By
Cami DenHartigh
English 311-02
Unit Plan- Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Grades 6-8
Ages 11-13
Day 1 (Thursday): Introducing the Book
ü Present the book to the class, giving them a brief summary of the book.
Overview:
Using their creativity and imaginations, students will begin writing in a journal about what family and honesty means to them, what consequences they have faced from being dishonest towards someone, and how far they would go in order to do or get something they like even though it means hiding something about themselves; followed by a class discussion.
Objectives:
ü Students will get an understanding of the importance of family.
ü Students will better understand the meaning of honesty and the effects it has on an individual when honest or dishonest.
ü Students learn to free write and how to interact in a group discussion.
Materials:
ü Writing journals
ü Books
Activity:
ü Free write in journals for about 10 minutes, then come together as a class and discuss what each student talked about in their journals.
Assignment:
ü Read pages 1-32 (up to Monday, August 28)
o Pay close attention to the characters, especially the narrator and his relationship with his brother.
Day 1 Lesson Plan in-class agenda:
v Have the students take out a notebook that they will be using as a journal for the class and ask them to spend about 10-15 minutes write on:
o What does family mean to you?
o Do you get along well with all of your siblings? Or if an only child, do you get along well with your parents?
o Do you have a special relationship with certain members in your family or are you distant?
o What is honesty? Have you ever lied about something then got into trouble for it? If so, what were your consequences?
o Is being honest always a good thing? If you know the outcome will be negative by being honest, should you still tell the truth?
o How far have you gone to get what you wanted even though you knew the way you went about it was wrong?
v Come together as a class and discuss the questions they answered in their journals.
o What did some of you come up with for the first 3 questions? You can read what you wrote or just summarize them together.
o What about the last 3 questions? What was your definition of honesty and what do you think being honest involves sometimes?
(10-15 minutes)
Ø Introduce the unit on the book Tangerine
o We are going to start a new unit and it’s going to be on a book that we will be reading called Tangerine:
§ Paul Fisher's family is moving from Texas to Florida for a number of reasons. The most important one seems to be so that Paul's older brother Erik can impress the football scouts at some major universities. Indeed, most of what his parents do seems to be part of what Paul calls "The Great Erik Fisher Football Dream." It is not that Paul is jealous. He, too, possesses some tremendous athletic ability on the soccer field despite being legally blind. But Erik is the favored son, indulged by parents, teachers, coaches, and friends, even though Paul knows that Erik's behavior is less than perfect. The move to Tangerine, Florida, might just open the eyes of everyone in the Fisher family.
Ø Hand out the books and give them the last 15 minutes of class to start reading the book.
Day 2 (Friday): Character Familiarity
Overview:
ü The students will use their journals and handout to identify 2 of the main characters and write a brief description of their own impression of the characters. As a large group the students will discuss the characters and go over the more important sections of the reading.
Objectives:
ü Students will be familiar with the characters of the book.
ü Students will be familiar with the important sections within the assigned reading.
Materials:
ü Characters handouts
ü The book
ü Writing journals
Activity:
ü With another partner or two the students will go over the characters handout together, discussing each one on the list as a small group before breaking out into a large group discussion.
Assignment:
ü Read pages 32-92 (end of Part One)
Day 2 Lesson Plan in-class agenda:
v Spend 10 minutes writing in their journals:
o Name 2 of the main characters introduced in the reading for today that stood out to you and write a brief description of them.
o What did you think of them?
o Do you think you will like them as you continue to read the book?
o Pick out a small section of the reading that stood out to you and write a response to it. Whether it confused you or you think it’s foreshadowing or if you just simply liked it, what did you like about it?
v Come together as a class and discuss what they wrote in their journals.
o What characters stood out to you the most? What did you think of them?
o What sections of the reading seemed important to retain? Or remember?
o At the very beginning of the book, on page 2, Paul’s fascination with the mailboxes helped him remember something that happened to him when he was younger, involving Erik; what does he remember? Do you think it connects to his eye sight problem?
o What does Paul mean by “the Erik Fisher Football Dream” on page 11? What was he referring to? What sport does Paul play but doesn’t seem as important to his dad, unlike his brother’s football skills?
o What is Paul’s relationship with his brother, Erik, like? With his dad? With his mom?
o In the beginning paragraph on page 22, Paul can’t fall asleep because he’s thinking too much about his family’s arrival in this small town, why do you think he feels like his family’s arrival in the town, will change the things he mentions but then doesn’t know what he will change, what he will be a part of that will be remembered?
o Paul also mentions that his dad calls the town of Tangerine “a booming area”, what does he mean by that?
(30 minutes)
v Handout the worksheet and have them form groups of 4 or 5 and work on it together and whatever they don’t finish in class, they take home to finish.
(Last 10 minutes)
Name: ______
Tangerine Characters List Part 1
Fisher Family:
§ Paul: ______
§ Erik: ______
§ Mom: ______
§ Dad: ______
Lake Windsor Downs:
§ Mr. Donnelly: ______
§ Old Charley Burns: ______
§ Arthur Bauer: ______
§ Coach Warner: ______
§ Mike Costello: ______
§ Joey Costello: ______
§ Antoine Thomas: ______
§ Terry Donnelly: ______
§ Mrs. Gates: ______
§ Coach Walski: ______
§ Gino Deluca: ______
Day 3 (Monday): Examining Conflicts
Overview:
ü Using their daily journals, students will free write about what conflicts family members often have to face with each other, whether they talk about their own families or just generalize some conflicts; followed by class discussion and activity.
Objectives:
ü Students will get to learn about their classmates.
ü Students will be familiar with conflicts within the assigned reading.
ü Students will learn to look at key concepts and identify them as relevant and important throughout the book.
Materials:
ü The book
ü Journals
Assignment:
ü Read Part Two, pages 95-129 (up to Tuesday, September 26)
Day 3 Lesson Plan in-class agenda:
v Give students 10 minutes of free writing
o What problems or conflicts do you face within your family? With your siblings or parents?
o Do the conflicts last a period of time?
o Do they occur daily?
o How do you deal with your family conflicts?
v As a class, come together and list frequently occurred conflicts families often have to face within their homes.
o How do conflicts affect each person?
o What are some conflicts that you noticed between the members in the Fisher family in the reading assignment for today? With whom?
o Conflicts between Paul and his new friends? With the school?
o Page 33: another scene/flashback when standing at the bus stop
§ One of the boys calls Paul “Eclipse Boy”, how does he get to inherit that nickname? What’s the story that Erik made up and told his friends about Paul losing his eye sight when he was younger?
§ Erik, his older brother, is always putting him down and making fun of him right along with his friends, why do you think that is?
o Throughout the reading we get a sense of the conflicts Paul has with each of his family members:
§ Fears his brother’s physical retaliations, is angry with his father for his favoritism towards his brother, and he resents his mom’s inability to see Erik for what he really is.
- So, from what we’ve been given this far, Erik seems to be the root of Paul’s problems, do you thinks this is true? Is Erik the main conflict that he has to face?
- If Erik is what caused Paul’s problems and continues to cause his problems, what do you think might cause Erik’s potential problems in the book?
v Give them Part 2 Character List as homework.
Name: ______
Tangerine Character List Part 2
Tangerine Middle School:
§ Betty Bright: ______
§ Theresa Cruz: ______
§ Tino Cruz: ______
§ Victor Guzman: ______
§ Henry Dilkes: ______
§ Shandra Thomas: ______
§ Maya Pandhi: ______
§ Dolly Elias: ______
§ Nita Shirali: ______
Others:
§ Louis Cruz: ______
§ Tomas Cruz: ______
Day 4 (Tuesday): Compare and Contrast
Overview:
ü Using their books, students will compare and contrast the two schools that Paul attends, Lake Windsor Downs Middle School and Tangerine Middle school, and what effect the two school have on them; followed by a large class discussion.
Objectives:
ü Students will look carefully at two different environments and how they differ.
ü Students will look critically at the conflicts within the two environments discussed.
ü Students will learn to compare and contrast the two environments.
ü Students will learn to work with each other.
Materials:
ü Their books
ü Poster boards
ü Markers
Activity:
ü In groups of 2 or 3, students will take a poster board and pack of markers and create 2 charts of the different schools Paul attends with compare and contrast columns and then present them to the whole class.
Assignment:
ü Continue reading pages 129-151
Day 4 Lesson Plan in-class agenda:
v Spend about 15 minutes discussing the transition Paul makes, going to Tangerine Middle School.
o What made Paul decide that he wanted to go to Tangerine Middle School after the big sinkhole incident at Lake Windsor Downs Middle?
o Why doesn’t Paul want his mom to go into the school with him when they arrive? What is he afraid she is going to tell the principal?
o Does he fit in right away at Tangerine Middle?
o When he meets Theresa, what is his first impression of her? What does he eventually ask her that gets her talking more?
o Does Paul get to join the Tangerine Middle School soccer team? How does he react when Theresa tells him that there are girls on the team and that one of them, Maya, is one of the 2 main stars on the team?
o How do the soccer “starters” treat Paul at first? Does he care?
o Does his experience at Tangerine Middle and being on their soccer team make him happy? How does he act differently than at Lake Windsor Downs Middle?
v Present the activity to the class; hand out the poster boards and markers while they create groups of 2 or 3. ( 35 minutes)
o Create a compare and contrast chart of Lake Windsor Downs Middle School and Tangerine Middle School.
o Present them next class period.
Day 5 (Wednesday): Class Presentations
Overview:
ü The class will present their compare and contrast poster to the rest of the class.
Objectives:
ü The students will learn to listen to each other’s presentations.
ü The students will learn to work together and respect each other’s ideas.
ü The students will learn to get familiar with speaking in front of others.
Procedure:
ü The class will finish up their posters if they did not the day before.
ü Each group will present their compare/contrast on the two schools posters in front of their classmates.
Activity:
ü Poster presentations
Accommodation:
ü Getting in front of the class will allow my ADD or ADHD students to practice speaking in front of the class. The presentation also gives them the chance to get active rather than just sit in their seat the entire class period, fidgeting.
Assessment:
ü The presentation gives me a chance to see that the students accomplished a task that was given to them in class. This activity shows me that the students can interact with their classmates and together come up with answers and shows me that they are verbally and physically inclined to discuss the book.
Day 5 Lesson Plan in-class agenda:
v Spend the first 5 of minutes class finishing up their posters
v The rest of the class will be spent on the presentations and discussion lead by the students themselves.
v Assign the next reading: 151-180 (up to Wednesday, November 8).
Day 6 (Thursday): Examining the Setting of the book
Overview:
ü Using their journals, the students will free write about what keeps them going when they feel like giving up something but also about finding the confidence to standing up to someone or something that puts them down. They will also reflect on how the setting of the book may be a metaphor to Paul’s life.
Objectives:
ü The students will learn about the setting in a novel and its importance.
ü The students will learn to express themselves on paper.
Materials:
ü Journals