Teacher: Meg Strauss Date: February 1th, 2016

School: Holyoke Junior High School Grade Level: 8th

Content Area: English
Title: Plot the Story Lesson #:_3_ of _16_

Colorado State Standards Addressed:

Standard 2.1.a.ii: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its
development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters,
setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
Standard 2.1.c.iii: Use graphic organizers and note-taking formats while reading to
map relationships among implied or explicit ideas or viewpoints
Understandings:
Students will understand the importance of using the traditional story plot in
personal memoirs.
Inquiry Questions:
How is the story plot shown in the personal memoir The Polka Dotted Scarf by
Geetanjali Jha? Why is using the story plot important in telling a personal
experience?
Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets)
I can: analyze Geetanjali Jhas usage of the story plot in her text The Polka Dotted
Scarf.
This means: I can understand the importance of using the story plot when writing
my own personal memoir.

List of Assessments:
- Students will work in their writing circles and will make a graphic organizer
that highlights the story plot used in Geetanjali Jhas text titled The Polka
Dotted Scarf.
- Students will turn in an exit slip reflecting on if they thought the Jhas text
was organized in an effective manner.

Planned Lesson Activities

Name and Purpose of Lesson Name: Story Plot

Purpose: Students will learn the importance of following the

 traditional story plot within a personal memoir.
Approx. Time and Materials
Duration of Unit: 50 minutes

Materials: The Polka Dotted Scarf by Geetanjali Jha, computer to

play Elements of a Plot, colored paper, markers, colored pencils,
stickers

Anticipatory Set Students will watch the video Elements of the Plot. Students
will take notes on the video. The video can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH5jlkK4aUI
Procedures Teacher Actions Student Actions

1. 5 minutes- 1. 5 minutes-
Announcements Actively listen to
Question announcements.
attendance: Answer attendance question
If you could be
anyone for a day,
who would it be?

2. 5 minutes- 2. 5 minutes-
Play the video Watch the video Elements of
Elements of the the Plot
Plot to refresh If you have forgotten elements
students memory of the story plot, take notes in
on the traditional order to ensure your success
story plot structure. on the upcoming activity.
Encourage students
to take notes while
watching the video

3. 10 minutes- 3. 10 minutes
Pass out the short Actively listen as the teacher
story The Polka reads the short story The
Dotted Scarf. Polka Dotted Scarf
Read the story out Get into groups of four to five.
loud to students
Tell students to get
into groups of four
to five.

4. 15 minutes 4. 15 minutes
Tell students to With your group, create a
make a graphic graphic organizer that
organizer that illustrates the plot evident in
illustrates the plot The Polka Dotted Scarf
in The Polka
Dotted Scarf
Tell students that
 they will present
their groups
graphic organizer
to the class, and
the group with the
best graphic
organizer will win a
prize provided by 5. 5 minutes
you With your group, present your
5. 10 minutes graphic organizer.
Allow each group to When you group is not
present their presenting, pay close attention
graphic organizer. to the other groups who
Once every group present.
has presented, tell Vote for your favorite graphic
students to put organizer that is not your own
their heads down
on their desk and
vote for their
favorite graphic
organizer (make
sure to state that
they cannot vote
for their own)
Once the favorite
graphic organizer
has been voted
upon, hand out 6. 5 minutes-
pieces of candy to Get out a piece of paper for an
the group with the exit ticket
winning organizer Write down why you think it is
6. 5 minutes- important to use the traditional
Tell students to get story plot in personal memoirs
out a piece of Turn in your exit slip to the
paper for an exit teacher
ticket Pack up to go to your next
Have students class
reflect on why they
think using the
traditional story
plot in personal
memoirs is
important
Have students turn
in their exit ticket

Closure Students will be asked to write an exit slip that answers the
question, Why do you think it is important to use the traditional
 story plot in a personal memoir?
Assessment Students will complete a graphic organizer to ensure their
understanding of the traditional story plot. Students will turn in an
exit ticket that has them reflect on why it is important to use the
story plot in a personal memoir.

Notes to Self - In order to connect yesterdays lesson to todays lesson,

tell students to put the themes and topics evident in the
story on their graphic organizers.

The Polka Dotted Scarf

By Geetanjali Jha

I remember opening up his big wooden wardrobe and burying my nose into his handkerchiefs.
His clothes always had a pleasant, sweet, and mystical smell-- just his clothes, his closets, his
bed; his entire room was infused with that intoxicating smell.

Maybe it emanated from the special homemade lotion, he used. He mixed glycerin with
rosewater with a couple of other things and his magic potion was ready. He claimed it was the
purest thing one could use to keep their skin young and supple. I remember him passing on list of
contents to my mother, she never tried making it. He was very fair skinned, of which I think he
was vain. He looked his age but had good, healthy skin as a consequence of the homemade lotion
he used every night. He was a bit rotund, but somehow that went with his cheerful persona. I
wonder if he is my favorite grandparent, maybe, but I sure am his favorite grandchild, or so I
would like to believe. My brother calls him babaji; I occasionally call him nanaji, as we typically
call our mothers father nanaji and paternal grandfather babaji.

I have known babaji as a spirited person who never let his worries come to the dinner table, he
always had a joke or two ready if domestic tension aroused. Also, I have never seen anyone
eating oranges with such an extraordinary speed. He divides an orange into four and gulps it
down, though I have my doubts but if he does chew, he does it at an amazing speed, almost
invisible to the naked eye.

In contrast with other people his age, he has real hobbies. Gardening is one of his hobbies;
people say he has what they call a green hand. He is capable of growing roses as big as
cauliflowers and we dare not touch a single petal. I remember he would come from work every
day and sit with plants with tools in his hands, unearthing the mud near the plants, adding water
and some special mixture to it. He would also try to adapt modern techniques of gardening, I
often heard of him using terms like grafting, cropping, etc. All this brought sweat to his brows
but he said this is his way to unwind.
He had another unwinding ritual; after lunch, all the adults in the house would gather to play
cards. Though, money was not involved, the competition used to be fierce. Devious methods
were used to score against each other. I dont recall the regular double dealers, except that my
father was always one of the accused. My father not being an expert in the game, did try to spice
it up. My father would always pair up with my grandmother and my mother with babaji. Long
sessions of cards during hot sultry summer months were a regular phenomena, it gave us kids a
chance to watch television to our hearts content. Sometimes, we too would try to learn cards
games and play alongside. Babajis side drawers had number of old, battered card packs, which
were passed on to us.

The game of cards was incomplete without paan. Everyone in the house, except for my father
and the kids were experts in making paan. My nani used to make countless number of perfect
triangular paans in the morning which were generally consumed by the evening. She kept laid
the paan leaves on an old newspaper and then the paan would be kept in a pandibba, a container
used exclusively to keep paan. Paan was an integral part of the household. There was a paan rack
in the house where an assortment of colourful fragrant ingredients were kept, in quaint small
containers. We, at times, used to sneak up to get some shelled cardamom from the rack.

Another thing I recall of him is that he knows how to tie a scarf around his neck very well. He
would often wear a polka dotted scarf. He used to wear that scarf so often that I begin to believe
that he probably just had one. He had a friend from college in Delhi, he would often wear that
scarf to his place. I guess it reminded him of his youthful days.

Babaji used to sit in vajrasan after meals, though he didnt have a digestion problem, nor did it
help him in any other way. He used to sit on the floor after dinner, watching news on television,
with his legs locked under him. He was quite a yoga fan; I think he had a book on yoga which he
consulted from time to time. He did yoga in the mornings, during my exams when I would get up
early to revise, I would see him in odd yoga positions. He stopped doing yoga once his knee
trouble began, I doubt if he would still be able to perform yoga.

At times, he would go out for his evening stroll and buy fresh fruits on his way back home.
Mango was his favorite fruit and buttered toast his favorite snack. He hated spicy food and Dev
Anands antics. He loved watching comedies and talking about his college days in Delhi.

I dont know much about the more important aspects of babaji life; I dont know what he wanted
in life, his problems, his experiences. I wonder if I know little about him or just little but
significant things about him.

Still when I think of him, an intoxicating smell surrounds me and I wish I could once more bury
my nose in his handkerchiefs.

Assignment:

Get into groups of four to five and create your own graphic organizer that illustrates the plot of
the story.
What happens in the beginning? The middle? The end?

After you have created this graphic organizer, get ready to present your organizer to the class!