Lesson 5: Character Analysis in “Flowers for Algernon” About this lesson Students read the first three progress reports of “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. Please note, this unit is based on the short story “Flowers for Algernon,” not the novel Flowers for Algernon.

We determined the meaning of the myths of Prometheus and Pandora based on the actions of the characters. Let’s Review! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute Directions: Briefly review the previous learning.

Read Progress Reports 1-3 of “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. Today we will: Read Progress Reports 1-3 of “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. Analyze Charlie’s character based on the content and structure of the text. Let’s Prepare! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute Directions: Read the slide. Briefly explain how this lesson prepares students for another lesson and/or the end-of-unit assessments. Throughout the lesson, compare students’ responses and work to the student look-fors. Determine the students who need additional support with reading, understanding, or expressing their understanding of complex, grade-level texts. During this lesson or before the next lesson, support those students individually or in a small group using the Additional Supports for Diverse Learners.

“Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes (short story) You will need: “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes (short story) Your reading log Let’s Prepare! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 5 minutes Directions: Distribute the text. Ask students to locate their reading log.

Answer the following questions for Progress Reports 1-3. Who is Charlie? What does Charlie want? What details or quotations reveal Charlie’s thoughts, feelings, and actions? Let’s Read! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 15 minutes Directions: Say: “Listen as I read aloud Progress Reports 1-3 of ‘Flowers for Algernon’ by Daniel Keyes. Follow along with your copy of the text as I read aloud. Take notes in your reading log. For each progress report, answer the questions on the slide: “Who is Charlie?” “What does Charlie want?” and “What details or quotations from the text reveal Charlie’s thoughts, feelings, and actions?” Read aloud Progress Reports 1-3. Pause reading periodically to check in with students on the notes they have taken and/or provide time for students to record their notes. As needed, model how to take notes by creating a class entry for Progress Report 1. When you are done reading and students have taken their notes, ask: “What is the format of this text? How does this format better help us understand Charlie?” Use teacher talk moves so students clearly express their ideas (Goal One), listen carefully to understand others’ ideas (Goal Two), provide evidence to support their claims (Goal Three), and establish new ways of thinking (Goal Four). Possible Supports During the Lesson: If students need additional support as they are taking notes, call on individual students to share their notes with the class, conference with individual students as they take their notes, or ask students to share their notes with a partner. Student Look-Fors: Access the completed notes handout. Ensure students objectively summarize and paraphrase what the reader learns about Charlie in Progress Reports 1-3, using direct quotations as appropriate. Students should identify that the text is a series of journal entries written by Charlie. They should understand that since it is told from his point of view, we are able to get his firsthand thoughts about situations and learn what he is thinking from the entries. For example, we know that Charlie wants to be more intelligent and he respects Miss Kinnian. This is shown when he says, “I want to be smart” and “He was very nice and talked slow like Miss Kinnian does.” We are also able to see the magnitude of his intellectual deficiencies, as we can see that he can’t spell well and his sentences are not well formed. Since it is also first person, we don’t get a lot of accurate information about what is happening. We are limited in our knowledge as a reader based on what Charlie understands and shares with us. So, for example, Charlie describes the Rorschach test and the Thematic Apperception Test from his point of view, which is limited in understanding. He says things like, “She told me this test and the other one the raw-shok was for getting personalty. I laffed so hard. I said how can you get that thing from inkblots and fotos. She got sore and put her picturs away. I don’t care. It was sily. I gess I faled that test too.” Since Charlie doesn’t understand the tests, we don’t really understand them as a reader either. We would have to read other texts to understand what is actually going on.

Write a summary of Progress Reports 1-3. Be sure to include at least 2 quotations which reveal aspects of Charlie’s character. Explain in your summary what the quotations reveal. EXIT TICKET Let’s Express Our Understanding! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 22 minutes Directions: Direct students to write a summary in their reading log. Explain to students that they can use their notes from the lesson. Share the qualities of a strong response (e.g., restates the question, demonstrates understanding of the text, includes relevant evidence to support the ideas, written in complete sentences, etc.). If students finish early, have them engage in self-selected independent reading. Possible Supports During the Lesson: Remind students of the “Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then” strategy used when summarizing “The Story of Prometheus.” Prompt them to use the same strategy for summarizing the first part of “Flowers for Algernon.” If students are not writing summaries similar to the Student Look-Fors: Display or project the evidence sentence starters learning tool and model how to use in-text citations. Provide students with one or more of the quotations under the Student Look-Fors. Direct students to select two of the quotations to incorporate in their response. Assess how well students select relevant quotations for their response and explain how the quotations reveal aspects of Charlie’s character. Student Look-Fors: Exemplar Response 1: Charlie Gordon is a 37-year-old man who has a mental disability. Despite not being smart, Charlie is very motivated to become smart. He says, “I told them becaus all my life I wantid to be smart and not dumb. But its very hard to be smart” (Keyes 2). This quotation reveals Charlie’s motivation. Even though he is not smart, he is very motivated to become smarter and he tries very hard. Charlie attends night school to improve his reading and writing ability. Miss Kinnian says Charlie is “her bestist pupil in the adult nite scool becaus I tryed the hardist and I reely wantid to lern” (Keyes 2). Despite Charlie’s lack of intelligence, his motivation makes him better at school than most, which surprises the doctors. Charlie participates in a series of tests to determine his eligibility to participate in an experiment to increase his intelligence. Exemplar Response 2: Charlie Gordon is a 37-year-old man, who will do anything to be smart. In the first few sentences of the first progress report, Charlie says, “I want to be smart” and says, “I really hope they will use me” in the experiment to help him become smart. He is clearly motivated to improve himself. Charlie participates in a series of tests to determine whether they will use him for the experiment. When taking the inkblot test, Charlie shows his motivation when he says, “I tryed hard but I still coudnt find the picturs I only saw the ink.” Miss Kinnian also recognizes Charlies motivation because she tells the doctors that Charlie is her best pupil at the adult night school and he tries really hard. The doctors are impressed by Charlie’s motivation. Other quotations which reveal aspects of Charlie’s character: “I was very skared even tho I had my rabits foot in my pockit because when I was a kid I always faled tests in school and I spillled ink to” (Keyes 1). This quotation reveals that Charlie is superstitious. Charlie hasn’t been good at school in the past, so he relies on good luck charms to carry him through tough situations. “I told her how can you tell storys about pepul you never met. I said why shud I make up lies. I never tell lies any more becaus I always get caut” (Keyes 2). This quotation reveals how literal Charlie is. When the doctor says to “tell stories,” Charlie thinks that means making up lies, which he thinks is wrong. Charlie has a strong view of what is right and what is wrong. “Anyway that test made me feel worser than all the others because they did it over 10 times with difernt amazeds and Algernon won every time” (Keyes 2). This quotation reveals that Charlie feels badly about not being smart. He is particularly upset that he feels intellectually inferior to a mouse. Even though Charlie isn’t very developed mentally, he has developed emotionally and is in touch with his feelings about particular situations.

Materials you will need Assignment Materials you will need Read the first six paragraphs of “What’s in an Inkblot? Some Say, Not Much.” Answer two questions in your reading log. (1) What event led the author to write this article? (2) How is the Rorschach test traditionally used? “What’s in an Inkblot? Some Say, Note Much” by Erica Goode Your reading log Homework Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~3 minutes Directions: Explain the homework assignment and share the qualities of a strong response (e.g., follows the directions and accurately answers the questions in writing). Make sure students understand the materials they will need to complete the work. Use your established classroom routines to ensure that students have noted the assignment in the appropriate place (e.g., notebook, student planner, weekly homework calendar, etc.). If you do not wish to assign homework, this work can be completed during class according to your schedule. Use the supports below to help students as needed. Possible Supports During the Lesson: If students need support with the vocabulary of the text, give students access to the visual dictionary for “What’s in an Inkblot? Some Say, Not Much.” As needed, read aloud the text or provide students with access to an audio recording. If students need support reading the text, pair students with different reading abilities together to engage in paired/partner reading or pull together a small group of students to engage in choral reading or echo reading. Student Look-Fors: Students should note that the author wrote the article in response to a new article that came out against the use of projective tests. The author wants to describe the controversy surrounding the use of projective tests, which is likely to start up again with the publication of the new article. Students should also note that the Rorschach test is traditionally used as a personality assessment. It is used in custody disputes, for example, to “determine the emotional fitness of warring parents.” It can also tell whether a criminal has a potential for violence. It is also used when investigating abuse and as a guide for diagnosing and treating patients.

In this lesson, you learned about Charlie Gordon from Progress Reports 1-3 of “Flowers for Algernon.” You also learned how to take notes while reading a text and provide evidence to support a written summary. Let’s Close! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute Directions: Read this slide