Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TITLE
DURATION
TEXT(S)
LES
LEARNING & EVALUATION
SITUATION
MATERIALS
7 Bristle Boards
7 Glue Sticks
7 Bells
1 Trophy
6 Gold Medals
McGill University
Supervisor: Barry Mooney
SUBJECT AREA
LEVEL
PROGRAM CONTENT
<INPUT TYPE=\
Year 1 (Gr. 7)
Year 2 (Gr. 8)
Secondary
Cycle Two
Year 1 (Gr. 9)
<INPUT TYPE=\
Year 2 (Gr. 10)
Collaborates with peers to construct knowledge about how things are done
Situates meanings within own experiences and the world of the text, in order to
transform initial reading into more conscious interpretations
Integrates reading profile, stance and strategies to make sense of a text in a specific
context
Interprets the relationship(s) between reader, text and context in light of own
response(s)
Explains the impact of a text on self as reader by returning to its social functions, as
well as the way meanings and messages are constructed
Understands that all texts are constructed in specific context for specific audiences
and purposes
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Secondary
Cycle One
SUBJECT-SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES
CROSS-CURRICULAR COMPETENCIES
Environmental Awareness /
Consumer Rights and
Responsibilities
Media Literacy
<INPUT TYPE=\ Citizenship and
Community Life
The Flowers
Introduction/Warm-Up
Introduce the students to Alice Walker; use the power point slide three as a point of reference. Emphasize
the following:
She worked as a social worker, teacher and lecturer, and took part in the 1960s Civil Rights
Movement in Mississippi.
Walker won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1982 novel, The Color Purple, and is also an
acclaimed poet and essayist.
Show slide four of the PowerPoint, which is a Calvin and Hobbes comic. The comic is foreshadowing
the theme of loss of innocence in The Flowers. Read the comic aloud and indicate there is a link to the
story and that you will come back to it afterwards. This is to get the students thinking about the theme in
advance. The comic also hints at the theme they need to be looking for as the students are reading and
analyzing the story.
Development
20 Min. for Activity
It is now time to read Alice Walkers short story The Flowers. Ask students to volunteer to read aloud and
change readers after every paragraph. There are a total of eight readers needed in order to complete the
reading.
Closure/Wrap-Up
Once the reading is complete, have a class discussion. Cover the following topics in the discussion:
Ask what is the theme of the story (loss of innocence). If the students are having trouble coming
up with the theme, guide the students with prompting questions such as:
1. What is the significance of the flowers in the story?
2. Why did she put the flowers down?
3. What happened to the man?
Extension/Whats Next?
When the theme has been identified, move onto Activity TWO: Literary Device Mash Up
Multi-level Modifications
Some students may have trouble reading out loud. If students are struggling with oral reading you
may choose to take over the reading to alleviate the student of his/her reading task.
Another issue that may arise is the lack of volunteers. If that is the case you can randomly select
students or read the text aloud yourself.
Introduction/Warm-Up
Divide the class into seven groups of four to five students. Once the groups are formed, hand out the
bristle boards, bells, and group envelopes that contain the cut up quote strips. Go through the instructions
with the students.
Development
Each group has an envelope containing quotes from Alice Walkers The Flowers
As a TEAM, students will glue the quote that matches up to the appropriate device to the bristle
board (devices are listed on the bristle boards).
When the students are finished they will ring the bell and wait for the other groups to finish.
When all groups are finished, the instructor will go through the answer with the class using the
PowerPoint presentation (slides eight to fourteen).
The group that got all the answers correct or most correct in the fastest time will receive the
Literary Device Trophy and each student will receive a Winners gold medal.
Closure/Wrap-Up
Go through each answer and allow the students to discuss and defend their choices for placing each quote
in the specific literary device. Ask the students how each quote and literary device links to the theme of
loss of innocence. Emphasize how each literary device transitions from innocence to experience.
Some examples:
The flowers, when picked are innocent. When Myop puts them down she looses her innocence.
The descriptive tone and mood of the story shifts from happy go lucky to dark and damp,
foreshadowing Myops loss of innocence.
Extension/Whats Next?
This activity will help the students prepare for writing a literary response in their performance task.
Multi-level Modifications
Though some students might struggle with connecting the quotes with the literary devices, the fact that this
is a collaborative groups activity will allow for the weaker students to ask for help from the stronger
students.
If students get too heated over disagreements over the right answers, the instructor should step in and
manage the students emotions.
If one group is struggling, the instructor can walk over and offer guiding questions to help them come to the
right answer.
If the students have issues with remembering the literary devices the instructor may allow the students to
use a dictionary to define each device.
For the remainder of the class, students will focus on writing paragraph three of literary response. This will
be done individually. The instructor will be readily available to answer any questions the students may
have.
Students will take home their responses and complete it for homework to be handed in for next class.
Assessment
Competency 2: Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts
Draws on discussions with peers to extend, reshape and clarify own responses
Makes connections between reader, text and context to justify own interpretations
Evaluation Criteria
Students paragraphs will be evaluated based on the literary response rubric (Appendix Four). The
instructor will correct and give feedback to each student. This will help them see where they need to
improve and what to prepare for in the upcoming government exam.
APPENDIX #