LESSON PLAN FOR GRADE 9 LITERATURE CLASS
(Illustration of the Gradual Psychological Unfolding)
I.
OBJECTIVES
A. To realize the importance of hope and perseverance in life by:
1. strengthening the vocabulary development through sentence
construction;
2. describing the sentiments of a man who waits and hopes for someone
important to him;
3. comparing and contrasting the story of that man and Johnsy, who was
sick in the story;
4. describing the following:
Johnsy as a sick person
Sue as a friend
Mr. Behrman as an artist
5. explaining how the last leaf has inspired Johnsy;
6. retelling the events that led to the creation of Mr. Behrman’s
masterpiece;
7. citing circumstances similar to that of Sue and Johnsy where one is
not supposed to lose hope and give up;
8. identifying people who may not be famous but who have done
something meaningful for others.
B. To appreciate the author’s craftsmanship in short story writing by:
1. identifying descriptive words and classifying them;
2. identifying phrases or lines that use figurative language and
classifying them;
3. tracing the significant events in the story to show the development of
the plot;
4. showing the capacity of the short story for more interaction with its
reader by retelling the story from another point of view or giving it
another ending.
II.
SUBJECT MATTER
Short Story: The Last Leaf by O. Henry
Synopsis:
Johnsy and Sue are artists who move into Greenwich Village in
New York City. As Winter approaches and the weather gets colder,
Johnsy becomes ill with pneumonia. She gets so sick that she believes that
when the last leaf falls from the vine outside her window, she will die.
An old artist, named Behrman, who lives in the same building as
the girls, bravesa storm one night to paint a leaf on the wall — a leaf that will
never fall. Cold and wet from painting in the icy rain, he catches pneumonia
and dies. This gives Johnsy the hope to survive her illness, and it also creates
the masterpieceBehrman had always dreamed of painting.
III.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
A. Reading Text
B. American Song: The Last Leaf by The Cascades
Video was retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSHfwWYhEiE
The last leaf clings to the bough
Just one leaf, that's all there is now
And my last hope live with that lonely leaf, lonely leaf
With the last leaf that clings to the bough
Last summer beneath this tree
My love said she'd come home to me
Before the leaves of autumn touched the ground, touched the ground
My love promised she's be homeward bound
Then one by one the leaves began to fall
And now that winter's come to call
The last leaf that clings to the bough
Just one leaf, that's all there is now
Will my last hope fall with that lonely leaf, lonely leaf
With the last leaf, the last leaf
With the last leaf that clings to the bough
Bough, bough, bough ...
IV.
PROCEDURE
A. Assignment
Motivation:
Motive Question:
What is the biggest problem that you have encountered
so far and how did you overcome it?
What is the biggest problem presented in the story and
how did the main character overcome it?
Read “The Last Leaf” and find out how a big problem was overcome.
Let’s answer the vocabulary exercises before you read the selection.
(insert vocabulary exercise from Ma’am Nina)
B. Lesson Proper
1. Check up Quiz: Answer the following questions briefly. Listen well. Each
question will be read only once.
a. What brought the friends Sue and Johnsytogether? (art)
b. What was Johnsy’s illness in the story? (Pneumonia)
c. To what vine did Johnsy depend her current health condition?
(Ivy)
d. What was Johnsy counting from the vine? (Leaves)
e. What did Sue ask from Johnsy while she was working? (to not look
out the window)
f. What did Sue do for Mr. Berhman after talking about Johnsy’s
condition? (sat as a model)
g. What is Mr. Berhman’s occupation? (painter)
h. What happened to Mr. Behrman at the end of the story? (He died.)
i. What is Mr. Behrman’s masterpiece? (the last leaf)
j. What did Johnsy get from Mr. Berhman’s masterpiece?
(inspiration)
2. Motivation: Listen to the song “The Last Leaf” by The Cascades and find
out the story of a man who also finds “the last leaf” significant. (The video
will be replayed if needed. The teacher then asks the class about the
message of the song.)
Motive Question: Compare and contrast the situations of the two people
who are counting on the last leaf.
3. Discussion Proper
a. What was the problem of the friends, Sue and Johnsy? Describe
how they come to live together and what they do for a living.
b. Describe Johnsy as a sick person. Cite proofs from the text.
c. Describe Sue as a friend. Cite proofs from the text.
d. Describe Mr. Behrman as an artist. Cite proofs from the text.
e. How did the two friends face the difficulty that confronted them?
f. How significant was the ivy vine to Johnsy?
g. How did this affect Sue?
h. What did Mr. Behrman do to help both Sue and Johnsy?
i. What does this say about him ( Mr. Behrman) as an artist?
j. What happened after Mr. Behrman created his masterpiece?
k. In what other circumstances similar to that of Sue and Johnsy
should one not lose hope and give up?
l. With a pair, identify a person who may not be famous but who has
done something meaningful to inspire others. (The teacher should
guide the presentation to lead to the realization of the plan’s value
objective.)
m. What do you think is the purpose of the writer?
n. In what way did he clearly illustrate such purpose?
o. What descriptive words and phrases were used?
p. Classify them according to senses appealed to.
q. What figures of speech were used? How did these help in the
effective telling of the story?
r. What are the most significant and interesting parts in the story?
s. The story was told in the third person point of view. From whose
another point of view could the story be told? With a partner,
rewrite the story from the point of view of any of the following:
Sue’s, Johnsy’s, or Mr. Behrman’s
4. Other Enrichment Activities
a. (The class will be divided into groups based on their interests
(writing, music, dance, visual arts, media arts, dramatic arts)
Choose a person in your respective communities who has done
something meaningful that inspired others. Make a presentation
related to your chosen interest about him/her and how he/she
made a change. A rubric will be given.
b. (This is an individual task) Make 5 promises to yourself regarding
positive changes in your life. Write the specific traits which you
want to change on the upper portion of the diagram, the
plan/methods of changes which you have to do on the wider
portion, and your vision of yourself as a truly transformed
individual at the bottom. Write your work in a short bond paper.
Example:
STUBORNESS
I will follow the advice of my parents.
I envision myself as a leader of our
youth group.
Prepared by: Ms. Nhessa Mar C. Cataloctocan
Ms. Roerniña O. Gregorio
Ms. Glysa Marie T. Regidor