Lesson Plan - Teddy

Class: 32 Secondary 3 mixed ability, self-motivated students with a preference for group work.

Estimated Duration: ~60 mins

Lesson Topic: “Atmosphere” in The Crucible

Learning Objectives/Outcomes: By the end of the lesson, students will understand how “atmosphere” can be used as a central literary device in plays, and how the lesson may impact their personal lives. They will demonstrate such understanding by:

1.     Completing the task worksheet; this worksheet scaffolds their understanding of how the playwright effectively creates “atmosphere”—in this case, the atmosphere of fear which pervades the play. Specifically, students will immerse into the point-of-view of some of the major characters/groups of characters in the play.

2.     Identify (upon personal reflection) in writing, how the lesson impacts their lives—in the sphere of decision-making (to be done as homework). That is, through the process of identifying with characters in the play, they become self-aware as to how fear often corrupts rational thoughts. As such, they are empowered to make more informed decisions under stressful conditions.

Prerequisites-and-Resources:

1. Students are to have read and briefly examined the plot and main themes in the play.

2. Students have been briefed on the concepts of (1) the use of “atmosphere”; and (2) the author’s point-of-view in a literary work.

3. In the previous two lessons, students viewed the 1996 video production of The Crucible. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115988/

4. Students have been divided into jigsaw groups of four (with a leader) in preparation for this lesson.

5. Students are to have brought their annotated text to class.

Lesson Procedure:

Introduction

1. Students form into their pre-assigned jigsaw groups of four. Teacher explicitly introduces and explains the first two objectives and tasks required of the students in the lesson. Teacher facilitates student achievement of the third objective by asking students to continually make the connection between the character’s thought processes and theirs throughout the lesson. (7 mins)

2. Teacher hands out scaffolding worksheet [please see appendix]. To discourage free-loading, teacher instructs every group member to take charge of the relevant scene-cum-character(s) involved in one Act in the play. (3 mins)

Development

3. Students in respective groups work on learning task by silently examining and annotating their assigned text segments. (15 mins)

4. Teacher forms temporary expert groups by having each member from each jigsaw group join other students assigned to the same learning segment. Teacher instructs students in these expert groups to share, consolidate the main points of their segments, and rehearse the presentations they will make to their jigsaw group. (10 mins)

5. Teacher instructs students to return to their jigsaw groups and present their findings to the rest of the group. Teacher encourages viewing members to peer critique and clarify doubts after each presentation. Student leader of each group to keep time. Teacher concurrently observes group presentations and facilitates understanding and learning by identifying learning gaps in presentations, if any. (15 mins)

Closure

6. Teacher rounds up presentation via a Q&A session. (5 mins)

Follow-up

7. For homework, the teacher instructs students to write a personal reflection piece not exceeding 200 words on the following question:

In what way(s) may this lesson be relevant to your personal life? To get you started, think of how the “atmosphere of fear” present in the play is intimately linked to each character’s/group of characters’ decision-making process.

Appendix (Suggested Sample Worksheet):

For your respective task segments, think as your assigned character/group-of-characters in the scene would—living among/as a Puritan—and identify in writing at least one decision he/she/they made in that scene. Think of the reason(s) why he/she/they made that particular decision.

Please use the question prompts as a means of “getting into” the minds of the characters/group-of-characters. You are strongly encouraged to draw on real-life experiences.

Act 1

Character(s)-Scene/idea(s) to focus on: Girls (Betty, Mercy, Abigail and Tituba) caught conjuring and dancing naked in the forest.

Think:

1. An occasion when you were caught for doing something forbidden (eg. underage smoking, etc.); and/or
2. An occasion when you did something mainly out of peer-pressure (eg. ostracizing a fellow classmate simply because your clique dislikes him/her).

*For both questions, consider: (a) Did you feel it was right to do it? Why or why not? (b) What did you do to get out of trouble/resolve the situation? What thoughts/feelings/emotions guided your decision in resolving the situation?

Act 2

Character(s)-Scene/idea(s) to focus on: The strained relationship between John and Elizabeth; and John’s reluctance to testify against Abigail.

Think:

1. An occasion when you hurt someone you love (eg. good friend, parent); and/or
2. An occasion when a person you love betrayed your trust (eg. good friend, sibling)

*For both questions, consider: (a) What did you/the other party do to resolve the situation? (b) How long did the healing process take? (c) Did your/the other party’s behaviour towards the other party/you change since then?

Act 3

Character(s)-Scene/idea(s) to focus on: Mary Warren and the power of rumours.

Think:

1. An occasion when you heard a rumour about someone you know; and/or
2. An occasion when someone tried to damage your reputation by spreading a rumour about you.

*For both questions, consider: (a) Did you immediately believe the rumour? Why or why not? (b) Did you or would you try to dispel the rumour if you know it to be false?

Act 4

Character(s)-Scene/idea(s) to focus on: John Proctor’s decision to preserve his name and dignity by dying for the truth rather than living a lie.

Think:

1. A value/idea you feel is worth dying for.

*Consider: Why do you feel the value/idea worth dying for?

Lesson Rationale:

Selection of text: The content of the play is an easy motivator, since supernatural and paranormal issues are topics most teenagers can readily identify with.

Pedagogical approach: This lesson plan incorporates key elements of both the Deweyan and Freirean approaches to education.

1. Deweyan: Dewey wrote that education is a moral enterprise. For Dewey, education (1) is life itself; and (2) receives its moral content from its intimate connection with social life.

(a) Education is life itself: Having students reflect on their prior knowledge (personal experiences) as a means of “getting into” the minds of their assigned character(s) makes learning personal for students. As such, they are likely to comprehend and retain the new information more easily. Both the main in-class activity and follow-up activity seek to further enhance student understanding of the learning objectives/outcomes via critical reflection on real-life decision making situations.

(b) Moral content: Immersion into the point-of-view of their assigned character(s) sensitizes students to the need to “step into the shoes of others” before passing judgement of any kind on them.

2. Freirean: Freire advocates a dialogic approach to education where students are actively involved in the construction of critical consciousness. The jigsaw group discussion strategy employed in this lesson is in line with such an approach. The teacher plays the role of facilitator providing the overall structure for achieving the learning objectives/outcomes, while students are the main persons in charge of their learning.