Teacher Resource and Student Response Guides

Speculative Fiction Teacher Resource Guide
by Jesse Stothers Thistledown Press, 1995. 114 pages; ISBN 1-895449-47-2; paper; $24.95;

The Thistledown Press Speculative Fiction Guide includes three novels by Canadian writers: Wind Shifter by Linda Smith, Dance of the Snow Dragon by Eileen Kernaghan, and The Fungus Garden by Brian Brett. This guide is designed to enhance the work and interaction of students and teachers alike, and although each novel is treated independently there are many opportunities for overlap if the teacher chooses to emphasize the common elements among them.
For each of the novels the arrangement is as follows: the Overview section, which includes:

Teaching Focus;
Plot (Content);
Characterization;
Themes;
The Writer's Craft (Structure and Style);

the Questions section, divided into:

Speculations;
General Questions;
Other Activities;

Finally, there is a series of Essay Questions to further develop students' writing and research skills.

The following Canadian young adult sf novels and teacher guides are also available from Thistledown Press

Wind Shifter, by Linda Smith
Sea Change, by Linda Smith

Note that on-line excerpts are available for all of the above from the Thistledown website.

No Limits: Developing Scientific Literacy Using Science Fiction; and it's companion anthology Packing Fraction and Other Tales of Science & Imagination, both by Julie E. Czerneda.

No Limits is a series of lesson plans for teaching scientific literacy through sf; the campanion anthology consists of short sf stories commissioned to illustrate particular scientific concepts. Both titles are from Trifolium Books (325 Humber College Blvd., Etobicoke, ON, Canada M9W 7C3)

Trifolium Books Inc.,
Toronto November 1998
(ISBN 1-895579-94-5)
Cover illustration
Larry Stewart

Study Guide to Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale

This page last updated: November, 1999