Sherman Alexie "The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian" TPA

TPA Lesson Plan

1. Teacher Candidate	Arik Reyes	Date Taught	March 15th, 2017
Cooperating Teacher	Dr. Sean Agriss	School/District	EWU
2. Subject	English Language Arts	Field Supervisor	Dr. Sean Agriss
3. Lesson Title/Focus	The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian – Character Analysis	5. Length of Lesson	20 minutes
4. Grade Level	10th

6. Academic & Content Standards (Common Core/National)	CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
7. Learning Objective(s)	By the end of this lesson, students will be able to define a stereotype.  Students will also be able to know how stereotypes do not define a person’s identity.  Using Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian, students will be able to analyze how characters in the story develop over the course of the novel and connect their development to the theme of identity.  This learning objectives connects to Common Core State Standard… CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 “Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.”
8. Academic Language demands (vocabulary, function, syntax, discourse)	Vocabulary: stereotype, identity. Function: Students will define and discuss the academic language used in this lesson in conjunction to character development in Sherman Alexie’s novel.

9. Assessment

Summative and formative assessment will be used to measure a student’s learning. Students will participate in the opening learning task.  The learning task will be part of student’s writer’s notebooks that will be turned in at the end of the unit.  The opening learning task will be graded as part of the student’s overall writer’s notebook.  The writer’s notebook is worth 20% of student’s final grade. Formative assessment will also be used in today’s lesson.  The assessment will measure how well a student participates and understand the lesson of the day.  Assessment will be measured on a 4 pt. scale based on each student’s participation.  (See attached assessment rubric) 4pt Student fully engages in group and class-wide discussion.  Student further contributes to class-wide discussions by asking questions related to lesson.  Student adds commentary within groups which challenges other students to engage in an exchange of ideas and inferences related to lesson. 3pt Student participates with both class and group discussion while maintaining moderate focus during lesson.  Student is noticeable but does not provoke further discussion. 2pt Student participates moderately throughout lesson.  Maintains minimal conversation with groups but does not fully contribute with class-wide discussion.  1pt Student puts forth minimal effort towards group and class discussion (requires teacher to call on student for participation in class). 0 Student does not participate in group or class discussions (ask/answer questions).  Student moves with the motions without being involved with the learning experience.  Refusal to participate/turn in in-class writing assignments along with not participating in class-wide or group discussions will also result in a 0 for daily participation.

10. Lesson Connections

Johannessen, Larry R. “Enhancing Response to Literature through Character Analysis.” The Clearing House, vol. 74, no. 3, 2001, pp. 145–150., www.jstor.org/stable/30190047. This Article by Larry R. Johannessen focuses on how students learn about character development through in-depth analysis and in-class group work after reading a text.  The article focuses on how students can better respond to more in-depth topics within a text by identifying character traits. This lesson builds on prior knowledge and instruction of literary elements such as plot development and character development.  The requisite skills students need to access the lesson is in-class participation.  So long as the student is not absent then the student will have full access to the lesson.  This content builds on what students already know about character development and plot from the ninth grade.

11. Instructional Strategies/Learning Tasks to Support Learning
Learning Tasks and Strategies The learning target in this lesson will help students understand the difference between stereotypes and identity. Sequenced Instruction Opening learning task—2 minutes Open class discussion—5 minutes Group work—5 minutes Identity discussion—5 minutes
Teacher’s Role Teacher will greet the students. Teacher will write define stereotype on projector. Teacher will have class work on two-part entry task. Teacher hold open-class discussion about stereotypes in Sherman Alexie novel. Teacher will ask “Do these stereotypes define who they are?” Teacher will pass out character worksheet. Teacher will divide class into four groups. Teacher will assign each group one character from the text. Teacher will give students five minutes to complete the worksheet. Teacher will walk around and listen to each group’s thought process. Teacher will gather groups together again as a whole class. Teacher will ask for volunteers from each group to identify characteristics of their characters. Teacher will hold open-class discussion about identity: “Part-time indian…why?” Teacher will have students participate in exit task.  “What they learned about identity/stereotypes/character development/etc.”	Students’ Role Students will participate in entry task. Students will participate in open-class discussion about stereotypes in characters of Alexie’s novel. Students will move into their assigned groups. Students will work together in their groups to fill out their worksheet. Students will volunteer from each group to define characteristics and qualities they found in their characters. Students will participate in the in-class discussion about identity. Students will participate in exit task.
Student Voice to Gather There are several ways that the teacher will gather student voice.  Participation in the entry task requires students to identify stereotypes.  The entry task is required to be part of student’s writer’s notebook that will be collected at the end of the unit.  Student voice will also be gathered in the open-class discussion.  Participation in the open-class discussion will be gathered in the formative assessment. Student voice will also be gathered at the end of the lesson by student participation in the exit task.  The exit task will not be part of the student’s writer’s notebook; however, it will be collected at the end of the lesson.

12. Differentiated Instruction

Plan This lesson uses the amount of time we have in class (20 minutes) to successfully complete the lesson for students to be able to learn about stereotypes, identity, and character development in Sherman Alexie’s novel.  I will be using the overhead projector to help students who have trouble seeing the white board when I define stereotype and when I introduce the entry and exit task.

13. Resources and Materials

Plan Johannessen, Larry R. “Enhancing Response to Literature through Character Analysis.” The Clearing House, vol. 74, no. 3, 2001, pp. 145–150., www.jstor.org/stable/30190047. Character Analysis worksheet --see attached The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Overhead projector Additional paper for students who do not have their writer’s notebook.

14. Management and Safety Issues

Plan In a class with 18 students, I will be assigning dividing the class into 4 groups for the class activity.  There will be three groups of 4 and one group of two.  Because the three groups are larger, there may be some issue with classroom management.  The larger groups may become too loud or disruptive to the other groups.  By monitoring each group as I walk around, if I find that some students are off task or discussing something unrelated to the activity, I will ask students to get back on task.

15. Parent & Community Connections

Plan Today, there are various issues regarding race and racism.  Looking at how pop culture appropriates or misappropriates stereotypes (i.e. music that uses derogatory slang or TV shows that attempt to bridge the gap between races in high school age characters [Degrassi]), some stereotypes are more harmful to others.  By the end of this lesson, my hope is that students will be able to understand that stereotypes can often be misplaced and that those stereotypes do not define a person’s character or identity.  Outside the classroom, the community connection I’m hoping students will take away from this is to cut down on stereotypes; whether it involves race, religion, social hierarchy, or even the social hierarchy in high school (athletes instead of jocks, etc.).

Name: _________________________ Date: ___________
 

Describing Characters Analysis Worksheet
 

Directions: Write the name of the character and a description of that character in the provided box.
 

1. Major / Main Character: __________________________________________
2. Minor Character: __________________________________________
3. Minor Character: __________________________________________
4. Minor Character: __________________________________________