Lesson Plan 2: Introduction into how authors develop the theme (using literary devices and structure).

Name of Course: American Literature

Any Special Characteristics of Students:
One student has mild autism.
One student has ADHD.
One student has anxiety.
Brief Description of When This Lesson Will Be Taught: Lesson Two.
*Students will have also learned different figurative language devices earlier in the year.
Instructional Standards, Objectives, and Questions:
State, National, and/or Professional Standards:
Reading Standard for Literature 3
Reading Standard for Literature 5
Language Standard 5

Content Objectives:
Students will be able to follow and understand the development of the theme throughout the poem/ song.
Students will be able to explain the different techniques (figurative language/ structure) being used by the author, and how these
help support, emphasize, and develop the theme.
Students will be able to share their thoughts about the text with other students, discussing the authors techniques, and the
overall theme (using evidence from the text).
Literacy Objectives:
Students will be able to understand the poem and song both on a superficial and on a deeper level.
Students will be able to interpret and analyze more complex texts.
Topical Essential Question(s):
Do different techniques affect the overall theme and the readers experience of that theme? Explain.
Do the techniques and structure used by the author help the theme develop throughout the text? Explain.
Do poetry and lyrics (particularly rap lyrics) explore the theme in a similar or different way? Explain.
Components of the Lesson
Required Class Time: 90 Minutes
HOOK Beginning reading/learning 20 minutes
Class will begin with a brief reminder about what the class discussed the lesson before (reminding them what the class
definition for the theme of the American Dream was).
Students will be given both the poem, The Decay of the American Dream, and the song lyrics, American Dreamin by JayZ (both excluding the title and the author name).
The teacher will read both out loud, twice. (This is an important way to both model and implement rereading as a strategy for
students to use with complex texts.)
Students will then choose which they want to work with for the class, and they will read their choice once again, silently.
Students will underline and annotate anything that confuses them or that they believe might be important to the theme. (This
will have been something demonstrated in a previous class by the teacher, but a previous example will be projected to the class
to remind them as well.)
LINE During reading/learning 45 minutes
Students will break into groups of 3-4 students based on the text they choose.
Students will paraphrase each line (or sentence) using the Say, Mean, Matter technique, given to them on a worksheet, which
will be passed in for an informal assessment. (This will have been something demonstrated in a previous class by the teacher,
but a previous example will be projected to the class to remind them as well.)
Students will do the Think/Pair/Share exercise, even though they arent in pairs (the share to the class part will come at the
end of class). The question given by the teacher to guide this will be: What does the author think about the American Dream?
Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Students will make up a title for the text (based on what the author is saying about the overall theme of the American Dream).

SINKER Concluding reading/learning 15 minutes

Students will share a (very) brief answer they came up with as a group to the question provided for the Think/Pair/Share
exercise.
Students will share the title they came up with for the text.
The teacher will tell the students the actual names of the poem and song.
How Will You Know if Students Got It? Today? Later?
The teacher will walk around and both skim some of the writings students are doing (focusing on their annotations) and listen to
the group discussions occurring.
Students will pass in their work done in class (including some notes from the Think/Pair/Share exercise) for an informal
assessment.
Students will do homework that will also demonstrate if they understood the lesson.
What Will Students Do for Homework? What Will Today Lead Into Next?
Using the work you did in class, you will write about the different techniques and structure that the author uses in the texts to
demonstrate the theme (largely coming from the matter part of their worksheets). In this write up, you will also discuss what
you believe the author thinks about the American Dream and give examples from the text. Although this write up does not need
to be in paragraph form (can be bulleted, etc.), it should be clear and organized to ensure the teacher understands your
knowledge about the subject.
Todays lesson is helping students find tools to understand a theme and its development throughout a text, which will be used
with The Great Gatsby, a much more complex and longer text.