Meghan Santos Lesson Plan Wednesday 12/9/15

Aim: How can we deconstruct a complex text?

Instructional Objectives: Students will be able to explain in writing their
purpose for reading In Cold Blood.
Students will be able to collaborate with group members in order to
analyze and express orally to the class why their article connects with
the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.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.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others'
ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
Prior to the mini-lesson, vocabulary words will be put on the board.
Students will be instructed to have definitions for them in class by
tomorrow. The following are the words with their accompanying
definitions.
indictment- (n) a thing that serves to illustrate that a system or
situation is bad and deserves to be condemned
adjudge- (v) consider or declare to be true or the case
dishearten- (v) cause someone to lose determination or confidence
credulous- (adj) having or showing too great a readiness to believe
things
quibble- (v) argue or raise objections about a trivial matter
quandary- (n) a state of perplexity or uncertainty about what to do in a
difficult situation
ineffable- (adj) too great or extreme to be described in words
placid- (adj) not easily upset or excited
nostalgia- (n) a sentimental longing for the past, typically for a period
or a place with happy associations
menagerie- (n) a collection of wild animals kept in captivity for
exhibition
Mini-LessonIdentifying a purpose and motivation for reading
Present these questions to the class.

Why is it important to read about the Clutters?

Allow students to express differences of opinion, but the point
here is to get on the board why this text is relevant.
Answer: It is important to read about the Clutters because the crime of
murder, and even mass murder, is still prominent in many of our lives
today. Bring up the point that setting has a lot to do with the way crime
is handled. This provides motivation for reading the text because it
calls for individuals to question how murder is handled in their own
communities.

Why should we care about the Clutters? Why is this appropriate

to read in a classroom setting?
Answer: We need to talk about these things, and not just leave them in
the dark. Its important to think about because it makes us ask
important questions. Why should we shy away from controversial
subject matter? If its happening in our lives then it is relevant enough
to talk about.
The conclusion to be drawn from the mini-lesson is that In Cold Blood
can be used as a lens to analyze the way murder is handled in our
society today.
Rationale: According to educational research, reading ability improves
when teachers make explicit to students the processes that competent
readers use. This lesson is the first of a three-part segment of this unit
that grapples with deconstructing complex texts. Students have made
clear to me that this book is especially challenging for them. The first
process I will model for them is identifying a purpose for reading. In
this case, I hope to pique their interest in the book by allowing them to
see for themselves why it is relevant to read, and how it relates to their
own lives and experiences.
Work period:
The class will be broken up into mixed-ability groups and given an
article on a homicide in New York City. Prior to reading the articles, I will
make explicit their purpose for reading:
Identify how the content of the article relates to the text (think about
the intensity of the murder, the victims, and the perpetrators).
What implications does the setting have on the way crime is handled?
(Compare Holcomb, Kansas to New York City).
Using the article and the novel to support your answer, why should we
read literature that handles the topic of murder so explicitly?

Share-out: Discuss as a class the answers that each group has come up
with.
Conclusion: Identifying a purpose and a motivation for reading is a
necessary skill for deconstructing a complex text. Once a reader
inherently cares for the art form that is literature, it makes more
worthwhile. It is important to question literature in order to understand
its deeper meaning. However, it is also important to understand how
literature makes us question the world around us.
Homework: Read pages 52-66 and write a few sentences about each
alternating segment of the text. [We have previously discussed how
the novel switches between describing victims of the crime and the
perpetrator.] This will be collected next class.