Paperless English Lesson

State Standards Addressed:
1.1.3. Students will confirm understanding after reading, viewing, or listening to a text.
1.2.1. Students will identify the contributions of literary elements in classical and contemporary texts.
1.3.1. Students will write effective informative or expository texts
Student Objectives:
Students will demonstrate their understanding of the elements of plot (exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution) by diagramming the plot of a narrative poem and blogging to defend their choices of climax and conflict.
Modalities used:
linguistic, musical
Materials Needed (including links):
Headphones
Computer lab
www.blogger.com
www.twitter.com
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/grandtheftautosanandreas/childrensstory.htm
http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/plot-diagram/
www.google.com
http://theliterarylink.com/flowers.html

Timeline: One 40-50 minute class period.

Warm Up:
1. Log into your twitter account
2. Log into your blogger account
3. Think about what we learned yesterday,[tweet] what do you think is the MOST important aspect of a story?*
*The previous lesson would be on the structure of plot. This lesson serves to assess and offer practice to the student.

Direct Instruction:
I will tweet the audio file “Children’s Story” by Slick Rick. I will explain to students that this song is actually a narrative poem. Ask: Could someone google “narrative poem” and post the definition to twitter? Once students have seen that a narrative poem is a poem that has a plot they will actually listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics. http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/grandtheftautosanandreas/childrensstory.htm
After they have had a chance to listen and read the lyrics they will tweet their initial reactions to the song.
Guided Practice:
Now that students have tweeted their initial reactions to the song they will go to http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/plot-diagram/. Using this website, they will do a plot diagram about the song. They may use twitter #haleeng2 as a back channel to use their peers as a life line during this activity.
Next, I will ask students to take their hands off the computers and turn their chairs into the circle (this is dependent upon the arrangement of the computer lab. Whatever arrangement you choose, make sure you can conduct discussion without having students look at the computers). We will now discuss what everyone chose as the conflict and climax. Students will be expected to defend why they chose what they chose.
Independent Practice [to be completed alone]:
Now students will do this alone. They will read Alice Walker’s “Flowers” http://theliterarylink.com/flowers.html. Next, they will blog the following:
What are the elements of the plot?
Assign parts of “Flowers” to each of those elements.
Now defend both the climax and the conflict that you chose eloquently (no one-liners please!)
Homework:
Respectfully comment on two of your classmates’ blogs