TEKS Lesson Plan/Unit Plan



Focus Plan

Texarkana Independent School District

|GRADING PERIOD: |5th six weeks |PLAN CODE: | |

|writer: |Deanna Henderson |Course/subject: |English I |

|Grade(s): |9th |Time allotted for instruction: |Two class periods |

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|Title: |The Odyssey – Changing Genres |

|Lesson TOPIC: |Literature originally presented in one genre can, with care, be adapted to another genre. |

| |Students, working in small groups, will choose from Books XVII through XX, a section involving |

| |two or more characters. They will concert that section into a dramatic scene and act it out. |

|TAKS Objective: |Objective 2 – The student will demonstrate an understanding of the effects of literary elements |

| |and techniques in culturally diverse written texts. |

|FoCUS TEKS and Student Expectations: |(11) Reading/Literary Concepts. The student analyzes literary elements for their contribution to |

| |meaning in literary texts. The student is expected to: |

| |(H) understand literary forms and terms such as author, drama, biography, autobiography, myth, |

| |tall tale, dialogue, tragedy and comedy, [structure in poetry, epic, ballad,] protagonist, |

| |antagonist, paradox, analogy, dialect, and comic relief as appropriate to the selections being |

| |read. |

|Supporting TEKS and Student Expectations: |(11) Reading/ Literary Concepts. The student analyzes literary elements for their contribution to|

| |meaning in literary texts. The student is expected to: |

| |(B) analyze the relevance of setting and time frame to text’s meaning; |

| |(C) analyze characters and identify time and point of view. |

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|Concepts |Enduring Understandings/Generalizations/Principles |

| |The student will understand that |

|dialogue |Dialogue brings characters to life by revealing their personalities and by showing what they are |

| |thinking and feeling as they react to other characters. Dialogue also helps to advance the plot. |

|Stage directions |Written instructions that explain how characters should look, speak, move, and behave. Stage |

| |directions also specify details of the setting and scenery, such as the sets, costumes, lighting, |

| |props, and sound effects. |

|aside |In a play, a comment made by a character that is heard by the audience or another character but is not |

| |heard by other characters onstage. Asides are frequently used to provide information to the audience |

| |and to reveal the private thoughts of characters. |

|genre |A genre is a category or type of literature characterized by a particular form or style. Prose – |

| |including fiction and nonfiction – poetry, and drama are examples of genres. |

| | |

| | |

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[pic]I. Sequence of Activities (Instructional Strategies)

A. Focus/connections/anticipatory set

• As students enter the classroom, “O Brother, Where Art Thou” CD playing.

• Explain to students that they will be working in small groups. They will be choosing a section involving two or more characters from Books XVII through XX of the Odyssey.

• They will convert that section into a dramatic scene and act it out.

• Go over with the class the following important elements of a dramatic scene:

- The script of a scene must contain both dialogue (the conversation and asides of the characters) and stage directions (descriptions of setting, characters, and action). Not all descriptions show up in stage directions, however; sometimes playwrights drop descriptions of setting and of characters right into the character’s dialogue.

- A scene usually deals with a single incident, which occurs in a single setting.

- The characters may not resolve a problem in a scene, but a scene must end in a satisfying way rather than simply trail off.

B. Instructional activities

(demonstrations, lectures, examples, hands-on experiences, role play, active learning experience, art, music, modeling, discussion, reading, listening, viewing, etc.)

Select one section of text for the whole class to work on together – with you. Model for the class how to generate prewriting notes for an adaptation and then how to write the draft itself. Show clearly how you take certain lines of poetry and transform them into dialogue or stage directions.

C. Guided activity or strategy

In a series of minilessons, review with students how to proceed from making

prewriting notes for a scene, through writing, to revising and editing. Give the groups

time to apply each minilesson. (See Handout # 1 – Prewritng, Writing, Revising and Editing, Grammar, Usage, Mechanics).

D. Accommodations/modifications

E. Enrichment

II. STUDENT PERFORMANCE

A. Description

• Before the class period, the teacher should arrange the student groups.

• Before the class period, the teacher should make copies of Handout # 1 – Prewriting, Writing, Revising and Editing, Grammar, Usage, Mechanics.

• Each group of students should have a copy of The Odyssey.

B. Accommodations/modifications

Students requiring accommodations/modifications may be placed in groups with peers.

They may also use the Learning Lab.

C. Enrichment Students requiring enrichment may complete the Modern Monsters assignment that follows:

Modern Monsters

For thousands of years, writers and artists have delighted in Homer’s creative cast of monsters and adversaries. Imagine a modern-day Odysseus facing a monster that vividly portrays something about the challenges of life in your school or community. Write a brief story in which the hero defeats the monster in some creative or witty way. Examples of everyday hazards include cars, buses, exams, sports, romance, drugs, peer pressure, curfew, and so on. When the story is complete, you will share your story. You may represent your modern-day monsters with artistic creations for the bulletin board.

III. Assessment of Activities

A. Description

Each group’s scene will be evaluated using a three-point rubric.

B. Rubrics/grading criteria

Three Point Rubric

• Three Points: contains all key ingredients from the selected section of the text; clearly introduces the problem or issue and develops or resolves it; reads very clearly and in a well-paced manner.

• Two Points: contains most key ingredients from the selected section of the text; introduces but does not develop the problem or issue; reads clearly in a well-paced presentation of the scene.

• One Point: omits key ingredients from the selected section of the text; does not focus on a problem or issue; reads poorly.

You may ask your students to contribute to the assessment rubric by determining what constitutes a clear and well-paced performance.

C. Accommodations/modifications

D. Enrichment

E. Sample discussion questions

1. Discuss the similarities between the journey of Odysseus and events that have occurred in your own life. Think about the different choices Odysseus is required to make during his journey.

2. Discuss the women in Homer’s work. What role do women play in The Odyssey, and how do you think they represent the women of ancient Greece?

3. Explain how the struggles of Odysseus to reach Ithaca are a contest between Poseidon and Athena as well.

4. Select an event from popular culture in which a hero or heroine is placed in a struggle. Examples from movies include Shane, Schindler’s List, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Saving Private Ryan, Patch Adams, and Alien. Describe how the director or writer makes you feel toward the hero or heroine and his or her opponents. Compare and contrast this to the characters in the Odyssey.

5. Revenge as a means of obtaining justice was more acceptable in Homer’s society than in our modern society, which has a formidable criminal justice system. Even so, Homer’s idea of revenge bears qualification. Define the nature of revenge in the Odyssey that suggests under what conditions it is an acceptable means of justice.

IV. TAKS Preparation

A. Transition to TAKS context

In this assignment concerning The Odyssey, the student demonstrates a familiarity with classic poetry. The student demonstrates an understanding of why certain literary works are considered classics or work of enduring quality and substance. The student identifies the plots, characters, and significance of selected works of ancient literature.

C. Sample TAKS questions

The sample TAKS questions are taken from the TAKS Information Booklet, January, 2002. The teacher should provide copies of the story “I Go Along” (pages 38-43) for each student.

1. How does the small-town setting contribute to Gene’s lack of confidence in himself?

A. Most people in town have attended poetry readings.

B. The students at Bascomb College look down on him.

C. Sharon Willis knows that he isn’t in Advanced English.

*D. Gene thinks that people in town have already decided what he is capable of doing.

2. In paragraph 6, Mrs.Tibbetts chooses her words carefully when she talks about the other English class because-

A. her students often misunderstand her

B. she wants the students to pay attention

*C. she doesn’t want to hurt her students’ feelings

C. a student in the back of the room interrupts her

V. Key Vocabulary –

Archetypal – Typical of an original model or pattern from which succeeding representations are copied.

Context: Every time you pick up the Odyssey, you are on the edge of talking about something archetypal, something that is always with us, something that is wonderfully generalized.

Primordial – primitive, primeval, or fundamental

Context: Homer created the first novel, and that is primordial in a sense.

Template - A mold that establishes or serves as a pattern for future copies.

Context: Homer’s works were the templates for the western literary tradition.

Wily – crafty, tricky, or sly.

Context: Indiana Jones is like wily Ulysses.

VI. Resources

A. Textbook

Glencoe Literature, The Reader’s Choice, Course 4

B. Supplementary materials

Suggested Readings

The Gold of Troy: Searching for Homer’s Fabled City

Vladimir Tolstikov and Mikhail Treister. The ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, The A. S. Pushkin State Museum of Fin

More than 100 years ago, an amateur archaeologist guided by The Iliad searched for the lost world of Homer. This fabulous book of photographs and commentaries is the official catalogue of the Gold of Troy or Priam’s Treasure exhibition of rings, bracelets, earrings, pendants, figures, axes, and beads dating from the earliest times. Even in modern times, these artifacts have an aura of intrigue and mystery.

Greek Fire

Oliver Taplin. Athenaeum, 1990.

This book contains hundreds of beautiful pictures that help illustrate the ways the modern world has been inspired and transformed by Greek culture. It also has information on Greek tragedy, philosophy, science, mythology, politics, and warfare.

C. Technology

Web Links:

Internet Classics

E-text of the Odyssey for downloading, plus links, discussions, and more.



Mythology

A great place to start with Greek mythology. Includes an online fun quiz, an alphabetical list of the immortals, and more.



Climbing to the Top of Mount Olympus

A complete unit of study on mythology for middle school students.



Mythweb

At this site you will find a short version of the epic; teaching tips; and a character index.



Greek Mythology Link

A complete guide to all the individuals in mythology, with stories and information for each.



Study Guide for Classical Love Poetry



VII. FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES

(reteaching, cross-curricular support, technology activities, next lesson in sequence, etc.)

A. Review of skills

B. Next lesson in sequence

VIII. Teacher Notes

• Adaptions - Instead of small groups working on their own to adapt different sections of the epic, select one section of text for the whole class to work on together – with you. Model for the class how to generate prewriting notes for an adaptation and then how to write the draft itself. Show clearly how you take certain lines of epic poetry and transform them into dialogue or stage directions.

• The lesson is based on: school.lessonplans/programs/spartans/spartans/rtf

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