The Nickel Boys Lesson Plan

Famous First Words

Kind of Activity:

Group Work

Objective:

Students will analyze the novel's opening sentence and compare it to the famous openings of other novels.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10

Structure:

Whitehead opens the novel with a compelling and mysterious line: "Even in death the boys were trouble."

For this activity, students will analyze this line and compare it to the first lines of other famous novels.

In small groups, students will discuss the following questions: How did you react to the novel's first line? What do you think Whitehead is trying to say with this...