Melissa Kim

Grade Level: 9th

Length of lesson: 5 class periods
Analyzing a Play through Text-Dependent Questions
Content Standards:
1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W9 -10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of
substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W9 -10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and
convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the
effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
3. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W9 -10.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts
to support analysis, reflection, and research.
4. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9 -10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Lesson Plan Sequence:
1st Class Period:
a. Class Discussion: If you could create a robot, what abilities would you give it?
b. Introduce R.U.R. and background information
c. Read the first six pages of the play as a class 1ST reading
d. Homework: Read Act I (including the part we read as a class)2nd Reading
Mark in your text/take notes on what characteristics the human
manufacturers give their robots.
2nd Class Period:
a. Class Discussion: 1st Text-Dependent Question: How does Capek portray
the humans in the play? How does he portray the robots? Cite evidence from
the text to support your claim.
b. Break the class into groups of three and assign one section of Act I to each
group. Have each group read the section amongst themselves and come up with a
word that describes that section. Have students present their word and reasoning
to the class. 3rd reading
c. Homework: Read Act II1st reading
Mark in your text/take notes on each characters definition/opinion
of the word progress.
3rd Class Period:
a. Journal: Provide the students with the following passage:
Dr. Gall: You see, so many robots are being manufactured that people are
becoming superfluous; man is really a survival. But that he should begin to

die out, after a paltry thirty years of competition. Thats the awful part of it.
You might also think that nature was offended at the manufacture of Robots.
All the universities are sending in long petitions to restrict their production.
Otherwise, they say, mankind will become extinct through lack of fertility. But
the R.U.R. shareholders, of course, wont hear of it. All the governments, on
the other hand, are clamoring for an increase in production, to raise the
standards of their armies. And all the manufacturers of the world are ordering
robots like mad.
b. Journal: 2nd Text-Dependent Question: What conflicts are presented in
this paragraph? How do these conflicts evolve in Act II?
c. Class Discussion: 3rd Text-Dependent Question: One of the
characteristics that set the humans apart from the robots is their ability
to reason, so proclaimed by Hallemeier in the play. Where do we see
humans being unreasonable in Acts I or II?
d. Homework: Re-read Acts I & II and high light any sections you need
clarification or would like to discuss.2nd Reading
Short Take-Home Essay: 4th Text-Dependent Question: How is morality
complicated and jeopardized in Acts I & II?
4th Class Period:
a. Mini Discussion: Students asks me or classmates to clarify any questions or
excerpts they have.
b. Video: Show a twenty-minute clip of the film Gattaca (1997). Ask students
to focus on how humans manipulate nature.
c. Class Discussion: What similarities do we see in Gattaca and R.U.R.?
d. Homework: Read Act III and Epilogue1st Reading
5th Class Period:
a. Assign roles to students in the class and read the Epilogue aloud.2nd
reading
b. Class Discussion: 5th, 6th and 7th Text-Dependent Questions: What role
does Helena play in the last act and epilogue? What is capitalism? How
do you think Capek views capitalism?
c. Homework: Prompt: Dr. Glory writes to you to tell you of the development
of a more efficient robot who will immediately shut down at the first hint of
disobedience, thus stamping out any chance of a robot rebellion. He would like
your personal opinion on the matter. Write him a letter in response. Be sure to
cite any evidence in your letter from the text, but treat the evidence as real
events. Remember: you live in the world of R.U.R.
Close Reading Strategies:

1. Create authentic discussions: I will design discussion questions and topics that provide
students the opportunity to extend their thinking and expound their critical analysis skills.
2. Provide targeted, strategic instruction: During group work, I will circulate the room
and observe my students in their discussions and activities. Any common
questions/obstacles they have will be addressed in a class discussion.
3. Students write intensively and frequently about what they read: I provide numerous
writing activitieslong and short, formal and informalfor students to help them
understand and think more deeply about what they have read (p.169).
4. Taking notes: I will teach students how to take effective notes and create graphic
organizers that will assist them when they read the text. I will have a lesson before we
begin a major text such as R.U.R. and remind them of these strategies throughout the
year.