Carolyn L. Streets
The first lesson presents a traditional approach for novel study. Reading objectives would focus on literacy devices and how those devices help students draw interpretations of what they read. Writing objectives would call for students to complete a short personal narrative or vignette in the author style.
Traditional Lesson Outline:
- Introduction/warm-up:
- Book talk/pass
- Sticky-note observations or connections students made between House on Mango Street and other novels.
- Facilitate discussion on student observations.
- Modeling/Guided/Independent Practice
- Read selected chapter(s) from novel (whole group/independently)
- Use graphic organizer to identify poetic devices
- Identify word choice and poetic devices that emphasize meaning and connect to character analysis
- Summarize word choices that helped to draw conclusions about what was read.
- Guided/Independent practice-writing
- Use writing graphic organizer to outline main ideas.
- Provide writing prompts to help students generate/focus narrative topics
- Write a short narrative essay or vignette in the author’s style.
- Edit, revise, and publish
- Closure/Assessment
- Students present their work.
- Grading based on standard ELA narrative writing rubric.
Remixed Lesson Outline:
For reading, students will develop their thematic interpretations and use those interpretations over the course of the selected text. For writing students will use narrative techniques to create their own ekphrastic poems that convey their experiences with themes apropos to the text.
Lesson Outline:
- Introduction/warm-up:
- Gallery walk
- Sticky-note observations during gallery walk
- Facilitate discussion on images selected in gallery walk
- Modeling
- Read a poem thematically connected to selected chapters
- Read a selected chapter from the novel
- Examine artwork thematically connected to selected chapters- connect back to gallery walk
- Character/novel analysis observations using a graphic organizer showing what the main character thinks, says, and feels.
- Identify word choice and poetic devices that emphasize meaning and connect to character development and developing interpretations of novel analysis
- Draw conclusions emphasizing implicit meaning about the main character/novel.
- Connect back to artwork and poetry to make further implicit meanings about the main character/novel.
- Guided practice (Small groups)
- Use See/Think/Wonder graphic organizer about how the poem and artwork connect to reveal meaning about the selected chapters as centered on the main character/novel.
- Connect back to character/novel analysis graphic organizer add additional observations
- Identify one form of figurative language that reveals meaning about the main character/novel.
- Draw conclusions emphasizing implicit meaning about the main character/novel.
- Draw conclusions about a selected poem and artwork that emphasizes meaning about the main character/novel
- Writing- create one-pager about students’ conclusions
- Independent practice-reading
- Students select chapters to read.
- Write a narrative analyzing the main character/novel using ekphrastic tools.
- Connect to artwork that supports conclusions
- Create artwork that supports conclusions
- Writing- expand one-pager about students’ conclusions
- Independent practice-writing
- Students select chapters to read.
- Write a poem or narrative in a poetic style analyzing the main character/novel using ekphrastic tools.
- Writing- expand, edit and revise one pager about students’ conclusions
- Connect to artwork that supports conclusions
- Create artwork that supports conclusions
- Closure
- Recreate gallery walk using students’ artwork, poetry and main character/novel analysis
- Assessment
- Holistic assessment of student’s work