In this class, students will read and discuss Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in a book club format. Topics to be covered include the following: the importance of opening lines, puns, how to analyze/annotate literature, vocabulary, context clues, exploring literary elements, dialogue, and more. Here is the reading schedule:
Week 1: I will assess prior knowledge and cover unfamiliar terms and concepts that appear in the book. I will also teach the students how to analyze and annotate literature. Students will be assigned to read *Staves 1 & 2 before next week's class session.
Week 2: Discussion of Staves 1 & 2. Students will be assigned to read Stave 3 before next week's class session.
Week 3: Discussion of Stave 3. Students will be assigned to read Staves 4 & 5 before next week's class session.
Week 4: Discussion of Staves 4 & 5. Details for next week's Book Club Party will be given.
Week 5: Snacks & Video Clips (Book Club Party)
*Staves: Rather than "chapters," Dickens divided this book into "staves." He did this because the name for the five lines and four spaces on which musical notes are arranged is called a "stave." Hence the play on words - A Christmas Carol. It means both a song and the title of this book. 


Students will make notes of particular quotes or events that grab their attention or curiosity as they read. Then they will share these notes during class time (if they are comfortable doing so.) The topics to be covered will be interspersed throughout the duration of this class; we will cover them as they appear in the novel. Some topics will be covered throughout the class (such as how to analyze literature, vocabulary, literary elements, etc.) 

I encourage student interaction and this class is well-suited for that. It will be mostly discussion; however, during the final class session, we will watch video clips of various film adaptation of A Christmas Carol and then compare/contrast them to the book. We will also have a Book Club Party during the final class session. Details for the party can be found in the following paragraph.

Final Class:  Snacks (Optional)
While we wrap up our book club, I encourage students to have snacks as we watch video clips from several adaptations of A Christmas Carol. Some snack ideas are sausage, apples, oranges, plum pudding, & fruit cake. You can also make Christmas cookies or other Christmas snacks. Enjoy a cup of hot tea, hot chocolate, or coffee. The choices are endless. You can search Google for British recipes - Christmas or not - and find lots of options. Have fun with it!