Language Arts Activity, Research Paper Example

Activity Title and Subject(s): Understanding History through Reading and Literature

Topic or Location in Lesson: History in writing

Grade/Level: 4^th Grade

Lesson Objective(s) Activity Relates to:

(i.e., what students will accomplish by the end of a single lesson) 

Students are expected to pick a literary piece of their interest. They are to explore the story and the history behind it. This includes a detailed report and understanding on the background of the author of the story as well as the time from which the story has been produced. The circumstances behind the said situations are also to be examined as to how they relate to the story being presented in the chosen literature.

Each student is expected to understand how writers utilize their environment and the current events of their time to establish their stories and their opinions about certain matters that concern them. From this activity, it is hoped that the students be able to realize how important history is when it comes to understanding the context of particular literary pieces.

Instructional Strategy (or Strategies):

To establish interaction between the students, this activity shall be held in a group-based approach. At least three students would be put together to work on a single literary piece. Each individual shall be given a specific task to help in the process of identifying the history behind the literature being examined. One could handle the research on the literature itself including analysis of themes and characterization.

Another student could be given the chance to link the author’s personality and background while the other could handle the need to research on the historical essence of the story. The literary presentation shall be gauged according to its relative presentation of what history was during the time of the story being written. The correlative connection of all there elements [the literature, the history and the author’s personality and perceptions] shall all be considered as a group-based analysis that will be reported in class by one of the group members or all of the group members [depending on students’ discretion].

As for teaching intervention, the students are to be asked some questions related to their report hence assessing whether or not they actually understood how the connection between history and the literary piece exists.

Explanation and Rationale for Instructional Strategy:

As the teacher, I would utilize intrinsic motivation as I shall let the students choose their own literary pieces that they are to explore. This would allow them to make decisions that would best fit their interest as well as their capabilities of handling the activity at hand. From this point, I am to encourage them to define why they have chosen the literary piece they picked and have them present to me a relative rationale behind the said choice. Notably, I assume that this would allow them to confide with their personal understanding of the activity therefore reflect on how it is expected to personally affect them and their understanding between the relationship of history and the literary pieces that have been made available in their generation. It is expected that through this activity, they would gain more interest in digging into the different genres of literary creations that do not only speak to their generations but also to those others that represent the past years of human history.

As part of this activity’s directive assessment of the students’ progress in learning, it is imposed that strategic and analytical thinking is to be used by the learners as they try to analyze the connection between the literary piece they have chosen and the history behind it. They are to be given the liberty to present the issues based on their own desire hence creating for them a larger room to improve their thinking skills. They are to be given choices of presentation procedures especially relating to how they are to handle the report, but they are given the freedom to choose what they think would best fit their desired results.

The choices of presentation would include presenting the analysis of the literature through relating the settings and characteristics used by the author on the actual historical events happening during the time of it being written. Another choice would be analyzing the literary context based on the personality of the author and how that personality relates to the actual situations happening in the society during the time of the story’s writing. From these choices, the students are given the chance to explore the different possibilities of history being presented in literature based on the research that they are to handle alongside the analysis of the story’s context.

Learning Activity:

Giving my own sample of literary analysis on a brief section of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, I would present to them how the report is supposed to be handled. I would insist on the need of the reporters to be specific about the elements they used for the analysis process. In connection to this, I shall also provide them a guideline or checklist to make sure they are able to complete the requirements for both the presentation and the analysis section of the activity.

This activity shall basically require the students to do three particular matters that are expected to increase their competence in learning and defining their lesson’s worth for personal gain. One is that of the comprehension assessment through the analysis that they are to do in consideration with the literature, another is that of the writing skill assessment which they would be able to show in their written reports and finally their speaking skill development which would be further evaluated through their reporting activity.

Considering these three aspects of improvement, it is expected that students would be able to develop their personal assumptions and habit of how learning procedure should be embraced in a proper manner. Notably, it is through this that the presentation of development is accounted for through the response of the students to the activity that they are presented with.

Explanation and Rationale for Learning Activity:

The holistic approach to learning adapted through this activity is expected to increase the competence of the student as they take on the different challenging aspects of learning. Remarkably, the considerable liberty given to the students when it comes to choosing their literature of focus is expected to give them the chance to explore the subject on their own and learn how the lesson would be helpful to them as a measure of their understanding and reflection of the subject. This shall provide them an allowable source of understanding that would create in them a desire to know more about the matter based on their personal assumptions of the subject’s worth to their personal and education growth.

Grading Rubric