The Outsiders: Unit Plan
Grade 8: Honors English
Developed By:
Erica A. Ganther
for
Dr. Mike Sherry
TCSS
Fall 2010
1
Introduction
Rationale & Guiding Questions
For my unit plan, I chose to look at S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders. This novel is a comingof-age story that speaks to most, if not all, students going through adolescence and beginning
to discover who they really are. During grade 8, students are right at the beginning of making
important decisions, bodily changes, and feeling stressed out beyond belief when it comes to
handling school, friends, and a home life. This novel sheds light on that balance and is vital to
students creating a way to work these things out. Students will study this text along with a
three other mediums to examine the innocence and how that innocence changes throughout
the novel. Is it completely lost? Is it transferred or neglected as we grow and experience
more? Overall, innocence will be the larger theme, and what it means to "stay gold". Also, the
role of family will be examined closely, and what does a true family consist of? We can all
relate to these topics because we all have or have had some kind of family structure in our
lives. The different family backgrounds we can discover about students and read about can
provide a diversified and eye-opening discussion. Also, when we were all born, we were born
golden and innocent. Whether or not we stay this way, that is a different story.
1. What is the role of a family in today's society? How is that role similar or different than
Ponyboy's, if at all?
2. What does it mean to be innocent? To stay gold? Is that attribute even possible today?
3. In the text, with which character can you relate most to, and why? How have those
common grounds played out in your own life?
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Pre-assessment
Students will be given a one-page short answer quiz in which they will be asked to write
what they think innocence is, what a perfect family structure is, is a perfect family structure
possible? There will be questions like that to get them thinking about the overarching themes
of the novel. This short quiz will not take up too much time, just enough time to get their ideas
out. Also, students will not have to write in paragraph form because this is informal writing, as
is their journals. This is the sort of prompt students will be asked to think about in their
journals. Actual quiz for pre-assessment is attached.
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Name: ____________________________
Date: ____________________
Pre-assessment Quiz
Please write your initial ideas about the following topics. It is NOT necessary to write in
full sentences. A time frame of 15 minutes is allotted for this assignment, so please balance
your time thinking and writing wisely. Note, there is NO right answer, just your thoughts and
opinions. Happy idea-generating! 
1. What does it mean to be innocent?
2. What is an ideal family structure?
3. Is that ideal family structure possible in today’s society? Why or why not?
4. What do you think your life would be like if you were in a gang? Or if you are in a gang,
what is your life like?
Please put your writing utensil down, and make eye contact with Miss G when you’re finished this assignment.
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Topical Outline
Lesson One:
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
Do pre-assessment quiz.
Assign/explain final paper writing assignment.
Hand out journals, and explain nightly journaling exercises.
As a class, define innocence.
Homework: Read chapters 1-2. Journal.
Lesson Two:

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

Any questions from last night’s reading?
Share journal entries in small groups. Check for completion.
Introduce/discuss differences in the two gangs (Socs and Greasers).
Make charts/posters showing the two differences (split the class up into two “gangs”).
Homework: Read chapters 3-4. Journal.
Lesson Three:
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



Any questions from last night’s reading?
Play and discuss “Stay Gold” by Stevie Wonder.
Discuss how this song relates to the novel thus far, or does it?
Discuss the family structure of the Greasers.
Homework: Read chapters 5-6. Journal.
Lesson Four:





Any questions from last night’s reading?
Share journal entries in small groups. Check for completion.
Individual writing exercise: Has innocence been gained or lost so far in the text? Refer to
class definition of innocence generated during lesson one.
In groups, come up with a consensus of the writing exercise and present your case to
the class.
Homework: Read chapter 7-8. Journal.
Lesson Five:
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


Any questions from last night’s reading?
Read and discuss Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem.
Jigsaw Activity: Each group (four total) discusses two lines of the poem and present to
the class their interpretation.
Homework: Read chapters 9-10. Journal.
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Lesson Six:




Any questions from last night’s reading?
Share journal entries in small groups. Check for completion.
Gang dynamics project: Create a gang within your group of friends. What characterizes a
gang? Is violence a must?
Homework: Read chapters 11-12. Journal.
Lesson Seven:
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

Any questions from last night’s reading?
Discuss the end of the novel: Is death an escape?
Begin watching the movie, focusing mainly on the introduction of the characters and
skipping some of the scenes like the drive in theatre.
Homework: Work on final paper assignment.
Lesson Eight:
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
Any questions while working on the paper assignment?
Watch the middle/end of the movie.
Remaining class time is devoted to working on final paper assignment.
Homework: Finish final paper assignment to turn in to class. Bring in a book to class you
are reading or would like to begin reading.
Lesson Nine:





Turn in final paper assignment.
Write a short paragraph about your favorite scene from the movie. This ensures that
students were watching the movie and not sleeping. Collect and check for accuracy and
completion.
Post-assessment: Do the pre-assessment worksheet again with new knowledge.
Come pre and post assessment worksheets.
Remaining class time is devoted to independent, silent reading.
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LESSON ONE
CONCEPTUAL GOALS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Do pre-assessment quiz.
Assign/explain final paper writing assignment.
Hand out journals, and explain nightly journaling exercises.
As a class, define innocence.
OBJECTIVES
1. Students will brainstorm and individually write down their opinions of innocence, family
structures, and gang violence.
2. Students will obtain reading journals and understand their nightly assignment of reading
chapters from the text and responding to it.
3. Students will define innocence as a class while using others opinions to fuel one collective
definition.
ACADEMIC STANDARDS
1.1.8.A. Locate appropriate texts (literature, information, documents) for an assigned purpose before
reading.
1.6.8.A. Listen to others.
· Ask probing questions.
· Analyze information, ideas and
opinions to determine relevancy.
· Take notes when needed.
1.6.8.C. Speak using skills appropriate to formal speech situations.
· Use complete sentences.
· Pronounce words correctly.
· Adjust volume to purpose and
audience.
MATERIALS:
 Copies of The Outsiders text for each student
 Reading journals for each student
 Copies of the pre-assessment for each student
 Copies of the final paper assignment for each student
 White board and dry erase markers
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LESSON OUTLINE: 50 minutes
1. When students enter room, pre-assessment paper will already be on their desks. (10-12
minutes)
a. Give them 10 minutes to complete this task.
b. Students are to work individually.
c. Teacher collects students papers when they are finished.
i. Check for completion
ii. Counts for participation points for the day.
2. Teacher distributes copies of final paper assignment. (5-7 minutes)
a. Explain this assignment. (assignment is attached).
i. Due on the last day of the unit.
ii. Is to be completely at home in addition to the nightly readings.
iii. There will be some time in class to work on it, but not much.
b. Any questions about the assignment.
3. Hand out reading journals and explain how they work. (5-7 minutes)
a. They are to be used to respond to the text on a nightly basis.
b. They will be checked for completion.
c. The purpose is to aid thinking about the final paper assignment.
4. As a class, define innocence (20 minutes).
a. Ask for individual opinions from the pre-assessment sheet they completed earlier.
b. Use other students opinions to come up with one collective definition.
c. Teacher writes students’ ideas on the white board to keep a written list.
d. Final definition will be used throughout the unit, so class must come to a consensus.
5. Homework (5 minutes):
a. Read chapters 1 and 2.
b. Journal about a brief summary of the introduction and the two different gangs.
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FINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT
Please CHOOSE ONE of the following prompts to write about. All papers must be 3 pages, MINIMUM.
Papers must be in size 12 font, Times New Roman font, double-spaced. Normal margins. Please use at
LEAST 3 textual examples of 5 lines or less. Spelling and grammar usage count.
Choice 1: Thematic Elements: Think about our time spent reading the Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can
Stay", Wonder's song "Stay Gold" and The Outsiders movie. What is a common theme that one of these
pieces share in relation to the novel? Be specific. Show specific examples from each work. Use whatever
evidence your need to get your point across.
Choice 2: Overall Theme: What is innocence? How does Hinton portray innocence based on what we
think about it? How is innocence portrayed in The Outsiders, the novel? Is it lost or gained as the novel
goes on? Do any certain characters embody that innocence, and if so, how?
Choice 3: Character Analysis: Choose one character and track their role in the novel from beginning to
end. How have the changed? For better or for worse, if at all? Have they matured, if at all? What has
their impact been on the overall message of the novel? What is that message?
DUE DATE: The last day of the unit, day 9.
LATE POLICY: 5 points off the first day it is late, 3 points off for every day after that. Please speak to
Miss G if you have any questions/concerns.
(Checklist/Rubric will be provided at a later date.)
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LESSON TWO
CONCEPTUAL GOALS:
1. Share journal entries in small groups. Check for completion.
2. Introduce/discuss differences in the two gangs (Socs and Greasers).
3. Make charts/posters showing the two differences (split the class up into two “gangs”).
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will gain insight via their classmates’ journal entries and share their journal entries with
their classmates, as well.
2. Students will learn the differences between the two different gangs in the text that represent
the entire conflict.
3. The class will be divided into four groups, two groups for each gang, and they will create posters
displaying the differences of the gangs.
STANDARDS:
1.1.8.D. Identify basic facts and ideas in text using specific strategies (e.g., recall genre characteristics,
set a purpose for reading, generate essential questions as aids to comprehension and clarify
understanding through rereading and discussion).
1.3.8.A. Read and understand works of literature.
1.5.8.G. Present and/or defend written work for publication when appropriate.
MATERIALS:
 Text
 Reading Journals
 Big Post-It Papers
 Markers
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LESSON OUTLINE: 50 minutes
1. When students enter the room, they will be immediately instructed to take out their reading
journals. (3-5 minutes)
a. Take a minute to go over what you read the night before.
b. Ask if there are any questions/plot points that need to be clarified.
2. Get into the four groups and share what you wrote with your group. (5-7 minutes)
i. Students should be listening to what others are saying.
ii. Teacher circulated to make sure students are on task.
iii. Teachers checks journals for completion.
3. Teacher uses direct instruction to inform students about the basic differences between the two
gangs (Socs & Greasers) (7-10 minutes).
a. Social Class Difference
b. Geographical Location
c. Economical Status
d. Physical Differences
4. Divide class into four groups.
5. Have each group take one of the topics mentioned above to display on their big post-it paper
(15-20 minutes).
a. Have them use textual examples.
i. Have a few textual examples flagged if a group gets stuck.
ii. Provide them with one to get them started.
b. Each group member should have a hand in illustrating their topic.
c. Groups present to the class their findings.
i. Class can take notes in their journal or in their regular notebook.
ii. Instruct class that this is a good tool to aid their final paper assignment.
iii. Teacher circulates to make sure all groups are on task.
d. Have one member from each group put their post-it on the wall to display student work
as students leave.
6. Homework (3 minutes):
a. Read chapters 3 and 4.
b. Journal about their favorite character they find in these chapters.
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LESSON THREE
CONCEPTUAL GOALS:
1. Play and discuss “Stay Gold” by Stevie Wonder.
2. Discuss how this song relates to the novel thus far, or does it?
3. Discuss the family structure of the Greasers.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will understand the theme of innocence deeper by using different mediums such a
as music.
2. Students will able to vocally identify the relationship between Stevie Wonder’s song and S.
E. Hinton’s novel.
3. Students will be able to describe the family structure/hierarchy within the Greasers gang.
STANDARDS:
1.6.8.B. Listen to selections of literature (fiction and/or nonfiction).
· Relate them to previous
knowledge.
· Predict content/events.
· Summarize events and identify
the significant points.
· Identify and define new words
and concepts.
· Analyze the selections.
1.2.8.B. Use and understand a variety of media and evaluate the quality of material produced.
· Compare and analyze how
different media offer a unique
perspective on the information
presented.
· Analyze the techniques of
particular media messages and
their effect on a targeted audience.
1.3.8.F. Read and respond to nonfiction and fiction including poetry and drama.
MATERIALS:
 Text
 Stevie Wonder’s song “Stay Gold”
 Copies of the lyrics for each student (attached)
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Stevie Wonder’s "Stay Gold"
Seize upon that moment long ago
One breath away and there you will be
So young and carefree
Again you will see
That place in time...so gold
Steal away into that way back when
You thought that all would last forever
But like the weather
Nothing can ever...and be in time
Stay gold
But can it be
When we can see
So vividly
A memory
And yes you say
So must the day
Too, fade away
And leave a ray of sun
So gold
Life is but a twinkling of an eye
Yet filled with sorrow and compassion
though not imagined
All things that happen
Will age too old
Though gold
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LESSON OUTLINE: 50 minutes
1. Ask if there are any questions from last night’s reading? (3 minutes)
2. Play Stevie Wonder’s song “Stay Gold for the class to hear. (3 minutes)
a. Ask them to listen to the words, but also pay close attention to the words.
b. Students should not have the lyrics in front of them just yet.
3. Play the song a second time. (3-5 minutes)
a. This time, ask them to specifically think about the overarching theme of innocence.
b. Students should now have the lyrics in front of them and be following along.
4. Before starting a classroom discussion, pair students up based on where they are sitting. (5-7
minutes)
a. Have the partnerships talk about their initial reactions to the song.
b. Also, they should be talking about any possible connections the song has to the theme
of innocence.
5. Regroup the class and begin to facilitate a full class discussion (15-17 minutes)
a. Ask for a recorder to come to the board to write down some key concepts
b. Ask students to take out notebook paper to keep track of some of these ideas as well
c. First start by asking for students to share their initial reaction to the song WITHOUT the
lyrics.
d. Then ask for reactions with the lyrics.
e. Then ask about how it tied in with innocence.
f.
Finally, ask how it ties in the novel.
i. Ask for textual examples.
ii. All students should have their books out and be prepared to share.
g. Try to sum up the discussion with a main point generated by a compilation of the
students’ responses.
i. Make sure that main point is in the students’ notes.
6. Homework (3 minutes):
a. Read chapters 5 and 6.
b. Journal about the role of innocence thus far, and the concept of “staying gold”.
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LESSON FOUR
CONCEPTUAL GOALS:
1. Share journal entries in small groups. Check for completion.
2. Individual writing exercise: Has innocence been gained or lost so far in the text? Refer to class
definition of innocence generated during lesson one.
3. In groups, come up with a consensus of the writing exercise and present your case to the class.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will gain insight via their classmates’ journal entries and share their journal entries with
their classmates, as well.
2. Students will be able to write their thoughts individually about their opinions of innocence being
gained or lost so far in the text.
3. Students will present their case to the class in coming up with one concrete answer for the
presence of innocence.
STANDARDS:
1.5.8.A. Write with a sharp, distinct focus.
-Identify topic, task and audience.
-Establish a single point of view.
1.5.8.E. Revise writing after rethinking logic of organization and rechecking central idea, content,
paragraph development, level of detail, style, tone and word choice.
1.6.8.A. Listen to others.
· Ask probing questions.
· Analyze information, ideas and
opinions to determine relevancy.
· Take notes when needed.
MATERIALS:
 Text
 Reading journals
 Notebook paper
 Writing utensils
 Overhead projector
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LESSON OUTLINE: 50 minutes
1. When students enter the room, they will be immediately instructed to take out their reading
journals. (3-5 minutes)
a. Take a minute to go over what you read the night before.
b. Ask if there are any questions/plot points that need to be clarified.
2. Get into the four groups and share what you wrote with your group. (5-7 minutes)
i. Students should be listening to what others are saying.
ii. Teacher circulated to make sure students are on task.
iii. Teachers checks journals for completion.
3. Next, students will be instructed to take out a blank piece of notebook paper. (2 minutes)
4. Teacher projects the prompt via overhead projector. (10-12 minutes)
a. Ask student to read aloud the prompt.
b. Prompt reads: We’ve been talking a lot about innocence, but what does it really mean?
What does it mean to you? What does it mean in the text? Are these two things similar
and/or different? Please explain using textual examples.
i. As students write, teacher circulates throughout the room.
ii. Answer any questions students might have in the process.
5. Students find a partner and trade their writing response with them. (10-15 minutes)
a. They are checking over this for grammatical errors as well as to see if the prompt is met.
b. Students write two positive things and two things that need to be worked on, on the
back of the student’s paper.
6. Teacher evokes a short classroom discussion. (10 minutes)
a. Did you, as the student, gain any new insights about innocence in reading your peers
paper? Give examples of student’s work.
b. Call on students who don’t share too often.
7. Homework (3 minutes):
a. Read chapters 7 and 8.
b. Journal about your favorite character (that they’re written about before) and see if
they’ve changed at all.
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LESSON FIVE
CONCEPTUAL GOALS:
1. Read and discuss Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem.
2. Jigsaw Activity: Each group (four total) discusses two lines of the poem and present to the class
their interpretation.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will be able to understand innocence more by reading the Robert Frost poem silently
and aloud.
2. Students will become an expert in two lines of the poem and that stage of life that those lines
represent.
3. Students will gain insight from the class on the entire poem and how all the lines relate to each
other.
STANDARDS:
1.3.8.D. Identify poetic forms (e.g., ballad, sonnet, couplet).
1.6.8.C. Speak using skills appropriate to formal speech situations.
· Use complete sentences.
· Pronounce words correctly.
· Adjust volume to purpose and
audience.
1.3.8.A. Read and understand works of literature.
MATERIALS:
 Text
 Copies of Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” (attached)
 Copies of the couplet (one for each group)
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Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
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LESSON OUTLINS: 50 minutes.
1. Teacher asks if there are any questions from the reading from the night before. (3 minutes)
2. Teacher reads Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” out loud to a class. (3-5 poems)
a. As the students listen, their eyes are closed and their heads are up so they aren’t falling
asleep.
b. Teacher reads the poem slow and with lots of inflection of the voice to keep students
interested, especially since it’s a short poem.
3. Teacher then distributes copies of the poem to students. (6-8 minutes)
a. First, on the flip side of the paper, students write down any images they saw in the head
or ideas that they thought of while the teacher was reading.
b. Then, the teacher reads the poem a second time as the students follow along with the
words on the paper.
4. The class is divided into four different groups and each group receives one couplet (2 rhymed
lines) (8-10 minutes)
a. Teacher explains what a couplet is
i. Characterizations of it: 2 successing rhymed lines
ii. Signifies the end of a poem, so each couplet can/could stand by itself
b. Teacher instructs students to find the imagery in the couplet and try to find out the
meaning behind those two lines, and the two lines only.
5. Students regroup and use the jigsaw method. Each group elects a spokesperson to describe the
key characteristics, images, and underlying meaning of their two lines. (15 minutes)
a. Each group of lines is then taped to the board in chronological order.
b. The class then discusses any other images they might find.
c. When the poem is complete on the board, they combine the meanings and look for
meanings throughout.
d. Class then discusses how, if at all, this poem can be related to Hinton’s novel.
i. What evidence is there of a relationship?
ii. Does it pertain to any character? Who? How?
6. Homework (3 minutes).
a. Read chapters 9 and 10.
b. Journal about whether Frost is correct in saying “nothing gold can stay”.
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