The Veldt by Ray Bradbury Short Story Unit - Task Cards - Argumentative Writing
- Zip
What educators are saying
Products in this Bundle (2)
Also included in
The Ray Bradbury Short Story Bundle contains multiple short story units for "All Summer in a Day", "A Sound of Thunder", and "The Veldt": two close reading units that include differentiated materials, narrative writing task, and argumentative writing task as well as 36 creative and higher order thinPrice $21.99Original Price $33.46Save $11.47
Description
Are you looking for a short story unit that will pique your students’ interest and encourage their curiosity? How about a short story set in a futuristic dystopian society where technology can replace even the most basic of human activities and has one of the most jaw-dropping endings in literature? Look no further than “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury, a middle school reading comprehension activity. This engaging and rigorous close reading unit is full of high quality and critical thinking activities to accompany this thought-provoking short story. Students will LOVE that they are engaged in an ongoing discussion of technology and given the opportunity to voice their opinions on who it to blame for the tragic ending. Teachers will LOVE that this unit contains scaffolded and differentiated close reading activities that are designed to help students deeply analyze the characters and events in this short story as well as the big question of “Is too much technology a bad thing?”. This will help students not only tackle complex texts and skills, but also create a logical argumentative writing response that is based upon what they have learned from reading the short story. In addition, everything that teachers needs to implement this unit, from teacher models, teacher tips, and a detailed presentation, is included in this download.
Product #1: "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury Close Reading and Argumentative Writing Task Unit
☞ ☞ This resource covers the following Common Core Standards:
•RL.6-8.1 •RL.6-8.2 •RL.6-8.3 •RL.6-8.5 •W.6-8.1 •W.6-8.4 •W.6-8.5
The following files are included in this download:
• “The Veldt” Anticipation and Reaction Guide (2 Pages): Students will read a series of statements about technology. They must decide if they agree or disagree with each statement. In addition, they will need to explain their reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with each statement. In the reaction guide, they will be required to use specific text evidence from the story to support why they agree or disagree with each statement.
• “The Veldt” Probable Passage (1 Page): Students are given several words from the short story and must categorize them into one of five categories: Setting, Character, Conflict, Outcome, or Unknown Word. Once students have categorized their words, they will develop questions that they have based on the words or the story. The final step in this pre-reading activity requires students to use their categorization to create a prediction on what they think will happen in this short story.
•••Teacher Model has been provided.•••
• “The Veldt” Differentiated Vocabulary and Context Clues Activity (4 Pages): Students will use context clues to identify unfamiliar words from the short story. The activity uses the actual text from the story where the word is used. After students select the correct multiple choice answer, they are required to write a one sentence justification using text evidence.
••• Context Clues bookmarks have also been included to help guide students through this task. •••
• “The Veldt” Close Reading Activity (23 Pages): During this scaffolded close reading activity, students will first read the story to get the gist of what is happening and will use this information to write an objective summary of the short story. In the second read, students will dig deeper into the story using some guiding questions and will culminate with students explaining and analyzing the use of foreshadowing in the story. There are three options for the Second Read. A 2nd option that includes the use of Two Column Notes Organizer and chunked text has been included for struggling readers. Next, they will analyze the technology in the story and the impact that it has on the characters. This activity culminates with students creating an extended writing response where they use the information they have gathered to identify the theme of the short story and will have to use textual evidence to support their answer.
•••Teacher Model has been provided.”•••
• “The Veldt” Assessment (2 Pages): This assessment contains six multiple choice questions that cover context clues, theme, story elements, and the role of tone/mood in the story. Students must write a one sentence justification to support their answer choice. In addition, there are two constructed response questions. This allows students the choice of which constructed response they want to answer.
•••Answer Key is provided.•••
• “The Veldt” Argumentative Writing Task (13 Pages): The Argumentative Writing Task contains everything needed for both teacher and students to complete this task. Students will write an argumentative response that includes a claim that is supported by clear reasons and strong textual evidence.
→ Task #1-Prewriting: There are three different pre-writing options included for this task to best fit the needs of your students/classroom.
→ Task #2-Rough Draft: Students will use the teacher models as well as the criteria that they have created to guide them as they write the rough draft of their argumentative essay.
→ Task #3-Self and Peer Assessment: Students will use the Self Assessment Guide to help them self-assess their rough draft and identify anything that their argumentative essay may be missing. Once students have finished the self-assessment, they will switch argumentative essays with their writing partner and complete the Peer Assessment guide to give academic feedback to their partner.
→ Task #4-Final Draft: Once students have finished editing/revising their rough draft using the feedback from the self and peer assessment, they will begin to write the final draft of their argumentative essay.
• “The Veldt” Argumentative Writing Reference Sheet (2 Pages): The reference sheet includes criteria, a writer’s checklist, transition words/phrases, and students tips to beef up their writing.
• “The Veldt” Argumentative Writing Task Rubric (1 page): This 11 point rubric can be used to evaluate the narratives. It also includes a section for teachers to leave written academic feedback for students.
• “The Veldt” Choice Board Activity (2 Pages): This activity can be used as an alternate assessment activity or as an early finisher for students who finish any part of this unit before other students. It includes four tasks for students and clear specific criteria for each task. In addition, teacher models for each task have been included to help students know what their work should look like to be high quality.
•••Teacher Models for each task have been provided.•••
• Teacher Models and Answer Keys (8 Pages): Teacher models and answer keys have been provided for each step/task in this unit.
• “The Veldt” Lesson Presentation (95 Slides): This presentation comes in PDF and Powerpoint Versions. It is designed to help guide both teacher and students through this week long unit. There are 23 blank/editable slides that you can us to customize the presentation to better suit the needs of your students/classroom.
• “The Veldt” Lesson Outline Notes (50 Pages): This lesson outline is a PDF version of the activities from this unit. It includes suggested modifications/explanations, teacher tips, and more to help guide teachers through setting up and effectively organizing this unit.
• Bonus Activity (4 Pages): This bonus activity centers around the Disney film Smart House. Students will view the film and answer questions on a viewing guide. Students will then compare and contrast the similar themes in “The Veldt” and “Smart House” to analyze how each film tackles the similar theme.
Please be sure to download the preview file to see exactly what you are getting when you purchase this product!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product #2: "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury Task Cards with EDITABLE templates
☞ ☞ This resource covers the following Common Core Standards:
• All Common Core State Standards for Reading Literature 6th-8th Grade
The following files are included in this download:
• “The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury Task Cards: This file contains the PDF and PowerPoint version of this product. There are 36 different tasks includes in this product. Each task comes with two options for criteria: Option #1-Specific criteria has been included for the task that will allow students to know their expectations and be able to self-assess their product or response. Option#2-This is a blank card that allows you to modify or create your own criteria for success to best fit the needs of your students.
The following skills/tasks are included in this product:
☞ Task #1- Author’s Purpose
☞ Task #2- Central Idea
☞ Task #3- Theme
☞ Task #4- Characterization
☞ Task #5- Point of View
☞ Task #6- Time Period
☞ Task #7- Real Life Influences
☞ Task #8- Figurative Language
☞ Task #9- Conflict/Resolution
☞ Task #10- Setting
☞ Task #11- Theme & Development
☞ Task #12- Painting a Picture
☞ Task #13- Plot
☞ Task #14- Objective Summary
☞ Task #15- Compare and Contrast
☞ Task #16- Context Clues
☞ Task #17- Movie Poster
☞ Task #18- Be A Critic
☞ Task #19- Picture It
☞ Task #20- Interview the Author
☞ Task #21- Interview a Character
☞ Task #22- Comic Book
☞ Task #23- Instagram
☞ Task #24- Facebook
☞ Task #25- Twitter Feed
☞ Task #26- Trading Places
☞ Task #27- Likes/Dislikes
☞ Task #28- Rewrite
☞ Task #29- Prequel
☞ Task #30- Sequel
☞ Task #31- Diary of a Character
☞ Task #32- Cover Artist
☞ Task #33- Dear Abby
☞ Task #34- Music to My Ears
☞ Task #35- Morning Announcements
☞ Task #36- Word Cloud Collage
•••It would be a great idea to laminate these task cards for durability or so that students can use a dry erase marker to check off the criteria while they are self-assessing their work.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please be sure to download the preview file to see exactly what you are getting when you purchase this product!
Created by Stephanie M. Icenogle, The Creative Classroom © 2016
All rights reserved by author.
Permission to copy for single classroom use only.
Electronic distribution limited to single classroom use only.
▶️ Connect with The Creative Classroom:
➜ Sign up HERE for The Creative Classroom's EMAIL LIST for exclusive freebies, tips, and more!
➜ BLOG
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out these other CCSS-Aligned Short Story Task Cards from The Creative Classroom:
☞ Creative Classroom Tech Tools: Holy Task Cards! 28 Tasks for Any Short Story
