Liana Alcantara Professor Willis CI 403 LPA #1, Week 4 Title: Understanding Motifs: Recurring Ideas in Midnights Children

Time: This lesson was designed to take a full 50 minute class period.

Theory Into Practice Background: As outlined in our theoretical rationale, this lesson demonstrates use of the UDL format for learning and Fisher and Freys Feed Up, Feed Back, Feed Forward model. Using both of these frameworks allows for the largest possible number of students to have the greatest chance possible of understanding the material as presented. The emphasis on this lesson is largely in group work and large group discussion. While there is much to say against the large group discussion format, I believe that when used in conjunction with other styles of teaching, it can be very useful, not just to the student speaking, but the students listening. In Burkes book The English Teachers Companion, he quotes Douglas Barnes and his work From Communication to Curriculum, where he uses the phrase exploratory talk. This is speech that is marked by frequent hesitations, rephrasings, false starts and changes of directionit is very important whenever we want a learner to take an active part in learning (page 241) I believe that exploratory talk would be very beneficial to all students in understanding the role of motifs in Midnights Children, and allowing time for them to ask questions of myself and each other is essential to this.

Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students will: Have a concrete understanding of the definition of motifs in literature. Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the function of motifs in this section of Midnights Children. Be able to apply these motifs to their own lives and find common ground between themselves and Saleem.

Materials: For this lesson, you will need: Copies of Midnights Children for every student Dry erase/chalkboard at the front of the classroom Copies of creative application prompt for every student

Preparation: Students will have read the first two chapters in Book Two for this lesson: The Fishermans Pointing Finger and Snakes and Ladders. For this lesson to run smoothly, make sure to have the copies of the creative application prompt ready to go before class starts. While the goal of the lesson is to have students arrive at the definition of motifs through collaboration, you should also have a definition ready to suggest if students are reluctant to participate, but also so you have a clear goal of what you are steering their conversation towards. When students enter the room, there should be the following written on the board: What do you think of when you hear the word motif? Take out your notebooks and a writing utensil and do a quick free

write on what you think motif means. This will allow students to begin working as soon as they enter the classroom.

Procedure: 1) As students enter the classroom, collect their journals from Week 3 and direct them to follow the instructions on the board. Allow sufficient time for all students to turn in journals and get settled into their seats and complete the free writes. (2-3 minutes) 2) After students have all written down a few ideas, ask students to shout out some responses as you write them on the board. Try to steer students towards a literary definition of motifs and include examples from other texts they may have read. The final definition should look something like the one below. (5 minutes) a. motif: a recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature. A motif may also be two contrasting elements in a work, such as good and evil. In the Book of Genesis, we see the motif of separation again and again throughout the story. [] A motif is important because it allows one to see main points and themes that the author is trying to express, in order that one might be able to interpret the work more accurately. (See A Handbook to Literature, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms) 3) After the class has come up with a cohesive definition for motif, write it concisely on the board for them to reference throughout the rest of class. Ask students to brainstorm some motifs found in this section of Midnights Children. Make a list on the board for students. Some possible motifs: snakes and ladders, blood/the color red, the pointing finger. (3-5 minutes)

4) After students have brainstormed a list of motifs, break students up into groups of three or four and have each group focus on a specific motif. It is fine if more than one group is on the same motif, there are lots of examples in this section. Have each group come up with at least two instances of their motif in this section of text and discuss the importance of the motif. (15-20 minutes) 5) Have students come back into large group discussion and present one example of their motif and the significance of it to the class. Students should be taking notes on each motif as it is presented for future reference/use in the creative application prompt. (5-10 minutes) 6) Pass out the creative application prompt and talk through it with the class. Answer any questions that arise. (5 minutes) 7) Write the following exit slip prompt on the board. Tell students that this will be turned in as a check for understanding: What motif(s) do you think may recur throughout the whole novel? Which do you think may be more central to this section of text? Why do you think this? (2-3 minutes) 8) Allow students to begin working on the prompt if there is sufficient time left for students to work. (remainder of class)

Discussion Ideas: A large part of this lesson is dependant on facilitating large group classroom discussion, and also circulating and fostering discussion as students work in groups. The following are some examples of what could be said to prompt students in the brainstorming of motifs stage: If students are having trouble getting started: Think of a specific story or symbol that

Saleem tells us about. Does Rushdie bring any of these back in the general narration? If so, which ones? If students are confusing motif with symbols: You have the right idea, that it is an object or idea of continued importance throughout a novel, but try and think of a motif as coming directly from the author, while a symbol can mean many things, often on purpose. What is a concrete motif we see throughout this section? In group work, if students are having trouble finding examples of their specific motif, the following are some questions/ideas that could help guide their thinking: For snakes and ladders: When did something go right for Saleem or his family in this section? When did something go wrong? Could either of these be seen as snakes or ladders? How so?

Bilingual/ESL and Englishes Accommodations: While much of this lesson takes place through discussion, my writing the important pieces and definitions on the board will help ESL students follow along and get the same information as their peers. If it would be helpful, I could have a student that is already taking notes on the discussion share them with the ESL student, or if the student would feel more comfortable in having a definition in front of them, I could provide them with the ideal definition found in the procedure ahead of time. Also, the group work can help solidify the understanding of motifs for every student, and the final exit slips will help me gauge each students individual understanding at the end of the lesson. If any students were feeling unclear about the text in general, there is a Spark Notes guide on this book that provides fairly detailed summaries of the text in fairly simple English. This

could be a good resource for any student, because the nature of this book is such that just reading the summaries will not mean complete understanding of the text, it is an incredibly dense text that takes lots of dissection to fully comprehend. I may recommend students refer to the Spark Notes if they are confused, it is a good resource if properly used.

Special Education Accommodations: Similarly to the ESL accommodations, the visual aid of having the definition and major ideas of discussion written on the board could be helpful. One student in this class has ADHD, and I know that this student performs better with clear instructions and varied situations for learning. Thinking of this and using the UDL approach to planning, I included elements of individual work (beginning prompt and exit slip), large group discussion (definition of motif and brainstorming of different motifs), and small group work and discussion (finding specific examples of motifs and discussing their overall importance). If the student with ADHD would find it useful, I could provide a guided note sheet, or if they perform better when directly involved with tactile tasks, the student could be the one to record the class discussion on the board instead of me. Often, the way to ensure involvement in the class for students with ADHD is to give them more responsibility in its functioning. It allows the student to be both involved in the learning, but also to have a task to focus onif they are busy writing down everyones answers, it leaves less time for them to be idle and potentially become distracted.

Assessment: Informal assessment will be used for the majority of the classsimple polls of the class

after sections of the lesson could provide the adequate feedback necessary to know if I need to clarify anything before moving on, for example ensuring that everyone understands our final definition of motifs before moving on to brainstorming different motifs could help alleviate any potential confusion before it begins. The final assessment for this specific lesson is the exit slip, which forces students to synthesize the main points of the lesson and apply their knowledge to answer a prediction question. Another piece of assessment for these learning objectives is the creative application prompt, which will be completed as homework/in class the next day, as it will be due at the end of the lesson. The assignment sheet for the creative application prompt can be found at the end of this lesson plan.

Extension Ideas: If students wanted to continue engaging with the ideas of motifs, I would encourage them to choose a motif they find particularly interesting/integral to the text and track it throughout the rest of the novel. The students reading journals would be an ideal place to do this, and it may inspire them for the final project as well. Also, if students wanted to do more creative projects on the topic of motifs, they could create another creative application with another motif, or possibly illustrate an instance of a particular motif that they found important directly from Midnights Children.

Source of Activity: In checking out potential resources for ESL/students in Special Education, I found a Spark Notes guide online for Midnights Children. There is a section on themes, motifs, and symbols for the novel as a whole, and I saw that one of these was snakes. The origin of that motif

is in the chapter Snakes and Ladders, and so from there I decided to do a lesson centered around motifs, which not only helps students while reading the rest of the novel, but also ties back to the overall focus of this unit: how the form of Midnights Children affects our understanding of literatures place in history. Students could discuss and utilize motif in their final projects for this unit.

Resources and References: "All American: Glossary of Literary Terms." UNCP. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec 2011. <http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm Definition of motif, which the website says is taken from A Handbook to Literature, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms Burke, Jim. The English Teacher's Companion: a Complete Guide to Classroom, Curriculum, and the Profession. 3rd ed. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2008. Print. "Midnight's Children." Spark Notes. n. page. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/midnightschildren/themes.html>. Spark Notes resource page on motifs

Illinois State English Language Arts Goals: This lesson meets the following ISBE standards: 2.A.5a: Compare and evaluate oral, written, or viewed works from various eras and traditions and analyze complex literary devices (e.g., structures, images, forms, foreshadowing, flashbacks, stream of consciousness). o By attaining a working knowledge of motif, students can then analyze why

and how Rushdie uses these motifs throughout the text and the affect it has on the plot and characters as a whole. 1.A.5a: Identify and analyze new terminology applying knowledge of word origins and derivations in a variety of practical settings. o Students come away from this lesson with a very practical, self-made definition of motif that they can then apply to the rest of the text and make connections to their own lives.

Creative Application: Motifs in your own life

Now that we have discussed and defined motif, it is time to apply your knowledge to your own lives! Rushdie gives us many different motifs to choose from in this section. Your task is to choose one of these motifs and represent it creatively with a scene from your own life. Some possible motifs: Snakes and ladders The pointing finger Blood/the color red Anything from the list we made in class today

You can do this in many ways: Write a creative short story (1-2 pages) about when you were young. Make a sketch/draw a picture of a scene where you felt like Saleem in one of the times a motif shows up. Include a brief paragraph explaining the scene and which motif you chose. Write a poem dealing with one of these motifs and a time from your own life when you felt this way. Any creative representation of a motif will doif you have ideas other than these, just talk to me. It is probably fine, I just want to make sure you are on the right track before you start. This assignment will be due tomorrow (date here) at the end of class. You may wish to work on it at home, as you will only have about 20 minutes of class time tomorrow to add any finishing touches. There will be time to share with the class as well, so do your best! This assignment is worth 15 points: 10 for how well you apply your chosen motif to the story, and 5 for creativity.