Title of Lesson: Book Club (Surrealist Paintings)

I. Common Core State Standards met:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of
the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective
summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and
shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.

II. Best practice teaching methods employed:

 Social, collaborative activities with much discussion and interaction
o Students will engage in a small group discussion by sharing their own ideas and
then branch out into a larger class discussion where they can hear other students’
interpretations of the paintings.

III. Learning goal:

Students will be able to use symbolism to help identify a possible theme of the paintings
by Igor Morski.

IV. Context of lesson: This lesson is towards the beginning of the new writing unit “Analyzing
Craft & Theme.” During the last unit, the students did a lot with identifying theme but now the
shift in focus is to writing about the theme and using evidence. The students will eventually need
to write their own paper on a theme from their own individually chosen book so these Book Club
activities are meant to guide students into writing about theme.

V. Assessments: A formative assessment will be the students’ journal entries. The content of
their writing will let me know how well the students understand the paintings by their ability to
identify symbols that lead to theme. Additionally, one or two of the groups’ discussions will be
recorded on a Book Club observation sheet with a score that will later be entered into
PowerSchool.

VI. Overview of the lesson:

Act 1: The class will begin with about five minutes dedicated to independent reading. At the end
of the unit, the students will be writing an essay on a theme from their own individual books.
After the five minutes, the teacher will give the students a mini-lesson review on symbolism and
how symbols can help a reader understand the author’s message.
Act 2: Afterwards, the students will be shown two paintings done by Polish illustrator Igor
Morski. After a couple of minutes of studying the images, the teacher will remind the students on
the different types of journals they can use for a Book Club discussion. The students will then be
given ten minutes to journal their response to the images.

Act 3: Next, the class will break into their Book Club groups. The students have 7 minutes to
discuss the images by sharing their own journals and ideas and by listening to and questioning
each other. The teacher will walk around the room, formally observing one or two groups and
jotting down quick notes of the other groups’ discussions. The last part of class is reserved for
Closing Community Share. This is when the class comes back together as a whole. The teacher
shares with the class the comments heard from other groups and encourages the students to
discuss their own interpretations of the images. This discussion may lead into the next day’s
class period as well.

Sources
Surreal Image #1 – Igor Morski (painting)
Surreal Image #2 – Igor Morski (painting)
“Book Club” Small Group Observation (sheet)
What Can I Do in My Journal (sheet)