The following lesson plan is a discussion plan, including focus questions to walk students through Chapters 1-3 of Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History. These questions are targeted for 9-10 grade reading comprehension, but can be adapted for other grade levels. Answers for these questions are not provided, so teachers should do their own reading and add-to or edit-out questions they are not comfortable with before presenting this plan.
Core Standards
US-CC-ELA-2010.9-10.RL.5
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
US-CC-ELA-2010.9-10.SL.1
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
US-CC-ELA-2010.9-10.SL.1.a
Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
Technology Standards
ISTE.NETS.S.2.b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
Instructional Objectives & Assessments
1. TSW deconstruct the structure of Maus (Chapters One through Three), analysing the visual metaphor of the comic (cats and mice) and the way in which the author draws attention to the passage of time and the artifice of the medium.
TSW demonstrate objective 1 through participation in the discussion. Students will be given a range of 0-5 points for participation in the discussion, where 0 does not contribute or listen, 1 contributes superficially, and 5 shows that they are following the discussion and offers insights.
TSW show individual understanding of the outcomes of the discussion by composing a 500-800 word composition. Posting it to their blog will contribute towards ISTE standards.
Concurrent Skills/Competency Focus
The students must:
Understand the grammar of comics and how to read a comic book.
Reading from right to left, top to bottom
Attributing dialogue bubbles
Speech vs thought bubbles
Be familiar with the rules and etiquette of a productive classroom discussion
Be able to speak loudly and clearly in order to be heard
Come to class having completed the assigned reading.
Be familiar with the vocabulary of comics in order to discuss them effectively.
a. Panel
b. Gutter
c. Dialogue
d. Narration
Instructional Procedures (Designating Set and Closure)
Phase I. ENTRY:
1. SET: TTW draw a blank timeline on the board, labeling the right-hand side "present" and the left-hand side "past." TTW draw popsicle sticks, asking students to name a book or movie that they know that tells the story in a non-linear fashion. A list will be written on the board and students will be asked to think about why the story wasn't told in chronological order. Some examples to guide students to may be:
- "A Rose for Emily"
- Citizen Kane
- Wuthering Heights
- Inception
- Lost (TV)
- The Social Network
- The Odyssey
- The Princess Bride
TTW will pick popular examples to question, Why is this work told out of chrononological sequence? In The Oddyssey, what is happening in the present? Who is telling the tales in the past?
2. TTW review the objective for the lesson. TSW write the objective on their cumulative study guide: students will write the objectives daily in the same place, acting as a self-generated study guide by the end of the unit. TTW move about the room, checking to ensure that it is being written by all students. TSW underline a set of words:
- Structure
- Time
- Artifice
- Metaphor
NOTE- Writing objectives to form a study guide is part of my own classroom management plan. While you do not need to require your students to write the objective, it is always beneficial to learning to make objectives clear to the students.
Phase II. CLARIFICATION:
3. TTW review expectations for the discussion. In the event of silence, students may be called on at random by drawing popsicle sticks. All contributors should feel safe, listened-to, and respected. Students may take notes.
4. TTW remind students that they will be writing on the topic of their discussion (refer to the objective) as homework.
Phase III. INVESTIGATION:
5. The discussion will begin. TTW facilitate the discussion with questioning and occaisonally calling on students. If a student is non-participatory, they may be called on to contribute. The following questions may guide the discussion, but do not all need to be used. Further questions will be used as probes to spur more in-depth response. Some questions may be asked to check for surface understanding of the reading before deconstructing the text. Students may be asked to clarify, restate, or support their answers. Students will be required to speak at a volume audible to the entire class.
CHAPTER ONE
- How does the part where Vladek forgot to tell about Lucia establish the nature of the narrative? What does it tell us about the way the story is being told?
- In the last conversation between Vladek and Art, Art promised not to share the story of Lucia or any other unsavory, personal stories. Clearly, as we have just read the tale, he has. How does this ending to Chapter One set the reader up for the rest of the book? What is Spiegelman telling us? What can we expect? Can we trust him?
- Why do we think Spiegelman used animals instead of people? Flip ahead to 103 and look at the "human" image of Anja on the top, right corner; how would your impression of the characters change if you were met with this type of depiction first? How does this homegenization emphasize roles over individual identity?
- Art is interviewing his father to write the book that we're reading now. In what ways does he call attention to this?
CHAPTER TWO
- How does the way Vladek says "Communist" bely the bias he still holds from the war? How did this attitude contribute to the rise of Nazi power in 1930's Germany?
- How does the scapegoating of the seamstress foreshadow the persecution of the Jews?
- How does the grammatic structure of Vladek's narration compare to his dialogue in flashbacks? Why does he speak perfect English in flashbacks, but broken English in the present? Could this change in dialect substitute for something else? A change in language?
CHAPTER THREE
- When we look at our classmates, can we immediately see their religious beliefs? How does the use of Cats, Pigs, and Mice visually represent a difference that can't actually be seen with the eye?
- Vladek seems unnaturally upset about wasting food. From what you already know of the Holocaust, how does this event, in the present, foreshadow events in the future?
- How does Vladek's story of release from being a prisoner of war trick the reader into the same sense of false hope that Vladek and his fellow soldiers felt?
- When Vladek is pretending not to be a Jew, he wears a pig mask. Did he really put on a mask? How does this visual representation differ from what literally happened?
Phase IV. CLOSURE:
6. CLOSE: "Cheat Sheet." TSW review the objective and jot bullet-point notes on their study guide. They must be sure to address the four focuses, "Structure", "Time", "Artifice", and "Metaphor."
HOMEWORK! Students will be required to blog a 500-800 word composition, addressing the objective and focuses of the discussion.
Materials/Resources (Aligned with Procedures)
- Copies of Maus: A Survivor's Tale for every student
- Chalk/Dry erase markers
- Lined paper
- Popsicle sticks with student names
Accommodations (EL, Special Education, & Diverse Populations)
EL students will be called on and given ample time to formulate a response before speaking.
TTW read refered-to passages aloud to help EL students and students with reading comprehension problems join the conversation.
TTW work closely with special education personnel to obtain a copy of all IEPs for students in his or her class. TTW adhere to any accommodations and/or modifications outlined within a student's IEP.
Technology Integration
Students will maintain a class blog for periodic writing assigments (ISTE.NETS.S.2.b.). TTW follow these blogs in an RSS feed, allowing for automatic notification when students post assigned writing. Students without internet access at home (determined through a parental waiver at the start of the semester) may turn in a hand-written version of their writing assignment to receive an extension for their posting deadline. This will allow them time to use a school computer to post.
Note: Students will maintain a blog as part of my classroom routine. If you do not have access to internet at your school, having them write blog posts by hand is still technology integration, especially if you review common practices such as bold headers, block paragraphs, and short chunks of text broken up by formatting.
