Catcher in the Rye Projects

My seniors have been in the computer lab a lot lately. They are working on "artifacts" for their final project in our Catcher in the Rye unit. The project is two parts, with the first part requiring them to create two artifacts, one written and one visual. The goal is for them to create "artifacts" that are actually described in the book or might be from the book. For example, at the beginning Holden talks about a composition that he writes for Stradlater. One of the possible written artifacts is for students to actually write the composition as if they are Holden writing it. For visual artifacts, they can do a variety of options, but the majority of them require the use of the computer to create an artifact that appears professional and high quality. For example, one of the visual artifacts requires the students to create a scrapbook of memorabilia that Holden might have accumulated throughout his trip (such as bar napkins, restaurant receipts, ticket stubs from train rides, etc.) , and then they must describe the artifact, the page on which it is discussed, and the significance of that artifact to Holden.

The kids seem to really be getting into the projects, and actually, I feel that they are more interested and engaged in them because they get to use the computer. They use the Internet to do research, to get pictures and ideas, they are learning how to use the programs more in depth. Only on one or two rare occasions have I had to redirect students to get back on task and off of a website they were surfing.

I think this project will be really good for preparing the students for the career research unit I plan on starting next. For that unit they will need to be comfortable with stepping outside their comfort zone when researching on the Internet and completing a more unusual and creative research project than they are used to. If nothing else, I know that several students have gone from virtually zero knowledge of technology (even Word) to being able to manipulate text boxes to create a visually appealing artifact. That is a feat in itself for those kids!