WED. 5/15 (D)
Aim: What do we know about The Hobbit before we even read it?
WoD:
Procedure:
 Do Now: Write what you know about The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth, and/or J.R.R. Tolkien.
(share out)
 Predict what the story might be about just from the title and the cover illustration
 Show of hands (stand up if the first answer’s yes and sit down for good once the answer becomes no; see who’s
left standing at the end):
o Would you ever leave the safety of your home to embark upon a dangerous adventure?
o Would you do it even if all your friends thought it was a bad idea?
o Would you do that just because some complete strangers asked you to help them?
o Would you do that even if those strangers were very strange?
o Would you do that even if those strange strangers were your only companions on your journey?
o Would you do it if it required stealing?
 Refine predictions based on my questions: What adventure will we read about? What dangers await us? Who
are the strangers? What do they want?
 Class begins reading Ch. 1 of The Hobbit aloud
HW: Finish reading Ch. 1, post a CAPT strand 1 response, and reply to 1 other post on www.turnitin.com
THU. 5/16 (E)
Aim: How does the beginning of The Hobbit set up the story as a heroic epic?
WoD:
Procedure:
 Do Now: Is your own character more like that of the Baggins or the Tooks? Which kind of character do you seek
as a friend? (share out)
 Class discusses Ch. 1
o Why does the narrator tell us about Bilbo’s noble ancestry? How does that work to characterize Bilbo
as an epic hero?
o How is Bilbo different from the typical fictional hero? How does he fit the archetype?
o Why does the narrator explain that the Hobbits’ homes are so similar to ours?
o What essential conflict does Ch. 1 set up for this story? How does that work to characterize Bilbo as
an epic hero?
o What do we make of the dwarves? Why do they speak in poetry?
 Distribute Lit Circles Classifieds sheet; explain Lit Circles and roles; assign groups and choose roles (2 per person)
HW: Read Ch. 2-3 (annotate the text with specific attention to your Lit Circle role); write a CAPT strand 2a response
and reply to 1 post on www.turnitin.com
FRI. 5/17 (F)
Aim: What character distinctions does Tolkien draw between the different fictional races in The Hobbit?
WoD: racial profiling
Procedure:
 Do Now: What is the difference between good and evil? Is it possible for someone to be wholly good or wholly
evil? Is your goodness/evilness innate (in your nature) or do you develop it over time (through nurture)? (share
out)
 Class recaps events of Ch. 2-3 and answers each other’s questions
 Distribute Middle Earth Racial Profiling worksheet; groups of 3 complete then share out
 Class discusses if these creature profiles have racist implications
 Groups of 3 read different articles about eugenics and racial profiling, summarize for class, and discuss notable
points: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dh23eu.html;
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/list3.pl/; http://boingboing.net/2009/07/27/american-eugenicsmo.html; http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/22/eugenics-daniel-kevles.html
 Class discusses why an author might create his own fantastical races rather than realistic types of humans
HW: Read Ch. 4-5 (annotate the text with specific attention to your Lit Circle role); write a CAPT strand 2a response
and reply to 1 post on www.turnitin.com
MON. 5/20 (G) -- DROP
TUE. 5/21 (H)
Aim: What does the riddle game between Bilbo and Gollum reveal about these two characters? How does it
change the tone of the novel?
WoD: riddle
Procedure:
 Do Now: Answer the following riddles (then share out):
o What’s black and white and red all over? (A newspaper.)
o What has many eyes but cannot see? (A potato.)
o What two things can you never eat for breakfast? (Lunch and dinner.)
o What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening? (Humans—on
all fours as babies, two legs as adults, and three with a cane in old age.)
o What is once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a thousand years? (The letter M.)
o I am large as a castle, yet lighter than air. One hundred men and their horses cannot move me. What
am I? (The castle’s shadow.)
 Class discusses the tricks to figuring out these kinds of riddles
 Students write their own riddles; divide the class in half, and have a riddle battle between the teams (no headto-head, just team huddles); winning team gets candy
 Class recaps events of Ch. 4-5 and answers each other’s questions
 Class discusses Gollum’s and Bilbo’s riddle battle; answer aim
HW: Read Ch. 6-7 (annotate the text with specific attention to your Lit Circle role); be prepared to present your
findings to your Lit Circle group tomorrow
WED. 5/22 (A)
Aim: How has Bilbo’s journey developed over the course of the first seven chapters?
WoD: synthesize
Procedure:
 Do Now: What would you do if you could be invisible whenever you wanted? How would it change your
behavior? Your morals? (share out)
 Class recaps events of Ch. 6-7 and answers each other’s questions
 Lit Circles for Ch. 2-7; share out
 Review progress of various journeys throughout the novel so far:
o Physical locations and obstacles
o Bilbo’s character development (don’t go into this too much, as we will in depth tomorrow)
o Tone of the novel (lighthearted to dark)
o Small, homogeneous world to big one with many creatures and interracial tensions
HW: Read Ch. 8-9 (annotate the text with specific attention to your Lit Circle role); post a CAPT strand 3 response
and reply to 1 post on www.turnitin.com
THU. 5/23 (B)
Aim: How does Bilbo’s killing of the spider act as a turning point in the novel?
WoD: turning point
Procedure:
 Do Now: What is the most heroic thing you have ever done? Did you do it instinctively or did you have to really
muster up the courage? (share out)
 Class recaps events of Ch. 8-9 and answers each other’s questions
 Class discusses:
o
Remind class that Bilbo started out on this adventure reluctantly, a far cry from being able to kill
another creature
o What does killing the spider signify?
o Why does Bilbo rename his sword? How does that transform him?
o What would you name your sword? Why?
 Class tracks Bilbo’s ascent to heroism by charting events that led to his killing the spider (come up with a
symbolic theme to represent the steps toward this turning point—e.g., ladder, stairs, road, tree, mountain—and
have student draw on board, students write the events on board)
HW: Study for Tuesday’s test on Chapters 1-9 (distribute study guide)
FRI. 5/24 (C) TEST PREP
MON. 5/27 – NO SCHOOL
TUE. 5/28 (D) TEST ON CHAPTERS 1-9
HW: Read Ch. 10 (annotate the text with specific attention to your Lit Circle role); post a CAPT strand 3 response
and reply to 1 post on www.turnitin.com
WED. 5/29 (E)
Aim: What power does lineage hold in The Hobbit?
WoD: lineage
Procedure:
 Do Now: What is the legacy of your lineage? What role did your ancestors play in their communities? What
does your family name signify to those in your culture? If you don’t know, make it up! What do you imagine the
legacy of your lineage is?
 Class recaps events of Ch. 10 and answers each other’s questions
 Read Ch. 11
 Class charts different lineages in the novel and what they’re known for; discuss hierarchy of power among
lineages
HW: Read Ch. 12-13 (annotate the text with specific attention to your Lit Circle role); be prepared to present your
findings to your Lit Circle group tomorrow
THU. 5/30 (F)
Aim: What does the title of Chapter 13, “Not at Home,” signify?
WoD:
Procedure:
 Do Now: When you’re away from home, what do you miss most? What do you need in order to feel at home?
(share out)
 Class recaps events of Ch. 12-13 and answers each other’s questions
 Lit Circles for Ch. 8-13; share out
 Class discusses aim
HW: Read Ch. 14-15 (annotate the text with specific attention to your Lit Circle role); post a CAPT strand 3
response and reply to 1 post on www.turnitin.com
FRI. 5/31 (G) -- DROP
MON. 6/3 (H)
Aim: How does Bard act as a foil to the dwarves?
WoD: foil
Procedure:
 Do Now: In the movie Wall Street, Michael Douglas’s character, Gordon Gekko, declared, “Greed is good.” Do
you agree? Why or why not? (share out)
 Class recaps events of Ch. 14-15 and answers each other’s questions
 Class compares and contrasts Bard to Thorin and other dwarves (write on board)
 Pairs discuss, find quotes from the text to support their interpretations, and share out:
o How does Tolkien portray Bard? Since he’s the only human character so far, what is Tolkien saying
about human nature?
o Which character in the novel seems greediest so far? Does his greed help him or hurt him?
o What might the dragon represent or symbolize in the real world? What are some modern-day
dragons?
o What other symbols or metaphors have you seen in the story so far?
HW: Read Ch. 16-17 (annotate the text with specific attention to your Lit Circle role); post a CAPT strand 1
response and reply to 1 post on www.turnitin.com
TUE. 6/4 (A)
Aim: What morals and goals motivate the characters’ actions in Ch. 16-17?
WoD: morality
Procedure:
 Do Now: What is your own personal code of what is right and what is wrong? What words do you live by? (share
out)
 Class recaps events of Ch. 16-17 and answers each other’s questions
 Divide class into 4 or 5 groups; give each group a colored index card with a character’s name (Bilbo, Thorin, Bard,
Gandalf, Elvenking) on it; keep each group’s character a secret for now
 Groups discuss for a few minutes about their character’s code of morals
 Write a list of morality questions on the board for each group to answer for their character with evidence from
the text:
o Would you ever kill?
o Would you ever steal?
o Would you ever lie?
o Would you ever cheat?
o Would you ever put your interests above others’?
o Would you ever take something that you didn’t earn?
o What do you value more: loyalty or peace?
o What do you value more: wealth or safety?
o What do you value more: intelligence or kindness?
 Group by group answers for their character, without identifying their character; write each character’s answers
to questions on board to compare each character’s moral code; class guesses who each group’s character is;
then each group reveals character’s identity and explains reasoning
 Class answers aim; discuss which characters share similar moral codes and predict what conflicts might result
from opposing moral codes
HW: Read Ch. 18-19 (annotate the text with specific attention to your Lit Circle role); be prepared to present your
findings to your Lit Circle group tomorrow
WED. 6/5 (B)
Aim: How does The Hobbit culminate?
WoD: culminate
Procedure:
 Do Now: Has The Hobbit come to full closure at the end of Chapter 19? If so, explain what has been resolved
and why that is a perfect ending. If not, what conflicts remain unresolved? What do you predict happening
after the novel ends? (share out)
 Lit Circles; share out
 Class discusses: Gandalf tells Bilbo he is not the hobbit he once used to be; agree or disagree?
 Class discusses lack of women in the novel; representative of gender bias/stereotyping, or reflective of realities
of that time?
 Class discusses: novel was published when Hitler came to power and WW2 was on its way; does the novel reflect
these events in any way?
HW: Write a CAPT strand 4 response
THU. 6/6 (C)
Aim: What will we write our Hobbit essays about?
WoD: thesis
Procedure:
 Distribute analytical essay assignment
o For question (a), be sure to identify the characters’ sources of power first. You can look at either one
character with multiple sources of power, or at multiple characters each with different sources of
power.
o For question (b), be sure to look at various different ways that Tolkien develops the identities of his
character. Review your notes for some ideas.
o For question (c), consider times when Bilbo caved to peer pressure and times when he defied it, and
decide where he ends up in relation to peer pressure at the end of the novel.
o For question (d), you need to compare The Hobbit to the excerpts we read from The Odyssey. You
can also refer to epic movies and comic books.
 Choose a topic for your analytical essay; jot down some potential answers to the questions asked; synthesize
those ideas into one sentence.
HW: Refine your thesis statement and outline your three main points (use the Thesis Steps handout).
FRI. 6/7 (D)
Aim: How can we write strong body paragraphs for our literary analysis essay?
WoD:
Procedure:
 Review the purpose (prove thesis) and structure of a body paragraph (topic sentence, quote, analysis, button
closing); show a model body paragraph
 Distribute Body Paragraph Outline Sheet; students outline 3 body paragraphs to support their theses
 Model turning body paragraph outline into essay form
 Review features of strong introduction and conclusion
 Review essay writing tips:
o Useful “signal” words: therefore, however, consequently, additionally, moreover, although,
nonetheless, first, second, third, lastly, etc.
o Use of present tense when discussing literature
o Use of active voice instead of passive voice
o Common spelling mistakes (its/it’s, there/they’re/their, etc.) and apostrophe mistakes (use for
contractions and possession, not plurality)
 While students work on outlines, conference individually
HW: Write your essay (due Tuesday)
MON. 6/10 (E) GRAMMAR LESSON BASED ON COMMON ERRORS I’VE NOTICED
TUE. 6/11 (F) REFLECT ON OWN JOURNEY THROUGHOUT COURSE; FINAL EXAM PREP
WED. 6/12 (G) – DROP – last day of classes!!!