LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

TEACHER NAME: Aaron Lam, Jayse Van Rooyen, Tanner Willgress

LESSON SUBJECT: Humanities
LESSON TITLE: Elemental Breakdown
GRADE: Humanities 8
LESSON DATE: November 10th, 2017
RATIONALE
Understanding the essential elements (the literary devices) of a text can help students understand a text and the story that is being told
at a deeper level. It may make the literature more relatable on a personal level and therefore more engaging. There may also be subtle
plots or ideas that can go amiss if certain aspects of the text are not understood properly.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Big Idea: Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand and make connections to others and to the world.
Curricular Competency 1: Apply appropriate strategies to comprehend written, oral, and visual texts, guide inquiry, and extend
thinking
Curricular Competency 2: Think critically, reflexively, and relatively to explore ideas within, between, and beyond texts.
Content: Story/text. Specifically, they will learn to find and appreciate literary devices, elements, and text features.
LEARNING INTENTIONS
-For them to be familiar with literary devices; to be able to pick up on them and identify them as soon as they see them. I see them as
an extremely important tool in a strong readers tool box.
-To develop into critical readers, and read with an active mind instead of mindlessly consuming passages of literature.
-To develop strong collaborative skills so that they can brainstorm and work in a group setting.
-To be comfortable presenting in a class setting, learning to teach material to their classmates in an organized and concise manner.

PRE-REQUISITE CONCEPTS AND SKILLS

-Average literacy skills for the grade they are in
-A decent understanding of literary devices
-To be able to work in a group setting and contribute as a productive member of a team
-Basic research skills to assist in gaining a deeper level critical learning

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES (REFERENCES) NEEDED FOR THIS LESSON

Just the basics, such as pen, paper, the assigned text, possibly a laptop to aid in research.
DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION (ACCOMODATIONS)
Groups will hopefully have a mix of strong and weaker students, avoiding the ladder approach. The weaker students that may not be
able to contribute as much may be paired up with students who are more advanced, or even gifted. That allows students of different
demographics to firstly, interact with each other, and secondly, assist each other. The students that are behind will have a classmate
explain to them the thinking process that allowed them to arrive at the conclusions they did. For the advanced students, it is beneficial
for them to be in this teacher role also, since there have been numerous studies that demonstrated the benefits of peer teaching, and
how it is one of the most effective ways of learning. This should hopefully allow the lower achieving students to feel like they are
contributing in meaningful ways, thus helping them feel like they are equal with the rest of the students.
This also solves the issue of gifted students finishing faster than anticipated and being bored. Modification for students with IEPs
will vary on a case by case basis since there cant be a one size fits all type solution.

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

For this section, I will be addressing my four learning intentions (LI) in order from top to bottom, and as A, B, C, D respectively.
For LI A, there wont be any single quick test to see if they have learned all the types of literary devices. Instead, it will be a
continuous process throughout the course of the year. Assessment will happen during their group discussion, where I will be walking
between groups and observing/listening to them. Assessment will also take place when they are presenting. If their presentation
makes sense, and is actually on the literary device they chose to present on, that is a good sign that they have a good grasp of that
particular literary device. For example, if the literary device they were supposed to discuss was setting, and instead they talked about
the protagonist instead, Ill know that they have no idea what a setting is.
For LI B, assessment will happen via different methods. I will be able to evaluate their critical literacy skills in their homework or
papers (if it happens to be a reading comprehension, analysis type assignment.) I will be also be able to determine it during class
discussions when they participate. It will be evident from their answers if they are just picking up on details that are surface,
superficial type details or ones that require more thought and critical thinking.
For LI C, assessment will be done while observing them in their group settings. The level of participation, discussions that arises and
topics they bring up will all help me determine where their ability to collaborate is. How they take feedback, whether they are willing
to change their ideas, accept others ideas are all cues I can use to determine what they are like in a group work setting.
For LI D, assessment will be done during observation of their group presentation on the literary devices they discussed. Things that
will I will be paying attention to include: volume that they speak at, whether its in a monotonous tone or one that is varying, if they
are nervous/fidgety, their knowledge of the material (whether they have to be constantly staring at cheat sheets, and ability to answer
questions afterwards), eye contact with the audience etc.
As you can see, most of my assessment is made up of non-test type formats. Usually in the form of verbal questioning and visual
observation.

LESSON ACTIVITIES

TEACHER ACTIVITIES STUDENT ACTIVITIES CLASS MANAGEMENT PACING

CONSIDERATIONS

INTRODUCTION
I understand that a lot of the time,
when a text has been assigned for
reading, the material may seem as if it
was foreign and written in a different
language. You may wonder, how is it
None at this time. Wait until everyone is quiet before 5-10
you start talking. Do not try to speak minutes
over the students, or they will assume
it is ok to keep on speaking.
that other people, or your teacher is
able to understand this material? Are
they just that further ahead, or is there
a strategy, some secret that they use in
order to better understand and
appreciate the text in front of them?
Fact is, there is, and I will show you
guys what it is.

BODY
We will begin the activity by dividing
the class into groups of four. We
want to keep the groups to a
maximum of four because too many
students in a group usually leads to
loss of productivity, with them
chattering about non-related topics
instead.
We will have elements commonly
found in literature printed out on a
card, with those cards laid out on
groups of a desk. Depending on class
sizes, we can have 6-7 cards. The
Finding of their group/preferred
literary device, settling into the group.
Group discussion, recording of ideas
brought to light.
Consolidation of the main points they
feel are most important, divvying up
At this point, the teacher should be ~10 min
circulating the class to make sure the
students are staying on task and topic.
They can also assist groups that seem
to be struggling or not too sure of how
to proceed.
The teacher will also be actively
assessing the students. This is a great ~10-15
spot to see whether the students have min
a good grasp of the task at hand,
where their understanding is in terms
of the assigned literature, and their
knowledge of literary devices.
elements should be the main ones
such as setting, theme,
protagonist/antagonist etc. Students
will walk around the class identifying
the elements that interests them; ones
they would want to discuss.
Once they are done, each group will
take turns doing a quick 5-10 minute
presentation on their element from the
story, teaching the other students
about the element they had just
discussed in which they should be
well-versed in.
of presentation time between group
members. Lastly, this is a spot where you can
identify the students who may be shy,
introverted, or a little less advanced
and pay attention to them in
subsequent classes to see if they are in
need of assistance.
~30-40
Listening and note taking while other min
groups are presenting

CLOSURE
Armed with the new information and Making sure you have the students ~10 min
insight they had just gained from their Listening to the teacher. attention again.
own discussion and the other groups
analysis, they should be able to better
understand the literature they had
been assigned. A deeper
understanding of the elements of the
text is invaluable to a greater
appreciation and grasp of the material.