Content Area: ELA

Reading Standard:
RL. 11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough
textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the
text, including determining
where the text leaves matters
uncertain.

What do students need to

know?
What constitutes as
textual evidence
How to analyze
How to properly cite,
quote a text

Grade Level: 11th

What do students need to be able to do?
Create a claim, argument
Provide relevant textual evidence to
support their claim
Provide proper citations, direct quotes
from the text
Analyze what the text says, what the text
means

Cognitive Rigor Matrix Level: On the Cognitive Rigor Matrix, this lesson falls within Analyze. DOK Level 3.
Strategic Thinking/Reasoning. Students are analyzing and critiquing the text, interpreting the authors
viewpoint, and using reasoning, planning (in the form of taking notes), and evidence (in the form of text citation)
to support their claims.
Universal Design for Learning Guidelines: This lesson will include UDL Principles 6.2 and 8.3. In being
handed a chart specifically to take notes and jot down their initial ideas, students are supported in their planning
and strategy development. The pair share group work serves to foster student collaboration and community.
Text Complexity: This lesson will utilize a literary text that falls under the category of Complex. Edgar Allen
Poes Dream Within a Dream includes several levels of meaning that may be difficult to identify, contains a
more complex organization and complex sentences, some figurative/literary language, and includes much
unfamiliar academic vocabulary.
Lesson Objective: Analyze Edgar Allen Poes Dream Within a Dream to determine what the poem does, or
doesnt, reveal about dreams and the author.
Materials:
- Poem handout
- Idea chart
Lesson Outline and Task for the students:

Teacher will read the text aloud as students follow along their own handout (5 min).
- This will model how the poem should be read and will also provide support for struggling students.

We will run through the text once more as a class, with students taking turns reading sections aloud (12
min).
- Students will take turns reading in the order they are seated, we will go around the room with each
student reading 2 lines of the poem until the poem has been read several times and everyone has
participated.
- This will allow students to actively practice reading poetry, will allow for the teacher to assess
reading capabilities of each student, will allow for equal participation without pressure, and the
repetition of the poem will make students more familiar/comfortable with it.

Students will work with an assigned partner (pair share) and discuss what the text says, as well as
what it potentially reveals about the poem and its author (8 min).
- Each student will be provided with a chart and will be required to list their ideas and any
additional notes
- Teacher will pair more competent, higher achieving students with struggling students
- Teacher will walk around to both observe and address any questions

Each pair will be responsible for composing a 1-2 paragraph essay in response to the below questions
(listed on the board) and include at least 1 text citation to support their claim (15 min).
1. What is the poem about?
2. What do we understand about dreams as they are described in this poem?
3. Does the poem reveal anything about the author? If so, what?

Once students have written their collective essay, we will reflect as a class. Pairs will be asked to
participate and share their answers to each of the above questions as well as their thoughts on the poem
and activity (5 min).

Supports for struggling students:

Michelle:
The teachers reading of the poem, as well as each student taking turns reading a section of the poem, will
provide support for Michelles struggles with fluency and decoding. Both readings of the text will provide a
model for how to read poetry. Each student reading aloud will remove any pressure to participate and will allow
Michelle to feel comfortable, should she read the text imperfectly. Michelle will also have been provided with
the poem a day in advance, and will have been given additional time to read and comprehend the text, or to
pinpoint any words/terms/phrases she needs additional assistance with.
Santo:
Each student taking turns reading a section of the text will aid in Santos struggle with reading motivation, as it
will essentially force him to follow along and to actively participate in reading the text himself. The pair group
discussion of the text will help him to better understand the text and be able to generate his own ideas. The
teacher will ensure that Santo is paired with a high achieving student that he also gets along with (perhaps a
student from the same or a similar cultural background). This will aid in text comprehension and serve to make
the activity/assignment more enjoyable, and thus foster motivation and interest.
Bijan:
Bijan will have been provided with a vocabulary handout the day before to aid in his struggles with vocabulary
and morphology and to help him better comprehend the poem during class. Bijan will have been instructed to
bring the vocabulary sheet to class as an additional guide while reading the poem. During pair group work, the
teacher will instruct the higher achieving partner to provide Bijan with any necessary additional support.

Dream Within a Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
Summative Assessment (how will you know if students hit the objective at the level of the standard?):
Each students individual idea chart during their pair discussion will be collected at the end of class, as well as
the combined partner essay. The teachers observations during pair share and reflections at the end of class will
provide further insight and assessment.