The Lottery You Don’t Want to Win!

The Lottery You Don't Want to Win!

Author(s): Kelly Gudeman, Mindy Marchel, Dr. Joy Seybold, Kimberly Jarrett

Grade Level: Tenth Grade

Timeframe: One week; 90 minute class periods. The timeframe is based on a school with block scheduling.

Lesson Description or Explanation:

The students will be reading short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, and as a supplement to their study of the text, they will be corresponding via web blog with another class of tenth graders at another school within the same school district. They will be discussing what they are learning and their own ideas using critical thinking skills about the literary elements of the text; as well as a discussion about the controversial/ethical issues within the text.

Indiana Curricular Standards:

10.4.7: Integrate quotations and citations into a written text while maintaining the flow of ideas.

10.5.2: Write responses to literature that:

• Demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the significant ideas of literary works.
• Support statements with evidence from the text.
• Demonstrate awareness of the author’s style and an appreciation of the effects created.
• Identify and assess the impact of ambiguities, nuances, and complexities within the text.
• Extend writing by changing mood, plot, characterization, or voice.

ISTE Standards:

3.Technology productivity tools

Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.

4.Technology communications tools

Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.
Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.


Assessments
Formative/Summative:

Formative:
We will be having a lot of class discussions during which we will be formatively assessing their understandings of the text. We will also be reading their work on the blog and their ability to express their ideas about the text to a different audience of their peers. Through this kind of formative assessment we can change our lesson plan accordingly to encourage greater understandings of the text.

Summative:
At the end of the week the students will write a personal reflection of their experience reading the text, class discussions, and the blog. We will make and hand out a rubric for the students to use when they write their reflection. They will not be graded on technical writing skills, but they will be graded on creativity, thoughtfulness, and fulfilling the requirements for each section, such as: the reading of the text, the class discussions, and the blog.

Prior Knowledge:

Curricular Knowledge or Skills: They will already have an understanding of literary devices, such as theme, dramatic irony, suspense.

Technology Knowledge: They will already know how to type and have a moderate understanding of the Internet.

Technology:

Internet Resources: (please list URLs): www.blogger.com, http://babelfish.altavista.com/

Hardware: Laptops with Internet access. We can adjust the settings on the computers to aid students with disabilities, such as using a hands free browser and adjusting the font to make it bigger.

Software: We could also attain HELP Read software that could read the text to a student with a visual impairment.

Procedure:


Prior to Day One:

• A blogspot on www.blogger.com will be set up for the class for correspondence with another class. Essential questions will already be posted for the students when they log in for the first time on Day 2. We will have already put the students into groups according to abilities and learning styles as a result of consulting with the co-teacher of the lesson. We will have access to laptops and will have adjusted them accordingly for special needs students.
  
  Day One:
  
• We will put the students into their group which will be called a “family” like in the text that we are reading, “The Lottery.” Each family will consist of a father, mother, and at least one child. The head of the household will draw a piece of paper from a box. Whichever family draws the piece of paper with the black dot on it will each draw again; one family member will draw a piece of paper with a black dot on it but the individual will not be revealed to the class, nor will the purpose of this exercise, until after the reading of the text.
• The teacher will read “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson in class aloud to the students as they follow along with their own copy of the text.
• When the reading is over, the students will understand that the person who drew the paper with the black dot will be stoned to death (hypothetically).
• Next, the person is revealed and a whole-group discussion will take place about the story’s ethical and moral value.
• At the end of the period, the teacher will explain the blogging assignment and its significance to their study of the text. It will be used as a supplemental learning device.
  
  Day Two:
  
• Students will get online and find valid literary criticism of Jackson’s short story.
• Students then get into their groups and talk about what they found. They will then present to the class their findings.
• Then as a class, we will come together and discuss if the criticism is valid, the time the story was written, and what the author really meant to say in the text.
• Students will then use their laptops to get into the blogspot on www.blogger.com. They will be allowed to peruse and familiarize themselves with the site, and then respond to the essential questions previously posted by the teacher.
  
  Day 3-4:
  
• After significant class-time study of the literary devices within the text, the students will return to the blogspot and make responses to the corresponding class’ postings from Day 2.
• They also can post their own personal questions and thoughts for the other class to respond to.
  
  Day 5:
  
• After completing the research and discussion about the story, the class can have a discussion in which they brainstorm real-life controversial issues that they feel are wrong, but society takes part in them anyway.
• Students will break into their groups and research the issue they’ve decided on and then come back together and present them to the class.
• Students will then blog to their corresponding class a synopsis of the issue they researched and its significance and corruption of society.
  
  Day 6:
  
• Students will log into www.blogger.com and respond to corresponding class’ postings from Day 5.
• Teacher will conduct a whole group discussion in wrap up and pass out rubric for the personal reflection.

Differentiated Instruction:

ESL:

We would try to find a bilingual student (s) to set the ESL student (s) up with for the blog. If this is not possible then we could set the ESL student up with a web page, such as: http://babelfish.altavista.com/, to translate the entire website making it accessible to every ESL student.

Challenge/Extend:

Students with advanced knowledge and familiarity with the workings of blogger.com could create their own personal blogspot in which they address a controversial issue in the community of particular interest to them. The spot would be open to the general public and the student could continue correspondence even after the completion of this particular lesson.

Special Needs:

For individuals with physical disabilities, hands free browsers and classroom-to-classroom video capability could enable the students to interact and discuss the text without the struggles of using the elements of a computer (keyboard, mouse, etc.)
For students with visual impairments or reading comprehension difficulties, the software mentioned above, HELP Read, could be used so that students could hear the online text and interact more readily with their classmates.