Shoshanna Shaoul Lesson Plan One Standards:

CC.8.R.I.2 Key Ideas and Details: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text. CC.8.R.I.3 Key Ideas and Details: Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).

Procedure: I. Have students sit in groups of three II. Begin class by showing clip about Grapes of Wrath: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqaTv8cCWeg. The time period in which Steinbeck wrote the novel III. (notice how their stuff fits on one truck, left their family farm that had been in their family for generations, left because they were poor) IV. After showing the clip, ask for initial reactions: A. What do you notice? What did you see? What were they wearing? Are they happy? sad? Why did they leave? Do you see any similarities between that time period and today? V. Have students discuss these questions in their groups VI. Following their discussion, pass out the article. Give each member of the group one copy of the article. Give each group one blank piece of paper. VII. Write on the board film industry and The Great Depression VIII. Ask students, in their groups to write everything and anything that they know about both of those topics. Give students 5-7 minutes to do this brainstorm A. Model examples if students appear confused or are having trouble getting started. B. Film Industry: They can name genres (comedy, history, sci-fi), or famous actors, or themes C. Great Depression: 1930s, hunger lines, economic collapse IX. Come back as a big group, write the title of the article on the board From D.W. Griffith to Grapes of Wrath, How Hollywood Portrayed the Poor A. Ask: What do you guys think this article is about? Based on those topics that you just brainstormed, and the title of the article, what predictions can you make? B. Write their predictions on the board C. This should only take 2-3 minutes X. After this quick conversation, have the kids read the article in their groups. As theyre reading, have the students refer back to their brainstorm lists A. Tell them: While youre reading, refer back to your brainstorms. If your predictions relate to the article or are proven right or you feel as though they connect to the topic and article, place a plus (+) mark next to those predictions. If any of your predictions were wrong or in no way relate to the article, then put a minus (-) mark next to that line on your brainstorm page. If the article discusses new information that you did not have on your lists, add them to your list.

B. Encourage students to read article together/aloud and go over their brainstorm sheet together C. Allow 20 minutes to read the article XI. After the students finish the article bring the whole class back together A. Lets discuss all your predictions. Which ones were reinforced in the article? Which were proven wrong? What were new things that you learned? B. Take out a piece of butcher paper and record the important facts extracted from the article and their predictions based on the topics. XII. At the end of the lesson, show a clip from Pursuit of Happyness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLwjEtY4uas (start at 2:00) A. Discuss the way the film industry portrays poor people. How does that differ from how the article discusses films in the 20th century? Do you think films portray poor people differently? What about historical facts? Have times really changed? How are the times similar? How are they different? B. Write main themes of this brainstorm on the board. XIII. Extra credit opportunity: Find a clip from a movie (new or old) that depicts poor people in a certain way. Send clip to me in an email and be sure to be able to explain your thoughts of the clip when we show it to the class. Keep in mind the time period it is attempting to portray, the types of people it is portraying. What is the source of their misfortune?... Assessments:
1. CC.8.R.I.2 Key Ideas and Details: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text. Through the brainstorm of the main topics (the Great Depression and the film industry), the students will take out the main theme of the article and by going through their brainstorm and checking off what they were right about and what connected to the article, they are building on prior knowledge, so the themes of the article come out. In the discussion that follows, the students will further discuss the main themes of the article and a summary of the article. 2. CC.8.R.I.3 Key Ideas and Details: Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).

In the discussion, the students will make connections to specific historical events (like the Great Depression) and will be able to see how the film industry and various films discuss those events. In the extra credit assignment, the students will have an opportunity to make connections between the text and another film clip, separate from one that we discussed within the class. It is an opportunity for the students to show how they relate the themes of our conversation to other events.

CI 473 Lesson Plan Analysis This article would be fairly difficult even in 8th grade. The vocabulary is challenging and the article is dry- students would not be engaged or interested in the topic. Due to this, we had the students read it in small groups instead of on their own so they can help each other comprehend the reading and we can help groups that are struggling. We also discuss the article as a class to clear up any confusion and ensure the students understand the material. We chose to use Content DRTA for our lesson plan. We did this because the article is not very engaging, so we want to focus on the themes and engage the students with the material through prior knowledge and discussion. The prior knowledge is key since the article is difficultit will help them relate to the material quickly. We show video clips to catch their interest but also to give an example of what the article discusses. The clips also expand our discussion beyond the article so students can come up with their own ideas about the topic and learn from the material. Our lesson plan responds to the demographics of our class through discussion. Students from different races might have different perspectives on poverty in films, so through group and class discussions they can share their opinions and add to the class diversity. Although Grapes of Wrath features primarily white characters, Pursuit of Happyness main character is African American so we can discuss how race plays a part in the film industrys portrayal of poverty. Since most of our students do not do homework reliably, we offer extra credit instead of making a mandatory assignment to help them expand on the material outside of class.