Confession: I have never read Ayn Rand’s books. When I was able recently to obtain a free class set of Anthem, and a free class set of The Fountainhead (on the condition that I actually teach both the novels) I jumped for the opportunity.  We actually began a study of Anthem today in my first period (Gifted English Class, 9th and 10th graders). I introduced the book with a short lecture on Rand’s life and introduced her philosophy of Objectivism. I will introduce The Fountainhead to my 4th period gifted students the same way.

I plan on working through the books in class, a chapter a day if possible I know it is slow, tedious work doing that, but it is a good way for me to learn these works myself, and I can construct a test as I go along. This kind of read-aloud time also makes for good discussion (at least with gifted kids). Anthem is a novella, so I should complete it easily in this manner. The Fountainhead is much longer, and I’ll likely have to assign those readings, and it may take a little longer to complete the study. Oh, well.  The exciting part of this exercise is I know I will learn some things. I already have. More on Rand later. If you’d like to know more about Rand, go to this site:

http://www.ayn-rand.com/ayn-rand-bio.asp