TE 4391
Kristin Spradley
Mini Pre-During-Post Literacy and Content Area Lesson
Title: A Separate Peace & Poetry
Introduction: A Separate Peace has many themes, one of which is evaluating life and
death. This lesson looks at the poem “To An Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman
and how it relates to this theme. This poem was chosen because: a) students will
practice evaluating perspective, and b)form their own opinions about the meaning
the life, and c)review literary terms such as imagery, metaphors, alliteration and
rhyme scheme. This mini lesson is for a tenth-grade English class.
Goals: Encourage students to think beyond the literal meaning of text and focus on
figurative meanings. Promote critical thinking about the meaning of life and the
legacy they hope to leave behind.
Standards: SHOW-ME and MO-STEP
Communication Arts Standard 2: Reading and evaluating fiction, poetry and drama.
Communication Arts Standard 4: Writing formally (such as reports, narratives,
essays) and informally (such as outlines, notes)
MO Goal: Students will demonstrate within and integrate across all content areas
the ability to
5. Comprehend and evaluate written, visual and oral presentations and works
6. Discover and evaluate patterns and relationships in information, ideas and
structures.
KUD
Know: The definition of imagery, metaphors, alliteration, and rhyme scheme and be
able to recognize examples of each.
Understand: People remember public figures of great promise who die young, but
long-lasting fame depends more on many great accomplishments.
Do: Think about the meaning of life and what it means to leave a legacy and write a
elegy about someone they admire.
Materials: “To An Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman (1896) Kegan Paul, Trench,
Treubner & Company. Readability: Flesch Kincaid Grade Level: 10.2.
The students have already read A Separate Peace by John Knowles (1959) Scribner.
Readability: Flesch Kincaid Grade Level: 10.1.
Literacy Activities:
Pre reading/writing
- Vocabulary Self-Awareness Chart
- SQPL – Student Questions for Purposeful Learning
- Vocab Card – Frayer Model
During reading/writing
- Directed Reading-Thinking Activity
- Fish bowl
TE 4391
Kristin Spradley
Post reading/writing
- Questioning the Author
- RAFT
Overview of the Mini Lesson
Students will come to this lesson having already finished A Separate Peace. In an
effort to combine various types of literature in one unit, they will be reading the
poem “To an Athlete Dying Young.” Activities in this mini lesson require students to
learn vocabulary, participate in class discussions, make predictions, and respond
creatively in writing. These activities will take place in the classroom and hopefully
lead to discussions in the lunch room and at home.
Pre reading/writing phase
At the start of this lesson, students will get out their Vocabulary Self-Awareness
Chart for this unit. They will add the words “elegy” and “laurel wreath” and
complete the chart. The rationale for this activity is to highlight what they know
about the words and what they still need to learn. Students will do a Turn-and-Talk
with a neighbor to share their knowledge. As a whole class, students will share their
responses and I will make sure everyone has a correct example and definition on
his/her chart.
The next pre reading/writing activity is the Frayer Model Vocabulary Card. The
students will be given four words: metaphor, alliteration, imagery and rhyme
scheme. After instruction, they will complete these cards with a partner giving the
definition, an illustration, examples and nonexamples for each word. As a whole
class, responses will be reviewed for each word and students given the opportunity
to update their cards.
Next students will be given a prompt to respond to using the SQPL strategy. The
prompt is the big idea that I want them to think about and be able to discuss after
reading the poem. The prompt is “If a famous person dies young, his or her life’s
accomplishments are exaggerated by the public.” The rational for this type of
activity is to increase the students’ level of engagement and interest. The students
will pair up and generate two questions they would like answered that relate to the
statement. The pairs will share with the whole class and their questions will be
written on the board. The students are now ready to read the poem’s title.
During Reading/Writing Phase
For the during reading/writing phase, the students will participate in a Directed
Reading-Thinking activity. They will receive a handout that asks them to make
predictions about the poem. They should first only read the title of the poem and
brainstorm prediction questions. Then the students will continue reading the poem,
stopping at three designated points to think about what they had read so far. They
will write predictions at each point. The rationale of this activity to encourage
TE 4391
Kristin Spradley
students to make predictions, summarize the text, and cite evidence from their
reading. After students have finished reading the poem, there will be a short all class
discussion about their predictions.
The next activity will be a Fishbowl Discussion. Students will look back at the
prompt on the board: “If a famous person dies young, his or her life’s
accomplishments are exaggerated by the public.” The students will first pair up to
exchange ideas on this topic and to answer some of the questions generated by the
SQPL. The students will write down their responses. Then five students at a time
will participate in a fishbowl discussion about this topic. The students not in the
fishbowl will take notes. Other topics will include the examples of metaphors,
imagery, alliteration and rhyme scheme. The students can add these examples to
their Vocab Cards. The rationale behind this activity is to promote student-tostudent interactions and better listening.
Post Reading/Writing Phase
At this point the students are comfortable with the content of the poem, but may
have more questions about some of its meaning. The students will do the
Questioning the Author activity. To initiate discussion, I will put up several
prompts on the board to start discussion such as: “What is the author trying to say?”
and “What is the author’s message in section 2?” The rationale behind this activity is
to have the students analyze the author’s purpose in writing.
After this activity the students are ready for a short RAFT writing assignment. The
prompt will be:
Role = a friend
Audience = your peers
Format = elegy using metaphors, imagery, alliteration and rhyme scheme
Topic=someone you admire
The rationale behind this assignment is for students to recall, clarify and question
what they know and what they wonder about in their lives, as well as practice
creating and using figurative language in their writing.
Summary Statement
Through these activities, the students will have a framework for learning
vocabulary, applying literary terms to text and applying poem concepts to their
everyday lives. All of these activities are designed to promote engagement, fun
learning opportunities and introspection.
Note: Instructional activities follow
To An Athlete Dying Young
by A. E. Housman
1
The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.
2
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.
3
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:
Now you
Of lads
Runners
And the
4
will
that
whom
name
not swell the rout
wore their honours out,
renown outran
died before the man.
So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.
And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.
Vocabulary Self-Awareness Chart
Word
elegy
+
+
Laurel wreath
+
√
-
Example
My father gave the elegy at my uncle’s funeral.
Olympic athletes are crowned with a wreath made
of laurel.
Definition
Nice remarks shared in memory of a lost person
at a funeral service.
A plant used to make crowns for the winners of
events. A symbol of glory and victory.
Procedure:
1. Examine the list of words you have written in the first column.
2. Put a “+” next to each word you know well and for which you can write an accurate example and definition. Your definition and example
must relate to the unit of study.
3. Place a “√” next to any words for which you can write either a definition or an example, but not both.
4. Put a “-“ next to words that are new to you.
Note: This chart will be used throughout the unit. By the end of the unit you should have the entire chart completed. Because you will be
revising this chart, write in pencil.
Definition:
Illustration:
The repetition of identical or similar consonant
sounds, normally at the beginnings of words.
Alliteration
Examples:
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Carolyn carelessly kicked cauliflower in the
kitchen by the kitten.
Frayer Model Vocabulary Card
Non-Examples:
Peter selected vegetables for our dinner.
Carolyn stepped on the green beans.
Definition:
Illustration:
Descriptive language
The images in a text.
The sensory details of a text.
Imagery
Examples:
Non-Examples:
On a starry winter night in late July….
One night in July…
He fumed and charged like an angry bull.
He walked up to us.
The music coursed through us, shaking our bodies
as if it came from within us.
Frayer Model Vocabulary Card
The music was loud.
Definition:
Illustration:
A comparison without using like, as or than
Metaphor
Examples:
Non-Examples:
Her hair is straw.
Her face was white as snow.
Ideas are food.
She laughs like a hyena.
My brother is a couch potato.
Frayer Model Vocabulary Card
Definition:
Illustration:
The pattern of rhymes used in a poem.
A
B
C
B
Examples:
The fair breeze blew, (a)
the white foam flew (a)
The itsy bitsy spider (a)
Went up the water spout (b)
Down came the rain (c)
And washed the spider out (b)
Frayer Model Vocabulary Card
Rhyme
Scheme
Non-Examples:
He wore a white shirt that was ripped along
the pocket and left elbow.
DR-TA for (title): “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman
Prediction questions:
Who is the speaker?
What kind of athlete was the person?
How young was he/she?
What did he/she die of?
Using the title, your own background knowledge, and any other contextual clues, make your predictions.
Before reading:
The athlete died before his/her time
During reading: Section 1
The athlete was well liked by the townspeople.
During reading: Section 2
The narrator thinks the athlete is smart to die young because his legacy will last.
During Reading: Section 3
The narrator is happy for the athlete dying young because he will always hear the cheering and never
know if someone broke his record.
After reading: Section 4
With the trophy on his tomb, he will always be remembered for his accomplishments.