MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Curriculum and Instruction
Division of Language Arts/Reading
English Language Arts (ELA) Exemplar Lesson
GRADE 12 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON – Teacher Copy
Quarter 1, Week 8: 10/08/12 – 10/12/12
Learning Objectives
The goal of this exemplar lesson is to provide students an opportunity to explore targeted passages of complex text. Through teacher Read Alouds,
audio listening, student independent reading and rereading, and scaffolded discussion of text-dependent questions, students will recognize theme,
vocabulary, and literary features from careful reading and rereading of texts. Vocabulary is learned from context and writing aids deeper
understanding of text. The lesson culminates in an evidentiary writing activity. Teachers may need to further scaffold the activities to address
individual students’ needs depending on the intent of the lesson and specific learners’ needs.
Rationale: This lesson explores the nature of true nobility as described by the Wife of Bath, in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Students
will conduct a close, analytic reading to complete the independent summative writing assessment: What moral (life lesson) is the old woman trying
to teach the knight?
Text Title: The Wife of Bath’s Tale - Geoffrey Chaucer
McDougal-Littell Literature, pp. 179-192
Genre/Text Structure: Literary Fiction & Nonfiction – Informational Text
Targeted Text Selection –
Page 188, Lines 282-296
Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
RL.11–12, 1-6,10 W.11-12
http://www.corestandards.org
Lesson Sequence
PERFORMANCE TASK /CULIMINATING INDEPENDENT WRITING ASSESSMENT:
Identify, citing evidence from the text, what the moral (life lesson) is, and show why it is the overarching theme for the times and
customs of the people in Chaucer’s world.
Activity 1:
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
1. The students will read The Wife of Bath’s Tale and listen to the audio at www.classzone.com in its entirety, throughout this week. Rereading is
embedded in the text- dependent questions and discussion activities.
2. Students will independently read lines 47-56, p. 182
3. Students should discuss and write about the initial meaning they have made from reading these lines.
Activities 2, 3 and 4:
GUIDING QUESTION(S):
1. Returning to the text, the teacher asks students a small set of guiding questions about lines 47-56, p. 182. The targeted text should be in front
of the students as they engage in their discussions.
2. Reader response journals serve as a means to organize thoughts for prewriting activities.
3. Respond in writing: Explore meanings of gentleman, gentleness, gentleness, gentle birth. How do they relate to the major theme of the tale?
OR insert a writing activity of your choice.
4. (If appropriate for the lesson) Use Communication, Information and Media connections at www.classzone.com ,www.discoveryeducation.com,
or other online resources to provide insight and multiple interpretations of the Wife of Bath’s Tale.
Targeted Text Selection Page 182, Lines 47-56
47 Wherever there was wont to walk an elf
Today there walks the holy friar himself
As evening falls or when the daylight springs,
Saying his matins and his holy things,
Walking his limit round from town to town.
Women can now go safely up and down
By every bush or under every tree;
There is no other incubus but he,
So there is really no one else to hurt you
56 And he will do no more than take your virtue. b
2012-2013
Vocabulary
wherever . . . elf:
wherever an elf was
accustomed to walk
Friar: religious
Teacher Activities and Techniques
Text-Dependent Questions
Return to the text, and ask students a small set of guiding
questions about the targeted section.
(Q1) According to the Wife of Bath, today who has replaced
the elves?
o
Possible answer:
r
The friars have replaced the
d elves—supposedly as the mystical
representatives for the people.
e
r
1
GRADE 12 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON
Quarter 1, Week 8: 10/08/12 – 10/12/12
Matins: morning
prayer
Limit: the area to
which a Friar was
restricted in his
begging for
donations.
incubus an evil
spirit believed to
descend on women
Take your virtue:
violate a young
woman
(Q2) In lines 52-54, what are the two possible meanings of
these lines?
53 Women can now go safely up and down
By every bush or under every tree;
There is no other incubus but he,
Possible answer:
1) Women can walk freely and safely.
2) They can have intimate relations with the friars.
47 Wherever there was wont to walk an elf
Today there walks the holy friar himself
As evening falls or when the daylight springs,
Saying his matins and his holy things,
Walking his limit round from town to town.
Women can now go safely up and down
By every bush or under every tree;
There is no other incubus but he,
So there is really no one else to hurt you
56And he will do no more than take your virtue. b
(Q3) What is the Wife of Bath’s attitude about friars? Cite
textual evidence in lines 48-51, 54-56, to demonstrate your
assertion.
Possible answer:
She speaks sarcastically about the “Holy Friar” doing his rounds
for money; saying prayers for people, but at the same time
seducing women.
Hypocrisy
[ hi pókrəssee ]
1. feigned high
principles: the false
claim to or pretense
of having admirable
principles, beliefs,
or feelings
2. hypocritical act:
an act or instance of
hypocrisy
Synonyms:
insincerity, double
standard, pretense,
duplicity, twofacedness, falseness
Alternative Formative Assessment:
Class discussion based on reader response journals
discussing hypocrisy in the Wife of Bath’s Tale.
2012-2013
Formative Assessment:
Reader Response Journals: Find other examples of
hypocritical behavior in the Tale. Cite the lines, and explain
briefly why they qualify as examples.
Class discussion(s) on text-dependent comprehension questions OR writing responses
(graphic organizers, reader response journals, or prewriting activities).
2
GRADE 12 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON
Summative Assessment/ Culminating Independent
Writing Task:
“I could set right what you suppose a blunder,
That’s if I cared to, in a day or two,
If I were shown more courtesy by you.
Just now,” she said, “you spoke of gentle birth,
Such as descends from ancient wealth and worth.
If that’s the claim you make for gentlemen
Such arrogance is hardly worth a hen.
Whoever loves to work for virtuous ends,
Public and private, and who most intends
To do what deeds of gentleness he can,
Take him to be the greatest gentleman.
Christ wills we take our gentleness from Him,
Not from a wealth of ancestry long dim,
Though they bequeath their whole establishment
By which we claim to be of high descent.
Quarter 1, Week 8: 10/08/12 – 10/12/12
Prewriting Activity: Compare meanings of gentleman, gentleness, gentleness, gentle
birth. How do they relate to the major theme of the tale?
Culminating Independent Writing Task:
What life lesson is the old lady trying to teach the knight? Use direct references to
lines in the Wife of Bath’s Tale to support your answer.
Bequeath: to give or leave by will —used especially of
personal property. 2: to hand down: transmit.
Extension Activities/Further Resources: Hypocrisy is a
common theme in literature, film, and poetry. Find a
modern story, film, or play that relies on hypocrisy as an
important element of the plot. Be prepared to present a
comparison between
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” and your selected work.
Technology:
www.discoveryeducation.com – (see links embedded in pacing guide)
www.classzone.com
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/exploringprologue-canterbury-tales-30508.html?tab=5#tabs
Graphic Organizers at www.classzone.com
2012-2013
3
GRADE 12 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON
Quarter 1, Week 8: 10/08/12 – 10/12/12
English Language Learner (ELL) Resources and Strategies
Key Academic Vocabulary
Have students use McDougal Littell Classzone Writing and Grammar section (under
Graphic Organizers, the Vocabulary tab), use Vocabulary Practice Flash Cards for the
following vocabulary: elf (line 47), holy and friar (line 48), matins (line 50), blunder
(line 282), descends, wealth, and worth (line 286), hardly (line 288), (line 289),
virtuous (line 291), gentleness (line 293), wills (line294), ancestry and dim,
establishment (line 295), claim (line 296). This organizer can be found at
www.classzone.com.
You can also have students use McDougal Littell Best Practices Toolkit, New Word
Analysis Transparency p.E8 to study this academic vocabulary from the selection.
Vocabulary Idioms/Figurative Language/Sayings
Explain these phrases, expressions to students and then help students paraphrase and
use them in their own sentences:
“…evening falls”(figurative language)
“…daylight springs”(figurative language)
“…set right” (idiom)
“…cared to” (idiom)
“…gentle birth”(saying)
“…work for virtuous ends”(saying)
“…to be of high descent”(saying)
Literary Analysis
Assist students in completing a character analysis for the Wife of Bath. Have students
use:
McDougal Littell Best Practices Toolkit Open Mind Transparency p.D9.
And/or
McDougal Littell Best Practices Toolkit Transparency Character Traits and Textual
Evidence p.D5. These graphic organizers can be found at www.classzone.com or
McDougal Littell EASY Planner.
Writing Task
Write a dialogue: How might the other pilgrims have reacted to the Wife of Bath’s
Tale? Write a dialogue in which at least two pilgrims, as well as, The Wife of Bath
herself comment on the story.
Students may use McDougal Littell Best Practices Toolkit Prewriting Story Board C51
for additional support and guidance for their writing. This organizer can be found at
www.classzone.com or McDougal Littell EASY Planner.
2012-2013
4
GRADE 12 ELA EXEMPLAR LESSON
Quarter 1, Week 8: 10/08/12 – 10/12/12
Student Copy
Text Title(s): “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”
Genre/Text Structure: Literary Fiction & Nonfiction – Informational Text
Text Selection
Vocabulary
Page 181 - 192
Clarify vocabulary
31When good King Arthur ruled in ancient days
by referring to the
(A king that every Briton loves to praise)
glossary
This was a land brim-full of fairy folk.
The Elf-Queen and her courtiers joined and
broke
36Their elfin dance on many a green mead,
Or so was the opinion once, I read,
Hundreds of years ago, in days of yore.
But no one now sees fairies any more.
For now the saintly charity and prayer
41Of holy friars seem to have purged the air;
Text-Dependent Questions
Paraphrase the opening, lines 31-41
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
47 Wherever there was wont to walk an elf
Today there walks the holy friar himself
As evening falls or when the daylight springs,
Saying his matins and his holy things,
Walking his limit round from town to town.
Women can now go safely up and down
By every bush or under every tree;
There is no other incubus but he,
So there is really no one else to hurt you
56 And he will do no more than take your
virtue.
“I could set right what you suppose a blunder,
That’s if I cared to, in a day or two,
If I were shown more courtesy by you.
Just now,” she said, “you spoke of gentle birth,
Such as descends from ancient wealth and
worth.
If that’s the claim you make for gentlemen
Such arrogance is hardly worth a hen.
Whoever loves to work for virtuous ends,
Public and private, and who most intends
To do what deeds of gentleness he can,
Take him to be the greatest gentleman.
Christ wills we take our gentleness from Him,
Not from a wealth of ancestry long dim,
Though they bequeath their whole
establishment
By which we claim to be of high descent.
Lines 47-56: Write your interpretation of these lines.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Find other examples of hypocrisy in the text
Compare meanings of gentleman, gentleness, gentleness, gentle
birth. How do they relate to the major theme of the tale?
Culminating Independent Writing Task:
What life lesson is the old lady trying to teach the knight? Use direct
references to lines in the Wife of Bath’s Tale to support your answer.
For further information regarding this document contact the Division of Language Arts/Reading, Secondary District Instructional Supervisors,
Dr. Erin Cuartas, Ms. Laurie Kaplan or Dr. Sharon Scruggs-Williams, 305-995-3122; for ELL questions, contact the Division of Bilingual Education and World
Languages District Supervisor, Ms. Caridad Perez, 305-995-1962.
2012-2013
5