Huck Finn teaching ideas

I teach Huck Finn to my juniors every year, and I have found that most students like the book once they can get past the dialect issues.

To set the stage, we turn to the Internet to search for images of the Mississippi River; Hannibal, MO; Mark Twain, slavery, and the antebellum South. Students are assigned to bring back the URL links to class, and we spend some time bringing them up on the SmartBoard. Students brings up their images and discuss why they chose them and what they learned from their search. We also talk about the allure of the river since we live next to the Missouri, and they do a journal entry on their favorite river memories.

The next issue I deal with is dialect. Before we even get into the reading of the book, we examine some of the dialects in the book, with special emphasis on Jim and Pap Finn. I read some of Jim's dialect out loud to them and then they "translate" it into standard English. We do the same with Pap Finn, and then we discuss how Twain created the sound of spoken language. I think this is crucial for many readers who would otherwise struggle with the dialect. Once they can train their ears to "hear" the language, they seem to find it less of a stumbling block as they get into reading the story.

As we read the book, we stop for discussion and journaling. I always give them a couple of different prompts for journals, but I encourage them to respond to the section that they have just read in any way that is appropriate. They often make connections between what Huck is experiencing and what they have experienced in their lives. Sometimes they question what is going on, and sometimes they predict what will happen. Since the journals are kept in the classroom, I read them periodically before our reading circle day and highlight comments here and there in the journals that I think they might like to share with the entire class on circle talk day.

We do a "circle talk," which is one of the students' favorite times. Armed with their journals and comments to share, we usually have a lively conversation! I typically just sit back and listen and make sure they don't get too far off track. Sometimes we have to devote more than one day.

When we are finished with the book, I assign a final project, giving them a lot of choices. They can write a traditional essay or they can do a creative response to the book. I would say I have about 25% opting for the traditional essay with the other 75% doing something more creative. I make a few suggestions (build a raft, make a poster, interview the author, write a new ending, write a chapter from another character's perspective, etc.), but I often have students who come up with their own novel approaches. For example, this year I had a very artistic student make an entire deck of cards that were illustrated with characters and scenes from the book. It was awesome! At the end of the year, he gave the deck of cards to me!

This final project is the student's opportunity to respond in a way that fits his/her talents. Students seem to enjoy having some options, and I try to let the project be pretty open-ended because I don't want to end up with all the same project. Left to their own devices, students come up with better ideas than I might have had and have more "buy-in" as a result.