This document provides an agenda and assignments for an 8th grade language arts class that is beginning to read the novel The Giver. The agenda includes a warm-up activity, watching a video, getting background information on the historical context around euthanasia and the Branch Davidian raid, and assigning chapters 1-2 of The Giver to read for homework. It also lists discussion questions about creating an ideal community for a pre-reading activity and directs students to respond to one of the questions on the back of the handout.