Lesson Plan #4: Language

Grade Level: 9^th Grade

Subject: English

Overview: J.R.R. Tolkien is as well known for Linguistics as he is for writing. He was a master of language to the point of creating his own entire dialects (Elvish, Dwarvish, etc.). His passions are obvious in his novels, and The Hobbit is no exception. Nearly as interesting as the plotline, are the etymological and diction-related details. These areas provide great opportunities to teach students how their word and language choices can influence their writing. It is often the case that young readers put little thought into word choice and have no problem with repetition. They can fail to notice the specific language choices that authors make and need to have said choices pointed out to them.

Standards:

·         1.1: Analyze the complex relationship of the components of the communication process and evaluate their impact on effectiveness.

·         2.1: Select and apply knowledge of syntax clues, word origins, roots and affixes, and context to decode unknown words.

·         2.2: Expand and utilize general and specialized vocabulary through the use of context clues, analysis or word origins, and reference sources.

·         2.5: Recognize the need for background knowledge and research to enhance comprehension.

·         3.2: Evaluate how diction, figurative language, imagery, detail, organization, and style shape meaning and impact works and readers.

·         4.2: Evaluate the credibility of the sources of media messages.

21^st Century Skills:

·         1A: Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.

·         2A: Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.

·         3D: Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning.

·         4A: Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

Technologies Used:

• ·         Google (Scholar, general search engine): Students will be required to explore the etymology of a particular word or name. In order to explore all viable sources, they will be allowed to use search engines on the internet.

• ·         Prezi: While the instructor will introduce the topic with a Prezi, students will create their own to explain their findings relative to their names/words.

Lesson Activities: The principles of etymology and diction will be introduced with a Prezi that provides several textual examples from The Hobbit. Highlighted will be Tolkien’s peculiar choices for nominative words (e.g. hobbit, Oakenshield, Gandalf, etc.) and one of these words will be chosen as an example. Once students are shown how research reveals the story behind a name, they will be asked to choose a word from the book that is specific to Tolkien. In most cases, they will be choosing names of people or places as these are the only words in The Hobbit that aren’t used by other authors.

Every student will be allowed time in class for independent research and will be asked to take notes on their word and mark what sources they are using for proper citation. The second day of class spent on this lesson will be given to the students to make a response that explains their findings on their word. They will be allowed to use a bubble map to show the relationship of their word to others, a small Prezi or Powerpoint, or even another glog if they prefer. Presentations will be made in class on their word on the third day of the lesson.

Assessment: The language assignment is worth a total of twenty points.

	One	Two	Three	Four	Five
Citation	No  sources used	Sources used, no cited	Sources used, not all cited	Sources used with some improper citations	Citations complete and correct
Etymology	Etymological details not given	Very little etymological details given	A moderate amount of details given	A moderate amount of details given, along with relationships to other words	Near complete etymological background given with reference to many pertinent related words
Presentation	No Presentation	Presentation adds little to no information	Presentation adds some information, but most of it is read from response	Presentation is fluent and adds a couple pieces of info not found on the response	Presentation is fluent and engaging and elaborates on the findings shown on the response
Response	No Response	Incomplete response	Completed response with little detail	Complete response with abundant detail	Complete, engaging response with good detail and great use of chosen tool.