Novel Activity for Small Group Discussion

Focus on Theme, Point of View, Plot and Hero Traits

Mar 28, 2010
Kellie Hayden

Students Use Handout to Guide Discussion for Novel - Kellie Hayden

Middle school teachers can use this lesson to help students to understand the plot, point of view, theme and traits of a hero when small groups read the same novel.

Whether a middle school teacher has assigned books for a literature circle to read, or the teacher assigned the whole class to have small group discussions, the instructor can use this lesson to help students discuss the novel. The discussion will focus on plot, point of view, hero traits and theme.

Break the Novel Into Reading Assignments

The novel needs to be broken into reading assignments. A group of students in a literature circle can choose a book, know that they need to finish it in three to four weeks and break the number of pages into three or four sections. If the class is reading a novel, the teacher can decide the amount of time to finish the novel and divide the book accordingly.

Once the students have their reading assignments, they need to make a chronological time line of events and/or important details. This event time line will help students to remember the basic plot of the novel over the course of the three-to-four weeks. Plus, they will need a plot time line to complete the handout in this lesson.

Review of Literary Elements

If students are not proficient with the literary elements in this lesson, the teacher may need to review before continuing. For a more detailed explanation, the Literary Elements website offers more detail.

Plot: The events in a story
Conflict:It is a problem in the story. There are four basic types: man vs. man, man vs. himself, man vs. nature, and man vs. society.
Climax: It is the turning point in the story.
Point of view: It is who is telling the story. It can be first person, third-person objective, third-person limited, or omniscient.
Hero: It is the person who saves people or the day and/or does good works.
Theme: Is a big idea or underlying meaning of the story.

Create a Handout for Small Group Discussion

When students meet together in small groups to discuss a novel, they need questions or a hand-out to help guide the discussion. The following are questions to help students have a productive group discussion.

Ask all members of the small group to share their plot event time lines. Compare and contrast what members have written down. What is different? What is the same? What does the group think that the most important events are in this reading section?
From the time line of events, which ones are conflicts? Are any of the events the climax of the novel? Why or why not?
From what point of view is the story being told? What does the group know about this character or narrator? How would the story be different if the story was told from another character, such as the villain or a less important character?
Write down five characteristics of a hero. From those five characteristics, is the main character a hero? Why or why not?
What is the theme of the novel in this reading selection? Why?

Once students complete the handout in their small groups, they can share the information with the whole class. This small group discussion will help students to gain a deeper understanding of the novel.

Kellie Hayden - She is a 19 year veteran teacher with a master's degree in education and NBCT, 2000. Kellie teaches 8th grade language arts, TAG and ...