Learning Segment: Lesson #4

Lesson Title: Assumptions and Stereotypes in Whale Talk

Subject Area and Grade Level: ELA, 11th Grade

Introduction—

Central Focus: In this lesson, students will examine and develop a multifaceted understanding
of what a stereotype is, including its definition, examples of specific stereotypes, how
stereotypes affect the way individuals conceptualize both their own identities and the identities
of others, and the difference between making inferences and making assumptions. The lesson
connects to larger themes of identity and trauma through a focus on how identities are
conceptualized that it is taught using fictional characters whose own identities are heavily
influenced by trauma.

Content Standards:
 RL.11-12.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the
text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining
where the text leaves matters uncertain.
 SL.11-12.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics,
texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.

Learning Objectives Based on Content Standards:

 Students will analyze the behavior of various characters and identify evidence that
supports their analysis and inferences.
 Students will collaborate to define what a “stereotype” is, describe their own experiences
with and understanding of stereotypes, and compare and contrast these experiences with
each other.
 Students will use performance to interpret the motivations, emotions, and development of
various characters.
 Students will make inferences related to identity, stereotypes, and trauma based on
specific textual passages and reflections of their own experiences, as well as explain these
inferences to others, use evidence to support them, and synthesize their inferences by
writing dialogue.

Academic Language Function Objectives: Students will analyze, identify, define, describe,
compare/contrast, interpret, infer (“make inferences”), explain, and synthesize.

Additional Language Supports:

 Vocabulary: Students will define the word “stereotype” and understand the difference
between “assumptions” and “inferences”.
 Discourse: Students will participate in a discourse and performance-centered lesson that
includes discussion of what context clues can be used to make inferences, what
stereotypes are and what stereotypes human beings have been socialized into believing,
 what personal experiences and feelings they have with and about stereotypes, and how
stereotypes operate in Chris Crutcher’s Whale Talk.
 Syntax: Students will write from the perspective of the character Andy Mott in Whale
Talk, emphasizing Mott’s emotional response to the hypothetical situation of the activity
and grounding their writing in their interpretations of Mott’s character.

Essential Questions for Students to Explore:

 Unit EQ: How can trauma influence the formation of identity?
 Lesson EQ’s: What are stereotypes? How do stereotypes affect the way we understand
our own identities and the identity of others? What is the difference between an inference
and an assumption?

21st Century Student Outcomes:

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving:
 Reason Effectively: Students will analyze and evaluate other points of view as expressed
by their peers in discussions about stereotypes and by characters in specific passages of
Whale Talk. They will draw conclusions from their own analysis, express these
conclusions through discussion, and use them as the basis of their dialogue sheets and
interpretations of various characters.

Communication and Collaboration:

 Communicate Clearly: Students will effectively communicate and collaborate with one
another in order to come to common consensuses in discussion and create written
products together, including a thirty-second long dialogue interaction between characters
in Whale Talk that they will write and perform in pairs.

Prior Knowledge: Students have read through pg. 150 of Whale Talk and had discussions earlier
in the week about the definition of identity, how it is constituted in general and how we
conceptualize our own identities as well as the identities of others. Students have also had prior
experience in class working through various drama and performance-based activities so that they
are comfortable with the ways that performance differs from other classroom activities. Finally,
students have already had at least a little bit of in-class experience with making text-based
inferences.

Assessment/Accommodation—

Formative Assessment:
 The Bell-Ringer activity will be used as a pre-assessment to gauge students’ ability to
make inferences based on evidence rather than pre-conceived assumptions.
 The definition of “stereotypes” that students will work together to produce will be used as
a pre-assessment, both to gauge their understanding of the term and to gauge their ability
to work together to expand upon each other’s ideas.
 The examples of stereotypes that students will individually create will be used to
determine whether they fully understand the definition of a stereotype based on how
closely their examples match that definition.
  Guided group discussion in the wake of the Reader’s Theatre activity will serve as a
formative assessment to gauge how effectively students can support their performance
and text-based analysis of characters with evidence, as well as how effectively students
communicate with each other. The teacher will observe both whether students are able to
clearly explain and support their own ideas and more general listening and speaking
skills, noting whether conversations are balanced and whether students interact with and
build off of one another’s ideas. The one-sentence writing prompt that follows this
activity more directly assesses students’ understanding of the difference between
inferences and assumptions by asking students which of the two concepts is more
applicable in the context of the Whale Talk characters’ relationships.

Summative Assessment:
The final activity of the lesson gives students time to analyze a specific textual passage on their
own by making inferences and reflecting upon their own experiences and the experiences of
others, particularly those related to stereotypes, as communicated through the lesson’s previous
activities. It then asks students to use this analysis as the basis of both an individual free-write
activity and a dialogue sheet that they will construct and perform in pairs. Both of these pieces of
writing serve as products to be evaluated in order to determine understanding and mastery
despite not being graded. The free-write portion of the activity corresponds to the evaluation of
standard RL.11-12.1; teachers should evaluate how true student’s writing is to Andy Mott’s
character based on both the specific passage read out loud prior to the activity and the text as a
whole. The dialogue sheet additionally assesses standard SL.11-12.1; teachers should evaluate
these sheets in conjunction with the free-writes of both students involved in order to assess
whether students were able to build on each other’s ideas collaboratively. While both the free-
write and dialogue-sheet components of the activity purposely leave room for a multitude of
creative character interpretations, teachers must evaluate whether these character interpretations
corresponded with what the class has learned about Mott’s personality through the text.

Accommodations:
This lesson plan incorporates instruction that allows students with a wide variety of learning
styles to learn effectively. While many of the learning objectives students are working towards
are centered around effective communication and the lesson therefore incorporates multiple
discussions, these discussions take place both in small-group and in large-group settings to allow
students of all dispositions to participate in an environment that they feel comfortable in. Brief
lectures, whole-class discussion, group work, and individual instruction will all be incorporated
into this lesson in order to additionally offer different types of learners a chance to engage with
content and with each other in the manner that best suits them. The classroom will be physically
organized in a manner that keeps the needs of students with physical disabilities in mind, with
students who may substitute writing assignments with verbal expression as part of their
accommodation plans situated relatively close to the teacher.

Drew may draw a visual representation that he associates with the word “stereotype” rather than
taking notes on what his individual definition of the word is. He is welcome to verbally share
what he thinks Andy Mott’s reaction to T.J.’s thoughts about him would be with the teacher
rather than free-writing about it. (The teacher must be sure to keep these thoughts in mind, as the
free-write that this verbal explanation supplements acts as part of a summative assessment.)
When writing dialogue in pairs, Drew’s partner can be responsible for the pair’s initial dialogue
sheet and copying out a second dialogue sheet for Drew to read off of when performing.

In all situations involving group work or pairs, Paul’s group member(s) should move to him
rather than having him move to them. Paul may use his computer to type out words he associates
with the word “stereotype” and any notes he may have when considering his individual
definition of the word. He may also use his computer to verbally record his thoughts on the topic
that other students are free-writing about, in a similar fashion to Drew. Unless Paul feels as
though he has enough time to type his dialogue sheet out, his partner in the dialogue activity can
copy out a second dialogue sheet for Paul to use while performing (again, like Drew.) For
performance activities—the dialogue activity and the reader’s theatre activity should Paul
volunteer to participate in it—Paul may remain seated and emphasize his vocal tone and the pace
of his speech to convey emotions and character choices rather than physical gestures. (He may
also choose to emphasize facial expressions if he is able to; his IEP does not clarify his
difficulties with physicality and mobility encompass facial movement as well.)

Susana is a particularly strong speaker and listener, and this lesson plan is—for the most part—
geared towards these strengths. During the free-write activity, Susana may benefit from extra
scaffolding to help her analyze the passage that was read aloud; she may be instructed to focus
on writing two complete sentences that simply state the assumptions that T.J. is making about
Mott using terminology directly from the text, followed by one sentence about how these
assumptions might make Mott feel. A list of emotion words may be provided to help with this
task.

Lesson Plan—

Materials:
 Whale Talk
 Legally Blonde Clip
 White Board Marker
 Teacher Access to Projector
 Student Access to Lined Paper and Writing Utensils (or Laptops and a Word Processors)
 List of Emotion Words (for accommodations)

Organizational Structures:
 Lecture: Positive and Negative Stereotypes; End of Class Wrap-Up
 Whole-Class Discussion: Legally Blonde Clip; T-Shirt Stereotype Activity
 Group Work: Stereotype Definition Activity; Reader’s Theatre Activity; Dialogue
Creation
 Individual Instruction: One-Sentence Assumptions vs. Inferences Stance; Free-Write

Learning Activity Types:

 Reading Process Activity Types: Activating/Generating Knowledge; Rereading;
Descriptive Analysis; Critical Analysis/Reflection; Dramatic Reading/Reader’s Theatre;
Sharing/Collaborating; Discussion; Reconstituting/Reconsidering Text
  Writing Process Activity Types: Brainstorming/Listing; Guided Freewriting; Writing
Other Forms of Text; Performance
 Language-Focused Activity Types: Vocabulary Awareness; Vocabulary Analysis
 Oral Speaking/Performance Activity Types: Speaking; Performance/Production;
Evaluating Performance/Production
 Listening/Watching Activity Types: Listening Actively

Bell Ringer:
Approx. 8 minutes
Students will watch a clip from the film Legally Blonde that shows a montage of Elle Woods
preparing to take the LSATs intercut with the video essay she uses as part of her application to
Harvard Law School. Students will participate in a whole-class discussion based on the clip.
 What characteristics would you use to describe Elle as a person?
 Based on this clap, how smart would you consider Elle to be? What evidence would you
use to support your claim? (Her appearance? The way that she talks? Specific examples
of her behavior?) Is that evidence rooted in perceptions from the clip, assumptions about
how “smart” people behave, or both?
 How do we conceptualize the way that “smart” people behave?

Detailed Activities and Procedures:

Approx. 16 minutes
(Based on Bridging English pg. 500)
 Students will take a moment to reflect upon what key words or phrases come to mind
when they think of what a “stereotype” is, and will each write one key word or phrase on
the white board as part of a word collage.
 Students will then take another moment to consider what they think the definition of a
“stereotype” is, using the collage to help guide their thinking, and jot down some notes
before getting into groups of four.
 Groups will share their ideas and come up with a single, more cohesive definition of the
word, which one group member will formally write out on a piece of paper before
copying it out on the class whiteboard. Group sizes may be adapted based on classroom
needs.
 Students will discuss their various definitions as a whole class and will narrow their
definitions down even further into a single definition with teacher guidance. The teacher
will conclude the segment by asking students what they think the difference between an
inference and assumption is and guide them, and will allow student thinking to transition
into the next activity and further conversation. Discussion should be student-centered,
although gaps in student knowledge may require that some more straightforward
information be given.

Approx. 18 minutes
 provide a brief lecture on the difference between “positive” and “negative” stereotypes
before instructing students to think of one thing they are good at and one thing they wish
they were better at. This is purposely framed broadly and may encompass anything from
athletic skills to musical skills to school subjects they have found success in or difficulty
with.
  Students will then frame made-up positive and negative stereotypes using the colors of
the shirt or dress that they are wearing and the strength/weakness they came up with,
which they will share with the class after the teacher first models the exercise by coming
up with their own example. For example, the teacher is good at remembering lyrics to
songs, wishes they were better at playing volleyball, and is wearing a red shirt; their
positive stereotype might be, “People who wear red shirts are better at memorizing song
lyrics than everyone else,” and their negative stereotype might be, “People who wear red
shirts are always horrible volleyball players.”
 Students will participate in a whole-class discussion based on the activity, with the
following prompts serving as potential guiding prompts to ensure that the discussion
covers all learning objectives. Keep in mind that these prompts are meant to guide
students towards specific topics, not act as leading questions that might encourage them
to respond to those topics in specific ways.
o Despite how silly the activity may be, how would it feel if everyone really did
make such strong assumptions about you based on the color of your shirt? Would
you feel pressured to live up to or disprove those stereotypes? Would you behave
differently because of it?
o How would the tone of the activity have changed if we had come up with
stereotypes based on the color of our skin? What stereotypes based on skin color
do we see in Whale Talk?
o In everyday life, what are the biggest factors that play into the assumptions we
make?
 The teacher will conclude this activity with a second brief lecture on the difference
between assumptions and inferences. Students may naturally approach this topic through
their conversation, but it is up to the teacher to provide them with more concrete
information in this particular area rather than leaving it up to interpretation.

Approx. 19 minutes
(Based on Bridging English pg. 117)
 The teacher will select students to act as the characters Simet, Mott, Icko, Chris, T.J.
Jackie, and Simon from Chris Crutcher’s Whale Talk. This will ideally be volunteer-
based but teachers may need to select particular students themselves depending on their
classroom culture and needs.
 The selected students will perform an excerpt from the novel (pg. 136-138) in the style of
a Reader’s Theatre, reading their respective characters’ lines and performing any actions
that T.J.’s inner-monologue and narration attributes to them. Lines and descriptions from
the narrator’s point of view will be read out loud by the teacher.
 Students will already have entered the lesson having read this passage but may benefit
from being given a couple of minutes to prepare for the activity after being assigned their
roles by reviewing how their characters behave in order to pre-plan their acting decisions.
Students who will not be acting out the scene will take this time to re-read the passage
and think about how the scene might visually play out in their own imagination
 The rest of the class will then take a moment to respond to the performance individually
by writing down thoughts or notes before joining small groups, with each group including
one of the performers. The group of students will then share their responses to either
viewing the performance or participating in it. The teacher will provide guiding questions
 such as those listed below to center the discussion and remind students that effective
collaboration and communication requires that they listen carefully to each other and
build on each other’s ideas. The teacher will then circle around to get a grasp of the
avenues that this discussion takes various groups.
o Did the performance change or reinforce your understanding of the characters?
o Does it seem as though the members of the swim team believe in stereotypes
about each other? Do they believe in stereotypes about themselves?
o How is our understanding of these characters different from when we first met
them? Has T.J. started to understand them more, or have they actually changed as
people? (Both? Neither?)
 Students will end the activity by writing out one sentence to be turned in on whether the
characters’ understanding of each other is based more on inferences or more on
assumptions and what aspect of the student performance or ensuing discussion led them
to this conclusion. This can be presented in a very simple sentence structure that the
teacher may display and students can fill in, such as “I think the swim team members
make more [inferences or assumptions] about each other because [reason].”

Approx. 25 minutes
 Teachers should explain the entirety of this activity to students ahead of time, including
the fact that their writing from Mott’s perspective and their scripts will be turned in but
not graded.
 The teacher will read an excerpt from Whale Talk (pg. 65-66) out loud after quickly
reminding students of the scene’s context. If the teacher believes their students could
benefit from additional scaffolding, they may point out two key parts of the passage after
reading it: T.J.’s use of the adjective “surly” and his worry about how having Mott on the
team will affect bus trips.
 Students, while listening to this passage, will imagine themselves to be the character of
Andy Mott, as though T.J. is narrating his thoughts in the passage out loud to Simet and
Andy is overhearing the entire conversation.
 Students will then take a few minutes to write about how this would make them feel from
Mott’s perspective, emphasizing digging deep into the character’s emotions rather than
the craftsmanship of their writing and referring back to their own copy of Whale Talk
when needed. This acts as more of a free-write than a structured writing assignment.
 Students will get into pairs and work together to write at least thirty seconds of dialogue
between T.J. and Mott in which Mott confronts T.J. about what was “said” about him.
Both students in each pair should write this dialogue out on their own sheet of paper,
even though it will be the same dialogue for both of them.
o The teacher will remind students that these scenes need not consist of non-stop
talking, and they may take pauses or slow down their speech where it makes
sense. The teacher will also remind students that the tone, intensity, and specific
emotions involved in these confrontations is completely up to them, but should be
grounded in their interpretation of Mott’s and T.J.’s characters—they should feel
as though they can defend why they think the characters would behave the way
that they are writing them.
o Students will likely find it helpful to use their free-write to guide their
interpretations, but do not have to stick firmly too them, and will likely need to
 consider each other’s differing interpretations of Mott’s reaction in conjunction
with each other or compromise in some regards.
 Students will then rehearse performances of this dialogue, with one acting as T.J. and the
other playing Mott, and may use their phones to time themselves and make sure their
scenes last at least thirty seconds long or so. These performances should include body
language that students find appropriate, but students can and should read directly from
their dialogue sheets rather than attempting memorization.
 When the class is ready, pairs of students will get into groups of four and perform their
dialogue for the other pair in the group. They will turn their dialogue sheets and their
original free-writes in at the end of class.

Closure:
Approx. 4 minutes
The teacher will wrap-up the lesson and the previous activity by asking students to reflect upon
the scenes they shared with each other in an extremely brief whole-class discussion.
 Were there any notable similarities or differences between your interpretations of T.J. and
Mott?
 In what ways was the relationship between the two characters affected by stereotypes?
Did those stereotypes lead to anything more sinister?

Students will end class by turning in their free-writes and dialogue sheets, which teachers will
not grade but will use as a summative assessment to check for student understanding of essential
questions and mastery of using evidence and collaborating with others in order to help answer
these questions.

References:
Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk, New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.

Legally Blonde. “Elle Woods Harvard Video Essay.” YouTube, uploaded by fairyfirly, 29 August
2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6WEn0WWrIw.

Milner, Joseph O., Lucy M. Milner, and Joan F. Mitchell. Bridging English (Sixth Edition). New
York, Pearson, 2016.
Excerpts from Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher. (First HarperTeen paperback edition, 2009)

Pg. 136-138

[...] “Okay, anyone have any goals they want to state for everyone to hear?”
From the back of the bus, Mott says, “My goal is to not assault anyone with my leg for
laughing at it.”
“That would be good,” Simet says. “Assaulting the entire student body with your middle
fingers is about as far as I stretch. Besides, I don’t carry bail money with me.”
Icko yells back to him, “Besides, this is Idaho. Even swimmers are required to carry
guns.”
Chris’s eyes widen. “There’s guns?”
Simet laughs and ruffles his hair. “Icko was teasing. No guns on this one, Chris. Not even
the starter has a gun here. They’re newfangled.”
Chris says, “Newfangled,” and laughs. He’s been obsessing about the starter gun since he
heard such a thing exists. It does not help that Mott has been telling him if the starter is mad at
his wife, sometimes he shoots a swimmer.
I have one goal, but it’s for Tay-Roy: for him not to get sexually assaulted on the deck by
the female spectators from either of the opposing schools. Man, that guy looks like a serious
hunk in a tank suit. Tay-Roy says one of us is going to be disappointed because his goal is
opposite that.
Dan Hole says he’s going to use this meet to further study his personal kinesiology. Icko
tells him to drop for ten.
Jackie Craig, who has disappeared while sitting right in front of us, says, “I just want
people to still be in the water when I finish,” to which Icko responds by shaking his head and
whistling “The Impossible Dream.”
Then we’re all looking at Simon. He shrugs.
“Come on, Simon,” Coach says. Simon starts to talk, but his voice deserts him and a tear
wells up in his eye. He shrugs again, and we look up to see Mott limping up the aisle. He sits
beside Simon, albeit with his back to him, knees in the aisle. Mott looks at Coach. “How ’bout
puttin’ me an’ DeLong in the same events?”
Coach thinks a second. “We could do that.”
Mott grabs Simon’s knee. “They’ll think a one-legged asshole is a lot funnier than a fat
guy.” He gets up and limps back.
I watch him slip on the earphones as his head disappears below the back seat. He’d never
want you to know it, but he’s got some class.

Pg. 65-66

“And last but not least?” Simet says.

“Andy Mott.”
“Is that why you told me about Simon DeLong first?”
“You have to admit, never in the history of Cutter High School has a team of this
diversity been assembled.”
Simet considers, then, “I admit that.”
 If you look in the dictionary under surly, you’ll find a picture of Andy Mott glaring back
at you so hard the edges of the page will curl. He walks with a strange limp, though I don’t know
anyone who knows why. It isn’t something you’d ask, and it isn’t something he’d offer. He’s a
junior; a big guy, close to six-three. Tay-Roy says he benches major pounds and can do as many
pull-ups as most guys can do sit-ups. In the hallway he limped up to me and said, “Heard you’re
looking for swimmers,” and I said, “Yeah,” and he said, “Sign me up,” and it occurred to me that
was eight more words than I’d ever heard him speak. I said, “Okay,” already wondering what
that would do to the long bus trips we were in for.

Example List of Emotion Words:

 Ambivalent
 Angry
 Annoyed
 Confused
 Defeated
 Embarrassed
 Excited
 Furious
 Happy
 Hopeful
 Hurt
 Insecure
 Nervous
 Relaxed
 Resentful
 Sad
 Shocked
 Surprised
 Upset