Lesson Plans

ELA: Doors to Stories                                                                             Mrs. Amberg

THE DOMICILES PROJECT                                                                       Lesson _____

 

Common Core Standards: Writing 9-10: Text Types and Purposes

2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or

   characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.

b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

c. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole.

d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.

f. Adapt voice, awareness of audience, and use of language to accommodate a variety of cultural contexts.

 

6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage                             

    of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically

 

EXPLORATORY PHASE

1. Students will study story structure,  integrating:

     music -  “The Ballad of Hulett Brand” Adirondack folksong by Christopher Shaw

                                            (narrative structure, story frame, narrator’s voice)

    fairy tale – “Goldilocks” (conflict, climax, resolution; purpose, audience, voice)

    short stories -                       “They Grind Exceeding Small” by Ben Ames Williams

                                                “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry

                                                “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

                                                “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

                                                “The Open Window” by Saki

                                                “The Interlopers” by Saki

                                                “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce

                                                “A & P” by John Updike

                                                “The Destructors” by Graham Greene

                (theme, point of view, writing voice, situational and dramatic irony, imagery, symbolism)

 

       2. Students will record their responses to and analyses of these stories on graphic organizers

             provided by the teacher and use them in class discussions of the stories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DISCOVERY PHASE

1. Students will be introduced to The Domiciles Project.

 

      2. The Task:  Students will use the door art as inspiration for writing their own short stories,

                            providing evidence of understanding narrative structure and synthesizing literary

                            elements (studied in the exploratory phase.)

 

      3. The Process:  (Students will be shown how the task has been scaffolded upon our experience with short stories.)

 

• Students will view the doors displayed in our school by artist, Alan Tuttle.
• On the first day, they will observe their door, noting in journal possible characters, points of view, and plots.
• They will take these notes home and record narrative structure, protagonist, literary elements on the same type of graphic organizer used to analyze stories previously.
• On the second day, they will go back to their door with their graphic organizer and imagine their story as planned while studying the door, revising as led.
• They will take the plans home and write the first draft of their short story.
• On the third day, they will take their stories back to their doors and read them silently while observing the door, noting possible additions, omissions, and revisions.
• Stories will be handed in by deadline for scoring by rubric and feedback.
• Revised drafts will be scored for a second grade.
• Final drafts will be typed and uploaded to The Domiciles website. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RUBRIC: Short stories inspired by The Domiciles Project

Criteria	96-100	90-95	80-89	<80 Revise/resubmit
Connection to door	Connection between inspiration and story is recognizable and   consistent.	Connection between inspiration and story is recognizable and somewhat consistent.	Connection between inspiration and story is difficult to recognize   and/or somewhat inconsistent.	Connection between inspiration and story is unrecognizable and/or   inconsistent.
Writing voice	Writer uses a narrator’s voice to tell the story; narrator’s point of   view is easily discernible.	Writer uses a narrator’s voice to tell the story; narrator’s point of   view is discernible.	Writer uses a narrator’s voice to tell the story; narrator’s point of   view is not discernible.	Writer does not use a narrator’s voice to tell the story; narrator’s   point of view is not discernible.
Narrative structure	Story has setting, character, conflict, climax, resolution;  these are synthesized to convey a clear,   but implied theme.	Story has setting, character, conflict, climax, resolution;  these are synthesized to convey a theme	Story has some of the narrative elements;  these are synthesized to convey a theme	Story has some of the narrative elements;  it is difficult to infer a theme.
Literary elements	Story uses literary elements well, such as: situational and dramatic   irony, symbolism, imagery.	Story uses literary elements, such as: situational and dramatic   irony, symbolism, imagery.	Story uses some literary elements.	Story has few literary elements.
Sentence structure	No run-ons; no fragments	No run-ons; no fragments	Few run-ons; few fragments	Run-ons and/or fragments
Writing conventions	Exemplary control of writing conventions: capitalization, usage, punctuation, spelling	Control of writing conventions: capitalization, usage, punctuation, spelling	Some problems with control of writing conventions: capitalization, usage, punctuation, spelling	Lots of problems with control of writing conventions: capitalization, usage, punctuation, spelling