Tuesday

Students have read and continue to read The Hobbit in the first to second week of the Unit: as they prepare for their arguments and defense for the Cultural Fair and the Challenge for Gold, students will begin their artifact construction and evidential support for Clan aims. In the current lesson, students will assemble in their seven-person, heterogeneous, preselected cultural groups of hobbits, dwarfs, elves, and humans to compile a list of categorized group characteristics as they pertain to Clan culture and in support of their artifact presentation and defense at the challenge for the gold. Specific evidence from the novel should be gathered using descriptive passages, dialogue, poems/ songs, and/ or displays from Thror’s or the Wilderland Map. As a part of the visual display portion and to help establish a sense of cultural identity, the students will also be given a brief introduction to heraldry and the significance of a coat of arms as an identifier of Clan culture and will decide and construct a communal coat-of-arms symbol (to be later used in their presentation or on their shields). As they continue into the next day, they will begin investigating the complex and multitudinous theme of greed as a vehicle for character motivation, obsession, and evil. They will further on in the unit learn epic conventions in conjunction with a hero’s journey. Curriculum Standards Addressed

MCPS 8th Grade ELA Honors Inclusion

Standard 4.0 Writing

INDICATOR

Compose oral, written and visual presentations that express personal ideas, inform, and persuade.

OBJECTIVES

1. Compose to express personal ideas by experimenting with a variety of forms and techniques suited to topic, audience, and purpose in order to develop a personal style, a distinctive voice, and a deliberate tone

2. Describe in prose and/or poetic forms to clarify, extend, or elaborate on ideas by using evocative language and appropriate organizational structure to create a dominant impression

5. Use writing-to-learn strategies such as reflective journals, metacognitive writings, and projections based on reflections to analyze and synthesize thinking and learning

6. Manage time and process when writing for a given purpose

INDICATOR

Locate, retrieve, and use information from various sources to accomplish a purpose

OBJECTIVES

1. Identify, evaluate, and use appropriate sources of information on a self-selected and/or given topic

2. Use various information retrieval sources (traditional and/or electronic) to obtain information on a self-selected and/or given topic

3. Use a systematic process for recording, documenting, and organizing this information

• Appropriate strategies for taking notes

• Appropriate strategies for organizing source information or notes

• Information to include or exclude when using a note taking method

• Advantages, disadvantages, or limitations of a given strategy or procedure for recording or organizing information

• Advantages, disadvantages, or limitations of a sources of information such as bias, accuracy, availability, variety currency

• Use a recognized format for documentation such as MLA

4. Synthesize information from two or more sources to fulfill a self-selected or given purpose

5. Use a recognized format to credit sources when paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting to avoid plagiarism

NETS-S

2. COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:

a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.

c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.

d. contribute to project Clans to produce original works or solve problems.

NCTE Standards

3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

8. Students use a variety of technological and informational resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

9. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

Objectives

• • The student will respond and listen to a PowerPoint Slide presentation regarding the group project and daily activities.

  • The students will establish a sense of rapport with other students in establishing cultural identity with the fellow members of their Clan peers, as a means to present artifacts at the Cultural Fair summative activity.

  • The student will be able to analyze and select text to compile a list of cultural characteristics using the “Cultural Analysis” Chart as evidence towards the Challenge for Gold summative activity.

Materials

• • The Hobbit Text

  • Highlighters

  • Student Reflective Journals

  • Writing Utensils

  • PowerPoint Slides

  • Promethean Board

• Project Packet

  • Patterns for Shields and Symbol Shapes

  • Construction Paper

  • Scissors

  • Scotch Tape

  • Glue Sticks

Proactive Behavior Management

Please refer to Unit Plan Header under “Proactive Behavior Management.”

Provisions for Student Grouping

Please refer to Unit Plan Header under “Provisions for Student Grouping.”

Procedure

Warm-Up/Opening (5-10 minutes)

The students will enter the classroom and begin writing in their journals. The warm-up prompt slide will be on the Promethean Board:

Please write a 4-5 sentence response to the following questions in your reflective journals.

“Do you predict that the different Clans will have motivation or goals that are in conflict with each other? Based on what you have read so far, can you infer what this might mean for your Clan’s “end game” in the Challenge for Gold?”

The students will have 5 minutes to reflectively write in their journals. Such write-up prompts are used to either assimilate the previous lesson’s familiarity, or to bridge into the current day’s lesson. As these are more to gauge the student’s feelings and experiences, their reflective journals are formatively assessed.

Motivator/Bridge (10-15 minutes)

a) Review prior learning.

I will briefly reiterate the Clan structure of the summative activities, and discuss the necessity of compiling information together and discussing the group collaborative parameters. The final selection of group roles is due at the end of the class period. The students will be asked to respond with questions or issues regarding the group project.

b) Tie new learning into students’ prior knowledge.

I will lecture briefly on the history of Heraldry, and the significance of the coat of arms to the Clans and individuals. A brief video (See video above) demonstration will enable the students to construct and decide upon one shield per Clan, which they can expand for the Cultural Fair artifact presentation. During the presentation of the instruction slides, the students will be asked if they have seen examples of shield and shield-work in person at a Festival or in the class presentation of the previous day. I will also monitor during the construction of the shield and coat of arms activity.

c) State the goal(s) and objective(s) for the lesson.

Objectives for the day are discussed verbally and included on a slide on the Promethean Board stipulating to the following:

• • The student will be able to respond and listen to an introductory presentation on Heraldry.

  • The student will be able to work productively in a group setting.

  • The student will be able to work in a group to construct a shield and symbol as their coat-of-arms for the Cultural Fair.

  • The student will be able to analyze and select text to fill-out the cultural analysis chart to contribute to the Clan’s evidence for the Challenge for Gold.

  • Extension: The student will be able to embellish a poem using focused cloze to describe their Clan.

Procedural Activities

Model of Teaching