Night by Elie Wiesel

The following activities were designed for my ninth grade honors students. The activities are easily adaptable for any population and work well for developing critical thinking skills.

• Vocabulary List (sections 1-2, pp. 3-28) - Includes part of speech, definition, word in context, etymology, and related words. Includes spaces for synonyms and antonyms. Available for download here.
• Characterization (sections 4-5, pp. 47-84) - Students identify three events that Elie witnesses but in which he does not participate. Based on his descriptions and reflections, students evaluate the ways in which Elie's character changes (physically, emotionally, psychologically, etc.) by deciding on the key words and phrases that suggest these changes. Students draw conclusions about why Wiesel included each of the events in the memoir. Available for download here.

Romeo and Juliet Lessons

I used the following questions as discussion board threads to assess students' understanding as they read Romeo and Juliet. These questions could be used as prompts for short written responses or small-group discussions. Some question sets include two types of questions: (a) a personal or creative response related to a general topic, and (b) a critical thinking question requiring analysis of the play.

Here are some sample questions:

Act I, Scenes 2-3:

(a) Describe your relationship with your mother (or the most significant adult female in your life). What factors affect the quality of this relationship? What are the sources of conflict? In what ways has she impacted your life? Is it important to have a strong female influence in one's life?

(b) Apply your discussion to an analysis of Juliet's relationship with Lady Capulet and the Nurse. Evaluate the quality of the relationship Juliet has with each woman. (Consider the questions from part a.) Which relationship is probably more satisfying or important to Juliet?

Act III, Scene 1:

(a) What qualities distinguish a coward? In general, are you a coward or not? Share two examples to support this characterization of yourself.

(b) Consider the actions of the characters in this scene. For each character, determine whether or not each character acted cowardly based on his words and actions. (Romeo, Mercutio, Tybalt, Benvolio, Prince, Capulet, Lady Capulet, Montague.)