Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Cassidy Locke
Mini Teaching Unit
Young Adult Literature
Fall 2018
Demographics:
Freshman English
5A School
Suburban
20-25 Students
Mixed socio-economic class
50-minute class period, five times a week
Length:
Two-week unit
Traditional class periods
Theme:
Identity and sense of belonging
The hero’s journey
Rationale:
This unit provides students with a good opportunity to:
Understand the normalization of discrimination and how students can play an active role
in inclusion and equality
Become active and kind members of society
This unit provides teachers with a good opportunity to:
Explore the universal theme of identity and help students find theirs
Evaluate and teach student writing
Allow students to be creative in artistic ways
Explain the importance of empathy and kindness
Unit Objectives:
Define theme and analyze different themes in the novel
Label six parts of the hero’s journey and identify them in the novel
Define discrimination and explain how it functions in the novel
Evaluate a journey of self-discovery and apply it to students’ own lives
Objectives:
Define discrimination
Predict a variety of character types in the novel
Anticipatory Set: Students will respond to the following questions in their journals.
1.) Have you ever had a goal that you thought was crazy? What was it?
2.) Did someone in your life push you to reach that goal? Who?
3.) What steps did you take to reach that goal? Was it easy or hard and why?
4.) What is a goal you have now? What steps will you have to take to reach it?
Resources:
Projector screen to display picture of drawing from the novel
Culminating activity handout, rubric, and checklist
25 copies of the novel for students to take home and read on a schedule
Instructional Input: The teacher will use the projector to place the picture below on the screen.
The picture is the drawing from page 57 of the novel. The students will make
observations and answer the questions about the drawing.
1.) What is the first thing that catches your eye and why?
2.) Why do you think this drawing is included in the novel?
3.) What types of characters do you think we’ll see in this novel?
The teacher will explain that the students will be expected to write a literary analysis paper at the
end of reading this novel. The students will have the choice between three analysis options:
- Analyze the hero’s journey of Arnold and explain each step of the journey and what
makes him hero. Cite specific examples in the novel for each step of the journey.
- Explore the theme of identity and sense of belonging. What made Arnold find himself
and his identity? Cite specific examples of people or things in which Arnold found his
identity and why.
- Consider and question the theme of racism and discrimination in the novel. Why did
Arnold face such discrimination? How did he cope? Cite specific examples that deal
with racism and discrimination and comment on them.
Students may come up with their own paper topic as long as it is approved by the teacher.
Students will be given a handout with this information as well as a rubric for the essay and a
checklist to go through before they hand in their essay. Their essay will be due one week after
we’ve finished reading the novel in class.
Modeling:
On the white board, the teacher will make a t-chart for the students to fill out as a class. It
will look like the t-chart below when it is finished.
White Indian
4.) What do these qualities say about a person? Have you ever judged a person for not
being “cool”? How would you treat that person?
After 5-10 minutes of small group discussion, the groups will take turns speaking to the class
about their different ideas and/or observations. Each group will “present” their answers to the
questions and the groups will have time to ask each other deeper questions.
Assignment:
Students will be asked to read up to page 50 for the next class period.
Students will receive the handout for the final paper that will be written at the end of
book so that they can begin to brainstorm ideas as they begin reading the novel.
Literary Analysis Essay
Name:
____ My writing includes interesting and informative details that support the main idea.
____ My writing is organized and fluent. I express my ideas using proper vocabulary, spelling, and
conventions.
rubric-maker.com
Teaching Day Two
Objectives:
Engage in discussion about novel ideas and themes
Ask other students questions
Come to conclusions about events and their meanings
Predict the ending and future of the novel
Anticipatory Set:
Students will come to class prepared with a Socratic seminar “ready sheet.” The sheet
will have a list of requirements:
- At least 5 questions that the student can ask classmates
- At least 3 examples or scenes from the text that student would like to discuss
- At least 4 exact quotes from the novel that could be used to help answer questions
Resources:
Chairs in the classroom set up in a circle, inner and outer. The inner circle will consist of
five chairs, and the outer circle will consist of the remaining twenty.
25 copies of Socratic seminar checklist
Instructional Input:
This class session will be mostly student ran. The teacher will welcome the students and
invite the first five into the inner circle. The teacher will have students find one partner,
but this partner must be someone who will not be in the inner circle with that partner.
After this, it is up to the students to run each session. There will be 5 rounds of 10-minute
discussion between students. Each student is required to go into the inner circle once. The
students will be graded on how often they speak, ask or answer questions, and offer ideas.
The teacher will have the checklist to observe each student throughout the rounds as well
as the partners’ observations.
Because the Socratic seminar will end right at the end of the class period, the teacher will
hand out a paper that explains the requirements for an extra credit opportunity. The
students will be asked to make their own Arnold-esque cartoon that depicts one of two
things: either who they are as a person and what makes them a hero, or their personal
hero and why they are a hero. The teacher will explain that is if the students choose to
draw themselves, it is not meant to be self-deprecating, so students are not to make fun of
themselves or demean themselves – the word I will tell them to focus on is
empowerment.
Modeling:
No modeling will be used in the set for today because students will know their
expectations for the Socratic seminar.
Assignment:
Read to page 200 of the book
Begin to brainstorm their paper topic
Optional: complete extra credit assignment
Socratic Seminar Observation Checklist
Your Name:________________________ Partner’s Name:________________________
Directions: Each timeyour partner does oneof the following put a check in thebox.
Speaks in thediscussion
Refers to thetext
Engages in sideconversation
Dominates theconversation
AFTER thediscussion: What is the most interesting thing your partner said?
AFTER thediscussion: What would you like to have said in the discussion?
Teaching Day Three
Objectives:
Create a literary analysis paper
In their paper, identify a theme in the novel and analyze theme OR analyze Arnold and
his journey as a hero
Identify similar themes from novel in a short story
Anticipatory Set:
Students will be given 10-20 minutes at the beginning of class to polish their papers. This
will include a mini workshop where students can peer review with one another,
conference with the teacher, or work by themselves.
Resources:
25 printed copies of “On the Road” by Langston Hughes
25 printed worksheets with discussion questions
Instructional Input:
The teacher will collect student essays. The teacher will introduce the students to a
short story unit, beginning with “On the Road” by Langston Hughes. The teacher will
explain that this story deals with themes of racism and discrimination, similar to what the
class just read in the novel.
The teacher will read out loud the story “On the Road” by Langston Hughes.
The teacher will hand out the worksheet with 10 discussion questions and will divide
students into groups of 3-5 to answer the questions about the story.
Modeling:
The teacher will answer the first question with the class so the students can get an
understanding of what the teacher is looking for in their answers.
Assignment:
Finish discussion questions if not done in class
Read short story “Judgement Day” by Flannery O’Connor