Primary Type: Lesson Plan
Status: Published
This is a resource from CPALMS (www.cpalms.org) where all educators go for bright ideas!
Resource ID#: 40389
"A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry - Inference and
Evidence
Students will read O. Henry's "A Retrieved Reformation" and be able to analyze elements of the story, such as foreshadowing and inference, by
identifying supporting details in a text. Students will be able to analyze the theme of the text and, in response, write an objective summary with
textual evidence.
Subject(s): English Language Arts
Grade Level(s): 7
Intended Audience: Educators
Suggested Technology: Document Camera,
Computer for Presenter, Internet Connection, LCD
Projector, Speakers/Headphones, Adobe Acrobat
Reader
Instructional Time: 3 Hour(s) 45 Minute(s)
Resource supports reading in content area: Yes
Freely Available: Yes
Keywords: inference, evidence, analyze, O. Henry, theme, foreshadowing, Sherlock Holmes, question, support, A
Retrieved Reformation
Resource Collection: CPALMS Lesson Plan Development Initiative
ATTACHMENTS
Extended Constructed Response Questions Sample with Checklist and Comments A Retrieved Reformation.pdf
Question Answer Evidence Worksheet A Retrieved Reformation.pdf
Question Answer Evidence Worksheet Modified for Accommodation A Retrieved Reformation.pdf
Question Answer Evidence Worksheet Modified for Extension A Retrieved Reformation.pdf
Question Answer Evidence Worksheet Teacher Guide A Retrieved Reformation.pdf
A Retrieved Reformation by O Henry.pdf
Extended Constructed Response Questions A Retrieved Reformation.pdf
Extended Constructed Response Questions Blank with Checklist A Retrieved Reformation.pdf
Extended Constructed Response Questions Sample A Retrieved Reformation.pdf
Extended Constructed Response Questions Sample with Checklist A Retrieved Reformation.pdf
LESSON CONTENT
Lesson Plan Template: General Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives: What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?
Students will be able to:
analyze elements of a story and how they interact by identifying supporting details in a text.
analyze the theme of a text and, in response, write an informative text that examines the topic and conveys ideas, concepts and information through the selection,
organization, and analysis of relevant content.
create a well-supported response by determining applicable selections from a text as evidence.
Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?
page 1 of 4 Students should understand the following concepts and/or be able to use the following skills:
Determining main idea/relevant details.
Making inferences using evidence from the text.
Understanding foreshadowing and identifying an author's use of foreshadowing in a text.
What a theme is and how to use evidence in the text to determine a theme.
Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?
How is the idea of inference related to Sherlock Holmes?
Where can you see the foreshadowing clues that O. Henry gave throughout the story?
How did each of the examples of foreshadowing connect as the story progressed?
How does foreshadowing prepare readers for a surprise ending?
How can details make a response more reliable?
Can some support be better than others? Why or why not? How do you determine which is better?
How do details help a reader determine the essential message or theme of a text?
Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?
The "Hook" and Activation of Prior Knowledge:
1. Have students watch a short clip from the movie Sherlock Holmes in which he displays his skills of deduction, based on inference. Take note of when he comments,
"The little details are, by far, the most important." Note: Teachers might need to prepare the clip so it shows after the advertisement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElH3aVXLZoo
2. Ask students, "How is the idea of inference related to Sherlock Holmes?"
3. Ask students, "How can details make a response more reliable?"
4. Explain that today students will be practicing how to answer inference questions by supporting answers with details from the text in order to make an answer more
reliable.
5. Today students will read "A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry in class. O. Henry is famous for surprise endings, so it will be important to look for details based on
inference. O. Henry often uses foreshadowing in his writing and students will want to look for foreshadowing clues to make inferences about what might happen
next in the text.
Guided Practice: What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance?
Introducing the Activity
1. Today students are going to read "A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry.
2. Teacher assigns students to read aloud the text as a class. The teacher pauses the reading to have students predict as the teacher feels comfortable with students.
For further guidance on where to locate positions to pause for predictions, see the evidence quotes and page numbers on the "Question, Answer, Evidence
Worksheet - Teacher Guide" to draw their attention to certain passages. For additional support during reading, pause at least twice per page to chunk the story into
smaller sections. After each chunk, allow students to write down a one to two sentence summary on a blank sheet of paper before resuming the story. These notes
should help them when they get to the "Question, Answer, Evidence Worksheet" after reading. The same pause could be used for both the predictions and
summaries.
3. After reading, the teacher asks the question, "Where can you see the foreshadowing clues that O. Henry gave throughout the story?"
4. Next the teacher asks the question, "How did each of the examples of foreshadowing connect as the story progressed?"
5. Lastly, the teacher asks the question, "How does foreshadowing prepare readers for a surprise ending?"
6. After this discussion, the teacher provides guided practice on the first question on the "Question, Answer, Evidence" worksheet with the students by doing a "Think
Aloud." A Think Aloud is when the teacher will explain his/her thought process in providing a sample answer, and sample detail/quote for the "evidence" section.
(The teacher may use the "Question, Answer, Evidence Worksheet - Teacher Guide" as a resource for this.)
Student Actions during the Activity
Students read aloud, when assigned, to practice fluency.
Students follow along while reading, predicting periodically at teacher discretion.
Students create summaries of smaller "chunked" sections of the story to ensure comprehension and to provide notes for the after reading activity.
Students will follow along while the teacher does a "Think Aloud" as s/he thinks through the question, answer, and evidence on the first question of the worksheet.
After the teacher completes guided practice, students work in pairs and independently to complete the worksheet.
Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the
lesson?
After the teacher-guided first question, students will work with their table partner to complete the next two questions.
Then students will work independently to complete the rest of the worksheet.
Expected Student Products and/or Performance:
Students will complete the entire worksheet as evidence of the fact that they are able to identify key details in the text that support a response.
Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?
1. Prior to the summative assessment, students will share their answers and evidence from the worksheet with a group of four students, and defend their work.
Students should be able to create a well-supported response by determining applicable selections from a text as evidence, and modifying views when new, valid
information is shared in discussion.
2. The teacher wraps up the lesson by sharing answers s/he heard while walking around monitoring conversations. Note that students may have different answers,
but more than one may be correct. Wrap up questions, "Can some support be better than others? Why or why not? How do you determine which is better?" Let
students share responses to the question through a whole class discussion. Their answers should include both the answer, and the evidence from the text.
3. To prepare students more specifically for the Extended Response: If the teacher feels that students might have trouble drafting a response, teachers could select
one of the prompts from the summative assessment and model how to draft the response. The teacher may even consider using the Extended Constructed
Response Questions Sample with Checklist and Comments to walk the students through the components that should be in the response. Students would then
respond to the second response on their own, "What is the theme of 'A Retrieved Reformation'?"
Summative Assessment
After the formative assessment and closure wrap up discussion, students will independently respond to one of two Extended Constructed Response prompts related to
the passage (students can also use this handout that includes a checklist), "A Retrieved Reformation."
page 2 of 4 What do you think the title "A Retrieved Reformation" means? How is the title appropriate for this text?
What is the theme of "A Retrieved Reformation"?
Included in their paragraph response must be an answer and evidence (specific details and at least one quote) to back up their response.
See all of the Extended Constructed Response resource documents to further understand expectations and see examples:
Sample
Sample with Checklist
Sample with Checklist and Comments
Formative Assessment
1. After reading "A Retrieved Reformation," students will work in pairs to complete two questions on the "Question, Answer, Evidence Worksheet" worksheet, including
answer and evidence.
2. Next, students will work independently to complete the remainder of the "Question, Answer, Evidence" worksheet to practice finding text-based evidence to support
their answers.
3. Students will share their answers in a group of four students to compare and defend answers. Students should be able to create a well-supported response by
determining applicable selections from the text as evidence, and modifying views when new, valid information is shared in discussion.
Data Collection Method
First, the teacher will monitor student work through discussion with table partners on the two questions from the worksheet that are to be done in partners. Any
errors in thought, or lack of evidence, should be addressed.
Second, after the students have completed the entire worksheet, as they share all of their responses in their groups of four, the teacher will monitor and note answers
to ensure text-based support is being used.
Lastly, after students share their answers with their peers, the teacher will collect the completed worksheets to provide specific feedback to help students prepare for
the summative assessment.
Use of Performance Data
Based on the data collected while monitoring, the teacher will focus on groups who are not providing evidence. The teacher will remind students to find a particular
passage that supports the point they are making. Periodically, the teacher will pause at a group of four and ask where they found the evidence, if a student is not
naturally bringing it up.
Feedback to Students
1. After the teacher collects the worksheets, the teacher should check the answers to ensure students are giving viable answers and are supporting the answers with
specific evidence from the text. (See the Question, Answer, Evidence Worksheet for examples of strong answers.) Teachers should highlight great student answers,
especially in relation to great examples of evidence pulled from the text to support an answer, and to make positive comments, like "Great example" or "Wonderful
supporting details."
2. If students have incorrect responses or are lacking specific detail, make comments and questions off to the side, such as "Where did you find this evidence in the
text?" or "This quote seems to support something other than your answer," or "This quote needs some explaining. How exactly does it tie to your answer?"
Teachers can also suggest students look back at a particular section of the text to lead them in the right direction.
Delivery of Feedback
Teacher will monitor discussion by walking around the room, noting conversations where students are using text-based support to defend their position. If a student is
not naturally including text-based support, the teacher should pause at a group of four and ask the student where he/she found the evidence to back up his/her
position. If the point is too vague, ask further prompting questions to lead them to a more specific response, such as "Where specifically in the story do you see that?
Point it out to me," or "How did you come to that conclusion?" Address any reoccurring problems to the whole class during the Closure "wrap up" section if necessary.
ACCOMMODATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Accommodations:
On the worksheet, provide answers for students, but require them to find the evidence.
On the worksheet, provide the evidence for the students, but require them to formulate their own answers.
See the Question, Answer, Evidence Worksheet - Modified for Accommodations.
Extensions:
On the worksheet, leave the last three "question, answer, evidence" boxes blank. Require students to create questions, in addition to determining the answers and
evidence. See the Question, Answer, Evidence Worksheet - Modified for Extensions.
Have the entire worksheet activity discussion-based. Start with pairs who will question each other using the worksheet, and switch off answering aloud. The person
who asks the question does not answer the question, but is responsible for writing down the other student's response. Students switch roles with every question. After
completing the worksheet, the pairs meet up with another pair, and compare answers, debating which answer and evidence is the best support.
Read O. Henry's "After Twenty Years" and compare/contrast literature features in each story, using support from the texts as evidence. A copy of the text can be
found at Project Gutenberg.
Suggested Technology: Document Camera, Computer for Presenter, Internet Connection, LCD Projector, Speakers/Headphones, Adobe Acrobat Reader
Additional Information/Instructions
By Author/Submitter
This story is 2,817 words. The first 900 words have a Lexile of 900. Although this falls in the 4th-5th text complexity grade band, when taking into account the qualitative
page 3 of 4 measures and reader and task considerations for this text, it is appropriately complex for students in grade 7.
SOURCE AND ACCESS INFORMATION
Contributed by: Katelyn Moore
Name of Author/Source: Katelyn Moore
District/Organization of Contributor(s): Seminole
Is this Resource freely Available? Yes
Access Privileges: Public
License: CPALMS License - no distribution - non commercial
Related Standards
Name
LAFS.7.RL.1.1:
LAFS.7.RL.1.2:
LAFS.7.RL.1.3:
LAFS.7.W.1.2:
LAFS.7.W.3.9:
Description
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn
from the text.
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an
objective summary of the text.
Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the
selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies
such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings),
graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
c. Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or
character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or
alter history”).
b. Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g. “Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims
in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the
claims”).
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