EDTP 639 Lesson Plan Part 2 - Character Analysis

EDTP 639 Lesson Plan Part 2

November 7, 2023 

Name: Patricia Saddler Grade: 10

Unit: Southern Gothic Short Stories                     

Time Allotted: 2-day lesson - 60 minutes each day.    

Lesson Topic: Everything that Rises Must Converge, Short Story by Flannery O’Connor

Subject of Lesson: Character Analysis

Reading Strategy Focus: 

• Digital literacy and visualizing will be accomplished through viewing a video of the selected story.
• A written text will be read and followed along with the video because of the length of the story, approximately 6480 words.
• The students will complete an anticipation guide to focus on background knowledge and historical context.
• The students will annotate the text to find new vocabulary words, quotes, metaphors, figurative language, and symbolism.

 Digital Literacy Focus:

Type of Lesson: Developing.

Context for Learning: The students should have prior knowledge of reading and interpreting short stories from being exposed to book reports and literature reviews in earlier grades. If the students are avid readers, they would have been exposed to the concepts of character development, textual analysis, and author’s purpose. By grade three or four the students would have been exposed to creating book reports and interpreting and analyzing fiction and nonfiction texts. 

Classroom Setting: The classroom consists of twenty students. The classroom is a large, modern classroom with six rows of vertical windows across the front of the room. The classroom contains a smartboard and a whiteboard. The classroom is decorated with various posters in the windows and on the walls depicting vocabulary, reading and writing techniques, and literary methods. There is a large desk for the teacher and a smaller desk for any visitors or dedicated aides, who may visit the classroom. The walls are lime green and light blue. The doors are teal blue. There are four bookshelves in the room, one is white the other three are brown. There is a sink with two bottom cabinets and two drawers. There is a large storage closet in the back of the room for extra books and supplies. There are twenty desks for the students and two additional desks to allow for classroom expansion. The classroom is designed with a Zen Zone for students who may need a short break from the regular routine. The classroom has a total number of 20 students: 11 girls and 9 boys. The classroom is ethnically diverse, most of the students in the classroom are African American, Hispanic, Portuguese, and White, there are two mixed-race students, two special needs students, and two English language learners. One of the special needs students has a dedicated aide. Each student is assigned a laptop or tablet computer. There is a charging station in the classroom for the computers. 

Curriculum Standard Addressed: Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts Grades 9-12:

Reading Literature Standards Grades 9-12 Key Ideas and DetailsRL.9-10.3

 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. 

RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

 Objectives (observable and measurable): The students will complete an anticipation guide to focus on prior knowledge and background information. The students will have an opportunity to interact with the text through visual, auditory, and written formats. The specific skills for this lesson are learning to develop and refine character analysis skills.

     The students will, with 80% accuracy, identify and interpret character development, setting, and racial symbolism in historical texts. 

     The students will, with 80% accuracy, analyze how complex characters develop over the course of the text.

     The students will analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama, including character development and setting. 

Materials:
             Student materials will include a laptop or tablet computer, two anticipation guides, a character trait graphic organizer, an editable word file of the assigned story, an electronic file with the assigned story, a video of the assigned story, and StoryJumper electronic book creation software. Teacher materials include a smart board and laptop computer and handouts for the students. 

Proactive Behavior Management: I will put students together in five groups of four students. During reading activities, the stronger readers and more advanced students will be able to assist the students who might be struggling readers. The desks will be arranged in clusters of four. Any students who do not work well together in a group will be switched to a new group. I can establish a private group with students who need additional assistance such as the special needs students and ELLs. A dedicated aide should be available to assist the student she works with. I will design a rewards system, along with the students, for students who display positive behavior. I will also remind the students of classroom norms and behavior expectations that have already been established. I will ask the student leaders to provide peer support and monitoring for each other and for other students. 

Provisions for Student Grouping: The groups will be in heterogenous groups with students of varying abilities. Some groups will be homogeneous, depending upon the strengths and needs of the students.

Procedures: Warm-Up/Opening (__5_ minutes)Day 1: The students will take five minutes to review and complete the anticipation guides (Before reading the story). Some students may choose to complete one or both anticipation guides. This activity will serve as a review of background knowledge and historical context. A timer will be set for five minutes for this portion of the lesson. 

Day 2: The students will take five minutes to review and complete the anticipation guides (After reading the story). The students will discuss with their table mates how their views and opinions of the story changed. A timer will be set for five minutes for this portion of the lesson.

Motivator/Bridge (_15_ minutes): Day 1: The students will take time to familiarize themselves with all components of the lesson, including videos, handouts, anticipation guides, graphic organizers, and requirements for performance assessments. The students will take note of what the required components for the lesson are and move on to the review of prior learning. The text is approximately 6500 words. The average reader can read 6500 words in 21.7 minutes when reading at a speed of 300 words per minute. The students will practice reading the text and timing themselves to see how many words they can read during this 15-minute block of time. 

A Review of Prior Learning can be accomplished by looking up any stories that were written by Flannery O’Connor to see if they are known or familiar. Also, the students will self-assess what they remember about character development in any short stories they have read in the past? b) The students will tie new learning into their prior knowledge by beginning to read and annotate the story or listening to it on audio or video recordings. The students will take note of any new vocabulary words or concepts they encounter. c) The goals and objectives of the lesson will be posted for the students on the smartboard. The students will be able to judge their success with the lesson by taking formative and summative assessments, including producing an electronic book or a written response project. 

Motivator/Bridge (_15_ minutes):Day 2: The students should have completed the readings and annotations of the text, and on day two of the lesson, they will focus on any vocabulary words or literary concepts they still have to define or need clarification on. The students can complete this activity individually or in groups. If all graphic organizers and anticipation guides have been completed, the students can respond in writing to the questions that are contained in the questioning strategies and work on completion of their summative assessments. A timer will be set, or a chime will be rung to transition to the next lesson activity.

Procedural Activities (_15_ minutes):Day 1: The text and/or video will be introduced on Day 1 as a small group assignment and also as homework or as a reading assignment. The teacher will assign small groups to work together on analyzing the text and videos. More advanced students can choose to work independently or with partners. The teacher will also work with small groups to dissect and annotate the story. A timer will be set to transition to the next activity in the lesson. Usually, a five-minute warning is given.

Teaching Modelling: Gradual Release of Responsibility: Day 1 (15 minutes) 

Focused Instruction: I Do It:  The teacher will read the first three pages of the story, “Everything that Rises Must Converge.” The teacher will demonstrate for the students how to annotate the text and choose vocabulary words as well as how to identify other literary devices such as metaphors, similes, context clues, and keys to the author’s style and tone. The teacher will also mention or introduce the historical background of the author and the text, symbolism, motif, and themes. The teacher will instruct the students on how to analyze setting and character development as it relates to the use of language, description, and implied character emotions and motivations. 

Guided Instruction: We Do It: The teacher will select students to read portions of the text and to provide their analysis and interpretation. The students will demonstrate their ability to annotate and dissect the text using the same elements and methods as the teacher used in the “I Do It” step of the lesson. 

Collaborative Learning: You Do It Together: The teacher will divide the students into groups to brainstorm about various aspects of the text. Since the story is long and complex, the students will continue to read and annotate the story in their groups. The students may use the graphic organizers that are provided or create their own to make sense of what the author’s intensions are or what the story means. The students may also watch videos about the text or research additional information they can locate about the story or author. 

Independent Learning: You Do It Alone: Students who are working independently will continue to read and annotate the text. The text is available in audio, video, and written form. Students can make notes independently in their journals, draw pictures in response to the story, use the materials that are provided, and/or record their personal thoughts, observations, or interpretations of the story. Students should be preparing for any formative and summative assessments that are required. 

Review/Wrap-up: Whole Group: (10 minutes) The teacher will ask the students to provide a short verbal or written response on what they learned from the lesson and what they desired to learn. A K-W-L chart can also be used for this purpose as a formative assessment.

Questioning Strategies: Divergent question: What would happen at the ending of the story, “Everything That Rises Must Converse,” if Julian’s mother had been struck but did not have a stroke and she survived? How do you think that would change the dynamics of the story and she and Julian’s relationship? How do you think this alternate ending to the story would change the mother’s opinion of Black people? Would her opinion change or remain the same?

Questioning Strategies: Evaluative question: How do Julian and his mother differ and how are they the same? Among the people who are riding the bus in this story, compare and contrast the differences between the White passengers and Black passengers. Do you believe race relations have improved in the South or in the United States in general in recent years? Cite facts and evidence to prove your point or opinion. 

Teaching Strategies for Day 2 of the Lesson: (15 minutes) On Day 2 the students can focus on group work and independent practice. The student who has an IEP can work with her dedicated aide. Any students who require additional help can form a small group with the teacher. Today the students will focus on completing their formative and summative assessments. 

Adaptations: As an adaptation, the teacher will allow student choice. The struggling students may choose a different response to the project such as choosing another story from the assigned author or another author, as long as the story is a short story which can provide or allow for character analysis. Suggested stories are “Trifles,” a play by Susan Glaspell; “A Jury of Her Peers,” a short story by Susan Glaspell, based on the play, “Trifles,” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” a short story by Flannery O’Connor. Part of the assignment is to create an electronic book. However, students who have difficulty completing this part of the assigned task can work with the classroom aide or with the teacher in a small group to complete an alternate method of assessment, such as a drawing and a short, written response of either a few sentences or a few paragraphs.

Lesson Plan Summaries: Day 1 and Day 2: Warm-Up (5 minutes) Bridge/Motivator (15 minutes) Procedural Activities (15 minutes) Learning Activities/Instruction (15 minutes) Wrap-up (10 minutes)

Assessment:  Types of assessments that can be used for this assignment are a K-W-L chart, a 3-2-1 exit ticket, such as the one in Artifact 1, below, a StoryJumper video, or a journaling assignment. Examples of digital tools that will be used in our lesson are YouTube videos, audio books online, and the StoryJumper book creator online.

Summary/Closure:Day 1: There are two options for the summary/closure today. The students will create a 3-2-1 exit ticket, such as the one pictured about or write a journal entry expressing what they have learned from today’s lesson. 

Day 2: The students who have chosen to complete a book on StoryJumper as a creative response to this lesson, will work on completion of that assignment today. They will need to sign on to storyjumper.com to create an account and take a tutorial on how to create a book. The students who have chosen this option will be given an additional day to complete this assignment, if necessary, and will email a link to their project to the teacher. The students will have 5 minutes to 10 minutes for closure. The rest of the assignment will be completed at home as homework.

Generalization/Extension Activity: As an extension activity, students should continue to annotate the text, watch the videos, and take note of the things they have learned in class today in preparation for the completion of Part 2 of the lesson tomorrow. 

Review/Reinforcement (Homework): The homework is the same as above in the extension activity. However, the students should also complete all worksheets, make a list of any additional questions they have and sign up for StoryJumper online to produce an electronic book. The sample book the teacher created can be found at the link below: https://www.storyjumper.com/book/read/164411331/654b3e400dd68

Reflection: One issue with this lesson plan is that the short story I chose was long, so I had to break the assignment down into a two-day assignment. Another issue I have with this process is that there are also many activities to add to the lesson and graphics to complete, which takes up extra time and also adds to the amount of research that is required and the length of the lesson plan. In addition, the basic lesson plan itself ends up being quite long with many elements to add and discuss. I conducted research from previous weeks on literacy strategies, lesson plan design, graphic organizers, and types of instruction, such as explicit instruction, and gradual release of responsibility. A few elements in my lesson are the same as my last lesson, because classroom structure, the room arrangement, and the number of students have not changed.    Also, I have noticed that when I am checking in our classroom conferences that I find three different sets of instructions and lesson plans, which becomes confusing. Then, I have to sort everything out to determine what exactly to include or not to include in my final lesson plan. In closing, I would like to add that I am enjoying learning how to complete the lesson plans, how to do the required research, and I am enjoying reading many short stories, old and new, and becoming familiar again with authors that I enjoyed in the past.

References 

Cyber Explorer 2000. (2000). Everything that rises must converge. https://faculty.weber.edu/jyoung/English%206710/Everything%20that%20Rises%20Must%20Converge.pdf Hannah’s Books. (2021). 

Everything that rises must converge. [Audiobook]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMx5kqalxgE Marie, G. (2023). 

Everything that rises must converge. Fast Asleep with Gena Marie. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2NNjUwIqTk&t=274s 

Saddler, P. (2023). Racism in Flannery O’Connor’s short stories. 

StoryJumper. https://www.storyjumper.com/book/read/164411331/654b3e400dd68