Lesson Plan #4

Lesson Title: Comparing Texts: What Makes Me, Me?

Name: Alexa Erb
Subject/Grade Level: Honors English I
Introduction
Lesson Overview

Content Standard(s)
Addressed
(Common Core)

In this lesson, students will read and discuss

two texts that address the process of coming
into who you were meant to be. After
comparing and contrasting the messages of
these texts, students will write about their
findings and how they can be applied to their
own experience.
As the unit progresses, students will
continue to work with this material in the
context of I Am the Messenger so that at the
end of the unit, they will be equipped to
create their own coming-of-age story. These
stories will utilize the language usage skills,
understanding of literary elements, and
students personal approaches to the
essential question that have been
developing over the course of the unit.
1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.7
a. Analyze the representation of a
subject or a key scene in two
different artistic mediums, including
what is emphasized or absent in
each treatment.
2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3.A
a. Write and edit work so that it
conforms to the guidelines in a style
manual (e.g., MLA Handbook,
Turabian's Manual for Writers)
appropriate for the discipline and
writing type.
3. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2.B
a. Develop a topic with well-chosen,
relevant, and sufficient facts,
extended definitions, concrete
details, quotations, or other
information and examples

Measureable
Objective Based on
Content Standard(s)

Essential Question(s)

Prior Knowledge

Link to 21st Century

Skills

appropriate to the audience's

knowledge of the topic.
In writing, students will demonstrate
their ability to compare and contrast
the messages, the treatment of key
ideas, the style, and the effectiveness
of I Am the Messenger and Maya
Angelous A Brave and Startling
Truth.
Students will exercise their
understanding of English language
usage and mechanics and the
compare/contrast writing structure by
editing a classmates work for
strengths and weaknesses
Unit EQ: What types of external influences
affect our coming-of-age story and what
does their impact look like?
Lesson EQ: How do the more abstract
external influences like fate affect our
coming-of-age story differently than the
more concrete external influences like
people?
Students will be coming in to class having
read pages 134-180 of I Am the Messenger.
Students should have a basic understanding
of and strategies to write a piece that
compares and contrasts two works.
Critical Thinking
Communication and Collaboration
Creativity and Innovation

Assessment/Accommodation
Formative
Assessment
(attach specific
instructions and/or
examples)

Students will compare and contrast

key aspects of I Am the Messenger
and Maya Angelous A Brave and
Startling Truth using the Venn
Diagramming activity.
Students will complete an in-class
writing piece that compares and
contrasts Maya Angelous A Brave
and Startling Truth to I Am the
Messenger. This piece will be kept and

Summative
Assessment (attach
specific instructions
or examples)

used as a resource for the final

project.
Prompt:
Compare and contrast the way that A
Brave and Startling Truth and I Am
the Messenger present the concept of
coming into who you are. Which
methods or supporting ideas are the
most effective and impactful? How do
these notions apply to your own
identity development?
The summative assessment for this unit
comes in three main parts: a self-evaluation,
creative project, and a short write-up.
The self-evaluation asks students to grade
themselves on their participation and focus
in class throughout the unit rather than the
physical product created at the end. The
grade from this assessment will go towards
the students participation grade.
Using a medium of their choice (graphic
novel, short film, TV pilot script, short story,
scrapbook document, or other teacher
approved medium), students will document
their own coming of age story (thus far) and
must include at least three outside sources
that have influenced that process (i.e.
people, situations, labels they must
overcome, etc. )
Additionally, students will provide a 2-3 page
write up responding to one of the following
prompts:
1. In the very end of the book, we find out
that Ed is not the messenger, but the
message. If Ed is the message, what does his
story say? Which literary elements that
Zusak uses are most powerful in
communicating this message? Answer these
question in a short, formal essay.
2. Write an informal reflection identifying
the external factors that influenced your own
inner journey and the impact they had. What
do we gain by documenting our stories and
identifying these factors?
The coming-of-age story and the written
reflection should complement each other.

Accommodations
(specific to this
lesson and based on
specific students)

The self-evaluation is for students to reflect

on the amount of work and effort they put
into class work and homework throughout
the unit.
The class as a whole will work together to
create a rubric in Lesson 3.
SusanaThis lesson has a range of
activities that Susana will do well with
without accommodations. Again, all
instructions will be giving orally and in
writing. The reading aloud is very minimal for
this lesson. It will provide more practice for
Susana in addition to mitigating the fear of
participating in class activities.
DrewThis lesson has a range of activities
that Drew would do really well with without
accommodations. The poetry reading will get
him out of his seat and moving around. The
Venn Diagramming and the peer editing both
allow Drew to use visuals and symbols to
communicate his thinking. Drew is an
extremely observant student which may
mean that the compare and contrast activity
will come easily to him.
Paul For the poetry reading, Paul can either
stay seated or use his walking frame to
stand. For the Venn Diagramming activity,
Pauls partner can be in charge of writing,
but the teacher can also send Paul a digital
copy of the Venn Diagramming sheet so he
can take notes on his computer if he prefers.
For the compare and contrast writing, Paul
can use a computer. For the peer edits, the
teacher can work with Paul to transcribe his
notes and comments.

Lesson Plan
Materials

Computer
Projector
Writing Journals
I Am the Messenger
Photocopies of A Brave and Startling Truth by
Maya Angelou broken up into enough sections for

Bell
Ringer/Revi
ew Activity

each student and the teacher to have one

Venn Diagramming Activity Handout
Exit slips
Daily Grammar Practice:
i only tell him that I have a purpose here and that it
will come to me
Using the quote from I Am the Messenger, do the
following.
-Add capitalization and punctuation
-Label the parts of speech
-Identify sentence parts
NOTE: After looking over the Grammar Check Critique
Mini-Papers, the teacher can tailor these grammar bell
ringers to practice the usage skills that students need
the most practice with.

Detailed
Activities
and
Procedures
(with
transitions
and time
allocations)

Daily Grammar Practice (10 minutes): See prompt

above. Allocate 5 minutes for students to complete the
prompt in the Daily Grammar Practice section of their
journals. Use the remaining 5 minutes to go over
through each part of the prompt as a class. Choose
volunteers to offer their answers. This first day will help
you gauge where your students with this material.
Read Aloud (10 minutes): Pass out A Brave and
Startling Truth. Assign each student and the teacher a
number. Instruct students to find their own spot in the
roomthey may face their classmates, face away, lay
down, stand on chairs, etc. Explain the importance of
projecting, especially in these positions. After everyone
has found their positions, read the poem in the
numbered order.
Physical Transition: Have students return to their seats.
Venn Diagramming (15 minutes): Hand out the Venn
Diagramming sheet. Break the class into pairs. Have
students discuss and list impressions or central
concepts that I Am the Messenger raises and
impressions or central concepts that A Brave and
Startling Truth raises. When students have created
those lists, they can begin putting them into the Venn
diagram. Project the some discussion guiding questions
on the board for students to work through as they

complete this activity. Do the authors have the same or

different views about the issues in the middle of the
diagram? Do you find yourself agreeing with one author
more than another? How do the more abstract external
influences like fate affect our coming-of-age story
differently than the more concrete external influences
like people?
Compare and Contrast Writing (25 minutes): In
their journals, students will respond to the following
prompt: Compare and contrast the way that A Brave
and Startling Truth and I Am the Messenger present
the concept of coming into who you are. What
influences this process? Which methods or supporting
ideas are the most effective and impactful? How do
these notions apply to your own identity development?
Peer Editing (15 minutes): Students will swap their
writing with a partner (different from their Venn
Diagramming partner) for a quick peer review/edit.
Things students should keep in mind: Daily Grammar
Practice and the things weve learned, organization,
clear argument using and analyzing quotes, etc. Each
peer reviewer will be asked to write 3 strengths and 3
areas for improvement/suggestions.

Closure

Peer Editing Review (10 minutes): Students will

return their partners journal. Students will be given
time to look over the edits and comments made by
their peer reviewer. If there are clarifying questions,
students may conference with their partner.
Assign Reading for Next Class (1 minute): Remind
students to read pages 183-246 for next time. NOTE:
Instruct students to mark one or two pages with text
that was especially striking or impactful.
Exit Slips (4 minutes):
Prompt: What was the most difficult, challenging, or
confusing part of todays lesson? How can I help make
things more clear?
Students will turn in their journals when they turn in
their exit slips.

Alternate
Strategies
for Re-

If students have trouble with the concept of compare

and contrast, the teacher can take time to review the
venn diagramming activity as a whole classwork

teaching
Material

References
(within this
lesson)

through the concepts and ideas that students have

identified and push them to delve deeper.
Those that had a difficult time with the compare and
contrast writing may meet with the teacher to go over
the notes made by the peer reviewer, gain the
teachers insight, and revise their work.
Milner, J. O., Milner, L. F. M., & Mitchell, J. F.
(2012). Bridging English (5th ed.). Boston, MA:
Pearson.
Zusak, Markus. I Am the Messenger. New York: Knopf,
2002. Print.
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bharath2/poemoftheweek/
301212.html

NOTE: Attach or insert any materials used in this lesson.