Monday 9/19

All Blocks
Content: Unit 1/Introduction to Persepolis

Lesson Duration: 90 mins

Standards:

o RL.9-10.2
o RL.9-10.4
o RL.9-10.5

Formative Assessment:
Students will create a poster answering one of a series of questions concerning the novel.

Objectives:

Enduring Understanding (Why?):

Students will be continuing the Unit 1 topic on Violence while examining how it affects/affected
another country. It isn’t enough to understand violence in one’s own country, but by thinking
about the changes that are enacted in another country, it creates worldly and more conscious
students.

Necessary Lesson Materials:

First 7 Minutes/Student Entry Activities:

o Upon entry, students will begin completing the Journal entry
o Teacher is circulating to help with answer completion
 Lesson Layout

Time Teacher Action Student Actions

Circulating room  You will not need a block today

and supporting  Answer the following in your notebook:
students with their  What does it mean to be American?
(5 mins) Do Now Completion

(5 mins) Monitoring student Students will share out whole-group; what do they think it means to be American? How
sharing do we know for sure if someone is not American? Are there certain experiences
Americans have that other people don’t have? How do you know?

Facilitating Text Teacher explains and facilitates Text Graffiti exercise:

Graffiti exercise
(15 mins) A series of quotes from the text will be typed/written on a whole sheet of paper
with space around the quote. Students will have timed rotations to several of these
quotes where they will have 2 minutes to read the quote, and write in the margins
what they believe the story will be about, based on that quote.

As students move to other quotes, they are able to build off of their earlier
inferences or abandon their last prediction to write a completely different one.

Students will do 5 rotations at 2 minutes each. Then the last 5 minutes will be used
for students to share their predictions about the story.

Explanation of Put the most vital portions of the “Introduction” from the story on the board. We will read
Persepolis as a class and teacher will explain what the story is about.
- Inform students that it is a literary memoir
(10 mins) - It is also a graphic novel

(15 mins) Facilitating Student Each group of 5 students will be given a word that is important to understand before
vocabulary exercise reading the text. Student groups will research the word, then rephrase in order to create a
class-definition for everyone to use and understand.
1. Muslim- a follower of the religion of Islam
2. Fundamentalism- a form of religion that calls for a strict, literal interpretation of
scripture
3. Shah- emperors/lords/kings of Iran
4. Ayatollah- a Shiite religious leader in Iran
5. Shador- a long, loose cloak worn over Muslim women
6. Taliban- Islamic fundamentalist political group in Iran (currently in war)
When the student group is finished, they will also research what it means to be an Iranian
today. What do Iranians do on a daily basis?
 After students obtain these definitions, they will share out whole-group so that their
classmates can write it down

(5 mins) Mini-lesson on Mini-lesson on Tone and Mood

Tone/Mood Optional video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIE1FvvwwLQ

(20 mins) Read & monitor Read Chapter 1 in a “Stop & Jot” fashion; every so many comic strip lines, stop the class
student reading from reading. On the text, students should write down what they believe is happening in
the story so far. While reading, they are also highlighting/underlining words that they
believe express the author’s tone and/or the reader’s mood.

Students are given 2 minutes to “Jot” during each stop.

(5 mins) Class discussion What is going on in Chapter 1? What do we know about the main character? What do we
know about her family? Do we know anything about her faith?

(10 mins) Watching/helping Students will be broken into groups of 4-5. Each group will be given a question about the
poster completion text to discuss with their group then answer on chart paper. Groups may not finish so will
be given time in class tomorrow to finish then present.

Questions:
1. What is the mood of the novel so far? How and where can you see this in the text?
2. What do you believe is the author’s tone? Where can you see it communicated to
us? Can you also see it in the drawings? If so, where?
3. How do the characters’ facial expressions add to the mood of the text? Give
specific examples (at least 2)
4. How do Marjane’s parents’ involvement in the revolution influence her as a child?
Describe how it influences her and where you see evidence of it.
5. What does Marjane mean by saying, as a child, that she wanted to be a prophet?
Why do the other people in her life react confusedly about her proposed
aspiration?