Assignment 3A

This past week, I was able to implement one day of my lesson plan with four of our TAs.  After explaining my purpose to them, they were kind enough to stay take a seat in my kindergarten classroom afterschool for an hour to learn about the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe.  For the purposes of this lesson, we focused on this eight grade language arts standard:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

To begin my lesson on Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart,” we started off with a warm-up activity from Paula Rutherford’s book.   I chose “Graffiti” which required that the students write their thoughts on chart paper posted around the room. This activity also served as our pre-assessment.    I wrote three statements from “The Tell Tale Heart” on the chart paper.  They were:

1.     “He had the eye of a vulture”

2.     “A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine.”

3.     “Never before that night had a felt the extent of my own powers – of my sagacity”

I asked them “What do these statements mean? How do you know?” I instructed alk around the room to each chart and discuss the statements with their classmates. They were each given markers and asked to write their opinions on the chart paper.  The students moved from chart to chart, and wrote their ideas about the statement.  The purpose of this activity was for me to check for their understanding word choice and figurative language.   

My rubric for this assessment is as follows:

Check +: Students understand are able to identify word choice and figurative language that set the tone and are able to explain it.

Check: Students can identify words or figurative language that can set the tone, but cannot explain it clearly.

Check -: Students are not able to identify words or figurative language that set the tone.

At first, my students seemed unclear as to how to approach the activity.  A modification I had to make was to model how to complete one of the charts.  After my demonstration, they understood the task and were able to complete the rest on their own.  I could see that my class as a whole would receive a “check” on the assessment rubric.  They could underline the words and figurative language that set the tone, but their explanations lacked detail.  I also noticed that they had difficulty with the word “sagacity.”   Because of that I though that a good modification to make would be to give the students the time to skim the passage so they can identify unfamiliar words.  Understanding the vocabulary will make the content more accessible to the students.  Because of the vocabulary issue, I would modify the rubric as follows:

Check +: Students understand the vocabulary, and are able to identify word choice and figurative language that set the tone.  They are able to explain it clearly.

Check: Students may have difficulty with the vocabulary.  They can identify words or figurative language that can set the tone, but cannot explain it clearly.

Check -: Students have difficulty with vocabulary.  Students are not able to identify words or figurative language that set the tone.

Although vocabulary isn’t a part of the standard, it is a crucial stepping stone to understanding the tone of the piece.  Depending on how my class does, I may need to spend some time pre-teaching vocabulary, especially I have English language learners or special needs students in my class.  We had a brief discussion afterwards about what we thought and wrote.  There was some debate and a little confusion, but that was to be expected since the lesson had not yet been taught.  It was a strong warm-up and we then proceeded to read from “The Tell Tale Heart.”