ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS RESOURCES

CREATING CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS

Planning Points

Approximate Time Needed: Day one-20 minutes, Independent work-or in computer lab-30 minutes, Day two-40 minutes
Correlation to English I SCS 1.02, 2.03, 5.01
Correlation to NC High School Exit Exam Competencies: C4, PI11

Lesson Objectives:

• Student will identify prior knowledge through brainstorming about ideas tied to concepts in a reading assignment prior to reading.
• Student will informally research ideas to contextualize piece of literature.
• Student will share information with classmates to build universal set of background knowledge.

Materials Needed:

Reading materials, chart paper, computers /research materials

Description:

This activity serves to activate and build upon background knowledge pertinent to any reading assignment. Before students begin reading, introduce some of the key contextual elements of the piece. Setting, author and conflicts are some that will work well. Have students brainstorm on these topics, and list their ideas on chart paper to later hang on the wall. List all ideas! All are valid ways of knowing for students to gain entrance into literature. After composing your list, have students choose a specific topic from the list to research. (You may choose to narrow the list at this point). Set standards for how much information students will find, for example, you may say 5 facts, or enough information to speak for 2 minutes to group members. Allow students overnight, or 2 days, for fact-finding, depending on whether you give as a homework assignment of designate classtime for research; on the predetermined date have students share with classmates the information they have found on their topics. Class members must take notes on these mini presentations, as this information serves as their background notes to the new piece of literature you will be studying.

Assessment:

Students may be assigned a certain number of facts, a certain amount of time for presenting, a way of presenting information to the class; you may also choose to give students an open-note quiz on what they have learned from their classmates, and thus encourage good presentations and good notetaking.

Additional Notes:

After reading, students might reflect on their research notes and add to what they have since learned, or they might compare what they found historically and textually for consistencies and inconsistencies.

With Antigone, some ideas to use might be Sophocles, loyalty, Ancient Greece, family conflict, tyranny, burial rites, philosophy, as starting points for brainstorming. With All Quiet on the Western Front, some ideas might be trench warfare, alienation, weaponry, Erich Maria Remarque, Germany, WWI.

Teacher's Notes:

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