g.+Lesson+4+Kelly

====//As the students explore "Friends" and "Enemies," the class will discuss connotations and denotations of titles and continue the exploration of dichotomies. For homework, students will read "How to Tell a True War Story" and complete a thought assignment about traditional war stories.//====

How to Tell a True War Story (Lesson One, Day One)
 **A. Purpose of the Unit and Concept (Long Term)** //By the end of this unit…// - Students will be able to explore the social, ethical, and civic implications of war.
 * -** Students will be able to develop an understanding of the art of story-telling.
 * -** Students will be able to write their own story.

//By the end of this lesson…// - Students will be able to identify elements of a story in a medium other than literature. - Students will be able to analyze common themes and patterns of a particular genre. - Students will be able to use the text to develop criteria for telling a true war story. - Students will be able to identify an author’s unique opinions and style in comparison with the conventions and messages of traditional stories.
 * B. Objectives for this lesson (Short Term)**

- For homework the night before, students will read “How to Tell a True War Story.” They will also think about war stories that they know—from movies, T.V., family tradition, cultural heritage, etc. They will be prepared to share one of these stories. - Students will begin by watching a montage of clips from famous war movies and think about common themes and patterns. - Students will participate in an informal class discussion about common themes in the war stories we watched as well as what they brought to share with the class. - Next, the students will break into five groups of four. They will use their books and collaborate to make a list of what Tim O’Brien says makes a war story true. Each group will be assigned four pages of text. - After making the group’s list, one member from each group will write the group findings on the board. - Students will continue small group discussion to analyze Tim O’Brien’s criteria for a war story in comparison with the themes of war stories discussed at the beginning of class. - For homework, students will write a reflection on how their opinion of war stories was affected by the reading and class discussion.
 * C. Process / Procedures for Students**

//Before// - The teacher will find a montage of war movie clips to show to the class. The montage will demonstrate an array of war movie scenes that will help students in their envisionment building process of how war is often depicted. - The teacher will prepare notes about different common themes of war stories demonstrated in movies or in cultural tradition to help scaffold class discussion if the students have difficulty. - The teacher will do a close reading of “How to Tell a True War Story” and make a list of Tim O’Brien’s criteria for a true war story. //During// - At the beginning of class, the teacher will tell the students to think about common themes and patterns as they watch a montage of war movie clips. - When the montage is over, the teacher will ask students to share what they noticed about the war movies in the video and their own war stories they thought about for homework. As the students share their ideas, the teacher will write notes on the overhead of what they say and help students to clarify their opinions. If students are having trouble, she will be prepared to scaffold the students with questions, and possibly share her idea of a war story and its themes. - Next, the teacher will ask the students to break into groups of four. She will assign four pages from the chapter for each group to look at and find what Tim O’Brien says about what makes a true war story. She will tell the students that when they have found everything in the four pages, one representative from each group can write the group’s findings on the board. She will walk from group to group to see what they are finding and make sure that the groups are on track. - After each group has written their findings on the board, the teacher will tell the class to stay in their small groups and compare Tim O’Brien’s criteria with the characteristics and themes of traditional or popular war stories. - As the groups discuss, the teacher will walk from group to group. She will listen to what the students are finding, if they need help she will ask some guiding questions to spark student discussion. //Closing / Summation// - With about five minutes left of class, the teacher will assign homework. For homework, students are to write a short reflection paragraph about how their opinions on war stories and whether they have changed during the class discussion. She will tell them that to get an A, they must include what we discussed in class as well as their personal opinion.
 * D. Process / Procedures for Teachers**

- Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried - Dry Eraseboard - Overhead - Pen/Pencil - Paper - Teacher's notes
 * E. Materials Needed**
 * -** War movie montage ([]) to stop at 2:40.

- Students will be assessed through discussion—as usual, students will be graded on their participation through the day with their professional attitudes and their verbal participation. Students who are shy can demonstrate participation in the small groups and through their professional attitudes. - Students will also be assessed with their reflection paragraph, which is due the next day. The paragraph will include the differences between Tim O’Brien’s criteria of a war story with the traditional themes of war stories as well as the student’s opinion.
 * F. Assessment**
 * -** Formative assessment will occur throughout—as the teacher stimulates discussion she can assess that students are able to make the comparisons between common war stories and Tim O’Brien’s story.

- This lesson involves a lot of scaffolding and collaboration, which will support learning for students with special needs and ELLs. - Shy students will be able to discuss in smaller groups, thus hindering embarrassment that they may have sharing in front of the entire class. - Students with special needs and ELLs will receive extra time to do the homework and will also be urged to ask the teacher for assistance after class, at lunch, before school, or by e-mail. - ELLs will have access to dictionaries to support learning.
 * G. Modifications or Accommodations**
 * -** Students will be asked to speak about traditional war stories—these can be from their culture, their family, fables, or movies. This will allow ELLs to bring in traditional war stories from their culture to add to discussion.

they affect meaning; - LA.1112.1.7.7 -  compare and contrast elements in multiple texts; and - LA.1112.2.1.4 -  analyze the way in which the theme or meaning of a selection represents a view or   comment on life, providing textual evidence for the identiﬁed theme;
 * H.** **Sunshine** **State** **Standards Met**
 * -** LA.1112.1.7.2 -  analyze the author’s purpose and/or perspective in a variety of text and understand how