Spongebob Squarepants–short fiction lesson

Date of lesson: October 6, 2003
Time frame of lesson: 90 minutes
14 students/11-14 years old/grade 7

Pre-Assessment

Students have been studying about the narrative form, both reading short stories and writing their own original narrative pieces. I have given the students some notes on the narrative form, and we have been working on identifying elements of fiction. The students have worked collaboratively in small groups.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

  1. Identify and describe the elements of fiction;

  2. Analyze the elements of fiction in a setting other than a short story;

  3. Successfully work collaboratively with peers.

Materials

  • Story map sheets

  • SpongeBob Squarepants video

  • TV and VCR

Procedures

A. I will ask the students to refer to their notes on the short story. We will have a brief discussion on the narrative form, and quickly review elements of fiction. (5 min)

B. I will point out to the students that television programs are also narratives, and that today we will be looking at a story in this form. I will pass out the story map sheets, explaining that as they watch, they should be making note of the elements of a story that they see in the video. We will watch the brief (12 minute) video clip, pausing to make note of important points. (15 min)

C. Students will have the opportunity to work in small groups and fill in their story maps. (10 min)

D. As a class, we will review the information on the sheet. I will ask for a representative from each group to share a portion of their response for each element. (10 min)

E. With any remaining time, we will recap the elements of a story. I will also ask the students to write down (on an index card) one thing that they learned during this lesson. I will also remind students about assignments due during the coming week.

Evaluation

I will evaluate the students’ participation during class by observation.

I will collect and read the students’ story maps which will determine whether or not they have been successful at meeting the lesson objectives. I will also be able to evaluate their “tickets out the door.”

At the end of this unit, students will be tested on the narrative form.

Follow-up

We will be interrupted on Wednesday with an early dismissal day. The students who will have class at that time will have a chance to work on their narratives. The rest of the class will work on writing on Friday.