Armstrong Lesson Plan Short Story 1

LESSON PLAN: SHORT STORY

Lesson Plan Overview: The lesson is a two-week work introducing and reviewing certain aspects of the
short story, highlighting the themes of repressive social forces that contribute to constriction of social
and intellectual freedoms. This particular lesson plan is part of a larger unit, a Thematic Unit is broadly
categorized as “Oppression Versus Individual Freedoms”. To break from the overall genre-focus of the
Unit as a whole, the class will be focusing on examples of modern, late-20th-century science fiction.

The final project will assess students' grasp of the tone and pacing of the short story, as well as
their abilities at conforming to thematic and length-based strictures. The project will involve the
students individually creating their own original story, for a final grade that is reliant on showing
competence in all areas shown in the rubric (see below).

Grade: Tenth-grade Language Arts class, Advanced-Placement.

Standard(s): The lesson will reinforce State Goal 1.A.4a (expanding knowledge of word origins and
derivations, use of idioms, analogies, metaphors and similes to extend vocabulary and development),
1.B.4a (previewing reading materials, clarifying meaning, analyzing overall themes and coherence,
and relating reading to information from other sources), 2.A.4a (analyzing and evaluating the effective
use of literary techniques such as figurative language, allusion, dialogue, et cetera, in classic and
contemporary literature representing a variety of forms and media). All of these are standards that the
the students have already been exposed to. Their final writing project will determine their current level
of competence.
The reading work throughout the lesson will involve 1.C.4e (analyzing how authors and illustrators
use text to express and emphasize their ideas, with imagery, multiple points of view, et cetera) and
2.B.4a (Critiquing ideas and impressions generated by [written] materials).
Quarter: First Quarter

Performance Descriptor(s):
Within the contexts of the stories presented, the students will review how to:
1. Use prefixes, suffixes, and root words to understand word meanings.
2. Apply knowledge of structural analysis to construct meaning of unfamiliar words.
3. Determine the meaning of words in context using denotation and connotation strategies.
4. Recall multiple meanings of a word in context and select appropriate meaning.

By the end of the lesson, students will demonstrate capability to:

5. Identify and interpret idioms, similes, analogies, and metaphors to express implied meanings.
6. Identify the effect of literary devices (for example, figurative language, description, and dialogue)
in text. They will employ these devices in their own original work.
7. Use the above skills to reinforce an overall theme effectively.
 Armstrong Lesson Plan Short Story 2

Student Learning Opportunities:

Students will discern the use of science-fiction tropes to express the theme inherent to the work.
Students will learn to appreciate the use of imaginative imagery in the works given.
Students will re-acquaint with themes connoted through figurative language and allusive language.

Day One:
Day One of the lesson plan will involve an introduction to the short stories. This will be headed
up by an activity called, “What Is Fiction Good For?”
For this activity, the class will be given time to free-write as to the different types of fiction they
have encountered. Specific to the lesson, they will be asked to talk about (if they can) any examples of
short fiction types (i.e., short stories) that they have encountered. This activity will go on for
approximately twenty minutes. At the end of this time, irrespective of whether they have completed
their thoughts, random sampling (3 to 5) students will be “cold-called” for responses. The respondents
will read to the class as a whole. These responses (collectively) shall not be allowed to continue over
10 (ten) minutes. The class will be polled via the instructor as to whether they recognize any of the
short stories or fiction types the respondents are referring to.
The instructor will then use this time to introduce the first of the short stories the class will be
working with, James Tiptree, Jr.'s “And So On, And So On”. The remainder of the class time will be
used for the students to read silently as individuals. The instructor will use this time to pass amongst
the students answering any questions concerning vocabulary or syntax that have caused immediate
problems for students.
The homework for the night will be for the students to read the story, and to complete two
assignments. The first assignment will be to write down any terms or phrases they did not understand
(science-fiction/”alien” nomenclature being an obvious immediate problem) in order to review and
discuss the next day. The second assignment, most pertinent to the “What Is Fiction Good For?”
activity, will be for the student to write a cogent response in his journal, using the prompt: “What is
this story's theme? What in the text tells us this?”

Day Two:
Day Two will begin with the instructor cold-calling (perhaps) two random students and having
them relate their journal responses. Should the responses be overlong (any recitation over two minutes
each), the instructor will ask for a quick summary in as gentle a tone as possible. While the class reflect
on the responses they have heard, the instructor will break up the class into small groups for peer
review of each other's journal entries. Students will discuss amongst themselves why they wrote as they
did concerning the theme, and what in the story made them arrive at their conclusions. This part of the
activity should go on for about twenty to twenty-five minutes.
The class should reconvene for the last fifteen-to-twenty minutes to discuss the reason behind
the journal entries. The teacher will want to draw attention to the story's use of hopelessness and futility
to underscore a notion of the failure of individual endeavor. For the curious in the class, the instructor
can relate the connection to the overriding theme of the entire unit.
This involves explaining that sometimes an author's use of a fantastic setting or various other
tropes (images, symbols) is in aid of a theme or “feel”, that would otherwise be too hard to convey
normally. Tiptree's theme is the eventual limitation and failure of the pioneering spirit, closely
paralleled by the failure of imaginative human endeavor as a whole. This ties in broadly with the
themes of the Unit, in that it underscores the depressive attitude that that a joyless, non-imaginative
existence would bring. It also ties in with dystopian themes of the individual as being powerless in the
 Armstrong Lesson Plan Short Story 3

face of greater forces.

The night's homework is for the students to list page numbers and references for elements of the story
(imagery, turns of phrase, parts of the dialogue) that they felt helped make the story work well at
establishing its tone, and why these elements did so. This journal entry will be for their own use in
creating a work of short fiction of their own.

Day Three:
The third day of instruction should start immediately with a reading of the second story in the
fiction series. This story, “Shaft Number 247”, by Basil Copper, is more complicated and slower-
moving. The in-class reading may take the majority of the class time (40 minutes or so). This work
should be read out loud, with cold-called readers for each paragraph. The tone of the story, and its
manner of dialogue (where there is dialogue) deserves out-loud address, in order to puzzle through
some of the subtleties.
It is incumbent upon the instructor to determine whether discussion of the story's first half
should be done in a block at the final five minutes of class, or whether discussion of specific elements
of foreshadowing, flashback, and various elements describing the setting and characterization should
be discussed piecemeal as they are come upon. This will likely be up to the class mood on the day
itself.
However, should an individual express strong (apparent) need to stop the reading at a certain
juncture to clarify a point, the instructor ought to do so. It is likely that the individual will be asking a
question that more than one person had, but only one individual articulated.
Should the reading progress slowly, the next day has been left aside for in-class reading as well
as discussion. However, the students should be encouraged (strongly) to spend the night doing two
things. The first is re-reading the portion of the story that the class has already read. The second is
committing to journal entries that address the following prompts:
What so far is the “feel” of the story? Is the overall mood conveyed one that is positive, happy,
sad, angry, fearful...?
What do you think about the main character in the story? What are some strengths of the
character? What are some flaws or weaknesses?
What strengths or flaws of character are most well-shown, in your opinion?
What do you think of the setting? Do you think the portrayal of the setting is well-done? What
images are used to portray the setting that work well? If nothing comes to mind, what do you feel
should (or could) be done better?

Day Four:
The beginning of class should be used to check to see if the students have successfully
attempted the journal entries from the night previous, and to what degree they were successful. Cold-
calling (at most) two students, and asking them to read selected parts of their journal entries is
necessary here. The instructor should praise them for the parts of the journal entries that they did well.
Let them (and by extension, the rest of the class) know what prompts need to be (re-)addressed or re-
focused on, in a non-condemnatory way. Remind the class that these particular journal entries will be
crucial for their upcoming work on their own fiction.
If the story has not been finished in class, allow the next twenty minutes for in-class out loud
reading. The procedure should be largely as outlined for Day three's in-class reading.
Should the work not be finished in-class (for whatever reason) the rest of the story should be
read at home. Homework for the night is a further refinement of the journal prompts from the night
before. The students should also be listing any terms or phrases they are still unclear about, either in
 Armstrong Lesson Plan Short Story 4

usage or definition.
Day Five:
The fifth day can be spent on final going-over of the Copper story. First, the instructor should
address any remaining difficulties students might still be having with vocabulary or terminology usage
(jargon, context-specific terms, et cetera) within the story. Next up, an all-class discussion concerning
the prompts from the journal entries should be entered into briefly. This should be done for no more
than ten minutes before the teacher broaches the subject: “What do you feel the theme of the story
might be?”
Answers are likely to run the gamut, as is the quality of response (from engaged and thoughtful
to possibly dumbfounded and silent). Remind the class that the question was one largely where their
considered opinion is what is asked for. Therefore, they do not have to give one definitive answer.
The instructor should make sure that at least the last ten minutes of class is left for lecture
concerning the (presumed) theme of the story. While students may have given different answers, it is
likely that they will all dwell on the overall themes of despair, futility, hopelessness and constriction of
freedom.
Further, as a science-fiction story, the story deserves special mention that it contains elements
of horror as well. Within “Shaft Number 247” there are two main “feels”. One is the dystopia-story,
very reminiscent of the work of Orwell et al. The constant surveillance, lack of freedom of movement ,
and claustrophobic atmosphere contribute to the theme of Oppression. Within this overarching theme
are “sub-themes”, particularly Futility of the Individual Endeavor and the Repression of Individual
Initiative.
As the last third and end of the story illustrates, there is a second set of motifs that underscore
the aspects of Futility that the overall theme relies on. As the reader sees, the very freedom that the
main character longs for, that the conscientious reader will identify with, is what destroys him in the
end. “Freedom” is, in this story, as much an oppressive force as the presumed slavery of the
underground society. This entrapment between competing oppressions, one stultifying and paranoid,
one antithetical to human life and thought itself, is a grand “upping of the stakes” in the theme of
Oppression versus Human Individuality.
As was mentioned before, this is a difficult story for students unused to the genre. At least ten
minutes may have to be devoted to explaining and elucidating how the structure of the story
underscores the overall theme of the Unit.
Days Six Through Ten-
At this point in their schooling, the students are well-acquainted with the brainstorming, pre-
writing, drafting and peer-editing process. The next week is going to be spent on the students' own
fiction work.
Prior to Day Six (over the weekend), the class should be preparing themselves for their own
work by re-reading the stories for inspiration, noting elements of the stories that they felt “worked”,
and figuring out the general direction that they may wish their own stories to go.

The arbitrary limitations of the stories are these: they must be fiction of a non-historical type,
the overall theme must be one in line with that of the Thematic Unit (Group or Systematic Oppression
versus Individuality), and the work must be twelve pages or less.
The first limitation is introduced because too many students may find the action and dialogue of
the story getting bogged down in didactic displays of the setting or other exposition of the “historic”
character of the story.
The second limitation is there, obviously, as a nod to the overall Unit.
The third limitation is there so that students understand that sometimes space limitations are
 Armstrong Lesson Plan Short Story 5

required ( or unavoidable) in a published work, but that they can serve as a springboard for creativity
all of their own.
Before the pre-writing and brainstorming sessions begin (ideally, over the weekend prior) the
instructor gives the class the Handouts. These include the Rubric, the Houghton-Mifflin Step-By-
Step Chart , the Houghton-Mifflin Problem-Solution Chart, and the Houghton-Mifflin Sequence
Chart. The instructor should let the students know that these are to be used in the creation of the story
before and during the drafting process. The students may request extra copies if they must “re-work” an
already-plotted story and need a fresh start, and they do not have to worry about neatness on these
sheets. Provided the information is nominally legible, it is acceptable. These sheets are more for their
own use than any display.

Benchmarks- Day Six will be spent brainstorming and peer-reflecting in their small groups.
Night-time work after Day Six should be journal work, reflecting on notes taken in class during
brainstorming.
Each individual student must come to the instructor with a preliminary idea for a story by the
Day Seven.
Night-time work after Day Seven should include creating an outline for the plot, broad notes on
characterization, working on evoking the setting, and such.

By Day Eight , the class as a whole should be working on their overall plot outline, and pre-
drafting.

Night-time work after Day eight should be further refinement of character notes, ideas for
dialogue, and full fleshing-out of the plot, conflict, and solution/denouement of the stories.

Day Nine will be spent in the Computer Lab, working on first drafts.

Day Ten will be in the Computer Lab, working on drafts.

 Armstrong Lesson Plan Short Story 6

Days Eleven Through Thirteen-

These last three days will be for the final drafts and “tidying up” of the stories in the Computer
Lab prior to their being handed in. At this point, it must be presumed that any major hurdles concerning
where the student thinks a story is “going” will have been resolved. However, extra care will have to be
taken by the instructor to determine whether this is actually so. Meeting briefly with each student
during this time and overseeing their work is crucial. Any need for last-minute re-writes must be
acknowledged by Day Eleven.

Day Fourteen-
Students turn in their work, and the grading of their stories via the Rubric begins.
 Armstrong Lesson Plan Short Story 7

RUBRIC

Students are given a grade of 1 through 10 (one through ten) points in each category. It is possible to
have more than 100 points; however, the extra points are largely there to help a student “shore up”
what might be some otherwise serious point-losses for rather minor deficiencies. As the students are
relatively young, one must allow a somewhat generous latitude when grading their works.

OVER ALL WRITING PROCESS

Student devotes a lot of time and effort to the writing process (prewriting, drafting, reviewing, and
editing). Works hard to make the story work well.
_____________________Score

NEATNESS

The final draft of the story is readable, clean, neat and attractive. It is free of formatting errors. It looks
like the author took great pride in the physical presentation of the final product.
____________________Score

INTRODUCTION

First paragraph has a "grabber" or catchy beginning. The overall introduction to the story itself is
interesting and vigorous, without being too busy or confusing.
___________________Score

PROBLEM/CONFLICT

It is very easy for the reader to understand the problem the main characters face, and why it is a
problem. If there is any mystery here, it is clearly developed to spark reader interest, and not a
“misstep” caused by poor planning or writing.
___________________Score

CHARACTERIZATION

The main characters are named and clearly described in text. Most readers could describe the characters
accurately. Again, any “mystery” to the main characters is a product of the author's deliberate intent.
__________________Score

SOLUTION/RESOLUTION

The solution to the character's problem is easy to understand, and is logical. If elements are bizarre, it is
due to the “fantastic” or “supernatural” aspects of the tale, and suspension of disbelief is still
maintained. There are no loose ends.
__________________Score
 Armstrong Lesson Plan Short Story 8

RUBRIC, continued

ACTION WITHIN THE STORY

Many action verbs (a deliberate, mature active voice) are used to describe what is happening in the
story. The story seems exciting, and the action as presented is natural, not forced.
_________________Score

DIALOGUE

There is an appropriate amount of dialogue to bring the characters to life, and it is always clear which
character is speaking.
________________Score

OVERALL ORGANIZATION OF STORY

The story is very well organized. One idea or scene follows another in a logical sequence with clear
transitions.
_______________Score

SPELLING, GRAMMAR, SYNTAX REQUIREMENTS

All of the written requirements concerning spelling, appropriate sentence structure, et cetera, were met.
A score of ten means that the student shows excellent use of grammar, spelling and syntax for their
grade-level. Ten or more spelling, grammar or sentence-structure errors (other than subjectively
“awkward” sentences) gives the student a “zero” in this category. Each noticeable error should lose a
point.
______________Score

GENERAL CREATIVITY

The story contains many creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment.
The author has really used his or her imagination.
______________Score