Wasay Mabood Ms.

Aponte English Communications 11 20 March 2013 Short Story Reflection Assignment The class was divided into groups for three weeks and given the objective of creating a lesson plan for two short stories. The lesson plan was to be developed to engage the other students of the class, as well as the everyday teacher, and hit on key terms and ideas such as literary elements. The purpose of the assignment was to analyze not only how well ones group explained and reviewed the story, but also how well they presented it in a student-friendly setting. Students were also challenged with attempting to differentiate their lesson plans with those of other groups by utilizing more creative methods to present their short stories. My group consisted of Kevin, Kiara, Keara, and myself. We were assigned the short stories The Interlopers by Saki and Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. Essentially we divided the group between the two short stories, with Kevin and myself working on the majority of the lesson plan for The Interlopers, and the rest of the group worked on Harrison Bergeron. Kevin and I constantly worked together on the project but without the rest of the group. We told them what we were going to do and how we were going to present the story, but we never really worked together on the story with them and vice-versa. I feel that that was apparent as the class may have noticed me explaining the majority of the story and doing most of the speaking. I am not sure if the class learned much from the lesson. I did go over the theme and

made an attempt to somehow relate the story to their own lives which I thought I did fairly, but Im not sure how many of them were actually able to break down what I was saying. I think I would have given this lesson a solid B grade or maybe even a B+. Now the Harrison Bergeron lesson plan was done by Kiara and Keara, for the most part. I only briefly met up with the group, afterschool, and they basically explained to me what we were going to do. All I did was create discussion questions to ask the class after we had finished reading the story. The debate, which I felt was the high point of the lesson, was something that I had no part in creating. It was a brilliant idea as well, seeing as our class likes to argue, and that it got the class further involved in the lesson. I feel that this was the better lesson of the two, because it kept everyone involved and was still able to analyze all the literary terms and elements. Personally, Id give the lesson a B+ or an A grade. Overall, I feel the group was successful because we were able to present our short stories well enough to be understood and enjoyed by most of the class. I honestly feel that the Charles lesson was the best of all ones presented. The lesson seemed to be well organized and the presenting group seemed confident in their abilities to explain the story. I also liked it because the story is relatable; as in I can see it actually happening in real life. My only minor complaint, which is just an opinion that applies to most groups, is that the reading could have been more realistic, they could have spoken with the characters voices. The only thing I would change about the assignment would be the short stories assigned to the groups, because I feel that some of them are just easier to explain and understand than others. Basically, I would choose more relatable genres of short stories. Overall, I enjoyed the experience. I learned just how tough it can be to formulate these lessons and all the papers

involved are just a nuisance. It also further solidified in my mind that communication is key for group success. Everyone needs to play a part and sacrifice time for the groups success and contribute. This is definitely a good project for the students to partake in and I feel that it should be continued in the future.