Week 2, Day 1 Focus of Lesson: The Conventional and the Unconventional

Transcription

1 1 Week 2, Day 1 Focus of Lesson: The Conventional and the Unconventional Beginning of class (10 minutes): Take up the film/text connections from Pleasantville screening last week. Generate class discussion on societal norms. Mind Map Activity (20 minutes): Split up students into groups of four for Mind Map activity between Pleasantville and up to what they have read so far in The Catcher in the Rye. Materials Needed: large sheets of paper and markers Students are to create mind maps between the main themes, symbols and motifs they have observed from the film and the text. Take up mind maps. Jigsaw Activity: Examining Holden in relation to his family (40 minutes.) : Students remain in their mind map groups. Each group will be assigned a series of questions regarding the character of Holden in relation to particular members of his family. Students are to work on these questions for half an hour and are then to read their well thought out answers to the class. Group Questions: Group 1: Holden s Parents What do his parents represent as authority figures? Are they authority figures? What constitutes an authority figure? Are Holden s parents taking care of Holden, or is he taking care of them? Give specific examples from the text. Group 2: Phoebe In what ways does Phoebe affect and or influence Holden s behaviour? What you think Phoebe symbolizes to Holden?

2 2 Group 3: Allie What does Allie s memory represent to Holden? Why do you think Holden holds on to Allie s baseball mitt? If Allie was alive today, do you think he would have a close relationship with Holden? At the end of the jigsaw activity, take up group work with the class. Silent Reading: (last 10 minutes of class) Homework: Read chapters Hook: (5 minutes) Week 2, Day 2 Focus of Lesson: Holden and Grief At the beginning of the lesson, have the following words written on the board: RED HUNTING HAT BASEBALL MITT Ask the class: How do these words relate to The Catcher in the Rye? Object Symbolism (30-35 minutes.) Ask students to examine the objects of the Red Hunting Hat and the Baseball mitt that are frequently mentioned in the text. Students are then to answer the following questions: Q: What do you think these objects symbolize for Holden? Q: Describe how this object is a hiding mechanism Holden? Q: Think of an object that has helped you get through a hard time. What is this object and how or why does it help you?

3 3 Take up answers. Class discussion: (10 minutes) Topics of depression---symptoms of grief through the character examination of Holden. Signs and symptoms of depression of teens in general. End of Class: (15 minutes) Hand out Cumulative Assignment with rubric (See Appendix 8) Assign cumulative project that is due in Week 4. Students have the option of designing either: Their own personal Game of Life. Create a series of podcasts (maximum of five) from the perspective of Holden Caulfield. The series of podcasts can be create like open letters to a member of his family, another main character in the novel, or society in general. Each podcast must be ten minutes long. Create five blogs (200 words for each) based on the lives of Holden, Phoebe, Allie or Jane. Last 10 minutes of class: Silent reading Homework: Read up to and including Chapter 21. Week 2, Day 3 Focus of Lesson: Holden and Girls Hook-- begin class with the following quote (15 minutes) I mean most girls are so dumb and all. After you neck them for awhile, you can really watch them losing their brains. You take a girl when she really gets passionate, she just hasn t any brains (The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 13) Discuss the quote with the class. o Ask the class if they have been offended or surprised by Holden s view of women at any particular point in the text. If so, what part of the text was this and what was it that offended you or surprised you? Teacher moves on to a character analysis of Jane. (5-10 minutes)

4 4 Following Jane s Character Analysis: The teacher asks the class the following question: Q: What do you think girls were like in the 1950 s? Ask the class to reflect back to the discussion on Pleasantville. Back to the Future Clip (5-10 minutes): Show the class a brief film clip from Back to the Future (1985) with the characters of Marty and Lorraine so that students can be introduced to female stereotypes of the 1950s. In-Class Skit Assignment (last 35 minutes of class) Split class into two sections. First half of the class are to create their own short skit (5 minutes.) of Holden Caulfield s point of view of an unconventional date in the 1950s. Second half of the class are to do a skit (5 minutes.) of what they think a conventional date would be like in the 1950s. Students can pair up with a partner and will have the remaining class period to work on their skits. Students are to submit a handwritten dialogue of their skit, and will present their skits in the next class. Informal Assessment: Students will be observed during their presentations and will receive a mark of completion.

5 5 Homework: Finish skits, present in class tomorrow. Week 2, Day 4 Focus of Lesson: Skit Day Students will present their skits to class and submit their written dialogues. Teacher will informally assess the students skits and students will get a completed mark once they have presented. The skits will take up the majority of the class (55-60 minutes) Once skits are finished, a class discussion will follow on what students learned from this activity and what they learned about dating in the 1950s. (5-10 minutes.) Students will be asked if they would prefer to date in a conventional way (like in the 1950s) or if they prefer the freedom that they have in 2010 with dating? (5-10 minutes). o Students will reply with various answers. Week 2, Day 5 Focus of Lesson: Intro to Google Maps Mapping the Text *Note: Class will take place in the computer lab. Assign Google Map activity to class (see Appendix 9 for handout and marking rubric) Students are to pair up for this activity

6 6 Students will be mapping out the text of Holden s journey through New York City, using Google Maps. Students have the creativity and freedom to select images that they think best represents the locations that Holden visits in NYC. Students will have the entire period and half of the next class to finish their maps. Note: The individuality of each assignment comes from the images that the students choose to represent Holden s travels on their Google Map. Homework: Finish the book for next class.