Molly Flajole

Amanda Mazzio
Stephanie Hennigan
Lesson Plan 1
Learning Target (Task, Assignment, or Content Knowledge):

In a 9th grade English class, students have been reading The Catcher in the Rye. The class has
finished reading Chapters 14-20. For today’s lesson, students will be analyzing the theme of
phoniness by looking at character interactions within these chapters. The original lesson was
comprised of a class discussion and a tableau activity (which is explained further below).
Collaboratively, the mainstream teacher and I worked together to create a new lesson plan that
would be more appropriate for the new ELL students in the class.

The class will begin with a short free-write journal exercise, in which the students explore what
phoniness means to them. For the bulk of the class, students will work in groups to dissect an
interaction between two characters. Given what is presented in the text, students will infer
whether either character is acting “phony”, supporting their opinions using examples from the
book. The students will use a worksheet to guide their investigation. To conclude the lesson,
each group will present a tableau of their characters’ interaction. A tableau is a living sculpture, a
still-life pose that portrays a character’s emotions or intentions through the use of facial
expressions and body language. For this lesson, the students will act out a still image that they
believe captures the spirit of their assigned interaction. The class has done this activity multiple
times in the past because it is a fun assessment that allows teachers to assess the students’
understanding, separate from their language skills. Although the mainstream students are
familiar with this activity, the teacher will once again model how to do a tableau so that the new
ELL student(s) understand and are prepared for the task. The teacher will model the activity for
the whole class as a “reminder” so that the ELL student(s) do(es) not feel singled out.

Content Area and Grade level: 9th grade English class with a mix of native English
speakers and English Language Learners

Teacher: Stephanie Hennigan Date: Middle of the unit, The Catcher and the Rye

ELL(s) English Proficiency Level: Intermediate Level 4

Section 1: Objectives and Standards

Content Objective(s) Language Objective(s)
-SWBAT analyze the interactions between Holden and the other SWBAT read sections of The
characters to develop the theme of phoniness in chapters 14-20 in Catcher in the Rye to identify
The Catcher in the Rye. details that indicate
characters’ phoniness

In writing and casual

conversation, SWBAT…
-describe interactions between
 Holden and the other
characters,
- evaluate the social
implication of the characters’
actions/words,
-and explain their
interpretation of the
interaction

Content Standards Language Standards

(MI English Language
Proficiency Standards)
R.8.4.a Read text and use
Common Core Grade 9 Reading Standard 3: Analyze how a detailed sentences to identify
complex character interacts with other characters to develop a orally the main ideas and use
theme in a novel. them to make predictions with
supporting details about
informational text, literary
text, and text in content areas
(If predictions=
interpretations/inferences)

S.4.4.a Exchange, support,

and discuss opinions and
individual perspectives with
peers on a variety of topics
dealing with content area
information or issues

W.6.4.a Write responses to

selected literature that
develop interpretations,
exhibit careful reading, and
cite specific parts of the text.

Section 2: English Language Development and

Other Skills for Academic Learning
Vocabulary Focus Language Functions
-Interpretation Interpreting text, using
-Supporting details/evidence supporting details, to draw
-Phony (allowing for cultural variations) conclusions about phoniness.
-Phoniness (allowing for culturally variations)
-Intention Sharing opinions (in oral and
-Polite transitions (when agreeing/disagreeing/challenging..) written format) by:
-Possibly some specific adjectives/adverbs from the text (in regard -describing/summarizing the
to the interaction or composure of the characters) to help the ELLs interaction
interpret the interactions (ex: coyly) -explaining personal
interpretations
-justifying responses with
evidence from the text

Language Structures
While reading, students can think to themselves “The character’s
words and actions match because…….” “This interaction is odd
because……” or “If I were Holden, I would feel
_______________.”

While discussing:
-I believe that _______ because on page X, we see that
___________ OR (Character X) says “____________”
-I believe that the character’s actions portray______
but his/her words show ___________.

-I agree that_____ because _______.

-I’m sorry, but I disagree.

While filling out the worksheet:

-Holden thinks/does not think that (Character X) is phony because
____. We see evidence of this on pages X when
_______________.
-During this interaction, Holden acts/does not act phony. We see
evidence of this on pages X when _______________.

Self-Learning Skills
-Looking for relevant information
-Asking questions while reading

Other Skills
-Agreeing with or challenging others’ ideas in socioculturally
appropriate ways.
 Section 3: Activity(ies)

Procedures
-Asking students to define phoniness for the journal prompt based on their own experiences as
well as how the main character, Holden Caulfield defines it activates their own memories of
phoniness as well as gets them thinking about the novel. This helps prepare the students for the
activities that follow.
-By having the students work in groups, they have the chance to validate their thoughts about the
characters’ interaction, and share the workload for finding textual evidence to support their
claims.
-By modeling the worksheet and tableau to the students, the teacher is demonstrating what she
expects each group to accomplish while they work together in small groups.
-By walking around to each group and commenting on what the students’ say each time they
participate, the teacher is validating their contributions.
-By this point in the year, students would already be familiar with tableaus, and group work, and
finding textual evidence. It would have been modeled for them and they would have practiced
multiple times. This scaffolding would have prepared the students to be able to complete a task
like the one in this lesson.

Materials/Resources/Technology
Character Analysis Worksheet

Name:____________________________
 Character Interactions & Theme: CR, Chapters 14-20

*Your character’s
name:________________________________

*Holden’s defines phoniness

as:_________________________________________________

*Give a brief description of Holden’s interaction with this

character in this section of the novel:

*Does Holden think that this character is phony? Why or why

not? Provide at least 2 quotes/passages as evidence of this.
 *Given Holden’s definition of phoniness, is Holden himself
phony when he interacts with your character? Why or why not?
Provide at least 2 quotes or passages as evidence.

*Now develop a tableau or living sculpture that will depict

Holden’s perception of the character (that is, if Holden sees
them as phony or not). You must also depict Holden in
your tableau and your interpretation of his own phoniness.
Feel free to use any props you can find and don’t forget to
be creative! You will present this and your findings to the
class in a 4-minute presentation.*

Section 4: Rationale for your lesson

Explain why you use those teaching strategies and materials (manipulatives, charts, or visual aids, etc)
and address those skills, including self-learning skills.

The activities in this lesson were chosen to help the ELL students keep up with the assignments
given in a mainstream classroom. Finding textual evidence in a book might be an easy task for
native English speakers, but for the ELL students it would be much more daunting. The small
groups will help the students, as well as the assigned pages and character interactions. That way,
the students only have to look at a few pages, and focus on ONE interaction between two
characters. This lesson is universal for all students, including ELLs, because everyone, no matter
what culture you come from, knows how to use facial expressions or body language to portray
their emotions. That is why it is so much easier to understand a person if you can talk with them
in person, instead of my email or in text. Therefore, this lesson allows students to take advantage
of their knowledge of body language, hand gestures, and facial expression with the tableau
activity in order to really present the two characters they had to analyze. The ELL students have
the option of being the ones to be the living sculpture or tableau for the presentations instead of
verbally talk about their worksheet findings. In the presentations, someone has to be the tableau,
and someone in the group has to talk about it. So, the ELLs have the option of doing the
kinesthetic part (the tableau) instead of the speaking part if they are uncomfortable. The
worksheet also helps to give the ELL students a visual for what they are discussing in the groups
and keep them on task with the native speakers in the group. I also incorporated a few ideas from
the SIOP model. I listed the content and language objectives on the board and go over them with
the class so that the ELL students know what is expected of them and what they must do in class.
Also, I am also able to give the students plenty of time to interact in their small groups so that the
ELLs do not have to be intimidated to speak to the whole class, but instead, can have the chance
to speak within the small groups. I am also doing the informal assessment of walking around the
room to help each group (and make sure the ELLs are on task) with completing the worksheet.
That way, I can provide proper feedback and individual comprehensible input to the ELL
students, if needed.

-Activating the students’ prior knowledge helps prepare them for the activity. Connecting the
journal prompt to their prior world knowledge helps them make connections to the new material.
This sort of discussion is also more helpful for ELLs then asking them a question based solely on
the text. The discussion of the journal prompt would help the students practice using vocabulary
about phoniness that they will use when they analyze the phoniness of the other characters.
-By modeling the worksheet and the tableau for the students, the students know what they are
expected to accomplish in their small groups, and what they must produce to present to the class.
-By allowing the students to present their tableaus, the students can remember what the groups
did for their tableaus easily for future assignments. They can remember which characters were
phony and which characters weren’t based on the tableau for each group. The tableaus are also
useful for holding the students accountable to their group work because they know they have to
present their tableau and the findings in the worksheet to the class.
-The worksheet will help guide students through finding textual evidence. It is a scaffolding tool
because the goal would be for students to be able to do this strategy on their own and in their
head. Eventually the teacher will be able to assign students a reading and the students will
employ this strategy on their own to help themselves.