Lesson Plan : Text Structure and Patterns
Teacher Name: | M. I. Friedman |
Grade: | Grade 9-10 |
Subject: | Literature Activities |
Topic: | Text Structure |
Content: | Lesson will focus on the structure patterns in Monster, and will have the students examining that structure. |
Goals: | Aim: How can we identify text structure patterns in Monster? Outcomes: Student will identify the structural patterns in the novel. |
Objectives: | Students will be able to identify the patterns in the text structure, and will be able to explain the importance of each structural element. |
Materials: | Monster "Text Structure Patterns" handout |
Introduction: | Independent Reading: 1. Remind students to continue to activate prior knowledge to help them understand what they read, and to place sticky-notes on the text to show where they used this strategy. 2. Additionally, remind the students of specialized legal vocabulary used in Monster and not that their books may also include specialized words: if they are reading about a war for example, there may be words describing weapons or strategies; if they are reading about life on a farm, the words may be specialized to reflect the animals, chores, and machinery of a farm. Invite the students to note specialized vocabulary in their reading today. 3. Take status of the class as the students read independently. Independent Reading Log: 1. Distribute "Independent Reading Log/Double Entry Journal" handout. Word Study: 1. Write the following target words on the board: -dismay (dismayed)(p. 121) 2. Ask the students to copy the words into the vocabulary section of their notebook. |
Development: | Read-Aloud/Think-Aloud: 1. Ask one or two students to retell the events in the previous reading. 2. Note that you will pause to model determining the importance of ideas as we read today. Explain that good readers determine important ideas by noticing things in the text that are repeated or emphasized in some way by the author. Determine important ideas that help a reader separate the important details from the ones that are only interesting. When a reader is determining important ideas, he or she thinks, "Iknow this important because. . ." 3. Read aloud pages 115 - 126. Teacher reads from Steve's journal, and camera directions, and assigns the various parts to volunteers. 4. Pause to define the target word in context. 5. Pause to model determining important ideas. You may want to use the following stops: -Page 117, ". . .middle-aged WOMEN." Say that the author shows us a scene in Steve's neighborhood more that once. Note that these flashbacks to the neighborhood seem important and you had better pay attention to this. -Page 123, "CU on her face." Say this this sentence is in bold type and is the shortest sentence in this section. It emphasizes Steve's mother's face. Note that this seems very important. Classroom Conversation: 1. Begin the conversation, encouraging the students to refer to the text as a basis for their comments, by asking the following: -What do you think is important about what is happening to Steve in this section of the text? How do you know it is important? -What important dilemmas does this flashback point to? -What should be added to the "Monster Plot" chart? 2. Add the suggested plot item to the "Monster Plot" Chart. 3. Have the students write a response in their notebooks that details an important dilemma that Steve or his family is experiencing. 4. As often as appropriate, insert the target word into the conversation. |
Practice: | Whole Class Instruction: Focus Distinguish print conventions from text structure. Explain that writers use rules or conventions for print types and punctuation to help readers understand what they are reading. Print conventions affect how the text looks. Text structure deals with the what the text says and how the story is told. Teach 1. Read page 121 aloud, and draw the students' attention to its structure, a flashback. Explain the concept of the text structure. Tell the students that text structure is the patterns found in the content of the book--the types of phrases and information that the author repeats. 2. Ask the students if they can identify one other text structure in Monster (Diary entries, scenes in jail, camera/audio directions, exact words in courtroom scenes, indicating gestures, expressions or tone of voice, flashbacks). 3. Start a chart entitled "Text Structure Patterns in Monster" with two columns. 4. Write the first example of text structure on the chart and ask the students what kind of things they learn from this structure. This information goes in the column entitled, "Importance." 5. Ask the students to flip through the book, and look for patterns of text structure that are used. They may use sticky-notes to mark these. 6. Model how to do this. 7. Point out that many of the structures are distinguished by the kind of the print conventions used for them. But this is not true for all text structures. Flashbacks have the same kind of print as the courtroom and jail scenes. The reader must pay attention to what the words say (their meaning) to distinguish a flashback from something occurring in the present. 8. Sample "Text Structure Patterns in Monster" chart: Check/Summarize 1. Ask the students to discuss text structure patterns they have found in their texts during independent reading. 2. After the discussion, ask the students how being aware of the text structure makes it easier to understand what they are reading. |
Accommodations: | 1. Read-Aloud to get sense of students fluency and accuracy in reading. 2. Model determining importance of ideas. 3. For Individual Work, allow extra time. Maybe allow students who need to, to hand the handout in for homework. |
Checking For Understanding: | Students' work on "Text Structure Patterns" handout. |
Closure: | Ask volunteers to share their work on the handout with the class. |
Evaluation: | |
Teacher Reflections: | I feel that I can work more on getting students to share their thoughts and offer their own reflections on the creative process. |
| Create New Lesson Plan | Lesson Plan Center |