LESSON DAY 6:
TITLE:
Engaging The Crucible and Its Issues of Oppression
SUBJECT:
American Literature and Composition
GRADE:
10th
QCC(s):
29, 36, 38, 41
GENERAL
OBJECTIVES: (IRA/NCTE standards for the English Language Arts)
Students will:
Apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and
appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with
other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts,
their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual
features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context,
graphics). (No. 3)
Participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a
variety of literacy communities. (No. 11)
SPECIFIC
OBJECTIVES: (Georgias Quality Core Curriculum)
Students will:
Read, discuss, and analyze American literature representing diversity (e.g.,
gender, ethnicity). (Topic: Reading/Literature L.A.
9-12 No. 29)
Engage in discussion as both speaker and listener, critically and
constructively interpreting, analyzing, and summarizing ideas. (Topic:
Reading/Literature L.A. 9-12 No. 36)
Evaluate messages and effects of mass media (newspaper, television, radio,
film, and periodicals). (Topic: Speaking/Listening L.A.
9-12 38)
Write in narrative, descriptive, persuasive, and expository modes with emphasis
on exposition. (Topic: Writing/Usage/Grammar L.A.
9-12 No. 41)
PROCEDURES/TEARCHER
NOTES:
Daily Writing
Prompt:[10
minutes]
As
students enter the class each day they will be given a new expository prompt
either in a handout, written on the board or projected by an overhead. Students
will respond to the text by writing a paragraph.
Prompt:
"He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even
his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a
precedent that will reach to himself."
-Thomas Paine
"Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that
we must love our enemies, or else? The chain reaction of evil, hate begetting
hate, wars producing more wars, must be broken or else we shall be plunged into
the dark abyss of annihilation."
-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Question
the students will answer: Think about
what you have just read. Write an expository paragraph to turn in explaining
your response to the text.
Quick
Write: Students will create a fast response paragraph as quickly as possible.
When the students have finished their fast response, they should place it in
their class folder, put their pen/pencil down and remain quiet.
Overview of
main lesson:
The teacher
will
lead the students into a viewing of The Crucible by first having
students examine sections of society who are the subject of prejudice or who tend
to be blamed for social, economic and moral ills.
Step
1: [10 minutes]
Introduction
The teacher will make a 3 column grid on the board
(with the columns headed: (1) Group (2) Reasons (3) Result) which students
copy. Individually, get them to list under "Group" those sections
of society who are the subject of prejudice or who tend to be blamed for
social, economic and moral ills.
Teachers will also wish to draw attention to current events, which echo the Salem Witch Trials, such as the treatment of Arab-Americans and American Muslims in the United States since September 11.
Step
2: [30 minutes]
The
teacher will list the groups nominated by the
students on the board under "Group". The teacher will then give
direction on the following activity.
The students will
a)
Select from the class list, one of the nominated
groups (which preferably appears more than once).
b)
complete the grid for that group i.e. under
"Reasons", they list their understanding of the reasons why that
group is subject to blame or prejudice and then the under "Results",
list some of the ways that the prejudice/blame is expressed socially.
c)
Share findings through in-class discussion
facilitated by the teacher.
d)
Place their completed grid in their class folder
to refer to it later when discussing the themes of The Crucible.
Step
3: [35 minutes]
The
students will view the first 35 minutes of the film The Crucible. This amount of the movie will cover the events in Act
1.
CLOSING:
Homework:
The students will skim Act I of The
Crucible, p. 3-120.
Specifically
the background descriptions of Salem and characters:
p.3-8,
14-15, 20-21, 25-26, 32-36, 40-41
MATERIALS:
The Crucible, TV/VCR, Film The
Crucible, dry erase markers
ADDITIONAL
TEACHER NOTES: What needs to be stressed to the students is that there are
differences between the film version and the text version of The Crucible.
When reading they need to be asking themselves:
a)
What are the differences?
b)
Are they confusing or distracting or do they help you
understand the action better?
c)
What questions do you have because of them?
SUPPLEMENTARY
MATERIALS: Students will need to have paper, pen/pencil.
EVALUATION:
Discussion:
Assessment of students understanding will take place in discussions on the
following days The Crucible is covered, and in the students final essay
which will be assigned on Day 7.
ACCOMMODATIONS: See accommodation sheet
REFERENCES:
Paine,
Thomas. Favorite Quotes. 22 Nov 2001.
http://www.lasalle.edu/~smithsc/personal/GreatQuotes.html
King,
Jr., Rev. Dr. Martin Luther. Favorite Quotes. 22 Nov 2001.
http://www.lasalle.edu/~smithsc/personal/GreatQuotes.html
Miller,
Arthur. and Weales, Gerald, ed. The Crucible: Text and Criticism. New
York: Penguin Books, 1996.
The
Crucible: Unit Plan [English Online]. 22 Nov 2001.
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/crucible/home.html
The Crucible, Dir. Nicholas Hytner. Perf. Daniel
Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Paul
Scofield and Joan Allen. 1996. Videocassette. Fox Video,
1997.