An Inter-Disciplinary Mini-Unit

Level: Intermediate, Middle School, High School

Purpose: To understand theme and context clues using tales from around the world and poetry

Overview: These lessons will focus on four stories and one poem from around the world and will give students the opportunity to create their own story.

Lesson One:

Students will work in groups to analyze the following stories: "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Thor’s Visit to Jotunheim," "Ulysses and the Cyclopse," and "David and Goliath."

Lesson Two:

Students will analyze the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll with an emphasis on the nonsense words and the context clues used to define them.

Lesson Three:

Students will create an original story centering around a giant and using a series of original vocabulary words.

Lesson Four:

Students will trade stories and write definitions for the original vocabulary words in their neighbor’s story.

Lesson One

 Objective:

Students will work in groups to analyze the following stories: "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Thor’s Visit to Jotunheim," "Ulysses and the Cyclopse," and "David and Goliath."

Materials:

copies of the stories from Educational Structures

Procedure:

1. Have the students read different stories about giants.

2. Have the students analyze the stories using the Short Story sheet.

Author: __________________________________________

Characters (brief description): __________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Plot Summary: ______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Main Conflict (type): ___________________________________

(example): ________________________________________________________________

Additional Conflict (type): _____________________________________

(example): ________________________________________________________________

Theme: ____________________________________________________________________

Symbols (and what they represent): _____________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Irony? yes no example: ___________________________________________

Foreshadowing? yes no example: _________________________________________

Imagery? yes no example: _________________________________________

Mood: _____________________________________________________________________

Rate the story. 1=amazing 10=dud ____________

Lesson Two

Objective:

Students will analyze the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll with an emphasis on the nonsense words and the context clues used to define them.

Materials:

copy of "Jabberwocky" from Educational Structures

Procedure:

1. Have the students read the poem. You might want them to read it aloud for added fun.

2. Have the students write down all of the nonsense words from the poem. Then have them write down definitions for the words based on the context clues from the poem.

3. If there is additional time, have the students write out a conversation using these nonsense vocabulary words.

Lesson Three

Objective:

Students will create an original story centering on a giant and using a series of original vocabulary words.

Materials:

none

Procedures:

1. Have the students write their own story about a giant. In their story, students should use nonsense words that they have invented.

Lesson Four

Objective:

Students will trade stories and write definitions for the original vocabulary words in their neighbor’s story.

Materials:

stories from lesson three

Procedure:

1. Have the students exchange stories with one another.

2. Have students read another story and analyze it using the Short Story sheet.

3. Have the students write down a list of the nonsense words used in the short story and then define the words.