During one of my favorite classes in college, I discovered the novel Feed by M.T. Anderson, and I knew instantly that I would want to teach it one day. During my second year, my principal graciously allowed me to purchase books for my classroom. The focus for this unit is on the human brain and how we are impacted by technology in our lives. Students can also analyze incredibly character development and satire through this text. I end the year with this novel in my sophomore classes because it is a high-interest text that they love to discuss.
The premise of the book is that almost everyone in this society has what they call a Feed in their brain. The Feeds can read for them, scroll on the internet, and even chat to other people without you talking! As we know from previous reading of science-fiction texts, this will not end well for them! However, it has something for everyone -- technology, romance, friendship, societal rebellion, and teen angst. My kids also get quite a kick out of the amount of foul language within the pages of this book. This is where the satire comes in -- the author is suggesting that the loss of our overall intelligence will lead us to use foul language more openly as well as "like" every other word (that does take some time to get used to while reading!) This is something you should be aware of if you happen to have to defend this novel to parents (more specifically, parents on the school board), like I did! :)
Structure of My Unit:
1. As I do for most of my units, I created a workbook for my students. They love this at the end of the year because that means they can toss out all of their materials and only keep this! I love this because they don't lose anything, and they have the option of working ahead, if they choose. (I rarely have this happen!) If you are interested in purchasing the unit from my TpT store, click here to check it out!
2. Students do all reading outside of class or at the end of class with extra time unless I have time in my schedule for in-class reading. Since this is a newer title, there is unfortunately not an audiobook recording on YouTube like there is with many of the classics we read. However, since this is the last book my students read and they generally enjoy the book, I find that they are pretty self-motivated, but if you do not think they are going to read this outside of class, you'll just have to adjust your schedule accordingly. Some years, I am able to grant them all in-class reading time, but this can get a little boring for them. Sometimes I read the book to them or they read in groups. also like to take them outside on these reading days because it's more motivating to read in the sunshine! :) This is the last novel my students read for the year, and we all know it's impossible to know whether or not students actually read what they were supposed to, but I just keep them accountable with classwork that requires them to read the majority of the text to produce quality work and receive a good grade.
3. I typically run a flipped classroom for this unit. They read at home and then come in and complete an assignment based on that reading. Here is an example page in the workbook that I have created. I expect my students to take notes about plot and significant quotes, and I check them periodically. These notes are really just a way for them to keep track of what happened and when. The assignments range from informational text reading and response to more creative tasks. I always begin class with a discussion on what they read the night before. This book is an excellent discussion starter! After our discussions we jump right into the assignment. The majority of of the assignments are interpretive, so I do not grade anything for accuracy. I'm just observing their work and determining whether or not they understood the major takeaways from that reading.
4. I have my students write 3 in-class essays throughout the novel. Depending on time, I have done a multi-genre project for this novel relating to theme. However, sometimes, since this is at the end of the year, we often run out of time for a culminating assessment. To ensure that I have still assessed their analysis of the novel, I have 3 in-class essays within the workbook. For each of these, they have between 2-3 prompts to choose between. I have my students type these and submit through Schoology (our school's LMS); however, I have done these as written essays. I just don't like to grade handwriting most days! :) Students have to write an entire page, double-spaced, and they must use one piece of evidence to support their ideas.
Overall, this novel is incredibly relevant and special. I will be so sad to give it up when I move to 8th grade, but I'm not sure it's 8th grade material. However, if you teach it then, please leave a comment!! I want to hear more!
-- Amanda