Tiffany Barnes & Kelsi Long

ENG 3580

Cook

Rationale

Setting is one of most fundamental elements in any written work. It sets up the parameters

for what is being read or written. This is crucial for students to understand so that they can advance

in both reading and writing. Setting is especially important for our students who will eventually be

writing a short story of their own by the end of the unit.

For this lesson, ninth grade students are being introduced to setting as an element of written

word for the first time in their freshman English class. We have decided to teach the element of

setting through discussion, modeling, and practice. Numerous college classes have had me examine

these forms of teaching, and I feel that these will serve our purposes the best. The discussion will

examine what setting is, how it is influenced, what influences it, and what you can gather about the

rest of the text and characters based on the setting. Classroom discussions have been known to

enable students to invent, create, imagine, take risks, and dig for deeper meanings when done

correctly (Wassermann).

We will be using a descriptive setting paragraph as an interactive model from the short

storyGoing Swimming from Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher. Interactive modeling incorporates

key elements of effective teaching: modeling positive behaviors, engaging students in active

learning, and immediately assessing their understanding. Research shows that when we teach in
this way, children achieve greater, faster, and longer-lasting success in meeting expectations and

mastering skills (Wilson). This model will be shown on the projector in order to give students a

visual to follow along with as well as to promote the discussion that will follow.

The practice activity with setting includes a sensory exercise where students will be given printed

images and separated into groups to describe the setting of these images. This activity is one that we

read about some time ago with the research grounded in the concreteness of the senses. Some

modifications to this lesson include personal, one-on-one time with the teachers or teachers aides if

necessary as well as extended class time to complete the activity. The end result of this lesson for our

students should include a descriptive paragraph centered around setting.

 Works Cited

Wassermann, Selma. "Effective Classroom Discussions." Educational Leadership:Meeting

Students Where They Are:Effective Classroom Discussions. ASCD, Feb. 2010. Web. 15

Feb. 2017.

Wilson, Margaret. "What Is Interactive Modeling?" Responsive Classroom. Responsive

Classroom, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.