Lessonplan: Tim O’Brien - The Things They CarriedChristoph Bühlmann / Philipp SchweizerFS 2012
Time / Phase / Aims / content: „What“ – Why this“ / Procedure / Method: “How” – “why like this” / Anticipated Problems Proposed Solutions / Materials / Media required / Reading Task
(Homework)
L1 & 2
10’ / Introduction / To evoke interest and knowledge about the Vietnam war / PPT Presentation
- Context of the book is given
- Certain vocabulary is established / --- / PPT – Beamer / PC / Ss read 1-26 for the 1. Lesson
25’ / Group work / Ss go over read text again, gather information about objects the characters carry. Ss prepare for a short presentation / Groups of 3-4 Ss
- Puts text and historical context together
- Lets the “history lesson” come to life
- T walks around to make sure Ss have understood the text and tasks / --- / Water-resistant marker
Transparency
15’ / Presentations / -Ss present their characters & their objects
-Discussion of characters / Short presentations
All Ss are informed about the different characters & their objects
-> The effects of the war are made more comprehensible / Ss don’t get all the needed information out of the text
-> T should add info when necessary in the discussion / Overhead projector
15’ / Writing Task / Ss write short essay about object they carry (80-150 words) / Writing exercise that gives Ss comparison to their lives and the ones of the characters / Depending on how long the previous tasks take, the time might be a bit too short. If so: Writing Task is homework / ---
2’ / Introduction / T explains task:
- read the text
- T will do presentation on it after they have read the text
-Task: Ss will have to do a similar presentation on another topic. The texts for each presentation are all available on the Webquest. All students have to read those articles, the presentation should be more in-depth / --- / --- / ---
8’ / Reading / Ss read text about “Foxholes” / --- / --- / Handouts “Foxhole”
5’
End L2 / Presentation / T gives a short presentation on the text read / Ss know now exactly what is expected of them / --- / ---
L3 / - Warm-up (picture)
-Pair work
- Feedback
- Presentation / Warm-up: Picture to one of the stories – discussion about what it means, how it fits into the stories they’ve read, etc.
Pair work: Ss chose their favourite story they have read for today, discuss why and then write a short synopsis of it / 27-61
L4 & 5 / - Presentation
- Feedback
-Pair work
-Feedback
-Metafiction Introduction / - Presentation
- Feedback and possible additional information
- Pair work: What about the Snipers. What about their view? In pairs: Discuss how you think the Vietcong felt. The other perspective / The concept of Metafiction is introduced to better understand the rest of the book and especially the Chapter “How To Tell a True War Story” / The deeper concept of Metafiction might be too difficult to grasp / HO with examples and help to what Metafiction is / 62-88
End L5 / -Worksheet Metafiction
-Chapter in Detail: How to Tell a True War Story
- Jig-saw reading
- Pair work
- Feedback
- Presentation / - Chapter in Detail: Ss and T recap the story together, writing important points on the board (Mind Map)
- Ss need to establish chronology of the excerpts with help from the blackboard
-Pair Work: Looking at the excerpts: How is Metafiction used in this story? How does it change Ss perceptions, understanding of the text / Blackboard
HO with extracts / 89-116
L6 / - Warm-up
- Feedback
- Pair work
- Feedback
- Presentation / T distributes HO with ten statements about part II of the novel and asks Ss to decide whether these are true or false (they need to anticipate what will happen) – Ss work alone first, then in pairs
- Pair work: HO with Adjectives about feelings of the characters. Ss must decide to who or what situation the adjective fits best, then decide on a paragraph that illustrates it / Students that haven’t read all of the stories will not have much to say
The same Ss will be overwhelmed with the second task also
-> T should emphasize the importance of the reading assignments / HO with Adjectives / 117-152
L7 & 8 / - Presentation
-Warm-up
-Pair work
-Discussion / - Warm-up: Do you sometimes tell lies? When & why?
- T divides class into two groups & distributes HO with tasks for each group. Ss are to discuss O’Brien’s and the characters’ take on truth & authorship. Ss have to find extracts in the book to support their findings
- T puts pairs together from each group and the findings are presented & discussed / Task aim is focussing on truth and the relevance of it in the novel. The findings and deliberations of the students should also be helped by the Metafiction lesson. / Task is quite demanding
-> T monitors the groups and helps where needed / guides discussions in the right direction / HO / 153-176
End L8 / - Discussion
- Pair work
- Discussion
- Presentation / - Discussion of results in class
- T distributes HO with 6 pictures related to the book, pairs get 2 pictures and answer the following questions:
What themes or topics do these pictures represent in relation to the novel and the themes/topics we have discussed so far? What are similarities / differences in comparison to movies you know (Rambo, Apocalypse Now, John Wayne movies, Born on the 4th of July, Full Metal Jacket & other war movies)
- T collects ideas on HOP / To support Ss’ networked thinking / Students might not have seen any movies on Vietnam
-> T should encourage Ss to watch some of the movies mentioned, maybe even make it homework / HO with pictures / 177-218
L9 / - Presentation
- Warm-up
- Pair work
- Discussion
- Writing exercise / - Warm-up: Ss are asked: “What are the characteristics of a great book?” T writes answers on the board
- Review (by Robert Harris) is distributed [with questions] and Ss have to discuss the content & the questions with each other
- Findings are discussed in class
- Writing exercise: Ss have to write a short essay on their personal reaction to Carried. They should go beyond like/dislike, but explore emotions they felt when reading the book, what characters they could relate to, what they thought weird or strange and what was familiar. / Aim for the lesson is to round the book out and for the T to get a final feel for how the class understood and took to the book / --- / HO with review by Robert Harris / 219-236
L10 / Exam
Essay / Ss chose one of min. 3 topics and write an essay which will be marked / - To test Ss comprehension / interpretation of the whole novel / --- / Exam / Test