You are on page 1of 5

Date(s): 3/4/13, 3/6/13 Grade Level: 7 Class: Spanish Language Arts Topic: Literary Analysis of El Dador, chapter 5 Prepared

by: Erin Headly (MAT Candidate), Teresa Kresin (Mentor Teacher) Learning Targets: Science Fiction Novel 7.RL.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. 7.RL.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact: how setting shapes the characters or plot. 7.W.3 Write/Read narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. Content Objectives (What should students learn?): SWBAT use details from El Dador to show significance of character development and setting (community.) Language Objectives (In what ways will students use the language of your discipline?): SWBAT classify key vocabulary words as nouns, verbs, and/or adjectives compose descriptive sentences using key vocabulary words provide explanations to essential questions using details and key vocabulary from El Dador Language Forms: Based on what I read, I think One example from what I read is I believe..because. I would describe this character/setting as The main event(s) in this chapter is (are)...

Social Goals (How will students interact with others to maximize their learning?): Students will work cooperatively with others participate and share their knowledge build on their own knowledge and help their classmates do so Essential Questions: What are the stirrings? Why do you think that people in this community have to take pills for these feelings? Explain your answer./ Qu es el 'ardor'? Por qu piensas que la gente de esta comunidad tiene que tomar pastillas para este sentimiento? Explica tu respuesta.

Materials and Preparation: El Dador novel composition notebooks vocabulary anchor chart literary elements (note-taking format) chart What is culture? anchor chart

Key Vocabulary: Content: ardor Literary Analysis: punto de vista Building Background & Assessing Prior Knowledge: If several students have not finished reading and taking notes on Chapter 4, give them time to finish. If and when students finish, do writing activity for Chapter 4-Why do you think life in this community occurs without conflicts? Explain your answer. / Pr qu crees que la vida en la comunidad transcurre sin conflictos? Explica tu respuesta. (Read question aloud and post on projector for all students to read. Instruct students to write the question in their notebooks. Let them know that you will be collecting their notebooks at the end of class to give them feedback on their responses.) If all students have finished reading and taking notes, ask them to share what they have in their notes before beginning Chapter 5. Activity: Read Chapter 5 and take notes. Give each student 3-4 post-it notes to write down main points from the chapter after I read aloud. Break it up into portions so it is more manageable (i.e. read a few pages, stop to take notes on post-its.) Students can then categorize their notes on the board as Theme, Plot, Character, or Setting. (Teacher will model this process before instructing students to do it.) After we finish reading, student representatives read the notes in each category out loud to rest of class. Afterward, refer to post-it notes to write notes in composition notebooks according to usual format. (Teacher can model taking notes for one category, students will do the rest.) Closure: Students will do writing activity for Chapter 5-Qu es el 'ardor'? Por qu piensas que la gente de esta comunidad tiene que tomar pastillas para este sentimiento? Explica tu respuesta. Escribe tu respuesta en tu libreta bajo el heading Actividad de Escritura Captulo5. (Read question aloud and post on projector for all students to read. Instruct

students to write the question in their notebooks. Let them know that you will be collecting their notebooks at the end of class to give them feedback on their responses.) When students have finished, ask volunteers to share what they have written. Cold call if not enough volunteers. Pre-Assessment: Writing quiz on key vocabulary every 2-3 chapters. Formative Asessment: Ask questions about important elements in the chapters. Ask questions to check for general understanding of the reading. Written responses about setting, character, plot, and theme. Written responses to essential questions. Post-Assessment: Writing quiz on key vocabulary every 2-3 chapters, book report when students have finished reading the entire novel. Adaptations: SIOP Features (Check all that apply.) Scaffolding Grouping Options Modeling Whole class Guided practice Small groups Independent practice Partners Comprehensible input Independent Application Hands-on Meaningful Linked to objectives Promotes engagement Assessment Individual Group Written Oral

Preparation Adaptation of content Links to background Links to past learning Strategies incorporated Integration of Processes Reading Writing Speaking Listening For struggling learners:

Respective use of vocabulary, read aloud, write notes on board, check notes, frequent questions on individual basis, use of drawings and diagrams to show understanding. For those who need a challenge: Same assignment as rest of class but deeper in content and details.

Reflections, Next Steps: On first day, we finished reading and taking notes on the chapter. Decided to try new method for taking notes. Gave each student 3-4 post-it notes to write down main points from the chapter after I read aloud. Broke it up into portions so it was more manageable (i.e. read a few pages, stop to take notes on post-its.) Students then categorized their notes on board as Theme, Plot, Character, or Setting. (Teacher modeled this process before instructing students to do it.) After we finished reading, student representatives read the notes in each category out loud to rest of class. Students really enjoyed this process. Afterward, used post-it notes to write notes in composition notebooks according to usual format. Was much easier to generate notes because students had gone through the post-it note process. Students want to do this again in future. Second day, focused on Punto de Vista. Students were confused about tercera persona omnisciente, so teacher decided to just focus on the point of view of the main character using following format: Punto de Vista Ve Piensa/Siente Hace

Filled this out using information from Chapter 5. Students recorded following definition for punto de vista: perspectivo del narrador u otro personaje, lo que ven, piensan/sienten, y hacen. Want to return to the concept during next class, make sure students add that El Dador was written in third person limited. Explain that third person limited means that we do not know what happens in a room if Jonas leaves. Also demonstrate that third person means we never see I unless someone is speaking. Narrator uses he, she, they, his, hers, theirs, etc. After reviewing punto de vista, students need time to review and record other key vocabulary in their notebooks. (Teacher will post definitions on projector, discuss each, students will record.) Next lesson: Reviewed punto de vista using the explanation outlined above. I asked students if they had any questions, no one raised their hand and some shook their heads to indicate no. When I asked if they understood, students said yes. Rationale: My mentor teacher and I chose El Dador (The Giver) as the focus of this unit because it is about a 12year-old boy coming of age in a utopian (eventually, dystopian) community. Our 7th grade students are all around that same age, beginning to take on more responsibilities in their own community, so they will be very likely to relate to the main character and engage with the plot. The standards and objectives are the same for the entire unit. Truly understanding how to be a good reader requires deep comprehension of all the literary elements that are highlighted in the standards and

objectives. I work toward hitting and assessing those concepts in each lesson, so that students will be proficient by the end of the unit. I assess students' progress towards proficiency in several ways, trying to balance low- and higher-stakes forms of assessment. The pre- and post-assessments are quizzes on the key vocabulary for every 2-3 chapters. Students have only been required to correctly define each vocabulary word, but for future lessons we also are requiring students to identify parts of speech and write sentences for each word. For every chapter, students are required to take notes on setting (physical and moral), characters, plot, and theme (community, bravery, and death.) We review their notes and key vocabulary through small group and whole class discussions, for which I take anecdotal notes and tally participation. Additionally, each lesson has a different essential question, which students write an answer for at the end of every chapter. These questions, as well as the key vocabulary, are designed to help students make connections to their own lives. I collect students notes and writing responses after every lesson and provide them with written feedback. If I notice that several students are making the same mistakes, I go over them with the entire class, providing anonymous examples and non-examples. The key vocabulary words for this lesson were: ardor and punto de vista, or the stirrings and point of view. Point of view helps students understand another important literary element. The stirrings, which refer to feelings of love and desire, are specific to the novel, but could also be applicable to students' lives. Students at this age are going through puberty and many are beginning to experience these feelings for the first time. This real-life is particularly important for ELLs, who are more likely to learn
the language if they can see its relevance in their own lives. The essential question for this lesson was What are 'the stirrings?' Why do you think that people in this community have to take pills for these feelings? Explain your answer. This question assesses their comprehension of vocabulary and its use in the text. It also requires them to use their knowledge of the community to explain the pills. Most importantly, the implied connection to their own experiences and communities will help them form an opinion about this community's regulation of feelings. In order to make reading and taking notes more interesting, I decided to try a new activity with students for this lesson. As I describe in the lesson, we read the chapter in sections, then I asked students to write the main points of each section on 2-3 post-it notes, which we categorized on the board as Setting, Characters, Plot, and Theme. Student volunteers then come up and read the post-its aloud. I facilitated a synthesis of the information for each category and showed students how to use that information to take notes in their notebooks. The process was much more interactive, which means that students will be more likely to remember what they learned. Once again, I also tried to keep the activity mostly student-led, facilitating social learning. After this, students answered the essential question in their notebooks. Volunteers shared their answers with the rest of the class.

You might also like