Teacher Candidate's Name: Kristen Rigo

Context:
Grade Level/Subject: 9th and 10th grade English (Resource)
Unit Title: Key Elements of a Short Story
Lesson Title: Introduction to Short Stories
Date: November 12, 2018
Duration: 3 class sessions of 85 minutes
Learner: IEPs

Central Focus:
Students will identify and understand key elements of a short story. They will do so by being
introduced to key elements of a short story, exploring what a short story is with the use of text,
and identifying key elements of a short story within a text. By examining key elements of a short
story students will learn the importance of each key element and understand that they are
required in order for a short story to be a distinct genre.

Essential Questions:
Day 1:
What are key elements to a short story?
What is a theme?
How do you identify key elements of a short story?

Day 2:
What are key elements to a short story?
How do you identify the elements?
What are the importance of these elements

Day 3:
Does every story need these elements?
What would happen if an element was missing?
Would it still be a story without the key elements?

Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.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 text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language

functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to
comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

NJPTS: 1.3 That literacy skills and processes are applicable in all content areas and help students
to develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions that enable them to construct meaning and
make sense of the world through reading, writing, listening, speaking and viewing;
4.6 Identify and design instruction appropriate to students’ stage of development, learning styles,
strengths and needs

SPA: IV. Candidates plan instruction and design assessments for composing texts (i.e., oral,
written, and visual) to promote learning for all students.

III. Candidates plan instruction and design assessments for reading and the study of literature to
promote learning for all students

Learning Goals:
Day 1:
1. Students will be able to discuss and demonstrate what a short story is and the key
elements within one.
2. Students will be able to establish working definitions of the key elements of a short story.
3. Students will be able to identify key elements within a short story. (video clips)

Day 2:
1. Students will be able to identify key elements within a short story. (text).
2. Students will be able to discuss and demonstrate what a short story is and the key
elements within one.

Day 3:
1. Students will be able to write their own short story.
2. Students will be able to understand and discuss the importance of each element.

Academic Language:

Identified Language Demands Planned Language Supports

Vocabulary Setting
Exposition
Characters
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution
Conflict/Plot
Theme

Language Function Students will learn the definitions of these key

elements through a powerpoint presentation.
The students will copy down the definitions
and identify them with the use of text and
 writing.

Syntax Students will identify the key elements of a

short story within a given text. This will show
their understanding of the key elements.

Discourse Students will create their own short story and

discuss with peers how they incorporated all
the elements of a short story.

Procedure:

Day 1:
Duration Instructional Strategy and Assessment
Learning Tasks

10 minutes Anticipatory Se​​t: Students

will be asked to reflect on
their favorite fairy tale. They
will be asked to write a
journal entry explaining the
fairy tale they selected.

10 minutes There will then be a whole

group discussion on the
student’s journal entries.
They will be asked to share
what their favorite fairy tale
was and summarize it. Before
starting the introduction to
short stories students will be
asked to complete a KWL
chart.

30 minutes Procedure​​: After the whole Students will be assessed on

group discussion, the teacher
will give a powerpoint
presentation on key elements
of a short story. Students will
be required to handwrite or
type on their chromebooks
the definitions of the
elements.
completion. If they are off
task (on other tabs/playing
games on the computer)they
will not receive credit for the
day. If they are on task and
writing/typing the definitions
they will receive full credit
for the day. The teacher can
 monitor their progress
through an online program
that allows the teacher to see
everyone’s computer screens.

15 minutes Guided Practice​​: The

students will watch a short
video clip of Pixar’s “For the
Birds”. The teacher will guide
the students in identifying the
key elements of the clip. The
whole class will determine
what the key elements are to
the short story.

15 minutes The students will watch a

short clip of “The Present”.
They will identify the key
elements to the short story in
groups of 2. After everyone is
finished the teacher will go
over the elements as a large
group.

Evidence Based Practice:

Peer Collaboration
(Kirschner, 2008​)

5 minutes Closure: ​Students will be The students will be asked to

asked to complete their KWL hand in their KWL charts.
chart This will be graded based on
completion. The exit slip will
be used to guide instruction
for the next day.

Day 2:

Duration Instructional Strategy and Assessment

Learning Tasks

15 minutes Anticipatory Se​​t: Students

will be asked to enter into the
class lottery. They will write
down their name on a piece of
 paper and put it in the lottery
box. They can enter as many
times as they want. The prize
will not be announced to
them until the winners are
chosen. Two names will be
selected from the box. It will
then be revealed that the
people chosen have to write
an essay for tomorrow. The
students will be informed that
there in fact is no essay due.
It will be explained that it was
just a way to show how not
every lottery is good. The
students will reflect on how
they could’ve changed the
scenario and why they
should’ve asked what the
prize was beforehand.

35 minutes Procedure​​: After the whole Students will be assessed on

group discussion, the teacher
will give out copies of the
text “The Lottery” by Shirley
Jackson. The whole class will
read the story together. In the
process, the teacher will
inform students on important
information to highlight and
parts to note.
completion and participation.
If they are off task they will
not receive credit for the day.
If they are on task they will
receive full credit for the day.
The teacher can monitor their
progress by scanning the
room.

10 minutes Guided Practice​​: When the

class is finished reading “The
Lottery” as a whole group the
teacher will go over key
elements to a short story. The
teacher will guide the
students in identifying the
setting, exposition, and rising
action.

15 minutes Independent Practice: ​After Students will be assessed on

the guided practice the completion of the task.
students will be asked to
 identify the rest of the key
elements within the short
story “The Lottery” in groups
of 3.
Evidence Based Practice:
Peer Collaboration (Sultan,
Kanwal, & Khurram, 2011)
5 minutes Closure: ​As a class, there
will be a discussion on what
the key elements were. The
teacher will go over each
element and explain the
correct answers.
Day 3:
Duration Instructional Strategy and
Learning Tasks
5 minutes Anticipatory Se​​t: Students
will come in and be asked to
write everything they
remember about short stories
30 minutes Procedure​​: Students will be
broken up into groups of 3
and play a jeopardy review
game as a whole class. Two
points of view, third person
limited and omniscient, will
be introduced to the students.
This concepts will be
explained to the students
during the game.
Evidence Based Practice:
Peer Collaboration
(Mastropieri, Scruggs,
Norland, & Berkeley, 2006​)
The student’s answers will be
collected and graded based on
correct answers. Since there
was a discussion on the
correct answers every student
should have fixed his or her
papers.
Assessment
This will be used as a
baseline to see where the
students are at with short
story elements.
Students will be assessed on
completion and participation.
If they are off task they will
not receive credit for the day.
If they are on task they will
receive full credit for the day.
The teacher can monitor their
progress by scanning the
room.
30 minutes Independent Practice​​:
Students will write their own
short stories based on 3
prompts provided. Students
can choose which prompt
they would rather follow.
Students will be required to
write in either third person
limited or third person
omniscient.

15 minutes Students will be asked to

share their short story with a
partner. They will be asked to
remove a certain element and
discuss if it is still a short
story. Each group will receive
an index card with a given
element to remove.There will
then be a whole group
discussion on the students’
findings.

Evidence Based Practice:

Peer Collaboration
(Mastropieri, Scruggs,
Norland, & Berkeley, 2006​)

5 minutes Closure: ​Students will The students will be asked to

complete an exit slip on short hand in the exit slip. The exit
stories. slip will be used to guide
instruction for the next day.

Accommodations:

Identified Support for... Specific Characteristic(s) Planned Accommodation(s)

Megan: Autism Strength: On task/Good at Day 1: Megan will be given

following directions the option to share her
Need: Social favorite fairy tale with one
Accommodations other person. She will not be
required to share it with the
whole class, instead she will
just need to talk to a peer or a

Vince: Autism Strength: Very social and
loves participating in class.
Need: Often loses focus and
gets off task with independent
assignments.
Thomas: Autism Strength: Good at following
directions
Need: Social
Accommodations. Thomas
also has trouble staying on
task and focused with
independent assignments. He
also needs to develop the skill
of asking for help when he is
lost on what to do.
Shane: Autism Strength: On task/Good at
following directions
Need: Clear and Precise
directions (if he doesn’t have
clear and precise directions he
often gets flustered) (will
trigger negative behavior)
Dylan: Emotionally Disturbed Strength: On task with
independent work
Need: Social
Accomediations. Dylan often
argues with other classmates.
teacher about her journal
entry. During group work,
Megan will be partnered with
a student who has great social
and collaboration skills
Day 2 & 3: Megan will be
grouped with students who
strive socially. This will in
turn help Megan be more
comfortable in sharing her
ideas
Day 1, 2, & 3: During
independent assignments
Vince will be positively
reinforced if he stays on task.
Accommodations are also
being made by having group
work within the lesson.
Day 1, 2, & 3: During
independent assignments
Thomas will be positively
reinforced if he stays on task.
Accommodations are also
being made by having group
work within the lesson.
Thomas will also have a
visual cue on his desk
showing him how to ask for
help when needed.
Day 1, 2, & 3 : Before class
starts Shane will be given
precise directions on what
will be happening in class for
the day. This will allow him
to be prepared and not get
flustered.
Day 1: Dylan will be given a
five minute break during the
powerpoint presentation. He
will be given the break based
on his productivity and ability

Argon: Specific Learning
Disability
Christian: Specific Learning
Disability
Tyler: Specific Learning
Disability
He needs to develop better
social and collaboration
skills. In addition, Dylan
often will refuse to do work.
Strength: On task/Good at
following directions
Need: Social
Accommodations
Strength: Very social and
loves participating in class
discussions
Need: Social
Accommodations. Christian
will often lose focus and get
off task. He often needs
prompting to stay on task. In
addition, he will often talk
to/argue with other students,
causing others to get off task.
Has trouble reading text on
and above grade level.
Strength: On task/Good at
following directions
Need: Has trouble reading
text on and above grade level.
to stay on task. If he does so
he will be positively
reinforced with a break.
Day 2: Dylan will be
informed before class that the
lottery is fake. This will allow
him to stay calm and not
argue with other students.
Day 3: Dylan will be grouped
with students that he gets
along with and that he can
grow with through
collaboration.
Day 1: Argon will be
partnered with Austin to help
with his collaboration skills.
Day 2 & 3: Argon will be
grouped with students who
strive socially. This will in
turn help Argon be more
comfortable in sharing her
ideas
Day 1: During independent
assignments Christian will be
positively reinforced if he
stays on task.
Day 2: Christian will be
informed before class that the
lottery is fake. This will allow
him to stay calm and not
argue with other students.
Day 3: Christian will be
grouped with students that he
gets along with and that he
can grow with through
collaboration.
Day 1: No Accommodation
Needed.
Day 2: Tyler will not be
required to read “The
Lottery” out loud during
class. He will instead just

Ace: Hard of Hearing Strength: Very social and
loves participating in class
discussions
Need: Has difficulty hearing
instruction and other
classmates.
Modifications:
Identified Support for... Specific Characteristic(s)
Megan: Autism Strength: On task/Good at
(high functioning) following directions
Need: Social
Accommodations
Vince: Autism Strength: Very social and
(high functioning) loves participating in class.
Need: Often loses focus and
gets off task with independent
assignments.
Thomas: Autism Strength: Good at following
(high functioning) directions
Need: Social
Accommodations. Thomas
also has trouble staying on
follow along and be given a
vocabulary sheet with words
that he is unfamiliar with.
Day 3: Tyler will be provided
with a thesaurus while writing
his short story. This will
allow him to advance his
writing and use words that are
more advanced.
Day 1,2, & 3 : Ace will be
seated in the front and center
of the room so that he can
hear the teacher’s
presentation on key elements
of a short story as well as
hear his fellow classmates
during discussions.
Planned Accommodation(s)
No Modifications Needed
No Modifications Needed
No Modifications Needed
 task and focused with
independent assignments. He
also needs to develop the skill
of asking for help when he is
lost on what to do.

Shane: Autism Strength: On task/Good at No Modifications Needed

(high functioning)
following directions
Need: Clear and Precise
directions (if he doesn’t have
clear and precise directions he
often gets flustered) (will
trigger negative behavior)

Dylan: Emotionally Disturbed Strength: On task with No Modifications Needed

independent work
Need: Social
Accomediations. Dylan often
argues with other classmates.
He need to develop better
social and collaboration
skills. In addition, Dylan
often will refuse to do work.

Argon: Specific Learning Strength: On task/Good at No Modifications Needed

Disability following directions
Need: Social
Accommodations

Christian: Specific Learning Strength: Very social and No Modifications Needed

Disability loves participating in class
discussions
Need: Social
Accommodations. Christian
will often lose focus and get
off task. He often needs
prompting to stay on task. In
addition, he will often talk
to/argue with other students,
causing others to get off task.
Has trouble reading text on
and above grade level.

Tyler: Specific Learning Strength: On task/Good at Day 1: Tyler will not be

Disability following directions required to type short story
 Need: Has trouble reading
text on and above grade level.
definitions. He will be given a
printout of all short story
element definitions. They will
be written in simpler terms in
order for him to better
understand the meaning.

Ace: Hard of Hearing Strength: Very social and No Modifications Needed

loves participating in class
discussions
Need: Has difficulty hearing
instruction and other
classmates.

Materials/Use of Instructional Technology:

● Teacher Materials:
○ Computer
○ Projector
○ Exit Slip
● Student Materials:
○ Chromebook
○ Paper
○ Pen
● Technology
○ Chromebooks
○ Computer
○ Projector

For Day 1 Materials see Appendix B.

For Day 2 Materials see Appendix C.
For Day 3 Materials see Appendix D.

Homework/ Assignment for Next Class:

Day 1:
Students will be told to review new terms for homework. In order to make sure they do so they
will be required to write or type the definitions of the key elements to short stories.

Day 2:
Students will be given a worksheet to complete on elements of a short story. They will be asked
to complete a chart with the elements. They will be able to pick any story they want, they just
have to identify the key elements of the story.

Day 3:
No Homework