Learning Plan: ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY1

Student Teacher Jenifer Chandra Co-operating Aline Khozozian

Teacher(s)
Date 26-09-2022 Start/End 9:55-11:10 am Roo 238
Time m

Title of lesson Response to Literature: An Introduction Secondary 2

Grade level
Subject ELA Topic Response to literature + literary
themes
Relevance - Critical thinking is at the core of today’s society. If we are to prepare students to become
participants of said society, we must equip them with the tools to do so.
- Response writing is one of the main elements of the high school ELA program.
Introducing response writing to the students early on can only benefit them when they go
on to explore this topic on a higher level.
- The literary theme is a topic that is extremely important in the study of literature, seeing
as themes are the anchors of every story. However, it is often quite difficult for students
to grasp the concept. The earlier we introduce literary themes to students, the easier it will
be for them when they need to apply this knowledge in their future learning.

Materials/ -Student packet

Resources -Loose leaf paper
Required -Writing material
-6-8 short stories (physical and digital copies)
(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Shto729Igh1OuhU7o3wKQBM9mvwI9unA?
usp=sharing)
1. The Little Match Girl
2. Arachne and Athena
3. The Dinner Party
4. Androclus and the Lion
5. The Blind Men and the Elephant
6. The Wicked Prince
7. The Giving Tree
8. The Aged Mother

QEP Subject Area -C1: Uses language/talk to communicate and to learn

Competencies Students will need to express themselves properly in order to participate in class discussions and
group work.

-C3: Reads and listens to written, spoken, and media texts

Students will read and analyze short stories in order to find the theme of each one.

-C4: Writes a variety of genres for personal and social purposes

Students are preparing to write a literary response at the end of the unit.

Learning -Students will learn about the purpose of a literary response

Objectives -Students will learn about the theme present in literary works
-Students will begin to identify themes in various works of literature

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Based on a simplified version of Understanding by Design (UBD) and the IB Middle Year Program Planner
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 Essential -What is a literary response?
Question(s) -Why do we write them? Why are they important?
-What is a literary theme? How do we identify them?

Lesson Introduction (hook): Student will know:

Timing 1. Bellwork: Good book vs. Bad book journal topic - Basic information pertaining to literary
(cont.) responses
5 min a. This topic is relevant not only to help the - The important elements of a literary
students write short stories but also help response
them start thinking about close reading. - What a literary theme is
b. The question asks them to think about the
author’s writing style and the
characterization present in each book. Both
are elements that they can use as evidence in
a response.
3-5 min 2. Ask students if any of them have started learning
about literary responses in secondary 1, and what
they think literary responses are.
a. This is to roughly gauge their prior
knowledge on the topic so that I can
determine how much detail I need to add to
the basic introduction.
b. I anticipate the enriched group to remember
more things on the topic compared to the
regular group.
c. Watch out for unnecessary/disruptive
responses in the regular group

Development (Learning activities – step by step sequential Students will understand:

procedure): - Why it is important to practice writing
literary response
- The value of being able to think
critically
- The elements of a work of fiction that
will guide them to the theme

Students will do:

1. Introduce literary responses to the students. What is - Discuss what they know about
it? Why do we write it? What is the goal that we are responses
5 min
trying to reach in practicing it? - Discuss what they know about themes
a. Talk about the role of responses both - Collaborate with each other in order to
academically and outside of school. find the theme in a given story
b. Emphasize the role that critical thinking - Collaborate with each other in order to
plays in current society. consolidate their knowledge on literary
c. Emphasize the fact that students will be themes
writing responses for at least the rest of their Cross Curricular Competencies:
high school career. - C1: Uses information
Students will use the information that

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 they obtained from lectures, class
2. Introduce literary themes (foundation of a response). discussions, and the text in order to
a. Class discussion: Have you heard the term begin a rough analysis of the theme of
8-10 min “theme” before? What do you know about it? their assigned story.
What do you know about detecting themes in
works of fiction? - C3: Exercises critical judgment
b. Read with students p. 140 of the student Students will need to use critical
packet. judgment in order to ascertain the theme
c. Specify that the purpose of a response is to of their assigned story.
explore the theme of a work of literature and
how it relates to the world outside of the - C5: Adopts effective work methods
story. Since there is a time limit for the group
d. Emphasize that without a theme, there cannot work, students will need to work
be a response. efficiently in order to complete the work
e. The concept of a theme may still be difficult in a timely fashion.
for some students to grasp. They may
confuse “theme” for “lesson”. Ms. - C8: Cooperates with others
Khozozian suggested a real-life comparison Students will be working in groups in
with themes birthday parties in order to make order to begin their process or learning
the topic relatable to students. how to scope out a literary theme.

3. Group activity: Theme hunt - C9: Communicates appropriately

a. Students will get into groups of 4, and each Students will need to communicate
group will be assigned one of the selected appropriately in order to participate in
short stories. Each story is 3 pages long at class discussions and group activities.
30 min the most. The students will be divided into
groups based on where they are sitting. I do Broad Areas of Learning:
not think it's necessary to group them based - Media Literacy
on academic ability yet for this project since Students will develop this as they read
the goal is exploration, and I will of course and analyze their short story. The goal
be available to help as needed. for the end of the unit is to have the
b. Stories will be assigned by random selection. students develop their media literacy
Groups will compete to be the first to draw skills through the analysis of fictional
by guessing a number from 1-20, and the works.
group who guesses correctly will get the
chance to draw a number. Each number - Citizenship and Community Life
corresponds to a story as written in the Students will need to contribute
materials list above. The group will then be productively to the community by
assigned that story. participating in class discussions and
c. I have selected this method in order to group work. In doing so, they will
simplify determining a choosing order. If it is develop as members of their learning
left completely up to chance, students will community.
feel less resentment.
d. Groups are assigned different stories in order Universal Design for Learning/
to avoid repetitiveness during the final share, Differentiation
and in order to ensure that each group is - The format of this class (group work)
working within their own units. allows each student to benefit from the
e. Once all the groups have been assigned a strengths of their teammates. The group
story, they will read the story out loud as a work format will allow the students to
group. Students may choose to assign one support each other and complement
person to read or to take turns reading at their each other’s learning styles and
own discretion. Each member of the group difficulties.
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 will get a copy of the story. - All of the stories being used for this
f. After reading, students will take notes on the class is available in a digital format for
story on a sheet of loose-leaf paper according use in a text-to-speech or translation
to these guidelines: software as needed.
- All of the stories being used in this class
Theme: will also be posted on Google
Reasoning for the chosen theme: Classroom so that students will be able
Evidence 1: to consult them as needed outside of
Evidence 2: class in order to consolidate their
learning.
Each member of the group should write their
own notes, so that they will be able to keep EDI considerations
them for consultation purposes in the future. - The stories that I have targeted for
this lesson come from a variety of
g. As students are completing their group work, origins and are of different topics.
I will be circulating in the classroom to make This way, I can ensure a more
sure they stay on track. I will also be representative lesson.
available to help guide the groups who may - As students will be working in
need help detecting the theme in their groups, they will be encountering a
assigned story by guiding them towards the variety of points of views and
proper quotes that will help them reach the mentalities that are different to their
answer they need. own. The goal of this format, as
well as the final group share at the
4. Sharing: Each group will share their findings out end, is to open students’ minds to
loud according to these guidelines: learning from their peers’ different
- Brief summary of the short story thought processes.
- The theme they found
- Reasoning for the chosen theme FORMATIVE - Assessment FOR learning:
- Evidence 1 and 2

Closure (transition): - Group work will allow students to learn

10 min from their peers and thus improve their
1. Class discussion: What strategies did you use in own work.
order to detect the theme in your stories? - Big class discussions will do the
a. Students can take this opportunity to same but on a larger scale,
familiarize themselves with the concept of allowing students to interact
active reading and close reading. with an even larger variety of
b. The benefit of this discussion is that students thoughts and opinions.
can learn from each other and develop their FORMATIVE - Assessment AS learning:
skills alongside their peers.
- Filling in their notes on a loose-leaf
paper will allow students to reflect
2. If there is any time left in the class: Students will
on their own understanding of the
5-10 min finish their journal, work on their Language Power
material.
exercises, or continue reading their novel.
- Sharing their group discussion with
the class will allow students to
actively use the information that
they have learned, thus enabling
them to reflect on what they have
learned and understood.

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 SUMMATIVE - Assessment OF learning:

N/A

Total:
75 min

Reflection:
During the lessons that I have previously taught both during this field experience and my previous one, I have had
difficulty adhering to the lesson timing. This, I would say, is my biggest challenge, and something that I will always
have to work on. This time, what is important is giving the students the whole 30 minutes to work as planned, because I
would like them to get the opportunity to fully explore the stories that they are given. I am ready to make concessions
on either the introduction or the conclusion of the lesson if needed in order to give students this time to work.

Professional Competencies:
- Competency 1: Act as a cultural facilitator when carrying out duties
An important part of this lesson consists of helping students understand why writing responses is relevant both in the
academic sense and in their role as members of a society. The critical thinking abilities that I hope they will gain from
this lesson will enable them to think more deeply about the world around them.

- Competency 2: Master the language of instruction

As this is an ELA classroom it is crucial that I master the language of instruction so that I can evaluate the students’ use
of language and help them improve.

- Competency 3: Plan teaching and learning situations

It is important to plan a lesson before actually implementing it so that the lesson runs as smoothly as possible.
Furthermore, the purpose of this lesson is to prepare students as best I can to write their own literary responses further
into my field experience.

- Competency 4: Implement teaching and learning situations

Students will do classwide discussions, guided activities, and group work so that they can understand the material to the
best of their ability.

- Competency 5: Evaluate learning

I am going to be asking the students some pre-lesson questions in order to gauge their current knowledge on this topic.
This way, I can better adapt the lesson to their current needs.

- Competency 6: Manage how the class operates

Since I am having students do work in small groups for the majority of the class period, it is important to have a grasp
on classroom management so that things run smoothly. Proper classroom management will ensure that everyone will be
able to learn to the best of their abilities.

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 - Competency 7: Take into account student diversity
Much of the material can be interpreted differently according to each student’s ethnic, cultural, and religious
background. It is important to consider these factors so that we can properly work with our students.

- Competency 8: Support students’ love of learning

Response to literature is not the most enticing topic for students up front. It is my responsibility to arrange lessons and
activities that will keep students engaged so as to optimize their learning experience.