The Story Behind The Story
| ||||||||
 Nevada Objective(s): 3.8-The student will compare the cultural, generational and gender perspectives of various authors. |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
 This lesson will take place in the classroom. Time - 4-6 weeks Grouping / Interaction(s): 1. Whole group activity led by the teacher 2. Small group jigsaw activity 3. Individual or paired reading of novels |
||||||||
 Day 1 - Building background for the lesson 1. Teacher initiates a discussion with the statement: "Students in the same grade are all the same." (They will disagree.) Discuss how students are different. 2. Have each student select a potato. Give they one minute to examine the potato. Their job is to introduce their new friend, the potato, to the class. Have them focus on the potato's physical characteristics. Distinguishing scars or bumps might indicate it was dropped in the market or the field. 3. After each student introduces the potato, collect all in one pile. Have each student find his/her original potato. Discuss how different potatoes were identified. Draw an analogy between potatoes and people: "They're all alike, means you have not taken enough time to get to know someone." 4. Build the analogy: To begin this activity, pair off students. Have them ask each other five questions to help introduce then to the class. (You may wish to brainstorm a list of questions before beginning this activity.) In same pairs, ask them to point out unique features or characteristics of the partner. Relate this to the potatoes. 5. Assignment: Have students write two paragraphs: I am an individual because__________________________________________ I belong to a group because _________________________________________ Day 2 - To develop a working definition of "culture" 1. Have students write their definition of the word "culture" on pieces of paper. 2. Make a list on the board or overhead of the different definitions generated by the students. 3. From these definitions, lead the students to an understanding that "culture" refers to the way a group of people live; the rules they set for themselves; the ideas they thing are important; and the things they feel are good or bad, right or wrong, pleasurable or painful. Day 3 - To acquire background information about the author 1. Using the jigsaw strategy, students will read various sources of information about an author. 2. After completing a graphic organizer from the information gained about the author, students will predict how the author's culture might affect their writing. A list of these predictions should be composed and displayed in the classroom. Day 4 1. The students will begin reading a novel, or various novels, by the author being studied. Throughout the reading of the novel(s), students will distinguish how the cultural, generational, and gender perspectives of the author affect his/her writing. As they make these distinctions, refer back to the Prediction Chart to confirm their previous predictions throughout the completion of the novel. 2. Using a graphic organizer, create a diagram depicting the historical events in the novel that affected the sequence of the plot or the actions of the characters. 3. Based on the information gathered on the prediction chart and on the graphic organizer, students will write an analysis that explains the connections among an author, the historical and cultural context, and the work. |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
1. Using a graphic organizer format,
the students will identify examples of |
||||||||
 Inspirations software, or any other graphics program. |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||
