State of Israel
Ministry of Education
English Inspectorate
Unit Planner
Teacher’s Name: Kathi Pearlmutter / Date: 21.5.09Name of School: / Piece #:
Name of Literary Text: The Last Spin by Evan Hunter / Type: short story
Targeted Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) for Analysis and Interpretation / Methodology used for Teaching HOTS (Inductive or Deductive)
1. Identifying cause and effect / Deductive
2. Comparing and contrasting
3. Identifying dilemmas and conflicts
Relevant Literary Terms to be Taught
Plot
Characterization / Dilemma
Suspense
Targeted Benchmarks in the Domain of Appreciation of Literature and Culture
Recognize the use of literary techniques in a variety of genres
x Interpret literary texts
x Are aware of the author’s background and the cultural, historical and/or social themes in literary texts or other cultural products
Are aware of how cultural practices are reflected in various literary and cultural products
State of Israel
Ministry of Education
English Inspectorate
Unit Planner (continued)
***Questions taken from the ECB Cool Collection 2 (2001) are noted by (ecb q#)
Lesson # / Date / Key Components / Activity/ies / worksheets (when used)1 / Introduce the HOTS and elicit application to other areas / Compare the different students in the class, i.e, Yoni has dark hair, Diana has light hair, but they are both wearing blue jeans.
Draw a Venn diagram and show how it can be used to compare and contrast.
When comparing and contrasting we use the following connectors:
But, although, even though, however. We can also use comparative adjectives. Ron is taller than Dan.
Apply HOTS (non-text based) / 1. Divide into pairs
2. with your pair, make a list of 5 things that are similar and 5 things that are different about you.
3. Choose an object in the room such as a chair, and see if you the pupils can come up with both similarities and differences between themselves and the chair.
4. Have the students share their ideas and write them on the board.
5. Have the students write a joke using comparing according to the template below.
6. Maybe create a joke poster, or a web page.
Why is ______like a ______?
They both ______
Pre-Reading Activity
Bridging Text and Context / Some information about Evan Hunter, and when the poem was written. Also some background on US street gang culture, and whether it has changed much in the past 100 years.
Basic Understanding / Read the text: The Last Spin by Evan Hunter
Check comprehension thought LOTS
What was the relationship of the boys at the beginning? What are the doing? Why? What happens after they start talking? What do they realize? Why do they keep making the game more dangerous? How do they feel about each other before the last spin? How do we know this? What happens at the end of the story? Review the plot (literary term).
Analysis and Interpretation / How do Danny and Tigo start to discover what they have in common? (ecb 3)
Although Danny and Tigo are afraid to go on with the "game", they do, and even change the rules making it more dangerous. Why? (ecb q5)
Reintroduce the HOTS (Comparing and Contrasting).
Do the boys have reason to be enemies? Are they really enemies? (ecb q1)
Compare the relationship between the boys at the beginning of the story to how they feel about each other at the end. What do Danny and Tigo have in common? How is their relationship with one another different to their relationship with the gang?
Identifying cause and effect
Why do Danny and Tigo join gangs? How does this effect their day to day lives?
How does the boys relationship change after they confess their weaknesses to eachother?
Identifying dilemmas and conflicts
Why is "territory" so important that these boys are willing to die for it? (ecb q2)
What is the boys dilemma? (ecb q7)
Tying in literary techniques / What techniques does the author use to help us get to know the boys? (characterization) (ecb q4)
Does the author succeed in creating suspense in the story? How does he do it? (suspence) (ecb q10)
Post-Reading Activity
Personal response / Learn about the street gang situation in the USA today.
http://www.gangsorus.com/gangstagirls.html
http://www.gangwar.com/dynamics.htm#overview
Read one of these testimonials from gang members:
http://www.gangstyle.com/gangs_live_and_learn.php
Write a letter to the gang member. You can give advice or comfort.
Reflection / How did learning about street gangs help you to better understand the story.