“A Soldier for the Crown” Lesson Plan

Introduction to the Exceptional Individual

Cassie Hoene

Grade Level: ​11th grade

Subject​: English/ Language Arts

Concept
The concept being taught will be making predictions based on textual evidence. They will be
given groups of sentences from the story “A Soldier for the Crown” and asked to make
predictions about the setting, mood, and main character of the short story.

Common Core Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative
and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone,
including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or
beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.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.

Specific Objective to Meet Goals

The student will be able to make predictions about the short story “A Soldier for the Crown”
based on groups of sentences that reveal the setting, the mood, and the protagonist’s personality.
They will work both in groups and individually at different parts of the activity.

Teaching Method
I will employ a group participation method. This will be strategy instruction, and they will be
guided with questions to make predictions about the short story.

Classroom Description
I have a class of 24 students. Three students have IEPs for ADHD (under Other Health
Impairments) and four students have IEPs because they are gifted.

Accommodations
For my students, I will accommodate their exceptionalities by using ability grouping. In their
groups, they will be able to dig as deep as their abilities allow. This will allow the gifted students
to go beyond the level of their fellow students and reach their full potential. The students with
ADHD will be accommodated because this activity is made up of several stages so that their
attention spans will not run out and they won’t become restless. The students will have enough
time to read the sentences, find evidence, and make their predictions, and then they will move on
to the next part. I will also try to place these students with ADHD in groups with other students
with whom they work well.

Procedure for the Lesson

● Read the title of the short story. Ask the students to raise their hands and share
predictions that they have for the story based on the title. What do they already know
about the Revolutionary War? What are possible meanings of each of the words in the
title? How do the different meanings change their predictions? Have them write down
their initial predictions.
● Hand out the first set of sentences, one page for each group. As you do this, briefly
discuss about which aspect of the story the first sentences will be (setting).
● Read each of the sentences out loud.
● Have the class write down their impressions of the first set. What do they think the
setting is? Why? Have them identify which words or phrases led them to that conclusion.
● The students will briefly share their ideas with the rest of their group.
● Repeat steps 2-5 for both the second and third sets of sentences. As you pass out the
sentences, ask the students to explain what the “mood” of the story is, and what indirect
characterization is.
● After all three sets have been looked at, have the students discuss their predictions as a
whole class. What did they conclude about the setting, mood, and the protagonist?
Having decided on those, what predictions can they make about the events of the story?
What “evidence” (in the sentences or in their conclusions) leads to those predictions?
How are these predictions different from their initial prediction based on the title?

Academic Language
● Setting: when and where the story takes place
● Mood: atmosphere of the story
● Indirect characterization: the author reveals the personality or physical traits of a
character through his or her speech, actions, etc.

Assessment Method
I will determine the students’ success based on their participation and answers during the
discussions.
 Setting
You will never forget this sight: scores of black men in British uniforms, with the inscription
LIBERTY TO SLAVES on their breasts, bearing arms so naturally one would have thought they
were born with a rifle in their hands.

“But without us, the rebels would lose—“

“So would the redcoats. Both sides need us, but I don’t trust neither one to play fair when this
thing is over.”

At Camden you took a ball in your right shoulder. Fragments remain there still, making it a little
hard for you to sleep on that side or withstand the dull ache in your shoulder on days when the
weather is damp.

Mood
Even as your boat eased away from the harbor, some leaped from the docks into the water,
swimming toward the ship for this last chance to escape slavery. Seeing them, you’d thought,
That might have been me.

There, Caesar suggested that it would help if you all changed your names and appearances as
much as possible since Master Selby was sure to post your descriptions.

You found pieces of your cousin strewn everywhere. And you ran. Ran.

Characterization
You always were a gambler.

They waited for you to pick a name, poking sticks at the campfire, sending up sparks into the
starless sky. “Give me time,” you’d said, changing into buckskin breeches, blue stockings, and a
checkered, woolen shirt. “I’ll shave my hair off, and I’ll think of ​some​thing before we get there. I
don’t want to rush.”

And then there was that magnificent Declaration penned by Jefferson, proclaiming that “We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness,” words you’d memorized after hearing them. If the Continentals won, would this
brave, new republic be so bad?