Differentiation Lesson Plan

Unit Title or Big Idea/Concept/Skill: Short Stories

Lesson Title or focusing skill and/or concept: End of unit assessment
Critical Learning Objectives being taught in this lesson:
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
1. Students will know some of the literary elements that can be found in a short story
(theme, point of view, characterization, character, and figurative language)
2. Students will know how to apply literary elements to the short story that they have been
assigned to read.
Affective (feel/value) and/or Non-Cognitive:
3. Students will be able to feel confident in their abilities to analyze literature for literary
elements.
4. Students will value the texts for more than just plot development.
Performance (do):
5. The students will be able to identify different literary elements in a short story
6. Students will be able to use specific evidence from the text to support their findings of
literary elements.
SOLs:
9.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze a variety of literary texts including
narratives, narrative nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
a) Identify authors main idea and purpose.
b) Summarize text relating supporting details.
c) Identify the characteristics that distinguish literary forms.
d) Use literary terms in describing and analyzing selections.
e) Explain the relationships between and among elements of literature: characters, plot,
setting, tone, point of view, and theme.
CCSs:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course
of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an
objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text.
Methods of Assessment:
This is the assessment: the students are reading a short story of their choosing and
identifying different literary elements throughout.

Procedures/Instructional Strategies
Beginning Room Arrangement: Students in their usual seating arrangements, in rows, facing
the front of the class.
1 Bridge/Hook/Opening to lesson:
I go through a PowerPoint that has all the different options of short stories the students can
choose to read. With each title I give a brief book talk- a little teaser to get the students excited
about the short story. On a scrap sheet of paper the students write their name and top three
choices. The students had 7 different stories to choose from.
2 Sorting
I review the students choices and make sure each student gets one of their top three- but that not
one story is being assigned too much.
3 Reading the story through a first time
The students are instructed to read the text through completely without marking- just to make
sure they understand the plot.
4 Read and Annotate
Without any prompting or help the students are told to read through the story a second time and
to annotate for any of the literary elements, which we have discussed in class, which they can
find.
5 Students given Rubric
Next the students are handed out the rubric for the assessment. The rubric gives the 5 literary
elements I want the students to identify. But the students are given more choice in that they only
have to find 2 of the 5 with the caveat that the total points have to equal up to 40. Therefore the
students either can choose to do the three elements that require less work, or choose one that is
less work and one that is more work. This also allows students to pick and choose the literary
elements they are most familiar with.
6 Students complete assessment
Students are given the rest of class and part of next class to complete the assessment.
Differentiated Instruction
This lesson is differentiated in that it gives my students a lot of choice. First the students are
given seven different short stories to choose from to read. This allows them to choose a story
they think sounds most interesting and that they might enjoy reading. Secondly the students are
given choice in what literary elements they wish to find- but while still demanding an equal
amount of work from each of the students.

Materials Appendix

Name: _________________________
Block: _____
Score: ___/40
Checklist Rubric
Make sure you check to see that you have all components of the rubric before turning in
your final product.
Theme
Identified a key theme from this story in a concise way. Your theme statement could be used
by others when examining other stories.

/5

/10
Explain the reasoning about theme and details. Uses evidence to support it are clear and
accurate to show strong interpretation. Uses specific examples from text as evidence.

Figurative Language
Identified at least 5 examples of figurative language from the story.

/10
/15

Explain/interpret each FL example. Interpretations should show complete, detailed, and

complex understanding.

Point of View
Identified the narrative point of view used and identify from which characters/s perspective(s)
the story is told. Explain your answer.

/5

/10
Explain why the author chose this point of view. Offers an analysis of the authors choice that
shows an understanding of the relevance of POV to the given text. Specific details are used to
support and explain analysis.

Characterization
Identified specific examples of direct and indirect characterization in the text.

/10

Explain what the examples of direct and (specifically) indirect characterization tell us about the
characters in the text. Considers S.T.E.A.L.

/15

Character
Identified specific character types (ex: round, static, flat) in the text.

/5
/10

Explain the impact of the characters on the development of the story.