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DIXIE STATE COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE -SECONDARY

Teacher Candidate Michael Jurgensmeier Grade Level Secondary Subject/Content: Creative Writing Title Creating Effective Setting CONTEXTUAL FACTORS (e.g. ethnicity, gender, exceptionalities, ELL, GATE, etc.) which need differentiation in instruction and assessment. There is some light reading involved in this lesson, which may be a problem for struggling readers, however the teacher and/or a volunteer student will be reading out-loud.

WALK-AWAY (what do I want students to know, understand, and be able to do?) Content Walk-Away: What is setting in Creative Writing? What three elements make up setting? What is effective when using these elements?

Reading/Language Walk-Away: Voice, Perspective, Narrator, First-person, Third-person, Physical traits, Time-period, Social status, Social Norms

ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE (formative/summative checks for learning) (Match the Content Walk-Away)

Modifications/Accommodations

(ELL, IEP, GATE, etc.)

Along with the free-writing that will take place at the beginning of class, the students will also begin their short stories, which is the main assignment in the unit plan for the semester.

ACTIVE LEARNING PLAN

Modifications/ Accommodations (ELL, IEP, GATE, etc.)

Activate Prior Knowledge/Experiences Through the use of familiar texts that are common in mainstream media it is likely the students will be able to make the connection from the setting in something like Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Narnia, Huckleberry Finn, True Grit and The Hunger Games and use that knowledge to gain an understanding of how using the three elements used in a setting relate to a familiar work like those listed above.

Focus Lesson (I do it) Introduce setting. What is setting? What is its function? Slide three on the accompanying Google-Doc gives an example of three different types of unique setting with the illustration of Alice in Wonderland, Oz the Great and Powerful and Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Through these illustrations the teacher will point out how the setting in these three young adult/fantasy settings. Slide four gives a written definition of the three elements of setting. 1- Physical attributes. 2- Time of action taking place. 3- Social customs of characters. For a short moment the teacher will give a brief explanation of what each element is.

Guided Instruction (We do it) Slides 5-7 are dedicated to an example of each element of setting, one slide for each element. Slide number 5 has a recent picture of the Mississippi River, which is in connection to the excerpt from Twains Huckleberry Finn that will be shared with the class from a handout given to each student. Before the excerpt is read the teacher will give a brief history of the text and its place in the history of American literature before beginning to read it to the class or having a student read it.

Collaborative/Cooperative (You do it together) The collaboration portion of the lesson will be done in groups of two. Slides 8 through ten will have photographs meant to apply to each of the three elements of creating setting in fiction. The first, slide 8, will be the focus of physical setting, the second, slide 9, will be the focus of time-period setting and the third, slide ten, will be the focus of social-norms setting. The pairs of students will be given 5-10 minutes to co-write a paragraph about each slide and after each slide

any pair that is interested will share what they have produced. Independent (You do it alone) The independent section of this lesson will be the assignment that will connect to the next lesson plan. The students will be asked to describe a setting in a short story genre of one of three options. The first being the students favorite restaurant, the second being their favorite place and the final will be there home. This assignment will connect to the next lesson which will be based on the creation of conflict in fiction. Summarization/Closure In summarization the purpose of this lesson is not only to introduce the concept of setting in fiction, but it will also serve as a kick starter towards creating effective writing habits, effective writing process and ultiamtly leading to the goal of the unit plan which is based on creating an effective fiction short story. This seems like a fun lesson and I look forward to sharing it.

NOTES TO TEACHER What do I need to remember to do? Set the overhead projector to show my Google-docs presentation. Make copies of the accompanying worksheet. Materials to have ready? Worksheet. Google-doc presentation. Approximate time needed for lesson? One class period.

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