This ten-week course studies the novel Galacticab Catastrophe, which incorporates Language Arts components into a time-travel tale. This class is perfect for students who have lost instruction time due to the pandemic. Each week we will discuss the plot and correlating (common-core-based) discussion questions. These discussion questions cover the majority of the middle-grade ELA reading standards. As a former teacher at a performing arts magnet school, I integrated the arts into my reading and writing instruction; therefore, each class will involve a specific arts integration/kinesthetic activity! In addition, I will use interactive platforms and tools such as Padlet, Google Slides, and Zoom annotations to increase engagement. Students will be encouraged to read approximately thirty pages a week in order to promote student-led discussions and questioning. Enrolled students will receive a free e-book which they can continue to use as a Language Arts reference. 

Following is the curriculum outline: (ELA = English Language Arts); AI = Arts Integration) 

Week One (Ch. 1 -5): Get Ready to Time Travel! 

For our first class, we will analyze the components of a plot’s exposition. We will have some fun discussing what the students know about time travel (and whether or not they believe it may someday be possible). ELA standards covered include: characters, setting, and conflict. 

Week Two (Ch. 6-10): Mythology Madness! 

In this class, we follow our protagonist, Persephone, as she investigates strange occurrences at her school. ELA standards covered include: mythology, connotation, mood, tone, and root words. AI activity: Students will conduct a Google search to identify an international mythological creature or god that interests them. 

Week Three: (Ch. 11-15) What Stuck with You? 

The Bubonic Plague has now entered the school, and the characters have made a trip to a psychic. In addition, the protagonist’s crush is unrequited. ELA standards covered include: motif, text structure, roots/prefixes/suffixes, theme, and point of view. AI activity: students will write on sticky notes and share the topics that interested them. We will make some text-to-self and text-to-world connections.  

Week Four (Ch. 16-20) Which Character Are You? 

We will come to class dressed up as our favorite character! There are even some circus characters to choose from, and the wormhole counts as a character, too! ELA standards covered include: point of view (POV), analogy, internal v. external conflict, cause/effect, and figurative language. 

Week Five (Ch. 21-25) Plan Your Trip! 

In this class, students will create a sketch depicting where they would travel if time travel were possible. They will be required to justify their choice with facts and evidence.  ELA standards covered include: primary v. secondary sources, characterization, context clues, text evidence, and synonyms/antonyms. 

Week Six (Ch. 26-30) Scavenger Hunt! 

In this section of the book, the characters have gone back in time to Boston, 1915. Unfortunately, they are in an orphanage. In this class, students will be asked to find a list of items in the book. For example, the protagonist’s cell phone is confiscated by the orphanage’s headmistress. I’ll ask my students to find the page number where the protagonist finds her phone. I’ll use Google Slides to enhance this activity. ELA standards covered include: literary allusion, genre, anachronism, and imagery. 

Week Seven (Ch. 31-35) Let’s Act It Out! 

This section of the text contains several high-action scenes. The characters escape from the orphanage and engage in a physical tussle. The protagonist makes an escape attempt from Harvard’s Widener Library (where they’re being held hostage), and a teacher tries to save her student from the 1942 Ohio Lunatic Asylum. Students will take turns reading various scenes, reading only the dialogue to enhance the dramatic effect. ELA standards covered include: text-structure, persuasive language, commentary, and judgment. 

Week Eight (Ch. 36-40) Persuasive Writing! 

In this section, the characters have written a persuasive letter to newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst. I will ask students to draft a persuasive e-mail. They may do this as an individual (persuading their mother to allow them to purchase roller skates, for example), or they may choose to do this in pairs/teams. Students will be encouraged to use either ethos (ethical), logos (logical), or pathos (emotional) arguments. In the past, our students persuaded Krispy Kreme to donate several boxes of donuts to our school! ELA standards covered include: Rhetorical appeal. 

Week Nine (41-45) Name That Tune! 

In this class, the characters are making their way through Boston in search of the wormhole. ELA standards covered include: intonation, diction, and irony. AI activity: students will listen to audio clips demonstrating variations in intonation (pitch, tempo, and melody); students will guess the type of intonation. 

Week Ten: (Ch. 46-49) We survived a wormhole! 
After we review the chapter's discussion questions, I’ll give the students several minutes to create questions of their own; I'll encourage them to craft literal, interpretive, and universal questions. The students' questions will be the basis of a group discussion. 

I’ll remind students that they can continue to review this book and use it as an ELA reference. The Language Arts terms covered in this book are the key standards of the sixth, seventh and eighth grade ELA curriculum. 

Check out Galacticab Catastrophe's professional review posted on our home page!