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Central Focus
Students will analyze the impact of an authors choices regarding how to develop and relate
elements of a story or drama.

Title and Salient Features of the Text
The Oblong Box by Edgar Allan Poe

As part of our larger study of the subgenre of American Renaissance literature known as Dark
Romanticism, we will read Edgar Allan Poes The Oblong Box. This short story is 8 pages in
length and tells the tale of a man who has secretly brought the corpse of his dead wife aboard a
passenger vessel traveling to New York from Boston. The narrator attempts to figure out the
contents of the box. Although the text is part of the predetermined curriculum map I adhere to, it
is a quality story that represents the characteristics of Dark Romanticism, especially the
common theme of psychological decline into madness due to a lost love. It also has many
examples of the literary devices that students are to learn in this segment, per the schools
curriculum map. Poes story contains many instances of foreshadowing that help increase
suspense due to the untrustworthiness of the first-person point-of view narration. The
mysterious and gloomy tone help create an atmosphere full of suspicion and horror.

How Standards and Learning Objectives Address Students Abilities to Construct
Meaning, Interpret Text, and Create a Written Product Responding to Text Complexities
All the standards Ive chosen address students abilities to construct meaning from, and interpret
a complex text and create a written product interpreting or responding to complex features of a
text. The first two lesson help students interpret and construct meaning so that they will be able
to respond to the complex features of the text on the third day.

The Common Core State Standards and the learning objectives for the first two days of the unit
are focused on interpreting and constructing meaning from Edgar Allan Poes The Oblong
Box. Reading Standards for Literature (11-12 students) 1 and 3 both directly address students
abilities to construct meaning from and interpret a text. Reading Standard for Literature 1 asks
students to cite textual evidence to support their analysis of what the story is both saying and
implying. Reading Standard for Literature 6 asks students to analyze the effectiveness of the
authors choices in telling the story. These two standards coincide with the learning objectives
on the first and second days that ask students to summarize the plot of The Oblong Box, give
examples of foreshadowing, describe the atmosphere created by the tone, and name plot
elements that are creating suspense in the story. These are all examples of students
constructing meaning and interpreting a complex text and they are necessary steps that
students take before being able to create a written product interpreting and responding to the
complex feature of the text.

Language Standard 6 requires students to acquire and use academic and domain-specific
language and is associated with the first learning objective on day 1 that states students will be
able to define specific literary elements and the second learning objective on day 2 that says
students will be able to define the literary elements that were most missed on the pretest. This
knowledge is necessary for students to construct meaning from and interpret The Oblong Box.
Knowing the definitions gives students a common language to talk about the content of the
story. The second part of the Language Standard 6 requires students to demonstrate
independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when reading a text. This will positively
impact a students ability to interpret what the text is saying so they will be able to construct
meaning.

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The Reading Standards for Literature and the Language Standard will be demonstrated through
discussions and informal writing assessments (exit slips). These require speaking, listening and
writing skills, addressing Speaking and Listening Standard 1 and Writing Standard 3. According
to the Alliance for Excellent Educations report to the Carnegie Corporation (2004), expressing
understanding and analysis of the text both in discussion and in writing helps deepen students
interpretations of the text (p. 15).

All of the standards and learning objectives from the first two days of instruction are beneficial to
the process of creating a written product on the third day. The third day focuses more on
Common Core State Writing Standards and a learning objective associated with writing.
Students must continue to cite textual evidence to support their inferences and analysis of the
effectiveness of Poes use of literary elements (Reading Standards for Literature 1 and 3) as
well as the domain-specific words acquired throughout the unit (Language Standard 6). They
will use these skills to create a written work interpreting and responding to complex features of
the text. Writing Standards 1, 4, and 10 relate to the skill of creating a written piece of work.
Students must support claims in their analysis, maintain a tone consistent with the writing
prompt they chose (Writing Standard 1 & 1d), and produce clear and coherent writing that is
appropriate for the audience they choose to write to (Writing Standard 4). The process of
producing their written work will occur over a more extended time frame (Writing Standard 10)
than previous written work in the unit.

How Plans Builds On Each Other to Help Students Make Connections, Construct
Meaning, Interpret and Respond to Text
The learning objectives and activities for my unit build on each other to help students make
connections between textual references, construction of meaning, interpretations, and
responses to a text to deepen their learning of English-Language Arts over three class
meetings. The first day of the unit we review the literary devices theyve previously learned and
get definitions for new elements that will be relevant and useful in our discussions and writing
tasks pertaining to The Oblong Box. I will be able to gauge misconceptions and prior
knowledge formally based on the literary elements pre-test and informally through class
discussions where students will be asked to identify and examine the effectiveness of various
literary elements in the text. Class discussions, although informal and imperfect in assessing
each students process of constructing meaning and interpreting the text, can be helpful in
correcting student misconceptions that arent ever explicitly made aware to the teacher.
Throughout the first two days of reading, the questioning and discussion part of class, which will
occur every few paragraphs, will help students who are having difficulty comprehending the plot
because students and I will be summarizing aloud. Students will keep track of plot details by
taking notes or pictorially representing key details on graphic organizers.

The second day builds on the first through a summary discussion and a Think, Pair, Share
where students are asked to explicitly predict the resolution of the story and the mystery of the
boxs contents. During the Share part of the activity where we discuss our predictions as a
whole-class, students will be asked to give specific examples from the story to back up their
claims. They will be asked to give examples of Poes use of literary elements (tone,
atmosphere, point-of-view, foreshadowing, etc.) and analyze how effective they are utilized in
The Oblong Box. Asking students to state their opinions in group discussions will be beneficial
to them when they are completing their writing assignment because they will already have
analyzed various complex aspects of the story and been exposed to a variety of perspectives
from fellow classmates.

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Because we have to split the three days of the unit over the weekend, students will be asked to
come to class on Monday, the third day of the unit, having chosen a writing prompt and
completed at least some pre-writing organization for the task. Having students think about the
assignment over a weekend and complete some pre-writing work keeps momentum going over
the weekend and through the third day of the unit.

Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching: Prior Academic Knowledge
Students come to the unit with a variety of prior academic learning and prerequisite skills related
to analyzing the impact of an authors choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of
a story or drama. They have acquired some of the domain-specific language that is so beneficial
in talking and writing about literature, but I am unaware of each students individual
understanding of literary elements. I know that the class has been exposed to the definitions of
symbolism, characterization, inference, tone, foreshadowing, and point-of-view through my
class observations and the curriculum map my teacher follows that dictates these to be taught
previously in the school year. The pre-test, given on the first day, will allow me to gauge the
level of understanding and retention for the class as a whole as well as each individual student.

I know that at least four students have been identified as struggling readers from curriculum-
based tests taken as part of their IEP or 504 plans. Three of these students have also been
identified as struggling or below-average writers. Four additional students have been medically
diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, and this can be a factor in concentration, negatively impacting
their reading comprehension and ability to write over an extended time frame.

The class comes to the unit with the ability to make inferences based on the previous unit where
they discussed what inferring meant and made conclusions about character traits in Nathaniel
Hawthornes The Birthmark. Again, this is based on an informal classroom discussion, so I
dont have data indicating mastery of this skill for specific students. Classroom discussions
arent usually overly-lively but there is always enough voluntary participation to make them
worthwhile with this group of students. One student, because of a traumatic brain injury, has
individualized expectations for participation in group discussions. She does well with expressing
herself in writing, so she isnt made to speak in front of the class unless given advanced notices,
as in the case of a presentation. I plan to not call on her unexpectedly during whole-class
discussions.

Students Experiences, Cultural Backgrounds and Interests
I know that I my classroom is made up of an eclectic group of 27 individual people with a wide
range of personal experiences and characteristics that make them all unique as learners and
humans. The high school draws from five different communities that range in socioeconomic
status and education attainment, and 15% of the student body is considered economically
disadvantaged. Although a majority of my students in this class are Caucasian, two students are
African American, one is Multiracial, and one is Spanish American. I also know that at least one
student identifies as gay, one student is a recovering heroin addict, one student just returned to
school after being on suicide watch for several weeks, and one student is a young parent.
These characteristics only make up a part of their individual selves, and I would make sure that
nobody is offended or devalued in my classroom even if I didnt know about specific life events
or traits. I am consciously sensitive to make sure I am not inadvertently alienating individuals in
my classroom based on my speech patterns, student-teacher interaction, instructional methods,
teaching style, or choice in materials.

I knew from a survey I conducted at the beginning of my teaching that all but 3 of my 27
students participate in extracurricular activities and/or hold part-time jobs. Through this survey I
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was also able to find out that 16 students find reading aloud in class beneficial to their
comprehension of a text, and 21 felt that whole-class discussions were important to their
understanding of a story. Before the Dark Romantics, we studied the Transcendentalists. Based
on an informal, in-class survey of their feelings about the major tenets of these two groups of
artists from the American Renaissance, I knew that at least half of the class related more to
Dark Romantics than Transcendentalists. From a class discussion that occurred during the
introduction to Dark Romanticism, I know that almost all of my students are familiar with at least
one work of Edgar Allan Poe.

Supporting Students English-Language Arts Learning
I know that each of my students has experiences that factor into who they are as an individual,
so I included many opportunities for them to express their unique perspectives on the story, like
making predictions about the contents of the oblong box. Through my Piagetian Constructivist
view of education, I believe students should be given the opportunity to construct knowledge
that is meaningful to them by making connections to prior knowledge and experiences. This is
why I plan to stop so often and ask for personal interpretations and inferences about the
behaviors of characters in the story in the first two days of instruction. According to the U.S.
Department of Educations report on cross-curricular approaches to literacy in grades 7-12,
connecting prior knowledge and experiences to texts in order to make inferences helps students
become more capable at comprehending the implied or subtle meanings in texts (p. 40).
Because I know that most students are familiar with at least one work of Poe, I can use their
previous knowledge of his major themes (like a characters obsessions and decent into
madness) to make inferences and predictions about The Oblong Box.

I know that writing skills vary widely in my class from previous formal assessments. This
factored into my decision to have a mini-lesson on the third day of instruction to address the
writing process and get a variety of viewpoints on the steps writers take to complete a piece. In
Graham & Perins A Meta-Analysis of Writing Instruction for Adolescent Students (2007), more
than 20 studies indicated that explicitly teaching writing strategies had a positive effect on
students writing (p. 462). The variance in writing skills for individual students also guided my
decision to conduct individual writing conferences with the 15 students who have consistently
scored low on writing assessments throughout the school year and/or have been identified as
struggling writers on a curriculum-based test as a part of their IEP or 504 plans. According to
Fritts (1976), writing achievement improves in students who conference with instructors about
their work compared to students who only receive written feedback about their work.

The survey results about student attitudes pertaining to whole-class discussions and reading
aloud in-class factored into my decision to incorporate these instructional strategies into learning
tasks throughout the unit. More than half of my students had positive feelings about reading
aloud while more than 75% of the class found large group discussions beneficial to their
understanding of literature.

I gave students one of five authentic perspectives to choose to write from in the formal
assessment because its beneficial to rehearse real-world situations where students could
potentially be required to use the knowledge theyre currently learning and mastering.

I designed the lesson so students had a minimal amount of work to do outside of the classroom
because all but 3 of the students in this class participate in extracurricular activities and/or work
part-time jobs.

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How Instructional Strategies and Supports are Appropriate for the Whole Class,
Individuals and Groups of Students
I believe that students are educated in a social environment that affects their cognitive
development, aligning with Vygotskys theory of child development and education. New
information is processed by students through lenses that include their cultural perspectives,
social contexts, language, traditions, and religion. I agree with Vygotsky (1978) when he says
communications skills appear first on the social plane, and then on the psychological plane.
First it appears between people as an interpsychological category, and then within the child as
an intraspsychological category (p.163). I dont believe learning occurs in a vacuum, so I plan to
allow students to compare their interpretations of the story through class discussions in the first
two days of the unit as well as the Think, Pair, Share to start the second day. The process of
understanding the basic details of the story, making inferences about those details, and
analyzing the more complex features of the text can be achieved through class discussions
where students who share answers with the class are, in a way, scaffolding learners who are
not confident enough to verbally express themselves. Discussing the story as a whole class will
allow students who might not analyze the text in-depth on their own, hear and contemplate the
perspectives of others. This aligns with my social constructivist view of education and allows
students to make academic progress in respect to what Vygotsky defines as the zone of
proximal development. The zone of proximal development is the distance between the actual
developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration
with more capable peers (1978, p. 86). By operating within the zone of proximal development in
group discussions, students can build on others responses for a more in-depth understanding
and analysis than they could if they answered the same discussion questions on their own.

Another way I will scaffold students within their zone of proximal development is through
individual student writing conferences on the third day of instruction. As previously stated,
conferencing with students improves writing (Fritts, 1976). It also allows me to individualize
instruction based on specific learning needs. Students will have the opportunity to ask me exact
questions about their writing. I will facilitate a discussion where the student takes an active role
in solving the problem instead of me just telling them what I think they should do to improve their
writing or overcome an obstacle in the writing process.

Because so many students had a positive attitude toward reading aloud and having whole-class
discussions, I decided to use this method to read and analyze Poes The Oblong Box. I was
also guided by my knowledge that reading aloud and stopping to summarize and discuss is
beneficial to student comprehension of a text based on studies by Elley (1989), Hillman (1975),
and McCormick (1981).

When planning my instructional strategies, I always examine the supports and differentiated
instructional techniques appropriate for individuals and groups of students with specific learning
needs, such as those on IEPs or 504 plans. I try to adapt the instruction of the whole class as
much as possible so students on IEPs and 504 plans arent stigmatized. Reading aloud and
stopping to summarize and contemplate various complex features of the text might be a
noticeable support if every other student read the text to themselves, but instead, I instruct the
whole class in this manner.

Addressing Common Student Errors
I foresee that some students will summarize the plot of the story more than they analyze the
effectiveness of literary elements. I will address these misunderstandings in individual writing
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conferences with students who have tested below-average in writing skills and the other
students whose performance over the school year demonstrates difficulty with writing.

I also foresee students having difficulty getting started in their writing. I will address this issue
through the writing mini-lesson at the beginning of class on day 3 of the unit. I will model my
own writing process and open a class-discussion to get variances on steps students can take in
the writing process to successfully complete an assignment.

If a student misses any day in the unit, I am worried that they will have misconceptions about
the plot and complex features of the text or the meaning of the newly-defined literary elements
that I wont be aware of. To address this foreseeable problem I will split the amount of make-up
work I give them upon their return to school. I will have them read The Oblong Box and
complete the graphic organizer before giving them the writing prompt. This way, I can check
over their summary of the plot, examples of foreshadowing, and descriptions of the setting,
tone, and atmosphere of the story before they formally write about it. I can then give them two
nights to finish the essay to make up for the time they lost in class, but ask to see some
prewriting work after the first night.

Supporting English-Language Arts Development Through Language
Students will analyze the effectiveness of choices authors make in writing by analyzing the
impact of literary devices.

Key Learning Task and Practicing Using the Language Function
Students will evaluate the effectiveness of two literary devices in Edgar Allan Poes The Oblong
Box through their response to a writing prompt where they will be given an authentic, career-
focused context to write within.

Additional Language Demands
VOCABULARY
Students should already know the definitions of the following literary devices which will be
reviewed in the first lesson: theme, symbolism, characterization, inference, tone, foreshadowing,
and point-of-view. Students will learn the definitions for the following literary devices in the
beginning of the first lesson: setting, atmosphere, imagery, suspense, and irony. It is necessary
for students to have an understanding of these literary elements to be able to analyze how well
Edgar Allan Poe utilizes them in his short story The Oblong Box.

SYNTAX
Students need to demonstrate syntactic understanding through speech and written language.
Students with more advanced awareness of syntax will be able to demonstrate their
understanding by varying sentence structure and complexity in their written assessment (one of
the items on the requirements checklist for the assignment). Although some students writing is
more advanced and complex, every student in the class has shown growth in writing
assessments throughout the year. Continuing to have students write and explicitly examine their
syntax will continue to help them advance.

DISCOURSE
Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of academic discourse by writing about
the piece of literature from one of five professional standpoints. They will have to use
vocabulary associated with discussions about literature, including analyzing the effectiveness of
literary elements in a story and providing reader-response feedback and backing their analysis
with examples from the text. Based on previous writing assignments, academic discourse in
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writing is something students are learning to master. On a previous formal research essay, for
example, many students didnt know that it isnt appropriate in most instances to use the
pronouns I or you throughout the paper. They need to continue to write in a variety of
contexts and receive individualized feedback to continue to improve their formal discourse in
writing. In discussions, students will be expected to adhere to academic discourse when we
discuss the story because they will be asked to give examples from the text that back up their
predictions and claims. Based on class discussions Ive already led, the class has a good grasp
on academically appropriate discourse in speech.

Language Supports
In the first lesson, students will review, strengthen, and add to their knowledge of literary
devices in order to develop domain-specific vocabulary that can be used to analyze and discuss
a piece of literature from the Dark Romantic subgenre of the American Renaissance. We will
review the definitions of theme, symbolism, characterization, inference, tone, foreshadowing,
and point-of-view, and learn or broaden our understanding of setting, atmosphere, imagery,
suspense, and irony. This will be accomplished through a discussion of old and new terms with
an addition to an ongoing list of literary terms students keep in their notes.

All students will be given support in reading and comprehending the plot because I will read the
text aloud in class and stop frequently for summary and to pose questions relating to examples
of the literary devices Poe is using (specifically foreshadowing, atmosphere, point-of-view,
characterization, inference, tone, setting, and suspense).

Students will be given support for predicted unfamiliarity with specific words in the text through
the use of definition cards that will be read aloud as we read The Oblong Box together as a
class.

Students will identify and look up additional unfamiliar words to understand what the text is
saying explicitly.

In the first and second lesson, students will make inferences from the text that go beyond what
is explicitly stated through group discussions and notes on their graphic organizers using
domain-specific vocabulary pertaining to the literary devices reviewed and introduced at the
beginning of the first lesson.

Throughout all three lessons in this unit, students will learn to infer and make predictions in a
text by identifying and analyzing instances of foreshadowing, examining point-of-view,
describing the atmosphere created through the tone, and identifying plot details that create
suspense through writing and participation in class discussions using domain-specific
vocabulary pertaining to the literary devices reviewed and introduced at the beginning of the first
lesson.

More than half the students (15) will be given an individual writing conference where we can
discuss specific questions or issues arising in the process of writing.

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts,
and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis
of content through writing using domain-specific vocabulary pertaining to the literary devices
reviewed and introduced at the beginning of the first lesson.
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Students will analyze and interpret the setting, characters, and plot in speech through
discussion and in writing on their graphic organizers, exit slips, and through the writing
assessment.

Monitoring Student Learning
PRE-TEST: The pre-test students take on day 1 will allow me to see whether students know the
meaning of the literary elements theyve previously studied. It will also show me whether
students already know the meaning of some of the literary elements to be learned in this unit
and identify misconceptions before reviewing and discussing the text in the contexts of the
newly-covered literary elements on day 2.

DISCUSION RESPONSES: I can correct any misconceptions that become apparent in
discussion responses by individual students the first two days of the unit. Summarizing the plot
and directly examining the complex features of a text aloud as a class may correct individual
misconceptions that are never made apparent to me.

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER: The graphic organizer students use the first two days, although an
informal assessment, will provide evidence of students ability to construct meaning from our
reading of The Oblong Box because they will be required to summarize the plot in short
phrases or pictorially. They will also be asked to identify instances of foreshadowing, describe
the setting, tone, and atmosphere, and identify and independently look up definitions of
unfamiliar vocabulary. I will be able to identify common and anomalous misconceptions when I
grade the graphic organizers before students complete their writing assignment.

EXIT SLIP: The exit slip I collect at the end of day 1 is an informal assessment to determine
how well they are contextualizing the new literary elements by examining examples in The
Oblong Box.

All of the informal assessments above allow me to identify and correct misconceptions that
students have about the literary elements and the story before they are asked to analyze and
write about it on their own in the formal assessment.

Writing Assignment: The formal writing assessment provides students the opportunity to
demonstrate their ability to construct meaning from, interpret and respond to complexities in
The Oblong Box. Prevailing misconceptions can be addressed when they have time to write
the assignment on day 3 during individual writing conferences. They get to choose between five
different scenarios and are asked to examine the effectiveness of Poes use of two different
literary elements.

How Students With Specific Needs Demonstrate Learning
There are a variety of opportunities for students with specific needs to demonstrate their
learning. Struggling writers can choose to represent their summary of the plot pictorially on the
graphic organizer instead of in writing during the first two days of the unit. Struggling writers are
also granted additional time if needed for all writing assignments, both informal and formal.
Additionally, struggling writers will be given a writing conference with me to discuss any
difficulties they may be having. Struggling readers can compare their understanding of plot
details with responses in the whole-class discussion and I will have a chance to correct
misconceptions on the graphic organizer and through discussion before students complete their
writing assessment.