Backward Design Lesson Plan Template

Candidate Veronica Sawyer Grade level 10

Lesson title The Butterfly Effect

Step 1Desired Results (What students will learn)

- Students will be able to clearly articulate how Frankenstein was able to create his monster by
combining both human corpses and animal bones.

-Students will be able to consider alternative stories for what would have happened to the
creature had Victor not abandoned him after his creation.

-Students will be able to see the importance that seemingly small decisions can have on their
own lives in addition on other people as well.

CCSS: W.9-10.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization,
and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for
writing types are defined in standards 1-3).

CCSS: W.9-10.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Step 2Assessment Evidence (Summative/Formative check for learning)

Students will be turning in butterfly effect style essay at the end of class. This gives students
the chance to show that they really do understand what Mary Shelley wrote in her novel, by
allowing them to alter the story so it fits the narrative they wish she had originally created. This
also gives the students the chance to ponder the weight of their own actions.

Step 3Learning Plan (detailed enough for another teacher to follow)

Learning activities: Steps for students. Use action verbs Notes for Teacher:
(step by step from start to finish)

1. 30 Minutes Students will be participating in an in

depth discussion of the steps Frankenstein took to
create his monster. I will ask the student where
Victor went to get his pieces for his monster. How
did victor keep the monster together? How old was
Victor when he did this? What is the difference
between animals and humans? Has this ever been
attempted by somebody else? Do we have the right
to animate the dead? Is there bodily autonomy
after death? Did Victor have the right to do this?

2. 15 Minutes I am going to set up the activity by

asking the students if they would have changed
anything in this story. Would they have taken the
pieces from somewhere else? Would you have
done as Victor did and carry out this crazy
experiment?

3. 5 Minutes I will give students instructions and

 explain what the butterfly effect is, so the students
have a reference while theyre writing I will write
the instructions up on the board.

4. 30 Minutes Students will craft a butterfly effect style

essay about what they would have done in Victors
shoes and ultimately show what the story would
have been if Victor had acted differently.

5. 15 Minutes Students will volunteer to share their

butterfly effect stories aloud with the class.

Resources, Timing, and Materials

This lesson will take approximately 90 Minutes

Materials
-Whiteboard
-An Expo marker
-Laptops
-Writing Materials

Step 4Differentiation/Accommodation/Modifications
Which strategies/methods will you use differentiate for different learning styles? How will you accommodations and
modifications for special needs students (IEP)?
Differentiation is included throughout the lesson with different levels of questions. Students are
also given choice in how they want to approach their butterfly effect stories. If the students
want to construct a formulaic if-then style essay or a narrative, they will be given the autonomy
to do so without point deductions. This assignment is a challenge by choice that students will
be able to approach however they see fit.
Adapted from Tomlinson and McTighe, Integrating Differentiated Instruction + Understanding by Design, ASCD, 2006.