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Teacher: Amanda Memoli Date: July 6
th
2014
School: Poudre High School Grade Level: 9th Content Area: English
Title: With a little help from my friends: Learning about characters through their interactions with
others.
Lesson #:_1_ of _1_

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

9th Grade. Standard 2. Reading for all purposes: Increasingly complex literary elements in
traditional and contemporary works of literature require scrutiny and comparison.

Evidence outcome b. Analyze how complex characters (e.g those with multiple or conflicting
motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the
plot or develop the theme.

Understandings: (Big Ideas)
Analyzing character complexity can help us better understand the complexities present in our
society and ourselves.
Determining a character's motivation(s) can help us to better understand the theme of the text.
A character's interactions with others can help us infer meaning about who they are and what
they want.

Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of instruction, select
applicable questions from standard)

How can understanding of a character's complexity help us better understand ourself and our
society?
How can analyzing a character's interactions with others help us to better understand the
character's motivation?
What do Holden's interactions with others tell us about his character?
How does Holden connect to others in the story?

Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets)
Every student will be able to:
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Having read the first four chapters of The Catcher in the Rye, students will be able to analyze
character interactions in The Catcher in the Rye by providing clearly written journal responses
which explain what they have inferred about the character of Holden Caulfield based on a
specific interaction and why.
I can:
Analyze character interactions and consider what they tell me about a characters motivation.
This means:
I can work in groups of three analyzing a specific character interaction in The Catcher in the Rye
by answer questions about character behaviors and motivations.
I can participate in a whole-class discussion about Holden Caulfields various interactions with
other characters.
I can explain in a journal response what a specific interaction helps me to better understand
about Holden and why this interaction helps me reach this understanding.
List of Assessments:

Students will be assessed based on their journal responses, the worksheet that they fill out in
small groups, and their participation in a whole class discussion. In all of these cases, I will be
looking for a carefully considered analysis of a character interaction. In other words, students
should be able to communicate what they understand about Holden Caulfield based on the
character interaction and why this interaction helps them better understand it.




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Planned Lesson Activities
Name and Purpose of Lesson
Should be a creative title for you and the students to associate
with the activity. Think of the purpose as the mini-rationale for
what you are trying to accomplish through this lesson.

With a little help from my friends: Learning about characters through their interactions with others
The purpose of this lesson is to get students to make inferences about complex characters. The character of
Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye is a particularly complex one, however in order to understand the
text, we must also understand Holden. Although as the narrator, he tells us a lot about himself, we must also
consider the fact that his perspective is not the only one. In order to know more, we must also consider his
interactions with other characters in the text.

Approx. Time and Materials
How long do you expect the activity to last and what materials
will you need?

This lesson should take 80 minutes.
Students will need:
Copies of The Catcher in the Rye.
Writing Journal
Writing Utensil
I will need:
Laptop with video clip from The Dead Poets Society
Graphic Organizer with Questions
Anticipatory Set
The hook to grab students attention. These are actions and
statements by the teacher to relate the experiences of the
students to the objectives of the lesson, To put students into a
receptive frame of mind.
To focus student attention on the lesson.
To create an organizing framework for the ideas,
principles, or information that is to follow (advanced
organizers)
An anticipatory set is used any time a different activity or new
concept is to be introduced.
I will show a clip from the film The Dead Poets Society- a scene interaction between the characters Todd and
Neil. This clip should be used to catch the students attention. While watching the clip, I will ask students to
try to learn as much about the characters as they can. An alternative to this exercise is to transcribe the
scene and have two students read it aloud to the class.




How do you intend to engage your students in thinking during
the Anticipatory Set?

Why are you using it at this point in your lesson?
The clip is light hearted and engaging. It is meant to be used to get them thinking about the way that a
character interaction can inform our understanding of specific characters motivations, which will help us
move into our discussion of The Catcher in the Rye. In order to keep them engaged and accountable,
students will be asked to take notes during the video, as they will be asked to write about it afterwards.
Procedures
(Include a play-by-play account of what students and teacher will
do from the minute they arrive to the minute they leave your
classroom. Indicate the length of each segment of the lesson. List
actual minutes.)
Indicate whether each is:
-teacher input
-modeling
:55- :00. Passing Period. I will stand at the door and greet students as they come into the room. So that we
can get started right away, I will have instructions posted on the board, asking students to go their desks,
clear everything else off, and to have their journal and writing utensil ready to go!
:00 Begin the lesson by making sure that everyone is prepared for class. (We will have established what this
should look like early on in the semester.) Make sure to have 100% student attention. Introduce the learning
targets for the day, and address any general questions.
:05 Ask students to make two columns in their notes and to label one Neil and the other Todd Tell
students to jot down as much information as they can gather about the two characters, while the video is
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-questioning strategies
-guided/unguided:
-whole-class practice
-group practice
-individual practice
-check for understanding
-other
playing and to be prepared to talk about it afterwards. Remind students of classroom expectations and to be
fully attentive while watching the clip. Show the clip. As students are watching the clip, make sure that they
are showing signs of full attention.
:08 After we have watched the clip, ask students to write for five minutes to the following prompt in their
journal. Before students begin writing, let them know that they will be called upon randomly to share their
ideas with the class.
Choose one of the characters in this scene. What do you know about them based on this interaction? Why
do you know it?
:13 Cold call several students asking them to share their ideas about each character. Record their ideas on
the board. After some general qualities have been recorded, ask students to consider how they know what
they know. For instance, if they say that they think Todd is shy, ask the how they know this. As we transition
to this kind of thinking, offer to call on students if they raise their hands. Call on 4-6 students.
:18 Ask students to get with a partner, (anyone sitting nearby) and to talk this question: Why is it important
to pay attention to character interactions in a story? As students are talking circulate throughout the room
and engage with quiet students.
:20 Have three or four groups share out their ideas about how paying attention to character interaction can
help us better understand a character as well as a text. Explain to students that this is exactly what we will be
working on today in order to better understand The Catcher in the Rye.
:25 Pass out the Graphic Organizer and explain the activity. Students will be divided into groups of 4,
predetermined by the teacher. They will be asked to read an excerpt of a character interaction from the first
four chapters of The Catcher in the Rye. Excerpts will be assigned. Once they have read the excerpt as a
group, they answer the questions on the worksheet. The questions will be similar to the questions asked in
the initial discussion. Students will consider what they have learned about each character and why they
know it. Although they will be working as a group, each student will fill out their own worksheet. Students
will be reminded that they will be called on to share their ideas later in a discussion. Have these
:30 Allow students to work in groups with the for 20 minutes to fill out the questions. While this is
happening, circulate throughout the room and engage with students. If students are not participating, quietly
redirect them reminding them of classroom expectations.
:50 Have students choose one person from each group to share out the groups ideas. Make sure that
everyone is listening respectfully. Acknowledge each groups ideas letting students know that this is the kind
of analysis that helps us better really get to the heart of a story.
:00 Move students into a bigger discussion of the text. Now that we know all of these things about Holdens
character, what do we think he might want? Why is it important to know this characters motivations? What
do his motivations tell us about the story as a whole? What predictions can we make based on what we
know? Students might not have clear answers for these questions yet. Its more important that they are
critically considering the questions.
:10 Thank students for an awesome discussion! Remind students that today they have gotten a chance to
critically consider what character interactions tell us about a characters motivations. Ask students to reflect
in their journal by answering the following prompt. Ask students to write for the full fifteen minutes.
1. What is one thing that you learned today about Holden Caulfields character?
2. How did you learn this?
3. How does this help you to better understand the story as a whole?
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4. What is one thing that this class made you wonder about?
:20 Release students from class.


How do you intend to engage your students in thinking during
the PROCEDURE?

Why are you using it at this point in your lesson?
I intend to engage students by having them work in groups. Each student will be given a worksheet which
they will be responsible for at the end of class. Also, in many of our discussions, students will be called on to
share their ideas which hopefully will encourage them to engage with the material. During the small group
discussions, I will circulate throughout the class to try to engage the quieter students.
Closure
Those actions or statements by a teacher that are designed to
bring a lesson presentation to an appropriate conclusion. Used to
help students bring things together in their own minds, to make
sense out of what has just been taught. Any Questions? No. OK,
lets move on is not closure. Closure is used:
To cue students to the fact that they have arrived at an
important point in the lesson or the end of a lesson.
To help organize student learning
To help form a coherent picture and to consolidate.
Closure is will be a journal response that the students will write. Before asking them to respond to the
prompts, I will remind them of our learning targets and recap the great work that we did today. I will remind
them that they worked to better understand a character by analyzing character interactions. I will also
explain that the prompt is meant to get them to extend their thinking beyond the work that we did in class
today.

How do you intend to engage your students in thinking during
CLOSURE?

Why are you using it at this point in your lesson?
It is my hope that the writing prompt will engage and focus them at the end of class. Since we covered a lot
today, I am purposefully using writing as way to get students to reflect on the work that we did in class and
to get them to consider why it is important.
Differentiation
To modify: If the activity is too advanced for a child, how will you
modify it so that they can be successful?
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a child, how will you
extend it to develop their emerging skills?

Assessment
How will you know if students met the learning targets? Write a
description of what you were looking for in each assessment.





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Post Lesson Reflection
1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize assessment data to justify
your level of achievement)


2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would you make if you were to
teach again?


3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice, reteach content, etc.)