University of Arkansas Fort Smith

School of Education
Lesson Plan 1
Name: Allison Harrison
Date:
II____Internship____

Grade Level:

Practicum 1___Practicum

Subject Area: English

Smith

Textbook: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Pages:

Memoirs/Diaries/Letters and Informational texts

School District: Fort

216

Other:

Blooms Taxonomy: My lesson provides opportunities for: __Creating __ Evaluating

X Analyzing __ Applying X Understanding __ Remembering
Types of Activities: X Co-op Learning X Independent Work __ Small Group X
Teacher-assisted __ Hands-on

Pre-assessment: (What will I use for pre-assessment, and how will I use the results
of the pre-assessment?)
The day before this lesson, students read Chapter 1 in the anchor text. In their
guided questions that the students were asked to answer (after reading) was Who
is the protagonist (the main character)? How old is he and what kind of personality
does he have? These questions are based on the observations and impressions
they made while reading. We discussed these questions as a class, and students
noted that Bruno was the main character, and that he was a little boy who was
spoiled. When asked how they came to this conclusion, students referred to the
pages in the text that explained this. No one mentioned the dialogue or the voice of
the character. Because of this, I felt the need to cover what voice is and its role in
the text.
Standard(s): (Include specific state standards.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.1
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text

Objectives: (What should students be able to do at the end of the lesson?)

Students should be able to identify and analyze the differences in characters
voices in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
Anticipatory Set, Hook or Engaging the Learner: (How will I gain students
attention?)
After reviewing who Bruno is and what his personality is, I will explain that the
students made inferences about him using inferences. These inferences (or
educated guesses) were made by the voice of the character. This will lead into
discussion on What is voice?
Instruction: (How will I present new material and make learning relevant? Bullet the
order and content you plan to teach in the lesson. Include proposed questions and
anticipated responses from students.)
First, students will complete the Bellwork. For this lesson the assignment is to write
six characteristics about Bruno and note which page numbers they pulled from. This
leads into the Anticipatory Set (see above). The narrator's voice in literature refers
to the style choices made by the author. These style choices help to create the
characters and the characters' voices and personalities.
After this, we will go through the first two chapters of The Boy in the Striped
Pajamas and identify the following characters using voice and textual evidence. This
will be called the Character Investigation activity. The characters to be focused on
are: Gretel, Maria, Mother, and Fathers soldier. Because they have already read
Chapter 1, I will not read it out loud for them. However, I will read Chapter 2 out
loud, so that they can write the character traits while they listen. Even though I read
it aloud, the students must still cite the page(s) that provide evidence. The
characteristics include: age, gender, personalities, and appearances.
Once they are finished, I will have them discuss with two other peers so that they
can compare and contrast answers. Traits of voice that help the students to
determine characters qualities include: dialogue, description, and thoughts of the
characters/narrator.
Guided and Independent Practice: (How will I get students to practice/apply what
has just been taught?)
Independently, students will complete the Bellwork and the first part of the
Character Investigation activity. In both activities, I have students compare answers
with one or two partners, to encourage social learning. In these activities, students
are analyzing the characters and making inferences on textual evidence.

Closure: (How can I bring closure to summarize learning and enhance retention of
the material?)
At the end, I will sum up what we did today, emphasizing that voice is the style
choice, made by the author, that creates characters traits, personalities, and
attitudes. Students will also hand in their work at the end of the day.

Alternate Plan B: (What will I do if students do not understand the material? What
will I do if technology doesnt work?)
This lesson does not require any technology. If students do not understand, we can
work some more on the concept of characterization (which is not a focus of this
lesson but does tie into voice). We can practice together on Chapters 1 and 2, and 3
if needed.
Post-Assessment: (What data will give me information about students
understanding of the lesson, and how will this assessment be used?)
The assessment is the Character Investigation activity, which is turned in at the end
of class. By identifying the characters traits, personalities, and characteristics,
students can better understand the characters and how they develop/react to the
events of the story. Voice is important to the overall comprehension of the novel.
Accommodations: __ Extended Time __ Preferential Seating __ Segmented
Assignments __ Assignment Length X Communication Methods X Peer Tutors X
Instructional Assistance __ Other
Accommodations will be made according to any 504s or IEPs. Additional
accommodations include: varying the communication methods, peer tutoring, and
instructional assistance. If students do not benefit from me reading the text aloud,
they can read silently. I could also locate an audio book via sources such as Audible.
Because students are encouraged to compare answers with their peers, peer
tutoring is an easy accommodation. If there are students who need individualized
instruction, I can assist them in small groups or one-on-one instruction.
Remediation
See Accommodations.
Enrichment
An activity that can be used as a creative option (to do at home), is for students to
use their favorite movie, book, or television character, and list the characters traits
based off of evidence in the film/book/show. Students can bring this to class the
next day and share with the class.

Resources/Materials/Equipment: (Technology, Visuals, Supplies, Professional

References)
Texts: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Activities borrowed from: http://empoweringwriters.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/03/Lessons-on-Developing-Voice.pdf