Backwards-Design Lesson Plan: English 4 – 5th Six Weeks – S15 – HALL/SIMMONS
Stage 1 – Desired Results
Content Standard(s):
The students will…

ELA.12.1B analyze textual context (within a sentence and in larger sections of text) to draw conclusions about the
nuance in word meanings.

ELA.12.1C analyze poetic context to distinguish between denotative and connotative meanings of words.

ELA.12.2C relate the characters, setting, and theme of a literary work to the historical social, and economic ideas
of its time.

ELA.12.5B analyze the moral dilemmas and quandaries presented in poetry and works of fiction as revealed by
the underlying motivations and behaviors of the characters.

ELA.12.13B structure ideas in a critical/analytical way (e.g., using outlines, note taking, graphic organizers, lists)
and develop original works (poetry and stories) that illustrate rhetorical devices to convey meaning.

ELA.12.14A write an engaging poem and a story with a well-developed conflict and resolution, a clear theme,
complex and non-stereotypical characters, a range of literary strategies (e.g., dialogue, suspense), devices to
enhance the plot, and sensory details that define the mood or tone.

ELA.12.15D produce a multimedia presentation with graphics, images, and sound that appeals to a specific
audience and synthesizes information from multiple points of view.

ELA.12.26 Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams. Students will
continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to participate productively in
teams, offering ideas or judgments that are purposeful in moving the team towards goals, asking relevant and
insightful questions, tolerating a range of positions and ambiguity in decision-making, and evaluating the work of
the group based on agreed-upon criteria.
Understanding (s)/goals
Essential Question(s) :
Students will:

What are the implications of psychological

become more confident in their abilities to locate
insights into the characters? (character analysis)
literary and rhetorical devices in literature and

How are psychological insights especially
analyze the effects created through the use of these
demonstrated in “The Open Door”, “The
devices.
Rocking-Horse Winner”, and “Araby”?

See the world through an existential lens; compare

Is the outcome of characters’ lives determined
fate vs. free-will
by fate, free will, or a combination of the two?

Understand existential literary techniques

Become confident in their abilities to locate literary
devices found in literature and explain the effects
created through the use of these devices.
Student objectives (outcomes):
Students will be able to:

Analyze plot structure, conflict, characterization, theme, tone, mood, setting, and historical connection in fiction

Make complex inferences regarding the texts they read and provide textual evidence to support their theses

Determine class distinctions as illustrated in short stories

Analyze poetry
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Performance Task(s):

Students will see the parallels between life and
literature as we move between the characters and the
students’ lives

Students will analyze the use of sensory language and
explain what effect this has on the tone.

Students will analyze literary elements such as
foreshadowing and symbolism to anticipate future
events in the novel

Students will make complex inferences and support
with textual evidence.

Students will examine use of literary/rhetorical
devices and the effect they have on the reader
Other Evidence:

Application of literary terms and rhetorical
devices

Vocabulary (connotative and denotative) in
context

Open-ended responses

Unit examination
Stage 3 – Learning Plan
Learning Activities:

Participate in Socratic discussion including elements of characterization, plot development, effective use of
rhetorical and literary devices, historical environments that impact the cause/effect relationships developed in the
novels

Identify and analyze the effects of figurative language, sensory language, and diction throughout the novels and
compare/contrast the use of these rhetorical/literary devices within the literature
Note: Assignments and Due Dates are subject to change according to student progress
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
2/16
2/17
2/18
2/19
2/20
Vocabulary XVII
Villanelle:
Sonnets:
(spelling, part of
Begin poetry study
“Do Not Go Gentle Shakespearean/Elizabethan
speech, definition,
Handout: poetry
Into That Good
Petrarchan
antonym, write
terms
Night” by Dylan
varied sentence
Go through terms in
Thomas
structures using
class
context clues)
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
2/23
2/24
2/25
Victorian Poets:
John Keats
Robert Browning
Emily Bronte
Naturalist Poets:
William Blake
William
Wordsworth
Poetry Recall:
Theme/thesis/evidence
“Ode on a Grecian Urn”
“The Tyger”
“Porphyria’s Lover”
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
3/2
3/3
3/4
Poetry Recall:
Theme/thesis/evidence
“Ulysses”
“I Wandered Lonely As
a Cloud”
“The World is Too
Much With Us”
Monday:
3/9
Begin Short Stories
Lit Book pp 1126-1136
“A Cup of Tea” by
Katherine Mansfield
Respond to questions 12-3-4-5-7 on p. 1137
Theme, class
distinctions
Present poetry
TPCASTT Lyrics
projects in class
POETRY ASSESSMENT
Monday:
3/16
SPRING BREAK
Tuesday:
3/10
Lit book pp 11381148 “The Duchess
and the Jeweller”
by Virginia Woolf
Respond to
questions 1-10 on p
1149
Char., caste system
Tuesday:
3/17
Thursday:
2/26
Thursday:
3/5
Thursday:
3/12
Short story – “Skin”
After reading, TSW write
a short story using a list of
words provided
Wednesday:
3/18
Friday:
3/6
POETRY DAY
TSW write an
original poem,
illustrate the work,
and present it to the
class orally
Wednesday:
3/11
Friday:
2/28
Vocabulary XVIII
(spelling, part of
speech, definition,
antonym, write
varied sentence
structures using
context clues)
Thursday:
3/19
Friday:
3/13
Vocabulary XIX
(spelling, part of
speech, definition,
antonym, write
varied sentence
structures using
context clues)
Friday:
3/20
Monday:
3/23
Short Story:
Lit book 1172-1173
Excerpt from Heart of
Darkness
Write a scene in which
a character’s emotional
frame of mind reflects
an uncertain situation
and setting. (Model
writing after Conrad’s
excerpt.)
Tuesday:
3/24
Short Story:
“The Open Door”
by Saki
Psychological
literature
Wednesday:
3/25
Lit Book pp 1198-1206
“Araby” by James Joyce
Coming-of-age story
P-O-V, critical
interpretation
Respond to questions 3-45-6-7-8-9-10 on p 1207
Thursday:
3/26
Friday:
3/27
Vocabulary XX
(spelling, part of
speech, definition,
antonym, write
varied sentence
structures using
context clues)