Focus: The focus of this lesson is to improve high school students', with mild to moderate learning disabilities, knowledge of developing ideas for writing using S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders.
Mentor Text: I chose this genre of realistic fiction due to the interesting way Hinton began and ended the story which related to the main character's, Pony Boy, search for ideas in writing an essay for his English class. The story is about Pony Boy Curtis, his brothers, and friends, the "greasers" and their conflict with the rich kids, the Socs, which takes a devasting turn for the worse. S. E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders when she was only sixteen years old. S. E. Hinton also wrote That Was Then, This is Now as well as other books. Hinton usually writes long hand and then enters the material into the computer. Hinton lives a private life in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Purpose: One of the most challenging things for most people to do when writing is to come up with ideas. My special needs students are no exception. The main character of The Outsiders, Pony Boy, also struggled with an idea for his English class. Hinton showed the cyclic nature of writing by beginning and ending the book with "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, ...", which is symbolic of the light that comes on when the writer finally writer finally obtains that idea. The ability to up with ideas for writing is essential when taking state assessments therefore worthy of teaching strategies.
Lesson Plan: Following reading The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton and a discussion of the way Hinton began and ended the story as well as Pony Boy's struggle for ideas for his essay, students will practice writing a journal every day using the introduced strategies. The strategies will be added to a chart to post in the room.
Day 1: Students will be asked to do a visualization about a favorite childhood place. First ask student to brainstorm and write down every place they remember as a kid or their favorite things to do. Next, the teacher will have students share some of their places with the class to scaffold additional ideas for other students. Next, the teacher will prompt students to choose one place and close their eyes to picture the place in their minds. The teacher will ask questions such as "What does this place look like?" "What does this place smell like?" "How does the place feel like or how does it make you feel?" "What do you hear in this place?". Now, students will write in a dialogue journal about their favorite childhood place (Remember to focus on spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and good writing skills throughout their journal entries.) Their partner will ask questions or make comments about this entry.
Day 2: Ask students to remember back to yesterday when they did their visualization. Provide large pieces of paper and markers and tell students that they will now draw a map such as a neighborhood map or picture of their favorite place. In the dialogue journal, have students reflect on what they discovered from the activity. The partner will make comments and state what he/she learned. Explain to students that by drawing a picture many students can come up with ideas for writing.
Day 3: Ask students to create a self-portrait from an outline of a person. Instruct students: for the head, tell what you think about. For the eyes, what do you see for yourself now or for yourself in the future. For the ears, what you like to hear or listen to. For the mouth, what do you like to talk about or say to your friends. For the hands, what you like to do. For the feet, where you want to go such as a career, a place that you would like to visit, or your favorite place to hang out. Now, write your self portrait into words. The entry may be shared with a partner or not for this activity. Assign students homework that they must do the following activities to develop our list of strategies: 1) talk to a friend or other person and write down at least one idea for writing 2) write about a dream (last night or one from the past) 3) watch something such as television, youtube, or a movie and write a least one idea you could use 4) read something such as the newspaper, book, something on the internet, facebook, etc.
Day 4: Students will write in their dialogue journal each activity and the ideas for the writing prompts. Their partner can respond with comments or questions.
Day 5: Students will narrow their ideas down to two choices and pick their favorite topic. The students will begin a draft of a narrative or memoir.
Academic Content Standards:
Writing Applications
4. Write informal essays or reports, including a search that:
b. provides a clear and accuate perspective on the subject
c. create a organizing structure appropriate to the purpose, audience, and content
Writing Conventions:
1. Use correct spelling conventions
2. Use correct capitalizatin and punctuation
Mentor Connection: For more information on S. E. Hinton, please visit her website: http://www.sehinton.com/
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