Name: Mrs.

Kagan Grade 9- Literature for the Ages

Lesson Plan Title
Literary Analysis of O’Henry Short Stories

Goals
-Students will appreciate O’ Henry’s short stories for their literary artistry and timelessness
-Students will work together to construct knowledge analyzing literary works
-Students will communicate effectively with peers to voice opinions, defend positions, and pose
questions.

Objectives
-Students will summarize information about O. Henry’s biography in relation to his writings.
-Students will evaluate the influence of O’Henry in today’s society.
-Students will examine O. Henry’s work through a specific literary lens to construct thorough
knowledge in preparation for discussion.
-Students will collaborate to analyze and evaluate the writing, influence, and literary devices of
O. Henry’s short stories.
-Students will compile analysis conclusions and explain the overall effect of O. Henry’s work. 

Discipline and Topic

The Discipline is High School English. This lesson is the second half of an Author Study of
O’Henry, which is part of a full year curriculum studying timeless literature and basic plot
structures. This particular lesson set would occur in the second half of the year and utilizes
literary analysis practices that have been taught in prior units, including the literary analysis
jigsaw.

Target Population
This lesson session will be taught to 9th Grade English I students on a college prep level track.

Curriculum Alignment
This lesson session satisfies the following NYS Common Core Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5
Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g.,
parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery,
tension, or surprise.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups,
and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others'
ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.A
Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw
on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to
stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.C
Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to
broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify,
verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.D
Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement,
and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new
connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are
defined in standards 1-3 above.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and
shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and
audiences.

Lesson Description
2- 50 minute In-Class Periods
2- Online Work Days

Classroom Lesson 1: We will be working with our Literature Jigsaw groups to examine the O.
Henry stories in greater detail. 
Clarify roles for preparation: Discussion Director, Connector, Illustrator, Literary Luminary,
Literary Terms Expert. The worksheet is provided in Moodle and must be completed for our next
class period.  Submit in Moodle as well. 
In class today- same-role groups meet to develop discussion material (i.e. Illustrators meet to
review/find images and questions together). 
Classroom Lesson 2: Lit Jigsaw discussions- Literature circles are formed with one student
from each categorical role. Discuss to clarify all aspects of O. Henry’s short stories. Be sure to
record new findings. Follow-up quiz on Moodle.

Online Work: 
  O. Henry Biography Activity:
http://wjhs7c.pbworks.com/f/O'Henry+Author+Study+Activity.doc

Discussion Thread: O. Henry is said to have been a pioneer of the detective genre.  His
stories inspired later films about gangsters and detectives. What elements from the texts
of O. Henry’s two stories have you seen employed in the “crime” genre (books, movies,
television, etc…) today?

Quiz in Moodle: Essay/Short Answer- based on Lit Circle work:

--In 8-10 sentences, determine if “After Twenty Years” and “A Retrieved Reformation”
are still relevant for today’s audience? How so or how could they be updated?
In your answer, you must refer to:
Facts from O. Henry’s biography
  Examples of verbal/situational/or dramatic irony
Effect of foreshadow and ironic humor 
One significant line from either story

Supplemental Materials/Links
Online link and Quiz are provided in Lesson Description and on Moodle
Literary Jigsaw Worksheet is attached below and on Moodle.

Assessment of Students
Students will be assessed both formatively and summatively throughout the week. Students will
submit the online assignment to be assessed on their ability to extract and summarize
information regarding the writer. Assessment of students’ ability to evaluate O’Henry’s
influence will be administered through the online discussion forum and scored using the attached
discussion rubric. Students will be formatively assessed by the instructor during group work to
ensure they stay on track for analysis conclusions. Students will be summatively assessed in
their abilities to compile and synthesize conclusions with the final short answer assessment on
Moodle.

Evaluation of Lesson
The lesson will be successful if 80% of students demonstrate skills at 85% or better on
assessments
The lesson will be successful if 90% of students engage in the discussion forum at 85% or better.

Rationale for using the medium

For Session 2 I have provided an online worksheet to be used and shared in classwork; an online
author study with links to useful resources; another discussion forum; and a short answer/essay
summative quiz. The worksheet is used to prepare for in-class discussion note-taking. I
considered fully online collaboration for Jigsaw prep, but “collaborating online is sometimes
difficult and may counteract the flexibility of online learning” (Rice, p.41). Having the main
collaboration efforts take place in the classroom seemed to be the best use of class time. The
online document could be shared among students to add additional thoughts after class time, if
they continued to work, or used independently. 

The O’Henry Biography activity correlates to Bloom’s “Understand” level of thinking and
allows students to learn from technology (Larson and Lockee, 2013) as they research outside
information. I decided to include informative website links on the activity page, rather than have
students research freely, because Rice (2012) notes how distractions, such as spending excessive
time searching for resources, can be frustrating for students. The recommendation is to create
assignments that are carefully guided, scaffolded, and structured toward the objective (Rice
2012). Research skills were not one of my intended objectives with this lesson, so providing the
site resources seemed to keep the intended focus of learning about the author.  

The use of an asynchronous discussion forum employs learning with technology (Larson and
Lockee, 2013) and allows an additional conversation to take place during this session. The topic
is one of opinion and evaluation (Bloom’s level of thinking), yet it requires support from the
lessons (“Apply”). “Debate, consensus building, and collaboration are all purposes that give
meaning to discussion board activities” (Rice, 2012, p.57) and minds may change as a result of
this particular thread. Again, monitoring for participation will be necessary to ensure consistent
participation. The posted discussion rubric should also guide quality responses. The summative
quiz is an effective question, but, as with Session 1, it’s limited in authenticity.  The classroom
activities in this session complement the quiz efforts so that assessment is multi-faceted. 

Larson, M. B. and Lockee, B. B. (2013) Streamlined ID: A Practical Guide to Instructional

Design. New York, NY: Routledge. 

Rice, K. (2012). Making the move to K-12 online teaching: Research-based strategies and
practices. New York, NY: Pearson.