EDTP 639 Lesson Plan Part 3
November 14, 2023
Name: Patricia Saddler Grade: 10
Unit: Southern Gothic Short Stories
Time Allotted: 1-day lesson - 60 minutes
Lesson Topic: Everything that Rises Must Converge, Short Story by Flannery O’Connor
Subject of Lesson: Symbolism
Reading Strategy Focus:
Digital Literacy Focus: StoryJumper Video and Personal Pictorial Narrative
Type of Lesson: Concluding.
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, author’s purpose, and symbolism. 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: Common Core State Standards Initiative:
Key Ideas and Details:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1: “Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text” (CCSS, 2021).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2: “Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text” (CCSS, 2021).
Objectives: For Part 2 of this lesson, we focused on character analysis. For Part 3, the current portion of the lesson, we will focus on symbolism. The students will complete a graphic organizer which represents symbolism in the story, “Everything that Rises Must Converge.” The students will refer to their anticipation guides from the last lesson as a reminder of background information and specific details and complete a new anticipation guide on symbolism. The students will also have an opportunity to review the text again through visual, auditory, and written formats. The specific skills for this lesson are learning to recognize and analyze symbolism in short stories. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. It can be shown or represented in the symbolic meaning attached to natural objects or facts, such as the old-fashioned symbolism of flowers as tokens of love and gift giving, hospitality, and to represent respect and farewells during funerals or homegoing services.
Materials:
Student materials will include a laptop or tablet computer, an anticipation guide, a graphic organizer, an editable word file of the assigned story, an electronic file with the assigned story, a video of the assigned story, StoryJumper electronic book creation software, or a selected individual response project. 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, to assist students in maintaining and displaying positive behavior. A rewards system might include a classroom movie night, a game night, a class trip to a bowling alley or restaurant or an opportunity for the students to drop their lowest test score. I will also remind the students of classroom norms and behavior expectations that have already been established. I will ask the student table leaders to provide peer support and monitoring for each other and for other students in the classroom.
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)
Activities: The students will take five minutes to review and complete the anticipation guide and symbolism graphic organizer. This activity will serve as a review of background knowledge. A timer will be set for five minutes for this portion of the lesson.
Motivator/Bridge (_15_ minutes):Activities: 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) 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 sudents will self-assess what they remember about character development in any short stories they have read in the past? They will create self-assessments in their writing journals or use the materials contained in the appendix.
b) The students will tie new learning into their prior knowledge by beginning to read and take notes about the story or listening to it on audio or video recordings. The students will remember to define 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 pictorial and written response project.
Procedural Activities (_15_ minutes):Activities: The text and/or video will be introduced as a classroom 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 analyze the story. A timer will be set to transition to the next activity in the lesson. Usually, a five-minute warning is given before transitioning.
Teacher Modeling: Gradual Release of Responsibility: (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 recognize symbolism 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, closely looking at the use of symbolism in the story. 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 symbolism in the story implies. 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 be used for this purpose as a formative assessment. A timer will be set to indicate the end of the lesson.
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. What are the general connotations of the words “White,” and “Black,” when it comes to race relations, images, and perceptions? What do those words conjure or imply? Do the words produce negative or positive images?
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 analysis of symbolism. 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;” “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” a short story by Flannery O’Connor, and “The River,” another short story by Flannery O’Connor. The suggested stories are rich in symbolism. 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 alternative method of assessment, such as a drawing, pictorial book, or a short, written response of either a few sentences or a few paragraphs. The students can also reflect on symbolism in their own lives. For differentiation, an alternative project would include an All About Me project with pictorial images of memories and symbols from the students’ lives. This project can be completed in Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, or in an online source such as Canva or Smore Newsletters. A sample project is included in the appendix. This is a link to the Smore website: https://www.sore.com/, and a link to Canva: https://www.canva.com/
Lesson Plan Summary: Warm-Up (5 minutes) Bridge/Motivator (15 minutes) Procedural Activities (15 minutes) Learning Activities/Instruction (15 minutes) Wrap-up (5-10 minutes)
Assessment: Types of assessments that will be used for this assignment are a K-W-L chart and a 3-2-1 exit ticket, which are found in the appendix. Other assessments are a StoryJumper video, or a journaling assignment. In their journals, the students will write a letter to explain a key idea regarding symbolism to a friend or classmate. 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: There are two options for the summary/closure today. The students will create a 3-2-1 exit ticket, such as the one in the appendix or write a journal entry expressing what they have learned from today’s lesson. 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 e-mail 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 work on the text from home. Students can investigate the suggested stories and types of assessments if they wish to choose a different story or closing assignment.
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
Formative Assessments for This Lesson: Journal Entry (to be written in student’s notebook or in a Microsoft Word file)
Located in the Appendix: Peer and self-assessments (TAG and sticky notes) Symbolism Worksheet Symbolism Anticipation Guide 3-2-1 Exit Ticket
K-W-L Chart Summative Assessments for This Lesson: StoryJumper Book (online) Pictorial Representation of Symbolism (in appendix)
Special Needs and ELL Students: Some students who need assistance with reading and interpretation will be assigned to a special’s teacher such as special education or ELL support staff. Students who need minimal support will work with a designated reader in the classroom or someone to assist with interpreting their assignment.
More Advanced Students: More advanced students, if they desire, will be able to create an Abode Spark page as a response to this assignment. They can create the webpage as a short story that they have imagined or been inspired to create from this lesson. Adobe Spark can be found at: https://new.express.adobe.com/
What will I do with student data collected from assessments?
Reflection: Creating a lesson plan can be challenging. Creating a lesson plan in three parts at first seems easy, but then challenging. For this lesson, I felt that I had to choose different stories and activities to keep the lesson fresh, but the challenge was in how to put everything together at the end. I had to create many different files for the activities and keep up with all the documents, so I used a number of naming conventions to differentiate the files and sort them out. Researching and investigating how to do things was rewarding, such as determining which assessments were formative and summative and how to fit them into the lesson plan. It was also refreshing to finally understand how to tie Bloom’s Taxonomy into the lesson plan with the objectives. I was unable to find any specific content standards for symbolism, so I used a reading standard instead, and gave directions and assignments for analyzing symbolism. Additionally, 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 plan are the same as my last lesson plan, because classroom structure, the room arrangement, and the number of students has not changed. In closing, I would like to add that I am enjoying, more and more, each week, learning to create lesson plans. I say that because, the more research I do, the more I learn about education, theory, and teaching methods.
References
Common Core State Standards. English language arts standards: Reading literature. Grades 9-10. https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/9-10/
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
Appendix
Pictorial Representation of Symbolism
| sunflowers | tulips |
| My favorite flowers that grew in my grandmother’s garden, which were taller than me. | The flowers that bloomed at home when spring was approaching. |
| Homemade rolls | Daffodils and dandelions |
| My grandmother’s homemade rolls on Sundays. These hands even resemble her hands. | Fact: All jonquils are daffodils but not all daffodils are jonquils. |
| Dandelions: They grew plentifully in our front yard. Also good for making wine. | My grandmother used to make canned peaches and all other types of canned fruit. They were delicious. |
These are just a fraction of the memories. Imagine honeybees, beehives, grasshoppers, old cars, honeysuckle, and weeping willow trees, along with all the vegetables and potatoes that grew in the garden, and all the wonderful cooking aromas from the kitchen.
3-2-1 Graphic Organizer:
What are three things you learned, two things you’re still curious about, and one thing you don’t understand?