LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Title: "Appreciating The Scarlet Letter
—the most moral book in American literature."
by Tom Panara

LEARNING CONTEXT

The time frame for this learning experience is 2-3 days after students have read the first 10 chapters of the novel.

STANDARD 1

• STUDENTS WILL READ, WRITE, LISTEN, AND SPEAK FOR INFORMATION AND UNDERSTANDING
• PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: From the following types of indicators to be selected—daily quizzes, study sheets, cooperative learning activities, nonfiction reading assignment, and oral reading
• This fits into the course curriculum because the English 11R curriculum is sequential. The English 11 curriculum is also aligned with social studies 11 and the same periods of time are studied in both.
• Students need to know the following: characterization, setting, terminology

(Puritanism, morality, ethics), conflict, and sequence of events.

STANDARD 3

STUDENTS WILL READ, WRITE, LISTEN, AND SPEAK FOR CRITICAL ANALYSIS ANE EVALUATION

• PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: essay writing, comparison-contrast exercises, cooperative learning activities, and final test
• This fits into the English 11R curriculum because we are focusing on developing student awareness of viewing literature on an interpretive level of understanding in keeping with the new standards and outline of the ELA Regents Examination.
• Students will have to recognize how the literary concept symbolism figures into the understanding of the plot. Students must also recognize the key literary themes as they appear throughout the reading of the work.

PROCEDURE FOR BOTH STANDARDS

The Student:

• Students will have to utilize the "reading assignment sheet." They will then have to fix in their minds the characters and the role each plays in the novel.
• Students will also have to understand the point of view of the novel and the importance of the time period, Puritan New England.
• Students will have opportunities to work in cooperative learning groups on worksheets designed to affix in their minds key literary terminology.
• Students will have to interpret textual passages to familiarize themselves with a higher degree of literary criticism and analysis.

The Teacher:

• 1^st Day: The teacher acts as a facilitator for cooperative learning activities #1 and #2 (see addendum)
• 1^st Day: The teacher directs learning of specific literary terms relative to the novel.
• 2^nd Day: The teacher is a facilitator for cooperative learning activity #3 (see addendum)
• 2^nd Day: The teacher questions students daily about their reading.
• 3^rd Day: The teacher is a facilitator for cooperative learning activity "Multimodal activities."
• 3^rd Day: The teacher devises motivational activities to keep or raise the level of interest in the reading of the novel.
• LONG RANGE ACTIVITY: The teacher makes up portfolio assignments and tests to be uses throughout the study of the novel as performance indicators.

Assessment for Cooperative Learning Activities:

Students will be graded according to the following rubric:

5—Excellent preparation and responses

4—Very Good preparation and responses

3—Good preparation and responses

2—Below average preparation and responses

1—No preparation and little response

INSTRUCTIONAL MODIFICATIONS

• Students will work in pairs or groups.
• Students will be arranged in a circle in the classroom to facilitate focus being placed on each other instead of the teacher.

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

• All handouts are from Literature Connections Source Book: The Scarlet Letter, and Related Readings, published by McDougal Littell.

There are several materials and supplies needed to successfully complete this unit. The teacher will use the overhead projector, color transparencies, posters depicting the author and time period, a video tape on an anaylsis of the novel.