Lesson Title: Superstition and Tom Sawyer
By: Mat Wenzel
Burning Question:
How can I facilitate students’ understanding of theme and apply it to their own lives in a way that is meaningful to them?
Objective/Introduction:
Students will explore the theme of superstition. They will use writing to learn strategies, inquiry strategies, and process writing to gain a deeper understanding of the theme.
Context:
These lessons work as part of the larger context of actually reading the text Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. They are to be used as an introduction, and throughout the reading of the book, as well as a way of assessing their understanding of the theme of superstition in the book.
Materials:
· Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Puffin Classics). London: Puffin Books, 2008.
- Library or computer lab for research.
Time Span:
The time span depends on how long it takes to read the book and complete the projects: about 4-5 weeks.
Procedures:
Using the Writing Process to Learn About Theme
Theme is often difficult for teachers to define, and so it is often even more unclear to students. Writing is a great way for students to think about their own understanding of theme. The following steps use a mini writing process to create a definition.
· Prewriting - Your students may be able to start their own definition of theme without any instruction from you at first or you may need to supply a concrete definition right away and have the students paraphrase it, or you may want to supply several different definitions for them to compare and build their own. A great website for viewing definitions from several different sources is: http://www.thefreedictionary.com.
· Drafting - give students an allotted amount of time to write a definition of theme (1 to 5 minutes)
· Revising - Set up a procedure for sharing the definitions. This can be as simple as sharing in a small group or as complicated as an inner circle/outer circle procedure. Students should discuss what they like about the other students’ definitions and be encouraged to “steal” words or phrases from other students. You can model this as well by creating your own definition using various dictionaries/sources.
· Editing/Publishing - Publishing may be as simple as the students reading their definitions in front of the class, or you could create one definition for the class using words and phrases from student definitions. Each student could create his/her own lexicon of literary terms. In this case, you will want to have students carefully edit each other’s definitions for spelling and grammar. You will also need to come up with a common format for the definitions. You could even publish your lexicon online. Here is an example of an online definition:
A theme is the central idea or ideas explored by a literary work. John Gardner puts it this way: "By theme here we mean not a message -- a word no good writer likes applied to his work -- but the general subject, as the theme of an evening of debates may be World Wide Inflation."
A work of literature may have more than one theme. Hamlet, for instance, deals with the themes of death, revenge, and action, to name a few. King Lear's themes include justice, reconciliation, madness, and betrayal (Wiehardt).
Using Inquiry to Build Background on the Theme of Superstition
· What do we know about superstitions?
i. A great way to start inquiry on superstitions is to have the students do a quick-write about some superstitions they are familiar with. Common examples are a black cat crossing your path, 13 being an unlucky number, etc. Students should be encouraged to write about superstitions that originate from their cultural background, as superstitions vary from culture to culture. Encourage students to share with a partner and with the class.
ii. You may want to provide a definition of superstition. Here is an example from Wikipedia. (See the resources section for articles on the reliability of Wikipedia.)
Superstition [...] is a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge. The word is often used pejoratively to refer to beliefs deemed irrational. This leads to some superstitions being called Old Wive's Tales.
· What Do We Want To Know About Superstition?
i. Generate questions to research about superstitions using a team competition,
(1) Construct groups of four students each.
(2) Present the four “jobs” for this task
(a) scribe - writes down the questions the group comes up with (should have good penmanship.)
(b) time keeper - keeps the group aware of how much time is left (should have a watch or timer)
(c) tallyer - tallies up the number of questions generated (should be able to count up to 100)
(d) reporter - reads the questions aloud to the class (should be confident in sharing in front of the class)
ii. Give students 30 seconds to decide who will do which task. Ask students to raise their hand if they are scribe, time keeper, etc., to make sure each group has a one of each role.
iii. Give students 1-5 minutes (depending on their skill with generating questions/higher order questions) to create a list of questions.
a. Tallyers tally questions.
b. Reporters report one question at a time, group by group. Record the questions on the board/poster.
c. The team with the most questions wins! Extension: The tallyer can be assigned to crossing out questions that have been asked by other groups. The team with the most original questions then wins.
iv. These questions then become what the students will research. Possible topics include: What superstitions does a country have? What are some examples of superstitions? Where do superstitions come from? Or they can be focused on one superstition and answer more than one question about that superstition. You may also want to focus the questions on the superstitions that are presented in Tom Sawyer.
· What Have We Learned About Superstition?
The product of this inquiry will look different in different classrooms.
i. It may lead to classroom discussions about why people have superstitions, why Mark Twain chose to use so many superstitions, who decides what is/is not a superstition, what superstitions exist today (urban legends?), what are superstitions based on, etc.
ii. Students could prepare a formal report or literary analysis citing their sources in the appropriate format.
iii. Students could create a brochure, short story, comic, etc. about a superstition or category of superstitions.
iv. Students could create a multi-genre project about a superstition including several genres. (see resources section for a list of possible genres)
Extensions
There are many other texts that deal with superstition; the most closely related is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Superstition played a significant role in the Salem witch trials, so connections could be made to this event or texts about the event such as The Crucible by Arthur Miller. These texts are more challenging than The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, so you may want to reserve these extensions for more advanced students.
Another extension may be to discuss urban legends. Urban legends are like modern day superstitions. Students may relate more to these legends more than superstitions. A great website that deals with the sources and validity of thousands of urban legends is: http://www.snopes.com. WARNING! snopes.com is intended for adults and many of the urban legends are not appropriate for young adults. The teacher will want to select appropriate legends for his/her classroom.
Rationale:
Using writing to learn, inquiry, and writing for publication or assessment will help students more deeply understand themes in literature.
Resources:
Tom Sawyer Resources
ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More: http://www.enotes.com/tom-sawyer-text eNotes has the complete text of Tom Sawyer online. It may also be downloaded as a PDF file, or printed. The online text is “enhanced” in that you can mouse over underlined words to see a definition or note related to the word.
Douthat, Ross and Santos, Matilda. (n.d.). SparkNote on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/tomsawyer/
Sparknotes is a great resource for teaching Tom Sawyer and the themes in it. Tom Sawyer is written in several short episodes, so the chapter summaries are very helpful in keeping track of what happens in each chapter.
Fleischman, S. The Trouble Begins at 8 A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West. New York: Collins, 2008.
This is a very accessible text for students to learn more about Mark Twain by the author of The Whipping Boy and Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini.
Rasmussen, R. K. Mark Twain for Kids, His Life and Times, 21 Activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2004.
As the title states, this book contains 21 activities for children that relate to Mark Twain’s life and the time period in which he lived. Some of them relate directly to Tom Sawyer. The book also gives a lot of background information, written for a younger audience, about, well, the life and times of Mark Twain.
Morra, J. A., & Perrotta, M. Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Center for Learning Curriculum Units). Belmont: Center for Learning, 2004.
A comprehensive unit plan for teaching Tom Sawyer. Every lesson has several handouts including various graphic organizers. It also has many optional activities and suggested assessments.
Superstition Resources
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Book Notes Summary by Mark Twain: Topic: Tracking: Superstition Book Notes Summary. (n.d.). In BookRags.com: Book Summaries, Study Guides. http://www.bookrags.com/notes/ts/TOP4.html A useful list of the superstitions in Tom Sawyer.
Billings, H. J. Critical Reading Series Phenomena. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2001. This book gives information on true urban legends. The Critical Reading Series books are designed with reading standards in mind to improve reading comprehension levels of students.
Denton, G. Silly Superstitions. New York: Macmillan Children's Books, 2006. This collection of poetry for children could be useful in modeling poetry as a genre for the multi-genre assignment.
Gay, K., & Palen, D. Keep the Buttered Side Up: Food Superstitions from Around the World. Walker & Company, 1995.
A children’s book about superstitions from around the world. While this is book is for a younger audience, I find that students enjoy reading children’s books and it is also useful for struggling readers.
TeacherTube.com , “Patent Medicines.” http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=16358&title=Patent_Medicines\
This video comes from TeacherTube.com. TeacherTube is like YouTube in that you can post and view many videos, but TeacherTube is monitored to make sure the content is appropriate for students. This video gives information on patent medicines, a superstitious sort of “medicine” that Aunt Polly believed in so strongly.
Rumford, J. Don't Touch My Hat. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2007.
A children’s book that takes place in the old west about a sheriff who won’t let anyone touch his hat because he thinks it is bad luck. Could be a good model for a story about personal superstitions.
Sullivan, G. Don't Step On The Foul Line. New York: Millbrook Press, 2001.
The sports world is full of superstitions. This could be a way to make superstitions more relevant for students who are into sports.
“Superstition,”in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition
This Wikipedia article does a good job at describing where superstitions came from. It also gives many examples of superstitions.
“Superstitions - ESL Resources,” in Bienvenue sur le site de l'académie de Nancy-Metz. http://www.ac-nancy- etz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/supersti.htm#exo
This website has many, many multi-media items concerning superstition. It also includes a list of superstitions.
Resources noted in this lesson plan
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary http://www.thefreedictionary.com
This is a great online dictionary (second only to the OED) that uses several dictionaries, will pronounce the word, includes a thesaurus, and lists references of the word in literature.
Wiehardt, G. “Theme -- A Definition of Theme for Creative Writers, in About Creative Writing -- Creative Writing Advice. http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/theme.htm
I had a difficult time pinning down a good definition of theme online. This is the best one I could find.
“Wikipedia:About ,” in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About#Strengths.2C_weaknesses.2C_and_article_quality_in_Wikipedia
A short article about the strengths and weaknesses of Wikipedia.
“Reliability of Wikipedia,” in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability_of_Wikipedia
A lengthier article about the reliability of Wikipedia. While these articles are from Wikipedia itself, I think they reflect Wikipedia’s approach to information, even when it comes to information about itself.
Ferraro, Charles. Multi-genre Assignment Ideas. http://www.box.net/shared/gnj8rrj6o0
A list of genres for a multi-genre project. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it gives students ideas for genres to include in their project as well as a glimpse of the scope of the options for genres.
Snopes.com: Urban Legends Reference Pages. http://www.snopes.com/info/faq.asp
This link will take you to Snopes.com’s about page. It answers a lot of questions about the website. I think this is a great source to bring in urban legends into the discussion, but remember that its audience is adults.