Small Scene.

Big Characters
Zac Ratliff 9th Grade English

Common Core Standards:

Upon completing this lesson, students will strengthen their understanding of literary devices such as setting, narrative style, symbol, and characterization. Students will improve their understanding of character differentiation, motivation, voice, and personality.

Lesson Summary: In this lesson, students will be watching scenes and clips from various films with multiple characters interacting with an emphasis on dialogue. Students will be asked to define and analyze character motivations, personalities, philosophies, etc. What makes characters unique and for engaging storytelling for the audience? Students will be required to analyze a new scene I provide a link for as a homework daily. After I have demonstrated what this analysis will look like on day one, students will be asked to partner up with one or two other classmates and write their own 5 minute scenes for their own story/movie idea so that we have 10 different 5 minute scene readings (Up to a minute of the scene can be an introduction/description of the characters/context of the scene/setting) among the whole class. Once their scenes have been scripted, they will be required to record the audio to their scenes with as many others as they need for the scene using Audacity. Students will each email me their groups mp3 from Audacity. On the final day of the week and of the lesson, as a class, we will listen to each of the groups scenes with the lights turned off. Students will be asked to visualize their classmates scenes that way. Rather than analyzing a scene from film/TV as their homework for that final night, I will assign each student an audio scene created by another group and provide the mp3 and transcript of it so they can analyze it as their final homework for the lesson. Students will be assessed on a score out of 10 for their effort and work on their 5 nightly homeworks and awarded a pass/fail grade worth 50 points in total or 25 of the total 50 points based on their effort for their group scene readings. Between the 50 potential points that can be gained from the homework analyses and the group projects, students will receive a final grade out of 100 points for the entire lesson plan.

Estimated Duration: This lesson plan will require a full 250 minutes to complete. This will be a week-long lesson which will be divided up among the 5 days of the week. Each 50 minute class will be used in its entirety. In addition to the 5 class periods being used, students will be assigned nightly homework which requires internet access.

Commentary:

I think the strength to this lesson plan is how fun it is. Everyone enjoys movies and TV and have at some point thought about their own idea for a movie or TV show. With this lesson plan, the students get to actualize just a small piece of their own ideas and improve their own writing and understanding of characters. I dont think it will be a problem getting students hooked. The biggest challenge I think will be getting the students to grasp what I want them to take from the lesson and understand character differentiation and motivation and that will be more so on me as a teacher than on the students. If they can understand this then developing characters will be a whole lot easier and interesting characters are vital to an interesting story.

Instructional Procedures: Day 1: First 30 minutes: I will introduce the students to a series of different scenes from different genres of films or television shows which showcase more than one contrasting characters interacting. Some scenes will be funny, scary, emotional, romantic, etc. I will emphasize how the characters are each unique and may want different things (motivation), have a different temperament, or possess their own unique philosophy on life and relate this to how strong characters can influence the quality of storytelling. I will also provide an example of my own analysis of a scene and its character, demonstrating how their homework for the lesson should be completed. Last 20 minutes: I will explain and break down the assignment and what will be required of the students for this lesson. Rubrics will be handed out. Depending on class size, students will be partnering up in groups of 2 or 3 so that there are only 10 group audio projects to be graded and heard amongst the class on the Friday class. I will explain how their group work will be completed Tuesday through Thursday and at home too if they wish. In addition there will be homework each night.

Day 2: Entire class period (50 mins): Students will be working with their group on developing their characters and 5 minute long scene. Tuesday will be a day for brainstorming and determining their ideas. An idea and characters must be established by the end of the class period or overnight. Either way, they must have their idea ready to work with by the start of class the following day. If they have determined their idea quickly they may begin to write. I will be walking around the classroom and offering assistance, answering questions, and clarifying any misconceptions. Access to desktop computers, Microsoft Word, and internet will be necessary. Day 3: Entire class period (50 mins): Students will continue their group work and begin writing/drafting their characters and scenes. A finished first draft by the end of the period is ideal. If it is not complete they may complete it in the first 15 to 20 minutes on the next and final day for working on their project in class. Students are still encouraged to work on their group projects outside of class if they wish. I will be around to offer assistance during class and available via email outside of class. Access to desktop computers, Microsoft Word, and internet will be necessary.

Day 4: Entire class period (50 mins): Students will finish up the final typed draft of their scene and character descriptions and provide me with a printed hard copy of this. Once they have finished their scenes, they will record themselves reading their scenes into microphones and recorded on Audacity software. I will be around to lend an extra voice to their scenes if they need it and offer any assistance. Once students complete their audio recordings they will email me their mp3 files. If the students plan to finish their recordings at home they may do so as long as I have the mp3 before midnight that night. Access to desktop computers, Microsoft Word, internet, and Audacity software will be necessary. Day 5: Entire class period (50 mins): As a class we will listen to each groups audio file of their scenes and descriptions. Once the period is over and students are walking out the door they will be handed one of the copies Ive made of another groups transcribed scene and descriptions. I will also be emailing them the corresponding audio file to listen to. Analyzing their assigned scene from another group just as they had done the past 4 nights will be their final homework to be turned in that night via email.

Pre-Assessment: Pre-Assessment will be in the form of an informal whole class discussion (emphasis on the whole class part) on the few scenes I share in the first part of the class on Monday. I will share what I am looking for and then by the end gauge what they already understand about establishing and writing characters. Scoring Guidelines: The pre-assessment will be conducted via checklist on a student to student basis. If Ive done my job as a teacher I will have already established a loose and comfortable environment where students feel comfortable speaking freely amongst the entire class and not afraid to ask questions. I will determine where each student is at with what they already understand regarding the topic. Pre-assessment will not be for a grade or necessarily on a points basis, but more of a mental gauging of the students knowledge on my part so I know what I need to do to help and improve each students grasp of the topic. Post-Assessment: Post-Assessment for this lesson will come in the form of the group project. The project will be a 5 minute long scene with as many characters as there are members in the group plus one more if they choose. Groups will develop unique and individual characters and establish clear motivations within their scenes. Students should make their characters personalities, voice, philosophies, etc. be transparent to the audience in their readings of the scenes and on the page when they type them out. The scenes may have up to 1 minute of their audio recording be an introduction to the characters and context of the scene. Scoring Guidelines: The scoring for this entire lesson plan will be out of a total of 100 points. 5 homework assignments

assigned each night of the week worth 10 points apiece. The students will be assigned a clip on YouTube to analyze how I have shown them which fits with the current lesson plan. This is how the students will be assessed on an individual basis as the week progresses. The group project (typed copy of the scene and character descriptions and audio reading of it) will be graded on a pass/fail basis. If the students complete the project according to the rubric requiring a 5 minute length audio file (up to 1 minute of that being contextual and character description), typed transcript, effort, and display a good grasp of the lesson then they will receive a 50 out of 50. Less than the requirements on the rubric will earn the group a score of 25 out of 50. No group submission will result in a 0. The scoring system is this way so that individuals are not punished too heavily by poor group work. If the group fails the project and receives a 25 out of 50, points can still be made up on an individual basis with good performance on the homeworks. However, I am not asking for a lot on the group project and, really, each group should pass. If they do not pass then they more or less did not participate in the assignment.

Differentiated Instructional Support Describe how instruction can be differentiated (changed or altered) to meet the needs of gifted or accelerated students: For gifted students, I will offer a couple of different extra credit opportunities. First, students who want the extra challenge may add an additional 5 minutes to their group project. For every 5 minutes of exceptional work, students may be awarded up to 5 points of extra credit. Extended projects such as these will not be played aloud on the final presentation day, rather I will listen and assess these on my own time. They may be played aloud at another time at the classs request based on a popular vote. A second extra credit opportunity will be for the students to complete an additional homework assignment assessing a clip in the same manner as the other homeworks. For this, the students will need to choose their own scene. The scene can be on YouTube or another source. The students must provide me with the clip whether it be a link or hard copy. Students can earn up to 10 more points with this second opportunity. For students struggling with the lesson, I will have made myself available during free periods to clear up what they are struggling with. One on one tutoring is proven to be more effective than group lecturing so I would expect the one on one learning to help the students grasp the material.

Extension http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/the-9-ingredients-of-character-development This site gives students a good, quick rundown of things to remember when developing characters and should be a handy little reference point.

Homework Options and Home Connections Homework will make up for half of the total points to be earned in this lesson plan. The first 4 nights of the week I will provide students with links to either YouTube or other websites which contain a short segment of a

film or television show. The scene will showcase more than one character interacting and highlighting good examples of character development, voice, and motivation. Students will be asked to analyze the scene and its characters. What are the characters motivations? What about their philosophies? Temperament? Basically, what makes these characters unique and leads to the scene being memorable? I will ask a series of questions requiring a paragraph-long answer for each and I will ask for an additional paragraph where the students respond to the clip with their own thoughts, opinions, and reactions to the scenes. The final night of the week I will assign each student a scene crafted by one the groups they were not in to analyze in the same way as they did the previous homeworks. I will provide them with the audio mp3 via email and also give them a hard copy of the transcribed scene and description of the context.

Interdisciplinary Connections This lesson can easily be incorporated with other subjects. Each character should be unique and could display a unique outlook on life or a specific philosophy. Perhaps the scene is one of the science fiction genre, that scene may require at least one of the characters to have a grasp of one of the sciences. Maybe a scene is from a political thriller, there will need to be a demonstration of some form of political science. To understand character motivations and their thought processes the students could use some textbook psychology or sociology for understanding how characters interact within a story. Materials and Resources:

For teachers

Teachers will need access to a computer and internet. Teachers will want to secure a set of laptops or computer lab for the students group work in class. These computers will need the Audacity program and multiple available microphones and headsets.

For students

Students will need access to a computer with internet outside of school. If they opt to work on their group projects outside of school they will need an online platform to cooperate with group members as well as their own microphones and the Audacity software.

Key Vocabulary Voice Motivation

Characterization Philosophy

Additional Notes This assignment is supposed to be fun! Both the teachers and students should be having fun! If youre not having fun doing it, then youre not doing it right!