Before you begin this unit; Review and study
the Short Story terms to know. You may need
to refer back to this as often as necessary.
Also familiarize yourself with the study
guide-it is almost the same format for each
story.
STRUCTURED CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Subject: Language Arts Grade Level: 9
ITBS/TAP:
Infer character traits, feelings, and motives
Identify common themes and main idea
Understand key traits and motives of characters
Make inferences within or between sentences and between or across paragraphs
Unit Focus/Foci
Short Story
Instructional Focus/Foci
Reviewing characterization
Learning about symbolism
Analyzing sibling relationships
Materials
“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst
Educational Strategies/Instructional Procedures
Activity 1: Complete the Graphic Organizer
Activity 2: Complete the Study Guide
Activity 3: Write a 1-3 paragraph response to the following statements. Use references from the
text.
1. “What causes us to be cruel to someone we love?”
2. “Pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.”
3. “What makes a man a man?”
STRUCTURED CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Subject: Language Arts Grade Level: 9
ITBS/TAP:
Identify common themes and main idea
Infer character traits, feelings, and motives
Understand key traits and motives of characters
Unit Focus/Foci
Short Story – Love and Sacrifice
Instructional Focus/Foci
Exploring the themes of love and sacrifice
Evaluating character responses and motivation
Analyzing elements of plot: conflict, climax, and resolutions
Materials
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
Coming to America
Educational Strategies/Instructional Procedures
O. Henry is a pen name used by William Sydney Porter. Note that this selection is among the
most famous by any American author, one of over 250 short stories written by O. Henry. The
main characteristics of O. Henry’s stories are humorous situations, compact plots, and surprise
endings. The themes and plots in O. Henry’s stories are drawn from his experiences as a
pharmacist, cowboy, draftsman, bank teller, and convicted embezzler. Look up the definition of
magi.
Inform the students that although love is a wonderful emotion that evokes elation and
excitement, it also demands great personal sacrifices that may sometimes make us
uncomfortable. The qualities they feel are necessary to build healthy, happy love relationships.
Inform students that in this selection the characters make great sacrifices to show that their love
has no limits.
Activity 1: Complete the Study Guide
Activity 2: Complete the T-Chart analysis
Activity 3: Write a 1-3 paragraph response to these themes. Use references from the text.
1. Love knows no limits
2. Sometimes people unwisely sacrifice their greatest treasures
3. People often make great sacrifices in the name of love
Activity 4: Watch: Coming to America. Have students identify possible themes and characterize
the main character, Hakeem.
Activity 5: Coming to America Discussion Questions
• Who is Hakeem?
• What is his socioeconomic status?
• What motivated him to come to America?
• When Hakeem’s father learns of his “ultimate” decision, how does he react?
• How does Hakeem respond?
• What is Hakeem willing to sacrifice in the name of love?
• How is Hakeem like Jim and Della?
STRUCTURED CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Subject: Language Arts Grade Level: 9
ITBS/TAP:
Infer character traits, feelings, and motives
Identify common themes and main idea
Understand key traits and motives of characters
Make inferences within or between sentences and between or across paragraphs
Unit Focus/Foci
Short Story – Love and Sacrifice
Instructional Focus/Foci
Exploring the themes of love and sacrifice
Evaluating character responses and motivation
Identifying elements of fantasy
Materials
“The Lady or the Tiger” by Frank Stockton
Educational Strategies/Instructional Procedures
Did the princess choose the lady or the tiger for the lover? Help the students to see that although
the youth is on trial, it is the princess who will decide his fate. Students should list reasons why
the princess may choose the tiger. After this prewriting activity, instruct students to analyze both
sets of reasons and decide which is more persuasive.
Activity 1: Complete the Study Guide
Activity 2: Write a brief (1-4 paragraph) essay answering the following question.
• If the accused was your boyfriend or girlfriend (or loved one), would you choose the door
with the lady or the door with the tiger?
In the essay, the students should provide reasons for their choice.
STRUCTURED CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Subject: Language Arts Grade Level: 9
ITBS/TAP:
Draw conclusions, inferring meanings from the text
Identify common themes and main idea
Infer character traits, feelings, and motives
Make inferences within or between sentences and between or across paragraphs
Understand key traits and motives of characters
Unit Focus/Foci
Short Story
Instructional Focus/Foci
Reviewing conflict and setting
Identifying the structure of plot
Responding to a character’s decision
Exploring the theme of the misconception of manhood
Materials
“The Man Who Was Almost a Man” by Richard Wright
Movie: if available
“Boys to Men” by New Edition
Educational Strategies/Instructional Procedures
What makes a man a man? Inform students that the story they are about to read is about a young
male who, because of familial and societal pressures, desperately tries to prove to himself and
everyone else that he is indeed a man. Have students read a biography of Richard Wright and
note the similarities and differences between Wright and his character Dave. Students should be
prepared to provide example(s) of the four types of conflict as related to the story (man against
man, man against himself, man against society, man against nature).
Activity 1: Complete the Study Guide
Activity 2: Complete the Discussion Questions
STRUCTURED CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Subject: Language Arts Grade Level: 9
ITBS/TAP:
Understand the meaning of words in context
Identify common themes and main idea
Understand meaning of key words and phrases in text
Make inferences within or between and between or across paragraphs
Unit Focus/Foci
Short Story
Instructional Focus/Foci
Reviewing the plot
Analyzing conflict
Comparing/contrasting characters
Materials
“Split Cherry Tree” by Jesse Stuart
Educational Strategies/Instructional Procedures
Allow students to make predictions about the story from the title. As students discuss the title of
the selection, characterization, and compare today’s schools with schools of the past. Students
should point out the similarities and differences in their characterizations of the main character.
Be sure students know that Luster is the main character and that the major conflict is the old
against the new ways. The major points to be discussed in the essay are identification of the
major conflict, complications/problems concerning the major conflict, the resolution of the
conflict, and other possible resolutions for the major conflict.
Activity 1: Complete the Study Guide
Activity 2: Complete the Discussion Questions
Activity 3: In a brief essay (1-4 paragraphs) write how schools may change in the future that
could create conflict between old and new ways.
STRUCTURED CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Subject: Language Arts Grade Level: 9
ITBS/TAP:
Understand the author’s viewpoint
Identify common themes and main idea
Determine author’s point of view, message, intent, and reasons for using specific devices or
conventions
Make inferences within or between sentences and between or across paragraphs
Unit Focus/Foci
Short Story
Instructional Focus/Foci
Reviewing theme
Recognizing situational irony
Learning about social rituals
Materials
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Movie: The Lottery….or a version of it.
Educational Strategies/Instructional Procedures
Ask students if they would like to be the recipient of lottery winnings. If students’ response is
yes, ask them to explain why and how they would feel if they were to be named recipients of
lottery winnings. After the video, encourage students to identify similarities and differences
between the story and the video.
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a
religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are
arbitrarily chosen by the performers, or dictated purely by logic, chance, necessity, etc. A ritual
may be performed on specific occasions, or at the discretion of individuals or communities. It
may be performed by a single individual, by a group, or by the entire community; in arbitrary
places, or in places especially reserved for it; either in public, in private, or before specific
people. A ritual may be restricted to a certain subset of the community, and may enable or
underscore the passage between religious or social states.
The purposes of rituals are varied; with religious obligations or ideals, satisfaction of spiritual or
emotional needs of the practitioners, strengthening of social bonds, social and moral education,
demonstration of respect or submission, stating one's affiliation, obtaining social acceptance or
approval for some event — or, sometimes, just for the pleasure of the ritual itself.
Rituals of various kinds are a feature of almost all known human societies, past or present. They
include not only the various worship rites and sacraments of organized religions and cults, but
also the rites of passage of certain societies, atonement and purification rites, oaths of allegiance,
dedication ceremonies, coronations and presidential inaugurations, marriages and funerals,
school "rush" traditions and graduations, club meetings, sports events, Halloween parties,
veteran parades, Christmas shopping and more. Many activities that are ostensibly performed for
concrete purposes, such as jury trials, execution of criminals, and scientific symposia, are loaded
with purely symbolic actions prescribed by regulations or tradition, and thus partly ritualistic in
nature. Even common actions like hand-shaking and saying hello may be termed rituals.
In psychology, the term ritual is sometimes used in a technical sense for a repetitive behavior
systematically used by a person to neutralize or prevent anxiety; it is a symptom of obsessivecompulsive disorder.
Identify rituals in the classroom, school, church, home/family.
Activity 1: Complete the Study Guide
Activity 2: Complete the Scrapbook
STRUCTURED CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Subject: Language Arts Grade Level: 9
ITBS/TAP:
Understand the author’s viewpoint
Understand the meaning of words in context
Recognize aspects of mood, style, or text structure
Determine author’s point of view, message, intent, and reasons for using specific devices or
conventions
Understand meaning of key words and phrases in text
Unit Focus/Foci
Short Story
Instructional Focus/Foci
Analyzing setting
Analyzing the author’s tone
Making predictions about the plot
Summarizing fiction
Materials
“The Open Window” by Saki
Educational Strategies/Instructional Procedures
Begin the lesson by writing the title on the chalkboard. Ask students to brainstorm setting, tone,
and plot. Review with students the components of a good summary.
Activity 1: Complete the Study Guide
Activity 2: Complete the Discussion Questions
STRUCTURED CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Subject: Language Arts Grade Level: 9
ITBS/TAP:
Understand the meaning of words in context
Draw conclusions, inferring meanings from the text
Identify common themes and main idea
Infer character traits, feelings, and motives
Understand the author’s viewpoint
Understand the meaning of key words and phrases in text
Make inferences within or between sentences and between or across paragraphs
Understand key traits and motives of characters
Determine author’s point of view, message, intent, and reasons for using specific devices or
conventions
Unit Focus/Foci
Short Story
Instructional Focus/Foci
Relating experiences of a fictional figure to personal experience
Understanding the difference between formal and informal language
Recognizing direct and indirect methods of characterization
Understanding characters and events
Materials
“Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara
Educational Strategies/Instructional Procedures
The author took her last name from a signature in a sketchbook she found in her greatgrandmother’s trunk. Bambara uses black speech styles focusing on the lives and relationships of
African Americans in her fiction. provide biographical (as a child, Bambara liked to explore the
neighborhoods in which her family lived, communities that were strongly influenced by women
who cared about the upbringing of young girls; Gorilla, My Love (1972) is Bambara’s most
popular collection of stories). Talk about the responsibilities of caring for a child or an older
family member. Discuss with the students how these and additional qualities characterize
Squeaky: loyalty, honesty, courage, generosity, pride, and affection.
Activity 1: Complete the Study Guide
Activity 2: Complete the Discussion Questions
STRUCTURED CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Subject: Language Arts Grade Level: 9
ITBS/TAP:
Understand the meaning of words in context
Draw conclusions, inferring meanings from the text
Identify common themes and main ideas
Infer character traits, feelings, and motives
Understand the author’s viewpoint
Understand meaning of key words and phrases in text
Make inferences within or between sentences and between or across paragraphs
Understand key traits and motives of characters
Determine author’s point of view, message, intent, and reasons for using specific devices or
conventions
Unit Focus/Foci
Short Story
Instructional Focus/Foci
Analyzing conflict
Identifying causes and effects of conflict
Materials
“The Interlopers” by H.H. Munro (Saki)
Educational Strategies/Instructional Procedures
Interlopers identify the prefix and to provide its meaning. Discuss the original meaning of
interlopers and today’s more general meaning. Review the definition of a pen name and remind
the students that many writers, even the author of this selection, used a pen name. Using the text
or other sources, supply biographical information on the author. Saki had a strong interest in
politics and often wrote about the public figures of his time. In his writing, he sometimes
disguised the public figures as animals or other imaginative characters. Saki’s stories contain
carefully constructed plots that often feature a practical joke or a surprise ending. Discuss with
the students specific reasons for dislike between individuals. Point out that the conflict is the
focus of a story; the story usually moves toward the resolution of the conflict.
Identify long-standing feuds. Have students compare the resolution of each of the feuds that they
named.
Activity 1: Complete the Study Guide
Activity 2: Complete the Test
Activity 3: Write your own ending to the story. Explain why you chose that ending.
.
STRUCTURED CURRICULUM LESSON PLAN
Subject: Language Arts Grade Level: 9
ITBS/TAP:
Understand explicit, factual information
Infer character traits, feelings, and motives
Identify important facts specifically stated in the text
Understand key traits and motives of characters
Unit Focus/Foci
Short Story
Instructional Focus/Foci
Learning about mood
Understanding elements of fantasy
Analyzing cause/effect relationships
Materials
They’re Made Out of Meat by Terry Bisson
Video: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/177153/theyre_made_out_of_meat/
Movie: Soylent Green
Educational Strategies/Instructional Procedures
They're Made Out of Meat is a Nebula Award-nominated short story by Terry Bisson. It was
originally published in OMNI.[1] It consists entirely of dialogue between two characters, and
Bisson's website hosts a theatrical adaptation.[2] A film adaptation won the Grand Prize at the
Seattle Science Fiction Museum's 2006 film festival.[3]
The two characters are sentient beings capable of traveling faster than light, on a mission to
"contact, welcome and log in any and all sentient races or multibeings in this quadrant of the
Universe." Bisson's stage directions represent them as "two lights moving like fireflies among
the stars" on a projection screen. They converse briefly on their bizarre discovery of carbonbased life, which they refer to incredulously as "thinking meat." They agree to "erase the records
and forget the whole thing," marking the Solar System "unoccupied."[4]
The story was collected in the 1993 anthology Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories,[5] and has
circulated widely on the Internet, which Bisson finds "flattering."[4] It has been quoted in
cognitive, cosmological, and philosophical scholarship.
Activity 1: Complete the Study Guide
Activity 2: Complete the Discussion Questions
Activity 3: Complete the Literary Response