Reading: Mood

1. Context: 10th grade mixed ability English. Suburban setting with mixed socioeconomic and
cultural backgrounds. Mixed male and female students.
2. Broad, Lifelong Goals: By learning how to analyze mood, students can improve their
reading skills. By improving their reading skills, students will perform better in higher
education and professional/career fields, and they will have a better relationship with reading.
Students will also be able to interpret other forms of texts for moods.
3. Specific Daily Objectives: Students will learn to analyze a text for mood by analyzing the
mood of The Great Gatsby.
4. Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of
words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
5. Assessment /Outcomes: Students will be informally and formally assessed.
An informal assessment will take place during the discussion of mood in chapter 1 of The
Great Gatsby. The teacher will observe how well the students can identify moods and
explain the effect of the text on them as readers.
A formal assessment will take place through an extended assignment. Throughout the
reading of The Great Gatsby, students will keep a log of moods in the novel. The students
must identify one quote from each chapter and discuss the mood of that quote. This will
prove the students understanding of mood and their ability to identify mood in a novel.
See attached Mood in The Great Gatsby for assignment criteria and rubric.
6. Materials: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Moods handout, Mood in The Great
Gatsby assignment/rubric, YouTube video/or audio of songs (Best Day of My Life
(American Authors), Everybody Knows (The Wanted), I Wont Give Up (Jason Mraz)),
lyrics handout, classroom notebook, and pencil.
7. Methods:
Beginning of Class:
The teacher will welcome the students to class.
Teacher will take attendance, and collect any homework from the previous day.
Students should be silent reading.
With remaining time, teacher will check in with a few students in order to check
their progress in the novel.
(15 minutes)
Anticipation:
The teacher will begin the lesson by playing 3 songs for about 1 minute each.

Before playing the songs, the teacher will instruct students to just listen to the
songs; they do not need to write anything down.
o Do not show the video. Only play the sound (Lyrics are included in the
attached handout).
1st Song: Best Day of My Life by American Authors
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y66j_BUCBMY
nd
2 Song: Everybody Knows by The Wanted
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC5VqBDuLpk
rd
3 Song: I Wont Give Up by Jason Mraz
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1-4u9W-bns
After each song, the teacher will ask students to explain how the songs made them
feel and why.
o Example Responses
1st Song: Happy. The song is talking about the best day of their
lives. It talks about no limits and all the possibilities they can do.
2nd Song: Sad. It talks about how everyone sees that he is nothing.
The only person that doesnt see him is the one person he wishes
would. It talks about how that person hurt him.
3rd Song: Romantic. It talks about not giving up on love; the person
is willing to do whatever he can to make their relationship work.
The teacher will then explain that, like songs, books can create a certain feeling or
emotion in the readerthis is called mood.
(6 minutes)
Overview:
The teacher will instruct students to get out their classroom notebooks.
The teacher will instruct students to start a new notes section titled Mood Notes.
The teacher will read the definition for mood. Students will write this definition
at the top of the page in their notes.
Mood:
o Academic Definition: the emotional-intellectual attitude of the author
toward the subject (A Handbook to Literature by William Harmon and C.
Hugh Holman, print).
o Student Definition: A literary element that evokes a certain emotion or
feeling in the reader.
The teacher will explain that they will be learning how to read for and analyze the
mood of a text using The Great Gatsby.
(4 minutes)
Modeling:
The teacher will read half of chapter 1 (pages 1-10) with the students for
modeling and guided practice.
The teacher will read pages 1-4, stopping periodically to discuss how the text
makes her feel.

o For example, after reading NoGatsby turned out alright at the end; it is
what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams
that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and shortwinded elations of men (Fitzgerald 2), the teacher might stop and explain
that she feels worried. The words preyed and foul make me feel
worried about what would happen to Gatsby because these are negative
words. Preyed is normally associated with hunting, so is something or
someone coming after Gatsby?
After the teacher finishes reading pages 1-4, she will explain again that mood is
based on how the reader feels.
(5 minutes)
Guided Practice:
The teacher will explain to the students that she will continue reading pages 5-10.
As the teacher is reading, students should raise their hand when they feel an
emotion.
The teacher will stop reading, and the student will explain the emotion they felt
and why.
o For example:
We walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored
space, fragilely bound into the house by French windows at either
end. The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh
grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house
(Fitzgerald 7-8). Students might say that they feel peaceful. The
words bright, rosey, fragilely, gleaming, and fresh all
has a calming sound to it. It seems like a very calm, peaceful, and
tranquil room.
If the students are not raising their hands and participating, the teacher may stop
periodically and ask the students about what they are feeling.
(10 minutes)
Application:
Students will complete the Moods in The Great Gatsby Log.
The teacher will pass out the packets and the Moods handout.
The teacher will explain that students are responsible for keeping track of some of
the moods in the novel.
o The teacher will use the example given on the worksheet to help explain
the assignment.
To do this, the students will choose one mood that they felt was present in each
chapter (chapter numbers are listed in the first column).
In the middle column, students will write one quote from the chapter. The quote
should have quotation marks and a correct citation (authors last name and page

number). The quotes can be paraphrased or include an ellipsis if the quote is too
long.
In the last column, the students will identify the mood that the quote evoked and
describe why they felt this way.
The teacher will explain that the students can use the Moods handout in order to
help them identify moods.
Finally, the teacher will instruct students to finish reading chapter 1 and 2 (pages
11-38) of The Great Gatsby for homework and to complete the chapter 1and
chapter 2 rows in the packet.
(5 minutes)
Closure:
The teacher will close the lesson by stating that mood is important when reading
because it helps us respond and connect to a text better. She will explain that
reading is more enjoyable when we can emotionally connect to a text.
The teacher will ask students if they have any questions concerning the homework
assignment.
The teacher will close with any final class or school announcements.
(5 minutes)
8. Adaptations: By participating in a whole class discussion, students have a chance to share
and discuss thoughts with the teacher or peers. For students with special needs, I will allow
them to work with an intervention specialist to complete the assignment as well as individual
conference time with me for guidance, help, and better understanding. I will also allow ELL
students individual conference time with me for guidance, help, and better understanding.
Students will also be allowed opportunities throughout the novel to discuss how they feel
with a partner or class (usually when reading in class), which will allow time for questions
and a better understanding of the assignment.
9. Possible Problems & Solutions: A potential problem could occur if students do not follow

along in the reading. This can be fixed by asking students to read instead of the teacher.
Another problem could be lack of participation during the guided practice. This problem is
addressed in the guided practice. A problem could occur during the anticipation if the
technology is not working. This can be addressed by providing a handout of the lyrics to the
students.