Lesson 1
Grade: High School
Goal: To evaluate the reliability of the narrator’s voice
Objectives:
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1. Identify examples of when a narrator is being reliable or unreliable.
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2. Write a paragraph with a topic sentence, concrete detail, and supporting commentary.
Standards: Language Arts Content Standard 1: Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to literary, informational, and persuasive texts.
Materials:
Mark Twain,
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Walter Dean Myers,
Monster
Graphic Organizer (Appendix A)
Procedure:
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1. Begin lesson by reading
Monster
, by Walter Dean Myers, aloud to students for 5-10 minutes, while they follow along in their own copies of the book.
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2. Introduce the activity by discussing trust, how it’s developed, and how it can be lost. “If your friend lied to you, you may not trust them the next time they tell you something. We have been discussing how you know when you can or cannot consider the voice of a book reliable, even from short selections of text.”
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3. Pass out a photocopy of the first page of
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain.
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4. Read aloud the first page of the novel. In the first page of this novel, Huck introduces himself as the narrator. He says, “You don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,’ but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth…” (Twain 1).
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5. Distribute the graphic organizer (Appendix A) that provides students with a structure to find clues as to why he might be trustworthy and why not. Remind them of the guiding questions on truth and reliability derived from the prior activities of “Two Truths and a Lie” and “Dictionary.”
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6. Reread the text aloud, having them underline parts that make them believe in Huck and those that make them less sure of him. Complete the graphic organizer, including identifying the genre of the selection.
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7. Using the data from the graphic organizer, students will create a Schaeffer paragraph analyzing the reliability of the narrator.
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8. Students who feel comfortable sharing their paragraph can read them aloud to model their work to other students.
Lesson 2
Grade: High School
Goal: Students will think critically about genres
Objectives:
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1. Students will answer eight true/false questions about genres and reliability.
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2. Students will justify their answers with a written sentence.
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3. Students will share their answers and thoughts in a class discussion.
Standards: Content Standard 1: Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to literary, informational and persuasive texts. A: describe the thoughts, opinions and questions that arise as they read, view, or listen to a text, demonstrate a basic understanding of the text, and identify inconsistencies and ambiguities
Materials:
Walter Dean Myers,
Monster
Worksheet with the 8 true/false questions
Procedure:
1)
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Begin lesson by reading
Monster
, by Walter Dean Myers, aloud to students for 5-10 minutes, while they follow along in their own copies of the book.
|
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2) Distribute the eight true/false statements below.
a.
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Non-fiction is completely true. T/F
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b.
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Fiction is completely false. T/F
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c.
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A biography is always true. T/F
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d.
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An autobiography is always true. T/F
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e.
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When I tell a story, I always tell the exact truth. T/F
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f.
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Everything on Myspace is true. T/F
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g.
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Everything on my Myspace account is true. T/F
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h.
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Wikipedia is a reliable source for a research paper. T/F
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3)
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Read the statements aloud. Give students 10 minutes to complete the true/false statements. Encourage them to spend time actually thinking about the statements. After each question, they need to write one sentence justifying why they thought it was true or false.
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4)
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Students will share their answers and we will discuss each statement. Promote discussion of each statement by providing relevant text examples. Students earn points for participation in the discussion.
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Lesson 3
Grade: High School
Goal: To become familiar with online fraud schemes
Objectives:
1)
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Students will identify characteristics of phishing scams.
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2)
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Students will read and respond with a paragraph of at least five complete sentences about the realistic qualities of phishing scams.
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Standards: Content Standard 1: Students will read and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to literary, informational and persuasive texts. K: describe theme, symbolism, tone and other complex elements of fiction, and identify point of view, manipulative language and other elements of bias in nonfiction materials
Materials:
Copies of Microsoft’s “Recognize phishing scams and fraudulent e-mails” for each student. http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/phishing/identify.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/phishing/identify.mspx
Journals
Monster
, by Walter Dean Myers
Procedure:
1)
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Begin lesson by reading
Monster
, by Walter Dean Myers, aloud to students for 5-10 minutes, while they follow along in their own copies of the book.
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2)
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Write the word “phishing” on the board and ask any student to pronounce it.
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3)
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Ask if anyone has heard of that before. If anyone has, have them share what they know about it.
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4)
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Distribute the Microsoft article. Read the Microsoft “Recognize phishing scams and fraudulent e-mails” article aloud.
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5)
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Write the following prompt on the board: Have you ever received a phishing e-mail? What information do the phishing e-mails try to extract? What would they do with that information? What characteristics do the e-mails include that make them seem legitimate?
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6)
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Have students copy the prompt into their journals. When everyone has finished copying the prompt, ask the students to respond to the questions through writing for the next 10 minutes.
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7)
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When finished, have students share their responses by reading exactly what they have written in their journals.
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