About This Lesson
Assignment title:Read Flowers for Algernon, Write Creative Story
Project Idea: Preview, read aloud, analyze, learn vocabulary, answer questions, group work, write story, share story.
Real-world purpose: Analyze literature, understand
Subject: English Language Arts (ELA), English Language Development (ELD), ELL (English Language Learners)
Standards: California CCSS for ELA
Speaking and Listening Standards 6–12
- b, c, d
Language Standards 6–12
4. c
5. a
Writing Standards 6–12
- a, b, d, e
Reading Standards for Literature 6–12
Objectives Directly Taught or Learned Through Discovery:
Pre-vocabulary, Preview, read aloud, analyze, group work, research, learn vocabulary, answer questions, write story, edit, share story.
21st Century Skills:
Students will use a computer at home, in-class, or in the computer lab to research and to write their story.
Teaching Strategies
Day 0: At the end of the class, pre-vocabulary (non-psychological terms) are researched by the students. *ELL students are provided partially filled out and semi-translated vocabulary.
Day 1. KWL Chart. Vocabulary hand-out (partially completed, and translated for ELL students). Individual students read-aloud. The teacher temporarily stops reading to have students analyze grammar/figurative speech. Questions from the book/teacher are answered via worksheet. *ELL students are given guided or couched questions for easier answering. ELL students also have been given an audio version of the text to listen to before each of the classes.
Day 2: Continue reading the text. Teacher temporarily stops reading to have students analyze grammar/figurative speech. Questions from the book/teacher are answered via worksheet.
Day 3: Continue reading the text. Teacher temporarily stops reading to have students analyze grammar/figurative speech. Questions from the book/teacher are answered via worksheet.
Day 4. Psychology terms are presented. Visuals are displayed on the big screen. Students work in preassigned groups to debate which psychology terms were being applied through the character' thoughts and actions and how. *ELL students work with cooperative and advanced students in groups. Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is used by students later working individually to further research and write sequential summaries of what psychology terms were being used in the story, of which many non-exclusive terms can be used. *ELL students are given extra help by the ELA teacher and has the ESL teacher in this class.
Day 5. Students read their summaries in groups, where all the students are different than in the previous groups. Students individually grade each other’s oral presentations, based on a pre-formatted rubric. Students work as a class to make a writing rubric for the creative writing assignment.
Day 6: Students write a creative story whereby the main character grows or declines psychologically. It must follow the writing rubric. Students can work together to ask for minor collaboration from their original group members. *ELL students will have the ESL teacher available in this class to help.
Day 7: Students present their creative writing with their original groups who grade it based on the class-made writing rubric. Students edit and make recommendations on each other’s writings. Students turn in their final work to a pre-assigned email to a professional author.
Day 8: Each group has a professional author who has read and then talks and elaborates about each of the creative stories. If any are acceptable, they will be submitted with the help of the author’s mentorship to a journal/magazine for publication.
Day 9: Students do self-evaluations and turn in their KWL chart at the beginning of the class. The rest of the classwork is unrelated.
Evidence of Success:
Students can write their own creative story within the guidelines of a rubric and have noticeably enhanced their story based on recommendations.
Information and Communication:
Students use the vocabulary words to answer the oral and written questions. Within groups, students research, collaborate/debate what psychology terms are being used in the story. They grade each other's presentations and writings. A professional author grades their story.
Thinking and Reasoning Skills:
Students understand psychological terms, grammar, figurative language, and sequencing. Students create a story. In groups, students edit, make recommendations, and listen to recommendations. Finally, students apply those recommendations. Additionally, students do a self-evaluation.
Personal and Workplace Skills:
Collaborating, editing documents, making recommendations, consulting a professional, potentially publishing writing.
Performance Objectives:
Students should know certain psychological terms by sequentially summarizing how they were used. They must understand how to collaborate. They will be able to competently improve their own and others writing.
Driving Question:
What psychological issues are compelling enough for an audience to read about in narrative form?
Assessment Plan:
Summative Assessments:
The KWL chart.
Questions from the reading worksheet.
Individual students write summaries of psychological terms used in the reading.
Students grade their new group members oral summaries based on a pre-formatted rubric.
Individual students’ creative writing is graded based on class-made rubric by original group members.
The professional author grades the stories.
Students self-evaluate themselves.
Formative Assessments:
Oral reading.
During-reading questions.
Group work – research of psychological terms used in the reading.
Major Group Products:
Creative writing rubric. Edited creative story.
Major Individual Projects:
KWL chart
Written and oral summaries of psychological terms used in the story.
Creative writing story.
Rubrics I will use:
Group Work Collaboration/Peer evaluation rubric.
Students grade each other in the original group based on their team work, oral summary, and creative writing story.
Class-made creative writing rubric.
Other classroom assessments for learning:
Self-evaluation
Students self-evaluate themselves at the end of the assignment. What they learned, how they learned it, and what skills they now possess.
Product:
Creative story whereby the main character grows or declines psychologically. There is no grading whether it is published.
Knowledge and Skills Needed: *ELL students have a lower standard to meet.
Students must be able to communicate with peers within groups.
Students must be able to write creatively (figurative language, correct grammar, etc.).
Students must be able to accept peer, teacher, and professional feedback to noticeably enhance their writing.
Already Have Learned:
Students have already learned some vocabulary of difficult words within the story.
Taught Before the Project:
Pre-vocabulary.
Resources:
School-based Individuals:
ELA teacher, ESL teacher
Technology:
Student laptops, home computers
Community:
Professional authors
Materials:
Text: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
