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Lesson Plan #1: Introduction to Frankenstein and Literature of the Monstrous

Name of Course: CP English (11th grade)
Any Special Characteristics of Students? Four ELLs; majority of class is multilingual; one
student on IEP for dyslexia, one on 504 for sound anxiety disorder, a third currently being
evaluated for LD
Brief Description of When This Lesson Will Be Taught (in the Unit!): First lesson (out of
ten) in unit
Instructional Standards, Objectives, and Questions:
State, National, and/or Professional Standards:
MA.SL.1.
MA.L.6.
MA.RL.4.
Content Objectives:
Students will be able to better understand the complexity and range of possibilities for
interpretation of the trope of the monster.
Students will be able to interpret and analyze key vocabulary from Frankenstein.
Literacy Objectives:
Students will be able to activate background knowledge.
Students will be able to discuss thematic material verbally and kinesthetically.
Students will be able to read Frankenstein more fluently as a result of frontloading vocabulary
instruction.
Topical Essential Question(s):
What scares us, and why?
What can we learn about a particular time and place by reading about its monsters?
Components of the Lesson:
Required class time: 55 minutes
HOOK Beginning reading/learning 15 minutes
As a pre-reading activator, students will participate in the Take a Stand activity. When students
arrive, they will move their desks to the sides of the room and the instructor will place a piece of
tape down the center of the room. Students gather on the margins of the room as the teacher
reads out a series of statements designed to elicit student response. One side of the room is
designated as Strongly Agree, the opposite side as Strongly Disagree, and the tape in the
center represents Neutral/Not Sure. As the instructor reads each statement, students position
themselves physically according to their response to the statement, along a continuum. The
statements should be based around both themes of Frankenstein as well as the essential unit

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questions. Some examples might include, Monsters are born, not made; Its okay to have a
big ego when you are a genius; and Those who create something that has negative
consequences deserve to be punished. After each statement, the instructor should ask whether
any student feels strongly enough about their position to share why they have located
themselves thus, and may try to elicit opposing reactions from students on opposite sides of the
room. The activity is designed to activate students background knowledge in the large domain
of the monstrous and to serve as a no-stakes formative assessment, to indicate to the instructor
whether some students are lacking in background knowledge (for instance, by frequently
placing themselves in the Neutral/Not Sure position. It constitutes a kinesthetic form of
discussion of the themes soon to be introduced in Frankenstein and the rest of the unit, and may
be especially beneficial for ELLs.
LINE During reading/learning 25 minutes
Students will then be seated briefly. The instructor projects various words/phrases from
Frankenstein on the board and asks students to copy them down and jot down a possible
meaning or some associations for each (on the left side of a page of two-column notes). After
students have encountered each word or phrase at least once visually and have attempted to
come to terms with its meaning in writing, the teacher again gets students on their feet to
participate in a drama activity called Mill & Seethe. During Mill & Seethe, the instructor will
read the same words and phrases aloud and asks students to act out what it means to them by
walking around the classroom and trying to embody it. This can be done silently, or if students
feel comfortable, they can add a noise to accompany their walk/gestures. In order to be most
effective, the words should be chosen from Volume I of Frankenstein, which students will begin
reading as homework. Afterwards, the instructor asks students to explain what they did and why
during each cue. The goal of this activity is to introduce students to the challenging language
and vocabulary of Frankenstein in a low-stakes, engaging way. The words and phrases chosen
should be thematically important and words with which students might struggle without this
additional scaffolding. Some examples include the most fragile creature in the world, the
being of a gigantic stature, or brooding thoughts of vengeance (20, 33, 47).
SINKER Concluding reading/learning 20 minutes
Students return to their seats and spend 10 minutes reviewing the list of words and phrases and
the potential definitions they had generated earlier. On the right hand side of the page, students
make any changes they feel are necessary after participating in the Mill & Seethe activity if
the act of interpreting the words with their bodies has prompted them to add, alter, or remove
anything from their earlier definitions. The instructor asks several students to volunteer to share
with the class how the activity may have changed their definitions.
The final 10 minutes of class are spent in reviewing the expectations for the nights homework,
discussed below.
How Will You Know if Students Got It? Today? Later?
The instructor will be able to assess student learning by reviewing students two-column notes,
which she will collect at the conclusion of class and return to students at the beginning of the
following class. This can be a low-stakes assessment of complete/incomplete while the teacher
tracks initial student comprehension of important vocabulary. The information that students

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share during the final class discussion can also shed light on their comprehension.
What Will Students Do for Homework? What Will Today Lead Into Next?
For homework, students will begin reading Frankenstein, pp. 7-25. Each night while reading,
students will keep a 3-column vocabulary journal. In it, they should record in the left-most
column 5 words that strike them in some way whether because they like it, have never seen it
before, are confused by it, etc. In the middle column, they should make some attempt to
generate at least a partial definition or some word associations. The right-hand column can be
used to make revisions to the original definition if the word is discussed in class. The instructor
will periodically check in with students about their vocabulary journals throughout the unit, and
it may be source material for another Mill & Seethe later in the unit, as time and student interest
permits.