Group work: Elements of a Short Story-THEMES (LESSON PLAN)

Date:  April 29 2011

Grade Level: Grade eight

Age Group: 12-14

Number of Students: 36

Language Arts Area and Subtopic: Elements of a short story/ theme

Duration: 40 minutes

Other Language Areas: Characterizations, setting

Objectives: students will:

                    Share their stories of superstition

                    Identify and discuss the characteristics of the stories
Examine elements of the text to make predictionsPre-requisites: students should be able to:
Read
Tell storiesApproach/ Strategy: discussion

Materials: mats/ blankets

Preparation: students will arrange the class in a fish bowl arrangement.

Introduction: teacher will tell her own experience with superstition. She will also mention terms like the soucouyant, bolom, "Jean Gaje" and ask students what they know about them.

Development:

Step 1: students will take turns to tell stories of superstition. Students are free to comment on each other’s stories, make adjustments and tell their version of the same story based on how they have heard it.

Step 2: students will identify and discuss the characteristics of the stories highlighting their variations and commonalities.

Step 3: students will be given a copy of the story, "The Village Washer". As a class we will discuss the topic of the story. Students will be asked the following questions:
Is the title attractive? Is it one which makes you want to read the text?
Based on the topic, what do think the story is about?
Using the class activity as the basis along with the topic what do think the story is about?Step 4: teacher will read a brief preview of the story to give students a little more information to make their predictions. The teacher will not give out too much information but rather just enough to get students interested in the story.

Conclusion: using a table format, students will document the similarities and differences among the stories.
Based on the preview that was read and the discussions in class, students will make predictions as to what the story will be about in their prediction logs.

Evaluation: students will be asked to draw their idea of a superstitious character of their choice in their journals.