<em>Fahrenheit 451</em>: Lesson Three Educational Resources K12 Learning, Literary Studies, Reading Lesson Plans, Activities, Experiments, Homeschool Help

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

What titles of banned books do you know?
Have you ever read a banned book?

The concept sounds sinister, yet books are still banned for various reasons.

Watch the video below to learn the top 10 banned books.

Have you ever read any of these?

Thousands of books have been banned since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century.

From children's books to literary classics to religious texts, no genre of writing is exempt from challenge. Many classic literary texts and texts that are often taught in primary and secondary schools have been banned at one time or another.

Did you know Fahrenheit 451 is a book that has been banned?

Oh, the irony!

Why do you think people challenge books and try to get them banned?

To learn more about the reasons for censorship, visit Banned Books: Reasons Books are Challenged. Make a list of any reasons you find compelling for banning books.

Then, explore the resources below. Make notes of any reasons you find compelling for banning books.

Answer the following questions in the notebook or journal you have kept for this series.

Are there any circumstances where it can be advisable to ban books? Why or why not?
How would you react if your library or community banned a book you wanted to read?
Fahrenheit 451 is a book that has been banned. How does this knowledge affect your perception of the book?

Take out the copy of Fahrenheit 451 that you began reading in the first Related Lesson. Because Bradbury's work is still under copyright law, online versions can be difficult to obtain. However, you may try this version of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Read from where you left off in the previous lesson.

"'My uncle says . . . and . . . my uncle . . . and . . . my uncle . . .' Her voice faded."

Stop after the sentence below.

"Mildred beamed. 'You just run away from the door, Guy, and don't make us nervous.'"

As you read, answer the questions from the Fahrenheit 451 Reading Log in your notebook or journal. (If you need another copy, find it under Downloadable Resources.)

After reading and answering the questions, check your thinking against the answers below.

Move on the Got It? section to explore why Fahrenheit 451 was censored.