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Overview
Description
The ability to determine the key theme(s) of a novel is an essential skill for high school students to achieve. At the 11th grade level, students are expected to identify and dicuss the development of 2 or more themes in a selected text. In this module, students will identify multiple themes in The Glass Castle, and use supporting evidence, (along with proper in-text citation) to support their findings. In analyzing the development of the theme(s), students must also be able to discuss how these themes interact and build upon each other.
This module will be implemented at the beginning of the school year as an initial follow-up unit for a schoolwide summer reading assignment for incoming 11th grade students, which focuses on Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle. Students must have read the entire novel over the summer and were required to complete a Major Works Data Sheet to help them organize information regarding the novel. This organizer is due on the first day of school.
As part of the summer reading assignment, students should use reading strategies taught in the 10th grade. Reading strategies taught school wide include the following: annotation, Cornell note-taking, and outlining. Students were encouraged to use these reading strategies as they read The Glass Castle. Using any of these reading strategies will also help students comprehend the task and complete the required Major Works Data Sheet.
Goals:
The module itself will target how well students were able to. Again, text-based evidence should be used by the student to support their thematic findings.
- Students will determine the novel's two or more key themes and discuss their relevance to each other as these themes develop.
- Students will use text-based evidence to support their findings.
- Students will engage in a Socratic seminar meant to help them dialogue about the deeper meaning of the text and practice in positive collaborative discussion skills. Text-based evidence should be referenced.
- Students will use in-text citations.
- Students will go through the writing process and produce more than one draft prior to submitting the final essay.
Extension:
Students who are unable to meet assignment expectations, either because the essay is poorly written and/or the student failed to read or understand the assigned novel. Students will have an opportunity to read the article, "Should people obtain a license to become a parent?" by Bobbi Leder. Students will be responsible for reading and annotating the article. Once this is done, students will write a persuasive response to the author's original question (posed in the title), and take and defend a position on this issue. Students may use personal experience, examples from the real world, and/or use examples from The Glass Castle. Student work will be addressed with attention to writing conventions for persuasive/argumentative writing.
Section 1: What Task?
Teaching Task
Task Template 21 - Informational or Explanatory
How does Jeannette Walls develop key themes in The Glass Castle? After reading The Glass Castle , write an essay in which you analyze the development of two or more themes in the novel and discuss how characterization and point of view contributes to these developing themes, providing examples to clarify your analysis. Include proper in-text citation to support your analysis.
Standards
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11—CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Texts
Background for Students
The ability to determine the key theme(s) of a novel is an essential skill for you to achieve. At the 11th grade level, you are expected to identify and dicuss the development of 2 or more themes in a selected text. In this module, you will identify multiple themes in The Glass Castle, and use supporting evidence, (along with proper in-text citation) to support your findings. In analyzing the development of the theme(s), you must also be able to discuss how these themes interact and build upon each other.
This module will be used at the beginning of the school year as your follow-up unit for the schoolwide summer reading assignment you were expected to read. You must have completed the Major Works Data Sheet that was given to you, as well. In completing the summer reading assignment, you as a student should have also made an effort to use reading strategies you have been taught in 10th grade, which include annotating, Cornell note-taking, using outlines, and even keeping track of significant quotes in a dialectical journal if you are familiar with these. Any of these reading strategies would be helpful in completing the Major Works Data Sheet that is required on the first day of school.
The module itself will target how well you were able to determine the novel's key themes and how well you can discuss their relevance to each other as these themes develop throughout the novel. You will be expected to support your ideas with specific evidence from The Glass Castle. Your final writing assignment will be an essay in which you analyze the themes that developed in the novel, and is supported by textual evidence. A Socratic seminar in class will help you discuss the deeper meaning of the novel, which will help you gather further evidence and ideas for the final writing piece.
An extension activity will be offered for students who are unable to meet the final writing expectations.
Extension
Students who are unable to meet assignment expectations, either because the final essay is poorly written and/or the failed to read or understand the assigned novel.
Students will:
- read the article, "Should people obtain a license to become a parent?" by Bobbi Leder.
- annotate the article
- write a persuasive response to the author's original question (posed in the title). This will require that you:
- take and defend a position on this issue.
- use examples to support your position. Students may use personal experience, examples from the real world, and/or use examples from The Glass Castle.
- demonstrate attention to writing conventions for persuasive/argumentative writing.
- Writing conventions for persuasive/argumentative writing include: introduce a claim, provide supporting evidence, identify a counter-claim, and offer a rebuttal.
- These writing conventions for persuasive/argumentative writing is covered in 9th and 10th grade, so students should be familiar with the required structure of this type of writing.
Sections 2 & 3: What Skills & Instruction?
Instructional Ladder: Skills List and Mini-Tasks
Preparing for the Task
In your own words, what are the important features of a good response to this prompt?
Reminder, the prompt you are deconstructing is the following:
How does Jeannette Walls develop key themes in The Glass Castle? After reading The Glass Castle , write an essay in which you analyze the development of two or more themes in the novel and discuss how characterization and point of view contributes to these developing themes, providing examples to clarify your analysis.
- Include proper in-text citation to support your analysis.
Reading Process
Create a dialectical journal in which you cite 2-3 specific examples (quotes) that reflect each of the two or more themes you identified as being present in The Glass Castle. Your entries should include clear page citations and detailed commentary for each example/quote provided.