Embedded Files
Lesson Basics
Lesson Basics
Grade Level: 11th
Content Area: English/Language Arts - American Literature
Lesson Title: Realism & Naturalism
Learning Objective:
CCSS Writing Standard: 2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS Reading Standard 1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. 2. Determine [two or more] central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
Unit Context:
This unit is part of an informative/explanatory/expository spiral that has students learn from non-fictional works or expository texts.
I chose literary movements as the focus for students to learn about the various canonical literary genres to bridge the old with the new. By the end of the unit, students are tasked with writing an informative essay explaining their understanding and the presence/influence of the literary movement in the 21st century.
Students also design a presentation/media piece to present their findings to the class. This could be a poster, instructional video, presentation via slides, or podcasts. Here’s a student example.
Instructional Video
Instructional Video
My instructional videos always have three elements: an introduction that overviews the lesson, the content of the lesson, and an outro that may overview assignment location/instructions, or just a simple sign-off and greeting.
I reuse unit slide decks I have made and write down a few notes to remind myself what to say in the intro/outro.
The production of my videos is done through Streamlabs, a type of open broadcaster software to record, Epicpen to highlight as I teach, and Final Cut Pro/iMovie to edit.
Guided Notes
Guided Notes
One method of guided notes I have is a hyperdoc with an organizer that houses the concepts we’ll learn in this unit and the essential questions along with that lesson. Students can use this to take any notes digitally or physically.
Practice Work
Practice Work
After watching the instructional videos, students read an excerpt from The Norton Anthology of American Literature Vol. A-E about realism and naturalism and respond to a guided question. Students must find evidence from the reading to support their response to the guided question. Students also have the option to read or listen to a mixtape of me reading the text and stopping to break down/make sense of the reading.
Mastery Check
Mastery Check
One of the earlier unit concepts is the master and counter-narratives (dominant and non-dominant). The mastery check asks students to find a piece of evidence that shows how realism or naturalism either perpetuates the master narrative or challenges it as a counter-narrative. This requires students to draw on prior knowledge and make connections with the text to demonstrate their understanding of the new concepts they’ve learned.
Progress Tracker
Progress Tracker
The individual progress tracker has gone through multiple drafts to figure out how students could see at a glance where we’re headed and the essential question or focus of the lesson.
I decided to eliminate many of the checkboxes we normally see on trackers, as students said it was too cluttered. They asked for something more aesthetically pleasing, easy to glance at, and, most importantly, one page because I have longer units.
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