Reflective Teaching Lesson Examining Tone using The Day the Crayons

Quit
Lesson Components
What teacher and student behaviors are planned and
expected
Context: Course name; grade level; length of lesson;
description of setting, students, and curriculum and any
other important contextual characteristics
-

This lesson will be taught Wednesday, October 21 st for a 9th

grade honors class that runs from 2:17pm to 3:45pm.
English class at Albemarle High School
Class of 25 students
Students are in the middle of reading the epic poem The
Odyssey. They spend the majority of their days doing similar
activities; going over their annotations, answering reading
questions, and writing an analytical character paragraph.
Todays lesson was meant to give the students a break from
their usual routine and to read something different.

Virginia SOL(s): 9.4Thestudentwillread,comprehend,andanalyzea

varietyofliterarytextsincludingnarratives,narrativenonfiction,poetry,and
drama.
e)Explaintherelationshipsbetweenandamongelementsofliterature:
characters,plot,setting,tone,pointofview,andtheme
k)Analyzehowanauthorsspecificwordchoicesandsyntaxachieve
specialeffectsandsupporttheauthorspurpose.
9.6Thestudentwilldevelopnarrative,expository,andpersuasivewritingsfor
avarietyofaudiencesandpurposes.
b)Planandorganizewritingtoaddressaspecificaudienceand
purpose
e)Elaborateideasclearlythroughwordchoiceandvividdescription
Common Core State Standard(s):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.4

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,

organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the
text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the
cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g.,
how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal
or informal tone).
Objectives (KUD format):

Comments/Notes/
in Retrospect
Reflections

Cognitive(know/understand):
1. Studentswillknowthedefinitionoftone
2. Studentswillunderstandthepurposeoftoneinliterature
3. ThestudentswillunderstandhowHomerusestoneinTheOdyssey
4. ThestudentswillknowtheeffectoftoneinTheOdyssey
Affective(feel/value)and/orNonCognitive:
5. Thestudentswillvaluetheirpeersfeedbackandinputinclass
discussion
6. Thestudentswillfeelfreetowritecreativity
Performance(do):
7. Thestudentswillbeabletowriteashortpieceusingacertaintone
8. Thestudentswillbeabletoidentifythetoneinvariouspiecesof
literature
Assessments: Methods for evaluating each of the specific
objectives listed above.

Classdiscussionontoneingeneral[1,2,5]:Inhavingaclass
discussionontoneingeneralIcanassesswhatthestudentsalready
knowabouttone
IdentifyingthetoneinTheDaytheCrayonsQuit[8]:Inidentifying
thetoneinoneoftheexcerptsfromthechildrensstory,Icanassess
howwellthestudentsareabletoidentifytone
IdentifyingtoneinTheOdyssey[7,8]:InrevisitingbooksIXandXof
TheOdysseyIcanassesshowwellthestudentsareabletoidentify
Homerstone
DiscussionontoneinTheOdyssey[3,4]:IndiscussingHomersuse
oftoneinTheOdysseyIcanassesshowwellthestudentsareableto
analyzethepurposeoftoneandHomersuseofit
Writingatonepiece[6,7]:Inevaluatingthestudentscreativewriting
pieceontone,Icanassesshowwellthestudentsunderstandtoneand
iftheyareabletoshowitintheirownwriting

In reflecting back
on this lesson,
when I asked the
students about
the tone in The
Odyssey, I
realized I more of
gave my students
the answers
rather than
scaffolding their
thinking to reach
their own
conclusions. After
the lesson with
the picture book I
asked the
students if the
tone stayed
constant
throughout
Homers text.
When the
students
responded no, I
immediately
jumped in and
said Correct! The
tone when
Odysseus men
are being
slaughtered by
the Cyclops is
much different

Procedures: Detail student and teacher behavior. Identify

possible student misconceptions. Include:

1. [2mins.]Bridge/Hook/Openingtolesson:
Okclassnextwearegoingtomoveontoafunwritingactivitytocontinueto
developyourwritingskills.Youallhavebeenwritinganalyticalparagraphs
attheendofeveryclassforthelast2weeks,andwhileyouwillhavetodo
oneagainattheendoftodaysclass,wefirstaregoingtodosomecreative
writing!Waittimeforinevitableapplauseandcheering.
2. [5mins.]Discussionondefinitionoftone:
When we did our short-story unit you guys were told to look for and identify a
vast variety of things for each story we read. Do you guys remember
discussing tone? Can someone give me the definition of tone? I collect
responses and make sure someone states something similar to one, in written
composition, is an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. Tone is
generally conveyed through the choice of words or the viewpoint of a writer
on a particular subject. Or the manner in which a writer approaches the
central theme and subject of a piece is the tone. I repeat the students answer
again making sure the entire class heard and collect further responses to make
sure each aspect of the definition is covered.

from when they

are feasting. I
shouldve asked
the students for
specific examples
instead of
providing them
with such.
Also I never had
the students look
back directly at
the text like I
planned. It
wouldve been a
good exercise for
the students to
pull direct
passages from
the books they
had just read and
to identify
Homers tone.
This wouldve
been a great way
to connect the
lesson more to
the students
current unit.
At first I was
uncertain how
receptive my
students were
going to be to
reading a picture
book. When I did
it with my 10th
graders at the
beginning of the
year they seemed
a little bored. But
I learned from
that time. Instead
of holding the
book and reading
it as a
kindergarten
teacher reading
to her class, I
used the ELMO
and projected the

3. [10mins.]ReadAloud
Oknowthatweunderstandthedefinitionoftone,wearegoingtoreada
picturebookandlookattheauthorstone.ThetitleofthebookisTheDay
theCrayonsQuit.IreadthebookaloudandprojectitusingtheELMOasI
read.AftereachcrayonsletterIstopandhavethestudentsidentifythetone
ofthatletter.Ihavethestudentspickoutthewordsthatcontributedtothis
toneaswellashowthewordswerewritten(underlined,capitalized,useof
punctuation).

4. [10mins.]Rereadoneoftheletters
NowIamgoingtorereadoneofmyfavoritelettersandIwantyouguysto
thinkaboutthetone.Thinkaboutwhatwordsthecolorisusingthatconveys
thistone.Payattentiontodiction,thedescriptivelanguage,andwordchoice
allthesehelpdepictanddeveloptone.Irereadoneoftheletters.Sowhat
wouldyouguyssaythetoneofthisletteris?Icollectresponsesandask
questionstofollowupsuchasWhatmakesyousaythat?Whatwordshelp
conveythistone?WhatimagescameupinyourmindasIread?

book. I did think

the students
would be excited
though for a
change of pace
away from the
intense prose of
The Odyssey.
The read-aloud
went well! It was
an especially
good move to use
the ELMO instead
of standing in
front of the class
and trying to
rotate the book so
all the students
could see. I did
notice though
that a lot of the
same students
were answering
since I was just
having the
students call out
answers.
Reflecting back I
would have tried
to call on other
students for their
responses. After
the first two
letters of
students calling
out answers, I
would ask the
students to start
raising their
hands. Then I also
wouldve started
cold-calling since
these are honors
level students
and I know that
they are able to
identify the tone
of a book directed
towards a

younger crowd.

5. [15mins.]Individualwork
Greatanalysisguys!NowIamgoingtocomearoundwithabasketfullof
tonewords.Youaregoingtodrawoneofthewordsandwriteashortpiece
usingthattone.Ifyouwishtolookbackatoneofthecrayonslettersfeelfree
tocometothefrontoftheclasstorereadorlookoverone.Youcanwrite
aboutabsolutelyanything;itcanbealetter,ajournalentry,orevenastory;
aslongasyouareaccuratelyconveyingyourgiventone.Idistributetone
words.Atthetopofyourpaper,pleaseremembertoputyourname,andas
wellincludethewordwhichyouwereassigned.AsthestudentswriteIwalk
aroundmonitortheirwork.Imakesuretheyareaccuratelyconveyingtheir
assignedtone.

6. [10mins]RelatingittotheOdyssey:
Youguysarewritingsomegreatstories!Icantwaittoreadthem.Please
turnthemintotheinboxasyoufinish.SonowletslookbackatTheOdyssey.
ForhomeworkyouguysreadbooksIXandX.Whatwerethetoneinthose
books?Icollectstudentresponses.WhatlanguagedoesHomeruseintheepic
toconveytone?Doesthetonestaysimilarthroughoutthebooksordoesit
change?Cansomeonegiveanexampleofhowthetonechanges?Icollect
responsesandmakesurethestudentsareusingtheirtextforevidence.Igivea
shortspielonhowthetonechangesdependingonthenarrator(Telemachus
versusOdysseus)andontheevent(CyclopsversusvisitingMenelaus).

Before individual
work I thought it
might be
beneficial to
revisit one of the
letters and to
really hone in on
what contributed
to that crayons
tone. When I did
this I noticed the
students repeated
what they had
said the first
time. I think they
were then
disengaged
because they had
already seen the
letter. I think I did
enough
scaffolding during
the original
reading that the
students did not
need to revisit a
letter.
The students
seemed to enjoy
getting a word at
random. I knew if
I let them choose
they would most
likely take the
easy way out. I
also included
words that they
probably wouldnt
have thought of. I
felt getting a
word at random
created a larger
challenge for the
students.
One of the
problems I faced

7. [3mins.]Closure
Toneisanimportantaspectofanypieceofliterature.Everypieceofwriting
hasatoneevenafactualnewspaperarticlehasitsowntonejustmore
seriousandformal.Evenmediamessageshavetone!Thinkofacartoon
versusadramashow.Asyouguysgoaboutyoureverydayliveslookfortone,
itiseverywhere!

was that the

students were
quite chatty. I
shouldve
stressed that this
was an individual
assignment and
that the students
were to work
quietly. This class
is often quite
chatty so I
shouldve
reflected on that
prior to the lesson
and prepared for
it.

As mentioned
above in the
assessments part
I did not let the
students answer
as much as I
should have. I did
not have the
students pull
directly from the
text when I feel
they could have
probably pretty
easily. Though I
did mention how
the tone changes
based on what is
happening in the
epic, I did not
mention how the
tone differed
based on who is
speaking. Looking
back I would
create another
assignment for
the students that
had them pull
direct quotes
from The Odyssey

and to identify
the tone of those
quotes.

Materials:

Paper
Pencil
TheDaytheCrayonsQuit
StudentscopiesofTheOdyssey
Slipsofpaperwithdifferenttonewords

Differentiation: Detail specific actions/materials you will use

to differentiate instruction in this lesson for at least one of
your three case study students.

Christieisanupperlevelstudent.Whenwestartedourdaily
paragraphwritingsforTheOdysseyherfirstparagraphwasquitenearthe
levelweexpectofthestudentsattheendoftheunit.Shehasalso
demonstratedherselftobeaproficientwritertimeandtimeagain.OnewayI
plantochallengeChristieistogiveheroneofthemoredifficulttonewords.I
mightgiveherawordsuchascausticorcontradictoryawordshedoes
notknowsothatshehastolookupthedefinition,andmaybesome
synonyms,andthusreallypushherselftodevelopthistoneinapieceof
writing.IalsoplantopushChristieinourclassdiscussions.Whenevershe
providesaresponse(whichshewill),Iwillpushherintodeeperthinking
whetherthisbeaskinghigherlevelorderquestionsorbyencouragingtocite
directlyfromthetext.

MarkusisastudentwithOCD,andwhileheisaverysmartkid,he
oftendistractshispeersaroundhimbytalkingorprovidingunnecessary
commentary.Forexample,ifhemakesafunnyremark,hefeelstheneedto
repeatitmanymoretimestomakesureeveryonehasheard.Healsooften
butsintotheconversationsofthosearoundhim.InordertokeepMarkuson
task,Iplantouseavarietyofverbalandnonverbalcues.Sincehesitsinthe
frontoftheroom,ifIseehimturnedaroundtalking,Iwilltaphisdeskto
remindhimtoturnaround.Ialsowillexplicitlytellhimtopleasequietdown
ifitseemshiscommentsarebecomingunrulyordisruptive.Beforetheclass
discussionIwillremindthestudentsoftheclassrulestheycreatedatthe

When I was
passing out the
tone words, and I
came to Christie, I
was expecting
that she would be
excited for this
assignment.
Instead she
explicitly said I
hope I get an easy
word! She
didnt- and was
upset about it. I
am glad that I
pushed her
though because
she ended up
writing a good
letter that
conveyed her
assigned tone
very well, even if
she saw it as
more difficult.
Since the
students were
allowed to
shout-out their
answers about
what tone was
being conveyed in

beginningoftheyear.Iwillstressthatoneoftheserulesisrespectwhich
meansnottalkingwhensomeoneelseistalking,whetherthisbeapeerorthe
teacher.MarkusoftendoeswellwhenheisgivenexplicitreminderssoIthink
thiswillhelpminimizethedisruptivebehaviorfromthestart.

the passage,
Markus took full
advantage of this.
He would loudly
project his
opinions at all
times. He often
cut-off his
classmates. I
couldve
redirected this
behavior in asking
the students to
please raise their
hands when
giving answers. It
was difficult for
me to redirect
Markus behavior
when I was
reading aloud
since I was in
sitting in the front
of the room and
couldnt get up to
use nonverbal
cues or to speak
to him quietly. I
did ask him a few
times to quiet
down, and finally,
near the end of
reading, I asked
him politely to
raise his hand
before speakingsomething I
shouldve done at
the beginning.
Before reading I
also shouldve
revisited our class
norm of respect
and how though
this lesson was
meant to be fun
and interactive,
students still
need to respect
their peers and

Appendices
Here are the words I put in for the students to draw from.

1. Playful
2. Dramatic
3. Upsetx2
4. Childishx2
5. Happy
6. Angry
7. Lightheartedx2
8. Irritatedx2
9. Sarcastic
10. Depressed
11. Formal
12. Factual
13. Paranoid
14. Judgmental
15. Joking
16. Friendly

give everyone a
chance to
respond.
I think this ended
up being a good
variety of words.
There was a good
mix of positive
and negative tone
words and some
that really got the
students excited
to write their
brief piece.