FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON BY DANIEL KEYES OBJECTIVES: I CAN EVALUATE STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS OF THE PLOT, INCLUDING SUPLOTS AND PARALLEL EPISODES. I CAN ANALYZE THE PROTAGONIST’S CONFLICTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HIS CHARACTER TRAITS.

LITERARY FOCUS: SUBPLOT AND PARALLEL EPISODES SUBPLOT – A MINOR PLOT THAT RELATES IN SOME WAY TO THE MAJOR STORY. IT IS A PLOT THAT IS PART OF THE LARGER STORY BUT ARE NOT AS IMPORTANT. PARALLEL EPISODES – A WRITER REPEATS CERTAIN ELEMENTS OF THE PLOT. THE WRITER REPEATS THE MAIN OUTLINE OF AN EPISODE SEVERAL TIMES

READING SKILLS: CONTEXT CLUES CONTEXT CLUES ARE HINTS THAT HELP YOU TO FIGURE OUT THE WORDS MEANING. YOU CAN LOOK AT THE SENTENCE BEFORE OR THE SENTENCE AFTER TO HELP YOU. SOMETIMES, THE DEFINITION IS WITHIN THE SENTENCE. OTHER TIMES EXAMPLES WILL BE GIVEN OR IT WILL SHOW A COMPARE/CONTRAST RELATIONSHIP. ALSO LOOK FOR A CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIP.

PRE-READING ACTIVITY: Q&A 1. Write down whether you would rather be the smartest or the most popular. You can only choose one. 2. Would it be possible to be the smartest and the most popular? Why or why not? 3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of popularity? Of intelligence? 4. What sacrifices do people make to fit in? 5. What is good or bad about being unusual? 6. When is ignorance bliss? When is intelligence a curse?

PRE-READING TASK CARDS Complete this activity with a small group. Assign roles: Discussion Leader- Facilitates the discussion, getting everyone’s ideas, on the task cards. Recorder – Draws the map and records everyone’s ideas. Task Manager – Selects 2 task cards. Focuses the group in order to complete in 4-6 minutes. Presenter – Display and explain the group’s map to the class to the class in 30 seconds.

PREVIEWING THE TEXT Read the title. What image comes to mind? Does this help you make a prediction about the text. Look at the pictures. Tell what you notice about the photos. Make inferences about what you will be reading. What can you infer? Look at the text. How is it organized? What can you infer by it’s organization? What is something that you noticed that is interesting? What do you have questions about?

FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON Overview of the text Understanding more about inkblots Audio of the text

VOCABULARY Misled Tangible Refute invariably Regression Verified Obscure Deterioration Hypothesis Introspective Create vocabulary squares for this story unit’s words. Example: DefinitionSentence in text SynonymsPicture or my own sentence

READING ACTIVITIES Whole Class Reading – Listening to audio as part of a read along. Modeling how students will use the reading guide in their student reading groups. Reading Groups -Read through to Progress Report 11, April 30 Use the reading guide handout to assist you as you read. REMEMBER: Each of you is a participant in the group and are required to contribute. Exit Slip: Out the Door Question on Index Card

PRE-READING ACTIVITIES MONDAY, OCT 12, 2015 Review and Collecting Thoughts Quick Write – After reading about Charlie’s struggles, would you change your choice about being popular or smart? Do you think that the choice is more complicated than you originally thought?

READING GROUP ACTIVITIES Continue in Reading Groups -Read through to Progress Report 11, April 30 Use the reading guide handout to assist you as you read. REMEMBER: Each of you is a participant in the group and are required to contribute.

INDEPENDENT ACTIVITIES Interactive Notebook foldables and activities focusing on conflict (internal and external) and types of conflict (man vs self, man vs man, man vs nature, man vs society) Comprehension Questions for Part 1, 1-7

UNITY DAY – FOCUSING ON BULLYING PREVENTION WEDNESDAY OCT 21, 2015 We will analyze the aspect of teasing and bullying by examining Charlie’s relationship with his co-workers. We will then look introspectively and reflect to our own experiences. In “Flowers for Algernon” Charlie is made fun of by his co-workers. What is different about this time compared to others (how did Charlie take it?) and how do you know? Use textual evidence to support your answers. Describe a time when someone made fun of you, how it made you feel about the teasers and yourself, and what you learned from this experience. Describe a time when you made fun of someone and hurt that person’s feelings. How did your actions make you feel?

“FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON” AND THE GARDEN OF EDEN RL8.9 – Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new. The Garden of Eden Story Questions: How are Charlie’s experiences similar to those of Adam and Eve in the Bible? In what ways are the text similar in themes? In patterns of events? How did Daniel Keyes render the material new (what ways did the author depart from the traditional Biblical passage of the Garden of Eden and align it with modern times)? Assignment: Write a paragraph (5-6 sentences) explaining the similarities of the passages

PRE-READING ACTIVITY: MAKING PREDICTIONS- THURSDAY, OCT 22, 2015 Review the reading from yesterday. Look over your guided reading notes. Make a prediction about what will happen to Charlie in the second part of the story.

READING ACTIVITIES Continue in Reading Groups: Read entries May 15- July 28 Use the reading guide handout to assist you as you read

VOCABULARY MATCHING DIRECTIONS: MATCH THE WORD WITH THE SYNONYM. WRITE THE CORRECT ANSWER. 1. Misled 2. Tangible 3. Refute 4. Invariably 5. Regression 6. Verified 7. Obscure 8. Deterioration 9. Hypothesis 10. introspective a. Conceal b. Supposition c. Deceived d. Self-examining e. Always f. Real g. Disprove h. Confirmed i. Reversal j. Worsening