Reading for Teaching



-428625117094000Monster Unit 9th GradeToni ErvinAs you complete your unit plan, be sure to check the assignment instructions to ensure you’re meeting all requirements Unit OverviewEssential Question: How do we hold on to our Identity?How does the Point of View in a story affect the readers' experience?Core Text(s): Monster by Walter Dean MyersGrade Level: 9th Rationale: Ninth grade students are struggling with identity, and the text Monster will be relatable because one overarching theme is Identity. The Point of View in this text will challenge students to realize the bias it presents to the reader.Literary Reading Learning Target: Students will be able to determine point of view and relate how it affects character development in the text. Related Common Core Standard: RL.9-10.6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature. Rationale: This text has an in your face point of view bias that will work well for students so that they will be able to transfer their new found knowledge to texts with a more subtle point of view bias.Reading Comprehension Learning Target: Students will be able to visualize to increase comprehension as they read the text.Related Common Core Standard: RL.9-10.10 By the end of grade, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.Rationale: This text is set up as a screen play so students will be able to keep up with the plot better while visualizing. The Point of View will be better understood for the students through visualization and this will help them pay attention to details they would normally overlook.Discussion Learning Target: Students will be able to use appropriate decorum and actively participate in classroom discussion by providing evidence.Related Common Core Standard: RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.Rationale: Ninth grade students are eager to express their opinions but do not always express opinions that are textually evident. Transitioning into high school means students will need to address expectations of civility during discussions for future classes and later in life.Culminating Assessment:Each student will choose one character from the list and create a project to be shared with the class. The project will show how the character sees himself and also how he is seen by the reader using textual evidence. The project can be done through poster, power point, video, or any other approved method. This is the character list that the students can choose from: Sandra Petrocelli, Kathy O'Brien, James King, Bobo Evans.Alternative assignment: Student will choose one character from the above list and write an essay that explains how the character sees himself and also how he is seen by the reader using textual evidence. This project does not have to be presented in class but is do the same day.Rationale: Ninth grade students will enjoy the creative side of this project and will gain experience with speaking in front of a group as well as exercising their new point of view skills. This will allow students that are struggling with this concept to view different examples.Name: __________________________________Reading for TeachingOverview of Core TextTitle: ______Monster________________ Author: ____Walter Dean Myers____________Synopsis (2-3 sentences, including year, genre, and basic info):Lexile Score: _____670________________ Rough Grade Level Equivalent: _______9________TakeawaysActions and ConsequencesIdentityPeer PressureSubjective Nature of TruthReading StrategiesVisualizingMaking ConnectionsQuestioningCraft (Literary & Rhetorical Devices)Key Ideas & DetailsThemePlotCharacter DevelopmentGenre & Structurenarrationpoint of viewsuspenseFigurative LanguageImageryMetaphorSymbolismConventions (Grammar & Style)SemicolonsCommasDashesVaried Styles (Diary entries and Screenplay)Supplementary Texts (literary, informational, and visual/artistic texts that “speak” to the core text in terms of…)Context & PerspectiveLocked Away Forever (Rebecca Falcon)…look for other articleWalter Dean Myers BiographyGang-Related PressuresBig Ideas, Themes, ConceptsBlind Men and an ElephantThe Sniper Liam O’FlahertyStrategies, Craft, & ConventionsMetaphor poems (Storm, Rose, The Pencil case, A Stream, River and Ocean)Suspense Clips“The Blind Men and the Elephant”Challenging VocabularyFelony MurderPrejudiceMurderSuppressImplicateDiminutiveMenaceJusticeUnit Calendar 12345Topic: Frontloading JusticeTopic: Frontloading JigsawTopic: Literary Reading point of viewTopic: Reading Comprehension visualizationTopic: Vocabulary Reading ComprehensionTTW introduce vocabulary words and have students complete workout 1(20) TTW explain rules of Gallery walk of Justice system(25) Discussion(15)Vocabulary workout 2 (20)Jigsaw Falcon, Myers, Justice, Till(30)Discussion based on the readings(10)Vocabulary workout 3(20)TSW make a list of point of view and explain.(5)TTW read “The Blind Men and the Elephant” (5)TSW complete point of view handout. (15)TSW take point of view quiz. (15)Vocabulary workout 4 (20)TTW hand out visualization guide to students and read the first five pages aloud. After answering the first blank students will be partnered up to read and answer the next blank.(40)Partner reading through pg 58. Each student will write down at least three questions from the reading and turn them in to the teacher.(40)Vocabulary Taboo Review(20)HW: Study VocabularyHW: Study Vocabulary and finish vocabulary crossword.HW: HW: Study vocabulary, read through pg 28 and finish visualization guide.HW: Read through pg 58, answer point of view questions, and study Vocabulary for quiz.678910Topic: VocabularyLiterary Reading Topic: Reading Comprehension and Literary ReadingTopic: Reading ComprehensionTopic: DiscussionTopic: DiscussionTTW have students turn in all of their vocabulary workouts. TTW pass out vocabulary quizzes to students and give students approximately 25 minutes to complete. (25)TSW partner read and cite examples of which point of view is being used and examples showing that the reader is influenced by Steve. (35)READING DAYStudents will create questions for discussion based on the novel so far. The questions should include content and point of view bias. (60)TTW explain the end of unit project and what will be expected. (15)TSW be partner read and create visualization guides for pages 127-160. (45)TTW have students model a bad discussion and then model a good discussion for the class. TSW explain what makes a good discussion. TTW give students sentence stems and decorum rules for discussions. (15)TSW answer the following questions: “Why would Steve participate in the robbery?” “Do you think Steve participated in the robbery? Why or Why not?” using evidence to support their answers.(5) TTW have students write discussion questions to be chosen.(15)TSW hold a discussion based on the questions they wrote. TTW give feedback. (25)TTW separate students into groups and choose one student from each group to facilitate a discussion. After ten minutes TTW have the facilitator change groups and pick new facilitator from new group. There will be five rounds of discussion.(50)TTW ask for feedback from groups on the discussions and give some of their own.(10)HW: Finish reading through pg 88 and finish point of view assignment.HW: Read through July 9th write 8 discussion questions.HW: Finish reading and visualization guide. Decided on a character for project.HW: Students will read to page 200 and complete the blanks as they read.HW: Students will read to the end of 238 and write 5 open ended questions.1112131415Topic: Work Day Literary ReadingTopic: Discussion Topic: Workshop Literary ReadingTopic: Reading Comprehension TestTopic: Literary Reading Project presentations.TSW spend the day working on their project that will be turned in at the beginning of class on Thursday. TTW determine the order of presentation and get a final count of all students that have chosen the alternate assignment. 60)TSW have a class discussion on last night’s reading. (15)TTW finish reading the novel aloud to class. (5)TSW hold group discussions based on the book and outcome. (40)TTW explain what criteria must be included in the project. This was already explained on Day 8.(5)TTW have students work in pairs to check off if the other meets each criteria. (15)TSW work to fix any problems that may have surfaced. TTW walk around giving feedback to students.(30)TTW ask the class questions to review for tomorrow’s test. (10)TSW take a test based on the book to show their understanding of the content.Projects and papers are due at the beginning of class. If time permits three to five students will share their projects. (60)TSW present their projects. (60)HW: Students will read to the end of 268 and write 5 open ended questions.HW: Work on Project, bring project to class for workshop tomorrow.Study for Test.HW: Students will finish projects and study for Test.HW:HW: Vocabulary Instruction Day 1: Vocabulary words will be presented to students. TTW introduce each word and have students repeat it to them. After each word is introduced TTW ask students what the words mean. TTW give the definition of the word or apply a new definition using students’ answers. TTW ask students for examples of each word. When the teacher is satisfied with the basic understanding of the word TTW distribute Vocabulary Workout 1. After ten minutes, TTW have students give answers for the first three questions. TTW have students place workout one in the vocabulary section of their binders. Day 2: TTW pass out vocabulary workout 2. TTW give students 10 minutes to complete. TTW ask if anyone still needs time and give the students at most 5 more minutes before moving on. TTW have students give their answers for a few of the questions. TTW explain why an answer does not work if need be. TTW have students complete vocabulary crossword as homework and remind students that all vocabulary work will be due at the beginning of class Monday, before the quiz. Day 3: TTW pass out Vocabulary workout 3 and have each student pick 5 five words from the bowl at the front of the room. Students will have 10 minutes to complete workout 3. TTW call on students to share their sentences.Day 4: TTW pass out vocabulary workout 4. TTW give students fifteen minutes to work. Students will share answers. The students will finish their workout 4 for homework and study for the quiz.Day 5: Review day: TTW divide the class into two teams to play Vocabulary Taboo. One student from each team will stand facing the class. TTW write a vocabulary word on the board. Students will take turns alternating between teams to give hints to the word. Once the word is guessed the teams will trade their guessers out. This will continue until all student have had a chance to guess a word. Words will most likely be repeated. If a word is not guessed within two minutes guessers will turn around to reveal words. Day 6: TTW have students turn in all of their vocabulary workouts. TTW pass out vocabulary quizzes to the students. Students will be given 30-40 minutes to complete.Vocabulary: Monster Prejudice (noun): preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.Justice (noun): the use of power as to support fair treatment and due rewardMenace (noun):1. a. A possible danger; a threat: a careless driver who was a menace to public safety. b. The quality of being threatening: a hint of menace in his voice. 2. A troublesome or annoying person: considered her little brother to be a menace.Suppress (verb): To keep from being revealed, published, or circulated: suppress evidence; suppress a film.Implicate (verb): 1. To show to have a connection 2. To show to be involved or concernedDiminutive (adj): very small or tinyMonster (noun): a person so cruel, wicked, depraved as to horrify others Felony Murder (noun): a death resulting during or caused by a felonyAll members involved in a felony are guilty of felony murder, even the look out.Vocabulary Workout 1: Monster 1. Why might a person be called a monster?2. What is something that you might want to suppress from your parents?3. Give an example of a felony murder.4. When is a time that you felt you received justice?5. Name an animal that can be described as diminutive?6. Susie yells at her brother, "Leave me alone, you little menace!" What may the brother have been doing?7. Why might someone want to implicate you with a certain group?8. Give an example where you showing prejudice might cause you to be harmed?Vocabulary Workout 2: Monster Finish the sentence. Use the vocabulary word in each sentence you finish. Follow the example.1. Suppress: Jerry was afraid he was failing so he tried to suppress his report card.2. Monster: No one ever visits Mr. Gromwald3. Felony murder: Charlie was very afraid 4. Justice: When Morgan went to the teacher5. Diminutive: Xavier was amazed at the6. Menace: Manny’s sister is always 7. Implicate: Harry would not hang out with Chuck because8. Prejudice: Marco had never tried broccoli -847725-138112500Vocabulary Workout 3: Monster Which Vocabulary word do you associate with...1. an ant or a flea?2. Adolph Hitler?3. someone who helped someone commit a crime?4. receiving a citizenship award after volunteering? 5. bad grades or a dark secret?6. someone who picks on others?7. Segregation?8. proving that a student hangs out with a less than favorable set of friends?Choose five words from Ms. Ervin's cup and create sensible sentences with each one. 1. Word: ____________Sentence:2. Word: ____________Sentence:3. Word: ____________Sentence:4. Word: ____________Sentence:5. Word: ____________Sentence:JUSTICEJUSTICEJUSTICEFELONY MURDERFELONY MURDERFELONY MURDERPREJUDICEPREJUDICEPREJUDICEMENACEMENACEMENACESUPPRESSSUPPRESSSUPPRESSIMPLICATEIMPLICATEIMPLICATEDIMINUTIVEDIMINUTIVEDIMINUTIVEMONSTERMONSTERMONSTERVocabulary Workout4: Monster Check out the sentences below. Star the ones that use the vocabulary word correctly.Frank felony murder a man because he was involved in the crime where the man was killed.Rick suppressed his feelings from Chloe.The elephant is a diminutive animal compared to an ostrich.Margaret is considered a monster by her neighbors because she hurts animals.The police found enough evidence to implicate Kevin with arson.Joann fought justice for custody of her children.Whitney is a menace on the road because she always texts and drives.Mark prejudices blondes because he thinks they are all dumb.Harold committed felony murder because, he broke into a woman’s house to rob her but, accidentally knocked her down the stairs causing her to die.Charlotte was less than impressed by the diminutive diamond Barry bought her.Marco found justice by being granted joint-custody of his children.She suppress the story from being written about her life.Create Examples/Pictures/RemindersIn the box below each word, draw a picture, write a sentence, or give an example to help you remember the meaning of each word.MonsterPrejudiceJusticeMenaceSuppressImplicateDiminutiveFelony MurderMonster Vocabulary QuizA. Match the correct definition with each vocabulary word. (24 points, 3 points each)_____1. PrejudiceA. To keep from being revealed, published, or circulated_____2. JusticeB. use of power for fair treatment; fair reward or punishment_____3. MenaceC. to show to be involved or to have a connection_____4. SuppressD. a death resulting during or caused by a serious crime_____5. ImplicateE. a person so cruel, wicked, depraved as to horrify others_____6. DiminutiveF. preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. _____7. MonsterG. 1. A possible danger; threat 2. A troublesome or annoying person_____8. Felony MurderH. very small or tinyB. Fill in the sentences with the correct vocabulary word. (49 points --7 points each)1. Daryl was ______________in the robbery at the convenience store last Wednesday.2. The recently released prisoner wanted to ___________ his time in prison.3. Sidney found ____________ when she was acquitted of the charges.4. Andrew was called a __________ because he was constantly bothering his brothers.5. The possibility of getting a good grade on a test you didn't study for is __________.6. One person that is considered a _________ is infamous serial killer Ted Bundy.7. Harry is __________ against peas; he doesn't like them even though he has never tried them.C. Respond to the questions with complete sentences. (27 points -- 9 points each)1. When is a time showing prejudice can cause harm to others.2. When might someone want to suppress his/her feelings?3. Rick and Bob decide to rob a bank. They hire Hank to drive the getaway car and convince Mark to keep look out. During the robbery Rick pushes an old man down. The old man hits his head and dies. Who will be charged with felony murder? Explain your answer.Frontloading Lesson Plan Day on the Calendar: Day 1Objectives: SWBAT determine a theme in the text by analyzing the questions in the gallery mon Core Standards Addressed: R.L 9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the textSteps for Instruction:Time: Teacher and Student Actions0:00-0:05TTW explain the rules of a gallery walk to students. There is to be no talking. One warning and then the student is removed from the gallery to do test prep. TTW explain that each student will be required to write a response to at least two pages this can be to the original question or to someone’s response. Students should go back to check responses that have been added. TTW pass out pens to the class so that everyone has the same color ink.0:05-0:25TTW have students do a Gallery walk with questions and quotes pertaining to the American justice system.0:25-0:40TTW have students discuss the three questions they choose as a class. TTW ask students to consider the questions that were used in the gallery walk when answering “What do you believe the text will be about and why?” TSW answer this question on a post-it and turn this in before they leave class.Plan for Assessment: TTW collect the post-it notes to determine if students have an understanding of the theme.Plan for Differentiation:Students will be given time to walk around and consider their thoughts before answering the questions. Students will also be given time to read other comments. All people in prison are guilty of a crime.In America, you are innocent until proven guilty.The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment.Juveniles should never be tried as adults.Because of the felony murder rule less people are likely to be involved in crimes.Most juveniles that commit crimes do it for money.We identify ourselves the way others see us.Emmett Till?Biography(1941–1955)Emmett Louis Till was born on July 25, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois, the only child of Louis and Mamie Till. Till never knew his father, a private in the United States Army during World War II. Mamie and Louis Till separated in 1942, and three years later, the family received word from the Army that the soldier had been executed for "willful misconduct" while serving in Italy.Emmett Till's mother was, by all accounts, an extraordinary woman. Defying the social constraints and discrimination she faced as an African-American woman growing up in the 1920s and '30s, Mamie Till excelled both academically and professionally. She was only the fourth black student to graduate from suburban Chicago's predominantly white Argo Community High School, and the first black student to make the school's "A" Honor Roll. While raising Emmett Till as a single mother, she worked long hours for the Air Force as a clerk in charge of confidential files.Emmett Till, who went by the nickname Bobo, grew up in a thriving, middle-class black neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. The neighborhood was a haven for black-owned businesses, and the streets he roamed as a child were lined with black-owned insurance companies, pharmacies and beauty salons as well as nightclubs that drew the likes of Duke Ellington and Sarah Vaughan. Those who knew Till best described him as a responsible, funny and infectiously high-spirited child. He was stricken with polio at the age of 5, but managed to make a full recovery, save a slight stutter that remained with him for the rest of his life.With his mother often working more than 12-hour days, Till took on his full share of domestic responsibilities from a very young age. "Emmett had all the house responsibility," his mother later recalled. "I mean everything was really on his shoulders, and Emmett took it upon himself. He told me if I would work, and make the money, he would take care of everything else. He cleaned, and he cooked quite a bit. And he even took over the laundry."Till attended the all-black McCosh Grammar School. His classmate and childhood pal, Richard Heard, later recalled, "Emmett was a funny guy all the time. He had a suitcase of jokes that he liked to tell. He loved to make people laugh. He was a chubby kid; most of the guys were skinny, but he didn't let that stand in his way. He made a lot of friends at McCosh."In August 1955, Till's great uncle, Moses Wright, came up from Mississippi to visit the family in Chicago. At the end of his stay, Wright was planning to take Till's cousin, Wheeler Parker, back to Mississippi with him to visit relatives down South, and when Till, who was just 14 years old at the time, learned of these plans, he begged his mother to let him go along. Initially, Till's mother was opposed to the idea. She wanted to take a road trip to Omaha, Nebraska, and tried to convince her son to join her with the promise of open-road driving lessons. But Till desperately wanted to spend time with his cousins in Mississippi, and in a fateful decision that would have grave impact on their lives and the course of American history, Till's mother relented and let him go.On August 19, 1955—the day before Till left with his uncle and cousin for Mississippi—Mamie Till gave her son his late father's signet ring, engraved with the initials "L.T." The next day she drove her son to the 63rd Street station in Chicago. They kissed goodbye, and Till boarded a southbound train headed for Mississippi. It was the last time they ever saw each other.Three days after arriving in Money, Mississippi—on August 24, 1955—Emmett Till and a group of teenagers entered Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market to buy refreshments after a long day picking cotton in the hot afternoon sun. What exactly transpired inside the grocery store that afternoon will never be known. Till purchased bubble gum, and some of the kids with him would later report that he either whistled at, flirted with or touched the hand of the store's white female clerk—and wife of the owner—Carolyn Bryant.Four days later, at approximately 2:30 a.m. on August 28, 1955, Roy Bryant, Carolyn's husband, and his half brother J.W. Milam kidnapped Till from Moses Wright's home. They then beat the teenager brutally, dragged him to the bank of the Tallahatchie River, shot him in the head, tied him with barbed wire to a large metal fan and shoved his mutilated body into the water. Moses Wright reported Till's disappearance to the local authorities, and three days later, his corpse was pulled out of the river. Till's face was mutilated beyond recognition, and Wright only managed to positively identify him by the ring on his finger, engraved with his father's initials—"L.T."“It never occurred to me that Bobo would be killed for whistling at a white woman.”?—?Simeon Wright, Emmett Till's cousin“It would appear that the state of Mississippi has decided to maintain white supremacy by murdering children.” —?Roy Wilkins, head of the NAACPTill's body was shipped to Chicago, where his mother opted to have an open-casket funeral with Till's body on display for five days. Thousands of people came to the Roberts Temple Church of God to see the evidence of this brutal hate crime. Till's mother said that, despite the enormous pain it caused her to see her son's dead body on display, she opted for an open-casket funeral in an effort to "let the world see what has happened, because there is no way I could describe this. And I needed somebody to help me tell what it was like.""With his body water-soaked and defaced, most people would have kept the casket covered. [His mother] let the body be exposed. More than 100,000 people saw his body lying in that casket here in Chicago. That must have been at that time the largest single civil rights demonstration in American history." —?Jesse JacksonIn the weeks that passed between Till's burial and the murder and kidnapping trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, two black publications, Jet magazine and the Chicago Defender, published graphic images of Till's corpse. By the time the trial commenced—on September 19, 1955—Emmett Till's murder had become a source of outrage and indignation throughout the country. Because blacks and women were barred from serving jury duty, Bryant and Milam were tried before an all-white, all-male jury. In an act of extraordinary bravery, Moses Wright took the stand and identified Bryant and Milam as Till's kidnappers and killers. At the time, it was almost unheard of for blacks to openly accuse whites in court, and by doing so, Wright put his own life in grave danger.Despite the overwhelming evidence of the defendants' guilt and widespread pleas for justice from outside Mississippi, on September 23, the panel of white male jurors acquitted Bryant and Milam of all charges. Their deliberations lasted a mere 67 minutes. Only a few months later, in January 1956, Bryant and Milam admitted to committing the crime. Protected by double jeopardy laws, they told the whole story of how they kidnapped and killed Emmett Till to Look magazine for $4,000."J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant died with Emmett Till's blood on their hands," Simeon Wright, Emmett Till's cousin and an eyewitness to his kidnapping (he was with Till the night he was kidnapped by Milam and Bryant), later stated. "And it looks like everyone else who was involved is going to do the same. They had a chance to come clean. They will die with Emmett Till's blood on their hands."Locked Away ForeverAlmost 10,000 Americans are serving life sentences for crimes they committed before they turned 18. By Adam LiptakOne night when she was just 15, Rebecca Falcon got drunk and made the decision that derailed her life. Now, she is serving a life sentence without parole at the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala, Fla. Looking back, Falcon faults her choice of friends. "I was like a magnet for the wrong crowd," she says. At the time, Falcon was living with her grandmother in Panama City, Fla. On Nov. 19, 1997, upset over an ex-boyfriend, she downed a large amount of whiskey and hailed a cab with an 18-year-old friend. He had a gun and, within minutes, the cab driver was shot in the head. The driver, Richard Todd Phillips, 25, died several days later. Each of the teenagers later said the other had done the shooting. Falcon's jury found her guilty of murder, though it never did sort out precisely what happened. "It broke my heart," says Steven Sharp, the jury's foreman. "As tough as it is, based on the crime, I think it's appropriate. It's terrible to put a 15-year-old behind bars forever." The U.S. is one of the few countries that does that. About 9,700 American prisoners are serving life sentences for crimes they committed before age 18. More than a fifth have no chance for parole. Life without parole is available for juvenile criminals in about a dozen countries, but a recent report by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International found only 12 juveniles—in Israel, South Africa, and Tanzania—serving such sentences. In the U.S., more than 2,200 people are serving life without parole for crimes they committed before turning 18. More than 350 are 15 or younger. Cruel & Unusual? Juvenile criminals are serving life terms (with or without the possibility of parole) in at least 48 states, according to a survey by The New York Times, and their numbers have increased sharply in the past decade. Of those imprisoned in 2001, 95 percent were male and 55 percent were black. Is such punishment fair for juvenile offenders? In March 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty for crimes committed by people under 18 violates the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishments." That might have surprised the people who ratified the Amendment in 1791, many of whom found such executions neither cruel nor unusual. But the Court said that the meaning of the Amendment changes with "evolving standards of decency." Their decision has convinced prosecutors and activists that the next legal battleground in the U.S. will be over life sentences for juveniles. 'Unformed' Personalities The Supreme Court ruled that youths under 18 who commit terrible crimes are less blameworthy than adults, at least for purposes of the death penalty: They are less mature, more susceptible to peer pressure, and their personalities are unformed. "Even a heinous crime committed by a juvenile," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy concluded, is not "evidence of irretrievably depraved character." Most of those youthful qualities were evident in Falcon, who had trouble fitting in at school. She is in prison for felony murder, meaning she participated in a crime that led to a killing but was not proved to have killed anyone. Jim Appleman, Falcon's prosecutor, says she does not ever deserve to be free. He is convinced that she shot Phillips. "If she were a 29-year-old or a 22-year-old," he says, "I have no doubt she would have gotten the death penalty." Although Falcon believes her sentence is unfair, she says her eight years in prison have changed her. "A certain amount of time being incarcerated was what I needed," she says. "But the law I fell under is for people who have no hope of being rehabilitated, that are just career criminals and habitually break the law, and there's just no hope for them in society. I'm a completely different case." 'This can be hard' The case of another Florida teenager, Timothy Kane, shows how youths can be sent away for life, even when they were not central figures in a crime. (Florida is among the states with the most juvenile offenders—about 600—serving life sentences, about 270 without parole.) On Jan. 26, 1992, Kane, then 14, was playing video games at a friend's house in Hudson, Fla., while some older boys planned a burglary. That night, five youths rode their bikes over to a neighbor's home. Two backed out, but Kane followed Alvin Morton, 19, and Bobby Garner, 17, into the house. He did not want to be called a scaredy-cat, he recalls. "This is the decision that shaped my life since," says Kane. He says he thought the house would be empty. But Madeline Weisser, 75, and her son, John Bowers, 55, were home. While Kane hid behind a dining-room table, Morton shot and killed Bowers. He then stabbed Weisser in the neck; Garner stepped on the knife, nearly decapitating her. Morton was sentenced to death. Garner, like Kane, a juvenile offender, was given a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 50 years. Kane was also sentenced to life, but he will become eligible for parole after serving 25 years. He doubts that the parole board will ever let him out. Kane grows emotional when talking about that January night. "I witnessed two people die," he says. "I regret that every day of my life, being any part of that and seeing that." He does not dispute that he deserved punishment but says his sentence is harsh. His days at Sumter Correctional Institution in Bushnell, Fla., are spent in the prison print shop making 55 cents an hour. "You have no hope of getting out," Kane says. "You have no family. You have no moral support here. This can be hard." Will the court intervene? In deciding whether "evolving standards" have turned against a particular punishment, the Supreme Court looks at what the states are doing. Life without parole for juvenile offenders is widely used, and only three states specifically ban it. If this form of punishment is to be banned by virtue of its violating the Eighth Amendment, it will likely happen only when a majority of the states first outlaw it. Robert W. Attridge, the prosecutor in Kane's case, says he feels sorry for him. "But he had options," Attridge says. "He had a way out. The other boys decided to leave. "Could Tim Kane be your kid, being in the wrong place at the wrong time?" the prosecutor asks. "I think he could. It takes one night of bad judgment and, man, your life can be ruined." From Walter Dean Myers:"I am a product of Harlem and of the values, color, toughness, and caring that I found there as a child. I learned my flat jump shot in the church basement and got my first kiss during recess at Bible school. I played the endless street games kids played in the pre-television days and paid enough attention to candy and junk food to dutifully alarm my mother."From my foster parents, the Deans, I received the love that was ultimately to strengthen me, even when I had forgotten its source. It was my foster mother, a half Indian-half German woman, who taught me to read, though she herself was barely literate."I had a speech difficulty but didn't view it as anything special. It wasn't necessary for me to be much of a social creature once I discovered books. Books took me, not so much to foreign lands and fanciful adventures, but to a place within myself that I have been constantly exploring ever since."The George Bruce Branch of the Public Library was my most treasured place. I couldn't believe my luck in discovering that what I enjoyed most'reading'was free. And I was tough enough to carry the books home through the streets without too many incidents."At sixteen it seemed a good idea to leave school, and so I did. On my seventeenth birthday I joined the army. After the army there were jobs-some good, some bad, few worth mentioning. Leaving school seemed less like a good idea.Walter Dean Myers has written many highly acclaimed books for children and young adults, including Angel to Angel, Glorious Angels, Brown Angels, and the Newbery Honor book, Scorpions. He received the Coretta Scott King Award for Now is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom, and the 1994 Margaret E. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award given by the American Library Association. He lives in Jersey City, NJ. "Writing for me has been many things. It was a way to overcome the hindrance of speech problems as I tried to reach out to the world. It was a way of establishing my humanity in a world that often ignores the humanity of those in less favored positions. It was a way to make a few extra dollars when they were badly needed."What I want to do with the writing keeps changing, too. Perhaps I just get clearer in what it is I am doing. I'm sure that after I'm dead someone will lay it all out nicely. I'd hate to see what kind of biography my cat, Askia, would write about me. Probably something like, "Walter Dean Myers had enormous feet, didn't feed me on time, and often sat in my favorite chair." At any rate, what I think I'm doing now is rediscovering the innocence of children that I once took for granted. I cannot relive it or reclaim it, but I can expose it and celebrate it in the books I write. I really like people "I mean, I really like people" and children are some of the best people I know."I've always felt it a little pretentious to write about yourself, but it's not too bad if you don't write too much."A Biography on Walter Dean MyersWalter Dean Myers is a pioneer of young adult fiction. His novels about urban teens and the challenges they face have won him both a devoted readership and dozens of book awards. His eighty-plus titles include Monster, Scorpions, and a memoir of his own youth, Bad Boy. Once thought to have been aimed at the so-called "at-risk" reader, Myers's books have stood the test of time as "poignant, tough stories for and about kids who don't appear in most storybooks," asserted Sue Corbett in a Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service report. "Children whose fathers are absent or jailed. Children who share playgrounds with drug dealers and gangs. Teens struggling to maintain their dignity while living with poverty, violence and fear." Raised by another family Born in 1937, Myers's own early life was marked by challenges, but they were those of a different era. He was born in the midst of the Great Depression (1929–41), and spent the first few years of his life in a hardscrabble West Virginia town called Martinsburg. It was about ten miles away from the former plantation on which his ancestors had once toiled as slaves. His family was extremely poor, and his mother died when he was a toddler, while giving birth to another child. A married woman who had been a friend of his mother's, Florence Dean, adopted him. Such informal adoptions were not unusual during the era. Though he was christened Walter Milton Myers, he later substituted "Dean" for his middle name in honor of the foster family who raised him. The Deans soon moved to New York City and settled in Harlem, the northern Manhattan neighborhood that was the center of black life in the city. His foster father, Herbert, worked as a janitor and also in factories, often holding down two jobs to make ends meet. Both he and his wife had little formal schooling, but Florence had taught herself to read, and she then taught her adopted son by letting him read the True Romance magazine stories she liked. He progressed to reading comic books, but a teacher discovered him with one in class at P.S. 125 one day. "She grabbed my comic book and tore it up," Myers recalled on a biography that appeared on the Scholastic Web site. "I was really upset, but then she brought in a pile of books from her own library. That was the best thing that ever happened to me." He became a bookworm, and regularly checked books out of his local library—but he carried them home in a paper bag so that other kids would not tease him. "I'm not interested in building ideal families in my books. I'm more attracted to reading about poorer people, and I'm more attracted to writing about them as well." A caring community Although Harlem would later become a violent, drug-troubled area, it was a far more balanced community when Myers was growing up there. Because neighborhoods elsewhere were not welcoming to African Americans, Harlem was home to black judges, doctors, and other professionals, as well as to ordinary working families. Myers even lived near the poet Langston Hughes (1902–1967). Hughes was one of the leading names of the Harlem Renaissance, the flourishing of African American music, literature, and other forms of art that began in the 1920s. Myers once spied the famous writer sitting on his front steps "drinking beer, but I didn't think much of him," he told Jennifer M. Brown in a Publishers Weekly interview. "He didn't fit my stereotype of what serious writers should be. He wasn't writing about Venice." Myers retreated into books in part because he suffered from a speech impediment. When other kids made fun of him, he sometimes hit them. One teacher realized he could read aloud in class with little difficulty if he was reading words that he had written himself, and encouraged him to write more. Another teacher found a speech therapist for Myers, and also channeled the child's bossy nature into a role as the class leader. "He gave me permission to be a bright kid, permission to be smart," a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article by Jim Higgins quoted Myers as saying. During his teens Myers became disillusioned over his lot in life. He continued to get into trouble at school, and realized that not many avenues would be open to him once he left high school. Even though he was a bright student, he knew there were few resources available for blacks. "My folks couldn't send me to even a free college," he told Amanda Smith in Publishers Weekly. "There were days when I didn't have clothing to wear to high school, and I just didn't go." He dropped out of Stuyvesant High School, and, on his seventeenth birthday in 1954, he enlisted in the Army. He served three years and returned to New York City to take a series of low-paying jobs. He worked in the post office, as a messenger, and as a factory interviewer for the New York State Bureau of Labor. Entered writing contest Myers had been writing since his school days, and had even won awards for his work. He had never thought that his short stories could provide a career for him, but in the 1960s he began to submit his work to magazines. He also found freelance work for publications like the National Enquirer. In 1968 he entered and won a competition sponsored by the Council on Interracial Books for Children for African-American writers. His winning entry became a picture book, Where Does the Day Go? Its simple, charming plot involves a walk in the park led by a kindly African American dad; he takes along several children from different ethnic backgrounds, and all offer their various ideas about the sun, moon, and passage of time. In the early 1970s Myers wrote several other picture books for young readers, including The Dragon Takes a Wife and How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World. He was hired at the Bobbs-Merrill publishing house, and spent seven years there learning the book business from the editorial side. He went on to earn a college degree from Empire State College. His first novel for teens, Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff, was published in 1975. It came about entirely by accident, thanks to a short story he had submitted to his agent, who sent it on to an editor. The editor assumed it was a chapter in a book, and when she ran into Myers at a party she asked how the rest of the project was going. As he recalled in the interview with Smith, "I said, 'It goes like this,' and I made it up on the spot. She offered me a contract." Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff tells the story of the summer when Francis, a.k.a. "Stuff," moves to 116 th Street in Harlem. He and his friends, Clyde and Sam, shoot baskets and try to steer clear of the dangers on the streets. The book became a classic of young adult fiction, praised by readers for its humor, and taught in schools for its message about self-esteem and community. Myers found a steady market for his novels after that, and began publishing one every year. His 1979 title The Young Landlords, about a group of teens who are given an apartment building to manage on their own, was the first of his works to win a Coretta Scott King Award from the American Library Association. The annual honor is given to the top book for young readers by an African American author. Teen titles won devoted audience Myers would win the King award several more times for other books. Motown and Didi: A Love Story was the next to earn the honor. The 1985 novel is set in Harlem, where Didi and her boyfriend, Motown, fall in love. He wants to find a good job, while Didi hopes to go to college, but their more immediate goal is to keep her brother out of trouble and away from the local drug kingpin. Four years later, Myers won again for Fallen Angels, about a Harlem teen who enlists in the Army during the Vietnam War (1954–75). Myers called upon his own recollections of military service to write it, but the work was really written in honor of his younger brother, Sonny, who followed in Myers's footsteps and enlisted in the Army in 1968. Sonny was sent to Southeast Asia at the height of American involvement in the Vietnam conflict, and was killed in combat on his first day. Like most of Myers's works, it became a staple on school and public library bookshelves. Years later, he said the best letter he ever received from a reader was from a young man who had wanted to enlist in the military because of the Persian Gulf War in 1991. "He was so excited he couldn't wait until he turned 17 to join up," Myers recalled in the interview with Smith. "He read my book and changed his mind." Scorpions, which also appeared in 1988, recounts the story of Jamal, a middle-schooler who unwisely accepts a gun when an older teen asks him to hold onto it for him. The plot was inspired by a true-life tale: Myers and his sons once played ball in their neighborhood park with another kid, who later disappeared. They later learned he was involved in a shooting. Somewhere in the Darkness, which won the King award in 1993, is a characteristic Myers tale, both in its challenging fictional premise and in the compelling story the author weaves around it. This novel involves Jimmy Little, who lives in Harlem with his foster family. His father, Crab, has just been released from prison, and arrives to take Jimmy on a road trip. On their journey down South, Jimmy begins to realize his father is fatally ill and wants to clear his name of the crime that sent him to prison. Collector of vintage images Myers has written historical fiction as well as his contemporary novels for young adults. He has also written poetry and compiled photo albums that feature images of African American families over the generations. Myers collects these historical photos from rare book dealers and antiques stores during his book tours across the United States. One of these works is One More River to Cross: An African-American Photograph Album, which depicts families' journeys, from the slavery era to the migration to northern cities in the early years of the twentieth century. The idea for these books, Myers said, came when he was teaching writing to youngsters in a Jersey City elementary school near his home. As an assignment, he had them bring in images of their grandparents when they were children. "The kids loved the photographs," he explained to Brown. "They wanted to learn why their grandparents would wear those kinds [of] clothes, shoes, what kind of house they lived in." Myers has worked with his son, Christopher, who illustrated Harlem: A Poem, another Coretta Scott King award-winner. His 1999 novel Monster won that award, as well as the Michael L. Printz Award, another honor from the American Library Association. Monster recounts the terrible chain of events that lands sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon on trial for murder. Steve, who comes from a stable household and had hoped to become a filmmaker, was asked by some tougher kids in his neighborhood to serve as lookout during a store robbery. The owner is killed, and the teens are arrested. Myers spares no detail when describing Steve's fear of being preyed upon by the veteran teen criminals with whom he is housed. Patty Campbell, in a review for Horn Book, compared Myers's latest work to the classics Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders, and others. She asserted that Myers's "stunning new novel ... joins these landmark books. Looking backward, Monster is the peak achievement of a career that has paralleled the growth of the genre." Myers has written dozens of books over the years, including biographies of Malcolm X (1925–1965) and Muhammad Ali (1942–). He finally chronicled his own fascinating life story in Bad Boy: A Memoir, which appeared in 2002. He dedicated it to the sixth-grade teacher who found him professional help for his speech difficulty. Myers writes of his teen years in Harlem, and his flirtations with the criminal element, but also details his path to becoming a successful author. His story is all the more remarkable when he reveals that his foster father never learned to read—a discovery Myers made only after the man died. "Sometimes my father would have me read something to him," Myers wrote in his autobiography, "telling me it was because of his weak eyes." Many years later, when his father was dying, Myers gave him a book on which he and his son had collaborated, but his father never commented on it. "After his death, I went through his papers and saw the childlike scrawl that he used to fill out forms, and the misunderstandings he had of those forms.... Other correspondence indicated that his business affairs were being supervised by a friend at his job. It was then I realized that he had never commented on any of my books because he couldn't read them" United States: Thousands of Children Sentenced to Life without Parole National Study by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Finds Majority Face Life for First OffenseOctober 12, 2005 Kids who commit serious crimes shouldn't go scot-free, but if they are too young to vote or buy cigarettes, they are too young to spend the rest of their lives behind bars. Alison Parker, Senior Researcher, U.S. Program, Human Rights Watch There are at least 2,225 child offenders serving life without parole sentences in U.S prisons for crimes committed before they were age 18, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a new joint report published today. While many of the child offenders are now adults, 16 percent were between 13 and 15 years old at the time they committed their crimes. An estimated 59 percent were sentenced to life without parole for their first-ever criminal conviction. Forty-two states currently have laws allowing children to receive life without parole sentences.The 157-page report, The Rest of Their Lives: Life without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States, is the first national study examining the practice of trying children as adults and sentencing them to life in adult prisons without the possibility of parole. The report is based on two years of research and on an analysis of previously uncollected federal and state corrections data. The data allowed the organizations to track state and national trends in LWOP sentencing through mid-2004 and to analyze the race, history and crimes of young offenders. “Kids who commit serious crimes shouldn't go scot-free,” said Alison Parker, senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, who authored the report for both organizations. “But if they are too young to vote or buy cigarettes, they are too young to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.”Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are releasing The Rest of Their Lives at a critical time: while fewer youth are committing serious crimes such as murder, states are increasingly sentencing them to life without parole. In 1990, for example, 2,234 children were convicted of murder and 2.9 percent sentenced to life without parole. By 2000, the conviction rate had dropped by nearly 55 percent (1,006), yet the percentage of children receiving LWOP sentences rose by 216 percent (to nine percent).“Untie the hands of state and federal judges and prosecutors,” said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). “Give them options other than turning the courts into assembly lines that mass produce mandatory life without parole sentences for children, that ignore their enormous potential for change and rob them of all hopes for redemption.”In 26 states, the sentence of life without parole is mandatory for anyone who is found guilty of committing first-degree murder, regardless of age. According to the report, 93 percent of youth offenders serving life without parole were convicted of murder. But Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International found that an estimated 26 percent were convicted of “felony murder,” which holds that anyone involved in the commission of a serious crime during which someone is killed is also guilty of murder, even if he or she did not personally or directly cause the death. For example, 15-year-old Peter A. was sentenced to life without parole for felony murder. Peter had joined two acquaintances of his older brother to commit a robbery. He was waiting outside in a van when one of the acquaintances botched the robbery and murdered two victims. Peter said, “Although I was present at the scene, I never shot or killed anyone.” Nevertheless, Peter was held accountable for the double murder because it was established during the trial that he had stolen the van used to drive to the victims’ house.The human rights organizations also said that widespread and unfounded fears of adolescent “super-predators”—violent teenagers with long criminal histories who prey on society—prompted states to increasingly try children as adults. Ten states set no minimum age for sentencing children to life without parole, and there are at least six children currently serving the sentence who were age 13 when they committed their crimes. Once convicted, these children are sent to adult prisons and must live among adult gangs, sexual predators and in harsh conditions. For more state-by-state statistics please see the State-by-State Summary. According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, there is no correlation between the use of the LWOP sentence and youth crime rates. There is no evidence it deters youth crime or is otherwise helpful in reducing juvenile crime rates. For example, Georgia rarely sentences children to life without parole but it has youth crime rates lower than Missouri, which imposes the sentence on child offenders far more frequently.“Public safety can be protected without subjecting youth to the harshest prison sentence possible,” said Parker.Nationwide, black youth receive life without parole sentences at a rate estimated to be ten times greater than that of white youth (6.6 versus 0.6). In some states the ratio is far greater: in California, for example, black youth are 22.5 times more likely to receive a life without parole sentence than white youth. In Pennsylvania, Hispanic youth are ten times more likely to receive the sentence than whites (13.2 versus 1.3). The United States is one of only a few countries in the world that permit children to be sentenced to LWOP. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by every country in the world except the United States and Somalia, forbids this practice, and at least 132 countries have rejected the sentence altogether. Thirteen other countries have laws permitting the child LWOP sentence, but, outside of the United States, there are only about 12 young offenders currently serving life sentences with no possibility of parole. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International also challenged the presumption that the youth offenders are irredeemable, which is implicit in the sentence they have received. “Children who commit serious crimes still have the ability to change their lives for the better,” said David Berger, attorney with the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers and Amnesty International’s researcher for this report. “It is now time for state and federal officials to take positive steps by enacting policies that seek to redeem children, instead of throwing them in prison for the rest of their lives.” The organizations called on the United States to end the practice of sentencing child offenders to life without parole. For those already serving life sentences, immediate efforts should be made to grant them access to parole procedures. Testimonies from The Rest of Their Lives: Life without Parole for Child Offenders in the United StatesOn comprehending the life without parole sentence:A 29-year-old woman who was sentenced to life without parole at the age of 16 said: “I didn’t understand ‘life without’ . . . [that] to have ‘life without,’ you were locked down forever. You know it really dawned on me when [after several years in prison, a journalist] came and . . . he asked me, ‘Do you realize that you’re gonna be in prison for the rest of your life?’ And I said, ‘Do you really think that?’ You know. . . and I was like, ‘For the rest of my life? Do you think that God will leave me in prison for the rest of my life?’”—Interview with Cheryl J., MacPherson Unit, McPherson, Arkansas, June 24, 2004 (pseudonym)On committing crimes as children and being tried as adults:Gregory C., who committed his crime of first degree murder when he was 15, described his state of mind at the time:“A kid just does something—whether it’s an accident or intentional. I mean personally, me, I was fifteen years old . . . I didn’t know what I was doing. I was still a kid. . . . Kids do a lot of stupid things. . . . The person I was when I was fifteen, I really didn’t have any morals, I didn’t even know who I was at that time. I hate to admit it, but I was real ignorant.”—Interview with Gregory C., Colorado State Penitentiary, Ca?on City, Colorado, July 2, 2004 (pseudonym)Thomas M. described what happened when he heard the jury’s verdict:“I was very emotional and I broke out crying in court. I don’t know if I fully understood but I kinda understood when they just said, ‘guilty, guilty, guilty’ and ‘life’ y’ know? As time went on, I’m really starting to realize how serious it is. I was young, I wasn’t really too educated. When I got locked up, I was in the eighth grade. All my education has come through the years of being incarcerated.”—Interview with Thomas M., Colorado State Penitentiary, Canon City, Colorado, July 27, 2004 (pseudonym)ReferencesLiterary Reading Lesson Plan Day on the Calendar: Objectives: Day 3SWBAT determine point of view and relate how it affects character development in the text. Common Core Standard Addressed: RL.9-10.6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature. Steps for Instruction:Time: Teacher and Student Actions0:00-0:05TSW List and identify the different point of views. After five minutes TTW have a few students share their responses. Any point of views that were not listed will be listed with a brief explanation.0:05-0:10TTW read “The Blind Men and the Elephant” and explain which key words to look for to explain which point of view is being used. 0:10-0:25TTW hand out point of view worksheet. TTW call on strong readers to read each example aloud. After, the first example is read TTW ask the class what point of view this is. TTW give students ten minutes to finish the handout. TTW have students share their answers. TTW have students explain which context clues can lead to the correct answer. 0:25-0:40TTW give students a small quiz on point of view that requires students to show what makes them believe this is the correct answer.Plan for Assessment:TSW take a quiz on point of view. TSW be required to show what makes the student believe this is the correct point of view.Plan for Differentiation: The quiz will be read aloud for the entire class to assist struggling readers.Title: ????The Blind Men And The ElephantAuthor: James Baldwin [More Titles by Baldwin] There were once six blind men who stood by the roadside every day, and begged from the people who passed. They had often heard of elephants, but they had never seen one; for, being blind, how could they?It so happened one morning that an elephant was driven down the road where they stood. When they were told that the great beast was before them, they asked the driver to let him stop so that they might see him.Of course they could not see him with their eyes; but they thought that by touching him they could learn just what kind of animal he was.The first one happened to put his hand on the elephant's side. "Well, well!" he said, "now I know all about this beast. He is exactly like a wall."The second felt only of the elephant's tusk. "My brother," he said, "you are mistaken. He is not at all like a wall. He is round and smooth and sharp. He is more like a spear than anything else."The third happened to take hold of the elephant's trunk. "Both of you are wrong," he said. "Anybody who knows anything can see that this elephant is like a snake."The fourth reached out his arms, and grasped one of the elephant's legs. "Oh, how blind you are!" he said. "It is very plain to me that he is round and tall like a tree."The fifth was a very tall man, and he chanced to take hold of the elephant's ear. "The blindest man ought to know that this beast is not like any of the things that you name," he said. "He is exactly like a huge fan."The sixth was very blind indeed, and it was some time before he could find the elephant at all. At last he seized the animal's tail. "O foolish fellows!" he cried. "You surely have lost your senses. This elephant is not like a wall, or a spear, or a snake, or a tree; neither is he like a fan. But any man with a particle of sense can see that he is exactly like a rope."Then the elephant moved on, and the six blind men sat by the roadside all day, and quarreled about him. Each believed that he knew just how the animal looked; and each called the others hard names because they did not agree with him. People who have eyes sometimes act as foolishly.[The end]James Baldwin's short story: Blind Men And The Elephant Name_______________________________________POINT OF VIEW ExamplePoint Of ViewHow I knowWhen I was four months old, my mother died suddenly and my father was left to look after me all by himself… I had no brothers or sisters. So through boyhood, from the age of four months onward, there was just us two, my father and me. We lived in an old gypsy caravan behind a filling station”The huge man dropped his blankets and flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool. The small man stepped behind him. "Lennie!" he said sharply. "Lennie, for God" sakes don’t drink so much." Lennie continued to snort into the pool. The small man leaned over and shook him by the shoulder. "Lennie you gonna be sick like you was last night." Lennie dipped his whole head under, hat and all… "Tha’s good," he said. "You drink some, George." He smiled happilyThe previous night, make your plans for the next day and write them down… If you attend an exclusive Samurai’s party and feel timid, you cannot do your part in making it a successful party. You had first better prepare by convincing yourself that you will have a grand time. And you should feel grateful for the invitation.The robber looked over his potential prey for the evening. They all seemed like easy marks to him. Who would it be, he wondered. Feeling someone’s eyes on her pocketbook, Jane held it closer to her body. She would not be robbed again, after that last time.They were standing under a tree, each with an arm round the other's neck, and Alice knew which was which in a moment, because one of them had "DUM" embroidered on his collar, and the other "DEE." "I suppose they've each got "TWEEDLE" round at the back of the collar," she said to herself. They stood so still that she quite forgot they were alive, and she was just looking round to see if the word "TWEEDLE" was written at the back of each collar, when she was startled by a voice coming from the one marked "DUM."Name_______________________________ Date_______________________________Point Of View QuizDirections: For each question give the corresponding letter for the point of view (A. First-person, B. Second-Person, C. Third-Person Objective, D. Third-Person Limited, and E. Third-Person Omniscient). On the blank below each question explain your answer (which key words led you to that answer).Marcus stood on the sidelines wondering if The Giants would win. His dad looked down the field thinking this was going to be a memorable game.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________You rushed home afraid to look back, knowing that your unseen pursuer was right behind you. You locked the door as soon as you made it inside. “I’m safe,” you whisper before collapsing against the door.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Go Home, Harry!” Charlotte screamed. Harry grabs his keys and screams, “Goodnight!” as he slams the door behind him.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Lydia silently planned how she would tell her parents that she was failing Geometry. She was worried more about not getting to go to Courtney’s party than anything else. Rachel whispered, “So how did you do?”________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I smiled at the cashier. Her hair looked like silk, I would have given anything to touch it. As she handed me my change, I thought this was my moment. “…”But not one sound left my lips.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Reading Comprehension Lesson Plan Day on the Calendar: Objectives: Day 4SWBAT visualize as they read and be able to give evidence as support. Common Core Standards Addressed: RL.9-10.10 By the end of grade, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.Steps for Instruction:Time: Teacher and Student Actions 0:00-0:05TTW write words on the board such as Witch, Hero, and Villain. TTW tell students, “Write down a description for each word. In five minutes I am going to call on people to share their answers.”0:05-0:10TTW call on a few students per picture. TTW explain how this shows that we already have a visual description in our mind.0:10-0:15TTW pass out visualization guide. TTW read aloud through page 5 and then TTW help students fill in the first blank on the handout.0:15-0:35TTW pair students up and have them read through page 16 and answer the corresponding blank.0:35-0:40TTW have students give their answers for the blank. TTW inform students that the last three blanks should be completed as homework. Plan for Assessment: Students will complete handout as homework. This will show that they are visualizing as they read. This will also reinforce their ability to locate evidence in the text. The homework will be checked the following morning to see that everyone is on the same page. Plan for Differentiation: Students will be placed with partners for struggling readers. Struggling writers will have time to finish the worksheet as homework. Struggling students will receive extra practice.VISUALIZING MONSTER by WALTER DEAN MYERS MONDAY JULY 6th[After reading page 5, describe the narrator.][ Write down ATLEAST one quote that supports your description][As you read, through page 16 write down a description of O'Brien.][ Write down ATLEAST one quote that supports your description][As you read pages 20-25 give a description of one of the defendants.][ Write down ATLEAST one quote that supports your description][As you read O'Brien's opening statement on pages 25-27 give a description of Steve Harmon.] [ Write down ATLEAST one quote that supports your description][As you read Briggs’ opening statement on pages 27-28 compare his opening statement to that of O’Brien.][ Write down ATLEAST one quote that supports your description]Discussion Lesson PlanDay on the Calendar: Day 9 Objectives: Students will be able to use appropriate decorum and actively participate in classroom discussion by providing evidence.Related Common Core Standard: RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.Steps for Instruction:Time: Teacher and Student Actions0:00-0:15(TTW pull two students to the side at the start of class and ask them to participate in modeling the lesson for the class. This could be done the day before.)TTW ask the students what makes up a good discussion. After answers are given TTW add any that have not been named such as: always back up what you say (Cite from the text), respectfully disagree, open-ended questions, everyone’s opinion is equal, a facilitator that provides strong questions and pushes participants for detailed answers. TTW explain that students should practice using sentence stems in their discussion. “I think____because the text says____.” “I agree with____about_____because in the text____.” “I disagree with______about______the text says_____.”TTW have two students model a bad discussion. TTW stop the students and explain that this is what we are not looking for. TTW then have the students model a good discussion. TTW have students explain why the first discussion example was wrong and what was different about the second.0:15-0:20TTW put questions on the board. “Why would Steve participate in the robbery?” “Do you think Steve participated in the robbery? Why or Why not?” TTW have students consider these questions informing them to look for evidence to support their answer.0:20-0:35TTW have students write down three to five open-ended questions for discussion. TTW inform students that she/he will call on students to share questions.0:35-0:60TTW have 3-5 students present their question to the class. TTW remind the student acting as facilitator that it is their job to get everyone involved. TTW allow students to practice facilitating for the remainder of class. (Homework students will create discussion questions to be presented the following day)Plan for Assessment: Students will facilitate discussions, reinforcing others to use sentence stems and provide evidence for answers. TTW walk around observing discussions listening for sentence stems and evidence.Plan for Differentiation: Students will be given time to write their own questions and given time to reflect on questions that are asked.Works CitedBaldwin, James. “The Blind Men and the Elephant.” . Web. 06 Dec. 2014.Brown, Michelle. “Latin Roots Vocabulary.” moodle.selu.edu. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.Liptak, Adam. “Locked Away Forever.” New York Times Upfront. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.Morton. “Point of View Practice.” . Web. 20 Oct. 2014.Parker, Alison. United States: Thousands of Children Sentenced to Life without Parole National Study by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Finds Majority Face Life for First Offense.” .Web. 07 Dec. 2014.Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Tanya N. Baker, and Julie Dube Hackett. Strategic Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 2001. Print. “ Mourns the passing of Walter Dean Myers on July 1, 2014.” .Web. 07 Dec. 2014."Emmett Louis Till." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.“Monster Word-cloud.” . Web. 13 Oct. 2014. “Walter Dean Myers Biography.” . Web. 07 Dec. 2014.Reflection LetterThis unit is based on Walter Dean Myers novel, Monster. The novel is written in first person from the perspective of Steve Harmon. The novel is written like a screenplay with journal entries mixed in. This unit focuses on teaching students to visualize as they read, to analyze point of view and establish point of view bias, and to form good discussion habits. Students will enhance their ability to cite information while building these new skills. While making this unit plan I implemented several of the ideas and activities we covered in class. Some of the activities include: the gallery walk, jigsaw reading, and the small group discussions. The readings we covered in class taught me a lot most importantly to use partner reading instead of whole class reading aloud or round robin reading. Partner reading is something that we read about and also practiced in class. I have learned that many teachers realize that round robin reading is harmful to students but still use it in their classes. I have learned different techniques to use in my reading instruction that steers clear of round robin reading. I have learned to scaffold my lessons to ensure students have an understanding of the material and techniques being taught. Learning how to layout an entire unit is one of the most important aspects I learned. I still have trouble with time management and figuring out how to figure out exactly how much time to allow for each activity. Time management is definitely a weakness in this unit and so is the overall layout of the literary target. I feel that the introduction to the literary target is a major strength as well as the frontloading activities. The biggest challenge struggling and reluctant readers will face in this unit is that most of the reading is done at home. The activities were designed to rely on the students completing the readings for homework. This I hope will encourage the students to read. ................
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