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Subject

English Language Arts (NYS P-12 Common Core)

Description

This is a lesson designed for a 10th Grade Inclusion Classroom, to reinforce the theme of DREAMS in A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. This lesson will aid in the instruction of students with a variety of different learning styles, as it incorporates a variety of instructional strategies.

Objectives

• Students will complete a brief journal entry explaining what they would do with one million dollars.
• Students will read and discuss "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes. This poem will help students understand the concept of dreams as a major theme in A Raisin In The Sun.
• Students will finish reading Act I of A Raisin In The Sun and identify the characteristics, dreams, and obstacles of each character in the play.
• Students will observe how these characteristics, dreams, and obstacles change throughout the course of the play by completing a graphic organizer together.

Duration

Although this lesson is designed to take only 44 minutes, the information it generates will be used throughout the remainder of the A Raisin In The Sun unit.

Materials

• Student copies of A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
• Student copies of "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes (attached)
• EITHER a SMART Board with uploaded graphic organizers (attached xbk file) OR student handouts (attached pdf file)

"Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes

Procedure

(When SMART Board is not available, use a projector and white/black board.)

1. Display SMART Notebook page 1 as students enter the classroom, providing them with the theme for the lesson.
2. Have students complete the "Do Now" on SMART Notebook page 2 by explaining what they would do with one million dollars.
3. Ask students to complete reading Act I of A Raisin In The Sun. Then, allow students to take turns on the SMART Board filling in the graphic organizer on page 3 with characteristics of Mama, Ruth, Walter and Beneatha.
4. Using notebook page 5, read and briefly discuss the poem "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes. Discuss what it might mean to have a "dream deferred" and what might cause this.
5. Using the graphic organizer on notebook page 6, students determine the obstacles that each character in A Raisin In The Sun faces.

* Save the completed graphic organizers to refer to and change as the reading of the play continues.

Assessment

Students will be evaluated on their completed graphic organizers and classroom discussion. The graphic organizers will demonstrate the understanding of the theme of "dreams" for A Raisin In The Sun.

Students will also demonstrate understanding of the time/tone in which this work was written by discussing the obstacles faced by the characters in the play. Through classroom discussion, students will demonstrate their understanding of the tone of the poem and play and of the social conditions during the time at which both were written.

Students will also demonstrate understanding of poetic devices through interpretation/discussion of the poem. Through the class discussion and completion of graphic organizers, students will analyze and evaluate both "Dream Deferred" and A Raisin In The Sun.

If this lesson is taught using a SMART Board, students will also have the opportunity to incorporate technology.

Support Materials

The attached materials can either be used on a SMART Board (xbk file) or given as handouts (pdf file). A sample key is also attached.

Key.pdf

SMART Board

This instructional content was intended for use with a SMART Board. The .xbk file below can only be opened with SMART Notebook software. To download this free software from the SMART Technologies website, please click here.

• Activity Pages.xbk
• Raisin In The Sun.pdf

Author

Emily Green Pacella, Middletown High School, Enlarged City School District of Middletown

Related Academic Standards

New York State

9-10R2 Determine one or more themes or central ideas in a text and analyze its development, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; objectively and accurately summarize a text. (RI&RL)

9-10R3 

• Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
• In literary texts, analyze how complex and/or dynamic characters develop, interact with other characters, advance the plot, or develop a theme. (RL)
• In informational texts, analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or argument, including the sequence, the introduction and development of ideas, and the connections that exist. (RI)

9-10R5 

• In literary texts, consider how varied aspects of structure create meaning and affect the reader. (RL)
• In informational texts, consider how author's intent influences particular sentences, paragraphs, or sections. (RI)

9-10R7 Analyze how a subject / content is presented in two or more formats by determining which details are emphasized, altered, or absent in each account. (e.g., analyze the representation of a subject / content or key scene in two different formats, examine the differences between a historical novel and a documentary). (RI&RL)

9-10R9 Choose and develop criteria in order to evaluate the quality of texts. Make connections to other texts, ideas, cultural perspectives, eras, and personal experiences. (RI&RL)

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