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Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY 1: “Positive Posting”

In this activity, students will post sticky notes with positive messages as inspired by the novel.

The students at Branton Middle School post sticky notes for different reasons. Some are to provoke thought or make someone smile. Others are motivated by cruelty.

Use sticky notes to build positivity. You might consider writing an aphorism, similar to those Mr. Sword assigned. You might convey a message that will make someone feel supported. You could concentrate on a message to build classroom or school community.

• Brainstorm your purpose and message.
• Carefully compose your message and have it approved.
• Post it in the class or designated space.

In a reading journal or your notes, reflect on and write about this experience. What is the purpose behind the message you chose? Did the words come easily, or was it a challenge to compose the message? In class discussion, share your thoughts on what this novel and activity teach about communication.

Teaching Suggestion: It might be beneficial for students to reflect on characters’ actions in the novel and the lasting effects of words. This activity might expand beyond the classroom; for example, students might create posters, announcements on the loudspeaker, or videos for screens in the halls or lunchroom.

ACTIVITY 2: “Rewriting the Rules”

In this activity, students will closely read the school rules focused on bullying prevention and propose revisions.

The staff at Branton Middle School imposes new guidelines to try to address school bullying, but the guidelines do not have the desired effect. Our school has rules to try to stop bullying. Read these rules, discuss their effectiveness, and write ideas for revisions to improve their effectiveness. Then, work with the class to write a proposal for change.

Part A:

• Read the rules and annotate. What is effective? What is ineffective? Why?
• Discuss your thoughts in your small group and listen to the ideas of others.
• Revise at least one school rule regarding bullying to improve the rule’s effectiveness.

Share in the class discussion and consider further revisions.

Part B:

• Write a proposal to send to the principal. Explain the revision you want to make to the rule and your reasoning for the change.

In your reading journal or notes, reflect on what you learned from this process. What characters or character actions in Posted would be affected by your revised rule?

Teaching Suggestion: This activity connects to the themes of Sticky Notes and possibly Anonymity Gives People Power. It may be helpful to introduce this activity by reviewing supportive actions of characters, including when Bench and Eric tell the principal who hurt Wolf and when students post notes of support on Wolf’s locker. The activity could be shifted to allow each small group to write their own proposal. To work best for your school, perhaps the proposal could go to the School Board or the school’s Culture and Climate Team (or equivalent). Communicating their belief in a revised rule may help students recognize the power of their voices both individually and collectively. This resource from stopbullying.gov might benefit students as they develop their ideas.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students who benefit from reading strategies might utilize a word bank for challenging vocabulary as they read and annotate the rules. Sentence stems for the newly proposed rules might be used by those who benefit from writing strategies.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. When the school bans cell phones and students begin using sticky notes, classmates can say something without attaching their name.

• In the novel, how does Anonymity Give People Power? (topic sentence)
• Choose 3 of the strongest examples of characters or character actions to analyze and discuss in support of your topic sentence. Include appropriate quotations and details to support your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, briefly summarize the overall message conveyed by the book about this theme.

2. The dynamics of Eric’s friend group shift throughout the novel.

• To what extent does Bench betray the friend group? (topic sentence)
• Analyze and discuss Bench’s actions in at least 3 points of support, considering individual plot events and character reactions. Use quotations and other specific details to develop your points.
• In your conclusion, evaluate how realistic Bench’s choices are.

3. Rose, Eric, Wolf, Deedee, Bench, and others stand up as leaders at different points in the novel. Reflect on the definition of a leader.

• Which character is the strongest leader overall? (topic sentence)
• Argue for your choice by choosing and analyzing the strongest pieces of evidence. As you develop your essay, support your argument with text details.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, state a lesson this character’s actions convey about leadership.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. The characters encounter rules in various situations: edicts at school, unspoken rules in social situations, rules for Dungeons and Dragons, and more. What is the overall role of rules in Posted? How do characters navigate expectations at school in different ways, and how do their choices reveal their character? When characters break the rules, what are their reasons and what are the effects? Craft a 3- or 5-paragraph essay analyzing how rules illuminate the characters or other novel elements.

2. In the first chapter, referring to the “war” at school, Eric says, “Truth is, I can’t tell you exactly when it changed. I can tell you how it started, though. And I can tell you how it ended. I will do my best to line up the dots in between. I’ll leave it to you to draw the line.” (Chapter 1) Reflect on the events of the novel. How important were events such as Ruby’s text, the phone ban, each “nudge,” the sticky note ban, and the Gauntlet? What other scenes stand out as causes of the “war”? In a 3- or 5- paragraph essay, “draw the line” Eric speaks about. What were the main causes of the conflict at BMS, and what do these events reveal about the theme of Similarities and Differences Are Illusions?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following situations contribute to the cell phone ban?

A) A teacher seeing Ruby’s cruel text about one of her teachers

B) Jason and Rose running The Gauntlet after school

C) Sticky notes appearing everywhere throughout the school

D) Eric advocating for the ban to try to stop bullying

2. Which of the following best describes Deedee's relationship with Dungeons and Dragons?

A) Deedee only plays because he wants to spend time with his friends.

B) Deedee likes Dungeons and Dragons to some extent but prefers Capture the Flag.

C) Deedee has never played until Rose introduces him to the game.

D) Deedee is the dungeon master, leading the game when the friend group plays.

3. Why does Rose choose the lunch table where she sits?

A) Rose's English teacher assigns her to sit at the table and tutor Bench during lunch.

B) Rose is new; when she is rejected by peers, Wolf invites her to join their table.

C) Rose's best friend moves schools, so she tries to sit by herself in the back of the room.

D) Rose plans on skipping school, so she chooses a table close to the door.

4. What impact does the cell phone ban have on bullying?

A) The ban mostly stops bullying for most of the year until the Gauntlet incident.

B) The ban has little effect on bullying, with only minor shifts in the ways it happens.

C) The ban stops bullying in school, but it gets worse outside school.

D) The ban leads to those who were bullies becoming the ones being bullied.

5. How does Mr. Sword's aphorism assignment affect Eric?

A) Eric ignores the assignment until the last minute and writes the first thing he thinks of.

B) Bench writes a cruel aphorism, which bothers Eric, keeping him awake at night.

C) The assignment leads to Eric delivering a speech to the student body about bullying.

D) Eric feels pressure to write a great aphorism and recognizes his friend’s eloquence.

6. What plot point best represents the theme of Anonymity Gives People Power?

A) One of Wolf's bullies writing on his locker

B) Bench changing lunch tables

C) Rose switching schools and attending BMS

D) The English teacher dressing in costume

7. As Wolf destroys the models he built, why does Eric confront Bench?

A) Eric believes Bench has been harassing Wolf all year and knows no one else will confront him.

B) Bench leaves Eric a cruel note, and Eric decides he will follow Wolf's example and stand up for himself.

C) Bench quits the football team, and Eric demands to know why because he believes Bench loves football.

D) Eric realizes he needs to stand up for his friend and thinks Bench knows who wrote on Wolf's locker.

8. What is significant about the Sticky Notes covering Wolf's locker at the end of the novel?

A) They all are from his teachers trying to convince him to stay at BMS.

B) They were posted with no staff noticing, revealing the lack of security at the school.

C) They illustrate strong support from most of the school.

D) They were an assignment from Mr. Sword, demonstrating his influence.

9. Which of the following adjectives best describes Rose?

A) Uncertain, kind, quiet

B) Blissful, funny, curious

C) Confident, loyal, protective

D) Moody, successful, serious

10. What does Eric learn about friendship?

A) Eric realizes friendship is fleeting and vows not to rely on it much but rather to depend only on himself.

B) Eric recognizes the value of friendship, that shifting roles are acceptable, and that he can rely on and defend his friends.

C) Eric discovers friendship is more difficult to maintain than popularity; he wants to be popular more than he wants friends.

D) Eric decides friendship is important, that he wants to be the leader of his friend group, and that he needs to be the most outspoken.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Why does Rose start attending BMS?

2. In the last scene, what makes Eric hopeful during Dungeons and Dragons?