StudySync Lesson Plan The Outsiders Objectives 1.

Engage students in the plot, characters, themes, setting, and language of SE Hinton’s The Outsiders so that they are prepared to discuss and write about the excerpt and/or the entire novel.

2. Practice and reinforce the following Grade 8 ELA Common Core Standards for reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language: •

READING: LITERATURE - RL.8.1-6

•

W RITING - W .8.1-10

•

SPEAKING AND LISTENING - SL.8.1-6

Time 110 minutes (with an additional 100 minutes of extension possibilities)

Materials SyncTV Premium Lesson on S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders

Overview This excerpt is a rich microcosm of the novel, including the core themes of class struggle, the cycle of violence, and struggle for purpose and meaning. It develops the main conflict between the Greasers and Soc’s, and several key characters reveal their personal qualities and inner struggles. The language of the novel is well represented, and certain key concept words are used such as “sophisticated” and “emotional.” Close examination of this excerpt will prepare students to read the entire novel with interest and understanding, and to write thoughtful, informed, and textually-rooted responses, consistent with the ELA Common Core Standards for the middle school grades.

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Lesson Plan: The Outsiders

Background (10 minutes) 1.

W atch the Preview (SL.8.2). As a group, watch the video preview of the premium lesson. Ask the students to share their impression or understanding of life in the early 1960s. Use the following questions to spur discussion about the preview: a. What image or images stand out for you and why? What associations do you make with the images in the preview? b. What images would you add? What happens next in the timeline of America between the early 1960s and the late 1960s? c. Based on these images, what do you think the story will be about? What inferences can you make based on these images? Extension (additional 10 minutes) d. W rite Creatively (W.8.3). Ask students to watch the preview again, this time pausing the video on each individual image. Have students write their own shortshort story using each image as the basis for a new sentence. (e.g. Janey sat at the soda counter twirling her hair and dreaming of a way to get back at her folks for not allowing her to go to the sock hop…) Remind students that each sentence doesn’t have to describe the image, it merely needs to be inspired by that image. Encourage them to move the story forward with new actions in every sentence. This should be a fun, freewriting-type exercise (write along with them for encouragement if you’d like). Limit students to 5 minutes. e. Share (SL.8.5). After they’ve finished their short-short stories invite any students who would like to share to read their stories. If the students are reluctant to share, you might share your own to help break the ice.

Engaging the Text (100 minutes) 2. Read the Text (25 minutes) a. Read and Annotate (RL.8.2-3, 6). Ask students to read the introduction and excerpt of The Outsiders. Be sure to give them enough time to both read and annotate the text. If your classroom has a projector, you may want to model notetaking skills by reading and annotating the first paragraph as a class. If students are completing The Outsiders as a homework assignment, ask them to write any questions they have into the annotation tool – these questions are visible to you after the students submit their writing assignments or beforehand if you use the “mimic” function to access the students’ accounts. Extension (additional 20 minutes) b. Listen (RL.8.4 and SL.8.1-2). As a class, listen to the audio reading of the text. Ask students to use context clues to define key terms from The Outsiders glossary. As a group, work to define any other unclear terms or ideas not listed in the glossary. c. Com prehend (RL.8.1-4). Either distribute the multiple-choice questions or read them aloud to the class. As a class, reread and discuss any passages of the text about which students remain unclear.

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Lesson Plan: The Outsiders

d. Explain (ELL). Use sentence frames to help students describe the differences between the Socs and the Greasers: The Socs are __________. The Greasers are _________________. The Socs prefer _____________ while the Greasers like ___________________. Today, a Soc would be someone who ____________________, but a Greaser would _____________________________. 3. W atch SyncTV (25 minutes) a. W atch. Either watch the SyncTV discussion associated with The Outsiders as a class or ask students to watch it on their individual computers. b. Focus (RL.8.1). From 2:25-3:09, the SyncTV students explore the support the Greasers offer one another in the excerpt. Ask your students to watch closely as the male student not only makes an analogy about how the Greasers compare to the members of his soccer team, but also deepens that analogy by bringing in evidence from the text (e.g. how they “hold each other up”) in support. c. Discuss (SL.8.1-6). After watching the model discussion, divide students into small groups (2-3 students). Move around the room monitoring the groups as students follow the SyncTV episode as a model to discuss some of the following questions: 1.

What are the strongest characteristics of the main characters in this excerpt? Pick out key words that best describe these characters and explain what these words reveal about the characters.

2. What conflicts surface in this passage? Briefly describe the sides in the conflicts, and find words or phrases in the passage that describe the conflicts. 3. What are the similarities and differences between the Soc’s and the Greasers? How are these differences and similarities revealed in the ways that Pony and Cherry speak? 4. If you have not already seen the movie or read the book, what do you think will happen in the rest of the book? 5. Look up the words emotional and sophisticated. What are the meanings of these words in the context of Cherry’s comment to Pony about the differences between the Soc’s and the Greasers? 6. Do you agree with the SyncTV student’s view that the Greasers and the Soc’s are somehow joined by their differences? If so, how? And if not, why do you disagree? Extension (additional 20 minutes) d. Evaluate (SL.8.1-6). Watch the SyncTV episode again (as a whole class if possible). Before watching, assign each of your students one of the three students in the episode to follow. Have your students keep a running list of points that each student makes. Ask students to pay close attention to how (e.g. citing textual evidence, using personal examples) the students in the episode prove their points. When the episode has finished, discuss each of the characters and evaluate the quality of their arguments. What makes some arguments stronger

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Lesson Plan: The Outsiders

than others? What are some of the best and worst points made about the text? How and why? 4. Think (5 minutes) a. Respond (W.8.1-2, 4, 6). Ask students to read the “Think” questions, watch the corresponding video clips, and respond to the questions.

5. W rite (30 minutes) a. Discuss (SL.8.1). Whether you’re assigning the writing portion of the lesson as homework or as an in-class writing assignment, read the prompt as a group, or have students read it individually, and then solicit questions regarding the prompt or the assignment expectations. Whichever prompt you have chosen, make sure you are clear about the assignment expectations and the rubric by which you and the other students will be evaluating them. b. Organize (RL.8.1-3 and W.8.1-2, 5). Ask students to go back and annotate the text with the prompt in mind. They should be organizing their thoughts and the points they’ll address in their writing as they make annotations. If you’ve worked on outlining or other organizational tools for writing, this is a good place to apply them. c. W rite (W.8.1-2, 4-6). Have students complete and submit their writing responses. d. Review (W.8.4-6). Use the StudySync “Review” feature to have students complete one to two evaluations of their peers’ work based on your chosen review rubric. Have the students look at the peer evaluations of their own writing. In pairs, ask the students to discuss briefly the peer evaluations. Suggested questions: What might you do differently in a revision? How might you strengthen the writing and the ideas? Extension (additional 30 minutes) e. Prepare (W.8.4). Using one of the writing prompt options that you have not assigned to your students (or developing one of your own) and using the StudySync rubric labeled “Basic Essay Structure – CCS W8.1”, as a class, outline an essay on The Outsiders. Walk students through the expectations of basic 5paragraph essay writing. i. First, have students individually develop thesis statement ideas. Then ask several students to share these ideas. ii. Choose a solid idea that does not yet make an argument, and then as a class develop that idea into an argumentative thesis. iii. Break the students into small groups (2-3 students each) and ask them to develop supporting points for the class’s thesis. iv. Have the groups list 1-2 examples from the text and 1-2 examples from their own experiences that could bolster each point. Ask them to rank their supporting evidence from strongest to weakest and eliminate the weakest 2 ideas for each point.

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v. Lastly, bring the whole class together again to discuss good conclusions. Go through the criteria given in the rubric for a good conclusion. Ask students to write their own concluding sentences. vi. By the end of the exercise, each student should have his/her own essay outline template. Extension (additional 20 minutes) f.

Self-Assess (W.8.4-6). Use the StudySync assignment creation tool to create a “Writing” assignment that asks students to address the following prompt: 1.

Reread your essay and the reviews of your essay on The Outsiders. After reading these reviews, what do you believe were the biggest strengths of your essay? What were the biggest weaknesses? If you were to go back and write this essay again, what would you change about your writing process? How has writing this essay made you a better writer?

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Lesson Plan: The Outsiders

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS Key Vocabulary 1.

clobber (v.) - to hit or bash severely; to seriously harm or damage

2. high-strung (adj.) - nervous, anxious; excited or excitable 3. digest (v.) - to think over and arrange in the mind; to receive in the mind and consider carefully; to comprehend 4. gallantly (adv.) - bravely or honorably 5. emotional (adj.) - easily affected by emotion; determined by emotion more than reason 6. sophisticated (adj.) - elegant, refined; appealing to the tastes of an intellectual 7. rave (v.) - to speak or write with wild enthusiasm or incoherence Reading Comprehension Questions 1.

Who beats up Johnny? a. The Greasers b. The Socs c. Dallas Winston d. Ponyboy

2. Which of these characters has a history of violent behavior? a. Ponyboy b. Johnny c. Cherry d. Dallas Winston 3. What does Johnny begin to do after the beating? a. carry a switchblade knife b. start fights at school c. quit hanging out with the Greasers d. drop out of school 4. What do we learn about Johnny’s relationship with his father in this passage? a. Nothing. b. They stopped getting along after Johnny was beaten. c. Johnny’s father has beaten him in the past. d. Johnny avoids his family because he hates his father. 5. Which word is the best synonym for digested as it is used in this passage? a. swallowed b. ate c. considered d. ignored 6. In the first paragraph, the author uses words like clobbered, swollen, gash, and groan establish the story’s: a. structure

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Lesson Plan: The Outsiders

b. time period c. figurative language d. tone 7. For the narrator, what is the most difficult aspect of seeing Johnny after he is beaten? a. Thinking that Johnny was beaten by his rivals. b. Seeing how this beating broke Johnny when other beatings hadn’t. c. Knowing Johnny’s father was going to beat him when he got home. d. Watching Johnny become bitter and rebellious afterwards. 8. Why does Cherry Valance bring up Dallas Winston to Ponyboy? a. to show him that all Socs aren’t the same b. to explain why Johnny had a beating coming all along c. to ask for a ride home from the movies d. to demonstrate why no one in town likes Greasers 9.

What does Ponyboy mean when he says, “They liked The Beatles and thought Elvis was out, and we thought The Beatles were rank and that Elvis was tuff, but that seemed the only difference to me”? a. The Socs like pop music, but the Greasers like rock ‘n roll. b. The differences between the groups are too deep to reconcile. c. Music is an important aspect of teenage identity. d. The differences between the groups are not as deep as they appear. 2. What is one example of how Cherry Valance acts “sophisticated” in the sense that she uses the word in this passage? a. preferring The Beatles to Elvis b. walking home with Ponyboy and the other Greasers c. saying a beer-blast is cool even though she doesn’t believe it d. telling Ponyboy he’s the first person she’s ever “really gotten through to”

Answer Key 1. B 2. D 3. A 4. C 5. C 6. D 7. B 8. A 9. D 10. C

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Lesson Plan: The Outsiders

Further Assignments

1.

Ask students to rewrite their written responses to the writing prompt based on their peers’ feedback and/or their self-assessments. (W.8.10)

2. Assign students a StudySync “Writing” assignment which asks them to research the allusions to 1960s American culture in this passage. They should also analyze the specific impact of S.E. Hinton’s specific word choices such as tuff and beer-blast to determine how they contribute to the overall meaning and tone of the passage. (W.8.7-10) 3. Ask students to select a short passage from another section of the novel that has at least three different characters speaking. Students should then record themselves reading the passage. Tell students to make sure their reading reflects their sense of the important qualities of the characters involved. (SL.8.5-6) 4. Divide the students into small groups and give each group a different scenario (e.g. breaking up a cafeteria fight; planning a Homecoming dance). Ask each group member to choose a different character from The Outsiders. Have each group perform brief scenes with the group members acting as they believe their characters would in the given scenario. (SL.8.5-6) 5. Assign students different characters from The Outsiders and ask them to develop a Facebook page for their character. Who would the character be friends with? What would his/her interests be? What groups would he/she join? Etc. (W.8.6) 6. Place students into pairs and have them write a short script of what the conversation might be like between a Soc and a Greaser who’ve been assigned to work together to plan a school dance. How would the Greaser like the party to be structured? What would the Soc prefer? How might they reconcile or fail to reconcile their differences? (ELL)

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Lesson Plan: The Outsiders