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Lesson Plan ATITLELetters From An American Farmer TIME70 Mins. (1 ? Class Periods)SETTINGThe setting is a rural school in a middle class community. The class consists of 17 boys and 5 girls for a total of 22 students. All 22 students are Caucasian and approximately 7 of the students are identified as needing free or reduced lunch. These students are juniors, but several of them are behind on their credits (mostly for failing previous English classes). 1 of the students has a visual impairment, 1 of the students has a 504 plan that suggest giving him extra time to complete assignments, and 1 of the students is a transfer student whose 504 plan suggest that he should not be given homework (the cooperating teacher ignores this).CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKThe materials for this lesson were adapted from The Norton Anthology of American Literature. The brief biography of Hector St. John de Crevecoeur as well as the full version of Letters from an American Farmer was used to give students important background information, such as Crevecoeur’s birthplace, prior military experience, and Tory loyalties. In addition to the anthology, notes from a lecture given by an English professor as well as worksheets provided by the classroom teacher.BACKGROUND/FOREGROUNDBackground ContentHector St. John de Crevecoeur was born Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur on December 31, 1735 in Caen, Normandy. At the age of 19, Crevecoeur would leave Normandy for England and shortly after would board a ship to the new world. He arrived in Canada in 1755 where he became a soldier. After completing his military service, he moved to New York in 1759 and decided to change his name to Hector St. John de Crevecoeur. In 1769, he finally settled down, married, and began the life of an American farmer. However, 9 years later Crevecoeur’s life would change as the American colonist declared war against the British. Due to his Tory sentiments, Crevecoeur would soon decide to leave his family behind and return to France to wait out the war. After the American Revolution ended in 1783, Crevecoeur would return to America to find his farm ruined by a native invasion and his wife and children living with neighbors. Unhappy with the state of affairs in the United States, Crevecoeur would return to France in 1785 and would remain there until his death on November 12, 1813.Crevecoeur’s essay Letters from an American Farmer serves as a primary source document for historians. Although Crevecoeur created a fictional persona to serve as his narrator, it is believed that the letters match his personal sentiments about the American way of life. This essay is the perfect medium for a discussion of fact versus opinion because Crevecoeur’s first hand account includes a large amount of historical evidence, but is also saturated with his own thoughts and feelings about this new type of man, the American. Explanation of Background ContentIt is important for students to understand that Crevecoeur has spent most of his life loyal to the French crown. Although he is living as an American farmer, he believes in being loyal to the crown no matter how tyrannical a group of people may believe the standing government to be. This explains Crevecoeur’s Tory loyalties as well as most of his viewpoints, which suggest that before coming to this new land most Americans were the miscreants of their previous lands and therefore have no loyalty to their home countries. This should help the students identify Crevecoeur’s intended audience as well as differentiate between fact and opinion within the letters.Linkage to Past/Future LessonsThis lesson is situated in the center of a unit based on American Nationalism. The lesson before this one was on The Declaration of Independence and the use of charge of words. The lesson preceding this one will be Self Reliance By Ralph Waldo Emerson. This unit will end with the students drafting an open letter to their school boards on a topic of their own choice.OBJECTIVE/SBy the end of this lesson students will be able to:1. Students will be able to differentiate between opinion and fact.2. Students will read a primary source document in order to become familiar with the terms open letter and epistle.3. Students will be able to identify the audience of Letters from an American Farmer as well as the author’s intent.MATERIALSSmartboardPowerPoint PresentationVocabulary WorksheetLetters from an American Farmer Fact vs. Fiction WorksheetDeclaration of Independence TestColored PensPREPARATIONReread Letters from an American Farmer by Hector St. John de CrevecoeurCreate PowerPoint presentation with important terms and factsMake copies of all worksheets, lecture, and testSend copy of PowerPoint to cooperating teacher for review.Review Letters from an American Farmer quiz to make sure everything is covered.PROCEDUREDay 1Pass out Declaration of Independence Test to all students.Students will have as much time as they need to complete this test; however, 30 minutes is the average time allotted for test of this length.Students will turn test in at the front of the room as they finish.Once test are turned in, students may pick up vocabulary homework and readings for next class. These are located under the folder where their tests are to be handed in.After all students have completed their test, brief lecture on Hector St. John de Crevecoeur and important terms.Students will be asked the following questions:Who owned the American colonist?Where is Normandy?Why is it important to know that Crevecoeur is French and not British?What is a fact?What is an opinion?Teacher will stop frequently to check for understandingThe lecture should take approximately 20 minutes. If students have additional time, they may work on their homework.Day 2Collect vocabulary worksheet.Have students take out copies of the lecture given on Friday and their Fact or Opinion worksheet.Pass out colored pens to each table.Read through each paragraph as a class summarizing and identifying fact vs. opinion.As students stumble upon a fact, they can jot it down with a colored pen. They will do the same with opinions, but they will use a second color.All students are encouraged to participate. Participation comes in the form of recalling background information from the lecture, answering questions, or summarizing the plot.Students will complete worksheets independently.The second half of the worksheet asks them to state their opinions about the American colonies and to fill out a wheel of American resources.During this time, I will circulate through the class to check for understanding.Time permitting; I will review for their quiz.DISCUSSION IDEASWho was J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur?Is Crevecoeur a reliable source?Who writes open letters? Who is the intended audience?How do we know that a piece of information is fact and not opinion?LANGUAGE/S ACCOMMODATIONSStudents will be given a vocabulary sheet during the first half of this lesson, which will allow them to decipher Crevecoeur’s letter. The students will also be given a PowerPoint slide with terms to memorize for the upcoming quiz. These terms include: open letter, nonfiction, epistle, primary source document, fact, and opinion.SPECIAL EDUCATION ACCOMMODATIONSSlides will be printed out for all students, which guarantees that the student with a visual impairment is able to see the information. Students will be allowed as much time as needed to complete the test on the Declaration of Independence on the first day of instruction.ASSESSMENTThree different types of assessment will be used for this sequence of lessons.Observations – Students will be observed for participation and effort. This also serves as a way for me to make accommodations if needed. Although no formal grade will be given for participation, all students will be encouraged to participate.Performance Task – Students will be graded on their completion of their vocabulary worksheet. These grades will be entered into the grade book and then returned to the students so that they can be used as a study guide for their unit exams.Summative Assessment – On the first day of instruction, students will be given a test on The Declaration of Independence. Students will have as much time as necessary to complete this assessment. The students will also be given a quiz on Letters from an American Farmer after this lesson plan has been completed.Place Language Assessments, here.Students will be assessed on their completion of their vocabulary worksheets. They will also be informally assessed through their participation in the fact vs. opinion discussion as well as on their reading comprehension of Letters from an American Farmer.Place Special Needs Assessment, here.All students were assessed according to the same criteria regardless of whether or not they had special learning requirements. This was done due to the instructions of the cooperating teacher. However, if I had total control of this assignment I would have given different students different test to control for the different academic abilities (e.g. reading levels and writing abilities) of the students in this class.EXTENSION IDEASHave students rewrite Crevecoeur’s letter from the perspective of someone with a different background (e.g. British Colonist, King George, etc.). How will the opinions change? Will the facts change? If so, how?Have students draft Crevecoeur’s response to The Declaration of Independence. Would Crevecoeur agree with Jefferson? What would he like? What would he dislike?SOURCE OF ACTIVITYThe Norton Anthology of American LiteratureWorksheets provided by classroom teacherNotes used from English Projessor.RESOURCES AND REFERENCESBaym, Nina, Franklin, et al. eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton Company, 2007. Print.Murrison, Justine Phd. “Survey of American Literature I.” University of Illinois. Main Library, Champaign, IL. Spring 2012.Illinois Professional Teaching Standards:#1 Content Knowledge: The teacher understands the central concepts, methods of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) and creates learning experiences that make the content meaningful to all students.Knowledge Indicators 1A, 1C, and 1D: This lesson not only points out major concepts such as deciphering fact vs. opinion in a persuasive or otherwise coercive text, but also how that applies to other disciplines and everyday life. I will ensure that students will be asked to identify places where these skills can be used (e.g. while watching the news). I have also read Letters from an American Farmer several times and have even attended a lecture on it. These notes as well as a biography of Crevecoeur will be used to display my mastery of the material and to instruct the students.Performance Indicators 1E, 1G, 1I, 1J, and 1K: Due to the amount of opinion in this open letter, Crevecoeur has the ability to skew the facts. I will guarantee that students are able to understand not only why certain opinions were given, but also who the intended audience was and why that is important. I will make sure to adjust examples accordingly, and to stop often to check for mon Core English Language Arts Standards (6-12):CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.Students will spend the second day of instruction examining the persuasive language used by Crevecoeur as well as his purpose and intended audience. By identifying the way that Crevecoeur intermingles facts with his own personal opinion, students will be able to write their own persuasive open SS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1a Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.For the second day of instruction, students will have to read Letters from an American Farmer excerpt for homework. Students will then use what they have read to identify important themes from the text and engage in a conversation regarding the reliability of the author. Time permitting, students will then use this information to brainstorm real world scenarios where someone may use a similar style of writing or speaking to persuade or engage an audience.REFLECTIONI enjoyed teaching this lesson, but I found it to be a little dry and that was something that I could not remedy because I was teaching a lesson prepared by the cooperating teacher. Ideally, I would have used hooks/Do Nows and a mini-lesson on the second day of instruction. I believe that task such as journaling work well to get students back into a mindset that is conducive to learning. It is also a way for them to think about all of their thoughts and get them on paper before engaging in a discussion. I also would have had the students complete their fact vs. opinion worksheet at home. My reasoning for this is that I taught an additional lesson on a half day, which included a fact or opinion game show. The students seemed to grasp the concept fairly quickly, so I do no think that an additional day of instruction on this topic was necessary.In addition to changes to the actual lesson, I would have also changed The Declaration of Independence Test as well as the Letters from an American Farmer Quiz. In my opinion, these assessments did not match the proposed learning objectives given to me by the teacher. Also, many of the questions were confusing for me to answer. I also had the opportunity to grade these test, and judging from the low marks received by many of the students I could tell that they had many of the same issues as I did. I found out shortly after the students took the quiz, that the teacher took these test directly from a teacher’s edition of a textbook and had made no alterations to them. ................
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