Teacher Name: Dawn Allison Subject: English I Grade level: 9

Text page #s: 174-208 Writer’s Choice Grammar and Composition

Lesson step Description of Activities and Setting Question script
1. Focus/hook and Tell me about the most What does he or she look like?
review interesting person that you
Review quickly previous know. Where does he or she live?
lesson and skills. Give
meanings if needed. Talk The people you have described What does he or she do for a
in relative terms. Use as are all examples of characters, living?
opportunity to characters that you may even
engage/excite students write about in your upcoming
(hook). What event or interaction led you
personal narrative. Moreover, to believe that he or she is an
you are characters yourselves. interesting person?
The way you choose to describe
yourself and the characters in
your narrative will signal to your
readers who these people are and
what your attitude toward them
is, which is why we looked at
tone, style, and voice yesterday.
2. Statement of 1.01, 1.03, 5.01, 6.01, 6.02 What would happen if you wrote
Objective Today students will learn to a narrative which lacked setting,
Let students know what identify character, setting, and character, or plot?
they will learn. Be plot by examining previously
specific. Set minds assigned readings and the What is the importance of
(anticipatory set). Must reading assigned for today. They descriptive writing in relationship
align with SCOS. will learn to apply these to setting? Character?
elements to their own writing,
along with how to write How do you structure dialogue in
descriptively, set-up dialogue in- a narrative?
text, and combine all these
elements to create an effective
narrative. What is plot?

3. Major instructional Teacher input 1 - include topics to What are some ways you could
sequence - may include: be covered show what a person is like
A. Teacher input – “My Lecture topics to include (with through description? Through
time” examples): dialogue?
Present content with  Character
accuracy and a. Characterization
What point-of-view are you most
clarity. Teacher must b. Point-of-view
c. Narrator likely to use for a personal
now deliver the narrative? A story in which you
information. Teacher is d. First person, second
person, third person (with want to create distance between
in control. Give emphasis on first person for the the character and the narrator?
examples, definitions, and narrative assignment)
show the process. Check  Dialogue When is nonstandard English
for understanding. Ask a. Standard vs. nonstandard appropriate to use in school
students relevant English assignments?
questions. b. How to structure dialogue
B. Guided Practice - (punctuation, attributives)
“Our time” How does dialogue show the
c. Purpose of writing
Involve all. Teacher must dialogue attitudes of characters toward
monitor the activity and each other?
activity must be relevant
to the objective. Must be Who are the characters in
observable and vital if Baldwin’s essay?
learning is to take place.
C. Independent How does he show
practice – “Their characterization? Can you
time” Involve all. Must provide an example?
be relevant and can be
observable. Student
words, actions, products
on his or her own in class-
or for homework.

Guided practice 1 What was his/her father like?

 As a class, we will make up a Mother?
character. We will begin with a How old is he/she?
flat character and continue to Who, if anyone, does he or
add description and dimensions she live with? By choice?
(such as background
Where did he/she grow up?
information) until each student
has contributed something and What color eyes/hair does
we have more background he/she have?
information about that character What is his/her build?
than we can possibly use. The What does he/she want to do
teacher will ask leading with her/his life?
questions when students get What is he/she good at?
stuck for something more to say What is he/she bad at?
about the character. A volunteer What size shoes does he/she
or two will be
wear?
“secretary/secretaries” and write
the attributes of this character What is his/her name?
on the board for future What is his/her favorite food?
reference. What does he/she value?
 Using this character, we will Who does he/she love? Hate?
practice writing dialogue on the Why?
board. We will have created How does he/she speak?
fictional relationships for the Dialect? (Tie back to tone and
character during the first step to voice).
provide us with another party Who will she/he be speaking
for the character to talk to. One to? In what context?
student will be chosen (at
random) to come up to the board
(ect.)
while the class discusses what
the character might say, who he
or she will talk to, ect. Once we
have decided, as a class, on
what our character will say, the
student at the board will write it
to practice structuring dialogue.
Another student will be called
on to do the next line of
dialogue, and so on. The teacher
will do the first example,
providing the students with a
template to be left on the board.
The conversation must flow
logically with what came before
so that when we are finished,
we’ll have a fleshed out
conversation had by a character
we know well. Teacher
guidance will be provided as
necessary and the teacher will
retain the golden power of veto
(i.e. No, he or she cannot say
that.) The teacher will be
looking for a logical flow and
realistic dialogue fitting to the
character.

Teacher Input 2 Can you have a setting

Lecture Topics to include (with without description?
examples):
 Setting
 a. Scene What are some of the settings
 Description in Baldwin’s essay? In
a. Mood Sedaris’? Thompson’s?
b. Imagery
What is the difference
between a setting and a
scene?

Can you provide an example

of a scene from Baldwin’s
work? Sedaris’? What
imagery do these authors
employ? What mood do they
evoke and how? What
specific words in either essay
indicates mood? Provides
imagery?

Guided Practice 2 What information/description

 Together we will reexamine our might you want to include to
conversation from the earlier set-up the scene at the
exercise and look for places beginning of this
where we can insert description, conversation or before it even
set-up a scene, portray a setting.
starts?
The teacher will provide the
first example by adding detail to
the conversation to show how Where does this conversation
description and dialogue can be take place?
interspersed. The teacher will
also guide students as to how to
How does the character feel
do it other ways (such as by
creating a new sentence, about the person he or she is
modifying the tag line, using talking to?
adverbs to show how something
was said beyond just what was If we’ve said that
said). The teacher will be <character’s name> said
looking for an understanding of something angrily, or sadly,
structure as well as creativity
or happily, how might the
and ability to use descriptive
writing. conversation's dynamic
change if we said she/he said
it the opposite way?

What actions might either

character perform as they are
speaking? What are their
facial expressions? Body
language? How does what
they are doing reflect how
they are feeling about the
conversation?

How might they interact with

their environment that would
make setting important to this
conversation?

Independent Practice 1: What does it look like?

 Find an object in the room, Feel like?
touch it, smell it, look at it, (but Smell like?
please do not taste it,) then write What is its function?
a few sentences describing it to Texture?
turn in at the end of class. The Size?
teacher will be looking for
Color?
ability to describe an object
using his or her senses, for Shape?
proper grammatical structure,
and for the students to create a
picture with words.
Teacher Input 3 What was Baldwin’s conflict
Lecture to include (with examples): in “Notes of a Native Son”?
 Plot Sedaris’ in “Us and Them”?
 Theme Were there more than one?
 Conflict What sort were they?
a. External
b. Internal What was the theme of
Baldwin’s “NNS”? Sedaris’
“Us and Them”?

Is theme usually explicitly

stated or implied? Why?

How is theme related to

organization?

How would you define plot?

What is the role of plot in a
narrative?

What sort of works would

you not expect to find plot in?
Why?

If nothing serious or
especially interesting
happens, but there is still a
series of related events, (for
example, I woke up to the
alarm clock, got dressed, ate
breakfast, brushed my teeth,
collected my schoolbooks,
and walked to the bus. That’s
how I got here this morning)
is it still a plot?

Can you use description,

mood, and characterization to
make a series of related (but
relatively boring) events
interesting? How?

Guided Practice 3: What did this character do

 Using our previous before this conversation?
conversation, character, and What sort of mood was he or
setting, as a class, we will now she in and how did that help
create the events leading up to to shape events?
the conversation (which may be
fun and absurd as long as they
are related and lead to the Is there a theme to our
conversation). The teacher will scenario? If not, what might
 help guide the process by asking we have done differently to
questions of the students and make sure there was one?
providing examples as needed.
 Together we will read our Why does this piece we have
fictional narrative out loud, then
we will discuss why it does not written not count as creative
count as creative nonfiction and nonfiction? What would we
compare and contrast our have had to do to make it
fictional account with the essays creative nonfiction?
we have read. The teacher will
help students see that creative
nonfiction and fiction use the
same conventions through
questioning.
 Together we will read some of
Baldwin’s essay aloud to
determine his theme and how
his theme is related to his style,
voice, plot, characterization, and
tone. The teacher will ask
directed questions to help
students arrive at their
conclusions.
Independent practice 2: What were the difficulties of
Split the class into three (by counting trying to write a narrative
off). Students will have 10-15 without using one of these
minutes to attempt to write a elements?
narrative paragraph that lacks one of
these elements (plot, character, or
setting). Students who were Were you able to do it
numbered one will not be allowed to effectively?
utilize characters or dialogue, two
will not be allowed to utilize setting
or description, three will not be
allowed to utilize plot, i.e. related
events. Assign for homework if time
does not allow for it during class.

The teacher will be looking for

failure, but will be pleasantly
surprised by success and willing to
discuss why it did not work or why it
did. The teacher will also be looking
for correct sentence structure and
grammar despite the difficulty of the
task.

6. Closure and/or Closing discussion of character, What is the importance of

Evaluation setting, and plot. Review of dialogue descriptive writing in relationship
Have a summary of vital writing and descriptive writing. to setting? Character?
aspects of the lesson,
prepare for next lesson- Tomorrow we will discuss the How do you structure dialogue in
get the students writing process to prepare you to
write your own personal narratives.
a narrative? Can you provide an
anticipating what is next example?
When you go home, think about
and check for character, setting, and plot and how
understanding. Must you will utilize these elements in What is plot? Can you provide an
ultimately answer “What your own piece. Come in tomorrow example?
did they learn?” with some ideas on what you’d like
(Essential questions to be to write about and we’ll learn how
listed below) to turn your ideas into a narrative.
Can you write a narrative without
one of these elements? (Is it
possible?)
 Why is Hemingway’s piece still
effective though it lacks every
one of these elements? (Implied
plot).
Lesson Essential questions:

1. What would happen if you wrote a narrative which lacked setting, character, or plot?
2. What is the importance of descriptive writing in relationship to setting? Character?
3. How do you structure dialogue in a narrative?
4. What is plot?
Lesson materials/reference list:
Notes of a Native Son (book of essays by James Baldwin)
Handouts from previous classes