A Teacher's Resource Packet Prepared by Scott Raab for Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Introduction:

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is the story of an a West African warrior and farmer who refuses to accept the changes pushed upon his people by the British colonial government in the early 1900's. The text is realistic and could be considered a tragedy. It has been subject censorship in some areas, but where it has been approved it can be successfully used in 9th-12th grade classrooms. The instructional strategies and activities in this packet are designed for the high school level classroom.

Time Allotment:

The necessary time allotment for each activity varies, but the majority can be completed in one 55 minute class period or less. The Assignment Menu contains various different assessment activities, many of which will take a considerable amount of time and effort by the student. It would be best to present the students with the Assignment Menu early in the unit and allow them to choose and begin the activities they will complete. The KWHL activity requires only one class period to explain and demonstrate, but the students will not complete the assignment until they have finished the book. The Bloom's Taxonomy Questions can be explained in less than 15 minutes, but students will most likely need more than 40 minutes to complete the answers if all of the questions are assigned.

Curriculum Correlation: Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart is a good choice for teachers looking to fulfil USOE standard 4090-02 which states students should read literary texts from different periods, cultures, and genres. The strategies in this resource packet are also diversified to comply with standard 4090-01 of students using comprehension strategies before, during and after reading, and standard 4090–07 of students to use composing strategies before writing.

Strategy Sources:

The format for each strategy was acquired from Dr. Sirpa Grierson, English Professor at Brigham Young University, as part of her English 378 course, "Teaching Reading." More information on the strategies can be obtained by contacting her or by visiting her website at http://humanities.byu.edu/Novelinks/default.html.

Many of the strategies can also be found in the text Content Area Reading(1998) by Richard T. and Jo Anne L. Vacca. The vocabulary crossword was constructed using the Crossword Compiler computer program, available for download from www.x-word.com. There is a limited free trial version and a complete pay-to-download version of the program. You can choose the words, clues, and the design of the puzzle, but choices are limited unless you pay for the complete version of the program.

Any page numbers given refer to the 1994 Anchor Books paperback edition of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Anchor Books is a division of the Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.