Parodies of Dr. Seuss Lesson Plan
This is a lesson plan that I wrote to teach
students about parodies by having them write
parodies of Dr. Seuss stories. This lesson required
that I have a solid knowledge of the content as
well as knowing where students are developmentally.
There are also multiple instructional strategies
used in this lesson which help motivate students by
tapping into their personal interests. I spent a
lot of time planning how to teach the less and make
it a feasible time frame. Assessment techniques are
different in this lesson because of the nature of
the project. Throughout the development of this
lesson I continually reflected on the ways in which
I would teach the unit. This unit was my first
attempt at a unit that spanned more than one day. I
know that in the future I will employ many of these
techniques to develop better and more useful
lessons.
Parodies of Dr. Seuss Lesson Plan
Grade: 10
Subject: English
Time: 11 days, 50 minute class time
Rubrics: Writing Rubric, Movie Rubric
Content:
Goals:
Objectives:
Materials:
Procedures and Methods:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 5:
Day 6:
Day 7:
Day 8:
Day 9:
Day 10:
Day 11:
Development:
Guided Practice:
Independent Practice:
Assessment:
Follow-Up Activities:
Self-Assessment:
Grade: 10
Subject: English
Time: 11 days, 50 minute class time
Rubrics: Writing Rubric, Movie Rubric
Content:
- Parody
- Review styles of writing, including patterns, expository and narrative
- Introduction to parody—present stories of Dr. Seuss texts
- Demonstrate writing parodies
-
- Discuss different styles of parodies
- Write examples of parody formats
- Students practice writing parody formats
- Introduction to PowerPoint
-
- Opening and saving files
- Inserting slides
- Adding text, images, audio, movies
- Inserting transitions
- Animations
- Exporting
Goals:
- Students will have a broad knowledge of parodies
- Students will understand similarities and differences between a parody and other styles of writing
- Students will understand using technology in conveying new meaning…gain a basic knowledge of the uses of technology in conveying new meaning through visual and audio media
- Students will understand using technology to convey new meaning
- Gain knowledge and experience in writing parodies
Objectives:
- Students will write their own parody, patterned after their selected Dr. Seuss story, using the criteria given in class (see writing rubric)
- Students will produce a movie depicting their parody using elements that meet the criteria given in class (see movie rubric)
- Students will demonstrate their knowledge of parody by identifying the parts of a parody
- Students will demonstrate their knowledge of parody by making connections between parodies and other writing styles (informal assessment during instructor editing / work-shopping time)
Materials:
- Dr. Seuss books (individual students will choose their own specific one)
- Pencil and paper
- Access to computer with word processor, iDVD, PowerPoint, image editor, microphone, and CD drive
- Rhyming dictionary (optional)
Procedures and Methods:
Day 1:
- Students will be introduced to the basic components of parody writing (i.e. word choice, rhyming, overall flow of book, story and character development; see writing rubric)
- Student will demonstrate writing parodies
-
- Discuss different styles of parodies
- Write examples of parody formats
- Students practice writing parody formats
Day 2:
- Students will review parody basics (word choice, rhyming, flow)
- Students will read example parodies from their self-selected Dr. Seuss book to get ideas of how parodies are written and read
- Students will discuss topics for possible consideration for parody topics
- Assignment: Students will brainstorm general ideas for possible parody topic
Day 3:
- Students will review parody basics (story development, character development)
- Students will discuss brainstorming topics through a class discussion
- Students will select one book from a predetermined list (as made by instructor) and analyze that text
- Students will work in groups (grouped by those who chose similar texts) to decide what is important information for their parody and to establish a criteria set based on class lecture and discussion (this criteria set becomes their grading rubric for the final parody)
- Students will present their analysis (from the group) to the class
- Instructor will assess student understanding by evaluating criteria sets
- Assignment: Students will write a rough draft of their parody
Day 4:
- Students will workshop others’ papers (at discretion of instructor: groups will swap papers i.e. Group A will workshop Group B; or students will swap papers with any group)
Day 5:
- Students will be introduced to PowerPoint
-
- Opening and saving files
- Inserting slides
- Adding text, images, audio, video
- Inserting transitions
- Animations
- Exporting
Day 6:
- Students will continue their lesson in PowerPoint
- Assignment: Students will begin working on PowerPoint by collecting images, audio, and other necessary parts (from Internet, books, movies, photos, etc.)
Day 7:
- Students will begin to work in PowerPoint
- Students will submit final written parody for assessment by the end of class
- Students will continue collecting images, audio, and other necessary parts
Day 8:
- Students will continue to work in PowerPoint
Day 9:
- Students will finalize slideshows using PowerPoint and export the slideshow as a QuickTime file
- Assignment: Students will plan presentation (short introduction, show movie, short conclusion)
Day 10:
- Students will submit PowerPoint movies for assessment (see movie rubric)
- Students will begin presenting PowerPoint presentations to class (assessment of presentation)
Day 11:
- Students will finish to presenting PowerPoint presentations
Development:
- Students will revise their parodies after peer workshops
- Students will use PowerPoint to create their digital storybook
Guided Practice:
- Students will engage in a class discussion about parodies
- Students will read some example parodies to understand what characterizes a parody
- Students will engage in brainstorming for ideas to write about in their parodies
- Students will match topics with particular books that they feel will work the best for the parody
- Students will analyze parodies to develop criteria sets
Independent Practice:
- Students will select a book
- Students will read their book independently
- Students will write a parody based on the book they read
- Students will use PowerPoint to create a digital storybook of their parody
Assessment:
- Instructor should use the criteria sets developed by students as their grading rubric in assessing the students’ understanding and knowledge of parodies
- Writing rubric should check for essential elements of a parody and any additional criteria instructor determines to be necessary
- Movie rubric should check for minimum elements in digital storybook as determined by instructor
- Instructor will assess each student’s class participation throughout the entire project
- Instructor will assess how well the students implemented suggested ideas and improved from the first draft to the final
Follow-Up Activities:
- Students will make a DVD (using iDVD) with each class member’s digital storybook
Self-Assessment:
- The rough draft was difficult to write because there was a lot of stuff to get covered in the lesson plan
- I think that this is going to be a lot harder than I had anticipated
- As I continue to work on this lesson plan, I realize that there is a lot that I can do with it but I have to realize that there are time constraints and student ability is very important
- I am concerned about students’ knowledge of computers and their software in this project. Am I going to have to take class time to show them how to use the software? Will they already be experienced with the software? How quickly, efficiently, and effectively can they create these projects?
- I am also concerned that maybe I am incorporating too much technology in this lesson and not enough English related elements.
- I have found it especially difficult to write the rubrics for this project. I don’t want this to be too difficult of a project because I want students to have fun with it. But I also want them to learn skills they can use later.
- As I go through and make final revisions to this project, I realize that it has been a difficult process but a fun one. I also understand how helpful this can/will be in the classroom. Especially for beginning teachers, lesson plans are potentially a lifesaver but I think as the years go by, they become more comfortable with their teaching abilities and probably don’t rely on lesson plans as much.
- I have spent a lot of time trying to revise this lesson plan. I am still having a difficult time understanding the differences between Goals and Objectives. To me, those areas are so closely related that I can hardly distinguish the two of them differently. I have a better understand of the relationship and differences but I am still unsure of my line of thinking is correct.
- I have extended the length of time that this lesson requires. I realized that it was way too much, way too fast. Especially the technology aspect of the project was a lot more than most students will be able to handle. I am hoping that the extended time that I have allotted for is sufficient to allow students to be creative while not limiting their capabilities because of time constraints.
- I have been getting frustrated with this lesson plan simply because I think that I have tried to tackle something that I am not ready for. I know what I want to teach and how I want to go about. I am just unsure of how to document that in a lesson plan and make sure that all the parts and pieces are present in the lesson plan in the correct place.
- Again I have gone through and revised this lesson plan and I still don’t quite understand the difference between Goals and Objectives. In the comments by the teacher given in this revision, the phrase “objectives are learning outcomes of the activities” really helped clarify the difference. But I am still a little unsure of the difference. I think the biggest reason for this uncertainty is because I don’t quite understand the reasoning behind this division.
- I have revised the lesson plan again and I think it is getting better. I feel like it is getting better each time I revise it but I am tired of having to overhaul the Goals and Objectives sections of the lesson plan each time.
- The teacher hasn’t really commented too much on the outline for the activities for each day. I don’t know if that is because she hasn’t paid that much attention to that part or if it is because it is because that part is okay.
- I think that this lesson is finally coming together. I finally realized that in order to create the movie this would have to be a long and drawn out process. So I have opted for having students create digital storybooks with their movies. I think that this is much easier and much quicker than having to teach them iMovie. Most students will have some basic knowledge of PowerPoint which will allow for a basic familiarity of the software. I think that the digital storybook is going to accomplish the same thing as the movie except it won’t be as elaborate. But this is an English lesson in an English class, not a software applications lesson in a technology class.
- I think that I finally understand the difference between goals and objectives. I feel like my goals and objectives are correct now. They are very similar but there are differences between the two. And I am beginning to see how important it is to distinguish that difference.