StudySync Lesson Plan O Pioneers!

Transcription

1 StudySync Lesson Plan O Pioneers! Objectives Time 1. Students will read and listen to an excerpt from Willa Cather s O Pioneers! with the opportunity for extension to the full text. 2. Students will respond to the text through writing and discussion. 3. Practice and reinforce the following Grade 9-10 ELA Common Core Standards for reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language: READING: LITERATURE RL , 9 10 WRITING W , 10 SPEAKING AND LISTENING SL minutes (with up to an additional 115 minutes of extension possibilities) Materials SyncTV Premium Lesson on Willa Cather s O Pioneers! Full text of O Pioneers! is available on StudySync as well. Overview The StudySync lesson presents excerpts from Willa Cather s O Pioneers! A short excerpt from Part One establishes the lifestyle and beliefs the narrator attributes to pioneers and describes the challenges faced throughout the country at the time. A second, longer excerpt from Part Two portrays some of the principal characters of the novel. Close examination of these excerpts will prepare students to read the entire novel and to write thoughtful, informed, and textually-rooted responses, consistent with the ELA Common Core Standards for the high school grades. Page 1

2 Background (10 minutes) 1. Watch the Preview (SL ). As a group, watch the video preview of the premium lesson. After viewing the preview, ask students to share their impressions. Use the following questions to spur discussion: a. What are some of the challenges the farmers at the turn of the 20th century faced? b. What qualities do you think people needed to overcome such challenges? c. What questions does the preview raise in your mind about the novel O Pioneers? Extension (additional 15 minutes) d. Write Creatively (W ). After listening to the preview, ask students to imagine what the scene must have been like when the three Bergson brothers learned that their father had left the farm to Alexandra, their sister, rather than to any of them. Even though students haven t yet read the book, encourage them to imagine the scene and provide some details. The different brothers might have different reactions. For example, one brother might be angry, another relieved, another hurt. Ask students to think about how Alexandra might have reacted, too. Would she have been surprised? Fearful? Triumphant? Would she feel the need to prove herself to her brothers? Give students 10 minutes to write their scenes. e. Share (SL ). Ask students who would like to share what they have written to do so. If they wrote dialogue, encourage them to enlist another student (or a few) to read the parts of different characters. If the students are reluctant to share, you might share your own to help break the ice. Engaging the Text (85 minutes) 2. Read the Text (25 minutes) a. Read and Annotate (RL , 6, 9). Ask students to read the introduction and the excerpts from O Pioneers! Give students ample time to read the text and annotate it properly. If you plan to give students a writing assignment, tell them what it will be before they begin reading so they can be thinking about the assignment as they read and make their annotations. If your classroom has a projector, model good note-taking skills by reading and annotating the first paragraph (the excerpt from Part One) as a class. This is especially important if the students have not used the note-taking tool before. Tell students to pay particular attention to the way setting is used to establish tone and to the importance of animals and of the characters attitudes about animals. If students are doing their annotations as homework, have them ask any questions they have in their annotations. These will be visible to you using the mimic function before they submit their writing assignments or any time after they submit. You might also prompt students to write at least three questions of their own as a prompt for discussion. Extension (additional 20 minutes) Page 2

3 b. Listen (RL ; SL ). As a class, listen to the audio reading of the text. Ask students to use context clues to define unfamiliar terms (such as habitable). As a group, work to define any other unclear terms or ideas. This activity serves as a model for how students can use the audio supplement on their own in conjunction with note-taking strategies. c. Comprehend (RL ). Either distribute the multiple-choice questions or read them aloud to the class. After students complete the questions, discuss them as a class. Direct students to reread and discuss any passages of the text for which they need further clarification. d. Explain (ELL). Make a two-column table on an interactive white board or for use on computers or ipads to help students analyze the opening sentences of the first excerpt. Discuss the meaning of subject and predicate. Help students see that the subject of each sentence is different. Subject The whole country Farmers A few foreclosures The settlers The Bergson boys Predicate was discouraged had to give up their land demoralized sat / and told would have been happier 3. Watch SyncTV (25 minutes) a. Watch. Either watch the SyncTV discussion associated with O Pioneers! as a class or ask students to watch it on their individual computers. b. Focus (RL ). Rewatch the portion of the SyncTV episode from 3:58 to 4:37. Here, the students discuss the metaphorical use language by Cather specifically the phrase the edge of the world and other such descriptive phrases. c. Focus (RL , 4). To focus on how the SyncTV students analyze setting, rewatch from 6:06 to 6:38. The students discuss the idea of sound as an aspect of the setting and how the setting contributes to the meaning of the text. d. Discuss (SL ). After students watch the model discussion, divide them into small groups (2-3 students). Move around the room monitoring the groups as students use the SyncTV episode as a model to discuss some of the following questions: i. What images does Cather find most powerful for portraying the prairie? How can you tell? ii. What can you tell about the characters from the way they react to, observe, or interact with their surroundings? iii. What message do you believe Cather is giving readers? How does she convey her message? iv. Who seems to be the main character based on this passage? Explain your answer? v. How does the excerpt hint at the romantic issues discussed in the preview? Page 3

4 Extension (additional 20 minutes) e. Evaluate (SL ). Watch the SyncTV episode again (as a whole class if possible). Ask students to imagine that they are a teacher evaluating the students who are taking part in the SyncTV discussion. Ask them to decide what grade they would give each student and to explain why they chose this grade. Tell them they will need to cite sample comments made by each student to justify their grading decision. 4. Think (5 minutes) a. Respond (W , 4, 6). Ask students to read the Think questions, watch the corresponding video clips, and respond to the questions. 5. Write (30 minutes) a. Discuss (SL ). Either read the prompt as a group and then discuss it or have students read it individually and ask for questions. In either case, be sure to specify the rubric that you will use to evaluate students. b. Organize (RI , W , 5). Ask students to go back and annotate the text with the prompt in mind. They should be organizing their thoughts and the points they ll address in their writing as they make annotations. This is an excellent place to apply pre-writing strategies such as outlining. c. Write (W , 4 6). Have students complete and submit their responses to the writing prompt. Remind them that their writing should be appropriate to the task and purpose. Suggest they follow steps for planning, revising, editing, and rewriting learned in previous lessons, and that they use technologically to research and post their writing responses. Extension (additional 30 minutes) d. Prepare (W ). Using one of the writing prompts that you did not assign (or one that you have developed yourself) and the StudySync rubric labeled Basic Essay Structure CCS W8.1 as a class, outline an essay on O Pioneers! Walk students through the expectations of basic 5-paragraph essay writing. i. First, have students work individually to develop thesis statement ideas. Ask several students to share their ideas. ii. Choose one of the suggested thesis statements and then have the class work together to develop an argument that supports that thesis. The following link provides examples these statements and supporting arguments: iii. Break the students into small groups (2-3 students each) and ask them to develop supporting points for the thesis statement. iv. Have the groups list 1-2 examples from the text and 1-2 examples from their own experiences to support the thesis. Ask them to rank their Page 4

5 supporting evidence from strongest to weakest and eliminate the weakest 2 ideas for each point. v. Bring the class together to discuss good conclusions. Go through the criteria given in the rubric for a good conclusion. Ask students to write their own concluding sentences. vi. By the end of the exercise, each student should have an essay outline template. Extension (additional 30 minutes) e. Write (W ). Have students write a scene to follow the scene in the second excerpt. They may choose any of the three characters from the scene, and show them later in the day talking to someone who did not witness the shooting of the ducks. Ask them to think about the attitude of each character in the scene toward the shooting of the ducks and the characters attitudes toward each other. 6. Review a. Peer Review (W ). Use the Study Sync Review feature to have students complete evaluations of three of their peers work based on the review rubric you chose. Have the students look at their peers evaluations of their own writing. In pairs, ask the students to discuss briefly the peer evaluations. Suggested questions: What might you do differently in a revision? How might you strengthen the writing and the ideas? Extension (additional 20 minutes) b. Self-Assess (W ). Use the StudySync assignment creation tool to create a Writing assignment that asks students to address the following prompt: Reread your essay and the reviews of your essay on O Pioneers! After reading these reviews, what do you believe were the greatest strengths of your essay? What were the greatest weaknesses? If you were to go back and revise this essay again, what would you change? Page 5

6 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS Key Vocabulary 1. foreclosure (n.) the process of taking possession of a mortgaged property as a result of someone's failure to keep up mortgage payments. 2. habitable (adj.) suitable to live in 3. demoralize (v.) cause to lose confidence or hope 4. globules (n.) small round particles of something; drops 5. indignant (adj.) feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair treatment Reading Comprehension Questions 1. What do the Bergson boys want? a. adventure b. wives c. stability d. riches 2. According to the excerpt, more than anything else, a pioneer should have a. strength b. courage c. skill d. imagination 3. What is Carl thinking about as the sun rises? a. His mortgage b. His relationship with Alexandra c. The cows d. The lack of rain 4. When Carl crosses the fence, whose land is he on? a. the Shabatas b. the Bergsons c. Carl s d. the bank s 5. What are Emil and Marie doing? a. milking cows b. hunting ducks c. chasing sheep d. eating breakfast 6. What doesn t Marie like? a. eating animals hunters have killed b. seeing ducks right after they have been shot c. getting up before sunrise d. living on the frontier Page 6

7 7. What makes Carl sad? a. finding two young people in the pasture b. trouble with the bank c. his lost dog d. all the work he has to do 8. What does Ivar think about wild things? a. They should be wiped out. b. They frighten him. c. They are too happy to kill. d. He s never seen one. 9. How many ducks does Emil shoot? a. one b. three c. five d. seven 10. What best describes the tone of the piece? a. happy b. sarcastic c. ominous d. nostalgic Answer Key 1. C 2. D 3. B 4. A 5. B 6. B 7. A 8. C 9. C 10. D Page 7

8 Further Assignments 1. Ask students to rewrite their responses to the writing prompt based on their peers feedback and/or their self-assessments. (W ) 2. Assign students a StudySync Writing assignment to research American culture on the Great Plains around They should look up frontier life, foreclosures, etc. (W ) 3. Put students into groups. Have groups refer to the full text of O Pioneers! to select a passage and rewrite it as a script, using only dialogue and stage directions. When groups complete their scripts, have them exchange their work with another group to discuss the challenges of writing in this form. (SL ) 4. Ask students to read the rest of the novel. Have them use presentation software to create character sketches or descriptions for each major character. Then ask them to write an essay to compare each character with Cather s description of the qualities needed in pioneers, using their slides to provide visual enhancement to their essays. (RL , W ; SL ) 5. Assign the remainder the novel for students to read, either independently or as a class. Have students examine the ways the theme of the novel is expressed in the setting throughout the text. Remind students to use the discussion in the SyncTV video as a model for how to read closely for theme. After students find three examples of Cather s use of setting to express theme, have them write an essay to discuss this aspect of the novel. (RL , 7, 10) 6. Place students into pairs. Have them go through the excerpts together, identifying unfamiliar words. Tell them to divide their list in half, and then work individually to look for definitions and synonyms for each unfamiliar word. Then have them present what they ve learned to one another, each of them teaching one another their half of the list. (ELL) Page 8