“Mirror On The World: Fiction As a Reflection of Society”
Week
1
Monday
Unit 1 Introduction
 Presentation of class
expectations: Go over
syllabus
 P180
 In class journal writing :
Have you ever read a
book, watched a movie,
or seen a play that
changed your outlook
or opinions about an
issue?
 Voluntary sharing of
journal responses
 Class wide brainstorm
list of “influential” texts
2
Introduction to
The Jungle
 P180
 ICJ: What would it take
to move you to action
about a social issue?
 Instructor Reads aloud
Chapters 1-2
 Assign rotating
Literature Circle roles
 Homework: Read
chapter 3-6
Tuesday
Close Reading
Wednesday
Thursday
Vocabulary
Writing from the
Heart and MGP
 Poetry 180 reading
 ICJ: What is the purpose
of fiction?
 Close reading exercise:
Students read a poem
three times. Each time
they write down
observations and
questions about the
poem then rate their
understanding of the
poem from 1 to 10.
 P180
 ICJ: How does society
use fiction?
 Students select novel of
their choice from class
library
 Students read selection
from book of their
choice and begin
developing personal
vocabulary lists
America: 1906
The Immigrant
Experience
 P180
 Reading Response on
chapters 3-6
 Students complete webquest over United states
in 1906
 HMW: Chapters 7-10
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P180
RR: 7-10
Vocab Journal Check
Whole class “reads” and
discusses the textless
YA graphic novel The
Arrival by Shuan Tan.
 Groups explore and
discuss the book,
drawing connections
between it and The
Jungle
 HMW: 11-13
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P180
ICJ: Can fiction reflect
reality?
Spontaneous writing
prompts
Assign and explain
Multi-genre research
project
Begin brainstorming
lists of MGP topics
related to unit focus.
Nature Vs. Nurture
 P180
 RR: 11-13
 Anticipation Guide on
Nature vs. Nurture
debate
 How do conditions of
the workplaces effect the
Family members?
 HMW: 14-16
Friday
How to Read a Film
 P180
 Students view short film
video on types of film
shots
 Present film clip
 Present film
“vocabulary” list
 Have students review
clip and apply
vocabulary
 Present additional clips
if time permits
Writer’s Workshop
 P180
 Assign MGP piece 1
 Lab time to work on
research for MGP piece
1 – Logo
“Mirror On The World: Fiction As a Reflection of Society”
Week
3
Monday
Poverty
 P180
 RR: 14-16
 Reading images activity
over the modern
“poverty level” in
different countries
 HMW: 17-20
4
What is Socialism?
 P180
 RR: 27-the end.
 PowerPoint presentation
on Socialism, Marx,
Russian Revolution, and
fall of the Soviet Union
5
The Jungle vs SuperSize Me!
 P180
DUE: Film reading of
Super-Size Me!
 Whole Class Venn
Diagram comparing The
Jungle and Super-Size
Me!
Tuesday
Alcoholism
 P180
 RR: 17-20
 Present articles on
alcoholism as a “disease”
 Students discuss Jurgis’
issues with alcohol in
light of this reading
 HMW: 21-23
Final Test for The
Jungle
 P180
 Administer Final Test
over The Jungle
 Sustained Silent Reading
of students’ novel of
choice.
Official Avenues vs.
Public Imagination
 P180
 Read petitions, letters to
congress, news paper
articles
 Discuss impact of
“Literature” on society
vs. attempts at change
through “official channels
Wednesday
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Guilt
P180
RR: 21-23
VC
HMW: 24-26
Fishbowl discussion
Isn’t it significant with
all the suffering of the
poor described in The
Jungle, the only laws
passed as a result of its
publication were about
food sanitation?
Super-Size Me!
 P180
 VC
 ICJ: What effects you
more, what you see or
what you read?
Begin showing SuperSize me Assign film
reading paper for SuperSize Me!
Prep-for 1984
 P180
 VC
 Lecture: Set historical
context for when George
Orwell wrote 1984.
 PowerPoint over Orwell,
the political atmosphere
of his lifetime and his
“influences for 1984
Thursday
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Literature Circle
P180
RR: 24-26
LC #1
ICJ: Can society be
legitimately questioned
through fiction?
HMW: 27-end of book
Super-Size Me!
 P180
 Finish showing SuperSize Me!
 Allow time for students
to work on FR
Introduction to 1984
 P180
 ICJ: Based on what you
know about society now,
what do you think the
world will be like in
twenty years?
 Instructor reads aloud
Chapters 1 and 2
HMW: Read Ch 3-7
Friday
Writer’s Workshop
 P180
 Assign MGP piece 2
 Lab time to work on
research for MGP piece
2 – word photo
Writer’s Workshop
 P180
 Assign MGP piece 3
 Lab time to work on
research for MGP piece
3 – poem
Writer’s Workshop
 P180
 Assign MGP piece 4
 Lab time to work on
research for MGP piece
4 – student choice
“Mirror On The World: Fiction As a Reflection of Society”
Week
6
Monday
Psychological
Survival
 P180
 RR: 3-7
 Silent Discussion: how
would you survive in a
world where your
thoughts were policed as
in 1984?
 HMW: 8-P2 chp 3
7
Final Test for 1984
 P180
 Administer Final Test
for 1984
 SSR of student’s novel
of choice
8
Terrorism
 P180
DUE: Film reading of V
for Vendetta
 Look at images,
testimonials, articles
about September 11th,
Metro bombing in
London.
 Show featurette on V
author Allen Moore and
the context under which
he composed V
 Discuss fictional terrorist
acts of character V in
light of real terrorist acts
Tuesday
Shrinking language
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P180
RR: 7-P2 chp 2
Writing exercise
Students rewrite a
document using “New
Speak”
 HMW: 3-7
V for Vendetta
 P180
 ICJ: How would you
change a society you felt
was corrupt? Would you?
Why or Why not?
 Begin showing V for
Vendetta
 Assign Film reading
paper for V for Vendetta
Art as Critique
 P180
 Students view and
Discuss paintings and
sculpture whose aim
was to comment on and
critique society.
 Guernica (Picasso)
 Francisco Goya
 Imre Varga (Hungarian
sculpter whose work
critiqued the communist
party in Hungary)
Wednesday
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Rebellion
P180
RR: 3-7
VC
PowerPoint lecture over
various revolutions
 Silent discussion: is
rebelling against
authority is ever good?
 HMW: 8-P3 chp 2
V for Vendetta
 P180
 VC
 Finish showing V for
Vendetta
 Bring in Grapic novel of
V for Vendetta to share
with class
 Allow time to work on
FR
Literature/Film/Art
 P180
 VC
 Think in threes chart
comparing the
effectiveness of
criticizing society
through
literature/film/art
Thursday
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Literature Circle
P180
RR: 2-6
LC #2
Why does the
government win in the
end? How could the
book have turned out
differently?
 HMW: P3-chp 3-end
1984 vs. V for
Vendetta
 P180
 Whole class Ven
Diagram over 1984 and
V for Vendetta
Fishbowl Discussion
 P180
 Whole class fishbowl
discussion over The
Jungle, Super-Size Me,
1984, V for Vendetta and
art work we’ve covered
Friday
Writer’s Workshop
 P180
 Assign MGP piece 5
 Lab time to work on
research for MGP piece
5 – student choice
Writer’s Workshop
 P180
 Assign MGP piece 6
 Lab time to work on
research for MGP piece
6 – student choice
Mid-Semester
Seminar
DUE: Multi-Genre
Research project
 P180
 Students present MGP to
parents and faculty
members who come to
class to view their work.
“Mirror On The World: Fiction As a Reflection of Society”
Week
Monday
9
Unit 2 Introduction
 P180
 PowerPoint lecture over
the fin-de-siècle
Introduce students to social
developments of Victorian
period. i.e women’s
movement, “dandy’s”,
The Origin of the Species,
Homosexuality
10
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11
Literature Circle
P180
RR: 10-15
LC# 4
What issues that we
covered in Monday’s
lecture were evident in
Frankenstein?
HMW: 16-22
Introduction to Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
 P180
DUE: Film Reading of
Edward Scissor Hands
 ICJ: Define Good and
Evil.
 Instructor reads aloud
chapters 1-2
HMW: read chapters 3-4
Tuesday
Introduction to
Frankenstein
 P180
 ICJ: What are some
instances where science
and morality collide?
 Instructor reads aloud
letters and chapter 1.
 HMW: read chapter 2-4
Final test for
Frankenstien
 P180
 Administer final test over
Frankenstein
 SSR with book of choice
Anticipation Guide
for Dr. J & Mr. H
 P180
 RR: 3-4
 Anticipation Guide over
whether students
consider a situation
good or “Evil”
HMW : 5-6
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Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Prediction Chart
Frankenstein
“Playing God”
Sustained Silent
Reading
P180
RR: 2-4
VC
Prediction Chart for
Frankenstein
 Assign cloning articles
for Jigsaw
 HMW: 5-10
Edward ScissorHands
 P180
 VC
 ICJ: What is “normal?”
Begin watching ESH
 Assign film reading
paper on Edward Scissor
Hands
Situational Ethics
 P180
 VC
 RR: 5-6
 In small cooperative
groups students read
different situations
involving the same type
of “action” and
determine if the
“situation determines
whether or not the
situation is “evil.”
HMW: 7-8
 P180
 RR: 5-10
 Jigsaw over Cloning
articles
 HMW: 11-15
Edward ScissorHands
 P180
 Finish Showing Edward
Scissor-Hands
 Allow time to work on
FR
Literature Circle
 P180
 RR: 7-8
 Imagine Jekyll’s serum
could be perfected.
Should we use it?
 LC # 5
HMW: 9- end of book
 P180
 SSR with book of choice
(NOT Frakenstein) for
entire period
Sustained Silent
Reading
 P180
 SSR with book of choice
(NOT Dr.Jekyll &Mr.
Hyde) for entire period
Sustained Silent
Reading
 P180
 SSR with book of choice
(NOT Picture of Dorian
Gray) for entire period
“Mirror On The World: Fiction As a Reflection of Society”
Week
12
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Final Test over Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Introduction to The
Picture of Dorian
Gray
Anticipation Guide
for PDG
“Morality”and
Oscar’s Wilde’s
Artistic Credo
Sustained Silent
Reading
 P180
 VC
 Administer final test over
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
 SSR with book of choice
13
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14
Literature Circle
 P180
 ICJ: Is morality defined
by the individual or
society?
 Instructor reads aloud
chapters 1-2
 HMW: read chapters 3-5
Final Test over The
Picture of Dorian
Gray
P180
RR: 11-15
LC# 6
Was Dorian’s end
fitting? Why do you
think Wilde ended it that
way?
HMW: 16-end of book
 P180
Administer test over The
Picture of Dorian Grey
Assign and begin
discussion final semester
Debate.
The “New Woman” /
Mina vs Lucy
Fishbowl Wrap up on
Dracula
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P180
RR: 8-15
Whole class Venn Diagram
comparing Mina and Lucy
in light of the “New
Woman” phenomenon
 HMW: 16-20, prepare
questions for fishbowl
discussion
 P180
 RR: 16-20
 Fish bowl discussion
over Dracula
 What Feminist issues do
you see cropping up in
Dracula that we
discussed at the
beginning of the unit?
 HMW: 21 to end of book
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P180
RR: 3-5
VC
Anticipation guide over
issues of morality in
PDG
 HMW: 6-10
Introduction to
Dracula
 P180
 VC
 ICJ: What does the term
“monster” connate?
 PowerPoint presentation
on Stoker
 Instructor Reads aloud
chapters 1-2
HMW: Read chapters 3-7
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The Geography of
Dracula
P180
VC
RR: 21 to the end
Handout of maps of
Eastern Europe circa
1890
Students get in groups
and use the novel to track
Jonathan Harker’s
journey to Transylvania
and the vampire hunter’s
chase at the end
 P180
 RR: 6-10
 PowerPoint on the life
of Oscar Wilde
 Closet Game
 HMW: 11-15
Close Reading
Exercise
 P180
 RR: 3-7
 Close reading exercise
over “3 women” passage
HMW: 8-15
Grammar: Active
vs. Passive Voice
 P180
 Students examine
passages in Dracula
written in passive voice
(most of the book) and
convert them to active
voice.
 Students go back over
RR’s and ICJ’s and find
their own passive voice
use and change it to
active.
 P180
 SSR with book of choice
(NOT Picture of Dorian
Gray) for entire period
Sustained Silent
Reading
 P180
 SSR with book of
choice (NOT Dracula)
for entire period
Sustained Silent
Reading
 P180
 SSR with book of choice
for entire period
“Mirror On The World: Fiction As a Reflection of Society”
Week
15
Monday
Final Test over
Dracula
 P180
 Administer final test over
Dracula
 SSR with book of choice
16
Organization
 P180
 Students take scrambled
essays and re-organize
them and compose
transitional sentences to
make them flow.
17
Debate Workshop
 P180
 Computer lab research
session for final debate
DUE: Analytic Essay
Tuesday
Peer Workshop 1
 P180
 Analytic Essay Draft 1
peer workshop
Peer Workshop 2
 P180
Analytic Essay Draft 2 peer
workshop
Blogging
 P180
 Computer lab. View
Blogs. Show them how to
set up and use class blog
on which their debates
will ultimately be posted
after they give their
presentations.
Wednesday
Audience
 P180
 Bring in varied examples
of writing directed at
different “audiences.”
 Students compose
several micro-themes
geared at various
audiences.
Written
Conversations
 P180
Students assume the
persona of either Dracula,
Dorian Gray,
Frankenstein’s monster,
Mr. Hyde, or Edward
Scissor Hands and write
back and forth about their
representations in the
different works.
Debate Workshop
 P180
Students work on refining
research into debate points
Thursday
Sentence Variation
Friday
Word Choice
 P180
 Students revise
paragraphs by
combining / shortening
sentences.
Start with teacher produced
samples, move to their own
old RR’s and ICJ’s.
 P180
 Using passages from the
unit texts that have been
rewritten to contain
weaker word choice
students examine the
benefits of effective
word choice.
Debate Workshop
Effective Public
Speaking
 P180
Options: students do more
research for topic, begin
compiling debate points
In Class Debate
Practice
 P180
Bring in video examples
of public speakers,
politicians, students,
actors ect. Have
students rate them on
their public speaking
skills.
Blog Post
 Students post their
DUE: Debate Summary
 P180
 Students practice debate
presentation with
assigned partner

written arguments on
Blog.
Go over expectations
regarding blog posts
“Mirror On The World: Fiction As a Reflection of Society”
Week
18
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Debate Presentations
Debate Presentations
Debate Presentations
Debate Presentations
Debate Presentations

Pair 1
Pair 2
Pair 3
Pair 4
Update students
on Blog status

Pair 5
Pair 6
Pair 7
Update students
on Blog status

Pair 8
Pair 9
Pair 10
Update students
on Blog status

Pair 11
Pair 12
Pair 13
Update students
on Blog status

Pair 14
Pair 15
Pair 16
Update students
on Blog status
Poetry 180 reading (P180): In lieu of a single poetry unit each class period will start with a poetry selection from the Poetry 180 web site or poem
I select which fits thematically with the reading we approach for the day. There is no grade or writing attached to the poem. We simply start class
with a poetry reading and the students are free to respond or not respond to it as they see fit.
In Class Journal Writing (ICJ): In class journal writings are random journal prompts to get the students thinking about the topic for the day, or
the novel we are beginning. As stated in the syllabus, this journal may either be a simple spiral bound notebook or a more traditional style diary.
Either way, it must be a kept bound and separate from material kept in the 3 ring class binder. Prompts may or may not be related to the reading
for the week. Journal prompts are checked for completion. Grades for journals are either √ meaning complete or 0 for not completing prompts.
Missed journal entries cannot be made up. An average score for journal prompts constitutes part of the semester grade.
Reading Response (RR): Reading responses are a method of making sure students keep up with the reading. Students respond to an open-ended
prompt specifically designed to target the reading for the day. The prompts are designed to be difficult to answer without having done the reading.
As per the syllabus, these writings are graded based upon whether or not the response addresses the prompt and to what depth the prompt is
discussed. An average score for reading responses constitutes a portion of the final grade for the semester. Reading response grades are a √+ for
responses that address and expand on the prompt, √ for responses which simply address the prompt, and a – for responses that indicate students did
not do the reading.
Writer’s Workshop: For the first three workshops I introduce a specific genre or “piece” of writing then students work on drafting their own
version of the “piece.” In the following week’s workshop students get together in pre-assigned “workshop” groups and analyze/critique/praise
each other’s writing. After they “workshop” each other’s writing they begin work on the next week’s piece.
Literature Circles (LC#-): Students will engage in one literature circle per novel. Literature circles are a meeting of pre-assigned group members
who have roles that correspond to specific tasks related to the reading that the students must complete before the literature circle meeting. The
roles are as follows: Discussion Director – student composes discussion questions over the assigned
“Mirror On The World: Fiction As a Reflection of Society”
reading.
Connector – student writes 2 to three pages connecting the novel with other works
we have studied as a class or with their own experience.
Passage Master – student selects passages from the reading they believe warrant
in depth discussion.
Illustrator – student composes an illustration or visual representation of their response to
the reading.
Film Reading Paper (FR): The Film Reading Paper is a 3 to 5 page essay requiring students to “read” the films we watch together as a class. By
reading the film they must choose an aspect of the filmmaking, or select a particularly moving scene, and explain how the shot choice, camera
angles and movement, lighting, set design, sound effects, and acting contribute to a specific theme, or the overall effectiveness of the film.
Multi-genre research project (MGP): For Unit 1, students will complete a Multi-genre research paper. Students will select a topic based on a
specific area of Society they wish to critique and compose multiple “genre-pieces” related to that topic and based upon research about that topic.
The type of genre and target of each specific piece is up to them, though as a class we will write several specific genre’s in order to get them
started on the project. The common pieces will include a poem, a 100 word count word photo, and a logo piece about their topic.
Debate: For Unit 2 students will engage in a debate in a debate on the effectiveness of social commentary through stylized fiction. The purpose of
this debate is to determine whether or not the imbedded social commentary in the unit texts is as effective given the fantastic nature of the novels.
This assignment will constitute a large portion of the semester grade.
Vocabulary Journal Check (VC): Students will keep a regular “vocabulary Journal” consisting of words from the reading they find difficult,
intriguing or challenging. The words are drawn from either the texts we are reading as a class, or books students are reading for pleasure. The
journal is kept in a vocabulary section of their binder, and the words on this list are words of the students’ choice. Students must record the word,
it definition, synonyms and antonyms as well as compose an example sentence. Vocabulary journals are checked weekly.
Sustained Silent Reading (SSR): On test days, and every Friday during unit two, students engage in Sustained Silent reading sessions. During
these session students simply sit and read a novel of their choice. On Fridays during unit two students are not allowed to read the assigned texts
during SSR times. SSR is strictly allotting time for students to read and explore texts of their own interest, not the texts we are using for academic
purposes.
Due Dates (DUE): All important due dates are listed in red.
Days shaded in gray: that have written lesson plans accompanying them.