English Grade 7 Lesson Plan 2

Identifying Key Ideas in a Narrative

Key Idea

Identifying Key Ideas in a Narrative (Short Story)

Most Essential Learning Competencies

The learner will:

 Use appropriate reading strategies to meet one’s purpose (e.g., scanning, skimming, close reading, etc.) EN7RC-IV-b-10

 Cite evidence to support a general statement (EN7RC-IV-g- 10.4)

 React to what is asserted or expressed in a text (EN7RC-IIIe-2.1.7)

 Discover literature as a tool to assert one’s unique identity and to better understand other people EN7LT-III-b-5

Component 1: Short Review

Time: 7 minutes

 Teacher asks students questions to activate prior knowledge. Teacher elicits answers from students orally before giving class 3 minutes to write their answers on the worksheet. Suggested answers are provided below.

Last time, we read a fable about a hare and a tortoise.

Q1. What is the purpose of a fable?

Q2. What kind of text type is a fable?

Q3. a) How do narratives usually start?

b) What happens in the middle part of the narrative?

c) How do narratives usually end?

 Students record their answers and match the narrative stages with their functions on the Student Worksheet.

 Teacher checks the answers by involving the students.

Suggested answers:

Q1. A fable is a short story intended to teach a lesson.

Q2. A fable is a type of narrative.

Q3.

a) At the start of a narrative, D. the characters are introduced, and E. the setting tells us where and when the story takes place.

b) In the middle part of the narrative, A. a sequence of events leads to a problem or crisis.

c) Narratives usually end with a C. Resolution, where the problem or crisis is resolved. B. Sometimes there is a moral to the story as well.

Component 2 Lesson Purpose

Time: 3 minutes

 Teacher briefly states the purpose/focus of the lesson and explain explicit the learning goal for students.

 In this lesson, we are going to read another narrative text with a lesson to be learned. The story is based on a traditional folk tale from the Philippines. A folk tale is an old story that gets passed on from generation to generation. Something awful happens to one of the characters … let us find out! You are going to learn some strategies to help you to find out what happened and why it happened by reading the story very closely.

Component 3 Lesson Language Practice

Time: 10 minutes

 Teacher defines clearly the words and phrases that are important for students to recognize and understand in the lesson.

 Teacher displays the list of words on the board and reads each word aloud.

Here are some words and phrases from the story the we are going to read. Let us read them together.

 Itneg (“the people of the mountains” from Abra in Northern Luzon. Also known as the Tinguian during the Spanish period. [Show location on map Appendix 2].

 blanket (a cloth cover used to keep warm)

 design (a pattern used to decorate something)

 stripes (a pattern formed from lines of different color)

 spirit (ghost or soul of a dead person)

 companion (person you spend a lot of time with often because you are friends or because you are travelling together)

 simile (a phrase that uses comparison to describe, e.g., as white as snow, I slept like a log)

 folk tale (a legend or myth; usually belonging to a particular cultural group, and having a moral or a meaning or an explanation of the creation of the world, animals or natural phenomena. A story that parents have passed on to their children through speech over many years.)

 Teacher elicits and scaffolds student talk about what each word means before moving onto the next word. What do these words mean?

 Teacher instructs students to practice reading words with a partner and to complete the worksheet. Now it is your turn. Take turns to read the words out loud with a partner and match the words with the meanings on the worksheet.

 In pairs, students read aloud to each other; then match the words with their meanings.

Component 4: Lesson Activity

Time: 25 minutes

Component 4A Reading the Text

 Teacher reads text aloud to the class. Students listen and follow along and highlight or underline any words they do not know.

 Students then take turns to read the text to each other and highlight/underline any words they do not know.

The Striped Blanket

Three Itneg men once went to the mountains to hunt deer. They took their blankets with them, for they expected to be gone several days, and the nights in the mountains are cold. Two of the blankets had blue-and-white designs, like those commonly worn by the Itneg. The third blanket was covered with red and yellow stripes like the back of a little wild pig.

At night the men rolled up in their blankets and lay down under a tree to sleep. But while the one in the striped blanket was still awake, two spirits came near and saw him.

“Oh,” he heard one spirit say to the other, “here we have something to eat, for here is a little wild pig.” Then the man quickly took the blanket off one of his sleeping companions and put his own in its place. Very soon the spirits came and ate the man under the striped blanket.

Since that time the Itneg never sleep under that kind of a blanket if they are where the spirits can get them.

[Cole, M. C. (1916/2008). The Striped Blanket. Philippine Folk Tales. A.C. McClurg & Co.]

Component 4B Questions

 Display questions on board. Teacher models how to identify key words in the questions.

Here are some questions about the story. Rsead each question carefully.

What information do we need to find answers to the question?

 Teacher underlines key words on board. Students locate and underline relevant information in each question on worksheet.

 Teacher models the process of locating and highlighting relevant information for answering the first question. Can you find the answers in the text?

 Students locate and underline relevant information in text then answer each question on the worksheet.

[Questions may be answered orally for lower-level students.]

Questions:

Q1. Who are the main characters in the story?

Q2. Where did the story take place?

Q3. Why did the men take their blankets?

 Teacher checks the answers by involving the students.

Suggested answers:

Q1. The main characters in the story are the three Itneg men.

Q2. The story took place in the mountains in Northern Luzon (Abra).

Q3. They took their blankets because they were going out for several days and the nights in the mountains are cold.

Component 4C Questions

 Display questions on board. Teacher models how to identify key words in the questions.

Let us look at each question carefully. What information do we need to answer the question?

Where can we find the answer? Is it here in the words? Is it hidden in the text? Is it in your head?

Questions:

Q4.What happened to the man under the striped blanket and why? Look for the words in the text that support your answer.

Q5. How do you think the person with the striped blanket felt? Why do you think he felt that way?

Q6. What would you do if you were the person with the striped blanket? Give reasons for your answer. (Write your answer in a full sentence in the wsorksheet.)

 Teacher checks the answers to the questions by involving the students.

Suggested answers:

Q4. The spirits ate him because he looked like a little wild pig: His blanket was “covered with red and yellow stripes like the back of a little wild pig”. He heard one spirit say to the other, “here we have something to eat, for here is a little wild pig.

Q5. Possible student responses: e.g. He felt scared/frightened/terrified/worried/guilty… because the spirits thought he was a pig and might eat him. (Reasons may also vary depending on the emotion identified.)

Q6. (A range of student responses is possible. The reason/s given by the students are important and could be used for further class discussion.)

Component 5: Lesson Conclusion

Time: 5 minutes

 Teacher displays the questions:

Q1. What did you learn from this story?

Q2. Which questions were the hardest? Can you rank them in order of difficulty?

Q3. How were they different from the easier questions?

[Teacher Notes: It would be worthwhile to do this by getting students to write on the Worksheet, so you have some feedback on the effectiveness of the lesson and how they feel about their learning experience.

However, if pressed for time, you may want to do this section as a class discussion].

Segue to the next lesson: In the next lesson, we will look at another narrative to give you more practice with reading and interpreting this type of text.

REMINDER: Collect student worksheets to review and analyze students’ learning; focus on answers to Question 6 for quality and clarity of writing and understanding of the content.