A+Separate+Peace

// A Separate Peace // By John Knowles

**Background Information:**  [|John Knowles' Biography from the Britannica Online Encyclopedia] This is a link to the biography of John Knowles from the Britannica Online Encyclopedia. This would be helpful when first introducing him as an author. When using this resource, a free trial subscription could be used or you could purchase a subscription to the website when accessing the full document.  [|World War II Timeline by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]  This is a link to an online timeline of the events of World War II provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website. This would be a useful resource when providing background information of the time period in which // A Separate Peace //  takes place. What makes this a great resource is that it provides links to information about important events listed in the timeline, as well.

**Resources For Developing A Teaching Unit:**

[|Study Guide by John Knowles (PDF)] This is a link to a study guide created by John Knowles, the author of // A Separate Peace //, provided by the Glencoe Literature Library that includes pre-reading exercises, character web diagrams, active reading activities, vocabulary previews, and post-reading responses.

[|Teaching Resources for A Separate Peace by Jo Hawke] This is a link to the website of Jo Hawke, an English teacher from George Washington High School in Danville, Virginia. On this specific page, Mrs. Hawke provides several downloadable resources for teaching // A Separate Peace //, including analysis worksheets, quizzes, an example of a reading log, and an exam.  [|Shmoop about A Separate Peace]  This is a link to the website "Shmoop", which is an online teaching and learning resource. On this specific Shmoop page, the website editors provide resources for // A Separate Peace // , such as an introduction and summary of the book, themes, important quotes, and information about the characters of the book. Additionally, this site provides some study questions for readers to consider after reading the text. Another great feature is the "Best of the Web" page, which provides links to information about the film adaptations of the novel as well as essays and articles about // A Separate Peace // . The page is also interactive, as the "opinions" page allows teachers and students to contribute to forum questions about the book. This operates as a combination of a Wiki and a Ning, and it could be used as a supplemental material while reading the book. However, teachers should stress that this is not a replacement for reading. In order to avoid students solely using this source, it could be incorporated after finishing the reading.

 [|A Research Guide for Students by I. Lee]  This is a link to an extensive online research guide about <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">// A Separate Peace // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">, which provides information and photographs of author John Knowles, study guides for readers of the novel, lesson plans, essays about themes in the novel, and links to other website resources pertaining to the text. This is a great resource for both teachers and students trying to understand the novel. This would be useful in developing lesson plans and finding other online resources.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> [|Unit Plan by Region 4 Education Service Center (PDF)] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> This is a link to a downloadable unit plan, which would be a helpful resource when developing one's own unit plan. This resource includes examples of vocabulary activities, discussion questions, quizzes, essays, and exams to be incorporated when teaching <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">// A Separate Peace // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> [|English Companion Ning Discussion on Teaching A Separate Peace Through Role-Playing Activities] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> This is a link to a discussion on the English Companion Ning website. Through this discussion, three ideas are posted of how to use role-playing activities as a form of assessment when teaching <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">// A Separate Peace // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">. Through this discussion between Kevin Delehanty, Tiffany Gurholt, Carla Hedstrom, and Suzanne Rogers, these educators explain how they use journal-writing, posters, and online animation sites to help students explore the characters of the novel. NOTE: You must sign in to your account to view this page.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> [|Downloadable Background PowerPoint Presentation from Scribd.com] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> This is a link to Scribd.com, which presents a downloadable PowerPoint presentation created by a former site user "piratelady". This presentation gives background information about the time period in which <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">// A Separate Peace // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> takes place, and it asks discussion questions which prepare students for the themes of the book. Therefore, this is a great resource for a teacher who is looking for guidance in creating his/her own pre-reading presentation about the novel. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">**Student Resources:** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"> [|Purchasable Study Guide for A Separate Peace by The Center for Learning] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> This is a link to The Center for Learning's website, where a study guide for <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">// A Separate Peace // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> can be purchased. This study guide can be incorporated as a supplemental material, which includes several activities. Of the activities explained in the description of the guide, my favorite is the one that asks for students to explain how the story would be told differently from another character's point of view.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"> [|Student Resources for A Separate Peace on Mr. Lettiere's Website] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> This is a link to the website of Mr. Lettiere, a teacher at Argo Community High School. On this specific page, Lettiere provides several learning resources for his students. My favorite resources on this site are online quizzes, which were created by users of quiz-creating websites. These quizzes are great because after students submit their answers, they get instant feedback about their results as well as a recap of the quiz, on which their answers and the correct answers are highlighted. There are also crossword puzzle quizzes and vocabulary quizzes. These quizzes would be awesome study resources. Additionally, on this page, Lettiere posts his study guides in downloadable PDF files. He also posts current media resources to form connections with studentss and the elements of the book, such as a list of movies about boarding schools. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">[|A Separate Peace Vocabulary List (PDF)] This is a link to a chapter-by-chapter vocabulary list posted by Jason Bronkar, an English teacher at Edison High School in California on his website through the Center for International Business and Communication Studies. This would be a helpful resource in establishing a list of sophisticated words in //A Separate Peace// to be closely taught in a unit. This would help students understand what they're reading, develop a mature repertoire, and prepare for standardized tests.


 * Assessment:**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">[|Glogster Project by user "verum"] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> This is a link to a Glog about A Separate Peace, which includes interactive images, a list of themes from the book, an abridged summary of the book, an interpretive video, music, and a link to a biography of the author, John Knowles. This serves as an awesome example of a multi-modal project that could be assigned to students as a method of post-reading assessment. Through the site "Glogster," students can create interactive posters incorporating text, video, audio, and photographs in a way that allows them to be very creative.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">[|Student-Generated Study Guide for A Separate Peace] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> This is a link to a student-generated study guide for <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">A Separate Peace // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">, which is posted on the website for Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District. This is an example of a project students could complete for either the entire novel or even for a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the book. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">[|A Separate Peace Comprehensive Exam by Sarah Lorntson] This is a link to a downloadable 50-question exam posted on Curriki.org by Sarah Lorntson, an English teacher from Minnesota. This exam is comprehensive of the entire book and would be a helpful resource in developing an exam or a study guide.

[|A Separate Peace Unit Project by Steven Kahl (PDF)] This is a link to a unit project posted by Steven Kahl of Mountain View/Los Altos Union High School in California to the school's website. This is an incredible project, as it requires students, working either in pairs or alone, to apply the //A Separate Peace// to one of several modes of media, such as sculpture, film, board games, and web design. This form of assessment not only hones students' critical reading skills, but it also requires them to apply elements of the book into a creative visual project.

[|Character Exploration Project] This is a link to the website "GoAnimate.com, where students can set up free accounts and create their own cartoons. This website was name-dropped by Suzanne Rogers on the English Companion Ning in a discussion about role-playing activities. After exploring this website, I feel that students could have a lot of fun with this project. They could work together or in groups to design a cartoon explaining the plot and themes of //A Separate Peace// through the commentaries and actions of characters from the novel. This form of assessment would allow students to write a story which extends the novel, while also exploring the attitudes of the novel's characters.
 * Alternative Media:**

[|Trailer for 2004 Film Adaptation of A Separate Peace and Purchasable Digital Version of the Film on Amazon.com] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> This is a link to a trailer for the 2004 film adaptation of <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">// A Seperate Peace // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> on Amazon.com. On this page, the digital and DVD full versions of the film can be purchased to show in the classroom, as well. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">[|A Separate Peace Audiobook from the Kent Free Library] This is a link to the online catalog of the Kent Free Library, where members of the library can reserve the audiobook of //A Separate Peace//. This would be a helpful classroom tool in several ways:


 * This would be a great way to teach the book to students who are blind.


 * When students are having trouble gripping the meanings of what they read, this would be a great way to recap the text and get students on the right track.


 * This is a way to enhance learning through multiple senses. Especially for developing readers who are struggling with comprehension. However, this should be used like training wheels on a bike. This should be a supplement for reading. By using this too often, students may start to abuse the opportunity to hear an audio book by not reading the text.

[|PostSecret on Amazon.com] This is a link to Amazon.com, where the book PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives by Frank Warren can be purchased. This is an example of a current-age book that could be incorporated with //A Separate Peace// when discussing the theme of guilt. There is also a blog for PostSecret, but as the content of this book and its surrounding websites are often intense and mature, the book would be the best way for a teacher to control the content to which students are exposed. I would only use this with high school students, and before doing so, I would initiate a discussion with parents and guardians to inform them of the content that will be taught.

This page was created by David Chupak.