Directed Reading Thinking Activity in the classroom

Subject: English Literature
Grade: Form Two ( Grade eight)
Age group: 13-15



I tried using Directed Reading Thinking Activity when doing the story "Backfire" by NevilleGiuseppi. At the beginning of the class i wrote the title of the short story on the board to hear some of the ideas my students about it. I did not inform them that this was a title of a short story, I just guided their discussion as their related their experiences and thoughts on the word " Backfire".

I then asked them a series of questions based on the cover of the book, what they thought, the impressions they were given at first sight, whether they were interested in reading the book based on the title and cover. After the exchange of ideas, the students were very enthusiastic about the reading the story. Before the actual reading, I asked them to predict five events they thought would occur in the short story. 

During the reading I stopped them after the main character travelled to Port of Spain and referred them to their predictions. The students were very enthusiatic about reviewing their predictions and discussing its outcomes. Students were then given an opportunity to  predict the rest of the story.

After reading the entire story, students were allowed to review their predictions once again and substantiating it with reason. This allowed for a lively class discussion and students wanting to do the  same for the next story, Horace's Luck.