The Teaching ELA Podcast

"The Lamb" by William Blake provides a simple and profound answer to a simple and profound question: Who made us? (the topic sentence states the title and author of the poem as well as the poem's theme). Because the poem addresses a child it takes on the form of a child's song, containing rhymed couplets and repetition (we've taken a fact about the poem and explained the significance of the fact to the poem's overall meaning). Because the poem addresses a child, the answer to the question must be at the level a child can understand. In this case, the Lamb--meaning the Lamb of God, made thee, isn't that great? (this is the simple answer alluded to in the topic sentence).

The answer, although understood by the child, deals with a philosophical religious question that scholars have discussed for centuries (this addresses the profound answer mentioned in the topic sentence), leading one to think that perhaps we all need to become like a little child to understand our eternal nature (note how the author of this paragraph adds a Biblical allusion and ends his paragraph by restating the poem's theme and tying it into his topic sentence).

Resources

• Poetry Lesson Plan Bonanza
• British Romanticism
• "The Lamb" Blog Post

Of all the famous poems of Wordsworth, none is more famous than "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud". To fully understand the poem and any William Wordsworth poetry analysis, a brief look at the tenets of British Romanticism is in order. British Romantics emphasized the following.

British Romanticism

1. The Beauty of the Supernatural - a William Wordsworth poetry analysis will invariably identify a connection between nature and the supernatural. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is no exception.
2. The Importance of Nature - The obvious theme of the poem is the beauty of nature and its ability to allow one to connect with God.
3. Championing the Individual - The narrator's experience in the meadow is personal and individual.
4. The Dangers of Technology - There is no overt reference to technology. Romantics, however feared that man's ability to connect with nature was being compromised by technological advances.

Links

• "Daffodils" Analysis at ELACommonCoreLessonPlans.com
• Poetry Lesson Plan Bonanza
• British Romanticism page at ELACommonCoreLessonPlans.com

If there's one lesson plan you use during National Poetry Month or when you teach poetry, this is that lesson plan!
Resources

• Poetry Lesson Plans Bonanza
• How to Annotate and Analyze a Poem at elacommoncorelessonplans.com
• Immediate Access to numerous poetry lesson plans and handouts

“Harrison Bergeron” Lesson Ideas

1. Read the Declaration of Independence. Discuss the phrase “all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” What did Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers mean? Why does Martin Luther King allude to it so often in his “I Have a Dream” speech?  How have modern politicians warped the expression? Can an equality of results be obtained? Has equality under the law been obtained?
2. Read the United States Constitution Bill of Rights. Discuss which rights have been abused in “Harrison Bergeron.” Feel free to partner up with the U.S. History or government teacher and try this Bill of Rights lesson plan.
3. “Harrison Bergeron” makes a great companion piece of literature to Brave New World, 1984, or Fahrenheit 451.
4. 2081.  This is an outstanding movie.  It’s about 1/2 hour long.  Rent it from Amazon and stream it.
5. Theme

Takeaways

1.  Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
2. 2081 The Movie
3. Science Fiction isn’t just for nerds.

Links

1. Analyzing Irony in Literature Lesson Plan
2. Science Fiction Lesson Plans
3. “Harrison Bergeron” Page
4. 2081, the movie
5. Short Story Lesson Plans Galore

Gift of the Magi

The next day would be an evaluation from the principal and the teacher had no “Gift of the Magi” Activities or “Gift of the Magi” lesson ideas.

There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little teachers’ lounge couch and howl. So the teacher did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that teaching is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.

Then the Internet was invented and “Gift of the Magi” activities and lesson plans became easy to find.  Which instigates the moral reflection that teaching is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with smiles predominating.

2-Minute Lesson Plan

Expectations vs Reality is more than a theme in ironic short stories. It’s the subject of this two-minute lesson plan.

1. Draw a line down the middle of the board. Students will copy this line on their paper or digital document.
2. On the left side make a list of important events in your life. You can either generate this as a class, individually, or in groups. Once you’ve made your list, instruct students to write about their expectations leading up to the event. 
3. On the right side of the line students will write about how the event actually turned out.

Sample events include the first day of school, Christmas, Birthdays, Dates, vacations, remote learning, etc.

This establishes a good foundation for irony in life as well as the events of the short story.

Takeaways

1. Surprisingly, there’s not a whole lot of Christmas short stories.
2. If you’re going to teach irony in literature, there are very few better authors to teach than O’Henry and this is his most well known.
3. Life is full of the unexpected. 

Links

1. "Gift of the Magi" page at elacommoncorelessonplans.com
2. Irony in Short Stories Lesson Plan Collection

In today’s episode of the Teaching ELA Podcast, I discuss science fiction short stories for middle school and high school: “The Fun They Had,” “All Summer in a Day, “Examination Day,” “They’re Made out of Meat,” “Harrison Bergeron,” “There Will Come Soft Rains,” “The Machine that Won the War,” “The Machine Stops,” and whatever else comes to mind

I’ve got an emergency lesson plan you can get on the board right now. 

And the One Thing you can teach with any of these stories is in the show title. It’s the elements of Science Fiction. By teaching students to analyze the elements of Science Fiction, you’ll be hitting standards that involve theme, characterization, setting, and all those other things we discuss when we get all literary up in this mug.

Takeaways

1. Science Fiction isn’t just for nerds. You’ll get a higher percentage of students who enjoy science fiction short stories than just about any other type.
2. What makes good science fiction stories so good is their ability to connect with readers despite futuristic settings and characters.
3. Teaching the Elements of Science Fiction will make teaching many of the elements of literature easy.

Links and Resources

1. SFLesson Plans Collection
2. Science Fiction Short Stories
3. “Harrison Bergeron” lesson plans can be found here.
4. “There Will Come Soft Rains” lesson plans can be found here.
5. “A Sound of Thunder” lesson plans can be found here.
6. Rappacinni’s Daughter
7. “The Fun They Had” lesson plans can be found here.
8. “All Summer in a Day” lesson plans can be found here.
9. “The Veldt” Lesson Plans can be found here.

In today’s episode of the Teaching ELA Podcast, I discuss several short stories for teaching Point of View: “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “Cask of Amontillado, “Contents of the DMP,” “Scarlet Ibis,” “Jumping Frog and “Sniper.” 

I’ve got an emergency lesson plan you can get on the board right. And if there’s one short story involving Point of View you need to teach, we have that, too.

Takeaways

1. There’s more to point of view than explaining 1st person and third person.
2. Writing from a different point of view gives students opportunities to empathize and see things from a different perspective.
3. Everything I do at the Teaching ELA podcast I try to see from your point of view..

Links and Resources

1. POV Lesson Plans Collection
2. “Content’s of the Dead Man’s Pocket” at elacommoncorelessonplans.com
3. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" at elacommoncorelessonplans.com
4. "The Scarlet Ibis" theme lesson plan at elacommoncorelessonplans.com
5. "The Cask of Amontillado" at elacommoncorelessonplans.com
6. "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" at elacommoncorelessonplans.com

In today’s episode of the Teaching ELA Podcast, I discuss several short stories with a focus on symbolism: “Masque of the Red Death,” “Through the Tunnel,” “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” “The Moustache,” “A Worn Path,” “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and whatever else comes to mind. 

Takeaways

1. Citing textual evidence to support analysis leads to exploring a story’s theme, which is pretty much THEE standard of all standards.
2. Most literature has symbolic meanings that contribute to the story’s overall theme.
3. Symbols can be universal or textual,.

Links and Resources

1. Symbolism Lesson Plans Collection
2. The 2-minute Symbolism Lesson Plan
3. “The Minister’s Black Veil” lesson plans
4. “Masque of the Red Death” lesson plans
5. “Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” lesson plans
6. “The Necklace” lesson plans
7. “A Worn Path” lesson plans
8. “Yellow Wallpaper” lesson plans
9. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs lesson plans

Habits

If you’re going to succeed at weight loss or any positive life change you’re going to need to establish habits that serve you. Habits are the things we do automatically, without giving it too much thought. Here are a few habits that will increase your chances of success as you lose weight.

1. Movement - You need to get in the habit of moving. The prevailing wisdom is to aim for 10,000 steps and I think that’s a good goal. If you don’t currently exercise regularly, don’t feel you need to do some crazy workout routine. Just start walking more. There are low cost step tracking watches as well as smart phone apps that will help you track steps. I want to stress that the key to weight loss is not exercise, it’s eating smart. And movement can be an effective way to leverage healthy eating habits. Now if you already exercise regularly, bravo! Keep doing it.
2. Food Tracking - Those who track what they eat are more likely to succeed at weight loss. I’ll be honest: I hate tracking food--to the point where I’ve not eaten it because I didn’t feel like logging it--which turns out to be one benefit of tracking it. Now that I’ve consistently tracked my food for almost a year, it’s not that big of a deal anymore. I recommend MyFitnessPal but I’m sure there are others that do the same thing.
3. Sleep - Your body and mind function better when you get enough rest. How much sleep do you need? Probably more than you’re getting. Chances are you’re up and getting ready for work much sooner than most people and since your boss isn’t going to change the entire school schedule to accommodate your weight loss goal, you need to get to bed sooner.
4. Meal Planning - Was that groaning I heard?  The #1 habit I strengthened that helped me lose weight and maintain weight is meal planning. Now when I say meal planning, I don’t mean some hieroglyphic-like chart with every meal from now until 2032 on a calendar with listed ingredients. For me it simply means that before I go to bed, I make my lunch for the next day. That’s my meal plan strategy. 

In today’s episode of the Teaching ELA Podcast, I discuss several short stories for Halloween that weren’t written by Edgar Allan Poe. They include “The Monkey’s Paw,” “The Lottery,” “Rappacini’s Daughter,” “There Will Come Soft Rains,” “Sonata for a Harp and a Bicycle,” “Lamb to the Slaughter,” “The Landlady,” and “Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.”

Takeaways

1. Teach suspense with scary short stories with a simple chart and by identifying the three methods author’s use to create suspense.
2. Setting and mood play a critical role and strongly affect other literary elements such as plot and conflict.
3. You can teach these stories any time of year.

Links and Resources

• Halloween Stories Lesson Plans Collection
• “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs lesson plans post
• “The Lottery”  lesson plans post
• "The Landlady" lesson plans post
• "There Will Come Soft Rains" lesson plans post
• "Lamb to the Slaughter" lesson plans post
• "Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" lesson plans post