Lesson Plans
Note: The following lessons are planned on a schedule of meeting students every day for 90 minutes. 45 minutes is dedicated to each subject of reading and writing. An approximate breakdown of the 45 minutes would be: 10 minute mini-lesson, 30 minute independent work time with conferences, 5 minutes of closure and sharing. Students should have two notebooks. The literacy notebook is where students will take lesson notes, keep dialectic notes from the novels they read and maintain the reading log. The writer's notebook is used for creative writing, free writing ideas and journals.
Lesson 1 - Reading
Objective: Define character voice and discuss interpretations of author's style.
Estimated Time: 2 lessons
Materials: Literacy notebook.
Activity: Discuss with students what "voice" means when referring to a character in a novel. Discuss various ways an author can present a character through voice. For example: first-person narrative, third-person narrative, diary entries and dialogue. Students should determine what style of voice is used in the novel they are currently reading.
Lesson 2 - Reading and Writing
Objective: Define character voice and look at examples from various texts. Focus on revealing character through first-person narrative.
Estimated Time: 5 lessons
Materials: Literacy notebook and writer's notebook. Copies of Becoming Naomi Leon, Monster, Heat, Stuck in Neutral, Notes from the Midnight Driver.
Activity: To look at detailed aspects of revealing character, each book can be used for a specific purpose and example. Some suggestions follow. Each of the novels would be discussed in a separate mini-lesson.
Becoming Naomi Leon - reflective tone, precise word choice, evolution of a character
Monster - diary entry of main character
Heat - reflective tone, providing detail without loosing the interest of the reader
Stuck in Neutral - describing a character through first-person narrative, stream-of-consciousness thought
Notes From the Midnight Driver - stream-of-consciousness thought
In conference time and dialectic notes, students can determine what style is used in their current novel and also reflect on styles they have read in the past and which one they prefer. With the above examples students can return to their writer's notebooks and begin a short piece on developing a fictional character. This is the first step in the final project which is to create a fictional short story in the genre of realistic fiction, making sure that the main character is different from the writer. The on-going project of writing a fictional short story can be a partner assignment, which for some students may be preferable. For simplicity in these lessons I will continue to refer to the project as an individual student activity.
Lesson 3 - Reading and Writing
Objective: Define various forms of humor and how it is presented in realistic fiction.
Estimated Time: 2-3 lessons
Materials: Literacy notebook and writer's notebook. Copies of Don't Call Me Ishmael and Notes From the Midnight Driver.
Activity: Discuss with students the use of humor in writing, giving examples from the above resources. Allow students to model this humor writing in their own work on the short story project.
Don't Call Me Ishmael - situational humor, punch-line humor
Notes From the Midnight Driver - specific audience humor
Lesson 4 - Reading and Writing
Objective: Develop character voice through means other than a narrative.
Estimated Time: 2-3 lessons
Materials: Literacy notebook and writer's notebook. Copies of The Taking of Room 114 and Monster.
Activity: Discuss with students alternative ways to develop and present a character to the reader. Give examples of the above novels as references of these various techniques. Guide students in their writing to offer a different style of presenting their fictional character than they have used previously to see if they can improve their writing technique.
The Taking of Room 114 - story through poetic form, multiple voices through the response of one character, two voices in dialogue
Monster - describing a character through the words of another character, screenplay of actions
Lesson 5 - Reading and Writing
Objective: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of speaking directly to the reader.
Estimated Time: 1 lesson
Materials: Literacy notebook and writer's notebook. Copy of I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You.
Activity: Show/read to students the quote given previously where the character speaks directly to the reader. Ask students to react to this style of writing. As students read their independent novels they can reflect on how the novel would change if some parts were written this way. As students return to the short story, conference with them on this technique and decide if it would benefit the project to include this style.
Lesson 6 - Writing
Objective: Bring all that students have learned about character voice into one cohesive realistic fiction short story.
Estimated Time: Two weeks
Materials: Writers notebook, copies of novels mentioned above as well as any other novels that are good references for learning about voice.
Activity: Throughout this time students have been learning different ways to express a character through writing. Various techniques have been addressed and students should have been writing each day using these various techniques. Now students will bring together what they have been doing and begin to write and complete an original short story in the genre of realistic fiction. The length and specifications will be up to teacher discretion. The goal is to strengthen student writing by expanding student imagination as well as offering multiple models of good writing provided by professional authors.
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