Chelsea Schwarks Active Learning Activity (Direct Instruction)

Title and Description of Lesson: Its Showtime!

Subject/Grade Level: 7th grade English
AAS and P.O.:
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. (7.RL.2)
Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes
the characters or plot). (7.RL.3)
Learning Objective:
Students will apply their knowledge of plot, theme, characterization, setting, and point of view by
translating a scene from Twelfth Night into a screenplay for a short film.
Key Vocabulary: If Applicable
Plot, Characterization, Theme, Setting, Point of View, and Symbols
Methods for gathering evidence of students achievement of the outcome goals:
Formative Assessments: fist to five, walking around to different groups to monitor progress
Summative Assessments: rough screenplay due at the end of class
Materials/Tools/Resources:
Pencil, paper, internet device (phone, laptop, etc) if needed, time-keeping device
Set or Hook
Today we will be continuing our discussion on the elements of literature by focusing on plot,
theme, characterization, setting, point of view, and symbols. You will need to know these terms
in order to complete your project!
It is important to learn this for the real world because it will help you look at things through a
different perspective or lens. This will really help sharpen your knowledge on any subject!
This lesson will hone in on students prior learning by bringing up literary terms they have
learned about before, only this lesson will expand their knowledge.
Expectations for you during the lesson are:
1. Behaviorally: all students will be respectful toward one another while in groups and during
group presentations. All students will also be respectful and not speak while the teacher is
speaking.
2. Academically: All students will participate in their groups and contribute to the overall
product.
Guided Practice:
The lesson will begin by reminding the students of the literary terms we have been going over in
classplot, theme, setting, characterization, point of view, and symbols. We will re-go over the
definitions of these terms before the lesson to ensure the students have a solid understanding
of them. Afterward, the students will be placed in groups of four to work on their screenplay.
Independent Practice:
The students will be asked to delegate each member of the group to one of four jobs: facilitator,
research analyst, record keeper, and time manager. After every member of the group has a job,
the directions will be given. The students need to take a scene from Twelfth Night and reimagine
it as a movie screenplay using the elements of literature as a guide. The students will need to
assign famous actors and actresses to the roles of their characters. (Note: the students should
use actors and actresses that really emulate the characters. They can use the actor/actresss
previous movie roles as a guide.) Next, they will need to assign a different setting and a different

decade to the scene. They also need to specify what point of view they would like their movie to
be shot from. Then they will be challenged to choose a theme that will be seen throughout the
scene and describe how they will get this theme across. (Note: they can do this in countless
ways, including using certain props, specific costuming, or even changing the dialogue slightly.)
Finally, the students will reveal any symbols they are going to add to their scene and how they
will use those symbols. (Example: if a character is emotionally unfeeling and has a certain gruff
exterior, he or she might wear armor or some kind of protective clothing.)
Closure:
The exit ticket will be a written answer to the following question: how do you think you used at
least two of the elements of literature to create your screenplay?
Individual Accommodations:
The group jobs are designed so that every student can play a role in the team. The groups
range in difficulty so that every student (particularly students with special needs) could have a
job that suited his or her needs.