Assignment 3B

Based on our pre-assessment rubric, I could see that my class as a whole could identify the words and figurative language that set the tone of Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart”, but their explanations lacked detail.  I could also see that they might have trouble with the vocabulary.

Out of my week-long lesson plan, I chose to do Day 4 which was planned as follows:

·      I will show a video from PBS that explains that the author's "style" is like the personality of the story, and then demonstrates this with a dramatic reading of "The Tell Tale Heart." 
Elements of Style - The Tell Tale Heart

·      Seeing this video will allow my students to see and hear the narrator read the story completely in character, by watching the character read and act out the story, students will also see how figurative language influences the tone of the piece.  We will discuss these literary elements as a class to better understand the author’s purpose. 

·      Their “ticket to leave” will be to answer the following journal prompt on an index card: “Choose a sentence from “The Tell Tale Heart” and describe how word choice and/or figurative language shape the tone.  How would you describe the tone?”

·      Instructional strategies: sustained silent reading, Oral reading, choral reading, probing questions, SDAIE, modeling, feedback to students, use of media/videos.

Right off the bat, I had to change my lesson plan based on my pre-assessment results.  Because I saw the vocabulary could be difficult, we took some time to read silently and skim the passage to identify unfamiliar words.  Because this took some time, I also had to modify the lesson by focusing on just a short excerpt.  We read out loud trying to read the passage in the character’s voice.  We then saw a video of “The Tell Tale Heart” and had a discussion about HOW the narrator read his lines and how word choice/figurative language drove the tone.  The students enjoyed the video very much and after watching it, they had a lot of commentary about it.  Seeing and hearing the words come to life really helped them link diction and figurative language to tone.  I guided the discussion with probing questions and it seemed to flow very well.  This is the part of the lesson I enjoyed the most!  Having a discussion with my students was stimulating for both of us.

Their formative assessment was to answer a journal prompt on an index card.  This assessment was also their “ticket to leave” and my way to wrap up the lesson.  Based on that assessment, I could see that they had a better grasp on how diction and figurative language impact tone.  They identified words and phrases and explained the tone of the piece, but I could see that they needed to state the tone in a more explicit way.  Instead of using vague words like “dark” or “gloomy” to describe the tone, I would like my students to describe more concretely with words like “enigmatic” or “ominous.”  I would also like them to be more detailed in their commentary.

In addition to the changes I already mentioned, I would also change a few other things about my lesson.  I think that I bit off more than I could chew, so I would change the lesson plan for the week and only focus on one reading standard.  I would rather that my students gain a deeper understanding of one standard rather than a superficial understanding of many standards, so it would be better for me the change the focus of the lesson.  Because writing is going to be an important part of their demonstration of knowledge, I would also add a writing standard to my lesson to give their writing more focus.  The most important thing I have learned after all of this is that flexibility is the key.  Our lesson plans will sometimes not go as planned and we have to be ready to change them in a moment.  Students will have questions obstacles, and we will need to address them even if it means modifying a whole week’s worth of lesson planning.  Our lessons will also change based on our assessment results.  Assessments are not only meant to provide feedback to students, but they are also meant to guide our instruction.