Pre-Reading Activity for "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury

My students are currently reading various short stories. One of them is Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains."

Before we read it, I have my students brainstorm the benefits of technology. Next, I prompt them to come up with an invention (that has not been invented yet) that would make their lives easier. I let them work in groups, then share their inventions on a post-it note. (One of my artistic students drew the lightbulb since my drawing skills are lacking.) They usually come up with some creative responses. Here's one of my favorites:

After reading the story we discuss many of downfalls of technology. Since I teach at a 1:1 school, we see/experience a lot of these pitfalls on a daily basis; although, most students would agree: no matter how frustrating technology can be, they wouldn't want to live without it.

ADDITIONAL LINKS
• If you read this story with your students, you must listen to Leonard Nimoy's rendition on You Tube. It is fantastic.

• For additional ideas, I wrote a post about Sara Teasdale's poem, "There Will Come Soft Rains" on my other blog in connection to Earth Day.

Just Pinning Away...

Do you use Pinterest? Yes, I'm a Pin Addict. Or Junkie. Or whatever you wish to call someone who is addicted to pinning things on Pinterest. It's just so visually stimulating, I guess. But I really love seeing all the great, creative things I can try in my classroom AND getting a good chuckle from time to time. I'm not a food-pinner, though. Seeing food just makes me hungry and want to eat. Plus, I'm not much of a cook, so what's the point? ;]

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my favorite pins with you. I apologize that I may not have these all sourced, but you can find them on my Pin Boards. Feel free to follow me, repin, comment, whatever. ;]

This one is courtesy of Kathie, my Facebook/Twitter friend & fellow educator. It's pretty sad how this is so true for many of us in our classrooms/schools. I guess it is a reflection of education, itself, in our society. Let's hope the pendulum swings back...soon!

This picture was taken by ‏@PaulWHankins at Donalyn Miller's workshop (she is amazing) and is one slide in her presentation. I think it speaks volumes about the power of reading.

Yep...

There's not enough time in the day to read as much as I'd like to!

Authors are my rock stars. Of course, rocks stars are my rock stars, too. {lol} 

You can order it from SourceBooks for $20. It's simply Poetastic!

And how cool would this be to eat from book-shaped plates? Buy them by the case (12 per case) 

from The Webstraunt Store. (Not sure if you have to own a restaurant to buy from them.)

I love this visual representation of "Knowledge is power." 

R.I.P. Ray Bradbury. Author of so many great works, including Fahrenheit 451 and one of my favorite short stories, "There Will Come Soft Rains" (which is also one of my favorite poems by Sara Teasdale.)

It seems appropriate to mention another author who did not believe in censorship, Mark Twain. (Actually, I can't think of any authors who favor censorship, can you?) 

And who doesn't love some ecards??  Here are my latest favorites:

(Nope, we just had unexpected company...lol.)

Yes...please direct these moms to me, please. I have a list ready for them. ;]

This one goes out to all my Wisconsin teacher friends. Unless we all get out and vote, what is happening in Wisconsin is sure to spread to the rest of our states, if it hasn't already.

And everything must end with a laugh. 

This one is from LOL Wall on Facebook, asking how you have been keeping cool this summer...

 Not sure if I pinned it, though I shared on FB. I guess I'll have to pin now, huh!?

And if you're looking for anything related to The Hunger Games, I'll be adding my favorite Hunger Games pins over on my Hunger Games Lessons blog shortly...

Have a great weekend!

Add your Pinterest link to Allie's link-up here: