Pre-Reading Activity

Moving to a New Area – Prewriting activity

This activity will be performed on an individual basis and then as a group sharing activity, utilizing a Venn diagram. Each student will write how he or she thinks it would feel to move to a new place, away from their friends. The students will then write how they think it would feel to be sent to prison and compare how this might be similar to moving to a new town and going to a new school. Next, the students will share their writing with a partner. Afterward, the class will regroup and, with the teacher’s assistance, create a Venn diagram on the board to show the similarities and differences between moving to a new place and being sent to prison.

Objective: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to show in writing and through the use of a Venn diagram how they can recognize and show similarities and differences and make predictions about themes in reference to moving to a new place and being sent to prison.

Procedure:
1. Before reading any of Al Capone Does My Shirts, ask the students to take out a sheet of paper, and have them write how they think they would feel if they had to leave their home, their school, and their friends and move to a new place.
2. After about five minutes of writing, ask the students to flip their sheets over and write how they think it would feel to be sent to prison.
3. After about another five minutes of writing, ask the students to turn to a partner and share what they wrote. Ensure that each student has a partner. If there is an odd number, create a group of three.
4. While the students are conversing, the teacher should draw a large Venn diagram on the board with “Moving to a New Place” on one side and “Being Sent to Prison” on the other.
5. After asking the students to regroup, call on individuals to share their ideas about what they think it is like to move to a new place or be sent to prison and how these two things could be similar.
6. When the students’ ideas seemed to be exhausted, ask the students how they think these ideas might relate to Al Capone Does My Shirts. Inquire about potential themes of the story.

Additional Resources:

Students can use the Internet to research the characteristics and properties of prisons in general.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison