Fahrenheit451Intro(SocialCriticismandCensorship)LessonPlan

VITALCOURSEINFORMATION

Subject:English

TopicorUnitofStudy:Fahrenheit451,SocialCriticism,Censorship,Evaluation

Grade/Level:9thGrade

CCSSStandards/StateFrameworks:

9thGradeReadingStandardsforLiterature
2.Determineathemeorcentralideaofatextandanalyzeindetailitsdevelopmentoverthecourseofthetext,
includinghowitemergesandisshapedandrefinedbyspecificdetails;provideanobjectivesummaryofthetext.

9thGradeWritingStandards
1.Writeargumentstosupportclaimsinananalysisofsubstantivetopicsortexts,usingvalidreasoningand
relevantsufficientevidence.

CorrespondingEssentialQuestions:
Whataretheimplicationsofasocietythatfocusesonmaximizingpleasureandminimizingpain?
Whatarethepotentialdangersoftechnologicaladvancement?Ofcensorship?
Whatisthevalueofbeingabletothinkfreely?Whatisthevalueoflearningwhysomethingisdonevs.
learninghowsomethingisdone?
Howdoestheauthorsuseoffigurativelanguageenhancethequalityoftheliteratureandtheauthors
message?
Howdothegenresofsciencefictionanddystopiaenablereaderstoevaluatetheirownworld?

CorrespondingBigIdeas:
Beingabletoidentifyproblemsintheworldiscriticalforsocialprogress.Asocietycanonlymakepositive
changesifitisawareofthenegativesinneedofchange.
Asocietythatgoestoextremelengthstominimizepainandmaximizepleasurebecomesselfish,uncaring,
ignorant,andnumb.Hardworkwillbecomeequatedwithpain,sosocietywillrejectanythingthatrequires
hardwork.
Whileincreasingtechnologycanbenefitsocietyandevensavelives,itcanalsomakethingsthatweshould
havetoworkfor,tooeasy.Asocietythatlearnstorelytoheavilyontechnologybecomeslessintelligent
andweaker.
Censorshipisthepracticeofexaminingcontentandsuppressingthepartsdeemedunacceptable.
Withholdinginformationfromsocietycanprotectbothindividualsandsocietyatlarge,butitalsoleaves
societywithincompleteinformation,whichcanbeusedabusivelytomanipulate.

IMPLEMENTATION

LearningContext:
Thisfreshmenclassisheldduring5thperiod,whichisrightafterlunch.Thestudentsarebetweenfourteenand
fifteenyearsold,sothatcontextcanmakeforarambunctiousclassperiod.Thebeginningofthesemesterwasmore
difficult,butnowthestudentsseemtohaveabetterunderstandingofwhatsexpectedofthem.

Theclassiscomprisedofthirteenmalesandtenfemales.Ofthetwentythreestudents,eightarewhite,sevenareof
Hispanicorigin,fiveareblack,twoareAsian(specificallyKorean),andonestudentismixed,bothwhiteandAsian.
Comparedwiththeoveralldiversityoftheschool,whichisfortypercentwhite,thisclassisextremelydiverse.

Intheclass,therearetwostudentswith504Plans:oneforacombinationofADHDandanauditoryprocessing
disorder,andtheotherfortheinattentiveformofADHD.Isuspecttwostudentsintheclassareinneedofadditional
services,butarenotidentifiedasSPEDstudents.Asidefromthestudentswithlearningdisabilities,thereisalsoone
studentwithAsthma,butithasneveraffectedhisschoolworkthusfar.TherearetwodesignatedEnglishLearnersin
theclass,bothKorean,butoneisdesignatedasIntermediateandtheotherisdesignatedasEarlyAdvanced.There
arealsofourstudentsthatspeakSpanishathome,buthavenotbeenidentifiedasEnglishLearners.Asmentioned,
thisclassisverydiverse.InadditiontotheSPEDandELstudents,therearealsofourGATEstudents.

Themajorityofthestudentsatthisschoolcomefromaffluenthomes.However,thereisalargeminorityofstudents
thatattendthisschoolonscholarshipandgetbussedinfromvariousareasofSouthandCentralLosAngelesand
LongBeach.Thepersonalitiesofthestudentsvary,butthereisstrongrepresentationofbothaffluentstudentsand
studentsofalowersocioeconomicareawithinthisclass.Ihavenotwitnessedanyissuesarisebecauseofthis,but
therehasbeentensionwithinbothgroupsoutsideofmyclassroom.

LearningObjectivesMatchedtoanEssentialQuestion:
Bytheendofthislesson,studentswillbeableto:
Identifyfourproblemsinthemodernworld,considerandexplaintheimplicationsofthoseproblems,and
predicthowthoseproblemswillaffectthefutureworldbytakingnoteswhilediscussingwithpeersin
smallgroupsandasaclass.
Evaluatethedangersofignoranceinregardtothoseproblemsbywritingonecompletestatementofideas.
Considerandsynthesizereasonsforandagainstcensorshipanddrawconclusionsabouttheethicalityof
censorshipbywritingawellstructured(accordingtothestructureIvetaughtinclass:topicsentence,three
concretedetails,strongandthoroughanalysisofeachconcretedetail,andaconcludingstatementthat
offersdeeperinsight)paragraphthatargueseitherfororagainstcensorship.

InstructionalInput:
Asstudentswalkin,Iwillstandbythedoorwithabucketfullofnumbers.Studentswillpickanumberastheyenter
theroomandbasedonthenumber,Iwilldirectthemwheretosit.Iwillbegintheclassperiodbycollectingthe
essaysforRomeoandJulietthataredue.Thisalwaystakesafewminutes.

Next,IwillhandouttheSocialCriticism/Censorshipbrainstorminggraphicorganizerandexplainthedirections.I
willreadthroughthesentenceatthetopoftheIntrotoSocialCriticismsideofthehandoutthatsays,Thisnovel
(Fahrenheit451byRayBradbury)makesseriousobservationsaboutwhatBradburysawasaseriousproblemsin
ourworld.Next,Iwillreadthedirections,alsolistedatthetopofthatsheet:Ingroups,listwhatyouconsiderto
bethemostseriousproblemsfacingtheU.S.now.GivespecificexampleswhenyoucanandPredictwhatmight
happenifthesesocietalproblemsgounchallenged.

Becausereadingthedirectionsisneverenough,Iwillgoovertheexampleproblemthatistypedonthehandout.I
mightsay,
Theidentifiedproblemisthatstudentsthatcantreadaregraduating.So,thefirststepinthisprocessisto
thinkofaprobleminoursocietyandwriteitdown.Itcouldbethatmenandwomenlackmodesty,orthatour
societyisobsessedwithdieting.
Identifyaproblemandthinkofexamplesinourworld.Howdoyouseethatproblem?Youcanseeundermy
exampleonthesheetthattherearebulletpointedexamplesfortheproblemofilliterategraduates:Testscores
aredecliningeveryyearandstudentsdontreadanymore[they]watchTV.So,comeupwithsome
examples.Ifitsalackofmodesty,comeupwithanexampleofhowyouseethat.Maybeyounoticeitat
schooldanceswiththedresses.Maybeyounoticethatthehighwaistshortstrendreallymakestheshortseven
shorterandtheyareevenpairingthosewithshirtsthatrevealmidriff.Thosewouldbeconcreteexamples.
Finally,makeaprediction:ifthisprobleminsocietydoesntgetfixed,whatmighthappen?Fortheilliterate
graduatesexample,Iwrotethatpeoplecanonlyknowwhatotherpeopletellthemand,therefore,cantmake
 informeddecisions[specifically]whomtovotefor,contracts[etc.].

Next,Iwouldexplainthatthegoalforeachgroupistocomeupwithmultipleproblemsinourworldandfollowthe
processmentionedabove.Iwouldalsoremindthemthatingroups,Iexpecteveryonetoparticipate,thatattheend
eachgroupwillbesharingideas,andthatIwillbewalkingaroundtocheckoneachgroup.
Aftertheyhaveabouttenminutestotalk,Iwouldinstructonerepresentativefromeachgrouptocomeuptothe
boardandwritejustoneoftheproblemstheyidentifiedasagroup.Iwouldthenleadtheclassindiscussionabout
eachproblem,callingonthegroupthatcameupwiththeproblembeingdiscussedtosharetheirfindingsaloud.

Onceallproblemsarediscussed,Iwillaskthestudentstoindividuallywriteonefullandcompletestatementatthe
bottomofthesheetinresponsetothequestionlisted:Whatarethedangersofnotbeingawareoftheproblemsin
theworld?

Iwillgivethestudentsafewminutestowritetheiranswers,andthenIwillexplaintothestudentsthatwewillbe
slightlyswitchinggearsintoahottopicinoursocietycensorship.Iwillbeginbyreadingthedefinitionof
censorshiplistedonthehandout.Forcensorship,itsays,thesuppressionofspeechorotherpubliccommunication
thatmaybeconsideredobjectionable,harmful,sensitive,politicallyincorrect,orinconvenient.Iwillfurtherclarify
that,censorshipincludestheideaofnotgettingthefullpictureorleavingoutinformation.Sometimes,wethinkof
censorshipwhentalkingaboutbooksthatareallowedinschools,ormovieswecanorcannotsee.Manythinkit
infringesontheconstitutionalrighttofreedomofspeech,whileothersthinkthatcensorshipcanprotectthe
innocenceofthemassesandeliminateargument.Canyouthinkofanyreasonsorsituationsinwhichcensorshipcan
beagoodthing?Putyourselfintheshoesofsomeonewhoverystronglybelievesthatcensorshipisagoodthing.
Whataretheirreasons?Then,considerthereasoningofsomeonewhoverystronglydisagreeswithcensorship.
Why?Inyoursamegroups,brainstormideasbothforandagainstcensorshipandwriteyourideasinthechart
given.

Aftertheyhaveabouttenminutestobrainstorm,Iwillaskthestudentstoindividuallydrawtheirownconclusion.I
wouldasktheclass,whichsidemademoresensetoyou?Afterconsideringbothsides,areyoufororagainst
censorship.Individually,writeyourstanceintheboxlabeledconclusion.

Finally,Iwillassignstudentstheirhomework,whichistowriteawellstructured,argumentativeparagraphthat
takesastanceoncensorship.IwilldirecttheirattentiontotherubricpostedonCanvas(ourschoolsLMS)andgive
themwhateverremainingtimetoworkonwritingitindividually.

ProcedureswithSubjectSpecificPedagogicalRationaleforeachchoice(includingexpertreferences):
CensorshipDiscussionGraphicOrganizer(ReasonsFor/AgainstChart):Usinggraphicorganizersprovidethe
necessaryscaffoldingthatlowerlevellearnersneed.Inparticular,ithelpsstudentswithspecialneedsandEnglish
Learnerstovisuallyorganizeinformation.Thischarthelpsstudentsdistinguishideasregardingthetopictheywill
needtowriteaboutlater.Itisahelpfulchartforargumentativewritingbecauseitforcesstudentstoacknowledge
bothsideoftheargument.Itwouldnotbeanargumentiftherewereonlyone,correctside.Thischarthighlights
bothsides.Inaddition,havingstudentwritetheinformationdownengagestheminmoreactivelearning.Nostudent
willbesittingidlyby.Everystudentwillbeanactiveparticipant.

GroupDiscussion:Becausethisisjustaquicktimeofdiscussionandbrainstorming,myformofgroupworkdoes
notincludeallaspectsofcooperativelearning.However,averagegroupworkisstillbeneficialinanEnglishclass.
Thepurposeofgroupdiscussioninthislessonstemsfromadesiretohavestudentsworkwithothers,somethingthat
theywillneedtobecomfortabledoingfortherestoftheirlives,andfromthedesiretogivestudentsanopportunity
toshareandthinkbeforeansweringaquestion.Havingstudentsthinkandtalkinpairsorgroupsbeforebeingasked
toansweraquestioncanhelpreducetheiraffectivefilters.Itcanbescarytobecalledon,onthespot.Studentsthat
haveananswermaynotevenbeabletosupplyananswerbecauseofnerves.Havingthemtalkthingsoverwitha
groupwillallowthemanopportunitytopracticeandsiftthroughideas.

DifferentiatedInstruction(TailoringtoIndividualneedsofspecificstudentsELL,GATE,SpecialNeeds):
EL:ForthestudentdesignatedasanEarlyAdvancedEnglishLearner,thislessonwillnotpresentanymajor
challenges.Shespeaksverywellandinteractswellwithherpeers.Thenatureofthislessoniscenteredon
discussionandshewillbeperfectlyfinewiththat.Infact,sheisanincrediblybrightyoungladyandhasoftentaken
theleadindiscussion.ThestudentdesignatedasanIntermediateEnglishLearnershouldalsohavelittletroublewith
thislesson.Heisaverytalkativeyoungmanandheenjoysparticipatingindiscussion.Hehasahighdesireto
improveinhislanguageabilities,sodiscussingwithhispeersshouldbefunforhim.Thisstudentdoes,however,
strugglewithgrammarinwriting.SinceIamonlygivingstudentsonenighttocompletetheparagraph,Iwillbe
lenientonthegrammarpointsontherubric.Onenightisnotenoughtoperfectwriting.Itseemsappropriatetoshow
graceinthatarea.Themoreimportantpartistheideasandstructureoftheparagraphanyway.

SPED:WithtwostudentswithADHD,onetheinattentiveformandtheotherthehyperactive,Iwillneedtomake
suretomaintainappropriatepacing.Lettingtheexcitementforthetopicdiedowncouldleadtodistractionand
misbehavior.Inaddition,itwillbeespeciallycrucialthatIwalkaroundtheroomtomaintainproximity(particularly
forthestudentwiththehyperactiveform).Forthestudentthatalsohasanauditoryprocessingdisorder,Iwillneed
tomakesurethatthewrittendirectionsareclear,andtothepoint.IwillalsomakesuretogestureasItalktohelp
himfollowwhatIamsaying.

GATE:Thenatureofdiscussionservesthegiftedlearnerswell.Thereisalotoffreedomthatcomeswith
discussion.Thedirectionofthediscussionissomewhatdecidedbythoseparticipatinginthediscussionandthe
discussioncangetasindepthasthediscusserswish.Thisisaverystudentledlesson,whichmesheswellwiththe
abilitiesandpreferencesofmygiftedstudents.

StudentProductsthatwillbecollected:
Followingthislesson,Iwillbecollectingfromeachstudenthisorherbrainstormingworksheetandan
argumentativeparagraphcenteredoncensorship.Theworksheetwillbegivenacredit/nocreditgradebecausethe
majorityoftheworkwasdoneinclassandIamreallyonlylookingtoseethattheyparticipatedinthediscussion
andputsomethoughtintothetopic(s)beingdiscussed.Becauseitistheverybeginningoftheunit,Iamreallyjust
lookingtocatchthestudentsattentionandhavethembegintothinkmoredeeplyaboutthingstheyprobablyhave
notthoughttoointentlyaboutbefore.
Fortheargumentativeparagraph,Iwillbeusingarubrictogradestudentswork.Whenitcomestoanysortof
writingassessment,Ialwaysusearubric.Rubricsreducethesubjectivityingradingandgivestudentsclear
expectations.Fortheparagraph,Iwillbeevaluatingparagraphstructure,writingconventions,howcleartheir
stancesare,andtheexamplestheyuseinsupportoftheirstance.Thereisarubricattachedatthebottomofthis
sheet.

InformalCheckingforUnderstandingthatwilloccur:
Whilestudentsarediscussingingroups(bothforsocialcriticismsandthecensorshipdiscussion),Iwillwalk
throughtheopenwalkwaysoftheclassroomandstoptolistentoeachgroup.Astheydiscuss,Iwillhavethe
opportunitytohearhowtheirbrainsareworkingandgivefeedbackwhennecessary.Iwillmakesuretohearand
stopbyeachgroup.

Afterhavingstudentsbrainstormingroups,Iwillhavearepresentativefromeachgroupcomeuptotheboardto
writeoneproblemhisorhergroupfoundtobetroublinginourworldonthewhiteboard.Iwillgetachancetohear
fromeachgroupanddiscusseachproblemtheycomeupwith.

Inaddition,Iwillbecollectingthehandoutwiththebrainstormingspacethefollowingdaywithaparagraphon
censorship.IwillbeabletoseethestudentsideadevelopmentandlevelofdepthwhenIcollectboththeworksheet
andtheparagraph.

StudentCollaborationandgrouping:
Whengroupingthestudents,Iwillneedtohavefourgroupsoffourandtwogroupsofthree.Ioftengroupthe
studentsforclasswork.SometimesIhavethemchoosetheirowngroups,sometimesIdividethemupbybirth
months,andsometimesIgroupthemwiththepeoplethatarenearesttothem.Forthislesson,Iwillhaveeach
studentchooseanumberedpaperoutofabucket.Eachpaperwillhaveanumberbetweenoneandsix.Astheywalk
inandchoosetheirnumber,Iwillseatthemintheirgroupsarea.Thegroupingforthislessonwillberandomso
thattheywillhavetheopportunitytohearvaryingopinionsandbreakawayfromwhomtheyareusedtobeing
groupedwith.

TimeAllotment:
Thislessonshouldtakeaboutfortyfiveminutes(one,regularclassperiod),withsometimeathomeforstudentsto
writetheparagraph.

AuthorsComments&Reflections:
Thislessonwasfunformystudents.Ihaveonestudentinparticularthatistypicallysassyanddisengaged,butshe
flourishedinthislesson.Sheputhersasstogooduseinidentifyingtheproblemsinourworld.Shehadacomment
foreveryproblemwetalkedaboutandledhergroupinthediscussionaboutcensorship.Thankfully,shewas
respectfulinconversation,butIhaveneverseenhertointerestedinalesson.Clearly,thisstudentreallyenjoysopen
dialogue.Itseemedlikeshereallylikedbeingheard,andshehadmanygoodthingstosay.Onethingshebrought
upwasthatviolenceinvideogameshasworkedtodevelopaculturethathasbecomedesensitizedtoviolence,
excessivesexualcontent,andotherthingsthatsocietyonceviewedaswrong.

Andthisstudentwasnottheonlystudenttoperkupwhengiventhechancetobeheard.Anothergirlintheclassfelt
reallystronglythathumantraffickingisamajorissueinourworld.Iencouragedhertothinkaboutwhy,onan
individualbasis,humantraffickingisharmfultopeople.Iaskedhertoconsiderboththevictimandtheabuser.She
realizedthathumantraffickingisacorruptionofthesoul.Shenoticedthatitreflectsadeeplyselfishattitudeandit
lowersthevalueofhumanlife.Anotherstudentjumpedinandsaid,Butwhataboutthepeoplewhoarewilling?
Likeprostitutes?Iaskedthatpersontoconsiderthatevenifapersoniswilling,thatstillreflectsalowervalueof
humanlife.Literally,theyputapriceonthedignityofaperson.

Therewasexcellentdiscussioninthisclassperiod,butitwasevidentthatstudentshadmettheacademiclearning
goalforthelessonintheirresponsestothelastquestiononthefrontsideofthehandout.Thequestionasked,Why
isitimportanttorecognizeproblemsinourworld?Onestudentwrote,Recognizingproblemsmakesitsothatyou
canfixit.Sometimesitsagoodthingtobenegativesothatsomethingpositivecancomeoutofit.Manyother
studentshadsimilarresponses.Theycouldnotbemoreright.

Inaddition,Iwasabletocollecttheirparagraphsarguingfororagainstcensorship.Partofthelearninggoalwasto
havestudentsmakeclaimandsupportitwiththreeexamples.Therewereonlytwostudentsthatdidnotfollow
directionsverywell.Thosetwostudentswroteaboutbothsidesoftheissueratherthantakingastance.Therewas
alsoonestudentwhosimplydidnotdotheassignment.Otherwise,theirthoughtsandparagraphslookedverygood.
Iwasnotconcernedwhichsidetheychose;Ijustwantedthemtopickasideanddefendit.Mostwereagainst
censorship,butsomedefendeditusingsomeofthethingswetalkedaboutinclass.

Therewaslittleuseofdigitaltechnologyinthislesson.Thiswasabacktothebasicstypeoflesson.Iuse
technologydailyinmyclasses,butthislessondidnotseemtocallformuchdigitaltechnologyintegration.
Honestly,itwasnicetohavestudentsputtheiriPadsawayandjusttalkwithoneanother.IfIweretotrytointegrate
iPadusewiththislesson,itwouldlikelywastetimeandbecomeadistractionfromthefocus,whichisopen
dialogue.WhileIamaproponentoftechnologyintheclassroom,itwouldnotbeappropriateornecessaryforthis
lesson.Forindependentpractice,IdidhavestudentswritetheirparagraphsinPagesontheiriPadsandsubmitthem
asPDFsonCanvas(ourschoolsLMS).IfIhadtobetterintegratedigitaltechnologyduringtheclassroom,Icould
havestudentscompletetheworkdigitally,onaPDFformthatIhavealreadycreated.IuseditlasttimeItaughtthis
lesson,butitseemedtodomoreharmthangood.

OnethingthatImaychangeinthefutureisthetimingofthislesson.Iendeduprunningoutoftimetoassignthe
paragraph,soIhadtowaittodothatthenextday.Thestudentsabsolutelyflourishedintheclassdiscussion,soit
ranlongerthanIhadexpected.Nexttime,Iwouldplanthislessonforablockperiodsothatifitrunsoverfortyfive
minutes,thereisalittlebitofwiggleroom.

MATERIALSANDRESOURCES

InstructionalMaterialsandresources(IncludingTechnology):
Whiteboardandmarkers(forsharingbrainstormedideaswiththeclass)
HandoutofSocialCriticismBrainstormsheetwithCensorshipDiscussionorganizersontheback
Canvas(LMS)andiPads(students)

STANDARDS&ASSESSMENT
Assessment/RubricswithConnectionbacktoanessentialquestionandappropriatelearningobjectives:

Censorship Paragraph Rubric

Criteria Points Points
Possible
MLA Format (header, title, double-spaced, 1
Times New Roman 12 pt. font)
Strong Topic Sentence that includes a clear 3
stance on censorship.
3 Concrete Details that support the stance 6
listed in the topic sentence.
Thorough discussion of each concrete detail 6
that leads into the next idea.
Strong concluding statement that offers 2
deeper insight on the topic.
Maintains formal style and tone. Free of 2
grammar, punctuation, spelling errors, awkward
phrases, fragments, and run-ons.
TOTAL 20