Kate Ostrander

ESC 708- Fall 2016

Prof. Gulla
Reflection on Content Pedagogy: Planning Literature and Reading Instruction in ELA
Candidates plan instruction and design assessments for reading and the study of literature to
promote learning for all students.
In preparing this standard I used a unit plan I designed for tenth graders for the novel
Lord of the Flies. I used the Backward Design model idea by Wiggins and McTighe to structure
the planning of the unit. The model basically starts with the end result you want accomplish,
moves to how to assess learning, and finally you work on designing assessments and activities. I
knew I wanted to work on the idea of innocence and savagery and whether good and evil were
predestined identities or learned behaviors. I also wanted the students to focus on the concept of
responsibility and when should children be held on the same level of responsibility for their
actions as adults. Once I had these concepts in mind, I was able to work backwards to design
activities and assessments to showcase what I wanted my students to achieve throughout the
study of the novel. I also used techniques from Echevarria, Vogt and Shorts book Making
Content Comprehensible for Secondary English Learners: The SIOP Model that I studied in ESC
529. Echevarria et. al. particularly state the importance of using assessment findings to plan
their lessons according to student needs and strengths, and to evaluate how effectively their
lessons have been delivered (167). Throughout my unit plan, I have examples of assessments
that vary from group to individual to vocabulary to creative writing etc. I have tried to give a
large variety of formal and informal assessments throughout the novel to not only use for grading
purposes but to determine clarity and understanding. Tying into the process above, I submitted a
unit plan with my aim and a set of notes that I would use to break down a specific chapter. The
points in the notes would be discussed in class and available after online for students to access.
The unit uses a variety of sources, media and activities to reach all students in a mixed level
classroom. Both of these successfully complete Element 1.
For Element 2, I have three different assessments throughout the novel. One is a
pre-reading activity in which the students read an article from the Imperial War Museum on the
evacuation of children in London during World War II and respond with a personal piece in the
form of a letter to their own parents. The second is a gallery walk activity that the students will
do at the beginning of the novel. This activity has students bring in images they feel represent
something good and evil and also allows them to take the time to reflect on other students
images. They will use what they study to have a class discussion on good and evil and to write a
journal reflection on their observations. The final assessment I used was a creative writing piece
in which the students have the opportunity to pick out of three writing assignments- a Where are
they now? piece, a rewrite or new ending option, or an all female version. These examples vary

greatly in range and allow students the opportunity to express themselves in a variety of writing
styles. It also has them putting themselves as students into the themes and into the story.
In Element 3, I focused on one of the Common Core ideas of students being able to read
and analyze complex and non fictional works by tying in a true crime article from CNN. In this
lesson I have the students read an article about Jordan Brown, an 11 year old accused of killing
his stepmother, and the legal process that followed. After reading, the students break into groups
to discuss given questions on the article and eventually to talk it out as a class. They receive
some information on the legal system that was important in Jordan Browns case. The students
break into groups again to create opening statements either on the defense or prosecution side for
Jack and Ralph in a fictional mock trial activity tying the CNN story to the novel. I think this is
great method for bringing in the modern day legal system and daily news stories to the literature
and themes being addressed.
The Student Journal Project and Character Mask Activity tie into Element 4. The journal
project will be kept throughout the reading of the novel and students will have the opportunity to
answer specific prompts and to also focus their attention on one specific character. This will
help to direct the students on one major character and allow them to really delve into what makes
him tick. It is also an outlet for students to express themselves and their opinions, make
assumptions of what is to come, reactions to what they read and giving them the opportunity to
express their own questions about the reading. The Character Mask Activity allows students to
express themselves in a both an artistic and verbal way. After completing the novel, students
will have the opportunity to design their own mask for their individual characters. Here they will
divide the character into good and evil and use textual evidence and visual imagery to depict
what they have determined makes up their person. They will also present their masks to the class
and explain how they reached the decisions they did regarding their characters. The masks will
make a great addition to the classroom decor.
For element 5, I focused on vocabulary and language throughout the novel. Part of the
student journal project was for students to notate any vocabulary they were unclear about and
that they looked up using either their paper dictionaries or Merriam Webster online. They also
can use these words to add to the class vocabulary list and to add onto any of the chapter
handouts. The second piece I used for this was a sample of a chapter handout. I have one for
Chapter 1 where I have listed and defined a set group of words with room for additions. There is
also a list of important quotes for students to reflect and notate on while reading. Both of these
examples are meant to help students with language and comprehension through the novel.
For the final element, 6, I reflect back to the article I used in Element 2 from the Imperial
War Museum. While the novel does not directly state that it is during World War II, drawing in
the idea of the evacuations from London helps to put the novel into a recognizable place of a
wartime situation. Golding was very affected by what he saw and experienced during wartime
and this allows the students to put the story into a historical sphere. The second piece I have used
is a class viewing of the Das Busepisode from The Simpsons. This half hour cartoon

encompasses the novel in a funny and concise manner which allows the students to bring the
novel into a more modern timeframe. Their final journal assignment is to write a Netflix review
of the episode and to note whether they think it successfully represented the heart of the novel or
not. Using these interdisciplinary and multimedia materials creates an instructional format that
rounds out the novel from beginning to end.

Works Cited
Common Core State Standards Initiative. http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/11-12/
Echevarria, Jana, et al. Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners:
The SIOP Model. Boston, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2008.
Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Alexandria,
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005.