Rangers Apprentice: The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan

Description
Your name: Emily Adams Date of lesson:
Cooperating teacher-librarian: Grade level: 7th Grade
School & City: Length/number of lessons: 1 30-min. lesson

Purpose: Students have been discussing the way technology has helped to advance society and
changed the way people live. This book shows different communication and transportation
methods that were used before the industrial and technological revolutions.

Learning Outcome(s)/Learning Target: Students will think critically about how technology has
impacted their daily lives. They will use their knowledge to imagine how their lives could be
different, as well as to gain an appreciation for the ways in which people lived (and sometimes still
live) without technology. They will also use this information to discuss how the events of the book
could have turned out differently.

Standards

1. Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy
a. CC.K.RL.10: Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and
understanding.
b. CC.K.W.8: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences
or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
2. AASL Standards for 21st Century Learner
a. 1.3.4 Contribute to the exchange of ideas within the learning community.
b. 2.2.3 Employ a critical stance in drawing conclusions by demonstrating that the pattern
of evidence leads to a decision or conclusion.
c. 4.1.5 Connect ideas to own interests and previous knowledge and experience.

Materials
Needed by librarian:
Book: The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan
A PowerPoint presentation with excerpts that feature different communication
methods used in the story
A list of questions to help guide class discussion
Needed by students
A copy of the novel for each student (should already have through classroom, might
need to help fund)
A note book
A pencil

Instructional procedures

Focusing event: Ask the students whether or not they enjoyed the book, about their favorite
parts, etc. Bring the conversation back to the task by pointing out the excerpts.

Input from you: Read the excerpts on the book listed on the PowerPoint, then ask the
discussion questions.

6/8/12 glb
 Students will be encouraged, but not required to speak during this time.
Students will also be encouraged to respond directly to other students in the style of
conversation.
Before the transition to small groups, students will be asked if they can think of any
other examples where technology/communication/transportation is different in the
novel than it is in the modern world.
Guided practice: Students will be broken into groups to discuss the question posed on the final
slide. This requires them to relate the lesson to their own lives, and to think about how they
could be different.

Closure: After ten minutes, the librarian will call a halt to the groups discussions. The
librarian will ask if there are any ideas that groups would like to share in two sentences or less.
Then, using the last 5-7 minutes of class, students will be asked to write a brief reflection about
a topic that was brought up which they had not previously considered, or an idea which was not
discussed in class.

Differentiation
o Librarian will walk around the room, listening to group discussions. In the event of a slow
conversation, librarian will ask the following questions:
What would your life be like if you could only hear a song once if you couldnt play
it yourself?
How do you think you would spend your time if you couldnt use social media or
play video games?
What might you do differently if you werent able to use electricity?

Assessment
o A tally will be kept of which students speak in class discussion. This will be done by the
librarian as students speak. This is purely to access which students might be more
comfortable speaking in class, and not for a grade.
o During the small group discussion, the librarian will watch the students to see if they are all
engaged in the conversation. If a student seems to be completely disengaged, that will be
noted.
o Evaluation will be determined by the quality of student short reflections.
o Project success: 80% of students had clear ideas relating to the discussion, whether or not
points were discussed in class. Overall 75% of students participated in either the class or the
small group discussions.
o Reteach: 50% of students had reflections included points that had nothing to do with the
lesson, or were not completed at all. Less than 25% of students participated in either the
class or the small group discussions.

Whats next?
o If reteaching is needed, with collaboration from the classroom teacher, the Industrial
Revolution and other examples of advancements in real life technology can be discussed.
Then, the group conversation activity will be repeated. Lack of participation in these
activities could be a symptom of a larger problem, or a sign that a different method of
instruction should be implemented.
o If reteaching is not needed, during the next class meeting the classroom teacher can
continue the discussions of the book in the manner they choose.

6/8/12 glb
 Role of the Classroom Teacher
o Ideally, this lesson would be used in conjunction with the book the 7th Grade teacher is
already using. Their role in this specific lesson would either be to co-teach the slides and
questions, to help groups facilitate discussion, or they could choose to not participate. The
librarian will communicate with the teacher about the assessment/evaluation, and overall
how they thought the lesson went
Budget
o 20-25 copies of the novel at around $10 a piece= $200-$250
o No other materials needed
Targeted Learners
o Visual
PowerPoint Slides
Corresponding page numbers- students can turn to the page and gain context.
o Auditory/Musical
Discussion
First differentiation question
o Social
Discussion
Second differentiation question
o Logical
Discussion question
Third differentiation question
o Verbal
Discussion

Whats the difference in technology/transportation/communication in this scene? Could this

happen today? What would happen today if someone wanted to travel a long distance but
didnt have their own car?

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 What are some pros and
cons to having a horse to ride? Would you rather have a horse or a car? What would it be
like to know that if you wanted to go for a days ride away, you would have to bring all of
your camping gear?

Why did the Princess and Sir Horace have to write this letter? Why dont parents write
letters giving directions to their children like this today? What would be a modern method
of communication that could have replaced this letter?

What would you do in this situation if you had access to all of the technology that you have right now?

6/8/12 glb
 The Royal Ranger by John Flannigan
Participate in class discourse about the ways that modern technology, communication and
transportation have shaped the world.

Assessment:
A tally will be kept of which students speak in class discussion. This will be done by the
librarian as students speak. This is purely to access which students might be more comfortable
speaking in class, and not for a grade.
During the small group discussion, the librarian will watch the students to see if they are all
engaged in the conversation.
Evaluation will be determined by the quality of student short reflections.
Project success: 80% of students had clear ideas relating to the discussion, whether or not
points were discussed in class. Overall 75% of students participated in either the class or small
group discussions.
Reteach: 50% of student reflections included points that had nothing to do with the lesson, or
were not completed at all. Less than 25% of students participated in either the class or the small
group discussions.

Student Discussed in Engaged in Short Reflection Reflection Includes Relevant

Class Conversation Turned in Information
Tanille
Thompson
Jacob White
Denver Jolly
Reagin
Sullivan
Tristan Burch

6/8/12 glb