Collaboration Lesson

Here is a sample lesson plan that utilizes collaboration through technology.  In this lesson students are examining narrative conflict and how it enhances a text.  Students and are asked to write their own narratives that include conflict.  Each student will upload their narrative to the class forum and then examine the work of their peers for elements of conflict.  The students will comment on each other's work  and analyze their peer's posts.

Teacher Mr. P.     Grade Level   8     Subject     ELA

Date of lesson_______________               Length of lesson  47 Minutes

Lesson Topic:  Conflict as a literary device.

Overall Goal:  (Broad statement using non action verbs)  “Students will understand that….

Students will understand how conflict is used as a literary device to enrich a narrative by creating tension, interest, doubt, and closure.

Learner Background:  (This addresses why the lesson is being taught.)  Describe the students’ prior knowledge or skill related to the learning objective(s) and the content of this lesson, using data from pre-assessment as appropriate.  How did the students’ previous performance in this content area or skill impact your planning for this lesson?  

Students have finished reading The Outsiders.  In this unit they have been studying different techniques to develop their own narrative writing skills.  They have learned about characterization, dialogue, theme, imagery, and morals.  This is the last lesson students will experience before beginning the planning of their own personal narratives.  This lesson is intended to teach the importance of conflict in a text.

Curricular Standards:  Identify the primary standard(s) this lesson is designed to help students attain:

• National NCTE 5:  Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

• State  CCSS W.8.3:  Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well structured event sequences.
• Local (optional)

Student Learning Objective(s):  Identify specific and measurable learning objectives for this lesson.  Use action verbs.  “Students will be able to….”

SWBAT identify the four common types of conflict (person v person, person v self, person v society, and person v. nature)

SWBAT write a brief narrative blog post about a time when they experienced conflict and identify its type as well as how it makes the story more interesting.

Assessment:

Part I:  How will you check for student understanding during the lesson?  (Formative)

Ask students to share examples of conflicts from the text as well as how they affect the story.

I will be looking for answers that are both correct and insightful.

Part II:  How will you ask students to demonstrate mastery of the student learning objective(s)?  Attach a copy of any assessment materials you will use, along with assessment criteria/rubric. (Formative or summative)  

Students will write a brief narrative about a time when they experienced conflict.  They will need to read another student’s work and identify the type of conflict and explain how it enriches the narrative in a second paragraph.

I will be looking to see that the identified type of conflict is correct.

I will be looking to see that  at least 3 of the literary reasons ( tension, interest, doubt,  closure) are addressed.

Materials/Resources:  List the materials you will use in each learning activity including any technological resources.  

Smart Board

The Outsiders

Computers

Internet Access

The Lesson:

Initiation:Part I - Briefly describe how you will introduce the lesson, engage students in the lesson and connect it to previous learning. (This is intended to motivate students.)  

(4 minutes)

Ask students to list their top 5 favorite songs on a piece of paper.

Ask that each student then count how many of their top 5 songs could be considered sad.

Read highlighted sections of BBC article on sad music and explain that research shows that many people enjoy sad music or songs about heartbreak because it elicits a strong emotional response. (conflict + release)

Initiation Part II – (This is intended to bridge to the lesson:  set expectations for learning, articulate to learners what they will be  learning in this lesson and why this is important).  

(3 minutes)

Explain that the same is true of literature except books and stories are often long enough that they can resolve this sadness if the author wishes.  A song is usually more of a snapshot of the feeling.

Explain that, in literature, this sadness is a result of conflict in the story.  

Introduce topic of conflict as a literary device.

Explain that later on students will be thinking about conflict in their own lives and writing about it.

Lesson Development: Describe how you will develop the lesson:  what you will do to model or guide practice and the learning activities students will be engaged in to gain the key knowledge and skills identified in the student learning objective(s). Include the questions you will ask, identify and explain the instructional grouping (whole class, small groups, pairs, individuals) for each lesson segment, and include the approximate times for each.    Include reference to Bloom’s taxonomy to identify higher levels of thinking.

(5 minutes)

• Define conflict as a literary device.

“CONFLICT: The struggle between opposing forces--e.g., CHARACTERS, nations or ideas--that provides the central ACTION and interest in any literary PLOT. The struggle between the Capulet and Montague families in Romeo and Juliet is a classic example of conflict “ - CUNY

• Explain that authors use conflict to make stories more interesting.  Characters are faced with poblems that they must overcome.  This often leads to personal grown and character development.  This much more engaging than a book where everyone is happy and everything is fine because real people face conflict.
• People like books that they can relate to.  Even if Harry Potter is about wizards and magic readers can relate to it because the core types of conflict are very close to what we experience in real life and so character reactions are also very similar to our own.
• Conflict is much more engaging to us because it leads to  tension, interest, doubt, and  closure.
• The most common types of conflict are:

a person vs. another person

a person vs. themself

a person vs. society

a person vs. nature/environment

• Conflict can also be external (forces outside an individual) such as war, politics, enemies, etc.

or internal (forces within an individual) emotions, values, personality, etc.

Modeling (5 minutes)

• Give examples of conflict from The Outsiders.
• Model examples and how to post on google classroom blog page.

1. Ponyboy’s struggle between being a Greaser and getting good grades is a person vs. themself struggle.  This is also an internal conlfict because he must make the decision for himself.  He likes being a Greaser but he needs to be able to provide for himself eventually. We also get closure because Ponyboy ends the novel in school.

2. Greasers against Soc’s is a person vs. other person conflict. (people vs. people).  The two groups have differing values and come from different backgrounds which are seemingly at odds with one another and incompatible.  This is an external conflict because the acting forces are beyond outside any one character.

Guided Practice (10 minutes)

• Ask students to share other examples of conflicts from the book upload them to the blog via smart board.
• Ask them to explain if  the type of conflict, if it is internal or external, and how they think it makes the story more engaging ( tension, interest, doubt, closure).

1. If the Greasers should trust Cherry.

• Person vs. Person
• External
• Creates tension because Cherry’s trustworthiness is uncertain.
• Also creates interest because she is a somewhat mysterious figure in this regard.
• Also creates doubt as to whether she is actually helping the Greasers or not.

2. Johny on the Lamb.

• Person vs. Person (police) he is on the run from the police.
• or Person vs. Society, he broke the law by murdering the Soc and now his freedom is at stake because society imprisons killers.
• External
• Creates tension because readers want Johnny to get away with it even though he is a wanted person.
• Creates doubt and interest because it is unclear if Johnny will get away with it or go to jail.

Forum Post (13 minutes)

• Explain that students are going to write a short, anonymous, blog post narrative about a time when they experienced conflict.  They will upload these to the google classroom forum.

Analytical Commenting (7 minutes)

• After they finish their post they will read each other’s posts and comment on them to identify the type, internal or external, and how it makes the story more interesting.  While the initial posts are anonymous the comments will not be.
• These will be discussed and reviewed at the end of class to see if students are accurately describing conflict.

Closure: Briefly describe how you will close the lesson, help students understand the purpose of the lesson, and show how it will connect to future learning. (Rather than an administrative closure, interact with learners to elicit evidence of student understanding of purpose(s) for learning and mastery of objectives)

Sharing (5 minutes)

• Briefly restate SLO’s

• Ask students to volunteer to share their examples of personal conflict.
• Have students explain why another persons narrative was more engaging than if the person had not experienced any conflict. (this should include examples of tension, interest, doubt, and  closure)
• Ask students to share how they can relate to another’s experience.
• Remind students that everyone experiences hardship and conflict.  Just like in books and movies it is more interesting when someone experiences conflict.  Event though no one usually wants to experience conflict in life, it can be a good thing when we learn from it and grow as individuals.  It would be much worse (boring) if no one ever had any difficulty or made any personal progress.  It would also be impossible.