Students investigate how a self-selected literary text and nonfiction text speak to each other, then build and defend an original claim about what becomes visible when the two are read in tandem. Through journals, reading conferences, guided discussion, and critique cycles, they practice close reading, evidence-based reasoning, and professional speaking for a real audience of peers, educators, families, and community partners. The work culminates in a panel presentation package that uses digital media strategically and invites students to explain, revise, and justify their thinking in response to questions and feedback.

Students will analyze a self-selected literary text and a nonfiction text in tandem, using journals, discussions, and primary-source connections to build a defensible claim about how the texts deepen or complicate one another. They will practice collaborative academic discourse in conferences, reading groups, and reflection circles by explaining reasoning, using evidence, seeking and offering constructive critique, and working across differing perspectives. Students will develop professional presentation skills by designing a strategic multimedia slideshow, speaking clearly and persuasively to a mixed audience, and responding thoughtfully during Q&A. They will also strengthen self-awareness and self-direction by tracking their reading process, identifying academic strengths and challenges, and setting weekly goals for revision and growth.

Students will produce a reading journal with dated reflections, text-to-text connections, and weekly goals; a one-slide teaser after the launch; and annotated planning notes from teacher conferences, peer critique, and source work with a museum educator, archivist, or historical society partner. As they revise, they will create draft comparison claims, a storyboard or slide outline, and rehearsal recordings to strengthen pacing, projection, evidence use, and digital media choices. The final products are a panel-ready multimedia presentation, a one-page synthesis handout that explains how the two texts illuminate each other, and a brief live Q&A with educators, peers, families, and school leaders. Students will also leave with a short written self-assessment that reflects on academic growth, collaboration across difference, and how their thinking changed through critique and revision.

Open with a Literary Salon Day in which students rotate through short discussion rounds on prompts about identity, conflict, truth, and power, using intriguing excerpts, images, and artifacts from fiction, nonfiction, and local primary sources supplied by a museum educator or archivist. Follow with a brief model panel presentation so students can see the slideshow, one-page handout, speaking moves, and Q&A expectations in action, then debrief the rubric by naming what made the synthesis convincing and clear. End with a “one-slide teaser” task in which each student shares their chosen texts, a possible issue or theme linking them, and one question they hope reading both together will answer. This launch builds immediate investment, surfaces diverse perspectives, and gives students a concrete vision of the final public presentation.

Host a formal panel presentation event at school where students deliver their multimedia talks and Q&A to a five-person audience that includes peers, teachers, parents, administrators, and invited community partners such as a museum educator or archivist. Turn the room into a symposium space by displaying each student’s one-page synthesis handout and a QR code linking to the slideshow, so guests can continue exploring the paired texts and sources after the talk. Build in a short gallery-walk reception after the presentations so panelists and visitors can leave written feedback and questions that recognize strong reasoning, evidence use, and presentation craft.