Title: Characterization and Literacy Quest Day 2
Time: 50 minutes
Setting:
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grade 10
24 students- 14 boys, 10 girls
33% Hispanic, 33% African American, 33% White
Religions: Catholic, Protestant, Christian
Honors class
some of the Hispanic students are not native English speakers, and may be behind in
terms of writing ability
most students are at 9th/10th grade reading ability, one or two students are one or two
grade levels behind
one student in the class has a high-functioning form of Autism
Most students do not do their HW
⅓ of the class qualify for free or reduced lunch
Conceptual Framework
From this lesson I want students to understand how I want them to use the character chart
while they are reading but the main goal of the lesson is to give students a full day in their groups
to read and work in their literacy quest groups. According to Hashey and Connors in their article
"Learn from our journey: Reciprocal teaching action research," "Students take ownership of their
roles in reciprocal teaching when they feel comfortable expressing their ideas and opinions in
open dialogue. They take turns articulating and thinking out loud – talking through their thoughts
- with each learning strategy employed" (Hashey and Connors, 2003). While this method of
instruction puts the students at the center, the teacher's role becomes the facilitator, in that the
teacher gives the students the necessary tools and guides them to finding the knowledge and
making discoveries, without standing in front of the room every day and acting as if the teacher
is the authority figure and the only one that holds power and knowledge. This method of
teaching helps the students to learn responsibility and collaboration, as well as increase reading
comprehension.
Background/Foreground
This lesson is the last day of the week and students first full day in their literacy groups.
On the day before students learned what the literacy were and how we would be using this model
to help us read Indian Killer. Making sure the student understood each role was also very
important in yesterday’s lesson because each week the group will rotate roles so every student
can have the opportunity to fulfill each role. Next week students will continue reading the novel
in these groups with the teacher faciliting and incorporating mini-lessons.
Objectives
Students will…
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Collaborate with literacy groups to begin reading Indian Killer
Engage in their literacy quest roles while reading
Understand how to track characters in the novel
Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail
its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined
by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or
conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and
advance the plot or develop the theme.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics,
texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
Materials
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Indian Killer
Pens
Literacy quest packet
Character Chart
Preparation
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In order to prepare for this lesson I have to make and get copies of the character chart and
the rubric for students. The students already have all other materials they need to be
successful in this lesson.
Procedure
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When students come into the class have them sit directly with their lit groups.
Explain to students that Indian Killer is not like the novels that we have read before.
Instead of following one character it follows many characters within a community. The
reader can see how they are all connected but the characters can’t. Continue to explain
that in order to keep track of the character’s story line and how they connect to each other
we are going to be tracking them using a character chart. This chart will also come in
handy later since the summative and formative assessment requires them to compare a
character in the story to other readings, themselves, and a family member.
Pass out character chart and explain
Pass out rubric for the character charts and explain
Then students will spend the remaining class time reading the novel in their groups and
fulfilling their assigned roles for the teacher.
The teacher will walk around taking questions, listening in on conversations, and grading
for participation
Discussion Ideas
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Do you find it difficult to read a novel with so many characters?
How useful will this character chart be?
How is the literacy model working? What have been some benefits and some challenges?
Do you prefer this model to reading the novel as a whole class?
Language Accommodations
All of my students are proficient in English so I do not have to make any special
language accommodations for this lesson.
Special Education Accommodation
I have one student who is high-functioning autistic. In order to make sure that he able to
fully participate I am going to make sure that provide and warning when we are changes
activities. I am also going to write all of my instructions on the board and I am also going to
provide him with a quiet area where he can take a time-out if necessary. Also because this is
group work I may have to request an aid for the student to help him fully participate in his group.
I also have a few Hispanic students who are behind in terms of their writing ability, while this
lesson should not be challenging I will allot them extra time if they need it and I will also accept
bullet points instead of paragraphs for some roles as long as they can explain.
Assessment
(Insert character chart rubric and literacy quest rubric)
Extension Ideas
We will already be using this model 3 to 4 days a week in order to complete the reading.
But if I did want to extend this lesson I could change the roles of the literacy quest for another
book in order to fit the needs of my summative assessment. I could also have students write an
essay where they write about how all of the charters in the novel are connected using their chart
as a guide.
Source of Activity
I would like to thank Caleb he brought the idea of using a literacy quest in order to read
this book to our group and it was my idea to use a character chart in order to track the characters.
Resources and References
Hashey, J. M. & Connors, D. J. (2003). Learn from our journey: Reciprocal teaching action
research.
Illinois Professional Teaching Standards