Lesson 14 - "They're Made Out of Meat"

🕐 Lesson Overview

Bellringer - Dialogue Writing
Finish Reading: "They're Made Out of Meat"
Turn & Talk

⭐ Objectives

I can analyze dialogue in a literary text.
I can identify the tone of a literary text.
I can identify a central idea in a literary text.

📏 Standards

🗽 NYSNGSS

8R1:
Cite textual evidence to strongly support an analysis of what the text says explicitly/implicitly and make logical inferences.
8R2:
Determine one or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; summarize a text.
8R3 - RL:
In literary texts, analyze how particular lines of dialogue or events propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
8R4:
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings. Analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning, tone, and mood, including words with multiple meanings.
8R6 - RL:
In literary texts, analyze how the differences between the point of view, perspectives of the characters, the audience, or reader create effects such as mood and tone.
8L3:
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
8L4a:
Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
8L6:
Acquire and accurately use general academic and content-specific words and phrases; apply vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
8SL1:
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners; express ideas clearly and persuasively, and build on those of others

💖 SEL

2B.3b:
Demonstrate understanding of how culture or life experience shapes communication within and between identity groups.
2B.3c:
Reflect on the role of bias against individual, social, and cultural differences in bullying, stereotyping, prejudice, and microaggressions.

🗒️ Lesson Plan

Anticipatory Set

Students will practice writing and punctuating dialogue by copying the following lines into their journals, adding quotation marks and other punctuation as needed. The teacher will model by completing the first example.

Maybe we should ask Harry said Ray. He's the one who has to carry two backpacks.

Oh, right said Harry. You know as well as I do that the race was a tie.

Tan said I'm starving! Let's eat first and argue later, okay?

The teacher will take attendance as students write. Once sufficient time has elapsed, the teacher will invite students to the board to punctuate each example. Students should correct their work in their journals as the class works through the examples. The teacher will ask students to recall the reasons writers use dialogue (reviewed in the previous lesson). The class will then review the agenda and objectives.

Developmental Activity

The class will finish reading "They're Made Out of Meat." The Equity Sticks strategy may be utilized for whole-class participation, the teacher may select two student volunteers to be the two speakers in the story, or students may work in pairs and each read for one speaker. The latter two approaches may help reinforce the setup of the story; paired reading should be chosen only in a class full of confident readers as this foregoes teacher instruction and pauses for comprehension.

Students will then engage in a Turn & Talk around the following questions:

What is different about this story compared to the others we have read so far? Why do you think Bisson made this choice?

“They’re Made Out of Meat” is a work of science fiction, which start by asking, “what if?” If aliens from another planet did encounter humans for the first time, how do you think they would perceive us? How does this compare to the aliens in the story?

What do the aliens find ridiculous about humans? Why? How do they describe humans and their behavior?

How would you describe the tone of the story?

Remember: A theme or central idea is the message of the story. What’s the “big idea” in “They’re Made Out of Meat”?

The teacher will circulate as students discuss to hold students accountable and to assist in comprehension and analysis. Once sufficient time has elapsed, the teacher will invite groups to share their thoughts in a whole-class discussion.

Closure

Students will have the remainder of the period to complete the "They're Made Out of Meat" Reading Check assignment.