Subject: English
Grade: B10
Lesson Length: 57 minutes
Date: September 14th, 2012
Content: (topic)
-
The goal of this lesson is to continue with “The Lottery” from last day and to wrap up
the concepts from “Stains” and “Road to the Isles”.
Teaching Strategy (and/or strategies):
-
Direct Instruction: I will be lecturing and students will be giving answers to the sheets
they completed prior to class.
Reflective discussion: Students are encouraged to speak in the debriefing stage of the
class about what they’ve read and observed. It helps to solidify student thought on the
topic.
Learning Objectives:
- Students will be able to listen in order to assess positions on individual, community,
national, or world issues.
- Students will be able to explore human experiences and values reflected in the three
short stories through discussion.
- Students will be able to recognize that speech is important in sharing thoughts, opinions,
and feelings.
Outcomes/Indicators:
-
-
CR B10.1 Comprehend and respond to a variety of visual, oral, print, and multimedia
texts that address: Social Responsibility, Social Action (agency) (e.g. – Justice and
Fairness).
o b. Apply personal experiences and prior knowledge of texts and language to
develop understanding and interpretations of variety of texts.
o d. Discuss ways in which texts convey and challenge individual and
community values and behaviours.
o e. Identify how human experiences and values are reflected in texts.
o f. Test ideas and values against ideas and values in texts.
CC B10.4 Create a variety of written informational and literary communications.
o g. Write a business letter (e.g., letter of complaint, e-mail request) that:
 Presents information completely and in the correct order
 states purpose clearly and immediately
 gives complete and accurate details
 begins, continues, and ends with courteous tone
 determines what the recipient needs to know
o
h. Write fictionalized journal entries (e.g. – of a literary character or a
historical figure) that:
 focus on a made-up character or someone read about or observed
 focus on an ongoing event or experience
 contain impressions, reflections, and observations about life, people,
and experiences
 give insight into the personality and values of the character.
Pre-requisite Learning:
-
Elements of a short story
The ability to view an environment and short story through a critical lens.
“Stains”
“Road to the Isles”
“The Lottery”
Assessment:
-
KWL homework check was done, checked what students were confused about and
what they learned from the story.
Response Journal for “The Lottery”
Cross-Curricular Competencies (CCC’s)
-
Thinking
Social Responsibility
Literacies
Identity and Interdependence
Materials:
-
Students’ KWL sheets
Students’ Short story “Stains” work sheets
Presentation:
Set: (estimated time 2-3 minutes_)
-
Greet students and go over the agenda for the class. Inform students that we won’t be
tackling new work and if they complete everything, they won’t have homework for
the weekend.
Development: (estimated time 55 minutes )
Input (oral instruction)
- Take attendance on my own time.
- Tie up loose ends from the past week. (Agenda = “Stains” sheet, KWL sheet for
“Road to the Isles”, “The Lottery”, Response Journal)
- “Stains” short story worksheet. Get students to give answers.
-
-
-
“KWL” sheet for “The Road to Isles”
Setting? Tenant City (fake)
Title’s significance? “Road to The Isles” is a dance.
What is an Isle? It’s an island.
Characters? Mr. John Delahanty, Mrs. Gertrude Delahanty, Miss Ingols, Crescent
“Cress” Delahanty, Bernadine “Nedra” Deevers.
Genre? Psychological fiction, Short Fiction
Theme(s)? Coming of age, self-discovery, adolescence, conformity
What language is used for the names of the dances? Russian.
What does remedial mean? Root word = Remedy (cure), Meant to correct or improve
one’s skill in a specified field (e.g. – Remedial math. Cress was in remedial phys. ed).
Cress is the only remedial student participating in the dance at the folk festival.
Why did Bernadine want everyone to call her “Nedra” on Fridays? The boy she loved
but said “no” to for whatever reason, died on that day. Nedra = Feminine equivalent
of Ned.
What does Cress discover at the end of the story? How does that information impact
her friendship with Bernadine? She discovers that her parents are just as worried
about her dancing as she is about them embarrassing her in front of Bernadine. On
the Friday, Cress calls “Nedra” Bernadine and tells Bernadine about how her father
makes schedules.
Moral of the story? Parents get worried and embarrassed about their kids, it’s a two
way street.
“The Lottery”
Series of events
o Setting = June 27th, summer, lush and green area, town of 300
o Townsfolk are gathering in the town square
o Town rituals for the lottery are described (black box, salute, chanting)
o Many characters are introduced (Mr. Summers = Lottery/events co-ordinator,
Mrs. Delacroix, Mrs. Graves, Mr. Delacroix, Mr. Graves, Mr. Adams, Old
Man Warner, Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Dunbar, Mr. Dunbar, Bill/Tessie/Nancy/Bill
Jr./Little Davy Hutchinson.
o Everyone picks from the box
o Bill picks the one with the black spot
o Another draw takes place between the members of the family
o Tessie gets the black spot
o The townsfolk stone her to death.
Discussion questions
1. Why do you think so much time is spent describing the black box? Big stress on tradition in
the community. Symbol of box? Why is it black? Death?
2. What do you think the purpose of the lottery is in the village? Why do you think people
continue to participate in it? The purpose of the lottery is to ensure a bountiful harvest. People
continue to do it out of fear and the belief that a human sacrifice will actually impact the weather
and harvest conditions.
3. Why do you think the lottery is such a long-standing tradition in the village? Superstition,
hard to break tradition, punishment for breaking traditions, new ways are bad, etc.
4. How do you think the village people feel about the lottery? Explain. Some are very stressed
about it, some just want to get it over with, some treat it as if it were just another event in the
community.
5. How did you feel about the lottery at the end of the story? What was your reaction? I felt like
it was a barbaric practice and that if a society can take a life without seeming to care and even
encouraging a son to throw rocks at his mother to kill her, a society could turn on anyone in a
heartbeat. I was shocked and saddened...also kind of mad.
6. Do you think this sort of lottery could take place in your own community? Why or why not?
Are there any events that have occurred in your community that remind you of the events in
“The Lottery?” I don’t think so because our society has progressed past the point of throwing
rocks to kill someone. Capital punishment maybe. For the greater good of a society, they will kill
a wrong-doer. Not for superstitious beliefs though.
7. How did your initial understanding of the term “lottery” compare to the lottery in the story?
How did your initial understandings help or confuse your interpretation of the story? Figured
there was a prize to be won but there wasn’t. It was a bad thing to win instead of good.
8. Do you think this story has a message for readers? Explain your view. Yes it does. Message
that throwing rocks can be just as bad as sitting back and letting those events happen because it
still hurts someone.
9. What are three differences and three similarities between the simulation and the story?
Differences: Chloe didn’t die, emotional harm rather than physical, this exercise was rigged, this
wasn’t a tradition.
Similarities: Everyone picked on the person with the black spot, everyone picked a piece of paper
feeling the risk/pressure of getting the black spot, there were rocks.
10. Could we relate what happened in the story and simulation to anything else in our society?
Exclusion of people who are different, stereotyping, etc. Building on the topic of bullying and
exclusion that we discussed, what type of behaviours could we do to prevent bullying/exclusion
of peoples? (Brainstorm on board)
-
Response Journal (can be humorous, sad, reflective, emotional):
o Write a journal from the perspective of a character from the story and their
response to the events that took place at the lottery. It can be humorous, sad,
reflective, etc.
o Write a letter of complaint to the town hall from the perspective of one of
Mrs. Hutchinson’s family members.
Closure: (Estimated time 2-3 minutes)
-
Using what was learned in the lesson, brainstorm with students on the whiteboard
how they can combat the isolation of individuals in the community and school. (i.e. –
do not support acts of bullying, etc.)
Adaptive Dimensions:
-
The notes will be typed and e-mailed to Sara.
If students are not comfortable sharing individual experiences on the topic of
isolation, they can submit a brief paragraph to be kept confidential by the teacher.
Independent Practice:
-
Challenge students in the following couple days to perform one act that is inclusive of
others when they have the opportunity or feel pressure to isolate them.
Professional Development Plan:
Topic: “The Lottery”, “Stains”, “Road to the Isles” wrap-up
Date: September 14th, 2012
Name: Stephanie Possberg
Observer(s): Mr. Ryan Hall
Professional Target/Goal/Objective
-
Student understanding.
Instructions for Observer
-
When going over “The Lottery” and the work sheets for “The Road to Isles” and
“Stains”, did students express a lot of confusion or demonstrate understanding in
discussion?
-
If students had questions, did the teacher address them in a clear and concise manner
that was easy to understand for students?