Bystander Chapters 1-12 Lesson Outlines:
Goals: CCSS ELA RL 5.2: “Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the
text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the
speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text”; and from CCSS ELA RL 5.3:
“Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama,
drawing on specific details in the text.” CCSS ELA RL 5.9: Compare and contrast stories
in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar
themes and topics. CCSS ELA L 5.5: “Interpret figurative language, including similes and
metaphors, in context.” and “Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms,
adages, and proverbs.”
● Literacy targets: figurative language, comparing and contrasting, extending and
reflecting upon reading
● Writing targets: writing for an audience (informational and narrative writing genres)
Objectives: Analyze the novel through novel study discussions and activities designed to delve
deeper into character traits and theme. Pull out examples of figurative language and decide on
their literal and figurative meanings. Define unknown words in context. Write various types of
reflection pieces and final projects to a particular audience.
Materials: notebooks, scissors, glue or glue sticks, coloring supplies, pencils, copies of
Bystander by James Preller, Chromebooks, interactive notebook materials, group folder, novel
study poster–1 per class (which will be used as a space for individual and group reflection
throughout the novel studies)
Day 1
I.
Hook
A. (Take a piece of poster paper or butcher paper and divide into 4 sections–put the
questions below at the top of each section. Give students 4 sticky notes).
1. Poster Gallery Walk (to maintain anonymity): students view each section
of the poster and post their responses to the questions on each. Then
they can go back through and read what other people post. This will
remain on our class website for future reference.
a) Question 1: Tell about a time when you felt out of place. What did
that FEEL like?
b) Question 2: Describe the EMOTIONS you have felt when you
have been bullied.
c) Question 3: Think about a time when you watched someone get
picked on but did nothing about it. What did that FEEL like?
d) Question 4: Tell about a time when you stood up for someone else
when it seemed like nobody else did. How did you FEEL?
II.
Hook #2--students will go through the links in this multi-media text set (make sure each
student has a hard copy to write down their responses). When they finish, they will table
talk, giving feedback and asking questions (using our feedback and question stems).
Ch 1-6
III.
IV.
Divide into discussion groups (4 in each group)
A. Assign the 4 group roles (these will rotate with each 5 chapter section of the
novel study): sequencer (finds the most important events in the reading section
and puts them in order), discussion director (creates meaningful discussion
questions about the reading section that should require deep thought and text
evidence), character connoisseur (selects and important character from the
reading selection and describes a trait, feeling, or motivation they show), and
vocabularist/literal linguist (identifies interesting words from the reading
selection and defines them using context clues, checking the meaning with the
dictionary/ identifies idioms--if any--and identifies their literal and figurative
meaning). Students must take notes and be ready to discuss their information
when their group meets.
B. Set up interactive notebook (See example)
Days 2-6
A. Students read Ch 1-6 and take notes per their roles in their interactive notebook
(pages after the inserts). They should also be keeping track of new and
interesting/difficult vocabulary to investigate more as they encounter it (back
section of their interactive notebook).Students should be taking note of text
evidence that shows character traits in their notebook. Give a day to read and a
day to polish their responses and prepare for meeting
B. Groups meet and discuss their roles. Sometimes it’s best to go in this order: 1)
vocabularist/literal linguist, 2) sequencer, 3) discussion director, 4) character
connoisseur. However, give them a choice if they have thoughts about it other
than what is listed above.
C. After meeting, students work individually on these parts of their interactive
notebook for this section of reading: required--chapter summaries, vocabulary
(their choice, from the list in the back of their notebook), optional (but must be
complete by the end of the novel)--best quotes, poems, literary elements, theme.
D. Comprehension Quiz Ch 1-
Ch 7-12
I.
Days 7-11
A. Rotate group roles
B. Students read Ch 6-11 and take notes per their roles in their interactive notebook
(pages after the inserts). They should also be keeping track of new and
interesting/difficult vocabulary to investigate more as they encounter it (back
section of their interactive notebook). Give a day to read and a day to polish their
responses and prepare for their meeting.
C. Groups meet and discuss their roles.
D. After meeting, students work individually on these parts of their interactive
notebook for this section of reading: required--chapter summaries, vocabulary
(their choice, from the list in the back of their notebook), optional (but must be
complete by the end of the novel)--best quotes, poems, literary elements, theme.
End of Section 1
Character Mapping
Materials: Circle Map (Thinking Maps®), markers/colored pencils circle map posters of
characters
Create a large version of the circle map for each character (1 set per class). You can use poster
paper or butcher paper.
Each student in a novel study group creates a circle map that describes the character traits of
one of the key characters mentioned so far (Eric, Griffin, Cody, Drew P., Mary, Eric’s dad,
Weasel, David, Mrs. Hayes, Rudy). Inside the circle they will use key adjectives/drawings that
describe internal and external character traits. Outside the circle they will provide context for
those words with text evidence. When they finish, they will table talk about their circle maps,
then turn it into you. This should be a 10 point completion grade. Return it to students when
finished. They will add to it later, so it should be kept in their group folder.