Unit
Plan
Course
Title:English-
Nada AbiSamra
Grade
Level:9
(Brevet)
Duration
of Unit:6
cycles
Monitor
expository text for unknown words or words with novel meanings by using
word, sentence and paragraph clues to determine meaning.
Take
responsibility for learning new words in context and teaching them to peers.
Analyze
the relationships between characters in the text, including conflicts,
motivations, and interactions.
Analyze
the narrative elements in a story.
Identify
intention, attitude, and bias of authors.
Explain
how the background of the author might influence the information and ideas
in a text.
Describe
a variety of reading strategies and select
and use them effectively before, during, and after reading to understand
texts.
Locate
explicit information and ideas in texts to use
in developing opinions and
interpretations.
Analyze
information, ideas, and elements in texts to make inferences about meaning.
Use
specific evidence from a text to support opinions and judgements.
Explain
how readers’ different backgrounds might influence the way they understand
and interpret a text.
Explain
how authors use stylistic devices, such as simile, metaphor, personification,
foreshadowing, and symbol, to achieve particular effects in their writing.
Writing
Communicate
a coherent thesis that conveys a clear perspective on a subject and remain
consistent throughout the piece of writing (Organization and focus)
Write
an essay using evidence in support of a thesis and making distinctions
between the relative value and significance of specific
facts.
Revise
written work independently and collaboratively, with a focus on support
for ideas and opinions, accuracy, clarity, and unity;
Edit
and proofread to produce final drafts, using correct grammar, spelling,
and punctuation.
Practice
use of simile, metaphor, and personification.
Practice
use of idioms.
Practice
error analysis in own/peer work.
Oral
Communication:
Conduct
interviews.
Participate
fully and effectively in casual conversations.
Choose
effective verbal and nonverbal techniques (e.g. voice, gestures, eye
contact) for presentations.
Express
emotional reactions and personal opinions and relate personal values to
a selection or experience. Relate story structure, plot, setting, theme,
characters to own experiences, feelings, and behaviors.
Consider
a selection or experience in the light of situations, conflicts, and themes
common to human experience.
Participate
effectively in creative interpretations of a selection or experience. Make
relevant, logical, coherent contributions to a discussion. Create a product
that effectively demonstrates a personal response to a selection or experience.
Technology
Research
the life and times of an author and gain a sense of how the time and place
affect the text.
Research
an author’s life and times by conducting targeted research on the Internet.
Help
create a web page for the class.
Character
Education
Reflect
on the importance of acceptance, tolerance, empathy and friendship in our
diverse world.
Gain
a sense of responsibility towards those less fortunate.
What kinds of circumstances
are truly beyond an individual’s control and what options are truly within
the realm of personal choice?
As a society, what is our responsibility to people whose circumstances are beyond their control?
What is our responsibility
to those people, like Lennie, who cannot
make choices for themselves?
What is the meaning of
friendship, loneliness and being an outsider?
How can friendship/companionship
combat loneliness?
Do our friends have to
look and act like us?
What is our responsibility
to the “friendless?” (less fortunate/less able
people)
Can murder ever be justified? What’s
the difference between murder and mercy-killing? Who decides?
What is the importance
of our dreams?
Do the best-laid plans
often go awry?
What happens if our dreams are
never realized?
What is the most important
relationship in your life? What makes this relationship important to you?
How would your life be different if the relationship had not occurred and
how would you be affected if the relationship ended? How does the relationship
affect your decisions and actions? Does it interfere with your freedom?
Do I have enough knowledge
and understanding of the work(s) presented?
Can I demonstrate a convincing
and detailed interpretation of the thought and feeling expressed in the
work(s) presented?
Is my use of language
clear, varied, precise and concise, appropriate to the occasion?
·An
essay
·An
oral/written presentation
·
·A
vocabulary test
·An
interactive notebook containing journal entries, drawings and reflections.
Activities
may take the form of individual or group effort.
·Students
will do a research on John Steinbeck & The
Great Depression in the
·Students
will interview an underprivileged worker and write an essay about that.
·Students
will write a response to explain what an important personal relationship
means to them.
·Students
will complete a graphic organizer to show the dream George and Lennie
share, obstacles in the way of the dream, and the outcome of the dream.
·Students
will write an epilogue to the book to suggest what happens to George after Lennie
dies: How is George's life different? Is he alone? Does he need/care for
others?
·Students
will file materials in their portfolios/writing folders.
·Students
will write a personal response to each death to place in their portfolios/writing
folders.
·Students
will design and produce a flier listing legal, medical, educational, social,
and/or religious services available to the people who suffer homelessness,
poverty, mental disability, discrimination, or who work as migrants.
·Students
will write an editorial concerning the plight of one group of the underprivileged
in the
·Steinbeck,
John "Of Mice and Men"
·Films: Sinise,
Nelson,
Ralph “Charly”1968
Chelsom,
Peter “The Mighty”1998
·Images
of Steinbeck’s Salinas Valley/migrant workers/Depression/Dust
Bowl:
Library
of Congress Web site: http://www.lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html
·Background
info on the Great Depression
·Biographical
info on John Steinbeck:
http://users.dedot.com/mchs/steinbeck.html
http://www.steinbeck.org/index2.html
Art
·Create
a new book jacket for the novel.
·Take
black and white photographs that reflect the social issues in the novel.
Drama
·Dramatize
scenes from the novel using the published play version or the text of the
novel.
Healthful
Living
·Research
what Americans had to eat during this era.
·Create
a menu for a family for a week.
Math
·Research
Depression-era income and expenses.
Create a monthly budget for a family of four based on the research.
Music
·Find
a song to represent one of the characters. Make a copy of the lyrics. Write
a paragraph to explain how the character and the song fit together. Refer
to the song lyrics often in order to develop this paragraph fully.
Social
Studies
·Research
and report on biographies of famous people from this era.
·Research
and discuss significant court cases involving social issues such as segregation,
the mentally disabled, etc.
·Create
a map of northern
Character
Education
·Explore
and analyze the character education traits caring/kindness, fairness/justice,
and citizenship/civic virtue found in the novel.
The
students liked this unit a lot and enjoyed reading the book. Later
on, they had to work on a project where they had to choose one of the themes
dealt with in the novel “Of Mice and Men” and, according to their choice,
they were grouped together in order to work on it and come up with a written
and then an oral presentation on the topic of their choice which would
fit within the general theme they initially chose.