Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Introduction
The teaching plans that follow for High School Thematic Unit 9.4, Relationships: Family
bonds that help us survive were designed and written by Michigan educators to meet the
English Language Arts High School Expectations. The plan is meant as a model or example of
how teachers might help students meet the Michigan Merit Curriculum Course Credit
Requirements for Grade 9. Coding in the left column of each page of the plan refers to the
English Language Arts High School Content Expectations (4/06).
The selections in this unit include:
The Odyssey: (S)
TEACHER NOTE: This text is available in both poetry and prose. The internet sources
listed below are great resources.
• (Johnson, Ian. "Homer: The Odyssey." Johnstonia. 23 March 2006. 27 Sep 2006
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odysseytofc.htm) (Poetry Version)
• Butler, Samuel. "The Internet Classics Archive ." The Odyssey. 2000. 27 Sep 2006
http://classics.mit.edu/ Homer/odyssey.1.i.html. (Prose version)
Book I
A Goddess Intervenes
Book IX
New Coasts & Poseidon’s Son
Book XII
Sea Perils & Defeat
Book XVI
Father & Son
Book XXI
The Test of the Bow
Book XXII
Death in The Great Hall
Book XXIII The Trunk of the Olive Tree
Book XXIV Warriors, Farewell
Only Daughter – Sandra Cisnernos (T/A)
The Displaced: Which Way is Home? By Unmesh Kher, Daniel Eiseberg, Amanda Ripley,
Mike Billips, Wendy Grassman, Maggie Sieger, Kathie Klarreich, Pass Christian & Jeff Chu –
Time Magazine Article – August 2005 (S/A)
The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (reference T)
Vietnam – From a Distance (S/A)
The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien ( O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York:
First Broadway Books, 1998. ISBN: 0767902890) Chapters: Things They Carry – Chapter 1
and On The Rainy River – Chapter 4. (S)
Homeless Bound by Julie Rawe, Jeffrey Ressner, and Amanda Bower Time Magazine January
10, 2005 (S/A)
One For The Team by Richard Lacayo Time Magazine May 3, 2004 (S/A)
Poems
Lineage by Margaret Walker (A)
My Mother Combs My Hair by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (A)
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Songs
Dance With My Father by Luther Vandros (A)
Father & Son by Cat Stevens (A)
8th of November by Big and Rich (A)
Calypso by Suzanne Vega (A)
Home -Michael Buble (A)
Movies
The Odyssey (1997) Andrei Konchalovsky – Director Artisan / Hallmark release (UPC:
707729120391). Full Frame Presentation (1.33:1). Includes "Making Of" Documentary. Closed
Captioned. With chapter insert. Rated PG-13, Approx. 203 minutes. (T)
The Lord of the Rings –Return of the King (2003) Peter Jackson – Director (T, optional)
Websites
http://www.janaedwards.com/odysseyquest.html (T) (S)
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey.htm
http://www.bigandrich.com/
http://www.bbhq.com/vietnam.htm
http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs2962
http://fayette.k12.in.us/~cbeard/calliope/vocabindex.html.
T = One copy needed for teacher read aloud
S = Provide a copy for each student
A = In unit Appendix
A critical literacy skill developed through the lessons in each genre unit, is fluent oral reading.
Many activities are included which help teachers and students become increasingly more
proficient in oral reading for an audience. The inclusion of the reader’s theater, choral reading
and paired reading are intentional; it is expected that time will be spent practicing and perfecting
oral reading skills. Students need opportunities to read text like the author intended it to be read.
They should be taught to pay close attention to punctuation, dialogue, sentence rhythm, etc. so
they can read with proper intonation, pace, and emphasis. Students should also hear oral reading
only when it has been practiced and reflects the author’s message. For all of these reasons,
teachers and students should practice reading any text before reading to an audience. Cold reads
for either students or teachers are not appropriate.
These plans were written by a group of grade level educators who all know that as teachers we
take lesson plans like these and add our own special touches to make them better and better
suited to our students. The reading selections and writing assignments were chosen by grade
level educators for their appeal to students’ interests. The times given are suggestions, as is
everything else in these lesson plans.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
In accordance with the Michigan Merit Curriculum, the educators who have contributed to these
units have as their goal engaging and effective units of instruction which include:
• appropriate content expectations
• student goal setting and monitoring of progress
• a focus on big ideas that have great transfer value
• focus and essential questions that stimulate inquiry and connections
• valid and relevant skills and processes
• purposeful real-world applications
• relevant learning experiences
• varied and flexible instruction for diverse learners
• research-based instructional strategies
• explicit and systematic instruction
• adequate teacher modeling and guided practice
• review and application of new knowledge
• opportunities for revision of work based on feedback
• student evaluation of units
• culminating celebrations
Instruction must be relevant to today’s rapidly changing world and must spark student interest
through engaging texts and activities, as well as, real- world learning experiences. The over-all
goal of the units is:
Students will develop effective communication and literacy skills through rigorous
and relevant units of instruction and engaging learning experiences by focusing on
four key dispositions:
o Inter-Relationships and Self-Reliance
o Critical Response and Stance
o Transformational Thinking
o Leadership Qualities
The Michigan Merit Curriculum features essential questions to accompany each of these four
key dispositions. Each unit features some or all of the essential questions for the featured
disposition as each essential question relates to the unit selections. The plan was developed to
take advantage of what each unit text offers for meeting the Michigan English Language Arts
High School Content Expectations, including opportunities for direct instruction of text
characteristics and features, reading and writing strategies, and on- going literacy development
including vocabulary and grammar.
Permission is granted only to teachers in the district purchasing these documents to reproduce
pages from this teaching plan and appendix for classroom use.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 1
Speaking &
Listening
(10 minutes)
CE2.1.11
Introduce this unit by telling students they will be talking, reading, and writing
about characters in a variety of selections/genres that have been impacted through
the relationships they have encountered and maintained. Together, through
studying these characters students will gain a better understanding of relationships
and their roles in developing them. The goal of studying these selections will be to
analyze literature, determine roles within relationships, compose authentic
writing, and promote social action.
Speaking &
Writing
(45 minutes)
CE2.1.1, 2.1.11,
2.1.12
Group brainstorming using the "Tear and Share" strategy (See Appendix #1). The
four questions are:
• What is a relationship?
• What obstacles stand in the way of relationships' enduring?
• In times of adversity, do family bonds/relationships help us survive?
• Does it take courage to sustain a relationship?
Have students write about the relationships they have and the roles they play in
those relationships. (See Appendix #2.)
Directions:
Thomas Mann once said, "No man is an island." In some ways we are all
connected, and the relationships we have with others impact our lives. Some
relationships are beyond our control, such as our families. Others, we choose such
as friends and significant others. Having a successful relationship often takes
effort from all parties. Think about relationships and how courage, love,
acceptance, understanding, and honesty are important components.
What relationships have had the greatest impact on you? Respond to one of the
choices in the prompt below.
Ø Describe one of your own relationships and explain why it is important.
OR
Ø Write about a relationship that helped shape who you are today.
OR
Ø Persuade a parent or a friend why a relationship that you have is valuable.
OR
Ø Write about the theme in your own way.
Use examples from real life, from what you have read or watched, or from your
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
imagination. Your writing will be read by interested adults.
Use the paper provided for notes, freewriting, outlining, clustering, or writing
your rough draft. If you need to make a correction, cross out the error and write
the correction above or next to it.
You should give careful thought to revision (rethinking ideas) and proofreading
(correcting spelling, capitalization, and punctuation). Use the checklist and rubric
to help improve your writing.
(Optional: You may use a dictionary, thesaurus, spelling book and/or grammar
book.)
CE 1.1.1
CE1.1.2
Remind students that when we write, we go through steps known as the writing
process:
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is thinking and talking about the topic or theme of the
writing and relating it to your own personal life. Brainstorming is asking
questions like: “What relationships are important to me? How are they
important? What specific steps do I take to maintain or establish new
relationships? What qualities do I look for in the people with whom I want
to build relationships and why are those important? How should I organize
my writing? (outline, list, graphic organizer and/or sequencing by
chronology or by importance)
CE1.1.3, 1.1.4,
1.2.3, 1.3.1
Drafting
Drafting is getting ideas down on paper and trying to organize them.
Drafting is asking questions like: “How will I start my writing to get my
reader to want to read it? What details, examples, anecdotes, and/or
explanations should I write to show my reader how relationships are
important to me in accomplishing my goals? How shall I end my
writing?”
CE1.1.5, 1.1.6,
1.1.7, 4.1.1
Revising
Revising is the real work of writing and begins when the writer makes sure
that the writing has everything it should have, that it will appeal to the
reader (audience) and tell or prove what it is supposed to do (accomplish
the purpose). Revising is asking questions like: “Will my reader
(audience) know what my point (purpose) is? Is my point or central idea
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
clear and connected to the theme or topic? Have I given important and
relevant details, examples, and/or anecdotes to support my point? Is my
writing well organized with a beginning that makes my audience want to
read on, a middle that makes and supports my point, and an end that
satisfies my audience? Have I used interesting words and a variety of
sentence lengths and types to engage my reader?”
CE1.1.8, 4.1.5
Proofreading and Editing
Proofreading and editing mean making sure that the audience can read and
understand the words and the point. Proofreading and editing involves
asking questions like: “Have I checked and corrected my spelling,
punctuation, and capitalization to help my audience understand what I
have written? Have I read my work to a friend or myself to make sure it
sounds good? Have I looked my writing over to make sure that it’s neat
and it invites my audience to read it?”
Publishing
Publishing is putting writing in its final form for an aud ience. Publishing
involves asking: “Is my final copy just the way I want my audience to see
it?”
As you guide students through each step of the writing process, remind them of
the steps and the questions to ask.
If time permits in this session and students have had enough brainstorming time,
have students begin their drafts. Go over the writing prompt (See Appendix #2.)
emphasizing the introduction and emphasizing that after brainstorming, students
should choose one part of the prompt to write to. Encourage students to make
notes on the prompt page and circle or underline the part of the prompt they have
chosen. Students will continue drafting during writing time.
Circulate, confer, and encourage students as they draft.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 2
Speaking/
Listening
(20 minutes)
CE1.1.5, 1.1.6,
1.1.7, 1.3.7, 1.5.5,
4.1.1, 4.1.5
Give students the opportunity to peer-edit their “My Relationships” papers with a
partner. Set this activity up by briefly modeling with a student a procedure for
peer-editing: Each partner will read aloud his/her draft to the other who will listen
carefully thinking of the following questions (See Appendix #3.):
•
•
•
•
•
•
Is the central idea or point of the writing clear?
Is the central idea or point supported by important and relevant details,
examples, and/or anecdotes?
Does the writing begin with an interesting and engaging lead, continue with a
middle that supports and develops the point, and conclude with an ending that
summarizes the point?
Is the writing interesting with engaging words and different sentence lengths
and types?
What do I as the listener, think is good about the writing?
Do I have questions and/or suggestions for the writer?
Have the student read aloud his/her draft, then model posing the above questions
and answering them with the student. Then tell students that the other student
would read his/her writing aloud and the process will repeat. Give students the
opportunity to peer-edit in partners for the remainder of the time. Tell them they
will have more time in the next session.
Writing
(35 minutes)
CE1.1.5, 1.1.6,
1.1.7, 4.1.1, 1.1.8,
4.1.5, 2.3.8
Students, who have successfully finished peer-editing, should make revision
changes to drafts and edit and proofread. Have students use the rubric (See
Appendix #4.) and the checklist: “Review of Writing: Publishing Final Copy.”
(See Appendix #5.)
During this session students should make a final copy and proofread again using
the “Review of Writing” Checklist. (See Appendix #5.)
CE1.2.4, 1.1.5,
2.3.2, 2.3.5, 2.3.6,
2.3.7
Reflecting on Reading and Writing: An important goal of this unit is for
students to reflect on their growth as readers and writers. As readers, listeners and
viewers, students should be encouraged to engage in self-assessment while
monitoring their comprehension and using a variety of strategies to overcome
difficulties when constructing and conveying meaning. Students should be
encouraged to keep a log of what they read and view independently based on their
own interests. Provide opportunities for students to participate and reflect on their
participation in book talks, literature circles and film clubs. Also, have students
start keeping a portfolio or collection of the writing they do during this unit by
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
including the writing to this prompt in their portfolio. They should keep all
writing – Quick Writes, answers to Focus Questions, Think-Write-Pair-Share
notes. etc. – so that they can periodically look over their writing to assess
strengths, weaknesses and development as a writer.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 3
Speaking/
Listening/
Reading
(55 minutes)
CE3.1.7, 3.1.8,
3.1.9
NOTE TO TEACHERS: You will now be sharing linking text(s) with students.
The linking text or texts reflect one or more of the characteristics below and lead
to the identified disposition of the unit – Truth:
• discrepant text that results in seeing the big idea from a totally different
perspective,
• different genre or medium that mirrors the theme or big idea of the anchor
text in another form.
• supporting text that extends or embellishes the big ideas or themes in the
anchor text, and/or
• text connected to the anchor text at an abstract level.
After students have reflected on and written from their own perspective about
relationships, they will further explore the themes and essential questions of the
unit through reading, discussing and reflecting on text of a different genre that
mirrors the theme of the anchor text in another form.
CE1.2.1, 1.4.4,
2.1.4, 3.2.2, 3.3.1,
3.3.3, 3.3.4, 3.3.5
Begin the class by putting the poem, "My Mother Combs My Hair," either on the
overhead or passing out the poem to students. (See Appendix #6) There should
also be a window box (See Appendix #7) posted on the board or on a
transparency for use at the end of the class period.
How did the mother's values regarding her daughter's hair change from the first
half of the poem to the second half?
Students may either respond to this as a Quick Write (See Appendix #27.) or as a
brief discussion. (10 minutes)
My Mother Combs My Hair by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
5
The room is full
of the scent of crushed hibiscus,
my mother’s breath.
Our positio n are of childhood,
I kneeling on the floor,
she cross- legged
on the chair behind.
She works the comb
through permed strands
30
This afternoon I wait
for the old comments,
how you’ve ruined your hair,
this plait’s like a lizard’s tail,
or if you don’t take better care
of it, you’ll never get married.
but the braiding is done,
each strand
in its neat place, shining,
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
10 rough as dry seaweed.
35 The comb put away.
I can read regret in her fingers
untangling snarls,
I turn to her, to the gray
rubbing red jabakusum oil
snaking in at the temples
into the brittle ends.
the cracks growing
at the edges of her eyes
15 When she was my age,
40 since father left.
her hair reached her knees,
We hold the silence
fell in a thick black rush
tight between us
beyond the edges
like a live wire,
of old photographs. In one,
like a strip of gold
20 my father has daringly
45 torn from wedding brocade.
covered her hand with his
and made her smile.
At their marriage, she told me,
because of her hair
25 he did not ask for a dowry.
CE1.1.2, 1.2.1,
1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.4.4,
2.1.2, 2.2.2, 2.2.3,
2.3.1, 3.2.1, 3.2.4,
3.2.5, 3.3.4
Only Daughter
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Distribute the "window box" graphic organizers (See Appendix #7) to use for
making connections etc. (2 minutes)
Introduce the story with a brief description of the background. (5 minutes)
Begin reading the story, "Only Daughter,"(See Appendix #8a-b) by Sandra
Cisneros, stopping at key points to allow students to insert a comment
(Stop indicators have been provided in the text.), connection, reflection, or
question in their window boxes.
Students do NOT need to make sure the have a response in each of the boxes.
They do need to make sure the have a total of nine responses. They may
respond with a comment, connection, reflection, or question at each stop.
Demonstrate the usage of the window box by thinking aloud for the first stop.
Ask a volunteer to share his or hers at the second stop. (25 minutes)
Only Daughter
By Sandra Cisneros
Once, several years ago, when I was just starting out my writing career, I
was asked to write my own contributor's note for an anthology I was part of. I
wrote, "I am the only daughter in a family of six sons. That explains everything."
Well, I've thought about that ever since, and yes, it explains a lot to me,
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
but for the reader's sake I should have written: "I am the only daughter in a
Mexican family of six sons." Or even: "I am the only daughter of a Mexican father
and a Mexican-American mother." Or: "I am the only daughter of a working-class
family of nine." All of these had everything to do with who I am today. (Stop #1)
I was/am the only daughter and only a daughter. Being an only daughter in
a family of six sons forced me by circumstance to spend a lot of time by myself
because my brothers felt it beneath them to play with a girl in public. But that
aloneness, that loneliness, was good for a would-be writer—it allowed me time to
think and think, to imagine, to read and prepare myself. (Stop #2)
Being only a daughter for my father meant my destiny would lead me to
become somebody's wife. That's what he believed. But when I was in the fifth
grade and shared my plans for college with him, I was sure he understood. I
remember my father saying, "Qué bueno, mi'ja, that’s good." That meant a lot to
me, especially since my brothers thought the idea hilarious. What I didn't realize
was that my father thought college was good for girls—good for finding a
husband. After four years in college and two more in graduate school, and still no
husband, my father shakes his head even now and says I wasted all that education.
In retrospect, I'm lucky my father believed daughters were meant for
husbands. It meant it didn't matter that I majored in something silly like English.
After all, I'd find a nice professional eventually, right? This allowed me the liberty
to putter about embroiling my little poems and stories without my father
interrupting with so much as a "What's that you're writing?" (Stop #3)
But the truth is, I wanted him to interrupt. I wanted my father to
understand what it was I was scribbling, to introduce me as, "My only daughter,
the writer." Not as "This is only my daughter. She teaches." Es maestra—teacher.
Not even professora.
In a sense, everything I have ever written has been for him, to win his
approval even though I know my father can't read English words, even my father's
only reading includes the brown- ink Esto sports magazines from Mexico City and
the bloody ¡Alarma! magazines that feature yet another sighting of La Virgen de
Guadalupe on a tortilla or a wife's revenge on her philandering husband by
bashing his skull in with a molcajete (a kitchen mortar made of volcanic rock). Or
the fotonovelas, the little picture paperbacks with tragedy and trauma erupting
from the characters' mouths in bubbles.
My father represents, then, the public majority. A public who is
disinterested in reading, and yet one whom I am writing about and for, and
privately trying to woo. (Stop #4)
When we were growing up in Chicago, we moved a lot because of my
father. He suffered bouts of nostalgia. Then we'd have to let go our flat, store the
furniture with mother's relatives, load the station wagon with baggage and
bologna sandwiches and head south. To Mexico City.
We came back, of course. To yet another Chicago flat, another Chicago
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
neighborhood, another Catholic school. Each time, my father would seek out the
parish priest in order to get a tuition break, and complain or boast: "I have seven
sons." (Stop #5)
He meant siete hijos, seven children, be he translated it as "sons." "I have
seven sons." To anyone who would listen. The Sears Roebuch employee who sold
us the washing machine. The short-order cook where my father ate his ham-andeggs breakfasts. "I have seven sons." As if he deserved a medal from the state.
My papa. He didn't mean anything by that mistranslation, I'm sure. But
somehow I could feel myself being erased. I'd tug my father's sleeve and whisper:
"Not seven sons. Six! and one daughter." (Stop #6)
When my oldest brother graduated form medical school, he fulfilled my
father's dream that we study hard and use this—our heads, instead of this—our
hands. Even now my father's hands are thick and yellow, stubbed by a history of
hammer and nails and twine and coils and springs. "Use this," my father said,
tapping his head, "and not this," showing us those hands. He always looked tired
when he said it.
Wasn't college an investment? And hadn't I spent all those years in
college? And if I didn't marry, what was it all for? Why would anyone go to
college and then choose to be poor? Especially for some who had always been
poor. (Stop #7)
Last year, after ten years of writing professionally, the financial rewards
started to trickle in. My second National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. A
guest professorship at the University of California, Berkley. My book, which sold
to a major New York publishing house.
At Christmas, I flew home to Chicago. The house was throbbing, same as
always: hot tamales and sweet tamales hissing in my mother's pressure cooker,
and everybody—my mother, six brothers, wives, babies, aunts, cousins—talking
too loud and at the same time, like in a Fellini film, because that's just how we are.
I went upstairs to my father's room. One of my stories had just been
translated into Spanish and published in an anthology of Chicano writing, and I
wanted to show it to him. Ever since he recovered from a stroke two years ago,
my father likes to spend his leisure hours horizontally. And that's how I found
him, watching Pedro Infante movie on Galavision and eating rice pudding.
There was a glass filmed with milk on the bedside table. There were
several vials of pills and balled Kleenex. And on the floor, one black sock and
plastic urinal that I didn't want to look at but looked at anyway. Pedro Infante was
about to burst into song, and my father was laughing. (Stop #8)
I'm not sure if it was because my story was translated into Spanish, or
because it was published in Mexico, or perhaps because the story dealt with
Tepeyac, the colonia my father was raised in and the house he grew up in, but at
any rate, my father punched the mute button on his remo te control and read my
story.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
I sat on the bed next to my father and waited. He read it very slowly. As if
he were reading each line over and over. He laughed at all the right places and
read lines he liked out loud. He pointed and asked questions: "Is this So-and-so?"
"Yes," I said. He kept reading.
When he was finally finished, after what seemed like hours, my father
looked up and asked: "Where can we get more copies of this for the relatives?"
Of all the wonderful things that happened to me last year, that was the
most wonderful. (Stop #9)
Class Discussion
• Ask students to share the contents of their windows with a neighbor.
Students should also explain what they were thinking and why, when they
share (3 to 5 minutes).
•
Next, refer to the Window Box that is either on the board or a transparency
for the overhead projector. Fill in comments, connections, reflections, and
questions from volunteers in the class (3 to 5 minutes).
•
With the class, look for patterns in the kinds of responses the students
made.
•
Ask volunteers to share any patterns they have on their papers (3 to 5
minutes).
•
At this point the teacher may choose to have the students write up the
patterns they have on their papers, turning them into seeds for future
writing or leave the activity as a class discussion.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Days 4 and 5
Reading/Writing
(110 minutes)
CE1.1.1, 1.1.2,
1.1.3, 1.1.4,1.1.5,
1.1.6, 1.1.7, 1.1.8,
1.4.1, 1.4.2, 1.4.3,
1.4.4, 1.4.5, 1.4.6,
1.4.7, 1.5.1, 1.5.3,
1.5.4
Introduce the students to the concept of a web-quest (Appendix #9). The webquest will provide valuable background information for The Odyssey and its
author, Homer, using an interactive media source. Inform students that they will
work with a partne r to complete three tasks( See Appendix 10a-d for
worksheets). At the end of Day 5, the three handouts for the web quest will be
due.
WEBQUEST HOME PAGE: http://www.janaedwards.com/odysseyquest.html
Task One: Who was HOMER?
•
•
•
•
Read about him
Click on the door to enter the site,
and then click on "Homer's History".
Write a summary of each section on your handout.
Write your summaries using the précis format listed below:
Précis Writing: The goal of a précis is to summarize the findings in an article by
identifying the main points and conclusions of the research along with reviewing
the broader implications of the results obtained in the passage. (See Appendix
#11)
In order to accomplish this goal, it helps to follow a six step process:
Step 1: Read the passage. Read it again. Go on reading it until you understand
it. Put down on paper the main idea or ideas; make notes in the margins.
Step 2: Read the passage again to make sure you haven’t missed any important
ideas.
Step 3: Referring to your notes if you need to, but not to the original, write a
rough summary of the passage. By not looking at the original, you will avoid
copying; you will be forced to put the ideas into your own words.
Step 4: Read your précis. Ask yourself the following questio ns—
• Does it say what the original says?
• Does it sound like normal English?
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
• Have you kept the connections of thought original?
• Is the précis perfectly clear?
• Can you improve or condense any words or phrases?
Step 5: Count the words. If there are too many, write more concisely to shorten
the précis. If there are too few, check to see whether you omitted some important
ideas.
Step 6: Read the précis again. If nothing important has been omitted and nothing
at all added, write your final, correct copy. Proofread it.
TASK 2: HUMANS, GODS, & SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
Look up the terms that are on your handout
and define them using The Encyclopedia Mythica.
TASK 3: Play the Odyssey Game
Will you be the wandering Odysseus,
the brave Telemachus, or
the faithful Penelope?
Choose your character and begin your adventure!
In the space on your handout,
summarize what happens on YOUR quest!
Use the précis process introduced in Task One to complete your summary.
Upon completion of the web quest, show film clip introducing Odysseus’
departure and internal conflicts.
Film information: (The Odyssey (1997) Andrei Konchalovsky - Director )
15
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 6
Writing
(5 minutes)
CE1.2.1, 2.1.7
Students will begin the day with a Quick Write. (See Appendix #27.) Put up the
following on the overhead (See Appendix #12 ):
Patterns exist in nature and in life. A pattern in nature is a replication of a shape
or design. For example, a leaf or spider’s web are two natural designs. A pattern
of behavior is a repetition of a series of actions, like a ritual. There are physical
and emotional patterns. An example of a physical pattern is your morning routine.
You may complete a certain series of events that happen in order to start each day
(get up, wash face, brush teeth, get dressed, have breakfast etc…). An example of
an emotional pattern is a series of feelings triggered by an event. For example,
there are 5 stages of grief that humans usually experience after a tragic loss:
denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
Do a one page Quick Write on the following prompt: (See Appendix #27.)
What patterns of behavior do high school freshmen experience?
Writing/
Vocabulary
(20 minutes)
CE2.1.3, 4.1.2
Listening
(10 minutes)
CE3.1.2, 3.2.1,
3.2.2
Students will complete either vocabulary a Option #1 (Appendix # 13a-c) or
Option #2 (Appendix #14a-b)
Writing/ Visually
Representing
(20 minutes)
CE3.2.4, 3.2.5,
3.1.2, 3.1.3
Give the students the handout “The Hero’s Adventure/Cycle,” (see Appendix #
16a-b). As a class read the handout; instruct the students to highlight or underline
the important steps in the process. Next, have them work with a partner to create
a diagram or map that shows the cycle of the hero’s adventure. Instruct them to
label all parts of the cycle. They can use a standard size blank sheet of paper,
construction paper, art paper, poster board, etc. Their finished product could look
something like “the hero’s adventure handout (see Appendix #16a-b), but they
are free to use their own imagination in creating the map/diagram so long as all
parts are properly labeled. Remind them that the adventure is a process of
separation, transformation, and return. Each stage must be completed successfully
if one is to become heroic.
Introduce students to the genre of an epic poem. (See Appendix # 15a-c).
Explain that the hero’s journey is a pattern of human experiences common in
many stories and in life. In The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus,
experiences a hero’s adventure (See Appendix #16a-b), and they will be
responsible for tracking that journey via the bookmark method (See Appendix #
17a-b).
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 7
Reading
(20 minutes)
CE2.1.1, 2.1.2,
2.1.3, 2.1.11,
2.1.12, 2.3.1,
2.3.5, 3.1.2, 3.2.5,
3.3.5
Pass-out Odyssey, Book 1 question worksheet (See Appendix #19). Review the
questions with the students. Tell them that each question has a reference line
number and, as you read the book together out loud, they will be pausing to
respond to each question.
Begin reading out loud. At each question, stop, reread the question out loud, ask
for students to volunteer information, and give them a minute or two to write a
response. Continue in this manner for about 20 minutes, have the students finish
the rest of the reading and questions for homework.
In addition, the students will complete the character chart (See Appendix #18)
giving descriptive details about each character introduced in book one.
Reading/Writing
(25 minutes)
CE1.3.5, 1.3.7
Students will rewrite and perform the lines stated by the Gods in Book One. There
are four sections: Part 1 - Zeus lines 48-63, Part 2 Athena lines 64-84, Part 3 Zeus
lines 86- 104 Athena lines 106-122. Split the class into 8 groups of 3 or 4
students.
Assign each group one part so that all the parts are assigned twice. Instruct each
group to rewrite the dialogue using modern day speak. Encourage them to be
creative, slang is okay. Give them 10 minutes to work on rewriting their part
(They should recopy the speech on one sheet of paper with all the group
members’ names on it.).
Speaking
Expressing
(10 minutes)
CE1.3.5, 1.3.7
Next, assemble the class into two complete sets of acting groups. Team One will
act out the scene first, once they’ve finished team Two will perform the scene.
This activity will allow the students to explore the text in language that they can
understand and will provide the framework for the students to continue rephrasing
the text for the rest of the poem. (See Appendix #20a-b.)
NOTE: Teacher Information Summary Book One:
The narrator of the Odyssey appeals to the Muse, asking for inspiration as he
prepares to tell the story of Odysseus. The story begins ten years after the end of
the Trojan War. All of the Greek heroes except Odysseus have returned home.
Odysseus is being punished by the god of the sea Poseidon. Poseidon is upset
because Odysseus bragged after winning the war that mortal men do not need the
gods, and Poseidon was offended. He is punishing Odysseus until he apologizes,
which Odysseus refuses to do. During his trip home Odysseus has lost all of his
men and is now stranded on the remote island Ogygia with the goddess Calypso,
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
who has fallen in love with him and refuses to let him leave. Meanwhile, a mob of
suitors is devouring his estate in Ithaca and courting his wife, Penelope, in hopes
of taking over his kingdom. His son, Telemachus, an infant when Odysseus left
but now a young man, is helpless to stop them. He has resigned himself to the
likelihood that his father is dead.
With the consent of Zeus, Athena travels to Ithaca to speak with Telemachus.
Assuming the fo rm of Odysseus’s old friend Mentor, Athena predicts that
Odysseus is still alive and that he will soon return to Ithaca. She advises
Telemachus to call together the suitors and announce their banishment from his
father’s estate. She then tells him that he must make a journey to Pylos and Sparta
to ask for any news of his father.
18
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 8
Writing
/Grammar
(5 Minutes)
CE4.1.5
Students will complete a grammar exercise (See Appendix # 20c-d - Complete
half today).
Review and discuss answers.
Viewing/ Writing Tell the students that they will be viewing a scene from the film “The Odyssey”
(25 minutes)
which involves Odysseus and Polyphemus, the Cyclops.
CE2.1.1, 3.1.9
Show the clip.
Focus for Viewing : How does Odysseus win freedom for himself and for his
men? Why is his strategy effective? What role do relationships play in this
scene?
Writing
(20 minutes)
CE1.5.1, 1.3.2,
1.3.3, 1.3.4
Tell the students that they will write a persuasive speech from Odysseus’ point of
view convincing the Cyclops to free his men. Pass out the “Persuasive Speech
Writing” handout (See Appendix # 21). Have the students use the handout to
frame their piece. Make sure that they know the difference between persuasive
writing and a persuasive speech (use the handout as a guide).
Speaking
(5 minutes)
CE1.5.1, 1.3.2,
1.3.3, 1.3.4
Have the students get into pairs and practice delivering their speech.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 9
Reading/
Speaking
( minutes)
CE2.1.3, 2.1.7,
2.1.9, 2.1.10,
2.1.11, 2.1.12,
4.1.1, 4.2.1, 1.5.2
Readers Theater The Odyssey: Book IX New Coasts and Poseidon’s Son
By Homer
Readers Theatre Directions: (See Appendix #49a)
In this section of The Odyssey, it is important to pay attention to the motives of
Odysseus. Select students to read out loud the part of Odysseus telling the story,
and the conversation between him and Polyphemos. (See Appendix #20a-b.)
Listening Focus:
1. How does Odysseus describe what is happening to him?
2. How does Odysseus trick the Cyclops?
3. Who do you feel sorry for more, Odysseus or the Cyclops?
This Readers’ Theater begins with lines 110.
Students will complete a grammar exercise (See Appendix # 20c-d – Finish the
examples).
Summary Lines 1-110
Odysseus tells the Phaeacians the tale of his journey from Troy. The winds carry
him and his men to Ismarus, city of the Cicones. The men raid the land and
become carried away by greed. They stay until the Cicones turn on them and
attack. Odysseus and his crew finally escape; in the escape, he lost six men per
ship. A storm sent by Zeus carries them along for nine days before bringing them
to the land of the Lotus-eaters, where the natives give some of Odysseus’s men
the intoxicating fruit of the lotus. As soon as they eat this fruit, the men lose all
thoughts of home and long for nothing more than to stay there eating more fruit.
Only by dragging his men back to the ship and locking them up can Odysseus get
them off the island. Odysseus and his men then sail to the land of the Cyclops, a
rough and uncivilized race of one-eyed giants.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Days 10 and 11
Reading/
Listening//
Writing
(110 minutes)
CE3.1.5, 3.1.9,
3.1.10, 3.2.1,
3.3.2, 1.1.1, 1.1.2,
1.1.4, 1.2.1, 1.2.2,
1.2.3, 1.3.1, 1.4.2,
2.1.2, 2.1.4, 2.1.6,
2.1.11, 2.1.12,
2.2.2, 2.3.1, 2.3.5,
2.3.7
Introduce the lesson through a discussion of Odysseus' travels home. After his
journey to Troy to fight in the Trojan War, Odysseus heads for his homeland of
Ithaca, but is faced with many obstacles along the way. Because Odysseus
angered Poseidon, the God of the Sea, he is "displaced" for ten years, and when he
returns home, things have changed. In a similar fashion, the people of New
Orleans and the Gulf Coast have been displaced due to the nature of living near
the sea and in an area susceptable to hurricanes and tropical storms. Inform
students that the article that they are about to read is an account of five families
who were displaced due to Hurricane Katrina. Remind them that this is an
example of informational text, and they will be completing an informational
bookmark listing facts about the article and making connections between the
obstacles the families had to overcome and the obstacles Odysseus faced.
(TEACHER NOTE: See Appendix #22a-b, Genre Newspaper Feature Article)
(See Appendix # 23 – Bookmark Informational Text.)
Jigsaw with the Time Magazine article, The Displaced: Which Way is Home? by
Unmesh Kher, Daniel Eisenberg, Amanda Ripley, Mike Billips, Wendy
Grassman, Maggie Sieger, Kathie Klarreich, Pass Christian, and Jeff Chu. (See
Appendix #24a-f.)
You and your students will spend the class period reading, sharing, and thinking
about the article through a process called jigsawing (See Appendix #25) that
encourages a group of students to become experts on one section of the text and
then share their expertise with the rest of the group so that all comprehend the
text. You will divide your class into four groups representing four of the five
families represented in the article. You will model the process with the class
using the first family, The Willameses: Strains in a Strange Land.
Teacher reads aloud The Willameses: Strains in a Strange Land. (See Appendix
#24a-f) as students read to themselves.
Focus for Listening and model answers:
Identify the who, what, when , where, how, and why of the article.
⇒ Who is the article about? (The Williams Family: Carmelita,(43) Nathaniel,
(49) Jennifer, (9) Natrena Lewis- Nathaniel's daughter from a previous
marriage (24), Ty'iyr - Natrena's son, (22 months,) and Telly - Natrena's son
(5).
21
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
⇒ Where does it take place? New Orleans and Houston, TX.
⇒ When does it take place? August - November 2005
⇒ What are the obstacles the family is facing?
¬ Ty'iyr missing then found
¬ Difficulty fitting into new community
¬ Stress of the situation is causing problems with alcohol and food addiction
¬ Inability to adjust to new school
¬ Loss of Carmelita's job
¬ Nathaniel's job is relocating to Chicago
¬ Entire subdivision was destroyed
⇒ How are they coping with the challenges?
¬ Trying to keep a positive attitude
¬ Trying to rebuild role within school
¬ Focusing on what they were able to save from the storm - each other
⇒ Why have they decided to return to their hometowns or why not?
¬ Hope to return in 3-5 years, but the ir subdivision, Pontchartrain, is currently
uninhabitable.
⇒ CONNECTION: In what way is their struggle similar or different from
Odysseus'?
¬ Like Odysseus, the Williams family cannot return immediately to their home.
They must endure hardship and sacrifice in hopes of someday returning to
New Orleans. In addition, family is the center of their lives just as Penelope
and Telemachus were the focus of Odysseus' life.
The Displaced: Which Way is Home Jigsaw
Purpose:
The Jigsaw is designed for groups to produce an informational bookmark for
each of the five sections represented in the article. In addition, students will be
able to make connections between the families represented in the articles and
Odysseus from The Odyssey. The ability to find parallels between the two
selections will strengthen the students' understanding and provide the starting
point for deeper understanding of the importance of the epic.
Supplies:
Copies of the article - divided by families.
Informational bookmarks- based on focus for listening questions
Lesson:
1. Break class into four groups. Be sure that all students understand that they
are responsible for recording their answers and that they will share their
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
information with other class members.
2. Students read and discuss article being sure to answer all of the focus for
listening questions.
3. Teacher monitors groups and makes sure that each student is recording
answers and understands the article.
4. Once each of the groups is completed, then assign a new number to each
group member. Have all ones form a new group, have all twos form a new
group, have all threes form a new group, and have all fours form a new
group. You may need to have more numbers 1-6 or 1-8 - Just be sure that
each new group has at least one representative from the original group so
that you have at least one expert to relay information to the new group
members.
5. The "experts" on the sections share their information with the new group
members, and the new group members record the information on the
informational bookmark.
6. Once each of the new groups have shared their information and all
members have five completed bookmarks, have students return to their
regularly assigned seats.
7. Explain to students that they will now choose one of their new sections to
write a retelling paragraph. They will use their informational bookmarks
and form a paragraph based on the information that they gathered.
Remind students that a retelling should include:
⇒ Basic selection elements of who, what, where, when, how and why.
⇒ Logical order or organization
⇒ Use your words and the words from the informational bookmark. Do not have
the actual article in front of you when you write the retelling.
MODEL FOR THE WILLIAMS FAMILY: STRAINS IN A STRANGE LAND
⇒ The Time Magazine article, The Displaced: Which Way is Home, discusses
the obstacles that five families have endured due to Hurricane Katrina's wrath
in August of 2005. In particular, the Williams Family all had to leave their
home in the Pontchartrain suburb of New Orleans. The family has relocated
to Houston, Texas where they are struggling to fit in and to reestablish a sense
of home. Hardships they have endured consist of job loss, loss of their home
and their possessions, difficulties adjusting to new community and school,
stress induced weight gain. Through it all though the y have kept a positive
attitude and have focused on what they were able to save, which was their
family unit. They hope to eventually return to New Orleans in 3-5 years, but
in the meantime they are adjusting to life in Houston and focusing on the
future rather than dwelling on the past.
23
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 12
Writing
(10 minutes)
CE1.2.1, 2.1.7,
1.3.7, 3.2.2
Read or have students read aloud the Poem “Calypso” by Suzanne Vega. (See
Appendix # 26)
Discuss the cadence that the author creates in this poem.
Choral read the poem – Dividing the class into stanzas. Have everyone read the
line “I let him go.”
Have students do a Quick Write (See Appendix #27) using one of these prompts
(See Appendix # 28)
Try this:
• For 3 – 4 minutes, write as quickly as you can about all that this poem
brings to mind for you.
• Borrow any line and write as quickly and as specifically as you can all that
comes to mind, let the line lead your thinking.
• Write about a time when you had to part with something or someone you
cared a great deal about.
Ask for volunteers to share responses.
Reading/
Writing/
Listening
(45 minutes)
CE3.2.2, 1.5.2,
1.1.4, 1.2.2, 1.2.3,
2.2.2, 1.1.1, 1.2.3,
2.1.1, 2.1.11,
2.1.12, 2.2.1,
2.3.3, 2.3.6, 2.3.7,
3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3,
3.1.4, 3.1.9, 3.2.4,
3.2.5, 3.3.5, 3.4.2,
3.4.1, 4.1.5
Introduce Book XII of The Odyssey by explaining to students that Odysseus was
given information to help him through his upcoming obstacles, yet in the end he
chose to disregard the warnings to stay away from Thrinakia - The Cattle of The
Sun - and landed his ship on the dangerous island.
Have students discuss a time when they ignored someone's advice or warnings
and chose to do something they knew might have negative consequences. What
causes people to disregard advice or warnings?
Introduce the concept of foreshadowing. Remind students that this is common
method of letting the reader know that something important is going to happen to
main characters. Prior to reading, announce to students that there is an example of
foreshadowing between lines 166 and 170. Ask them to be sure to pay close
attentio n to the lines and to identify what it is foreshadowing for Odysseus and his
men.Lines 166-170:
But if you raid the beeves, I see destruction
for ship and crew.
Rough years then lie between
you and your homecoming, alone and old,
the one survivor, all companions lost.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
While reading Book XII have students use sticky notes to write down
characteristics of the obstacles that Odysseus and his men encounter. Students
may write down physical attributes, advice given to face the obstacles, events that
occurred, or Odysseus' reaction to the obstacle. After the reading, have students
place notes on data walls and share information with the class. (See Appendix
#29 for a Data Wall procedure.)
Examples:
Sirens : (Seirenes) - crying beauty – sing his mind away – must use beeswax in
ears to escape and tie Odysseus up while passing by the Sirens.
Skylla – yaps a newborn whelp ’s cry – huge- monstrous- 12 tentacle legs - 6
serpent heads – triple rows of fangs . She will take at least six men.
Kharybdis – great wild fig tree that becomes a ferocious whirlpool –must hug the
cliff of Skylla to avoid being completely destroyed by Kharbdis.
Thrinakia – Helios’ immortal cattle graze on the island. If they are disturbed the
gods will seek revenge.
Have students complete Epic Bookmark for Book XII. (See Appendix# 17a-b).
25
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 13
Viewing
/Listening/
Writing
(55 minutes)
CE3.1.2, 3.1.3,
3.1.9, 3.4.3, 3.3.5
Have students watch The Odyssey scenes from Book XII - Odysseus' encounter
with Skylla through his release from Calypso's island. Time on the DVD is from
1:38-2:14 for a total of 36 minutes. Remind students that the movie version varies
from the written version in order to show what was happening in Ithaca while
Odysseus was away.
CE1.1.1, 1.1.3,
1.1.4, 1.2.1, 1.2.2,
1.3.2, 2.3.3, 2.3.8
See Appendix #30a for Focus Question guidelines for teachers. Teacher models
answering Focus Question #1 using the following: (See Appendix #30b.) (If you
wish to introduce students to the scoring rubric for focus questions, see Appendix
#30c.)
Focus Question #1: Odysseus has lost his ship and all of his men. He remains
on Calypso's island for several years without hope of ever being able to return to
his beloved home and wife. He is a virtual prisoner of Calypso and is in the abyss
part of the hero's journey because he is facing his biggest fear: the knowledge
that he will never return to Ithaca and never see Penelope again. Athena
intercedes on Odysseus' behalf, and the gods conspire to get him home. Once
Odysseus' hope of returning home is restored, he begins the transformation part of
his journey, and he begins plans for the last leg of his journey with vigor and zeal.
What is the relationship between hope and his will to survive? Trace the changes
in Odysseus' character from the time he arrives on Calypso's island, while he lives
on the island, and as he is preparing to leave the island.
Answer Plan
1. Restate the question using a strong start (lead).
2. Write a few sentences describing Odysseus' character as he lands on the
island. Who is he? How does he behave? What characteristics define his
behavior and attitude?
3. Write a few sentences describing Odysseus' character as he lives on the
island. What is his behavior like? What does his behavior suggest about
his attitude?
4. Write a few sentences describing the change in Odysseus' behavior once
he learns that he is to finally return home to Ithaca. What characteristics
define his behavior and attitude?
5. Conclude by stating your thoughts on what role you think hope has to do
with Odysseus' will to survive.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Possible Answer:
[1] There is a strong correlation between hope and the will to survive. Without
hope, one loses his/her will to survive, which is demonstrated in Odysseus'
attitude and behavior when he finds himself stranded on Calypso's island.
[2] After losing his ship and all of his men, Odysseus washes up on Calypso's
island where he becomes her prisoner. He has lost his ship, his freedom, and falls
into despair. [3] Since he believes that all hope of ever returning home to his
kingdom, son, and wife are lost, he begins to turn savage; he is unkempt, lazy, and
drinks too much. [4] The gods take pity on Odysseus and conspire to send him
home. Although Calypso is reluctant to release her prisoner, she understands that
it is an order she is powerless to deny, and she tells Odysseus that he is to build a
ship and sail home to Ithaca. Odysseus is overjoyed at the news and begins
preparations immediately. He works with a long lost sense of discipline, vigor,
and zeal and wastes no time finishing his ship. [5] Odysseus became less than
heroic when he was forced to face his deepest fear: that he wo uld never be able to
return home again. Once Odysseus' hope of completing his journey is restored,
his desire to live and his dignity are restored.
CE3.2.4
Discuss students’ reactions to the question and answer.
27
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 14
Reading/Writing
/Listening
(55 minutes)
CE3.3.1, 3.3.2,
3.4.1, 3.4.2, 3.4.3,
3.4.4, 1.1.2, 2.1.8,
2.1.9, 2.1.11,
2.1.12, 1.3.1,
2.1.2, 2.1.6, 2.1.3,
2.3.5, 2.3.7, 3.1.2,
3.1.5, 4.2.5
Explain to students that they will make a transition today from The Odyssey to the
Vietnam War Era. Like Odysseus and his men, the soldiers fighting in Vietnam
faced both physical and mental obstacles. Their journey home to the United
States was difficult and like Odysseus, often times they were not welcomed back.
Give each student a copy of the lyrics for Big and Rich’s song, 8th of November,
(See Appendix #31a-b). Read the lyrics aloud with the students repeating the
chorus. Ask students to explain the story that is being told in this song.
Now show the music video for the song. This can be accessed at
http://www.bigandrich.com/ . Be sure to ask students to pay special attention to
the images presented on the screen and have them share the most powerful images
with the class after they have completed the viewing. This video is extremely
powerful and moving and will provide thought-provoking images for your
students. (Option: Have students write a news article about the incident
described in the song. See Appendix #32.)
Quick-Write: (See Appendix #27) Have students complete a 3-4 minute quick
write discussing the similarities between Odysseus and the protagonist from the
song. Share with the class if time permits.
Possible Answer:
Though the Trojan War and the Vietnam War were fought thousands of years
apart, there are many similarities between Odysseus and the protagonist from the
song, 8th of November. For example, both Odysseus and the protagonist of the
song lost fellow soldiers due the violent and destructive nature of war. As
survivors of war they must carry the weight of the loss with them through their
lives. Odysseus is a proud warrior, and the protagonist of the song demonstrates
his pride through his military tattoo and memorabilia. Neither the protagonist or
Odysseus initiated the war, yet they felt a sense of duty to serve and represent
their countries. Overall, the impact of war and its effect on people is universal
and knows no time barriers.
To further introduce the background of the Vietnam War, students will be reading
the article, Vietnam – From a Distance, (See Appendix #34a-r), which can also
be found at http://www.bbhq.com/vietnam.htm . Students will be placed in six
groups and each group will be given a section of the article to jigsaw (See
Appendix #25). Students will use the marginalia comprehension strategy (See
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Appendix #33a-b) to guide them through their reading. Teacher will model the
use of marginalia by thinking aloud through Vietnam Jigsaw #1 using Appendix
#34a-b. After each group has completed their readings they will be placed into
new groups and they will share the information they gathered with their new
group. Each student should have a copy of the entire article with the marginalia
boxes to take notes. (See Appendix #34a-r).
Exit Slip – At the end of the class ask students to write three things they learned
about the Vietnam War on an exit slip. Save to review with the class on Day 15.
Optional Activity: Teacher may want to discuss the concept of bias in text. (See
Appendix #35a-e).
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 15
Writing
Grammar
(5 minutes)
CE4.1.5
Have students complete grammar warm-up based on Tim O'Brien's The Things
They Carry. (See Appendix# 36a-b)
Reading/
Writing/
Listening/
Language
(50 minutes)
CE4.1.4, 4.1.5,
1.1.2, 1.2.2, 1.2.3,
3.3.1, 2.1.3,
2.1.11, 2.2.2,
3.1.8, 3.1.9, 1.1.1,
1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.4.1,
1.2.1, 1.2.4, 1.3.3,
1.3.4, 1.3.5, 1.3.6,
4.1.1, 4.1.3, 4.2.3
Ask students to write for 1-2 minutes a list of the things that they carry in their
pockets, backpacks or purses. Have them share one item from the list with the
class that they think represents their personality, values, or character.
Explain to the students that they are going to read the opening chapter of the
novel, The Things They Carry by Tim O'Brien. On the overhead place a copy o f
a common list of items soldiers in the Vietnam War would carry. (See Appendix
#37a-b) Discuss the concept of "emotional baggage” that people may carry with
them or how memories "carry" people through difficult situations. Be sure to
explain that Tim O'Brien not only highlights the physical items, but also the
emotional items that the soldiers carried with them into war.
Read to the students the first two paragraphs of the chapter. Be sure to explain to
students that some of the words they will see are army acronyms. Examples:
SOP = Standard Operating Procedure
RTO = Radio Transmitter Operator
PFC = Private First Class
AO= Area of Operation
Have students read the rest of the chapter to themselves. When they have
completed the reading have students complete Focus Question Appendix # 38 for
The Things They Carried. (See Appendix #38)
Focus Question #2
The men carried physical items such as photos, supplies, and letters. And The
New Testament. Each item represents a metaphorical weight or burden that
the soldiers carry. For example, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries letters from
Martha; by extension he is also carrying the burden of the relationship.
Examine the things that you carry each day. What are they? What do they
symbolically represent? What might someone learn about you by examining
the things you carry?
Answer Plan:
1. Restate the question using a strong start (lead).
2. Write a few sentences that describe the items that you carry each day.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
3. Write several sentences that describe what each item symbolically
represents.
4. Conclude with an insight into what others may learn about you by the things
you carry.
Possible Answer:
[1] Each day I am weighted and exposed by the things that I carry. There are
things that I carry because I can't live without them and there are others that I
carry because I am a student and I have to. [2] I carry a cell phone, notes both that
I have written and received from my friends, make-up, and photographs of my
friends. I carry a backpack, textbooks, a reading novel, pens, pencils, notebooks,
and folders, graded and returned assignments, class handouts, and a calculator.
[3] I can't live without talking with my friends. Several times a day I either call,
text message, or write to my friends. The relationship I have with my friends
requires constant work and communication. The photos I carry of me and my
friends are there to remind me of the good times we’ve shared. For me, keeping
in touch with my friends is a necessity, but because they require so much time and
attention, my friendships can also be a heavy burden. The make-up I carry is a
symbol of my need to always look my best. It shows that I care about how I look
and what others think of me. I may also be carrying the burden of vanity. The
school items I carry say that I am a prepared student who is ready to learn. These
items represent my desire to succeed in life. [4] Judging by the things I carry, one
might say that I am a typical teenager who cares about the relationships she shares
with her friends and is an organized, responsible student.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 16
Writing /
Grammar
(5 minutes)
CE4.1.5
Listening/
Writing
(10 minutes)
CE1.2.1, 2.1.7
Have students complete grammar warm-up based on Tim O'Brien's book The
Things They Carried: On the Rainy River chapter. (See Appendix #36 a-b)
Reading/Writing
/Listening/
Language
(40 minutes)
CE4.1.4, 4.1.5,
3.4.1, 3.4.2, 3.4.3,
1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.4,
1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.3.6,
2.1.2, 2.3.7, 3.1.1,
1.1.3, 1.2.1, 1.3.3,
1.3.4, 1.4.4, 1.4.6,
3.2.5, 2.2.1, 2.2.2,
4.1.1
Explain to students that the chapter they are about to read discusses Tim O'Brien's
struggle with being drafted and leaving home. In this chapter he reveals his
conflicted views of the war and the challenge he faces: go to war or escape to
Canada.
Distribute copies of lyrics for Michael Buble’s song, Home. Have students read
along with the lyrics while listening to the song. (See Appendix #39a-c.)
Complete a Quick Write based on the song: (See Appendix #27.)
Ÿ After reading the lyrics and listening to the song, write for three to four
minutes as quickly as you can about all that this song brings to mind for you.
Ÿ Borrow any line and write as quickly and as specifically as you can all that
comes to mind – let the line lead your thinking.
Ÿ Write about what makes your home special or about a time when you
experienced “home sickness.
(Idea from Linda Rief – 100 Quickwrites)
Read pp. 38-40 aloud to students stopping after the first paragraph on page 40.
Emphasize O'Brien's concept of courage:
"Courage, I seemed to think, comes to us in finite quantities, like an inheritance,
and by being frugal and stashing it away and letting it earn interest, we steadily
increase our moral capital in preparation for that day when the account must be
drawn down,"(40).
What is the metaphor used here? What is O'Brien saying about courage?
Have students complete the reading independently. When students are done with
the reading, they may complete the focus question. (See Appendix #40.)
Focus Question #3:
In the chapter, "On Rainy River,” we learn the 21 year-old O'Brien's theory
of courage (stated above). What is your theory of courage? Take a position
on whether or not you believe O'Brien to be a coward or courageous. Are
you a courageous person?
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
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Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Answer Plan
1. Write your theory of courage.
2. In a sentence or two explain why the character, Tim O'Brien, thinks it
would be an act of cowardice if he went to war.
3. In a few sentences explain why the character, Tim O'Brien, decided to go
to war even though he doesn't think it's the right thing to do.
4. In a few sentences answer this question: Is O'Brien a coward or is he
courageous for going to war? Defend your position.
5. Conclude with a personal observation on whether or not you are a
courageous person.
Possible Answer:
[1] Courage is doing what you know is the right thing to do even if it's risky and
regardless of what anyone else thinks. [2] In the chapter, "On Rainy River," the
character, Tim O'Brien, struggles with the decision whether or not to dodge the
draft and go to Canada or to fight in a war that he thinks is wrong. According to
O'Brien, going to war would be an act of cowardice since he doesn't agree with
the war, and he would only be going to avoid local gossip and out of fear of what
his family and friends might think about him if he didn't go. [3] O’Brien suffers
from an internal conflict: risk death in a war or risk social ostracism. He believes
that dodging the draft is the right thing to do. If he goes to war he would consider
himself a coward for not standing up for what he believes in. He ultimately
decides to heed the draft because he can't bear the weight of the shame of not
going. [4] O’Brien is a coward. Most people think of soldiers as courageous and
heroic but what is truly courageous is doing what you know is the right thing to do
even if no one else understands or agrees. It is an act of courage to stand up for
what you believe in even if it's not a popular position and will cause public
ridicule and scorn. By going to war O'Brien is doing what he believes is wrong
and that shows weak character. He may die so as not to die of shame, and, for
that, he is a coward. [5] In my life I have been both courageous and cowardly.
The times I’ve been a coward are the times I go along with what others expect of
me instead of doing what I want, like O'Brien. I have shown courage in the times
when I stand up against the crowd to defend a personal belief or someone who m
others are picking on.
33
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 17
Reading/
Listening
(30 minutes)
CE2.1.1, 2.1.2,
2.1.5, 2.1.6,
2.1.11, 2.1.12,
2.2.2, 2.3.3, 2.3.5,
2.3.7, 3.3.2
Introduce the article, One For The Team, by Richard Lacayo (See Appendix
#41a-d) with a discussion of the title. Teacher may ask, "What does the title
mean?" or "What does it mean to take ‘one for the team’?” Possible answers: To
get injured, to sacrifice an out, or to foul or get fouled. Discuss the sports
analogies and ask how the phrase can be applied to other areas such as
relationships. Teacher may ask, "What do you sacrifice for your friends or
family?" "Have you ever received a punishment in order to help a friend or
sibling?" Explain to students that the article they are about to read is about the
sacrifices Pat Tillman made for his country.
As the teacher reads the article aloud he or she might say something like: "As we
go through the unit we will be learning and using the strategies good readers use.
You probably use many of these strategies (See Appendix #62), sometimes even
without thinking about it, but we will pay attention and talk about them often.
These strategies include:
Ÿ asking questions
Ÿ visualizing
Ÿ determining importance
Ÿ synthesizing
Ÿ inferring
Ÿ making connections
I will explain each of these strategies and show how I would use the strategies as I
read, the Time magazine article, One For The Team, by Richard Lacayo."
Asking Questions means stopping while reading to ask questions like, "What is
the central idea of the article?" (The sacrifice people are willing to make in order
to serve their country and others.) "What motivated Pat Tillman to give up his
NFL career?" (He needed a new challenge.)
Visualizing means to make pictures in your mind about what's going on in the
story so you can understand the story better. I can see the night sky that Tillman
looked out at as he sat 200ft above the Sun Devil stadium on a light tower. The
sky at my parents' home in the country is full of stars and has always been awe
inspiring to me.
Making Connections means putting things together from what I know, other
stories I have read and/or what I have experienced and know about the world, to
help me understand what I read better. Pat Tillman reminded me of Tim O'Brien's
character LT. Jimmy Cross in The Things They Carried because they both seem to
have a willingness to sacrifice for others, and they have willingness to lead others.
In the article, it states that Tillman has an authoritative manner about him and LT
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Cross was the commander of his platoon.
Determining Importance: I think the most important points in this article are:
Ÿ Tillman's determination to face all challenges.
Ÿ Tillman's desire not to be in the spotlight.
Ÿ The sacrifices people are willing to make for others.
Inferring: From the concluding statement, "You're fortunate when you come
across a Pat Tillman ...But there are many Pat Tillman’s across the country. The
spirit of Pat Tillman is the heart of this country," I can infer that the author not
only respected Pat Tillman, but all men and women serving their country or
helping others in some way.
Synthesizing : After reading the article about Pat Tillman, I am able to
understand the sacrifices others have made for me. For example, my parents
sacrificed many things so that my siblings and I could go to college. Though we
may not always be aware of it at the time, many people sacrifice things for others.
The need to serve others seems to have motivated many people including Pat
Tillman.
Let students know that you will remind them to use these strategies as they read,
listen, and view. Tell them that you expect that they will use these strategies to
improve their comprehension.
OPTION: Create a Data Wall (Appendix #29) listing the strategies and have
students record their thoughts on sticky notes. Then have students share in small
groups and post ideas on data wall.
Writing
(25 minutes)
CE1.1.1, 1.1.2,
1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.2.1,
1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.2.4,
1.3.3, 1.3.4, 1.3.6,
1.4.4, 4.1.1, 4.1.4,
4.1.5, 4.2.5
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Everybody can be great... because
anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't
have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of
grace. A soul generated by love." (See Appendix # 42) To serve others often
means making sacrifices. Those sacrifices can be as minor as giving up some
time to help others or as profound as sacrificing one's life for his or her country.
Do teenagers today have a willingness to serve others? Why or why not? Write a
paragraph discussing your opinion and provide support from your own
experiences, the experiences of your peers, television, newspaper articles, or any
other relevant source. Be sure to clearly state your opinion and use strong
examples to support your ideas.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 18
Reading
Listening
Writing
(10 minutes)
CE1.1.4, 1.2.2,
1.2.3, 2.1.12,
2.2.2, 3.2.5, 3.4.1
Have students read lyrics and listen to the song, “Father and Son” by Cat Stevens.
(See Appendix #43)
Have students do a Quick Write (See Appendix # 27.) using one of these prompts
(See Appendix #43.)
• For 3 – 4 minutes, write as quickly as you can about all that this song
brings to mind for you.
•
Borrow any line and write as quickly and as specifically as you can all that
comes to mind, let the line lead your thinking.
•
Write about one of your own dreams or how your thoughts/plans may not
“mesh” with your parents’ plans
SHARE – Ask for Volunteers
Reading
Listening
(25 minutes)
CE3.1.2, 3.1.3,
3.1.8, 3.1.9, 3.2.1,
3.2.4
Coming Home ---Remind students that father and son are about to be reunited.
Odysseus has not seen his son for twenty years. Telemachus has been away from
Ithaca for a year. However, all is not well at the homestead. The suitors are
plotting to kill Telemachus to gain control of the throne.
Remind students that in “The Land of the Dead,” Odysseus was warned that he
would find his “house filled with trouble: insole nt men eating your livestock as
they court your lady.” (Foreshadowing)
Predict: What will Odysseus do, judging from the hero’s character traits and his
dealings with adversaries in previous episodes?
Teacher will read aloud the section of Book 16 beginning with…Athena’s
Appearance to the end.
Now, it did not escape the notice of Athena
that swineherd Eumaeus was going from the farm.
She approached the hut, appearing like a woman,
beautiful, tall, and skilled in making lovely things.
She stood just outside the entrance to the farm
and was visible to no one but Odysseus.
Telemachus did not see her face to face
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
200 [160]
or notice she was there. For when gods appear,
there's no way their form is perceptible to all.
But Odysseus saw her. So did the dogs, as well.
But they didn't bark. Instead, they crept away,
whimpering in fear, to the far side of the hut.
She signalled with her eyebrows. Lord Odysseus
noticed and went out of the hut, past the large wall
around the yard, and stood in front of her.
Then Athena spoke to him:
"Son of Laertes,
resourceful Odysseus, sprung from
Zeus,
210
Now is the time to speak to your own son—
make yourself known and don't conceal the facts,
so you two can plan the suitors' lethal fate,
then go together to the famous
city.
[170]
I won't be absent from you very long—
I'm eager for the battle."
Book 16 Available: http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey16.htm
Focus for Reading:
Think about the power of the relationship between Odysseus and Telemachus.
How does his relationship give strength to both Odysseus and Telemachus? Can
relationships help us survive in times of peril? What has Telemachus learned
about himself?
Also think about the Hero’s cycle – What part of the cycle is described in this
section?
Discuss answers after reading.
Writing
(20 minutes)
CE1.1.1, 1.1.2,
1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.1.5,
1.1.6, 1.1.7
Students independently use the Answer Plan to answer Focus Question #4 (See
Appendix #44.)
Book 16 “Return of the King”
Focus Question #4
Telemachus is unable to stand up to his mother’s suitors and defend his
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
father’s kingdom, his mother’s pride, or his entitlement to rule in his father’s
absence because he is still a boy; he hasn’t fully come of age. Once his father
returns, he appears to him in the disguise of an old man and acts as a mentor.
Telemachus learns some valuable life lessons from this father figure but it is
only after Odysseus reveals himself that Telemachus is able to find the
courage to fight and ultimately defeat the unruly guest and restore power
and the right to rule Ithaca to Odysseus. Why does it take the presence of his
father for him to fully mature?
Answer Plan
1. Restate the question using a strong start (lead).
2. Write a few sentences explaining Telemachus’ situation with the
suitors. How do they treat him? How does that make him feel?
3. Write a few sentences explaining the role the old man (Odysseus in
disguise) plays in Telemachus’ maturation. Use specific and detailed
information from the text.
4. Write a few sentences describing what happens to Telemachus after his
father reveal himself. How does he change? How do you know this?
5. Conclude with a statement on why you think the father/son relationship
changes Telemachus.
Possible Answer:
[1] Telemachus is only able to achieve maturation after his father returns home.
[2] His mother’s suitors have overrun the kingdom, depleted their provisions, and
treated his mother and him like slaves. Telemachus is extremely frustrated and
angry with the suitors but lacks the skills and characteristics necessary to defeat
them. [3] When Odysseus appears to his son in disguise he questions why he
hasn’t fought the suitors yet and adds, “I would rather die fighting in my own
house than see such disgraceful sights day after day.” To which Telemachus
replies that he is young and not strong enough. [4] Athena intercedes and tells
Odysseus to reveal his identity to his son. Once Telemachus accepts that his
father has returned, the two immediately begin plotting against the suitors.
Odysseus’ renowned cunning and strength give his son courage and he believes
that by following his father’s plan, they will win. [5] Because he trusts his
father’s wisdom, he is able to be counseled by him, he learns from him and grows
as a person as a result of his teachings; the two defeat the men together.
As time permits, have students share their answers.
Students will finish task for homework if not finished.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 19
Reading/
Writing /
Speaking
(25 minutes)
CE1.3.7, 1.1.2,
1.1.4, 2.1.1,
2.1.12, 2.2.2,
3.1.5, 3.2.4, 3.4.1
Inform students that they will be participating in an activity called Think - Write Pair - Share. (See Appendix # 45) In this activity they will be asked to think
about the title, Homeless Bound from a Time Magazine article. (Appendix # 46b)
You may want to put the title in the center of the chalk board and then think aloud
for students posing the following questions.
Possible questions to have students think about:
What ideas or concepts come to mind? What does it mean to be homeless? Are
there people who choose to be homeless? Who m do we think of when we think of
the homeless? Do you know of anyone who is homeless? What do you already
know about the homeless situation in the United States? How can one be
"homeless bound"?
1. After allowing students a minute or two to think about the questions ask
them to choose one question and respond to it in writing. Tell them to just
let their thoughts flow.
2. Put students into pairs. During the pair work. students should do the
following:
a. Face their partner, show interest, and listen actively. They can
even take notes.
b. Stay on topic.
c. Remember what their partner says in order to share it with the class
later.
d. Give reasons for any opinions.
e. Use the vocabulary and academic language that you have modeled.
f. Ask their partner questions that call for clarification and evidence.
Do you mean that?...Why do you think that?...Where does it say
that?... (Caution students to be respectful and polite in their
questioning of one another.)
3. After pair time, ask students to share with the class what their partner said.
This forces them to listen and also publicly validates what partners have
said.
4. After students have shared their responses with the class the teacher should
read the article, Homeless Bound, aloud. After reading the article, the
teacher should ask students what surprising information they learned.
What are possible solutions to the problem?
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
5. Before moving back into The Odyssey ask the students how does this
connect with Odysseus? How is he homeless?
Writing
(15 minutes)
CE2.2.1, 3.1.1,
3.1.4, 3.2.3
Reading
Speaking
Listening
(15 minutes)
CE1.2.3, 1.5.2,
1.5.3, 2.1.1, 2.1.9,
2.3.1, 2.3.7, 3.2.2,
4.1.5, 4.2.1
Author’s Craft: Irony
Point out how Homer, the author, has used craft techniques to write this epic. One
Literary technique that is in Book XXI is irony. Discuss irony with the class using
(See Appendix #47) as a guide. Have them write examples of all three types of
irony (verbal, dramatic and situational).
Readers’ Theater—Book XXI (See Appendix # 49a and #48a-j)
Tell the students that they are going to do a Readers’ Theater, a form of a play,
with Book XXI of the Odyssey. A Readers’ Theater is a presentation of text read
aloud expressively and dramatically by two or more readers (Young & Vardell,
1993). The message is expressed primarily through reader’s expressive and
interpretive readings rather than through actions, costumes or props. Reader’s
Theater performances add enjoyment to reading and help build fluency. Read
several of the parts from the Readers’ Theater modeling good expression,
prosody, and intonation.
Assign parts and give students scripts to practice for homework. The may
practice for the time that remains in the class period.
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 20
Writing
Read alo ud the poem Lineage by Margaret Walker (See Appendix #50)
(10 minutes)
CE1.1.4,
Have students do a Quick Write (See Appendix #27.) using one of these prompts
1.2.2, 1.2.3, 2.2.2,
• For 3 – 4 minutes, write as quickly as you can about all that this poem
3.2.5
brings to mind for you.
•
Borrow any line and write as quickly and as specifically as you can all that
comes to mind, let the line lead your thinking.
•
Write about your grandmother or another family member– How are you
like them?
SHARE – Ask for Volunteers
Reading
Speaking
Listening
(40 minutes)
CE1.2.3, 1.5.1,
1.5.2, 1.5.3, 2.1.1,
2.1.11, 3.1.2,
3.1.4, 3.2.2, 3.2.5,
4.2.4
Readers’ Theater Book XXI (See Appendix # 48a-j)
Have students perform Book XXI. Remind them to listen for examples of irony in
this section.
(Also see Appendix 49a for Readers’ Theater Directions)
Discussion--- What do you predict will happen next? Review the episode, looking
for clues in what Odysseus says and does. Support your answer with examples
from the text.
Possible Answer: Odysseus will try to kill the suitors. Clues:
• Bolting of the doors
• The removal of the suitor’s weapons
• The remaining arrows in Odysseus’s quiver
• His statement “the hour has come to cook their lordships’ mutton”
After reading have them complete a bookmark for this section of the epic (See
Appendix #17a-b)
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ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 21
Speaking
(55 minutes)
CE1.2.3,
1.3.1, 1.4.2,
1.4.5, 1.5.1,
1.5.3, 2.1.9,
2.2.3, 2.3.3,
2.3.7, 3.1.2,
3.1.3, 3.4.3,
4.1.1
Warm up: Ask students to reflect on books 16 through 21 of the Odyssey, jotting down
main events. Next have volunteers share their ideas with the rest of the class. (See
Appendix #49b-d.)
Materials Required: construction paper markers, crayons or colored pencils, scissors,
plain white paper, glue
Activity Time: One 45- minute period
Concepts Taught: Understanding sequence and main events in a story
Story boards are a great way to evaluate student's understanding of important events in
a novel, either read as a class, or independently. The students enjoy the artistic aspect as
well! (See Appendix #46a for an example.)
1. Distribute a piece of regular-sized construction paper to each student or group.
2. Have the students fold the paper as many times as you wish to create "cells" for
each event. (I recommend 16 for this section of the Odyssey)
3. Direct students to list the main events of the section they have just read. (It
helps if students first list these events on a sheet of paper—this will assist in
avoiding confusion later.)
4. Students will then recreate each event from the Odyssey section, in order, by
drawing an appropriate picture in each cell and write a caption of the event,
explaining what happened. (This can be done directly on the construction paper,
but some students will prefer using pieces of white lined paper, which are then
glued beneath each picture within the cells of the construction paper.)
Display the story boards in the hallway for other students to see!
42
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 22
Reading
Listening
Writing
(10 minutes)
CE1.1.4, 1.2.2,
1.2.3, 2.1.12,
2.2.2, 3.2.5
Have students read lyrics and listen to the song, Dance With My Father by Luther
Vandross (See Appendix #51a-b)
Have students do a Quick Write (See Appendix # 27.) using one of these prompts
• For 3 – 4 minutes, write as quickly as you can about all that this song
brings to mind for you.
•
Borrow any line and write as quickly and as specifically as you can all that
comes to mind, let the line lead your thinking.
•
Write about someone in your own life that you would like to have one last
special “Dance” with.
SHARE – Ask for Volunteers
Viewing
(25 minutes)
CE2.1.9, 2.1.11,
3.1.1
Show video clips of Books XXII through XXIV from the movie The Odyssey. As
they view this clip, ask students to think about how the director captured the
images on the screen.
Written text for books XXII – XXIV are available at the following site:
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey22.htm (Book XXII)
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey23.htm (Book XXIII)
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey24.htm (Book XXIV)
Authors have to rely on words to capture and create those same images. They use
a technique called IMAGERY (See Appendix #52) When he/she is successful the
reader can visualize the screen in their heads. The words create the movie that we
individually view in our heads. We have talked about visualizing the text earlier in
this unit. (Teacher may refer to Appendix # 62.)
Focus for Viewing : While you view this movie clip, jot down 4 to 6 moments
(Snapshots) that left a vivid impression. Share thoughts and ideas after viewing.
43
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Writing /
Craft Lesson: Symbolism
Speaking
(20 minutes)
Discuss Symbolism with the class using (See Appendix#53a-b) as a guide.
CE3.1.1, 3.2.2,
3.2.4
Point out the following symbols in the Odyssey:
Odysseus’ Bow: symbolizes the superiority of the king – the suitors cannot string
the bow illustrating that they are not capable of leading Ithaca – Telemachus
comes close to stringing it indicating that will soon be able to lead Ithaca
The Sea: Stands for the sea of life - It is a recurring symbol in the epic – it
represents man’s journey through life with all it victories and heartbreaks
Ithaca – symbolizes Home
Class Discussion:
At the end of the epic – Odysseus’ bed plays a big part in the story – It is crucial
in helping to assure Penelope of Odysseus’ identity. Reread the description of the
bed. What does the bed symbolize? (See Appendix # 54)
Possible Answer: The strength and endurance of their love.
It is a pillar of their relationship. This relationship is responsible for Odysseus
returning home.
44
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 23
Writing
(15 minutes)
CE1.3.1, 1.3.2,
1.3.4
Mini Lesson --- What is persuasive writing?
Review characteristics using Appendix # 55.
Be should to emphasize the following needed parts:
1. Open with a statement of position or opinion.
2. Explain your point of view in a clear logical way (use specific examples),
3. If possible, discuss the issue in a broader context or evaluate the
implications or complications.
4. Address what others may say to refute your point of view.
5. Present a Counter Argument.
6. End with a strong conclusion that summarizes or reinforces your position.
Writing
(10 minutes)
CE1.1.1, 1.1.2
Review the following ideas with the students before assigning the timed writing
task (See Appendix # 56)
Mini Lesson --ACT Offers these Tips for Writing Timed Essays
•
Pace yourself
o Do some planning before you start to write.
o Do a final check.
o It is unlikely that you will have time to draft, revise and recopy.
•
Prewrite
o Don’t plunge right in.
o Before writing make sure you understand the prompt (REREAD
IT).
o Decide how you are going to answer.
o Jot down your ideas (a list of ideas, reasons, examples to explain
your point of view).
o Think about the opposite point of view – how will you refute their
argument.
o Think about how to organize your ideas.
•
Write
o At the beginning make sure the reader knows you understand the
issue
o Explain your point of view in a clear logical way.
o If possible, discuss the issue in a broader context or evaluate the
45
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
implications or complications.
o Address what others may say to refute your point of view.
o Present a counter argument.
o Use specific examples.
o Vary the structure of your sentences.
o Use varied and precise words.
o Use transitions.
o DO NOT wander off the topic.
o End with a strong conclusion that summarizes or reinforces your
position.
•
Review Your Essay
o Save time to reread.
o Correct grammar, usage, spelling, punctuation errors.
o Make corrections between lines not in margins
46
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Timed Writing Time Writing Task: Persuasive Writing
(30 minutes)
CE1.1.1, 1.1.2,
Like the ACT writing test, two different perspectives on the issue are provided.
1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.1.5, Students may choose to support one of these perspectives or to develop a response
1.1.6, 1.1.7, 1.1.8, based on their own perspective.
1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3,
1.3.4, 1.3.5, 1.3.6, They will be given 30 minutes to response to the prompt. The ir essay will be
1.3.9, 3.2.5
evaluated on the evidence it gives of their ability to do the following:
•
•
•
•
•
express judgments by taking a position on the issue in the writing prompt
maintain a focus on the topic throughout the essay
develop a position by using logical reasoning and by supporting your ideas
organize ideas in a logical way
use language clearly and effectively according to the rules of standard
written English
Two rubrics are provided in the appendix to use for evaluation (See
Appendix #57 - holistic scoring guide) and (See Appendix # 58a-d - analytical
scoring guide s).
Prompt: (Appendix #59)
In Book XXII, Odysseus takes revenge and totally cleanses his
house of his enemies. He spares no one. Some people feel his
revenge was justified based on how long he had suffered and the
havoc that the suitors and servants had imposed upon his home.
Others say his revenge was not justified. They state that his
response was too severe. They believe some mercy and forgiveness
was warranted. In your opinion, was Odysseus justified in his
revenge?
In your essay, take a position on this question. You may write
about either one of the two points of view given, or you may
present a different point of view on this question. Use specific
reasons and examples to support your position.
Collect the Papers for tomorrow’s lesson
47
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 24
Writing
(55 minutes)
CE1.1.3, 1.1.4,
1.1.5, 1.1.6, 1.1.7,
1.1.8, 1.2.4, 1.3.1,
1.3.2, 1.3.3, 1.3.4,
1.3.5, 1.3.6, 1.3.9,
1.5.5, 4.1.1, 4.1.4,
4.1.5
Revision of Persuasive Timed Writing (Writing on Demand)
Today the students will have an opportunity to examine their piece of writing and
after guided practice rewrite their papers.
Pass out papers from yesterday along with the two ACT rubrics. (Appendix
#57/58a-c) Using a student paper model how to access the writing. Read the paper
aloud and together using the analytical rubric highlight where the paper falls in
each of the categories.
Example:
Score
Task
Position Complexity Development
Ideas
6
5
4
3
Clear
Understanding
Clear
Understanding
Understanding
Some
Understanding
Takes
Position
Offers
Critical
Context for
Discussion
Takes
Position
Offers Broad
Context for
Discussion
Examines
different
perspectives or
Evaluates
implications
complications
or
Responds to
counter-arguments
Partially
evaluates
implications
complications
Or
Counterarguments
Takes
Position
Offers Some
Context for
Discussion
Some response to
counterarguments
Takes
Position
Does Not
Offer
Context for
Discussion
Acknowledges
Counter- argument
but brief or
unclear
Ample
Specific
Logical
Elaborated
Specific
Logical
Most ideas are
elaborated
General statements
Specific reasons,
examples, details
Adequate
Some specific
reasons, examples,
details
Limited
Repetitious
Limited specific
reasons and examples
48
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Together as a class, brainstorm what would need to be done to improve the piece.
Rewrite the piece on the overhead.
Next have the students read their own papers and highlight where it rates in each
of the categories. The students should then get with a peer. They will read their
papers to each other and offer suggestions to improve each piece.
They may use the remaining time to revise, edit and write a final copy of the piece
that will be accessed by the teacher using the same rubrics. They will complete the
assignment for homework if not finished in class.
This Lesson May Take Two DAYS !!!
49
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 25
Listening
/Speaking
(10 minutes)
CE2.1.1, 2.2.2
“The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King”
Introduce the movie “The Lord of the Rings, Return of the King” by telling the
students that they will be viewing a movie where the characters experience an
odyssey. Explain that “The Return of the King” is part 3 in a 3 part series and
they will only be viewing portions of the movie. Give them Background
information on the plot. You may decide to have the student share what they
know about the series.
Brief Plot Summary:
The final battle for middle-earth begins. Frodo and Sam, led by Gollum, continue
their dangerous mission toward the fires of Mount Doom in order to destroy the
One Ring. Aragorn struggles to fulfill his legacy as he leads his outnumbered
followers against the growing power of the Dark Lord Sauron, so that the ringbearer may complete his quest.
Viewing:
(20-30 minutes)
CE2.1.7, 2.1.10,
2.1.12, 2.3.2
Focus for Viewing:
Give the students the following questions and tell them that this is what they are
expected to be able to discuss and write on after the viewing.
1. How are Frodo and Odysseus alike and unlike?
2. How is the mission of the fellowship like an Odyssey?
3. Why does Frodo have trouble readjusting to home life after the
mission? Compare to Odysseus’ homecoming.
View the first 20-30 minutes of the movie and the last 20-30
Writing
(10-15 minutes)
CE1.2.2, 2.2.3
Have students briefly journal or do a quick write in response to the role of will
and destiny in “The Lord of the Rings” and The Odyssey. Do the characters
Frodo and Odysseus have the ability to control what is going on around them?
What role do will and destiny play in their odyssey? Have you ever been in a
situation that was beyond your control? Explain.
50
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
Day 26
Reading/
Writing
CE1.2.4, 1.1.5,
2.3.2, 2.3.5, 2.3.6
Viewing
Speaking
CE2.1.1, 2.1.7,
2.1.10
Reflecting on Reading and Writing: An important goal of this unit is for
students to reflect on their growth as readers and writers. As readers, listeners and
viewers, students have been encouraged to engage in self-assessment while
monitoring their comprehension and using a variety of strategies to overcome
difficulties when constructing and conveying meaning. Have students return to
their reading/viewing logs to reflect on the variety and diversity of their reading
and viewing habits. Have them answer the following question, “What have I
learned about myself from what I have chosen to read and view on my own during
this unit?” Also have students return to their portfolios or collections of writing –
prompt writing, Quick Writes, answers to Focus Questions, Think-Write-PairShare notes, Response to Literature, etc. – to assess strengths, weaknesses and
development as a writer. Have students reflect on two pieces of unit writing that
represent best effort.
OPTIONAL CULMINATING PROJECT
My Own Odyssey
We have been on a journey throughout this unit. We began with Homer in 800 BC
and his story of Odysseus’ quest to be reunited with his family. We realized how
important relationships were to his survival (son and wife). Events throughout the
epic shaped who he was and who he became.
In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, soldiers survived the war by
forming relationships. They wrestled with the task of finding out who they really
were and what they believed in. The carried physical items like photos, supplies,
and letters some that metaphorically represented the weight and burden of war or
a long distant relationship. In Big and Rich’s song, we learned that some of the
relationships that were formed in Vietnam have endured since November 8th ,
1965. Soldiers carry the hardships of war long after it ends.
Next, we are going to view a photo essay by Kevin Sites. He created it about our
soldiers serving in Afghanistan today. He modeled this project after the novel, The
Things They Carried. He went to Afghanistan and photographed what these
soldiers were carrying.
51
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006
Learning Life’s Lessons through Literature - ELA High School Unit – Macomb ISD
Unit 9.4 – Relationships - Teaching Plan
http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs2962
Focus for Viewing: As you view the photo essay, think about the significance of
the objects they carry. What relationships or events do they represent? What do
the objects tell us about the person who carries it?
After Viewing: Discuss the Photos---- Anything surprise you? Which impacted
you the most? Why?
Writing
CE1.1.1, 1.1.2,
1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.1.5,
1.1.6, 1.1.7, 1.1.8,
1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3,
1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.5,
1.3.9, 1.5.1, 1.5.2,
1.5.3, 1.5.4
Assigning The Project (Appendix #60)
Your Quest: Create a Photo Essay Highlighting your Educational Odyssey
You will collect and arrange a series of photographs, drawings or symbols of
the significant people and events in your school quest from kindergarten to
grade nine. You may create a PowerPoint and music is optional. You MUST
write about each photograph/drawing explaining how that relationship or
event helped shape who you are today. Do you have an abyss? Sometimes it is
the hard times that have the biggest impact on who we are or who we
become. Don’t be afraid to share the Grand Moments and the Sad Moments.
Minimum: One Photograph/Drawing each grade Kindergarten to ninth
grade (Total of 10). Written explanations for each item.
Review Rubric (Appendix # 61 )
The CALL: Photo Essay Due on ______
Have fun! Be Creative!
Expressing
CE2.1.10
Have Students present their photo essays to the class. Collect or View Photo
Essays – Evaluate using Rubric (Appendix #61)
See Appendix #63 for Additional Resources and Appendix #64a-b for
Additional Linking Texts – Poetry.
52
ELA High School Unit-Teaching Plan 9.4
©Macomb Intermediate School District 2006