The Great Gatsby

I currently teach two sections of American Literature.  With the release of the new Gatsby movie, I couldn't resist reading this classic with my students.  Even though I haven't seen the new movie yet, many of my students have.  We are midway through the book, and many of them are excited to continue reading.  Technology and pop culture to excite reading?  I'm in!  I came across this article, Bringing Web Tools to Gatsby's Party:  A Digital Path into a Jazz Age Classic, and I had to read it!  The whole premise of the article is to get kids to do textual analysis using web tools.  How clever!  Textual analysis can get tedious and boring. This article suggested using Wordle and Google Books.  I can see how both ways would peak the interest of my students.  Next year, when the novelty of a new movie wears off, these strategies will help engage my students in this classic novel.  Other web tools that would work well with this are Glogster, to create a poster of color symbolism in the story, and Prezi to show understanding of the characters connection.  I'm excited to try these strategies next year with my students.