Lesson Title: Understanding Character in Tom Sawyer (Chapter VII)

 

By: Mat Wenzel

 

Burning Question:

How can I integrate reading and writing to help students understand character?

 

Objective/Introduction:

Students will write to analyze character in a chapter of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

 

Context:

This lesson focuses on just one chapter from the book. It can be used outside of the context of the rest of the book.

 

Materials:

·         Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Puffin Classics). London: Puffin Books, 2008.

·            Character Graphic Organizer

 

Time Span:

The time span for this lesson is one class period.

 

Procedures:

Building on Background Knowledge

·         Start the class with a quick-write. Some possible prompts include the following:

                    i.            How do you know what someone is like?

                  ii.            Do you know someone better by what they do or what they say?

                iii.            Has anyone ever had false ideas about you? From where did they get these ideas?

                iv.            What can you tell about someone by their physical appearance? What can you not tell?

·         Give students opportunity to share what they have written in partners, groups, and with the class.

·         Handout the graphic organizer and explain some of the ways that we can know what a character in a book is like.

Using Writing as a Reading Strategy

• Instruct students to listen for details about Tom and add them to the graphic organizer. You may want to model what to write at first. For instance, one of the first details in the chapter is that Tom is bored with school. This could go in the “Tom’s Thoughts” box because he thinks that the lesson is boring, or it could go in the “Tom’s Behavior” box because he begins staring out the window as he becomes bored.
• Begin reading chapter VII from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. You may want to give some background information about the book, but not a lot is necessary.
• When you are finished reading, give students to fill in something for each box if they have not yet done so. The “What Tom Looks Like” box may be difficult for some students as there are limited details in this chapter about his appearance. Encourage students to use their imaginations, make inferences, about his appearance.

Review What Was Learned

• As a class, discuss what you have learned about Tom and where those ideas came from. While some of the inferences that students make may be inaccurate in the light of the rest of the book, encourage all inferences that are based on evidence from the text.

 

Extensions:

This lesson would work really well with the lesson on chapter XX where Tom makes up with Becky by taking the blame for her. Students could compare and contrast the two situations and build a deeper understanding of his character.

 

The same incident is detailed in the graphic novel Tom Sawyer by Tim Mucci. Students could compare and contrast the two texts. One major difference is that Becky storms off after the knob incident in the graphic novel instead of Tom storming off as he does in the original.

 

This text also brings up many issues such as school, relationships, and miscommunication. Students could discuss or write about these themes.

 

Rationale:

Students need to learn how to understand the characters in novels and short stories. They also need to see how the process of understanding characters in literature relate to understanding characters in their own lives.

 

Resources:

·         Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Puffin Classics). London: Puffin Books, 2008.

·         Mucci, Tim (author), Rad Sechrist (illustrator), and Mark Twain. All-Action Classics: Tom Sawyer. New York: Sterling, 2007. A great graphic novel interpretation of the classic Tom Sawyer.