Identity in Alice in Wonderland

Class: AP English 12 Unit Title: Who am I? Lesson: Identity in Alice in Wonderland Date: 10/10/13 Time: 85 minutes (full block class) Learning Objectives SWBAT: [Students will be able to:] Cognitive (Know/Understand): Unit objective: Students will understand that reading annotations from others can be helpful in determining the context, structure, and connotations of words and phrases. Todays objective #1: Students will understand that the annotated version of Alice helps explain the context, structure, and connotations of this passage as she journeys to gain some sense of identity. Unit objective: Students will know that analyzing is essential to critical thinking. Todays objective #2: Students will know that analysis and further research (annotations) are useful in their understanding. Affective (Feel/Value): Unit objective: Students will value the classical work, Alice in Wonderland. Todays objective #3: Students will value the depth of a single passage in Alice. Todays objective #4: Students will value the relationship between surrealistic art and the text in Alice. Performance (Do): Unit objective: Students will be able to identify instances of identity in text and other mediums. Todays objective #5: Students will be able to locate examples of identity in Alice and in paintings/drawings. Todays objective #6: Students will be able to perform a tableau of a scene from Alice. SOLs: 12.3.b. The student will use context, structure, and connotations to determine meanings of words and phrases. Necessary Materials Copies of Advice from a Caterpillar excerpt (47-48)

 Tenniels illustration of the Rabbit (online) Surrealistic painting of Alice Journal prompt Elmo Internet connection Instructional Methods and Procedures Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics. Step 1 [15 mins.] Do Now: Quotation Response Hello everyone! Its nice to see you all! You know the drill! Reflect on the quote so we can discuss it in a few minutes. Students take turns (in alphabetical order) bringing in a quote that resonates with them. Whomevers turn it is will bring in their quote and place it under the Elmo at the beginning of class. Announcements play during this time as well, but students mostly get started on the quote during these. Students will write for about seven minutes and we will discuss the quote for about seven minutes (or longer, depending upon the nature of the quote). I will facilitate the discussion with the owner of the quote having the last word. Step 2 [10 mins.] Bridge: Macbeth and Identity Recap Thank you for that discussion, you all! As you can see on the board, we will begin by trying to relate Macbeth to Alice in Wonderland. Keep in mind the specific elements of both stories: plot, characters, settings, etc. when youre thinking about the relationship between the texts. Think about it for a minute, silently, on your own and then turn to one of your pod-mates to discuss. We will then share out as a class. Be prepared to share because Ive finally made my handy-dandy popsicle sticks! I will give students a minute to think silently before I give them the go ahead to discuss with a partner. During this time Ill walk around, listening to their thoughts and connections with the sentence starter: Wheres an example you can point to in either Macbeth or Alice? Ok! Whod like to start us off?...Do I have to consult my useful sticks?? Step 3 [10 mins.] Artistic Comparison Im glad we made some valuable connections, guys! Now were going to switch gears and direct our attention to some artistic interpretations. Did you guys have the pleasure of perusing Tenniels illustrations in your copies of Alice? Unfortunately, I didnt get a chance to flip through your copies before you guys took them home! Well, its your lucky day because were going to look at some! Ill then proceed to show them a few of Tenniels illustrations. Do you guys find these illustrations to be resonating? Do you think theyre as resonant as they were almost 150 years ago? Why? Why not? Ill then explain that they arent as surprising to us now as weve grown up on Pixar animation and cartoons galore. Ill then move on to the surrealist painting inspired by Alice. So now were going to compare Tenniels Rabbit to this surrealist painting inspired by Alice. What are the similarities? The differences? What makes it surreal? These are important questions to remember if you ever need to write about Alice. So, if youre so inclined, take a few notes. We will then have a small discussion about these questions. Step 4 [20 mins.] Annotated selection on identity I will hand out copies of the caterpillar excerpt to pod, pasting the two pages on one large, white piece of construction paper so we can have a

silent annotation discussion (and use it as a means of discussion preparation). While were thinking about surrealism and artistic interpretation, lets move onto this annotated excerpt between the Caterpillar and Alice and do some of our own interpretation... Im going to read this aloud and annotate as I go. These annotations in the margins help explain context and help clarify connotations of the phrases in this passage. They help clear up any confusion there may or may not be, so make sure you read them! You guys will do this, only (maybe?) silently with a marker color of your choice being sure to pay close attention to how the connotations of these phrases add to Alices conception of her own identity. Ill read the passage, referring to the notes in the text for support. Who are you? said the Caterpillar. Right away I take that as intruding, or if I was Alice, thats how Id take it. The italicized you puts much more emphasis on it. I can hear the sleepy, languid Caterpillar asking thatII hardly know, Sir, just at presentat least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I have been changed several times since then. Here I sense uncertainty which can be translated into inner confusion. Alice cant even explain herself, or answer the questions: Who are you? When the Caterpillar asks her to explain herself, she says she cant put it more clearly. Shes so unsure of herself she cant clarify who she isIll hand out the sheets for each pod with markers. So each pod member must have a different color marker. Make a key at the bottom so I know who said what later. Ill then give students five minutes, or a little less, to read through and annotate. During this time Ill walk around with a marker asking questions to fuel discussion. So what did you guys gather from this activity? When you read this previously, what did you notice? How did annotating and silently discussing help? We will then have a five-10 minute discussion about this passage. Step 5 [35 mins.] Tableau: Since we were pretty quiet for a while, were going to make up for it by doing some acting! I will project the instructions and simultaneously explain them. In your pods, you guys are going to brainstorm and chart Alices journey in Wonderland. Think about who she met at each development. What did she learn at each new place? From what character did she learn? Once you guys are through brainstorming, you will decide on a scene in which Alice learns a lesson and youll perform a tableaux. Who can explain to me what a tableaux is?...Yes, if we were a show playing on a computer, a tableaux would basically be a screenshot. Now every member must participate. If there are only two characters in the scene your group chooses, then youre going to need to get creative! Someone has to narrate whats going on, and your other group member could always be an inanimate object or something like that. After the narration concludes, a group member will tell the class which lesson Alice learned in relation to her identity. Is that clear? Who can explain to me what were about to do? Ill walk around the room with the starter question in mind: Which scene are you guys leaning towards? Whos going to be who?...Then Ill walk around asking: Which lesson did Alice learn in this scene? Ill then ask for my final round: How does this scene relate to identity? Ok ladies and gents, lets wrap it up! Who would like to perform their tableaux first? Im going to move back here so that I can get the full experience! Step 6 [7 mins.] Journal Reflection: Wow! You guys are a talented, quirky bunch! Now were going to move on to some reflection on Alice, this lesson, lifehaha just about everything! I will project the prompt on the board and ask a student to read it aloud. You guys dont have to answer each question-dont worry. These are meant to get your mind going, get those wheels turning! So go ahead and reflect away!

Closure [2 mins.]: Would anyone like to share their lessons learned?...You guys dont have to, but one volunteer would be niceI have my sticks, mind you!...Were going to move onto our What is truth? unit beginning next class, so ponder that question over the weekend! Methods of Assessment Todays objective #1: Students will understand the journey as they connect Macbeth and Alice as well as during the tableaux brainstorming. Todays objectives #2, #3: After my think aloud of sorts and the silent annotation discussion, students will understand how this type of engagement with the text is useful in understanding the connotations of phrases. Todays objectives #4, #5: Students will appreciate the differences and similarities between the artistic representations after our discussion and comparisons. Todays objective #6: As students work together in their groups, they will be able to perform and appreciate a physical screenshot! In Retrospect (Post Lesson Reflection) I feel like this lesson went very well. Third period is probably my most angelic class, so I think that has something to do with it! Either way, they told me that they really liked it and that I did fine for my observation! Ha! Theyre a hoot. When I teach the silent annotation/discussion for eighth period, though, Im going to be more clear on how the markers should be used. There was some confusion about that as well as how they were supposed to take turns adding their thoughts. Some groups had two members read and annotate while the other two in the pod just sat there. I wasnt a huge fan of that, but it did work. Im not sure how to improve that, though. I guess they could do it that way because I cant think of any better way. Some of the other groups sort of huddled around the passage, and that seemed to work. I guess Ill let them choose and correct if necessary. As for the tableau, I thought they did quite well with it! I described it as a screenshot which helped, but I think that it couldve been clearer. There was some confusion as to how many scenes they could show us, so Ill need to clarify that they can only choose one scene. They were quite clever, and I really enjoyed seeing their thoughts. Each group chose a different scene, so it worked out well! All in all, Id certainly teach that lesson again, making some tweaks here and there!

Materials Appendix Tenniels drawings: http://www.google.com/imgres?client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&biw=1259&bih=596&tbm=isch& tbnid=vuMOzzGDs9ozdM:&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alice_par_Joh n_Tenniel_02.png&docid=-

mKXFi39FEFVyM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Alice_par_ John_Tenniel_02.png&w=789&h=1207&ei=WgFPUparFK664APszIGACw&zoom=1 (Tenniel)

Surrealist painting: http://rebloggy.com/post/illustration-art-vintage-salvador-dali-alice-inwonderland-history-surrealism-le/41805655293

Journal Prompt: Dear; dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if Ive been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if Im not the same, the next question is Who in the world am I Ah, thats the great puzzle! (22-23). After reading Macbeth and Alice what have you all learned about yourselves? Which pieces have you added to the great puzzle? Could you answer a Caterpillar if he asked: Who are you? (47). Connect your lesson(s) learned to specific examples from either text.