Group Members: / Ms. McKee
Essential Question: / Overarching:
How can we ever truly be certain of our reality?
Is fear essential to our well-being?
Topical:
What does the work of Stephen King teach us about the psychology of fear?
Lesson Rationale/ Objective: / Students will be exploring the techniques used by Stephen King to invoke fear in his readers- author’s craft. By examining the techniques of Stephen King we can come to conclusions as a group about what the strongest elements of fear are and why it is so intriguing. Students will be practicing critical thinking skills through the use of annotation and class discussion. By the end of the lesson students will be crafting their own piece of writing that attempts to incorporate the principles/techniques of fear that we have explored as a class.
Provincial Outcomes: / 1.4 listen critically to analyze and evaluate ideas and information.
3.1 consistently demonstrate active listening and respectful concern
4.4 use the cueing systems and a variety of strategies to construct meaning in reading and viewing sophisticated texts
6.2 articulate and defend viewpoints about texts– interpret ambiguities in sophisticated texts
6.1 respond to challenging texts and reflect on their responses – make connections between their own values, beliefs, and cultures and those reflected in texts – analyze thematic connections and articulate an understanding of the universality of themes
10.1 apply their knowledge of effective strategies in writing and other representing
10.4 demonstrate a commitment to the skilful crafting of pieces of writing and other
representations
Resources and Materials: / Anchor Text: “The Man in the Black Suit” – Stephen King (35 copies)
Supporting Texts: “Apartment 41” short film
“Danse Macabre” essay- Stephen King (9 copies)
Additional Resources Required:
LCD projector
Computer
Internet Connection
Sequencing of Lesson
Hook/ Anticipation Activity:
Have a song playing as the students enter the classroom.
Lights turned off.
Time Frame / Section/ activity leader / Description of Activity
(5 minutes) / Psychology of Fear EQ / -What is our essential question?
-Overarching and Topical question.
-First impression from students.
(7- 15 minutes) / Irrational/Rational Fear / -Define rational and irrational fear. Compare and Contrast
-Provide ideas of my own to prep students.
-Ask student to brainstorm their own rational and irrational fears in a t- chart.
-Share with the class and add to the t-chart on the board.
-Debate whether the fears are actually rational and irrational.
-Are there any fears that are common to all humans?
(7 minutes) / Short Story Anticipation / -Introduce the short story that the students will be reading.
-Who is Stephen King?
-What is he famous for?
-What can we anticipate from the title, first few lines/ paragraphs (depending on time).
-What could we predict?
(30 minutes) / Short Story Reading and Annotation / -Review rules of annotation.
-Have students read the remainder of the story individually and annotate as they go.
(25 minutes) / Short Story Questions / -Have students work in pairs to complete questions which probe at the theme and techniques used in the story.
-Discuss answers as a class.
(5 minutes) / Conclusion Board / -Based on the answers to the questions what components are necessary to fear?
- Plausibility
- Corruption of Innocence
- Fragility of Sanity
- Importance of Imagination
- Guilt
(6 minutes film
15 minute activity) / “Guilt” Short Film and Guilt Scenario / -In order to highlight the principle of guilt in relation to fear we will watch “Apartment 41” (6 minutes)
-After watching the film we will discuss the effectiveness of guilt in regard to fear.
-Distribute ‘guilt’ cards to every other person. On each card there is a scenario that would cause guilt.
- Leaving a dog in a warm car
- Never giving to charity after having won the lottery.
- Hit and Run
- Driving by a ‘fresh’ car accident without stopping.
(30- 60 mins) / Short Story Writing / -Based either on the guilt scenario or by choosing one of the principles that we have come up with together you must draft a short story that will have goosebumps running up and down their spine.
Take Home Task: / Finish Writing the scary short story using one of the principles of Fear that we have determined on the board.
Anticipated Road Blocks and Suggested Solutions:
(Back up plans) / Too quiet or too loud for discussion: Use the paddles instead of open discussion in order to gain answers from the audience.
Enforce the importance of hearing the reasoning behind the rational/ irrational fear as this is vital to determining which is which.
If students are unsure about annotation then have copies of the annotation checklist ready to pass around.
For the Guilt scenario: If there is an odd number of people then be prepared to have three people share their ideas. Have extra cards for three person groups and for those that quickly go through their scenarios.
Model the type of scenario that you wish the students to come up with in order to ensure quality over speed.
Annotated Bibliography