Part 1: Outline

Lesson Plan: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

(1) Learning Objective

Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

Reading: Literature Standard 2

https://www.uen.org/core/core.do?courseNum=4300

We will be using the book A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness to analyze these ideas and accomplish the learning objective.

Subject: English Literature -- Grades 11-12

Materials: Internet access, a copy of the book A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (digital or physical), and devices to access Canvas

Duration: 10 days

(2) Assessments:

Online quizzes will be used to help students stay caught up on reading and review what they've already read. Each quiz is worth 10 points and will review only the new chapters that we discussed in class that day. They will simply be review questions about characters and main events from the text.

These are interactive as they require students to test their knowledge and get practice with immediate feedback. They are also allowed to take the quizzes as many times as they want in order to help them learn the characters and main events. These will simply replace in-person quizzes and create more class time for discussion and review practice at home for students.

The post assessment will be taken in class in order to monitor for cheating. It will ask students to write an objective summary of the text and it will also review central themes in the text (questions will mostly focus on the monster's stories, how they apply to Conor's experiences, and how they interact and build off of one another).

Technologies and pedagogical Strategies:

We will have a near equal amount of learning in the classroom as we will online via Canvas. Most of our in-class time will be spent explaining and discussing the things Conor experiences in the text. A big focus will be the Monster's stories and how they build on each other and influence Conor--which all lead up to the end message: more than one thing can be true at a time, and that's okay.

Along with the online assessments described above, we will utilize online discussions. This will be to continue the discussion that we began in class. Many students will not be able to share in class as we only have a limited amount of time, students with dominating personalities will share more in class, and some students struggle in social situations so this will help every student be able to participate in the discussion. They will be expected to reply to two of their peers to help give them new insights and to be able to interact with one another. This will be interactive as they will have a formal structure, content, and flow, and will transform our class discussions because it will allow all students to participate which simply isn't realistic in person.

The assignment--the final paper--is to allow students to be able to demonstrate their mastery of the learning objective. This assignment is interactive as students are creating an essay, but the structure is very rigid. It will be paired with the final project to allow all students to play to their talents, collaborate with other students, and to be creative with how they want to demonstrate what they've learned. This allows them to personalize the path of their final project.

And finally, the playlist will be used to help students review in several different ways--passively, interactively, and creatively. They will be allowed to choose three of the five available activities which allows differentiation for the student's review--they will be able to somewhat personalize the path of this review.

(3) Sequence:

Day 1:

In Class: After giving background of the author(s) and the story, we will discuss the first 6 chapters of the book--both monsters, what Conor is struggling with, and why he is so reluctant to be around his grandma. What do you think Conor's truth is? What does the Monster want from him?

Online: Students will post in a digital discussion and respond to 2 other posts from their peers (the person before them and the person after them).

Day 2:

In Class: We will discuss chapters 7-11. What does the story mean? Why is it significant? Does this apply to Conor? Why does the monster tell him this story? What is going in Conor's life? What is he feeling?

Online: Students will post in a digital discussion and respond to two peers (the person before them and the person after them). They will also take a short quiz to help them review the first 11 chapters.

Day 3:

In Class: We will discuss chapters 13-17. Let's talk about Conor's dad and their relationship. What does the Monster's second story mean? How does this apply to Conor's life? Is he learning and growing, or is he regressing?

Online: Students will take an online quiz to help them stay caught up on reading and to help them review.

Day 4:

In Class: We will discuss chapters 18-22. Let's talk about Conor's interaction with his mom. Is she being honest with him? Why would she do that? How is Conor coping with it all? Why do you think the Monster came?

Online: Students will post in a digital discussion and will respond to 2 peers (one before them and one after them).

Day 5:

In Class: We will discuss chapters 23-26. Conor's mom? The yew tree? The third story and its significance? What now? The nightmare?

Online: Students will take an online quiz to help them stay caught up with reading and help them review.

Day 6:

In Class: We will discuss chapters 27-32. What is Conor's truth? How can more than one truth exist at a time? What did you learn from the four tales? Do you think the monster is real? Does that matter?

Online: Students will make a final discussion post and will respond to only one peer (this post will be longer). They will also take an online quiz to help them review the final chapters.

Day 7:

In Class: We will review for the final exam for the first 20 minutes of class. For the rest of class, students will break into their groups of 4-5 and brainstorm for their final project.

Online: Students will complete an online review and three activities of the five available on the playlist in order to prepare for the final.

Day 8:

In Class: We will take the final exam in class where I can monitor for cheating.

Online: They will use any technology necessary for their final project.

Day 9:

In class: Students will present their final projects in 4-7 minutes. Each student in the group should participate in their group's presentation. Once all presentations are complete, we will begin the film A Monster Calls.

Online: Students will submit their final 3-4 page paper.

Day 10:

In class: We continue watching the film A Monster Calls.

Online: If we do not finish, students will be expected to finish watching the film at home.

(4) Part 2: Rationale

Section 1:

Technology used for this course will help students review and engage with the things that we are learning.

The quizzes will help students review events, characters, background of the story, etc. It will give them practice with feedback as they will get immediate feedback on every quiz.

Digital discussions will allow students to internalize the things that we discuss in class and share how those things apply to them. They will also be able to see what their peers are learning from the stories. We will have discussions in class, but sometimes stronger personalities dominate the conversation. It will be important to have these discussion posts to allow all students to be able to engage in the conversation. This will also allow all students to digitally participate in personal interaction as they will be expected to respond to their peers' comments. The digital discussion posts will allow all students to participate (7 P's).

The playlist will allow students to be creative with the way that they choose to review and will also allow them to personalize the path of their review.

The final project will allow students to collaborate (4 C's) with their peers and to be creative (4 C's) due to the open format of the final project. They will have to work together to make a plan to finish their final project in a timely manner and ensure that all students will be able to participate in the presentation of their final project.

As much learning will take place online as it will in the classroom. This creates more personalization for students' place of learning. The assignments used in this module are also designed to help personalize pace, path, and time as well. These benefits would simply not be possible without the blended structure of this module.