Teacher:  Patricia Kinnee

Class Title:  English/Language Arts – Grade 8

Unit:  Tales Told in the Dark / Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Content Standard(s): English/Language Arts, Middle School; 1, 2, 3 (Meaning and Communication); 7 (Skills and Processes) and 10 (Ideas in Action)

Benchmark(s): ELA3,MS 1,5,6; ELA7, MS 1, 2; ELA10, MS 1, 2, 3

Lesson Objectives:  Eighth-grade students will identify and examine resources for coping with inappropriate feelings and methods for finding helpful resources.  Students will understand the literary term “internal conflict” and be able to identify methods of resolving internal conflicts.

Content Concepts:  Students will use the skills and processes used in communication to explore “internal conflict” in literature and to express feelings in writing.

Rationale:  After reading the story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” students will identify and examine alternative reactions to the narrator’s inappropriate feelings which may have resulted in a more favorable, less violent outcome.  Students will also identify and examine obsessive behavior and mental illness in relation to the narrator.

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Instruction                                        Method                                   Time

Initiating and Connecting:

After reading the story aloud, the students will identify and discuss the emotions  in the story.  Students will be asked: What were the narrator’s emotions that resulted in his inappropriate actions?

Constructing and Exploring:

In small groups of 3 or 4, students will construct and discuss some possible alternative to the narrator’s actions which may have resulted in a more favorable, less violent outcome.  Students will answer these questions:

·        Was the narrator aware of his feelings toward the old man?

·        What were his feelings toward the old man?

·        Could he have done something that would have prevented the violent outcome?

·        Why is it important to be aware of your own feelings? 

·        What is the value in knowing your own feelings?

Reflecting and Extending:

Students will have the opportunity to explore other literature where internal conflict is involved.

Independent Application:

In their journals, students will write about a time when they used their own decision-making skills to decide to do something right when others were persuading them otherwise. How did your own feelings shape your actions?

Lesson Closure:

Students will be asked if emotions or feelings are part of the decision making process; if so, what do we do when those feelings are inappropriate?

Assessment:

The journal writing assignment will serve as the lesson assessment. Divergent and congruent questions throughout the discussion will also serve as students’ assessment of the lesson.

Resources:

THE LANGUAGE OF LITERATURE textbook for grade 8, published by McDougal Littell, 2001.  A variety of short story books from the teacher’s collection and books from the school media center.

Special Needs Approaches: 

A variety of reading resources will be available to students to extend their lesson in finding other literature that displays internal conflict.

Lesson Plan

Title: Websites for Student Journalists                             Date: ______

Objectives:

Students will use the Internet to explore web sites that may be useful in research. Students will apply guidelines for effective web sites from a previous lesson. (Internet Savvy Students)

Rationale:

Students will learn what Internet web sites may be useful to them when they are searching for information on a wide variety of topics. Students will compile their own list of useful web sites and databases to help them in future writing  or research assignments.

Materials:

1.    Student: Pen, pencil and paper.

2.    Teacher/Classroom: Computers with Internet access, list of  “Reference Sources for Journalists” and copies of the list for students.

Procedures:

1.     The teacher will ask students what web sites they have accessed to get information for research projects. Do you always just go to a search engine and type in what you are looking for? Or do you first find a reliable site that will lead you directly to the important references. Allow students time to answer.

2.     Tell students there are ways to find the information they need without having to comb through lists of “hits” that may have little relevance to what they are looking for.

3.     Pass out a list of “Resources for Journalists” to students and allow them about 3 minutes to look over the list. Then ask students if they have used any of the listed web sites. Allow those students who have to give their input/review of the web site.

4.     Assign students to work in pairs at a computer to access and explore the various web sites. Assign each pair to two web sites. Students must answer the following questions in writing and be prepared to share their information with the class.

a.      Was there any trouble accessing the web site?

b.     Were you redirected to another web site?

c.      Was the web site what you expected it to be? If not, why not?

d.     What was the content of the web site?

e.      How or when would you use this web site? Give at least three examples.

f.       What did you like most about this web site? What did you like least?

5.     After about 15 minutes, have students share their information with the rest of the class.  Have students vote on their top ten favorite web sites from this lesson. Write the URL addresses on the board for students so they may use this information in the future.

Rubric Worksheet

Performance Task Description:

Students will write at least two poems showing examples of free verse, rhyming, or any other type of poetry studied during this poetry unit to show they have mastered the skills of these lessons. The two poems should show two examples of different poetry formats and examples of figurative language.

Response

Students will be given copies of the rubric as they are given copies of the assignment. This way, students will understand exactly what is expected of them. I will go over each of the expected criteria and first discuss the “outstanding” and “proficient” qualifications. I will explain to students that I should not have any poems submitted that would fit the lowest “minimal” category.

To help students understand even more clearly what I expect from them, I will use exemplars (Canter & Assoc., 2001) – collected from other teachers, past classes or from the Internet -- as examples of the “ideal” quality of work I am looking for. I also will provide examples of proficient, limited and minimal quality work for scoring. However, before I tell students which poem fits into which category, I will have them critique the poems. This way I will discover if the students truly know what qualifies as acceptable for each criteria.