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Allison Butcher

Dr. Nolte

March 18th, 2020

ENG 419

Short Story Unit Reflection

To come up with this unit, I first started by thinking of the social issues that I wanted to

discuss; I decided on class and race. Next, I chose on grade level short stories that best tackled

these topics. I organized the stories from the easiest read to the hardest read so that the students

did not feel immediately overwhelmed. One of my major goals for this unit was to make sure

that my students were comfortable with the material that we were reading, so there are many

discussions. I am teaching these strong topics because they will make the students better overall

community members and citizens. I also believe that these are topics that will directly relate

with students in my classes if I were to remain in Huntington.

The three main things I decided to focus on in this unit are character analysis, event

sequencing, and figurative language. I found state standards for the first three days of the lesson

that best focus on these things, and then I pulled SWBATs directly from them and made sure that

my lesson fully tackled them. For the second two days, I focused on writing and presenting. My

SWBATs on these days may need some revision because one of them on each day relates to the

state standards, but others relate back to other days in the unit.

I selected these short stories not only because they best fit my topics, but because I think

my students will really enjoy reading them. The story that I think the students will like the best

is “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker because they will most likely compare Wangero’s character

to someone they know who may acts like her. I also think that they will enjoy the story of
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Phoenix in “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty because they get to go with her on this journey

through the woods meeting multiple exciting characters along the way. If I were to change any

of these stories, I would most likely substitute “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield for

something else that discusses class. I chose this particular story because it has exciting features

such as death and parties, which younger people can relate well with.

I again used an essential question in these plans on days 1 and 3, and arguably 2 as well.

I feel that all of these questions prepare the students to compare their lives with the stories that

are being read on those days. This was talked about when our class read, “Introducing the One-

Sentence Lesson Plan” by Norman Eng. These are important because they help students to see a

connection. When I do revisions, I will most likely use a character chart from Kelly Gallagher’s

book Deeper Reading instead of using the character sketch worksheet on day one because I feel

like it is more extensive and will best help the students see the character when they are preparing

to draw her/him. Using short literature at all for teaching also relates to “Less Is More: Teaching

Literature with Short Texts, Grades 6-12” by Kimberly Hill Campbell. Campbell speaks of the

benefits or shorter pieces versus novels in the classroom and ensures teachers that they should

not feel limited by longer works.

Other things that I will due in the revision process besides what has already been

mentioned, is to focus on adding more work from theorists into them. I felt as though the last

couple days of my plan were made in a rush and therefore not as strong as the first three. I want

my students to really connect with these works. I may end up taking out the presentation portion

and adding an activity where the students can explore the works in a more in-depth way. I also

felt that my closing activities were rushed on the last couple days, but that is also because I felt

that I may run out of time before I got to them. I really need to prioritize certain aspects of my
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lessons and focus less on the theatrics of them so that my students can learn about race and class

in these stories to the best of their abilities.