Literary works like The Great Gatsby possess rich layers of themes, symbolism, and characterization that require thoughtful exploration. However, it’s easy to fall into common pitfalls that may inadvertently impede our students’ comprehension and critical thinking. By identifying and addressing these mistakes, we can ensure that our unit plans not only cover the necessary content but also foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the novel.

Let’s take a closer look at the top four mistakes made in Great Gatsby unit plans and discover practical tweaks that will transform your teaching approach and elevate your students’ learning experience. Let’s build a better classroom!

Mistake 1: Spending too much time on context

Learning about the Roaring 20s and the historical context of The Great Gatsby can be fascinating, but dedicating an excessive amount of time to this aspect may not necessarily help students understand the text itself. While it is important to provide some background information, diving too deep into historical details can distract students from the primary focus of the unit – the literary elements and themes within the novel.

Tweak: Focus on essential contextual knowledge

Instead of overwhelming students with an extensive study of the Roaring 20s, streamline the context to focus on key elements that directly relate to the themes and characters in The Great Gatsby. Help students understand how the social, economic, and cultural aspects of the era influenced the characters’ motivations and actions, such as Jay Gatsby’s ambitious but sketchy pursuit of wealth, Nick Carraway’s engagement with and motivation around stocks and bonds, and Daisy’s struggle with societal expectations. By making these connections explicit, students will gain a deeper appreciation for Fitzgerald’s critique of the optimism and excess of the age.

For example, are you interested in having students focus their characterization on Nick Carraway? Invite students to explore the effect World War I had on young men and consider how much his war experience affects him. You could compare the very explicit consequences of the war as they relate to Jay Gatsby to the more subtle display in Nick. You could supplement the unit with a nonfiction passage about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s war service and how that affected his life and his writing.

For most units I frontload the context, but for The Great Gatsby unit plan I’ve found that students best respond to casually learning about the context as it comes up in the text. I’ve previously written about leaving a lot of the context building for this text to history teachers, and I find that students often are able to fill in a lot of contextual information on their own. This allows me the opportunity to provide some of the juicier, detailed information specific to the text. When adding additional context as we move through the text feels like being let in on a secret for students. Getting this layering of information helps cement the information in students minds and leads to stronger analysis as the novel progresses. 

Reflection Point: How can you strike a balance between providing context and focusing on the literary elements and themes of The Great Gatsby? Share your thoughts and strategies in the comments or reach me on Instagram @englishclassroomarchitect.

Mistake 2: Including too many disconnected activities

While incorporating a variety of activities in your Great Gatsby unit plan can be engaging, it is crucial to ensure that they connect cohesively to create a meaningful learning experience. If activities are disjointed and lack a clear purpose, students may struggle to see the relevance and integration of the different components, leading to a disconnected and fragmented understanding of the novel.

Tweak: Design activities with clear connections

When creating your Great Gatsby unit plan, consider how activities can build upon one another and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the novel. Create a coherent progression that allows students to deepen their comprehension, analysis, and interpretation skills as they engage with The Great Gatsby. For example, you could start with close reading exercises to analyze the first chapter and establish the themes of critique and excess. Then, transition into activities that explore character development, symbolism, and the overall message of the novel. By ensuring that each activity builds upon the previous one, students will experience a more cohesive and meaningful learning journey. Keep in mind your summative assignment and align your activities to your final product. 

As a younger teacher, I thought that providing all the fun activities would help my students love the class. While students did enjoy some of the fancier activities, I can admit now that a lot of what I did was just fancy filler disguised as academic engagement. As English teachers, we can make everything fit if we really try, but sometimes that makes for convolution. Having a clear understanding of where I am going means that I am not trying to shoehorn fun assignments into my Great Gatsby unit. Now I focus on assignments that are fun but have a clear connection to concepts and skills I want for students to demonstrate. 

By doing this, I have a more streamlined unit, and students get more direct practice with what I want from them in the final assessment. Having a clear understanding of the focus and aims of my unit allows me to design fewer assignments with broader reach, hitting on multiple objectives at once. For instance, I have students connect lyrics of contemporary songs to lyrics of The Great Gatsby. But, I have been very thoughtful about which lyrics I choose so that students are delving into themes and topics that are reinforced in the close reading assignments and the Socratic Seminar questions I have designed, leading to a looping of skill and conceptual thinking.

Reflection Point: How have you experienced the challenge of creating a cohesive learning experience in your unit plans? How have you achieved this in your Great Gatsby unit plan, specifically? What strategies have you used to ensure that activities are connected and build upon one another? Share your thoughts and strategies in the comments or reach me on Instagram @englishclassroomarchitect.

Mistake 3: Not spending enough time with the first chapter

The opening chapter of The Great Gatsby is crucial for setting the tone, introducing important characters, and establishing Fitzgerald’s critique of the era. Fitzgerald packs quite a bit of information about our narrator in the first paragraphs, and glossing over it and neglecting to spend adequate time on this chapter can hinder students’ understanding of the novel’s central themes and may lead to missed opportunities for deeper analysis and critical thinking.

Tweak: Prioritize in-depth exploration of the first chapter

Devote ample time to closely examining the first chapter of The Great Gatsby. Use this chapter as a springboard for discussions, activities, and analysis that delve into the themes of optimism, excess, and the disillusionment of the American Dream. Encourage students to explore Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism, language, and characterization to convey his critique. By immersing students in the nuances of the opening chapter, you set a strong foundation for their understanding of the entire novel.

You may be worried focusing on the first chapter for too long may bore students. While it is possible to spend too long on the chapter, an in-depth exploration of the chapter can actually captivate students by introducing them to the novel’s key themes and setting a strong foundation for the rest of the unit. But, you can also employ strategies to spice up student engagement in your Great Gatsby unit plan by including Reader’s Theater. I have had tremendous success with this strategy, and especially using it in the first chapter to hook students. Reading aloud in this way helps students to embody the characters and better engage with the text.

Reflection Point: What specific aspects of the opening chapter do you think are crucial for students to grasp in order to fully appreciate the themes and messages of the novel? How would you guide students to explore Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism, language, and characterization in that chapter? Share your thoughts and strategies in the comments or reach me on Instagram @englishclassroomarchitect.

Mistake 4: Neglecting to incorporate meaningful activities for comprehension, analysis, and interpretation

While it’s important to avoid including too many disconnected activities, it’s equally crucial to ensure that the activities you include in your Great Gatsby unit plan provide students with opportunities to deepen their comprehension, analysis, and interpretation skills. By neglecting to incorporate such activities, students may miss out on the chance to engage with the novel on a more critical level and develop their own interpretations of the text.

Tweak: Design activities that foster higher-order thinking

When putting together your Great Gatsby unit plan, think beyond surface-level comprehension questions and generic activities. Instead, consider how you can design activities that encourage students to analyze and interpret the novel in a more nuanced way. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Give students somewhat random images and ask them to connect the image to sections of the text. Adding a visual element expands students’ creativity and encourages close reading.
2. Ask students to arrange themselves to create tableaus of important scenes. This assignment does double duty because you can follow up with a discussion about the role that image and persona creation has in the novel.
3. Hold a Socratic Seminar for students to discuss emerging themes and characterization, as well as the importance of any relative context. See my previous post for suggestions of questions you can use connecting social media and The Great Gatsby. This activity promotes critical thinking, oral communication skills, and the ability to construct and defend logical arguments.

Reflection Point: Evaluate how well the current activities in your Great Gatsby unit plan are fostering student engagement and growth in comprehension, analysis, and interpretation. Are students actively participating and demonstrating a deeper understanding of the text through these activities? Are there any specific areas where students may need additional support or guidance? Share your thoughts and strategies in the comments or reach me on Instagram @englishclassroomarchitect.

By avoiding these common mistakes and implementing the suggested tweaks, you can enhance your Great Gatsby unit plan and create a more effective and engaging learning experience for your students. It’s important to strike a balance between providing context, designing connected activities, and focusing on key chapters to foster a deep understanding of the novel’s themes and messages. While the actions outlined above can derail a unit, they could also be implemented effectively by a skilled educator. Ultimately, the choices of how you spend your time should reflect the needs of your students. 

So, do you agree these are Great Gatsby unit planning mistakes? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments or you can reach me at Instagram @englishclassroomarchitect. 

Resources in my store to build your Great Gatsby unit plan:

• American Dream Celebrity Brackets – this free resource pairs carefully curated celebrities and wealthy individuals head to head to determine who best embodies the American Dream. This is a fun resource with a variety of writing and discussion options.
• American Dream Digital Tools for Classroom Routines – this set of resources is the digital equivalent of flair pens, fancy folders, and colorful sticky notes! This pack has daily agenda slides, lesson plan template, Google Slides and Forms templates, an LMS hub image, and a unit overview that can be used to organize daily agendas or lesson plans – all visually coordinated to work with the resources above.    
• The Great Gatsby Chapter 1 Character Analysis and Social Media Jigsaw Activity – capitalize on your students interest and knowledge of social media and get them engaging and moving as they connect to the identity construction of character in The Great Gatsby
• The Great Gatsby Reader’s Theater: Dinner Party at the Buchanan’s – use a Reader’s Theater version of the text to give students an immersive medium for understanding The Great Gatsby.
• The Great Gatsby Jigsaw Activity: Pairing Literary Analysis with the Text – this is a great activity with varied steps for helping students to break down and analyze the first chapter.
• The Great Gatsby Prohibition-Era Research Project – help students to understand the significance and importance of Jay Gatsby’s connection with bootlegging. This project can change student’s perspective and help better analyze relationships as they read!
• American Dream Research Project for Teaching the Research Process – using a narrative process for synthesizing research, students will evaluate Hollywood’s portrayal of the American Dream.

The post The 4 Biggest Mistakes You Are Making in Your Great Gatsby Unit Plan (and how to fix them) appeared first on English Classroom Architect.

Social media plays a major role in the lives of many teenagers. Even for those that are not active on social media, they are all aware of the dangers and pitfalls, as well as the opportunities of social platforms. Using the awareness our students have to social media can be used as a bridge to teaching The Great Gatsby. Leveraging students’ familiarity with social media platforms can lead to a deeper examination of themes, a clearer understanding of the social structures of the novel, an awareness of the construction and illusion of identity, and a translation of the parallels of instant gratification between then and now. By tapping into their familiarity with these platforms, educators can unlock a treasure trove of creative ideas for teaching The Great Gatsby. 

Connecting Modern Realities with Classic Literature

Social media platforms have revolutionized the way we communicate, form identities, and navigate relationships. The Great Gatsby, with its exploration of illusion, wealth, materialism, and social dynamics, offers a lens through which we can examine these modern phenomena. As educators, we have the opportunity to tap into students’ understanding of social media and leverage it to enrich their exploration of the novel. We can guide our students to make connections between the characters’ false personas and the carefully curated profiles they encounter online, sparking deep discussions and critical thinking.

To make The Great Gatsby resonate with students, it’s crucial to establish a connection between the novel and their contemporary experiences. Social media provides an excellent entry point, as it mirrors the social dynamics depicted in the book. By drawing parallels between the personas individuals craft on social media and the characters’ false identities in the novel, students can gain a deeper understanding of the themes and motivations driving the story.

Social Media As a Social Experiment

One of my guilty pleasures is reality television. Here’s the scene: I’m sitting in my living room, binge watching The Circle, a popular show on Netflix. The Circle is a social reality game where contestants live alone in apartments and communicate to one another solely through a closed social marketing platform dubbed The Circle. Each week players vote someone out. The criteria for elimination is completely up to each individual player. The twist is that players can play as themselves or they can do a fake persona. What is interesting to me about this game is that some people will hunt for the catfish, but others decide that they don’t care about the persona and what is more important is the type of person that they are projecting (which could be “real” even if they are catfish). 

At some point, it occurred to me how similar this scenario is to Jay Gatsby, who I have come to describe as the ultimate catfish before catfishing became a thing and it sparked a slew of ideas for teaching The Great Gatsby. If we eliminate the illegal ways Gatsby made his money (which is a significant problem, but put that aside for a moment), is the projection of a new version of himself something that we should shun? Or is he actually the exaggerated version of a self-made man? That bootstrap mentality is at the heart of the romanticized version of The American Dream, is it not? Or, bringing his illegal dealings back in, is that need to separate his climb from his achieved status what makes Gatsby’s fakeness so negative?

We as readers see this social dynamic in The Great Gatsby, with Nick Carraway. As Nick receives more information about characters he changes his judgements about them. For Gatsby, while he internally judges and admonishes, outwardly he remains a steadfast friend. At least from what Nick tells the reader, he reacts in the opposite way to her. He receives little additional information about her, but becomes increasingly judgmental and distances from her. Evaluating the reasons why he has these different approaches can lead to interesting conversations among your students. 

Analyzing the Phenomenon of Persona Construction 

Starting with social media and the fabrication of identity acts as a launching pad for discussing the illusion of identity in The Great Gatsby. On social media, people often present idealized versions of themselves, masking their true identities. This intriguing phenomenon aligns with the themes of illusion and identity portrayed in The Great Gatsby.  As students delve into the novel, we can invite them to explore the concept of online personas and the motivations behind these constructed identities. Encouraging reflection on the consequences of maintaining false facades and examining how these facades affect their relationships with others can foster meaningful conversations. By intertwining these discussions with relevant passages from the novel, students can gain a deeper appreciation for the characters’ struggles and the timeless exploration of identity in The Great Gatsby.

We’ve seen multiple people demonstrate the opportunity of going from nothing to something, and we have seen people completely build their persona. An example is Kim Kardashian who is known for being famous for being famous. She has completely built her empire to the point where people often forget about how she first came into the public spotlight. What is the difference between Kim Kardashian and Jay Gatsby? Where do we draw the line between what we would call projecting an idealized version of ourselves and an identity that is considered a false persona? 

How can you build on this in your classroom? Ideas for Teaching the Great Gatsby

1. An assignment I did earlier in my career is casting celebrities to portray each of the characters. A new twist is to look at celebrity social media and use their posts, along with the text of The Great Gatsby,  to justify the castings. This encourages students to think about the image the character is portraying and separating it from the comments Nick makes about them.
2. Going back to The Circle, this year I tried an immersive experience similar to the reality show. Students impersonated characters and tried to build alliances with the direction that they could play up whatever qualities they wanted, but they had to play their character with fidelity to The Great Gatsby. Each session they voted out a character. It was interesting to see them really flesh out character motivations and make connections.
3. I really like assignments where students track an idea or concept throughout the text. Students can consider how genuine a character is being at various points in the novel. These would make great graphs!

These ideas for teaching The Great Gatsby are designed to spark meaningful discussions and critical thinking.

Ideas for Teaching the Great Gatsby by Uncovering Themes Related to Wealth and Materialism

Wealth and materialism are central to The Great Gatsby, and social media provides an excellent backdrop for exploring these concepts. By exploring the relationship between social media and materialism, we can provide students with a fresh lens through which to examine the impact of material possessions, the pitfalls of consumer culture, and the role of wealth in shaping individuals’ lives and aspirations. By weaving in real-life examples from social media platforms, we can help students connect the dots between the novel and their own experiences.

To use another example, we saw the relationship of Jay-Z and Beyonce unfold, fumble, and strengthen through the media and their music. Throughout their time as music powerhouses the two have projected images of strength and power, amidst their moments of vulnerability. 

I like to use them as an example for The Great Gatsby because to me they are arguably an embodiment of Jay Gatsby. They have both invented and reinvented themselves in order to climb the social ladder and they are now a power couple of hip hop. They are considered “new money” and have embraced the labels of their roots and demanded seats at the metaphorical table. Beyonce especially has leaned into her country background, but has also positioned herself with the establishment. We see this posting visually with a recent music video where the two videotaped inside the Louvre, associating themselves with respected art even beyond the music industry. 

Both Jay-Z and Jay Gatsby are ambitious and driven individuals who rose from modest backgrounds to become incredibly successful. They amassed considerable wealth and used it to create a lavish lifestyle filled with extravagant parties and possessions. Gatsby throws extravagant parties to display his wealth and attract the attention of his lost love, Daisy Buchanan, while Jay-Z’s success in the music industry allowed him to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle.

The two have used their music videos and social media to reinforce images of wealth and power. 

The Rise of Social Influencers

Marketing experts predict that we are moving away from this model, but teenagers are very familiar with social influencers that gain a following and then make money through affiliate marketing and endorsements, sometimes for products that do not fit their following and they have not even used. This has led to another way that social media nurtures false personas. Here is another opportunity to test Jay Gatsby against contemporary social media. In Gatsby’s mind, he has created everything that Daisy wants—meaning he can give her all the shirts and flowers money can buy. But, there is something missing. It is something genuine that is long gone. Similarly, influencers do make money, but for some that take any deal that they are given, it is at the expense of their credibility. 

This sparks ideas for teaching The Great Gatsby incorporating their understanding of social media and social influencers:

1. Discuss Jay Gatsby as a brand. Students may be familiar with personal branding as a business strategy. Give examples and ask them how successful they believe Gatsby is at creating his brand.
2. Take this a step forward and ask students to create marketing materials for Jay Gatsby. These could be traditional like magazine ads, or they could include social media channels. Students can discuss the choices made in the campaign and the potential impact on Gatsby’s image and relationships
3. Ask students to identify the places characters have influence over one another. You can design activities where they argue for the most powerful character.
4. Host a Socratic Seminar discussing these issues. Here are some questions to get you started:
   1. How does Jay Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth and social status parallel the concept of personal branding in today’s era of social media influencers? Discuss the strategies he employs and the impact on his personal brand.
   2. In what ways does Jay Gatsby’s obsession with creating a persona and attracting Daisy Buchanan resemble the methods used by social media influencers to cultivate a following and monetize their online presence? Explore the similarities and differences between their approaches.
   3. Analyze the consequences of Jay Gatsby’s relentless pursuit of wealth and status. How does his desire for material possessions and the illusion of success affect his relationships and personal fulfillment? Can you draw any parallels to the potential pitfalls of social media influencers focusing solely on monetary gains?
   4. Discuss the notion of authenticity in both Jay Gatsby’s character and the world of social media influencers. How do false personas and the pressure to maintain a certain image impact individuals’ credibility and genuine connections with others?

Through these assignments, students can critically analyze the themes and characters of The Great Gatsby in the context of social media and personal branding, fostering a deeper understanding of the text and its relationship to contemporary issues.

Examining Relationships and Social Circles

Social media heavily influences how relationships are formed, maintained, and perceived. The Great Gatsby offers a rich exploration of complex relationships and social circles, reminiscent of the cliques and online communities that thrive in the digital realm. As we guide our students through the novel, we can encourage them to reflect on the impact of social media on their own relationships and social dynamics. How do virtual connections differ from face-to-face interactions? What are the advantages and drawbacks of these online relationships? By intertwining these questions with character analysis and discussions on the characters’ relationships in the novel, we can foster deeper understanding and critical thinking about the complexities of human connection in both the digital age and the 1920s.

In a world where Snoop Dogg calls Martha Stewart a friend, the rigidity of social circles may feel fabricated to teenagers. But, through social media they also have a fishbowl view of the fragility of some social networks. Comparing the social dynamics depicted in The Great Gatsby, such as the concept of the “East Egg” and “West Egg,” to social media’s influence on cliques and online communities becomes real for students when we talk about viral posts, social influencers, and cancel culture.

For students that have created relationships entirely online with no intention of ever meeting in real life, they can understand Jay Gatsby’s situation. People show up to his parties, but don’t show up for him. As a result, he would rather think people believe the rumors about him than uncover the truth of his beginnings. If Jay Gatsby was real and alive today would he have been treated the same? 

Assignment Ideas:

• Online Relationship Reflection: Have students reflect on their own experiences with online relationships. Ask them to write a reflective essay discussing the similarities and differences between virtual connections and face-to-face interactions. Encourage them to draw parallels between their experiences and the relationships depicted in the novel. What advantages and drawbacks do they see in these online relationships?
• Social Circle Comparison: Ask students to research and analyze contemporary social circles or cliques formed through social media. They can compare these online communities to the social dynamics in The Great Gatsby. Students can create a presentation or a written analysis discussing the similarities, differences, and the impact of social media on the formation and maintenance of these circles.

Incorporating students’ familiarity with social media, these ideas for teaching The Great Gatsby bridge the gap between classic literature and contemporary experiences.

Conclusion

By leveraging students’ understanding of social media, educators can unlock a wealth of ideas for teaching The Great Gatsby. These innovative approaches connect the themes and social dynamics of the novel to students’ contemporary experiences, fostering deeper engagement and critical thinking. Incorporating activities that explore the illusion of identity, uncover themes of wealth and materialism, examine relationships and social circles, and confront the allure of instant gratification, teachers can create a dynamic learning environment that resonates with students and enhances their understanding of this timeless literary work.

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• The Great Gatsby Chapter 1 Character Analysis and Social Media Jigsaw Activity – capitalize on your students interest and knowledge of social media and get them engaging and moving as they connect to the identity construction of character in The Great Gatsby

The post Leveraging Students’ Understanding of Social Media: 10 Ideas for Teaching The Great Gatsby appeared first on English Classroom Architect.