LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Investigating names to explore personal history and cultural traditions

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=878

A lesson plan for Grade 9 English I

Provider: IRA/NCTE

About this resource

Appropriate grades
9
Subjects
English language arts (literature, reading, writing), diverse learners (multiple intelligences)
Provider
IRA/NCTE

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Students explore the origins of their names by conducting Internet research and interviewing family members in this lesson that focuses on The House on Mango Street. After students have reflected on what they know about their names, they conduct Internet research about their names and share their findings with their classmates. Then students interview family members as a homework assignment and share information with the class. Once all students have had the opportunity to explain the origin of their name, the teacher shares an excerpt from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and engages students in a discussion about a character’s name. Students then work in small groups to evaluate two sample passages that were modeled on the work of Cisneros. After the teacher demonstrates how to write in the manner of an author, students practice writing using the method and form of Cisneros. When students show mastery of this writing technique, they write a short vignette about their own names and work together to edit and revise their work. This lesson provides opportunities for student reflection, suggests extension activities, and gives links to helpful web resources. Readwritethink provides project guidelines, links to sites that explore name origins, graphic organizers, and other helpful resources.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 9 — English I

  • Goal 1: The learner will express reflections and reactions to print and non-print text and personal experiences.
    • Objective 1.01: Narrate personal experiences that offer an audience:
      • scenes and incidents located effectively in time and place.
      • vivid impressions of being in a setting and a sense of engagement in the events occurring.
      • appreciation for the significance of the account.
      • a sense of the narrator's personal voice.
    • Objective 1.02: Respond reflectively (individually and in groups) to a variety of expressive texts (e.g., memoirs, vignettes, narratives, diaries, monologues, personal responses) in a way that offers an audience:
      • an understanding of the student's personal reaction to the text.
      • a sense of how the reaction results from a careful consideration of the text.
      • an awareness of how personal and cultural influences affect the response.
    • Objective 1.03: Demonstrate the ability to read, listen to and view a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print expressive texts appropriate to grade level and course literary focus, by:
      • selecting, monitoring, and modifying as necessary reading strategies appropriate to readers' purpose.
      • identifying and analyzing text components (such as organizational structures, story elements, organizational features) and evaluating their impact on the text.
      • providing textual evidence to support understanding of and reader's response to text.
      • demonstrating comprehension of main idea and supporting details.
      • summarizing key events and/or points from text.
      • making inferences, predicting, and drawing conclusions based on text.
      • identifying and analyzing personal, social, historical or cultural influences, contexts, or biases.
      • making connections between works, self and related topics.
      • analyzing and evaluating the effects of author's craft and style.
      • analyzing and evaluating the connections or relationships between and among ideas, concepts, characters and/or experiences.
      • identifying and analyzing elements of expressive environment found in text in light of purpose, audience, and context.
  • Goal 4: The learner will create and use standards to critique communication.
    • Objective 4.01: Evaluate the effectiveness of communication by:
      • examining the use of strategies in a presentation/product.
      • applying a set of predetermined standards.
      • creating an additional set of standards and applying them to the presentation/product.
      • comparing effective strategies used in different presentations/products.
    • Objective 4.02: Read and critique various genres by:
      • using preparation, engagement, and reflection strategies appropriate for the text.
      • identifying and using standards to evaluate aspects of the work or the work as a whole.
      • judging the impact of different stylistic and literary devices on the work.
    • Objective 4.03: Demonstrate the ability to read, listen to and view a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print critical texts appropriate to grade level and course literary focus, by:
      • selecting, monitoring, and modifying as necessary reading strategies appropriate to readers' purpose.
      • identifying and analyzing text components (such as organizational structures, story elements, organizational features) and evaluating their impact on the text.
      • providing textual evidence to support understanding of and reader's response to text.
      • demonstrating comprehension of main idea and supporting details.
      • summarizing key events and/or points from text.
      • making inferences, predicting, and drawing conclusions based on text.
      • identifying and analyzing personal, social, historical or cultural influences, contexts, or biases.
      • making connections between works, self and related topics.
      • analyzing and evaluating the effects of author's craft and style.
      • analyzing and evaluating the connections or relationships between and among ideas, concepts, characters and/or experiences.
      • identifying and analyzing elements of critical environment found in text in light of purpose, audience, and context.
  • Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate understanding of various literary genres, concepts, elements, and terms.
    • Objective 5.01: Read and analyze various literary works by:
      • using effective reading strategies for preparation, engagement, reflection.
      • recognizing and analyzing the characteristics of literary genres, including fiction (e.g., myths, legends, short stories, novels), non-fiction (e.g., essays, biographies, autobiographies, historical documents), poetry (e.g., epics, sonnets, lyric poetry, ballads) and drama (e.g., tragedy, comedy).
      • interpreting literary devices such as allusion, symbolism, figurative language, flashback, dramatic irony, dialogue, diction, and imagery.
      • understanding the importance of tone, mood, diction, and style.
      • explaining and interpreting archetypal characters, themes, settings.
      • explaining how point of view is developed and its effect on literary texts.
      • determining a character's traits from his/her actions, speech, appearance, or what others say about him or her.
      • explaining how the writer creates character, setting, motif, theme, and other elements.
      • making thematic connections among literary texts and media and contemporary issues.
      • understanding the importance of cultural and historical impact on literary texts.
      • producing creative responses that follow the conventions of a specific genre and using appropriate literary devices for that genre.
    • Objective 5.02: Demonstrating increasing comprehension and ability to respond personally to texts by selecting and exploring a wide range of genres.
    • Objective 5.03: Demonstrate the ability to read, listen to and view a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print literacy texts appropriate to grade level and course literary focus, by:
      • selecting, monitoring, and modifying as necessary reading strategies appropriate to readers' purpose.
      • identifying and analyzing text components (such as organizational structures, story elements, organizational features) and evaluating their impact on the text.
      • providing textual evidence to support understanding of and reader's response to text.
      • demonstrating comprehension of main idea and supporting details.
      • summarizing key events and/or points from text.
      • making inferences, predicting, and drawing conclusions based on text.
      • identifying and analyzing personal, social, historical or cultural influences, contexts, or biases.
      • making connections between works, self and related topics.
      • analyzing and evaluating the effects of author's craft and style.
      • analyzing and evaluating the connections or relationships between and among ideas, concepts, characters and/or experiences.
      • identifying and analyzing elements of literary environment found in text in light of purpose, audience, and context.
  • Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.
    • Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression that:
      • uses varying sentence types (e.g., simple, compound, complex, compound-complex) purposefully, correctly, and for specific effect.
      • selects verb tense to show an appropriate sense of time.
      • applies parts of speech to clarify and edit language.
      • addresses clarity and style through such strategies as parallelism; appropriate coordination and subordination; variety and details; appropriate and exact words; and conciseness.
      • analyzes the place and role of dialects and standard/nonstandard English.
      • uses vocabulary strategies such as roots and affixes, word maps, and context clues to discern the meanings of words.
    • Objective 6.02: Discern and correct errors in spoken and written English by:
      • avoiding fragments, run-ons, and comma splices.
      • selecting correct subject-verb agreement, consistent verb tense, and appropriate verbs.
      • using and placing modifiers correctly.
      • editing for spelling and mechanics (punctuation and capitalization).