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Lesson Goals
Central Focus: Describe the central focus (of the unit) and explain how this lesson reflects the central focus.
To explore what we carry with us, synthesizing narrative strategies from mentor texts and creating personal narratives and
thematic elements that reflect individual growth experiences.
List the title, author, and write a short description of the text(s) used in this lesson.
*Excerpted poetry from Vietnam War veteran, Curt Bennett
I have selected four poems from Vietnam War veteran and poet, Curt Bennett. The selected titles are One Fine Day, Life, Night,
and Spooky. These four poems are artistic, vulnerable accounts of the horrors of the Vietnam War, and are written in a way that is
accessible and haunting for a large audience of readers. These poems explore the affective consequences of the war well after the
conflict ended. In addition, Bennett utilizes strategic timing and frames of reference in order to discuss the passing of time and the
pains of war in a psychological and emotional manner.
*The Things They Carried, Tim OBrien
Set in the dual theatres of VC occupied Vietnam and the American life back home, The Things They Carried offers a deeply moving
account of a small unit of men that must learn to endure both the unfamiliarities of war in an unaccustomed country as well as the
hardships that it brings. Each character is affected by the death of Ted Lavender, the first one in the Alpha Chapter to die, and they try
to cope with and justify it. As they share their narratives of the brutalities and grief that they face, the characters cope by
using humor and alternate versions of the truth. Between the guilt and the terror that the war conditions and experiences, they carry
much more than their supplies and mementos from back home. The protagonist and main narrator, Tim OBrien, also speaks to the
audience during several chapters about the power of stories and what makes a true versus effective narrative about the war.
Ultimately, he says that the difference between a true story and a good story is sometimes minimal, as many details are blurred,
ignored, and supplemented in order to capture the moment.
Conceptual/Theoretical Framework (draw from research and readings in CI and English coursework:
I framed this lesson from practical expectations given by Jim Burke in his text The English Teachers Companion.
In his discussion of Effective Reading Instruction one practical application that he presents is that Students
read interesting or real-work texts for authentic reasons to increase engagement and motivation, thereby
improving their overall reading capacity. To achieve such heightened, sustained engagement, the teacher must
allow students to choose what they read, how they read, or what they focus on while they read (Burke 166).
Therefore, I included a different form of text (poetry) that is relevant both the present and to the time period being
studied in order to make material more relatable and engaging. In addition, I also drew research from Burkes
discussion of teaching language and style. He gives a practical teaching strategies of assigning students
structured notes in teaching reading, and notes that a template or structured notes approach allows
teachers to teach both analytical writing and readingso central to our work but difficult to integrate
seamlessly (Burke 271).
Standard(s) Addressed (use examples from both the Common Core State Standards and the Illinois Professional Teaching
Standards):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.C
Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas;
actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges
and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
IPTS Standard 2 - Content Area and Pedagogical Knowledge The competent teacher has in-depth understanding of content
area knowledge that includes central concepts, methods of inquiry, structures of the disciplines, and content area literacy. The teacher
creates meaningful learning experiences for each student based upon interactions among content area and pedagogical knowledge,
and evidence-based practice.
IPTS Standard 4 - Learning Environment The competent teacher structures a safe and healthy learning environment that
facilitates cultural and linguistic responsiveness, emotional well-being, self-efficacy, positive social interaction, mutual respect, active
engagement, academic risk-taking, self-motivation, and personal goal-setting.
Recall your central focus and explain how the standards (above) and learning objectives (below), that you have identified, support
students learning:
As students are able to assess historical and narrative knowledge gained when reading and analyzing The Things They
Carried, they will meet the Common Core standard that demands students to central idea of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the text, and even more so, analyze and comprehend specific moments of a text. In relation
to the central focus, this learning objective relates to how students will be synthesizing narrative strategies individually
and collaboratively. In addition, as students are able to to make linguistic and thematic connections between poetry of the
Vietnam War and The Things They Carried, they will be meeting the Common Core standard that asks students to
responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes and understanding language and rhetorical
functions as a whole. This learning objective also relates to the central focus as it similarly asks students to analyze,
evaluate, and compare narrative strategies of both the core text (The Things They Carried) and supplementary texts
(Vietnam War poetry).
Materials/ Instructional Resources:
SmartBoard
White Board
Projector
Chromebooks/Laptops
*Learning Objectives (Add additional objective boxes as
needed):
Objective 1:
Related Assessment:
Related Assessment:
Lesson Considerations
Pre-Assessment:
Students will have completed the K and W sections of a KWL chart. They will have also read Chapters 12 and 13 of The
Things They Carried.
Prior Academic Learning and Prerequisite Skills: (Cite evidence that describes what students know, what they can
Personal, cultural, and community assets related to the central focusExplain what you know about your students
everyday experiences, cultural and language backgrounds and practices, and interests.
Some of these students may have grandparents and other family members who were directly involved in the Vietnam War.
Therefore, there should be a level of anticipated sensitivity in discusses events of violence and differing political ideologies
related to the war itself. In addition, in these students lifetimes, they have not experience a kind of large-scale, formal war
waged by the United States similar to the Vietnam War, the Cold War, etc. Therefore, it would be important to make
meaningful connects to present political and social tensions, and military aggressions that have happened in the past 20
years.
Misconceptions:
That few connections can be made between texts written in the Vietnam War era and The Things They Carried because they
are so divided by time.
Language Function. Using information about your students language assets and needs, identify one language function essential
for students within your central focus. Listed below are some sample language functions. You may choose one of these or another
more appropriate language function for this lesson.
Analyze
Argue
Describe
Evaluate
Explain
Interpret
Justify
Synthesize
Students will analyze various poems from the Vietnam War and synthesize their knowledge of the text with aesthetic
reactions to the war.
Learning and Linguistic Accommodations: Describe the instructional accommodations that you must make, as the classroom
teacher, in order to address the learning needs of students with special needs and students who are not English proficient or
students who use varieties of English.
Accommodations for students with Special Needs:
For the student that has an Autism Spectrum Disorder, he will be paired with a group that is reading a fairly shorter poem
out of the four choices, allowing him more time to effectively analyze and comprehend the passage. In addition, light and
sound stimuli will be maintained throughout class time (making sure lights are not distracting or too bright, and that
outside noises are reduced).
Accommodations for students who are not proficient uses of Standard English:
The students who is a native French speaker will be assigned a shorter poem to read out of the four choices, and will be
provided both an English and French copy.
Explain your instructional decision-making and the way you plan to support student learning when using whole class,
small groups, and individualized assignments. In addition, explain accommodations for students who have
special needs and students who are not proficient users of Standard English as part of whole class and small
group arrangements
This lesson will be limited to small group and individualized assignments. This is done because for the previous days
class, there were opportunities for whole-class discussions in two different forms, and I want to allow students more time
to collaborate with their peers in analyzing and understanding the novel as a whole. Students will have allotted time to read
and review their work individually in order to build their individual reading comprehension skills. The bulk of the group
work, however, will allow students to discuss the novel and poetry in a relevant, constructive manner (considering that
these texts discuss sensitive issues such as war and emotional hurt). Since most of this lesson is guided through oral
discussion, non-native English speakers may feel more comfortable informally speaking about a novel as opposed to
completing an individual, extensive writing assignment about the text. They will have support from native English-speaking
peers to complete work effectively. In addition, non-native English speakers will be paired with other students who are at a
lower reading level, and will be assigned a shorter poem to read. Therefore, they will have more time to analyze and
comprehend a poem to the same extent of reasoning as other reading groups.
Time
1) 1-2
minute
s
1) 15-20
Learning Activities 1) Students will take out KWL chart. They will have completed the K and W section of chart. Divide students into the
minute
s
groups they worked with the day before, and have them complete the L part of the chart. They are required to include at
least 6 topics.
2) 10
minute
s
2) Have students return to their original seats. Divide students into intentionally-assigned groups (by reading level and
ability). Each group will be given a poem to read. Have students read the poem silently, then at least once out loud.
3) 15-20
minute
s
3) Students will be given a hard copy of a worksheet to complete in groups. They will be identifying language choices
and thematic elements, and evaluating if these elements either reflect or do not reflect the language and sentiments
presented in The Things They Carried.
Describe how your planned formal and informal assessments, including a written product, will provide direct evidence of
students abilities to construct meaning from, interpret, OR respond to a complex text throughout the learning segment.
As students complete the L section of KWL chart, it will demonstrate that they are able to reflect on their own reading
comprehension, and can show how they are reading and analyze the novel in an accurate, meaningful manner. As
students craft short responses for the worksheet that addresses language functions and thematic elements, they will have
the opportunity to demonstrate their prior knowledge of language functions, the text itself, and can objectively demonstrate
if they are able to make connections of language and theme between two different forms of written text.
1) 5
minute
s
Closure
1) Note to students that there can be relevant connections between literature of the time period and more modern
literature about the Vietnam War (and the Vietnam War era as a whole).
Extension
If students finish early, they will read chapters 14 and 15 for the next days class.
Resources and References (use APA or MLA listing the information from the conceptual framework above as
well as from any other categories where cited a source):
Burke, Jim. The English Teacher's Companion: A Completely New Guide to Classroom, Curriculum, and the
Want to Know
*Poetry
ONE FINE DAY
As far as the eye could see
The cloud cover stretched the horizon,
Broken only by tops of tallest mountains,
A soft, gauze mantle protecting the earth,
Learned
Of lashing guns.
Their deadly spark
Split fast the blackness of the night
Unseen radar guides their arc
To close and rake the streaking flight
With flaming fingers. The run for home
Was filled with anxious, mounting fear
That penetrates deep down to the bone.
Now panic whispers in your ear..
Its terror!
You feel the breath,
The putrid creeping waves that sweep
The souring stench of greedy death.
Engulfing heavy arms that creep
And crawl your very being. A dart
Of rampant, running horror flies
And grips the pounding, beating heart
To bull it with ghoulish lies.
Now warning lights blink amber red,
New ugly sounds clunk deep inside.
As fear sweat beats the spinning head
And wounded planes' uneven ride
Jolts the streaming black. Logic fights
To overpower these rampant foes
With reigns of reason. To bite
Down hard upon the bile that grows
And gathers in the throat.
To overcome
To prevail in this deadly struggle
That strives to strike the senses dumb,
Now reason holds and starts to juggle
The emergencies in turn. Now save
Artillery flashes
Dancing, darting,
To distant drums.
Curt Bennett
Copyright Curt Bennett 2003
SPOOKY
Soft falls the veil of twilight dusk,
The blushing sun has turned to rust
To linger soft above the hills.
A canopy of darkness spills
And creeps in pools of easy gray.
Now sleep sun nods out the day
Yet shouts one final, bursting blaze
That paints the cloud tips honey glaze
Then allis dark.
Far down below
The troops align in ragged rows
Along the twisting ridge, as around
The hillside plunges sharply down
To disappear in blackened gloom,
The dank abyss of jungle tomb.
Where all is black, there is no light.
The Enemy controls the night.
Each man has hacked his rocky turf
Into a shallow hole. The clumpy earth
Fills grungy sandbags spaced around
The slight depressions in the ground.
Here the boys will try to sleep
While others watch the forest deep
To listen for the dreaded sounds
The "thunk" of incoming mortar rounds.
Both
The Things
They Carried