LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Lesson Things Fall Apart

Title

Course English Literature Grade 10

Step 1: Lesson Rationale

Learning Goals and Focus (Quick overview of lesson focus):

The learning goal of this lesson is to get students to identify different concepts and aspects within a
society by examining syntax, and think critically about parallels or differences between the novel Things
Fall Apart and their own lives or communities.

Lesson Objectives: SWBAT: (What students will be able to do):

- Students will be able to describe gender norms both in the novel and their own communities, and
how they influence societies
- Students will be able to identify critical concepts of culture and society by examining their uses of
language

Learning Standards:
- CCSS.ELA.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.RL.9-10.3: Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting
motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the
plot or develop the theme.

Essential Questions:
- How do we form and shape our identities?
- How does language influence the way we think, act, and perceive the world?

How this lesson connects to students’ cultural, personal, and/or academic backgrounds:
- This lesson is asking students to think about their current environment and how they see power
and gender roles taking place every day; these two things can be discussed separately or
together.
- Many students will be coming from different cultural and personal backgrounds, meaning they
will all have different concepts of power and gender roles; some may not view the man as head
of the household because their mother is a single parent running the home, while others may
follow the idea that men are the breadwinners. These are all things that can and will voluntarily be
shared with their peers.
 Step 2: Formative Assessment Strategies
- Students will be asked to share their own ideas of power and gender roles, showing a starting
point or base of students’ understanding.
- Students will be discussing and describing the concept of power in Things Fall Apart by
examining language from the text
- For the exit slip, students will turn in a piece of paper that describes the opposite of what is
portrayed in Things Fall Apart; this could be a concept or person, or essentially anything that
pushes against gender norms and traditional forms of power.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks

Time Learning Activities and description of class Questions Posed: What guiding questions will
procedures you ask students throughout the lesson?
Include assessing questions AND advancing
questions.

3 min - What does power mean to you? Is it

To begin the lesson, students will be asked
an image, a person, an object?
what power means to them.
- Does everyone have power?
- It is not required, but students are Why or why not?
allowed to write down their responses - Where do you see power?
on a piece of paper if it helps them
focus or remember their idea.
- Teacher will then ask students to share
their thoughts with the rest of the class
and call on students with raised hands.

7 min - What do you see in this image?

Teacher will then have an overview of the day,
- What do you believe is the message
letting students know that the themes of
they are trying to get across? Why?
today’s lesson are power & gender roles.

- Transition in PowerPoint presentation

with overview, then move into sexist
propaganda.
- Students will be asked to analyze each
image and share what they see; ideally
they are to discuss how power and
gender roles are portrayed.
8 min - How does the language here show
Teacher will continue the presentation with
you power is in action? Gender roles?
specific quotes from Things Fall Apart, asking
- What does this remind you of?
students to identify power, gender roles, or
both.

2 min - What is something you see or have

For the exit slip, students must turn in a half
seen that challenges the concepts in
sheet of paper with at least 1-2 sentences on
Things Fall Apart? Something you’ve
something or someone that goes against the
experienced?
novel’s portrayal of power and gender roles.
Students must explain how/why their concept
challenges those shown in Things Fall Apart.

Modifications and Accommodations

How will you address the needs of all learners? Make sure to include all diverse learners!

- This lesson will be asking students to think critically about power and learn as we tier by
outcome; students will first be asked to describe or create their idea of power, then using that to
explain power as they see it in their own lives (community, government, etc.)
- Students will be challenged to create different levels of understanding of not only power, but
gender roles as well, through the use of sexist propaganda posters used in previous generations.
This allows students to have a visual message for them to examine and elaborate on.
- In the classroom, physical copies of these posters would be printed out and given to
students for a closer examination

Instructional Materials, Resources, and Technology

What materials will you need in order to teach this lesson?
What materials will students need?

- Students and Teacher will need a copy of the novel Things Fall Apart
- Teacher will need a powerpoint ready for the lesson
- Teacher will need printed copies of posters that will be presented on powerpoint