Lesson Title: Comprehending Pride and Prejudice
Objective: Students will be able to explain main points, summarize important events, and
vocabulary words “pride” and “prejudice”
Standard:
2.12.1 select before reading strategies appropriate to text and purpose: preview text, access prior
knowledge, build background knowledge, make predictions
2.12.2 select during reading strategies appropriate to text and purpose: use self-correcting
strategies, make, confirm, and revise predictions, understand and use key vocabulary, identify
main idea and supporting details
2.12.3 select after reading strategies appropriate for text and purpose: restate main ideas, evaluate
text, organize information, evaluate the effectiveness of reading strategies
Unit Initiation:
Have groups of students (4) perform “Brain Dump”. Have 2 sheets of large paper, one with the
word “Pride” and another with the word “Prejudice” in the middle of the page. Tell students to
write synonyms, events, or personal experience sentences that have to do with these words.
After about 10 mins of brain dumping discuss whole group. Create student definitions of each of
these words.
Before Reading:
 Create a role playing scenario where the students encounter someone who passes
judgment on them based on something as small as a piece of clothing. While one student
passes judgment, the other will refuse to hear out the other student even when the judger
tries to eventually apologize. Have several students take turns doing this. Role play can
change as teacher deems fit and appropriate.
 After role playing have students write responses to these questions:
o Which student was more at fault, the one judging or the one who refused to
forgive? Explain
o What are possible outcomes if these 2 students decided to come to an agreement?
 Discuss answers as whole group
 Make predictions about what this book will be about.
During Reading:
 Students will be given vocabulary organizers. These will be filled out with words that
they do not know/understand. Discuss as a class what makes this writing different from a
modern author.
 Fill out KWL to be updated regularly. Ask students to pay special attention to what they
know about certain characters and ask questions concerning specific characters.
o A KWL organizer would be great for a book like this that has so many different
character and so many sub plots going on. It would allow the student to stay on
top of what is going on and what may be getting ready to happen
 Update predictions
 Question to be answered in student journals:
o What are some major conflicts taking place?
o Main Ideas?
o What do you think is worse so far…being prideful or being prejudice?
o What are some of Elizabeth’s best and worst qualities?
o Etc…questions can change based on where the students are in the novel.
Following Reading:
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Students discuss following questions:
o How was propaganda used in this book?
o What is the difference between “pride” and “prejudice” as seen in the book?
Please give examples.
o What are the major conflicts?
o If you could choose one event that was most important what would it be and
why?
o When did Elizabeth’s feelings for Darcy Change?
o What is the main idea of the book?
o Show how this book is relevant in your own life. (You can use any part of the
book that spoke to you the most)
Students can talk about how this writing style was or was not important to the story.
(Talk with them what it would have been like if Stephen King or Stephenie Meyer
would have written the book)
Extensions:
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Research other books where similar feelings of pride and prejudice are used as
main themes. How do they differ?
Identify ways in which pride or prejudice have led to conflict
o Can use slavery in America, etc
For my ELL students, I would prepare all organizers for them in advance. Again I would use
scaffolding and partly fill out the organizers for them. The KWL chart would already have main
events put on their along with questions that they themselves might want to start thinking about.
By guiding ELL students to think like this when they read, they eventually will not need such
scaffolding in their question, but instead will be able to generate questions like this for
themselves. I would also be make sure to be checking on their reading journals that are done in
class on a regular basis so that I am able to help them where I see issues.