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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Final Performance Task: Character Confessional Narrative

For Teachers 8th Standards
You wrote it, now what? Learners take their writing to the next level when they perform it for classmates. They then engage in a self-reflection and assessment of their work to determine how well they hit targets, such as identifying...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit Assessment: Commentary on Confessional

For Teachers 8th Standards
What does commentary have to do with narrative? Before scholars explain the narrative choices in their Character Confessionals, they review provided commentary to explain the score they received on previous assessments. They review...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Launching the Performance Task: Prompt, Characters, Groups

For Teachers 8th Standards
Scholars unpack the word confession as they prepare to write confessionals based on characters from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Next, they read their narratives to a small group of peers as part of a final performance task.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit Assessment: Author’s Craft: Analyzing Shakespeare’s Craft: Part 2

For Teachers 8th Standards
Annoyed or bewitched—how does an author's word choice affect a text? Scholars begin the instructional activity by analyzing word choice in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Next, learners take a closer look at the narrative...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Performance Task: Readers Theater Performance

For Teachers 8th Standards
It's show time! Scholars finalize their learning by performing their Reader's Theater script of To Kill A Mockingbird. As groups of actors perform, the remaining pupils give feedback using a rubric. After all groups finish, each person...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit 3 Assessment: Readers Theater Commentary

For Teachers 8th Standards
Prove it! In the end-of-unit assessment, scholars write a commentary and provide evidence to justify the connection between their reader's theater scripts and To Kill A Mockingbird. After completing the assessment, they practice...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: Analyzing Narrative Structure and Author’s Craft: Part 1

For Teachers 8th Standards
Using the resource, scholars complete a mid-unit assessment to gauge their learning at the halfway point of the unit. Pupils read the myth "The Harvest That Never Came" and plot its narrative structure.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Leaving the Play: All’s Well That Ends Well

For Teachers 8th Standards
How does Shakespeare develop the theme of control in A Midsummer Night's Dream? Using the resource, scholars analyze the theme of parental control in the play and the Greek myth "Pyramus and Thisbe." Next, they talk to partners to...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing How Shakespeare’s Play Draws upon Greek Mythology: Part 2

For Teachers 8th Standards
Pupils explore the narrative structure of a piece of literary text, mapping out the plot structure of the Greek myth "Pyramus and Thisbe." Next, they use their completed graphic organizers to write story summaries.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing the Resolution of the Play: World Café Discussion

For Teachers 8th Standards
It's time to get active! Scholars participate in a World Café protocol to promote discussion and leadership. They leave their seats and move from group to group to discuss critical questions related to their read-aloud of Shakespeare's A...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Characters and Consequences

For Teachers 8th Standards
Scholars consider how dialogue reveals aspects of a play's characters as they read Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and complete a written conversation note-catcher. Additionally, pupils participate in an I Have/Who Has jigsaw...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Characters’ Decisions: The Flow of Consequences in Midsummer

For Teachers 8th Standards
Class members meet in their drama circles and share their thoughts on why it might be necessary for the audience to know something the characters don't. They read Act 3 Scene 2 of A Midsummer Night's Dream and complete consequence flow...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Author’s Craft: Poetry and Prose

For Teachers 8th Standards
During a drama circle, scholars closely examine the play created in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream. The pupils read Act 3 Scene 1 and turn and talk to their partners about the scene. They then complete a handout and discuss the...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Language, Character, and Theme: World Café Discussion

For Teachers 8th Standards
As part of their study of A Midsummer Night's Dream, class members meet in a drama circle to discuss and role-play scenes from the play. They then engage in an activity called World Cafe, analyzing the characters' actions from the text....
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Four Corners: Taking a Stand in To Kill a Mockingbird (Chapters 24-26 Plus Synthesis of Scenes in Previous Chapters)

For Teachers 8th Standards
Think outside the box! Scholars work on the Frayer Model, completing boxes for the word integrity. They turn and talk with partners to discuss real-life examples and some from To Kill A Mockingbird. Readers then discuss integrity, taking...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Word Choice: Atticus’s Closing Speech (Chapters 20-21)

For Teachers 8th Standards
Choose your words carefully. Scholars begin by reading a line of Atticus's closing speech in To Kill A Mockingbird. Readers work independently on their note catchers, then complete a Think-Pair-Share activity with partners. They finish...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid Unit 2 Assessment: Text to Film and Perspective Comparison of to Kill a Mockingbird (Chapter 18 and One Scene from Chapter 19)

For Teachers 8th Standards
Have you ever heard someone say the movie is not like the book? Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment to compare scenes from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird to the movie version. The assessment contains short answers, multiple choice,...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Themes: The Golden Rule and Taking a Stand (Chapters 16-17)

For Teachers 8th Standards
Positive or negative? Class members take another look at one of the taking-a-stand photographs from lesson plan one. They talk with partners to connect the picture to the text in To Kill A Mockingbird and discuss to determine when taking...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Poems from Inside Out and Back Again to Develop Criteria for an Effective Poem

For Teachers 8th Standards
Scholars analyze a model poem to help guide their poetry writing. They use Think-Pair-Share to discuss word choice and meaning in "Papaya Tree" and "Wet and Crying." To finish, they use their discussions to collect evidence on what makes...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Author’s Craft: The Poetry of the Play

For Teachers 8th Standards
Feel the rhythm! Pupils begin reading Act 2, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as they continue participating in a drama circle. With discussion, they examine Shakespeare's use of rhyme, rhythm, and meter, analyzing how...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Reading Shakespeare: Analyzing a Theme of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

For Teachers 8th Standards
After finishing Act I, scene 1 from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, class members study the theme of control as it relates to the play and start an Evidence of Control note-catcher worksheet.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Launching the Readers Theater Groups: Allocating Key Quotes and Scenes

For Teachers 8th Standards
There's no I in collaboration! Scholars work in small groups to write a Readers Theater script for a scene from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Next, within their small groups, pupils discuss how their scenes communicate the main...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit 2 Assessment, Part 1: Drafting The Argument Essay

For Teachers 8th Standards
Scholars write the draft of their essays about Atticus's decision to defend Tom Robinson in Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird. They support their claims with reasons, details, and quotes from the novel.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Comparing Text Structures: To Kill a Mockingbird and “Those Winter Sundays” (Chapter 6 and 7)

For Teachers 8th Standards
Scholars carry out a close read of the poem "Those Winter Sundays" to determine its point. They look at the words used and the structure of the stanzas and then compare the poem's narrative structure to chapter 6 of To Kill a...