prometheus.\u00a0 If you aren\u2019t familiar, here\u2019s a rundown.<\/span><\/p>

In Greek mythology, Prometheus defies Zeus, the king of the gods, by stealing fire.\u00a0 Prometheus gives this gift to humans, for whom he has a major soft spot.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Prometheus finds several ways to trick Zeus. Ultimately, though, Prometheus meets a brutal, eternal punishment.\u00a0 He is bound to a rock and forever doomed to have an eagle peck out his liver.<\/span><\/p>

Thematic Ties Between Frankenstein and Prometheus<\/b><\/h4>

Thematically, Prometheus and Victor Frankenstein share intense qualities.\u00a0 They both are curious to learn.\u00a0 And they both want to give powerful gifts to humanity.\u00a0 But each man pushes his powers and crosses the threshold of what is acceptable.<\/span><\/p>

Both beg the question: is knowledge power or is knowledge dangerous?\u00a0 Or is it a bit of both?<\/span><\/p>

Making a Frankenstein Activity Out of Prometheus<\/b><\/h3>

These are great questions to ask of your students in a Frankenstein activity based on this Greek myth.<\/span><\/p>

For my students, I had them closely read (again, armed with highlighters) the myth of Prometheus.<\/span><\/p>

We timed this Frankenstein activity around Chapter 7, or shortly after Frankenstein brings his creature to life.\u00a0 Immediately, he is horrified and repulsed by his creation.\u00a0 He seemingly realizes instantly that he played with fire, so to speak.\u00a0 And he lost.<\/span><\/p>

But what my students do with the two stories is complete a guided graphic organizer.\u00a0 Along the left-hand side of their worksheet, I offered suggested similarities between the two texts.\u00a0 Those included Epimetheus and Henry Clerval.\u00a0 Also, Athena and Waldman.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Outside of characters, students also track similar motifs in this Frankenstein activity.\u00a0 Those include taking risks and fear as well as creators\u2019 intentions.<\/span><\/p>

Students worked independently or in pairs.\u00a0 I set a timer to keep them on track.\u00a0 Then we took a good 10 minutes or so to share out our findings as a large group.<\/span><\/p>

This is a great Frankenstein activity because you can tailor it to your students\u2019 needs.\u00a0 You can use AI to increase the difficulty of the myth.\u00a0 And you can change up the similarities between the two stories on the graphic organizer.\u00a0 If you really want to challenge your students, you can remove the guided hints.<\/span><\/p>

If you\u2019re looking for a ready-to-go resource, <\/span>check out my activity<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>

Frankenstein Activity: \u201cPass the Chalk\u201d<\/b><\/h3>

\"\"<\/p>

Another really cool Frankenstein activity I tried this unit was dubbed \u201cPass the Chalk.\u201d\u00a0 I used it as an activator towards the middle of the book.\u00a0 But you could easily turn this into a longer activity.<\/span><\/p>

To prepare, I drew an idea web on my chalkboard.\u00a0 Stemming from the main cloud in the middle were various characters, motifs, and plot events from the novel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

For example, I included Justine Moritz and Guilt.\u00a0 I also included William and Animation Versus Life.<\/span><\/p>

The idea was to have each student take turns adding to our idea web.\u00a0 Once one student had written something down, they passed the chalk to the next person.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

To ensure quality, I laid a few ground rules.\u00a0 First, no one could return to the board until every student had their first turn.\u00a0 Secondly, no one could add more than two branches from one of the ideas.<\/span><\/p>

In the end, I was blown away by the quality of student responses.\u00a0 And I couldn\u2019t believe how much they loved the activity.\u00a0 Even my most reluctant learners were chomping at the bit to be the first one to write their idea on the board.\u00a0 It\u2019s funny how something as seemingly old school as chalk can really pique students\u2019 interest in this digital age!<\/span><\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

This is definitely a Frankenstein activity I\u2019ll be using year after year.<\/span><\/p>

Milton and Shelley: A Match Made in Heaven \u2013 Or Maybe Hell?<\/b><\/h3>

Another pivotal text for Mary Shelley was John Milton\u2019s epic poem \u201cParadise Lost.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

If you\u2019re familiar with the poem, though, you know there\u2019s no reasonable way to read that entire text within the constraints of one Frankenstein activity.<\/span><\/p>

So I got creative.<\/span><\/p>

I put together for students quick summaries of each of the poem\u2019s ten books.\u00a0 Then I directed students to read those summaries, looking for the strongest similarities between Milton\u2019s work and Shelley\u2019s <\/span>Frankenstein.<\/span><\/i><\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

My students chose to do this independently, but you could easily adapt it into partner work.\u00a0 Or even a teacher-led small group or large group task.<\/span><\/p>

Once they read the summaries, their worksheet required them to track the most meaningful similarities.<\/span><\/p>

And my favorite part of this Frankenstein activity?\u00a0 Students had to tell me who they felt was Shelley\u2019s intended parallel to Satan.\u00a0 Was it Victor or the creature?<\/span><\/p>

This served as the main Frankenstein activity for that day\u2019s lesson.\u00a0 It took us about 35 to 40 minutes to complete.\u00a0 It\u2019s another activity that could easily adapt into a longer task.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

If this Frankenstein activity sounds like it would work well in your classroom (and it will!), <\/span>check it out here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>

Socratic Seminar<\/b><\/h3>

A tried and true method for a text as powerful as <\/span>Frankenstein<\/span><\/i> is the Socratic seminar.\u00a0 For this <\/span>Frankenstein <\/span><\/i>activity, we included ours a little more than halfway through the novel.<\/span><\/p>

After students were assigned to read Chapters 14 to 17 for homework, they came in to class prepared to discuss major questions surrounding the events in those pages.<\/span><\/p>

Ahead of time, I offered students the chance to prepare.\u00a0 I let them know ahead of time these would be our discussion questions.<\/span><\/p>