Lesson Plans
Day One—Warm-up exercise—Have students map an area of the school, such as the first floor, using only their memory. Students can use either paper from their notebooks or you can distribute unlined paper. Allow 5-10 minutes. Have students compare their maps and discuss any problems, how they solved the problems—if they did, and benefits of their maps. Important question to lead into: What other types of maps are there? Purpose of question is to introduce idea of unit for students to create their personal map of places, and the places can be where something important occurred in their life, the location or someone important to them works or lives, where something important to them is located, etc. Show examples of maps, such as "Imperialist Federation Map of 1882," and discuss the art and science of it. Homework—Students begin planning their maps. If time, read an example of a short short story. Suggested piece—Chekhov's "The Nincompoop."
Note: By searching "antique maps" images, there are wonderful examples of maps with decorative elements that should ignite students' creativity.
Day Two—Warm-up—ask students about what ideas they have for their maps. Go over map terms. Begin history of cartography. Ideally through the use of a Powerpoint—can highlight definitions and terms you would like students to know for testing and show examples. Students can begin their maps. Materials on hand are your call, but minimum I feel is construction paper, pencils, colored pencils, markers, and crayons. Toward the end of class, read another short short story. Homework—assign two short short stories to read. Have students think about what is different about the stories. Suggested pieces—"Blindsided" by Don Shea and Raymond Carver's "Little Things." Carver's piece can be accessed through the Internet on "Literary Kicks: Action Poetry" page or through the direct web address of: http://www.jamelah.net/littlethings.html.
Day Three—Warm-up—Use the "Original Simile" exercise. Have students work on own for five to ten minutes. Then as a class discuss their answers. Re-read the two short short stories assigned for homework. Brainstorm a list of what the students feel is different about the pieces versus regular short stories. Provide students with the basics of short short stories. Then assign one of the story writing prompts. My choice: Tell the story about a scar they have. Work can be finished for homework. Also you might like to assign another short short story to read, such as Lydia Davis's "My Sister and The Queen of England" reprinted in Allen's book, or from the "Vestal Review" e-zine "Faustian Butterfly" by Masha Rumer from Issue 29 or "5" x 6" In a Sturdy Frame" by Caleb Ross. Day Four—Warm-up—Dialogue with a Space Alien exercise. Have several students read their work. Discuss what they learned from the exercise. Impress how dialogue can create tension and provide pacing. Talk about students' work & needs. Check homework stories on scars—can any students continue prompt to another piece? Read several pieces. Good pieces to use: "Aunt Germaine" by Yannick Murphy from Issue 30 of "Vestal Review"or "The Colonel" by Carolyn Forche in either Allen's book or Howe's. Discuss how dialogue propels the stories. Homework—Students write a description of a person exercise—part one only.
Day Five—Warm-up—Have students pare their homework description down to one or two lines as the Space Alien exercise dictates. Revisit maps—look at maps on "Strange Maps.com." Remember site is a blog and new maps are added every day or so. Use "Juxtaposition Opposites" exercise. Go over exercise either in groups or as a class. Alternative classwork—have students work on creating a second short short story for this unit using their maps as a guide. Homework—students work on their short short stories and maps.
Day Six—Warm-up—If you were unable to finish "Juxtaposition Opposites" exercise, do so now. Alternative classwork—use one or more of the writing prompts to help students generate another piece for the unit. Can allow students to choose from two or three of the prompts, or return to their maps for ideas. Look at one or two short short stories as a class. Suggestions—John Cheever's "Reunion" or "Pygmalion" by John Updike in Sudden Fiction" (Shapard and Thomas14-16, 33-34). Homework—students work on their stories.
Day Seven—Warm-up—Challenge word exercise. Students should either continue writing or revision work. Outline revision cues particular to short short stories. Homework—have students work on their stories and maps.
Day Eight—Warm-up—Read a short short story such as Langston Hughes' "Thank You, M'am" in Sudden Fiction (Shapard and Thomas 64-66). Good idea to allow students to exchange pieces and workshop them in groups of two, three, or four. Homework—students work on stories and maps.
Day Nine—Warm-up—Read a short short story such as "Rosary" by Robert Kelly in Sudden Fiction (Shapard and Thomas 176). Final revision day.
Day Ten—Show Time! Allow students to show their map work and read at least one of their short short stories. I recommend an informal atmosphere, where students volunteer to present. They should stand, briefly discuss their map, and then read one of their pieces.
Extension—Help students create a book of the classes' work using Microsoft Publisher.
Objectives
This unit was written to meet the state of Pennsylvania's Department of Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening for eleventh grade. These standards are posted online, and the web address is listed in my "Works Cited" section. The standards that apply to this unit are: 1.4.11 A—Types of Writing, 1.5.11 A-D, Quality of Writing, 1.6.11 B—Speaking and Listening, and 1.3.11 A-D Reading, Analyzing, and Interpretation. The following is a brief description of each of the above standards in order to aid in matching them to other state standards.
Standard 1.4.11 specifies students' creative pieces such as short stories, poems, or plays in which different organizational methods are employed. The standard itemizes the incorporation of other writing techniques such as: dialogue, literary conflict, poetic devices, and standard writing elements like point of view, plot, and characterization.
Quality of Writing Standard—1.5.11 A-D targets the quality of students' pieces. The standard calls for students' work to show a sharp, clear focus, that the content be developed, the pieces show organization, and the works display stylistic features. I used these characteristics as an aid in the creation of the short short story rubric (Appendix D).
The Speaking and Listening Standard—1.6.11 B applies to the listening, interpretation, and summarizing of literary pieces, which applies for any models read and discussed with the class. Standard 1.3.11 A-D & F Reading, Analyzing, and Interpretation covers the reading, interpretation, summarizing, and the reading and responding to literary works. Since students will be reading and discussing pieces either as part of class work or homework, this standard applies as well.
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