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Direct instructionTeacher(s): Diana JuddSubject: ELA, juniors, American Literature- The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnStandard(s): 11-12.RL.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.11-12.RL.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. 11-12.RL.6 Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement)Objectives (Explicit): Students will identify two central themes of a chapter in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by writing one sentence each stating the two themes.Students will describe how these two themes have developed from the beginning of the book until the current chapter by writing a narrative (or other options that will be outlined later).Students will identify and define at least four words or phrases in the text that they are unfamiliar with, noting the connotations of their identified words/phrases by writing at least two sentences each: one defining the word and a second describing how the word is used (the connotation) in the context of the story.Students will identify one instance of dramatic irony and analyze what it means in the context of the chapter by writing one paragraph (or comparative PowerPoint slide) describing the instance and explaining what it means for the characters in the story.Evidence of Mastery (Measurable): Students will develop a brief narrative in which they meet all the objectives of the lesson. They can do this in the form of an essay: a minimum of four separate paragraphs, each paragraph consisting of a minimum of four sentences; a PowerPoint presentation that covers all elements of the lesson; or any other form they might be able to effectively demonstrate the lesson objectives. They will be graded on a checklist, making sure they have all the required elements. Each element will be graded based on accuracy from the text (if they provide at least two pieces of textual evidence to support their chosen theme, it will be considered “accurate”).Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex): Students will be able to recall information from previous readingsStudents will be able to read the required textStudents will be able to list unfamiliar words, then define themStudents will be able to recognize a theme in the textKey vocabulary: Dramatic IronyThematic developmentSatireSarcasmUnderstatement Materials/Technology Resources to be Used:Copies of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from Project GutenbergNotebook Paper and pencilsHighlightersAudiobookClickersPromethean BoardLaptops Graphic organizersOpening We will begin by having the students answer questions from the previous reading, done earlier in the week. The students will use their clickers to answer questions on the board. Students will explain their answers, with brief paraphrasing of what has already been read. I will then explain the day’s objectives (which will also be on the board in a simplified form)Instructional InputTeacher Will: I will explain that we will be listening to chapter 12 of Huckleberry Finn, then analyzing what is happening in the text.I will control the audiobook, pausing throughout to engage students in discussion about what was just said and to discuss predictions of what might happen next. Some pauses will be dictated by apparent student confusion and others will be at specific points I have previously determined when a significant event occurs in the text.Student Will: Follow along with the audiobook in their copies of the novelHighlight words they are unfamiliar with, in their personal copy in greenHighlight themes in their personal copy in redHighlight instances of dramatic irony in their personal copy in blueAnswer questions (posed by the teacher) throughout the reading- verballyGenerate questions from the reading and answer them- verballyMake predictions about the text as we read- “What event do you think will occur next for these characters?” based on current thematic and character development.Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation Students will be listening to the novel as well as reading along. For students who struggle with or have difficulty with reading, I will provide vocabulary charts with words and visual representations of their meanings.I will provide a graphic organizer with examples of themes for them to look for as we read and a visual depiction of dramatic irony with a space for them to write down the instance they notice.Guided PracticeTeacher Will: I will provide questions about the section we just read to ensure basic understanding of the chapter:These questions will be what themes appeared, gathering ideas of words to define, basic comprehension questions, etc.I will prompt students to generate questions from the previous section of text.The questions will be projected (written) on the board and I will ask them verballyStudent Will: Use their clickers to answer the questionsAsk any questions to gain further understanding or for clarification if neededCo-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation/Check for UnderstandingThe use of the clickers will ensure that every student has some idea how to move forward to the independent practice from nearly no idea to highly comprehensive idea. The answers are partially anonymous, so I know who answers what, but the students only know their own answer. For students who don’t have answers, or who answer incorrectly, the co-teacher and I will talk with them one-on-one once independent practice has started so that we can clear up any confusion.Independent PracticeTeacher Will: Circulate around the roomAsk questions about what students have written on their papersAsk questions to correct any misunderstandings the students haveStudent Will: On Laptops:Write down the two themes identified in the reading and briefly explain their development so far in the novel, they will be provided with potential themes they could choose, but they will also be allowed to generate another theme they recognizedWrite down any unfamiliar words/phrases come across in the text. Choose four and develop a definition from context or by looking it up in the dictionary. They will write down what they understand it to mean and then check that definition in the dictionary online.Write down the instance of dramatic irony they noticed and what it means in the context of the storyAsk questions when neededCo-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation Although this is independent practice, I will let some students work together if they need someone with whom to talk through their ideas. I will provide basic summaries to those who are still having trouble comprehending the chapter. Closing/Student Reflection/Real-life connections: I will bring up the fact that in the chapter we read today, Huck tells a number of lies in order to save the lives of some murderers. I will ask the students who we should help in our daily lives and if it is okay to be dishonest if we are doing it to help the people around us. I will ask what it means to be moral in today’s society. This will not be a long conversation, just a nudge to get them to keep thinking.ReflectionThis process was significant to me because it helped me work through how real lessons are planned and implemented. To design this lesson, I observed some lessons that my mentor teacher taught his class and noticed different ways he was not reaching many of the students in his class. I wanted to implement these activities because they were specific concepts (vocabulary, themes, irony) that the students were not understanding, but my mentor teacher wasn’t doing anything to connect the students to the material or help them grasp the concepts. It was an important lesson to me that I need to evaluate what is not working for my students and adapt my lessons to what will help them instead of what I have always done or planned to do or what is the least effort for me. Originally, I was not involved in the designing of lesson plans at all, but for this lesson I designed it alongside my mentor teacher. I was able to implement most of the lesson, although I was not able to implement all of this lesson because of what my mentor teacher had planned and what he wanted to do with his students. Unfortunately, I was not really involved in the evaluating of the lesson at all. My mentor teacher was not forthcoming with student data as far as grades went.One of the main concerns I’ve had the students address in conversation with me is that they don’t understand the literature that they read in class and don’t feel comfortable asking my mentor teacher questions, or asking him to explain the literature to them. My mentor teacher prides himself on not giving his students tests, but he administers all assignments as if they were tests. Almost every activity I have seen this semester has been the students giving written responses to questions about the literature. They are not allowed to discuss them with their classmates; it is done in silence and due at the end of the hour. The students want to discuss the books and bridge the gap between themselves and the literature. I feel that this lesson does at least a little bit to bridge this gap as I tried to make sure that we had discussions throughout to clarify and explain and that’s how I perceive it having value for the students.The activities that I have designed for this lesson are directly connected to state standards, although looking back on the entry level of my students, I may have been asking too much. Based on other assignments and assessments, the students are fairly far behind what state standards expect from them for their grade. It probably would have been more helpful to them if I had focused on one standard and helped get them to real mastery of that standard for the day’s content, instead of trying to meet three in one day.To evaluate the value of the activity of student learning, I tried to incorporate a number of informal formative assessments to make sure that the students were learning what I had identified as important for them to learn before we moved on. The students then turned in a document online that was then evaluated by my mentor teacher to determine the effectiveness of the activities, and I was unfortunately not given the numerical data on student performance outcomes.There were a number of different strategies that I attempted to implement in this lesson. I presented the content to the students in multiple ways: audiobooks and printed text so that whichever was the method that worked best for them, they would be supported. I also made sure that there were a couple different ways for the students to gather information and show that they understood (answering verbally, answering with clickers, written responses). Although I did try to include different strategies to help the students, there is a lot I would change going forward. I asked advice from my mentor teacher, but he did not really give me any feedback or advice beyond “You’ll figure it out when you’ve been teaching for a while.” So, this is what I have figured out, or what I am trying to figure out.In the future, I might want to pre-teach a lot more of the vocabulary instead of having them define words on their own (Gore, p. 112). I found that many students chose words, looked them up in the dictionary, then found that those words weren’t in the dictionary because Mark Twain uses words that aren’t used commonly, or he made up words, or the words were spelt in a dialectical spelling that meant we couldn’t always decipher what the word was meant to be. I would also want to give them much better graphic organizers. I hadn’t given them graphic organizers when this lesson was implemented, but if I were to do this lesson again I would want to give them that support. I like the suggestion the textbook gives of partial graphic organizers where the students are given some information and they have to fill in the rest (Gore, p. 92). Another intervention that I would implement in the future would be cueing critical points (Gore, p. 74). I paused the audiobook to talk about significant portions, but I didn’t always explicitly state that it was an important point and I also paused it after the point, which meant that if students weren’t already paying attention they missed out. Another strategy I might try in the future, with this lesson and others, is having the students create visual story boards so that they can better visualize what they are reading and solidify the sequencing of the story (Gore, p.146). The final change I would make in my teaching this lesson is just slowing down (Gore, p. 70). I really was trying to do too much in one day and moving on too quickly to have the students have the grasp on the content that I was hoping they would have. In the future, I would probably split this lesson up into two days instead of the one I was hoping it could effectively be done in. I learned a lot in preparing, teaching, and reflecting on this lesson. One of the ideas I have recognized in myself and my colleagues is that we expect a lot more from our students than they are currently doing. We expect them to be performing at a much higher level than they really are. While the students certainly tried hard to meet my expectations, they just couldn’t and there wasn’t enough scaffolding to help them get to where they need to be. This solidified the importance of scaffolding and really reaffirmed to me how much the students sincerely do want to learn, even if it’s within the context of a book that they don’t really like or relate to.ReferencesGore, M. C. (2010). Inclusion strategies for secondary classrooms: Keys for struggling learners. California: Corwin. ................
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