Background Information

Setting: Summer Intensive College English is a program of Middlebury College and the
Monterey Institute of International Studies. It provides English lessons and cultural excursions
for international students interested in attending college in the United States. It consists of two
tracks: a four week program and a six week program. Students take classes in the four skills and
electives, which focus on content, additional aspects of English, or test preparation. The program
is conducted at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. In addition to local trips,
students are taken to Providence, New York City, and Boston.
Level: This is an advanced course aimed at college preparation.
Age: The learners are high-school students between the ages of 14 and 17.
Linguistic Background: Students have studied English extensively. Some of them have been to
English speaking countries before and some of them were in an English immersion school for a
year. The students have different L1s: Dari, Pashto, Mandarin Chinese, and Kazakh. About half
of the class was already bilingual in two languages from their home country.
Students Learning Goals: Acquire more exposure to English and have more opportunities to
practice using the language. Develop strategies for reading.
Number of students: 11
Time Frame: 120 minutes
Materials and Equipment:
Whiteboard
Whiteboard Markers and Erasers
Story The Janitor (Appendix A)
Blank Paper and Writing Utensils
Learner Objectives:
As a result of this lesson
Cognitive (students will be able to demonstrate understanding of):
1. The remedial vocabulary associated with literary analysis.
2. Pre-reading strategies.
3. The mystery genre.
Performative (students will be able to demonstrate the ability to):
1. Predict subsequent events and the consequences of a characters actions.
2. Make inferences about characters and events before, during, and after the story.
3. Apply reading strategies and basic literary analysis to short stories.
Affective (students will feel):
1. More confident in their ability to read English.

2. More confident in their ability speak in English.

3. More confident in their ability to analyze and discuss English stories.
Metacognitive (students will know how to go about):
1. Connecting class themes.
2. Using their existing knowledge to make inferences.
Teaching Objectives: The teacher will assist in bridging cultural gaps that may exist in the
content. He/she will assist students in moving through the content and activities through
scaffolding. The teacher will also learn to better engage students while introducing pre-reading
strategies.
Before This Lesson: At this point, students have had instruction on basic vocabulary associated
with literary analysis and reading strategies, including plot, characters, setting, and conflict.
Students have practiced applying these terms and pre- and post-reading strategies.

Lesson Outline
Stage and Time

Pre-Reading
Strategy:
Prediction Based
on Title
(5-10 min.)

Mystery Genre

Activity with Description

Teacher (T) introduces the story The Janitor by telling

Students (Ss) the title of the story and that it was written
by an ESL Teacher.
T asks Ss if they know what a janitor is. If Ss do not
know, T explains it to them.
Ss work in small groups to discuss what the story might
be about based on the title.
T tells Ss that the story is a mystery. T asks Ss to explain
what a mystery is.

(3 min.)
Mystery Genre:
Think-Pair-Share
(15 min.)
Post-Activity

Objective
Addressed and
Materials
None
C1, C2, P2, P3,
A2, M1, M2

None
C1, C2, C3, P3,
M2

Ss individually come up with 3-5 characteristics that all

mysteries have then work in partners to agree on a new
list. Afterwards, Ss work in small groups to create a new
collaborative list.
In small groups Ss create a list of 3-5 mystery stories or
movies based on their list of required characteristics.

Pencil and
Paper
C1, C2, C3, P3,
A2, M2
Pencil and
Paper

(5-10 min.)
C2, C3, P3, A2,
M2
1st Part of Story:
The Janitor

T will tell Ss that the class will read the first part of the
Janitor and will then try to predict the ending/solve the
mystery.

(30-40 min.)
After each chapter (1-8), Ss will work in groups (for 1-3
minutes) to determine what important information was
provided in the chapter and will make a list.
Questions

T will answer questions about the story.

(5 min.)
Predict the
Ending

Ss will work in pairs or independently to write the ending

of the story.

The Janitor
Story
C1, C3, P1, P2,
P3, A1, A2, A3,
M2
None
Pencil and
Paper

(20 min.)
Finish the Story:
The Janitor
(10 min.)
Pair Discussion
(5 min.)
Apply Literary
Analysis Vocab
(10 min.)

Ss will finish reading The Janitor

Ss will discuss the following questions in pairs:

1. How did the ending differ from your ending?
2. What were the similarities?
3. Which one did you like better?
Ss will work in small groups to determine:
1. The plot of the story
2. The characters in the story
3. The setting of the story
4. The conflict in the story

C3, P1, P2, P3,

A3, M1, M2
The Janitor
Story
C3, A1
None
P3, A2, A3
None
C1, C3, P3, A1,
A2, A3, M1