Narrative+Lesson+Plan+Alt+Ed


 * Narrative Lesson Plan Format – //Alt Ed// by Catherine Atkins **

//__ Week 1 __// Journal Entry: “Why do we hold back from saying what we think? Have you ever wanted to say something but didn’t out of fear? How does holding things in rather than speaking up, isolate you from people?” Students will be given 5-10 minutes to respond and then we will discuss responses as a class. We will then look at the things Susan is thinking and what she actually says. Students will be asked why she doesn’t say what she thinks and how this affects her self esteem and the way she is perceived. They will also be asked how the people around her would respond if she didn’t hold back and told them how she really felt.
 * Chapter 1: Kale Krasner Takes My Ruler **


 * Chapter 2: Starting It and Chapter 3: Pregame **

Journal Entry: “Why is Mr. Duffy offering weekly meetings? Do you think we should offer these meetings at our high school?” After the students are done with their 10 minutes of writing, we will then go on to discuss what the chapter title for 1, 2, and 3 mean and bring up issues of bullying. Class discussion takes place focusing on Kale's characteristics, his language, and how he is perceived. With relation to Kale Krasner being the labeled "bully", the students would watch a video on anti-bullying, that would contain information relatable to the students. In small groups students would then go over actions that Kale Krasner does within the text compared to possible situations in reality. The students will then be given a formative assessment to ensure they have kept up with the 2 days of reading. The assignment consists of the students drawing a setting from the first 3 chapters and giving a 3-paragraph response as to what the scene is depicting. At the end of the class we will discuss what the class will think the book will be about based on the first 3 chapters and book cover, even going over the title.


 * Chapter 4: Warm-Up, Chapter 5: What I Saw **

Journal Response: “Have you ever been labeled or called a name? How did it make you feel about yourself? After 5-10 minutes of writing in journals, we will discuss responses as a class and start to make connections to the text. We will examine how labels that are given to characters in “Alt Ed” and how it affects the way they view themselves. They will also be provided with a passage from the book “Reviving Ophelia” on page 55 which describes a heavy girl who is bullied and begins to hate the way she looks. We will compare and contrast this to Susan’s experience. Class discussion takes place introducing Tracee with the question "What is Tracee known for, and how does this affect the way Susan thinks about herself?"


 * Chapter 6: First Session and Chapter 7: Reprieve **

// Part One // The phrase “No justice, no peace” will be written on the board and students will be asked what their definition of justice is. We will discuss this as a class and develop our own collaborative definition. Using the classroom definition, students will split into small groups and respond to the following questions on a handout. What is each characters perception of justice in this chapter? Do their definitions match the one we have developed? What injustices are taking place? After groups have had 20 minutes to answer the questions, we will reconvene as a whole class and discuss the responses. Additional discussion will include a focusing on Brenden's perception of justice and how he enacts it (pg. 27) "How did Brenden make his own justice?"

**Chapter 8:Who Goes First? (Two day lesson)**

// Part Two //

At the beginning of class the students will come in and begin writing right away for 10 minutes in their daily journals. The poem on the board will be Solitude by Rebecca Parker. Questions to be answered in their journals will be: What are your thoughts and feelings about this poem? What does solitude mean? What do you make of the poem overall? What might be another way to look at this poem? What are your thoughts when I say ‘society’? How does society and solitude affect Susan? After they have written in their journal a discussion for 20 minutes will take place, talking about the journal questions and Chapter 8 from //Alt Ed//. The class will be broken into small groups and discuss the characters that were first introduced, who they are, characteristics, their language, etc. Each group will come to the board and write out descriptive words for each character. This will be helpful for students to envision who the main characters are within the book. As a final question students will take a look at Randy and how he affects the group and what problems he may bring since he is portrayed as the least problematic.

__// Week 2 //__


 * Chapter 9: How It Was and Chapter 10: What He Did (Joe) **

The issues we will discuss in class today revolve around loss and dealing with grief. Today will provide a unique opportunity for students to really get to know their classmates in a more intimate setting. We will open up with a discussion about how the loss of her mother has affected Susan to this point in her life. We will also discuss the importance of the chapter 10 flashback and what sort of character and strength is hidden within the protagonist. We will then break into one-on-one groups and discuss how loss has affected them in some way. Hopefully, with the in depth discussions we've had to this point, they will feel comfortable opening up with each other. At the end of class students will have an opportunity to share their experiences with the rest of the class.

Journal Entry: “What is your ambition for after high school?” After the students have written down their responses we will discuss as a class expectations that we have of ourselves and our futures. At this point in the book I want the students to be addressing the fact that Susan’s mother is not in the picture. In small groups at first then as a whole class, we would discuss the reasons why and what issues Susan is dealing with on her own that she feels she cannot address with her father. Students would view a short video on the pros and cons of labeling and stereotyping. Also I would like the conversation to lead to the labels addressed within these 3 chapters.
 * Chapter 11: Why Don’t You Wear Nicer Clothes? Chapter 12: Weekend Interlude and Chapter 13: It’s Not Up To Me **


 * Chapter 14: Conference, Chapter 15: I Don't Care What Nobody Says. Chapter 16: Lunch At Wayne High (Joe) **

Journal Entry, List 5 reasons: “Why do people get teased” After 15 minutes of group work one member from each group will come up to the board and right down their group's list. We will then discuss and compare the lists as a whole class and try to come up with 5 more reasons that have not been listed yet. Finally, to wrap up the class we will talk about Susan and Brendan's friendship and how valuable it seems to be to both of them.


 * Chapter 17: Early Morning/Spring Vacation, Chapter 18: Heal with Love, Chapter 19: Another Call, Chapter 20: Freaky Lunch, Chapter 21: She Said Stuff (Joe) **

We will begin the class with recent statistics on teenage sexuality (pregnancy, rape, gay/lesbian, transgendered, etc.) We will then delve into the topic of sex. We will discuss what sex is defined as and how it relates to marriage and procreation. We will talk about the dangers of having sex at such an early age. This discussion will lead us to Amber, which these chapters focus on. We will then break into groups and the students will get to project a bit. They will be asked to place each student from Mr. Duffy's group into the future (10 years from the book). After 15 minutes we will reconvene and we will talk about each character separately, giving each group a chance to talk before we move on to the next character. This should be a fun activity and will allow the students to get a bit creative and give them a break from all of the serious topics we have been discussing.


 * Chapter 22: Seeing Me, Chapter 23: Kale Kale Kale, Chapter 24: Jogging Around Chapter 25: Score, Chapter 26: Call Me **

This lesson deals with an issue that is very serious in nature, sexual violence. Students will be asked at the beginning of class what they think defines sexual violence. We will discuss this as a class and brainstorm all of the forms of sexual violence and possible reasons why victims don’t acknowledge it or speak out. Students will be provided with a passage from the book “School Girls: Young Women, Self Esteem, and the Confidence Gap” that focuses on the double standards of girls and boys being sexually active. We will discuss the social repercussions and connect it with the way Amber is perceived. We will also discuss how her incident with the football players affects her emotionally, socially, and physically.

//__ Week 3 __//

Journal Entry: “How have your perceptions of the characters changed? How has Susan’s views changed?” Students will then divide into small groups and will be provided a handout on one of the main characters. They will answer questions about how the character changed though the book, providing page numbers and descriptions to back up their ideas. For the last twenty minutes of class, each group will present their character notes and we will discuss as a class.
 * Chapter 27-31 **

Students will have their final quiz at the start of the class. Following that, students will have a review to address any topics that they would like to talk about pertaining to the book. Students will be asked to reflect back on their original ideas for how they thought the book would go and see how those have changed. Students will then watch a few clips from movies and commercials that deal with themes regarding the book. Students will be asked how each character from Alt Ed reflects the scenes in the clips.
 * Go over review/questions, movie clips with viewing questions also related to the book. **

Students will be introduced to this last formative assessment. They will need to bring in 2 resources, these could be from a magazine or the internet, that will connect with the books theme or issues that are prevalent within the literary text of Alt Ed. On Day 5 of this week they will present their current event, or resource, to the class showing how they linked the book to the event by providing page numbers and excerpts from the book. They can create a poster board or powerpoint presentation. They will need to have a two page response linking the text and current event.
 * Intro to current events/formative **

During this class time students will work in the computer lab and library researching their article needed for their current event. This will give students that are not fortunate to have a computer at home to use this time in class to finish their assignment. They will need to be "checked out" or "okay'd" by the teacher with what the student finished or still needs to finish before the next days presentations.
 * Group work – 20 minutes **

Students will spend the rest of the class presenting their current event. Afterward, the teacher will make any comments necessary regarding these events. Then, we will introduce the next assignment, which is their summative assessment. We will go over the assignment, which is a "Where are they now" look at the characters from //Alt Ed//, and the rubric. The expectation is that students will tie in what they read in the book through the characters and their experiences and predict what happens to these characters following the conclusion of the book. If there is time, students will be able to meet in their groups and begin planning. All other plans can continue over the weekend. Official work in class will begin on Monday of the following week, and students will have two days to work in class before presentations begin.
 * Finish present and intro to summative and rubric **

// Week 4 //

Students will begin to work on their projects in partners or small groups. They will be allowed to access the computers to use sites for their presentation such as “YouTube” or any other online sources. I will walk around and monitor their work to make sure that they are staying on task and understand the guidelines of the project. I will expect to see students collaborating their ideas and equally contributing to group work.
 * Work in class (Goal and purpose) **

Students will continue to work on their projects and will be given the opportunity to ask any last minute questions. At this point they should be close to finishing the project but this day will give students the chance to work on any last minute details before they present to the rest of the class the next day.
 * Work in class **

For Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of week 4 our groups will be presenting their material. Students will be in small groups and present their campaign. The students will be asked to get creative and imaginative as well as integrate specifics from the book that help describe the reasons why each character becomes who they become. The purpose of this form of summative assessment is to allow the students to look at literature through a different lens, develop an understanding of different forms of harassment, create character development on their own, and have some fun. This should be a fun assignment. The other groups are encouraged to ask questions to the presenters after listening quietly and respectfully. On Friday, after the presentations the students will be asked to reflect through one last journal entry on the book, their experiences in groups, and what they learned throughout this process.
 * Presentations **