Sample Lesson Plan

I chose to structure my lesson plan in this way for a few reasons. First, I wanted to give my students something semi-creative to do as this was a tough point in the semester and it’s nice to change things up a bit. Second, I wanted them to know that they have freedom to share what they are thinking and noticing in and about the text. I feel like jumping into specific discussion questions sometimes discourages my students from sharing what they are noticing, so I tried to make the class more about what they saw in the text and less about what I necessarily wanted them to get out of it. Finally, I wanted to eventually center my discussion on one theme, childhood, because my students need to keep working on close reading and doing this activity would make them read closely by giving them an idea of something to look for and at.

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Lesson Plan: A Scavenger Hunt Through Chapter Three of Colm Tóibín’s The Blackwater Lightship

Objectives: For students to synthesize the themes and ideas that they’ve noticed are present in the novel thus far, with a particular emphasis on chapter three. To practice close reading in regards to a specific theme. To have a basic understand of the plot of the novel.

Materials Needed: A copy of Tóibín’s The Blackwater Lightship. It can be digital or electronic.

Work Completed Before Class: Prior to this class, students will have read chapters one through three of Tóibín’s The Blackwater Lightship.

Begin class with some quick reminders. Remind students that their essay grades will be released over the weekend. Give them a few pointers of things to look out for in their essays from trends I noticed while grading. Answer any questions. (5 minutes)
Have students give me an overview of the plot of the novel in chapters one and two (reading that was completed for lecture on Monday and Wednesday). Then ask them to tell me anything they remember in terms of themes from these chapters. (5 minutes)
Ask students to give me an overview of the plot in chapter three. (2-5 minutes)
Introduce the activity: a scavenger hunt! Have the class form groups of 3-4 and assign each group ten pages of the reading to work with. Ask them to go back through their pages and record anything they noticed that seemed significant in the text. Give them some ideas of things to look for (tensions, repeated images, interesting character qualities, etc.). Walk around and help groups as needed. (10 minutes)
Pull the class back together and have each group share what they noticed in their set of pages. Record their observations on the board. Ask if they notice any common themes between what the different groups are sharing. If not, point them to the idea of childhood in the novel. (10 minutes)
Ask the groups to go back through their set of pages and find anything they can that is a nod to the idea of childhood. Walk around and help as needed. (5 minutes)
Pull the class back together again and have each group discuss their findings. Run discussion socratic style based on what groups share. Ask questions to the whole class to better understand this idea of childhood. (10 minutes)
Give a quick recap of what we talked about in class today and how the skills they practiced will help them in class and outside of class going forward. (2 minutes)