Young Oliver Twist Lesson - Essay Example

Content Area(s) Addressed: interaction between children and adults and what society expects of them
Setting: a theatre hall or a hall that is larger than the ordinary classroom. This will allow for brief demonstrations by the students and the instructor from the selected texts.
Topic: Young Oliver Twist
Lesson Standards: these will be in tune with provisions endorsed by the Florida department of education.


Instructional Objectives:
• Know the history of the author as a reformist for minority groups.
• Enable the appreciation of art and literature as non-violent means of seeking reforms.
• Appreciation of different perspectives individuals might have towards certain topics.
• Appreciation of other vocabulary used outside school as a means of communication in informal settings.

Assessment:
• The student will read the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens the week before and write summary notes from their perspective (1 page).• The students will also perform in groups of four selected scenes from the play under the guidance of the instructor.
Materials and Equipment:
• The short simplified text of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• Costumes for the specific characters the instructor intends for the students to play

Vocabulary:
• The material chosen will provide a challenge considering the author's prowess, the age of the children, and the presence of ELL students.
• In addition, the culture within which the book is presented will prove challenging for all the students.
Grouping:
• During the performance of the selected parts, the students will form groups that have students from mixed cultural backgrounds. The aim is to ensure that there is an even distribution of the cultures within the groups.

Literacy Connection: (if applicable)
• Allow the students to read the play out loud to improve on the identification of vocabulary, pronunciation, and intonation

Instructional Procedures:
• Introduction: start with the history of the author and the background of the play (very crucial in meeting objectives one and two above).
• Systematic Strategies: start with summarizing the play, analyzing the various characters, discussing the various themes presented, and finally, moving up to acting out the various important scenes.
• Closure: ensure that all four objectives are clear to the students but allow them to make their inferences, especially on the first summary essay.
• Extended Follow-up Activities: make a list of all the new words encountered preferably on a chart. Make the students use these words in sentences. As for themes, it is up to the instructor to pick them out and explain to the students what lessons are to be learned. Referring t everyday life situations where these themes are applicable will also speed up the students’ comprehension.

Accommodations for English Language Learners:
The text has diverse characters and the students can choose to represent those they are most comfortable with. However, in all instances, the student should describe what the character is saying or portraying in their words hence enabling the assessment of their choice in vocabulary.

Accommodations for Exceptional Students:
• This lesson will provide for a student to practice their pronunciation, vocabulary use, and role-play which is very crucial in integrating the world of fiction with that of reality.
Accommodations for Learning Styles:
• Visual: acting out chosen sections of the book (the instructor should make a custom script for the students)
• Auditory: encourage the students to read aloud
• Kinesthetic: role-play

Critical thinking and higher-order questioning:
• Remember: that the students are different and, therefore, have different needs.
• Understand: the cultural background to enable proper assessment and integration of the students into the intended classroom environment created during the lessons (note the mention of anti-Semitism even in this watered-down version of Oliver's twist).
• Apply the use of English language development standards.
• Analyze the different perspectives presented by the students during role-play and in their written assignments.
• Evaluate the student's understanding of the text from an academic point of view.
• Create a summary of the individual strengths and weaknesses of the students given the objectives.
Home Learning/Homework:
• Both the first and second essays will account for homework only role-playing will be schoolwork

Family Involvement:
• For the first essay, students should ask for their parent's or siblings' help to decipher the story.

Reference Information:
• http://www.fldoe.org/educators/
• Classic Novel Workbook- Oliver Twist (Third Grade Readability Level) (#69029-IN)
Guided Self-Assessment/Reflection Statement:
Moving the lesson to a new venue made the students relax and the informal nature of the play made the students more expressive. The different dimensions presented during the lesson enabled the students to explore other talents apart from academics. In addition, there was personal interaction between students who on normal occasions were strangers to each other. On the other hand, Oliver twist is an outstanding literary work that explores most if not all aspects of society. The fact that the main character is a young boy is also a plus because it is easy for the students to relate to his struggles even if the society Oliver twist lived in was different from the current one. Read More