Lesson Plan An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Unit Grade Level: English I Objectives: Students will be able to identify

fy the surrealism and other literary devices used in the short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. Students will be able to analyze the story in the context of the time period the story is set in.

English Language Arts Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an authors choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Materials Needed: Copy of the short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. Copy of the article The War: The Crossroads of our Being from PBS.org. o http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/ Copy of the award winning short video An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge made in 1962. o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK0_tJtappQ Copy of the Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Assignment Sheet Rubric for the Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge project.

Procedure: 1. Students will be split into groups and given the PBS article. Each student will receive a number. The students will read a paragraph on their own, then the person with the number that

2. 3. 4. 5.

correlates with that paragraph will orally summarize the paragraph to his/her peers. The peers will fill in any important information that the summarizer may have missed. They will repeat the procedure until the article is covered. The students will provide a short summary of the important information in the article. Students will be given a copy of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. The short story will be read together in class with frequent stops to check for understanding. After the short story is read, the students will receive the Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Assignment Sheet to complete on their own. After the assignment is due, the students will watch the award winning short video of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge made in 1962.

Special Needs Adaptation: Extra time will be given to those students who need it on their project. Frequent stops for clarification and checks for understanding will be made. Assessment Frequent stops and checks for understanding. Class discussions. Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge project rubric.