UBD Stage I

Standards: 11-12.RL.9. Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics. 11-12.SL.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grades 1112 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly W.11-12.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience L.11-12.3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. RL.11-12.1. 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. W.11-12.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question or solve a problem W.11-12.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content L.11-12.5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. W.11-12.1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. SL.11-12.3. Evaluate a speakers point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used. L.11-12.5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. Knowledge: Students will know the biography of Edgar Allan Poe, why we write horror stories, what literary devices are found, different themes found in stories, comparisons to different authors Skills: Students will be able to define terms, compare/contrast stories and

authors, support findings, interpret devices, evaluate each other, and create original works.

UBD Stage I Enduring Understandings: Reading is an exchange between texts and readers Readers construct meaning based on personal experience Literature can change based on who is telling the story Literature can change the views or perspectives of a person through persuasion Essential Questions: Where do writers get their inspiration and what inspires them to write? What does hidden meaning bring to a story and why is it there? How is non-modern content relevant to today and our everyday lives? What am I trying to achieve through my writing?

UBD Stage II RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) Edgar Allan Poe is making a Best of the Best Award to give to one of his characters and stories. Take on the role of one of Poes characters. Your task is to convince him that the piece of work you are in is the best AND that you are the best character in that work. Formats can take the form of anything you can come up with. Suggestions might be: +Comic Book +Letter +Radio Piece +Television Commercial +Diary/Memoir +Song +Childrens Book +Any thing else you can think of! (Just check with me first) In addition to this, you will have to reflect on the project. Id like you to include the process you took in making this, how you came up with it, how it enhanced your understanding of the texts, how changing the perspective changes the story, and a connection to todays world. (2-3 pages) Excellent Developing Satisfactory Poor Effort Goes above Clearly puts in Puts in some Displays and beyond effort effort but little or no and clearly does not effort puts in show effort to significant make the interest in project the excellent assignment Aspects of Includes 5 Includes 4 Includes 3 Includes 2 or the Story or more aspects of the aspects of less aspects aspects of story as the story as of the story the story as evidence evidence as evidence evidence Character I can clearly I need a few I can get a I do not Developme infer which hints in order general know who is nt character is to infer which sense of speaking speaking character is who is and the and they speaking speaking narrator has have a and their and their no strong voice voice is voice isnt developmen constant as strong as t it could be Reflection More than Shows a good Surface Shows little

just surface reflection and demonstrate s deeper meaning

understanding level and is more understandi than surface ng deep

to no understandi ng of the material

Pre-Assessment Boxing On a large piece of paper, students draw a box in the center and a smaller box inside the first box. In the outside box, answer what do I know? about Poe In the inside box, answer what do I want to learn? about Poe Now in the outside box, write what else do I know? and how does this information fit together? In the inside box, draw a visual representation to explain what you think about Edgar Allan Poe. Finally, on a separate sheet of paper, look at all the information and summarize what does that say? We will share these with the whole class and discuss what we think the unit will entail as well as why we want to learn this. If students already know a lot about Poe, they will be great resources for the rest of the class and I will try to have them help. I will also use accompanying stories to talk about the themes instead of Poe. Students will read a different story but talk about the same things.

Intro Activity: The Horror Genre Rationale: This lesson is to teach students how an author scares his or her readers State Standards: RL.11-12.1. 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. Learning Objectives: Students will be able to choose different aspects of a story that support why a story is scary. Materials: Books or copies of scary short stories Hook: Read a short story out loud and have the students journal about what about the story scared them and why they think people like these kinds of stories. Direct Instruction: Give the students a copy of an article that examines why we like to scare ourselves and read it out loud. As I go through it I will take notes on how I think writers are able to scare the readers with their writing. Guided Practice: Students can choose a short story and they locate a scene they think is scary. Then they are asked to analyze the scene in terms of structure and language. Questions to think about are: 1. What are the sentence constructions like? Are clauses used? Sentence length? 2. What verb tenses are used? Are they active or passive? 3. Is repetition used? What effect does all this have? 4. What about the scene makes it scary? 5. Are the characters in control? What does the author do to make them appear helpless? Does he or she talk about what is done TO the character? Closure: Come back together and discuss what the students found Independent Practice: Write a short, scary scene that uses two of the elements we talked about

Web Quest Rationale: The purpose of this lesson is to get students familiar with Edgar Allan Poe and learn about his life, writing, and other facts so they have background information before we begin. State Standards: W.11-12.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question or solve a problem Learning Objectives: Students will be able to identify facts about the life of Poe and his works, interpret milestones in his life, and summarize some of the works he has produced. Materials: The Edgar Allan Poe Museum Website: The main purpose of the site is to promote the museum. Fans of Poe, however, can find biographical information, a family tree of Poe, theories about his death, selected works, educational resources, and an online store. The site makes certain all information is credible and accurate. 6. The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore Website: Don't let the poor web design and subpar formatting deter you from the site. It's full of useful biographical information, studies of his writings, and copies of his short stories and poems. The site's main goal is to promote the Poe Society of Baltimore. 7. Poestories.com: This is the Edgar Allan Poe of Edgar Allan Poe websites. In addition to biographical information, his complete short stories and poems, and a timeline of his writing, Poestories.com contains a photo gallery, quotes, summaries, wordlists, guestbook, links, and a forum. It is the most thorough of all Poe websites. The Knowing Poe Website: This is the most fun for students. In fact, I spent the last 25 minutes looking at videos and listening to audio versions of "The Raven," reading about the Poe Toaster, and checking out Edgar Allan Poe every day allusions. The site includes an excellent section for teachers with internet activities and lesson plans, and a section for parents to share Poe with their families. Hook: Students are given a set of questions and are asked to star two that interest them: 8. Provide the following biographical information: birthdate; birthplace; death date. 9. What tragic childhood events influenced his writing? 10. There are 13 theories on what caused Poe's death. List five of them. 11. According to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, what state did Poe call home?

12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

What does the Poe Society of Baltimore think about this claim? What famous military academy expelled Poe in 1831? Who did Poe marry? How old was she? What do you think about the marriage? What is "Murders in the Rue Morgue" the first of? When were "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" written? When was "The Raven" published? Check out the Poe photo gallery. Which picture looks most like the Poe you envision while reading his stories? 20. Post a comment in the Edgar Allan Poe forum about your favorite Poe story. Print it out and attach it. Appropriate posts only. 21. Sign the guestbook at Poestories.com. 22. Summarize at least two Poe short stories you have never read. 23. Listen to the audio version of the Raven. What do you think of it? 24. Who is the Poe Toaster? List five examples of "Poe in Your Life." Direct Instruction: I answer a couple questions that arent on the list and I go through the websites to show them how to use them when they are looking for information. Guided Practice and Checks for Understanding: They may work with a partner but each person must turn in a sheet. I will be walking around to see if anyone needs help Closure: Students will be allowed to work until the end of the period Independent Practice: Any questions not answered in class are homework

Lecture and Discussion Rationale: This is a continuation of the previous day. The reason we do this is so we are all on the same page and so we can know more about Poe. State Standards: W.11-12.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content Learning Objectives: Students will be able to discuss the different answers they have and analyze the results. They will also be able to list different dates and facts. Materials: Large poster paper, markers, powerpoint Hook: Quick-write about the process you had doing the web quest. What did you like about it? What didnt you like about it? How could it be different? Guided Practice: Students will get into groups and they will write down answers to the question that dont have an opinion (such as the date he was born, etc.) Then we will share out and discuss the opinion questions. Direct Instruction: I will then fill in any gaps they might have and further the discussion with the power point. Closure: Exit Slip about two things they found interesting about Poe and why it appealed to them Independent Practice: Define the following literary devices and write an example: Onomatopoeia Assonance Internal Rhyme Alliteration Personification Allusion Connotation Consonance Euphemism Irony Motif Paradox

Satire Oxymoron Imagery

Literary Devices Rationale: In order to fully understand EAP, or any other author for that matter, students need to not only recognize devices but also be able to apply them and create examples State Standards: L.11-12.5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. Learning Objectives: Define and identify literary devices, apply them to stories they read, and create examples that show them in use Materials: Big poster paper, markers, copy of the poem The Bells by Poe Hook: Discuss with a partner or small group the examples of each device you found. We will then share out and learn about the devices from each other and compile a list of examples. Direct Instruction: I read aloud The Bells and I go through and find all the examples of a device not listed. I then say why it is an example of the device. Guided Practice: After reading the poem aloud, I break students into groups and have them analyze each section, focusing on different literary devices. We then discuss the different moods and images created by the type of bells being described. Closure: Discuss: 25. What feeling is being expressed? 0 Hint: Poe often wrote about madness. 26. What are the four different bells of which Poe writes? 27. Why do you think some stanzas use more alliteration, some more assonance, some more onomatopoeia? 28. How does Poe use sound devices to imitate the sound of bells? Why is it I feel like rapping this poem with violent hand gestures? Independent Practice: Choose two more poems for homework and do an analysis of seven literary devices with examples from the poems and tell how you know its the device.

Tales of EAP Rationale: We are beginning to dive into the stories and poems based on content. State Standards: L.11-12.5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. Learning Objectives: Students will be able to summarize basic elements and identify the emotions revealing in the work Materials: Copies of The Haunted Palace, The Raven, and The Masque of the Red Death. Hook: Review bio of EAP and have students guess as to what they stories will be about. Direct Instruction: I will take The Bells and answer questions about plot, setting, character, and perspective. Guided Practice: In groups, read each story and answer the questions about: 29. Plot: Give a brief summary of the piece. 30. 31. Setting: Describe the setting. What words or phrases help paint the picture? Characters: How does Poe portray the characters? Perspective: Who is the narrator? Describe this person's feelings. Is it written in third or first person? How does this affect the piece? Closure: Think about events or images from their experiences that conjure up the same emotions. For example, what have they experienced that may have sparked deep fear or loneliness? Independent Practice: Come up with words that portray different emotions discussed (fear, sadness, regret, loneliness, obsession, anticipation, and helplessness).

The Oval Portrait Rationale: The goal is to give the students inspiration for their RAFTs at the end of the unit. This lesson uses the short story The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allen Poe and the idea of a story behind a picture. State Standards: SL.11-12.3. Evaluate a speakers point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used. Learning Objectives: Students will be able to create a story from picture and identify the elements of the short story Materials: Picture of a group of people, copies of the EAP story. Hook: Put a poster on the board which includes about six people in the drawing. Pick one of the people in the poster or the artist. Write a paragraph about the person you have chosen. (how old is the person? What is the person doing here? Why is the person here?). Give the students about 10 minutes to write the paragraph. As a class, have the students share what they came up for each of the people Direct Instruction: hand out copies of the story and read it out loud. Define words when they are encountered and clarify as I go along what is happening in the story. Guided Practice: In groups discuss these: What is the setting of the story? 32. Who are the characters? 33. What is so interesting about the portrait? 34. What kind of man is the painter? 35. What do you think of the conclusion? 36. What is the writer saying about humanity? 37. What horror elements are found in the story? Closure: Discuss as a class the questions and as an exit slip tell me something that Poe might have drawn inspiration from Independent Practice: Write a short story about a picture you find.

The House of Usher Rationale: In this lesson, students will choose one of the elements: character, theme, or setting and write a persuasive work. State Standards: W.11-12.1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Learning Objectives: Students will be able to read for understanding, develop an element such as character, theme, or setting, and express their viewpoint of a story Materials: Copies of The Fall of the House of Usher, paper, pens Hook: Quick write about which element of a story you think is most important and support your answer. Direct Instruction: I read the story out loud and after I choose an element of the story other than character, setting, or theme and I tell them what I think about the element according to the story. Guided Practice: I will have them choose an element one of the elements: character, theme, or setting and write persuasive piece about that element. They need to focus on their viewpoint about the element. The following are some questions for the students to think about on each element. Character: What was the character like? Describe the character. What kind of problem or problems did the character experience in the story? Did he/she overcome his/her problem by the end of the story? What did you like about the character? What didnt you like about the character? Theme: What was the theme of the story? What do you think the author wanted to reveal to readers? Did the author succeed in the theme? If not, what do you think was wrong with the theme? What would you do differently in writing and revealing the theme? Setting: What was the setting in the story? What was it like? How did the author reveal the setting? Could you visualize the setting? Do you think the author did a good job in describing the setting? Why or why not? Closure: Introduce the Final Project: RAFT

Independent Practice: Begin to think about what you want to do for the RAFT. The persuasive piece is homework if it isnt finished.

Into the Pit Rationale: Students will get the chance to compare EAPs work to another author to expand their understanding. State Standards: RL.11-12.9. Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics. Learning Objectives: Students will be able to compare and contrast the two storied to one another. Materials: Copies of Hawthornes Rappacinis Daughter and The Pit and the Pendulum Hook: Quick write about what you think about torture. Is it ever okay? Why or why not? Direct Instruction: As I read Hawthorne I will look for the plot and theme of death. I will complete one or two boxes of the story map illustrating the plot and the theme. Guided Practice: As a group the class will sit in circle formation and discuss the plot and theme of the Poe story and the Hawthorne story after they complete the story map for it. Closure: Exit Slip of which story you liked better and why Independent Practice: Write a short essay comparing and contrasting the two stories. Use your story map to help you with this. *NOTE: Each story is covered on a different day. Duplicate this for the next day.

The Pit and the Pendulum Character/Relationshi p to others

Rappaccinis Daughter

Plot

Setting

Connection of death to the main character

Literary Techniques

The authors view of death

Poe 1, 2, 3 Rationale: In this lesson, students will be able to compare and contrast three short stories they have read by Edgar Allan Poe. The assignment will be divided into three parts: (1) They will have read and discussed or completed other classroom activities on each of the three stories. (2) They will work in small groups to brainstorm and create comparison/contrast charts that will be shared with the class (3) Students will create their own graphic organizers based on the ideas shared in step two State Standards: RL.11-12.9. Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics. Learning Objectives: Students will be able to summarize and reflect on reading selections, look for common characteristics that are typical of the authors style, work cooperatively and effectively towards a goal, apply prior knowledge of the writing process, exhibit skill in graphic organization, and apply contrasting skills.
38.

Materials: Copies of The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, Construction Paper, Colored pencils or markers, Charts or poster boards for students to use for comparison/contrast information Hook: Quick write about whether you think some of the common elements are about Poes writing as well as some differences Direct Instruction: I start by reading the stories and giving them information about the plot, setting, etc. Guided Practice: Students are placed in groups of three or four. 39. Groups are given two large sheets of flip-chart or poster paper and markers. 40. Each student in the group is responsible for contributing to the similarities and Differences sides. 41. Students will be given 25 minutes to brainstorm together and come up with a list of at least 20 items in each column. (Ex. - Similarity - all three stories are told from the first person point-of-view; all contain the elements of evil, etc.) For differences, you may begin with the example Two of the stories have cats, one does not, or In one of the murders, the murderer does not get caught, in two of the stories he does.

42. At the end of the given time, each group takes the groups chart or ideas to the front of the room and presents the findings. As these presentations are being made, the students make their own list of the fifteen best items from the combined lists. Students would have 15 similarities in the stories and 15 differences. They may choose to include more. 43. Once the groups have given their presentations, students get pieces of white construction paper 44. Students are then to take the information that they have gathered on their individual comparison/contrast charts and create some type of graphic organizer that would relate to Poe. In this graphic organizer, they are to relay the information that they have on their charts. Examples: The letters P-O-E. In the O are the three stories. In the letter P are the similarities; in the letter E the differences. Another would be three tombstones containing the same information as above. Another might be three white roses, like the ones placed on his grave every year on his birthday. Another might be a catacomb, etc. Whatever graphic they choose, it must relate in some way to Poe. These are to be completed and colored as part of their homework assignment. 45. Closure: Students have the rest of the period either to work on their graphic organizer or to begin their draft for their final RAFT Independent Practice: Graphic Organizers are homework if not completed

Peer Revision/ Individual Conference During these two days students have the opportunity to have their peers review their work and make comments on them. They also have the opportunity to meet with me and discuss the different options and what I am looking for in the final RAFT. Also, students have time to work on or conference with me about previous assignments to revise them based on feedback and turns them in at the end of the unit. In the event that there is nothing for the student to do, they will be expected to read silently or peer-edit other students projects.

Presentations During the final day of the unit students are able to show off their work and tell us a little bit about the process of doing the project. The presentations will not be graded because it is simply a way for them to showcase their work.

Reflection The process of writing this unit plan was a little overwhelming at first. I had no idea what I wanted to do and I thought that I wouldnt be able to fit everything that I wanted to do into one three-week unit. As I started to develop everything I found out that I was trying really hard to think of things because I was able to cover a lot of content and standards in just one day. I feel kind of lucky that I am going to be an English teacher because one lesson on one piece of work can cover multiple standards. I really feel like I have the power to really fine tune and strengthen the skills of my students because I can utilize my time and their time with the standards being covered multiple times. One of the things I really wanted to focus on was collaborative learning. Its a part of my philosophy in which I strongly believe. I wanted to have the students create original pieces of works at the end of the unit because it allows for them to make something and persuade the audience at the same time. Coming up with the summative assessment was pretty easy because I love RAFTs and what they have the students do. However, I didnt know how I was going to make it bigger than an ordinary assignment. I had to think about the larger scale and add more dimensions to it. In the area of differentiation I had a little bit of trouble because I had the students doing the same things. I thought I could differentiate if students already knew a lot about Poe and his works and they could read different content but still have the same activities. The UBD framework I found to be helpful in the fact that I knew what the next step was when I was making the unit plan. I found the framework for a lesson plan a little irritating though because there were some lessons where there wasnt any direct instruction or there wasnt really an activity so much as peer evaluating and conferencing. It was also hard to convey the fact that some lessons go over two days and which parts are on which days. I wanted to be able to cover enough content and not have any down time. I didnt include it in the unit plan but I wanted to have an anchor activity that the students can choose from to work on during down time. I think the most difficult thing I found during this unit was integrating different strategies. It would be really easy for me to just do the same things over and over again and it wouldnt take much planning on my part. However, I know that this way isnt the best for students to learn the material. I had to look at the previous lesson to determine where I wanted to go from that particular point. The area that I particularly enjoyed when preparing this unit was figuring out what stories I wanted to include because I was able to read some stories that I have never read before. Overall, I think this process of creating this unit was really beneficial because now I have the building blocks to start my other unit lesson plans and once I have one written the rest will just fall into place. At first I thought that the unit plan was

going to be hard to plan because I needed to cover three weeks worth of content, but after a while and after some trial and error I found out that once I get into a certain routine and groove the whole unit just comes naturally. This is just the first step to planning everything I need for when I teach. The next step is to plan a whole semester during student teaching and then I will be set for my career. I cant wait to be able to do this each year for different units.