Fairy Tales

I am currently taking a middle school class in which I have to create an interdisciplinary unit using The Watcher by James Howe. I have chosen to use fairy tales as a tie in to language arts. However, I am a 3rd grade teacher and am unsure as to how to best write a lesson plan for middle school students. Is there anyone that can offer me some pointers or direct me to a good website that might help me? I would really appreciate it!

attentiontion span ~ age
class period ~ 50=55 minutes

stick with the same activity for no longer than 15 minutes

picture the typical 12 year old - still likes to play, like to kid around, can turn irritable in a second, doesn't want to be embarassed, expects the world to entertain him, cannot tolerate boredom, enjoys randomization (pick assignments by rolling dice, picking a number, spinning a wheel, drawing chits , etc.)

flow: warm-up (5 min), standard and objectives (1 minute or less), mini-lesson, model the skill, guided practice doing the new skill, independent practice using the skill, closure

tie in prior knowledge, make the kid write something/read something and then respond, interact with someone (Think, Pair, Share)

Typical literary analysis tasks - examine characterization, explain how events advance a plot, learn how to write dialogue, learn how to prepare a story grammar (run a Google search for "story grammar"), find the theme(s) of a very simple short story

I teach 7th.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I teach 7th.

I'll bet you do, and teach the heck out of it too. That was a classic response - more wisdom per square inch than anything I've ever read at this web site. It took me years to figure out what you just said in half a page. Soooo true.

picture the typical 12 year old - still likes to play, like to kid around, can turn irritable in a second, doesn't want to be embarassed, expects the world to entertain him, cannot tolerate boredom, enjoys randomization (pick assignments by rolling dice, picking a number, spinning a wheel, drawing chits , etc.)

flow: warm-up (5 min), standard and objectives (1 minute or less), mini-lesson, model the skill, guided practice doing the new skill, independent practice using the skill, closure

tie in prior knowledge, make the kid write something/read something and then respond, interact with someone (Think, Pair, Share)

Typical literary analysis tasks - examine characterization, explain how events advance a plot, learn how to write dialogue, learn how to prepare a story grammar (run a Google search for "story grammar"), find the theme(s) of a very simple short story

I teach 7th.

Sounds like you teach 7th grade using Explicit Direct Instruction.