Instructional Lesson Plan

English Language Arts

Grade:

Unit Title: Tests of Courage

Lesson: Second read of Nadia the Willful/ focus on
characterization

Teacher: Kimball/Goslin
Date: September 19, 2014
Lesson Overview
In the previous lesson, students viewed a short video of a wind-storm in the Sahara Desert and
completed the initial read of Nadia the Willful. In this lesson, students will re-read the text and focus
on how the characters change. The question at the end of the lesson, What did the characters learn?
will lead to a lesson about theme.
Essential Question
What choices can we make when faced with adversity?
Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards
Reading Literature (RL)
RL1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from the text.
RL3
Describe how a particular storys or dramas plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how
the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.
Resources

Language of Literature anthology

Pencil
Post-it notes
Reference Notebook

Pre-Assessment
The students completed a pre-assessment on the elements of plot. The pre-assessment revealed that
the majority of the students are unfamiliar with the elements of plot. The highest score was a 70%.
Since then, the students have learned the parts of the plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling
action, resolution) and analyzed the plot in a different story.
The students have also discussed a different character and practiced making inferences about that
character. Although there was no pre-assessment on characterization for this assignment, I can
monitor the students who needed re-teaching on making inferences to see if they still need additional
support.
Lesson Procedure
Warm-up:
Think-Pair-Share: Identify one character trait to describe Nadia and Tarik in the exposition. Locate
text evidence to support the character trait you chose for each. 5 min
Instruction:

1. Complete the second read of the story Nadia the Willful starting on page 68 in the anthology.
During the second reading, students will use school-wide annotations to mark the text. 15 min
! when they are surprised by something a character does
* when a character does something in the story that they like
2. Class discussion: What about the characters surprised you? What about the characters did you
like? 5 min
3. Students will select either Tarik or Nadia and work with a partner to identify a character trait for that
character in each element of the plot. Students will support their characterization with evidence from
the text. Students will use their reference notebook as a resource. 20 mins
4. Students will switch partners to talk to someone who analyzed the opposite character. Discussion
questions: How did each character change during the story? What did each character learn? 5 mins
Closure:
Class discussion: How did each character change during the story? What did each character learn?
Students will write one sentence about what the characters learned on the back of the worksheet.
Formative assessment: Character traits worksheet
Assessment
Formative: Worksheet tracking how a character changes during the story. The students had to first be
able to identify the elements of the plot, and then make an inference for some of the character traits.
Students also have to support the characterization with evidence from the text.
Homework
Use the Internet to learn more about the Bedouin people. Identify five facts about the Bedouin tribe.
Provide the web address of the websites you use to gather information. Due Friday, September 26,
2014.
Role of Special Educator and/or Para-educator
There are two students in this class who have a dedicated para-professional and learning goals that
require the material to be modified. During this lesson, the para-professionals will re-read the text
Nadia the Willful to those students and scribe their responses to wh questions about the text.
The special educator will co-teach the lesson. She will also monitor the three students who receive
reading and response accommodations, as well as help other students as needed.
Determine Flexible Grouping (based on Formative Assessment):
Enrichment: Students who correctly characterized the character and identified evidence from the text
will write an essay analyzing how the character changed in response to adversity.
Practice: Students who got one or two pieces of their chart incorrect will be given a chance to try
again.
Re-Teach Group: Students who were not able to correctly identify character traits and support those
traits with valid textual evidence will work in small groups with the teacher and special educator to
discuss how the characters changed, identify character traits, and support inferences with evidence
from the text.