English Education: Model Lesson Plan Template

Sarah Schmidt Unit Title: Slaughterhouse-Five

Lesson Objectives & Specific Learning Outcomes: Cognitive (know/understand): Students will know that Vonneguts movements between times are connected in some way. Students will understand that Vonnegut uses time travel and the phrase so it goes in the novel as a way of expressing mans lack of free will. Affective (feel/value): Students will feel comfortable jumping through time in the novel through a close reading of part of chapter 2. Performance (do): Students will discuss the importance of the phrase So it goes and the different ways it manifests in the novel. Students will use post-it notes to determine the connections between each movement in time in a section of the novel. Students will create their own post-it note story. SOLs: [List with numbers portrayed in the SOL document] 11.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze relationships among American literature, history, and culture. c) Discuss American literature as it reflects traditional and contemporary themes, motifs, universal characters, and genres. h) Explain how an authors specific word choices, syntax, tone, and voice support the authors purpose. Materials Needed: SmartBoard Post-it Notes Procedures/Instructional Strategies [Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.] Beginning Room Arrangement: Students will begin class in their groups of 3-4 students. 1. [15 mins.] Bridge: Do Now Pull up Google Presentation with directions for the class to see.

Hey, everyone. To start off class today, I want you to do free write for ten minutes, which means I just want you to write whatever comes to mind about this prompt. The idea is that you dont stop writing, that you dont worry about spelling or organization, you just get your thoughts out on the page. Your prompt is: Do you believe in free will or do you believe in Fate? Ten minutes later: Now, with your groups, I want you to discuss what you have written. Was this prompt difficult to answer? Did you find yourself somewhere in between these two ideals? 2. [15 mins.] Step 1: So it goes Pull up the slide So it goes in the Google Presentation. So there were some very good discussions happening about the difficulty choosing a side between these two ideals. Now, I want us to consider the phrase So it goes. Billy Pilgrim says this frequently throughout the novel. Lets think about when this phrase is used. I want each table to find three examples from a specific chapter. Tables 1, 4, and 7, you will look through Chapter 1. Tables 2 and 5, you will look through Chapter 2. And tables 3 and 6, you will look through Chapter 3. Lets go around and share some of the examples you found. What did you notice about these contexts? Were they all serious? Funny? Sad? Lets consider the meaning of the phrase. Why do you think Billy uses this phrase so often? What does it mean in context of Billys life and beliefs? Do you think this says anything about free will or Fate? 3. [15 mins.] Step 2: Post-it Note Close Reading Pull up slide with directions for Post-it Note Close Reading. As weve read, Ive asked that we pay close attention to Billys movements through time. In your groups, you are going to look at a section of Chapter 2, pages 43-47. Im going to give your group post-it notes. On each post-it, you are going to write down the gist of this specific scene, such as Billy and Weary in the forest, and then place them on the desks in the order Billy tells them to us. Leave enough space between them so that you can write with a dry erase marker. I want you to then try to determine the connection between each movement in time. These movements seem to be triggered by a specific emotion, sight, smell, etc. and they can be subtle. Once you think you have found the connection, write the quotes, one from each passage, that help you trace this connection. What were the connections that you found? How do you think Billy feels about these movements? Do you feel as if he thinks he has any autonomy, or power, over anything he does?

4. [15 mins] Closure: Post-it Note Story I want your group to create your own post-it note story, focusing on one persons experience in high school. This person could be someone in your group or you can even make up a main character. Like you did for Billy, youre going to write down the events on post-it notes, and place them on the desk with room between them to write. You want to make sure that these events dont occur chronologically, so you may want to start out with prom, move to the first day of freshman year, etc. Indicate the year it is in high school by putting the grade number in parentheses. Once you have arranged the events, figure out what will connect these movements. Is it a smell? I feeling? A person? Once you have finished, have one person in your group take a picture and put it on your blog before next class. In the blog post, include the names of your group members. Think about how you would live your life if you were forced to experience it this way. How would this affect your experience? Your choices? Would this change your opinion on free will or fate?

Methods of Assessment: (for evaluating the specific objectives listed above Formal Post-it Note Story Informal Post-it Note Close Reading Free Write So it goes Discussion In Retrospect: (Reflective notes following my instruction For this lesson, I think it is crucial to have enough time for the post-it note activity. Because they only had maybe 10 to 15 minutes to do it, they didnt invest as much time in close reading. They looked for superficial connections rather than deep, meaningful ones. The end of the lesson was also thrown off by handing out quizzes at the end of the class. Its easy to forget that students will want to argue about their grades to try to get points back. Other than that, I think the lesson went well. Getting them to free write before having small group discussions gave them ample time to think about what they wanted to say about the prompt. The So It Goes exercise also exposed them to very different examples from the text so that they could be primed to better answer the prompt. Materials Appendix: (Included are all supplementary texts, Ppts, overheads, graphic organizers, handouts, etc.) https://docs.google.com/a/virginia.edu/presentation/d/1P-NZjOnHRyZNwU-UwFjakyBxCfAu9Pcuglnr8y5xcA/edit#slide=id.g171deb1b8_010