English Grade 8 Lesson Plan 1
Literary Texts – Short Story 1
Key Idea
Key elements of Literary Texts that tell a story – genre, purpose, structure, plot, theme, character, and
literary devices – Short Story 1
Most Essential Learning Competencies and English Curriculum (2016):
● Recognize positive and negative messages conveyed in a text
Read intensively to determine the author’s purpose EN8RC-Ig7.1 2
Determine tone, mood, technique, and purpose of the author EN8LT-Id2.2.3.
Component 1: Short review
Time: 7 minutes
▪ Teacher: In last year’s camp we started by talking about texts that told stories, sometimes called
Narratives when they are fictional rather than factual. There are many different types of such
texts, for example, short stories, fables, novels, films, and science fiction Can you think of any
more examples?
▪ Teacher reads Questions 1 and 2 and asks students to volunteer answers orally before giving
class 3 minutes to write answers for Question 3 in their Workbooks.
[Teacher Notes: Consolidation Camp – feel free to allow students to do Q3 in pairs or groups.]
Questions
Q1. Write down one thing you remember about narratives or stories.
Q2. In last year’s camp, we read some folk tales – one from ancient Greece by Aesop, ‘The Hare and
the Tortoise’ and one from the Philippines, ‘The Striped Blanket.’ With a partner, write down 3
things you expect to see in a book of Filipino folk tales.
Q3. How do you think folk tales will be different to a factual text like a report of an earthquake in a
newspaper?
Suggested Answers:
Q1: They are usually fictional; they have characters who may be human or animal or robots; they can
be set in the past or the future; they are meant to be entertaining; sometimes they have a moral or
message; they have a structure…. You may get other answers from the students.
Q2: Stories from the past; magic; supernatural beings; animals that can talk; lessons to be passed on
to children; stories that were once used to explain events or phenomena or the past in the
Philippines; different tales depending on where they came from in the Philippines…
Q3. Expect a variety of answers such as:
● Folk tales did not really happen; news reports did.
● Folk tales may be set in the past, present or the future; news reports are mainly about things
that have just happened.
● Folk tales have characters who may be people but are sometimes animals who have human
abilities – e.g., they talk and think. News reports do not.
● Folk tales often have a moral or a message or themes; news reports often just give the facts.
● Folk tales exaggerate while news reports are not supposed to.
[Teacher Notes: This lesson opening is designed to activate prior knowledge about story/narrative texts.
Feel free to show the students a book cover for short stories or folk tales or a novel, or a graphic novel or
comic) as you read Q1 to stimulate their memories, especially for the Consolidation group – it may be
useful for the Enhancement Group too. The book cover provides stimulus for student recall rather than
relying purely on memory.]
Component 2: Lesson Purpose
Time: 3 minutes
“In this lesson we are going to look in detail at a short folk tale to see how it presents a character and
how the author wants us to react or respond to that character. The term for this is ‘characterization’ –
authors of fiction or stories use characterization to create reader interest by getting us to like or dislike,
admire, or disapprove of the main actors in their stories. Sometimes these characters are recognizable as
humans but not always. Often characters will be linked to the ideas or messages or morals that the
author is trying to get across. As I read the story, look for clues that tell us how we should judge a
character called Juan and his actions.”
Component 3: Language Practice
Time: 5 minutes
▪ Teacher: This Folk Tale is called Juan Gathers Guavas. It is a folk tale from the Philippines.
We may meet some words that are important in the story and that you may not have seen before or
may not remember so I’m going to list such words and give you their meanings so as you will be able
to understand the story when I read it shortly. These words are written in your Workbook and there
are spaces for you to write their meanings.’
The words are: a feast of guavas, neighbors, fastened, swollen, Folk tale.
Answers
● a feast of guavas (a meal made up of a lot of guavas – ‘feast’ also means a celebration meal with
a lot of people) [Teacher notes: focus on difference in meaning between ‘a meal’ and a feast’ of
guavas]
● neighbors (people who live near each other)
● fastened (locked)
● swollen (puffed up; enlarged, bloated, bigger than usual because of an infection, a bite, or an
injury)
● folk tale (a legend or myth; usually belonging to a particular cultural group (tribe) and having a
moral or meaning or an explanation of the creation of the world, animals, or natural
phenomena).
▪ Teacher: Let’s practise these words.
● Say them and their meanings after me.
● Look at their spelling.
● Let’s put them in a sentence. I’ll do the first one….
‘I am going to Juan’s house to celebrate his birthday with a huge meal that will be a feast of guavas.’
▪ Now with your partner, write a sentence for each of the other words in the list.”
▪ Teacher samples sentences to make sure the words are used according to their meanings.
[Teacher Notes: try to get students to write sentences that reveal the meaning of the words. If running
short of time, either omit sentence writing or do it orally as a class.]
Component 4: Lesson Activity
Time: 20 minutes total
Component 4A Reading the Text (5 minutes)
Teacher reads text, drawing attention to the words listed.
Juan Gathers Guavas1
One day Juan’s father sent him to get some ripe guavas, for several of the neighbors had come in
and he wanted to give them something to eat.
Juan went to the guava bushes and ate all the fruit he could hold, and then he decided to play a
cruel joke on his father’s guests instead of giving them a feast of guavas. A wasp’s nest hung
nearby. With some difficulty he succeeded in taking it down and putting it into a tight basket that
he had brought for the fruit. He hurried home and gave the basket to his father, and then as he
left the room where the guests were seated, he closed the door and fastened it, smiling to
himself as he did so.
As soon as Juan’s father opened the basket the wasps flew over the room; and when the people
found the door locked, they fought to get out of the windows. After a while Juan opened the
door, and when he saw the swollen faces of the people, he cried:
“What fine, rich guavas you must have had! They have made you all so fat!”.
Component 4B Questions (10 minutes)
Teacher reads Questions 1-3 and asks students to write answers in their Workbooks.
Teacher: Make sure you can find a word or group of words from the text to back up your
answers to each question.
Q1. Give 1 piece of evidence from the text that shows that Juan’s father is a kind man.
Q2. What is the key event in setting the action going in the story?
Q3. How can you say that Juan is not sorry for playing this trick on his father and the neighbors? See if
you can find 2 pieces of evidence.
Suggested Answers:
He plans a feast for his neighbours who are visiting him.
Juan’s decision to take the wasp’s nest home instead of guavas.
Some possible evidence includes he delays opening the door until everyone has been stung
by the wasps; he does not apologise; instead of apologising he make a joke; he stays to watch
what happens rather than run away to avoid punishment from his father.
Teacher leads discussion of answers and on reasons for Q3.
Component 4C Questions (10 minutes)
Teacher reads Questions 4-6 in the Workbook and models the answer to Question 4 using a Think
Aloud – see below. Students write answers to Questions 5 and 6 in the Workbook.
Q4. Find 3 pieces of evidence that show Juan has planned his ‘trick’ very carefully. Let’s do this one
together.
Resource: 1 Cole, M. C. (1916/2008). Philippine Folk Tales. A.C. McClurg & Co.
[Teacher notes: Think aloud – ‘I am looking at what Juan does after he sees the wasp’s nest. First he has to be
very careful in getting it down from the tree (read exact words from text); then secondly I know he cannot carry
it home in his hands so he has to find something to put it in and decides to use the basket he brought for the
guavas (read exact words from text); then thirdly after he gives his father the basket he makes sure to lock the
door so no-one can get out and they will all be stung by the wasps (read exact words from text).’]
Q5. Does the author intend readers to admire Juan for his cleverness or not? Give reasons for your
answer.
Q6. Imagine Juan is your friend – imagine he has told you his story and asked you what you think of it
- what would you say to him about this ‘trick’? Write your answer in the Workbook.
Teacher samples answers to Questions 5 and 6 from the students and provides feedback.
Suggested Answers:
Q4. Answer modeled by the teacher.
Q5. Acceptable answers: the author says the joke is cruel; Juan smiles to himself after he locks
the door showing he is enjoying causing other people pain; the author admires Juan for his
cleverness and care in planning and carrying out his trick but shows that the results are harmful
to his father’s reputation and causes pain to everyone in the room; the author presents Juan as
clever but cruel.
Q6. Open Question - Acceptable answers here will range across several possible responses from
disapproval to enjoyment of the discomfort of adults.
[Teacher Notes: As questions 5 and 6 are more interpretive, be prepared for a variety of answers and encourage
discussion – the important thing is not the actual answer, but the reasons for it. The goal here is for students to go
beyond comprehension of the plot and respond to the character and his actions.
For the Consolidation group, Q5 may be best done as a class discussion if you judge that it is too difficult for the
group, with some help provided by you when you introduce the question (point the students to the answer they
gave to Q4) - it needs to be done in some form to lead into Q6, which is an open, personal response question that
can be done by all students but will provide answers at varying levels of complexity – that is, answers can be
graded on the basis of quality. ]
Component 5: Lesson Conclusion
Time: 5 minutes
▪ Teacher reads the questions.
Questions:
1. The focus of the lesson was on learning about how stories often present complicated characters and
situations and that they do not always provide happy endings. When this happens, we must look for clues
and respond according to our own experiences or opinions about what is good or bad as you had to do in
Question 6. How has the lesson helped you to do this?
2. Which questions were easy to answer? Why?
3. What strategies did you use to answer the harder questions?
[Teacher Notes: It would be worthwhile to do this by getting students to write in the Workbook, 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 next lesson: In the next lesson we will look at another story to give you more practice with reading and
interpreting them.
REMINDER: Collect student Workbooks to review and analyze students’ learning – focus on answers to Question 6 for quality and clarity of writing and understanding of the content.