Things Fall Apart Foils : Lesson Plan 3

Name: Kailey Emery

Cooperating Teacher: Tillie Torres
Subject & Grade Level: English 10
Lesson Topic: Foil Characters in Things Fall Apart
Date: Monday, November 8th Estimated Time: 85 min

A. Standards
a. 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.
b. 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.
B. Teaching Model
a. Direct Teaching- Explaining definitions to students
b. Whole Group- Teacher will scaffold by reviewing warm up and doing venn
diagram as a class
c. Self Directed- Student worksheet/ tea paragraph
C. Objective(s)
a. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to use Things Fall Apart to analyze
how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other
characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme and cite strong and
thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text by creating a TEA paragraph comparing
and contrasting foil characters, Okonkwo and Unoka.
D. Materials/Resources
a. Weekly Warm Up Packet
b. Things Fall Apart book
c. Foil Worksheet
d. TEA paragraph Graphic Organizer
e. Pencil
 f. Smart board
g. Laptop- Google Slides
E. 00:00-00:20 Instructional Procedures
a. Introduction
i. Warm Up Question in Packet
1. Students will pick up a warm up packet from their basket
2. Students will answer the following question:
a. Think about the character traits of Okonkwo, write down
his positive traits and then his negative traits.
3. After students finish their warm up question, they will log onto
Google Classroom to take their chapter quiz.
F. 00:15- 00:30 Activities or Learning Experiences
a. When all students are finished with their chapter quiz, the teacher will begin the
lesson.
b. Teacher will ask students what they wrote for their positive and negative traits of
Okonkwo
i. Teacher will write positives on one side of the board and negatives on the
other side
ii. Teacher will reinforce the idea that some traits we may see as negative are
positive in the Nigerian culture
c. Teacher will pass out the Reading Activity Handout for Things Fall Apart
d. Teacher will explain key words such as motif, foil, protagonist, and antagonist
i. Explain how they work together (need to know protagonist and antagonist
to know foil, foil to know the motif in the novel)
e. Teacher will explain that there is a motif of tension between fathers and sons in
Things Fall Apart
i. As a class we will identify and compare facts and details about Okonkwo,
Unoka, and both on the smart board
1. Explain that they are foils
a. Ask how Unoka highlights Okonkwo
f. Teacher will transition to long answer questions
 i. Teacher will read question 1:
1. When he learns he is going to receive the Idemili title, Okoye visits
Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, to collect on his debts, using persuasive
techniques to get to his point. How does Okoye feel about asking
Unoka about the debt? What device does Okoye use to try to
persuade Unoka to repay his debt? How does Unoka react to the
request, and what does this reveal about Unoka? Use text evidence
to support your claims.
a. Ask students to share how Okoye feels about asking Unoka
about the debt
i. Teacher will write answers on the board
ii. Students write down group answer on their
worksheet
b. Ask students to share what device he uses
i. Teacher will write answer on the board
ii. Students write down group answer on their
worksheet
c. Have students individually answer “How does Unoka react
to the request, and what does this reveal about Unoka?” and
to have them find text evidence in the book to support their
claim.
d. Students will write answer on their worksheet
e. Teacher will ask students to share their answers
ii. Teacher will transition and read question 2:
1. In a later scene, Okonkwo visits Nwakibie to ask for seed yams.
This time it is his turn to use persuasive techniques to get his point.
How does Okonkwo try to persuade Nwakibie to help him? What
do you learn about Okonkwo? How does Nwakinie react to
Okankwo? And what does the difference between these two scenes
tell us? Use text evidence to support your claims.
2. Students can answer this question individually
 a. Teacher may remind them where this scene is in the book
G. 1:10-1:25- Closure
a. Exit ticket:
i. Students will use a graphic organizer to put together a TEA paragraph
about how Okonkwo and Unoka are foil characters.
H. Extension/ Contingency Plan
a. If tech fails, write the Venn Diagram on the white board
b. If students finish early, they can use class time to read Things Fall Apart
I. Accommodations/Modifications
a. IEP
i. IEP’s and 504’s will be followed according to modifications
1. ASD- extra time
2. ADHD- refocusing, chunk the questions into smaller questions.
b. ELL
i. Student can watch clips of the 1971 Things Fall Apart film adaptation to
understand concepts
ii. Can provide a copy of the text in their native language
J. Assessment/Evaluation of Learning
a. Formative:
i. Discussion with Venn Diagram to see if students understand how
characters are different and similar
ii. Taking student answers whole group to see if they are following along on
short answer questions
iii. Circulate and check to see if students are finding appropriate evidence
b. Summative:
i. TEA paragraph about how Okonkwo and Unoka are foil characters.
K. Homework Assignment
a. Finish writing a TEA paragraph if not finished by the end of class.
b. Continue to read Things Fall Apart.
L. Post Lesson Reflection:
I think this lesson went fairly well. For my first two lessons, I taught English 9, but
because of the block schedule and days off, I wouldn’t see English 9 until my last week on sight,
so we decided I should teach English 10. I noticed it was a little more difficult because the
students weren’t used to me teaching and were more talkative or slacking off. I had to try extra
hard to get them on board with me. I also had to read the book that they are reading for this unit
and some of them were ahead of me and providing answers outside of chapters 1-4, so I had a
hard time following along. I think the students felt like I didn’t know what I was talking about
because I hadn’t read as far into the book as they had. I should have reiterated we were only
looking at chapters 1-4 to make that clear and so that I could maintain my confidence. This
lesson, I also only got to teach one period as opposed to my typical three periods, because my
teacher only has 1 English 10 class on “B” days. So, I really only had one shot to make sure I got
things right, whereas I normally can change things as the day goes and see what works best. I
also had a hard time with my timing. The students didn’t finish their tea paragraphs and had to
do it at home. I think this was because their teacher had them take a chapter quiz which ran a
little longer than expected. They also initially had a hard time remembering facts from the book,
and I had to remind them that they could use their books. These things combined put me back in
timing, so I had to give the kids homework and I didn’t personally get to check for understanding
in that area.
For positives, I think I did a good job of leading their discussion and making sure the kids
understood that things in the tribe's culture may be acceptable and positive traits although we
may think otherwise. It was a really difficult discussion to have because the kids were having a
hard time conceptualizing that violence and abuse are normalized in some cultures. In order to
help them understand this, I had them picture something thor culture does that maybe isn’t the
best and I got a lot of good participation. I think connecting this lesson to their own lives made
the subject feel less foreign. The kids also did a good job with finding evidence to support their
ideas in the venn diagram and in their short answer questions. I didn’t have that many students
finish by the end of the period, but those who did finish did a great job. Overall, I think it went
well. The students did a good job and seemed to learn a lot. However, I think it was difficult to
jump into a new class at the end and teach them a book in the middle of a unit.