A Ray Bradury Lesson Plan with Fahrenheit 451 Teaching Activity

A Ray Bradury Lesson Plan with Fahrenheit 451 Teaching Activity
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RayBradbury.com offers an opportunity to learn about one of Science Fiction’s greatest writers. The site contains a biography, summaries of the author’s works with links to purchase them, messages from Ray, a newsletter, interviews, photographs, and video clips.

The website gives fans (or students forced to do an assignment) the opportunity to interact with other fans (or students forced to do an assignment) on message boards and through e-mail correspondence. (Editor’s Note: Although this writer suspected Ray wasn’t actually the one responding to these messages prior to his illness, and subsequent death, the boards are still active and some of the archived messages make for interesting reading.)

The site’s only weakness is the lack of easy navigation. If you wish to include the website into your lesson plans or activities, take a few minutes and check out the site, so you look really smart when your students ask you questions. (Editor’s Tip - scroll down and click the images or use the links at the bottom of the page.)

Questions on Ray Bradbury

The following questions make a great addition to your lesson plans. They can be used as part of your <em>Fahrenheit 451</em> teaching activities or as part of a short story unit with &ldquo;The Pedestrian&rdquo; or “There Will Come Soft Rains” or &ldquo;A Sound of Thunder.&rdquo;

  1. Record the following biographical information about Ray: birthdate, birthplace, his first job, how many children he has, and when he died. (August 22, 1920; Waukegan, Illinois; sold newspapers; four children; June 5, 2012)
  2. What was his first collection of short series? His first novel? (Dark Carnival; The Martian Chronicles)
  3. How many books has Bradbury published? List 8 of them. (49)
  4. List five links outside of RayBradbury.com that discuss the works and life of Ray Bradbury. Write a sentence summary about each of the five links. (This link has all the links.)
  5. List three awards Bradbury has earned. (The National Medal of Arts; The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters; A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame)
  6. List five of Ray’s books with a 2-3 sentence summary.

Video Activities for Fahrenheit 451

Using technology to research questions is more motivating than listening to a teacher drone on and on. Using the internet for video and interactive applications will make your teaching more effective.

  1. Watch a Bradbury video. Summarize its content and react to it.
  2. Post a message or a question on the RayBradbury.com message board. Print out the question and any responses.
  3. Respond to a post. Print it out.
  4. List three things Bradbury says about Fahrenheit 451. Censorship. Short Stories. Metaphors. Halloween (the video clips page is here)

This post is part of the series: Ray Bradbury Lesson Plans

Use the world’s greatest science fiction writer to teach literary terms.

  1. Teaching Setting in Bradbury&rsquo;s &ldquo;There Will Come Soft Rains&rdquo;
  2. Teaching Sensory Details in Bradbury&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Pedestrian&rdquo;
  3. Technology Related Activities for Ray Bradbury&rsquo;s Fahrenheit 451