This learning module supports students to read the novel and explore its issues using a Patterned Partner Reading strategy. Students explore groups in society and write an essay.
Greasers, Socs, Reading, Gangs, Groups, Essay
Year 9 Achievement Standard
Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)
By the end of Year 9, students analyse the ways that text structures can be manipulated for effect. They analyse and explain how images, vocabulary choices and language features distinguish the work of individual authors.
They evaluate and integrate ideas and information from texts to form their own interpretations. They select evidence from texts to analyse and explain how language choices and conventions are used to influence an audience. They listen for ways texts position an audience.
Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)
Students understand how to use a variety of language features to create different levels of meaning. They understand how interpretations can vary by comparing their responses to texts to the responses of others. In creating texts, students demonstrate how manipulating language features and images can create innovative texts.
Students create texts that respond to issues, interpreting and integrating ideas from other texts. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, comparing and evaluating responses to ideas and issues. They edit for effect, selecting vocabulary and grammar that contribute to the precision and persuasiveness of texts and using accurate spelling and punctuation.
In table groups create a list of names of groups at your school.
What are the features of each group:
PEC: What are the Pros/Cons of being in a group?
How do groups interact together? - Individually create a visual map representation.
PEC: How does a person's relationship with his/her peers affect the kind of person he/she will become?
P: Point/Topic Sentence
E: Examples, Evidence, Elaboration
C; Conclusion
School groups
Purpose
This activity allows students to show their understanding about groups and they way they interact together.
Teaching Tips
Follow the same procedure as a Think-Pair-Share. After sharing in pairs, the pair of students find another pair and share their ideas with them before sharing with the whole class.
Who has heard of the terms:
Think/pair/share.
Discuss the terms in class.
In table groups define the following terms:
What does it mean to be an outsider? Reflect on the following questions and share in a circle time.
Position in society
Teaching tips
By the end of this activity students should have a glossary list in their books including the terms talked about.
Reflections
The big questions in this learning module that we will address are:
What does it mean to be an outsider?
Are you born into a 'position' in society?
To get started, watch 5 short clips about life in the 50s.
Complete a retrieval chart.
| Video | Fashion | Hair | Interests | Music | Hobby | Language |
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 5 | ||||||
| 6 |
Comment: Write a PEC paragraph summarising knowledge learnt about the 1950s.
Purpose
Students may have some idea about life in the 1950s. Viewing these short films will help students to gain a better understanding.
Teaching Tips
Allow students to share, discuss and add ideas from each other to their retrieval chart.
Students should use the information from their retrieval chart to write a PEC paragraph summarising life in the1950s. If students are struggling to write, allow them to try and compare it how our hair, fashion etc is now.
Read chapter one as a class.
On an A3 sheet write:
In pairs collect the information, however you must have the answers on your own sheet.
Define the features of each group, use quotes to support your answers.
Add any important information about groups.
Write any questions you have about the groups - we will try to answer them in our further reading.
As you are reading the first chapter you will be required to participate in 'Patterned Partner Reading' which will be explained and modelled by your teacher.
You will be given a sheet to fill out that will require you to answer big understanding questions on each chapter.
Complete the pattern partnered reading activity.
PPR sheet 1
Questions for Chapter 1:
After reading chapter one aloud, allow students to discuss their ideas. Encourage discussion around the text will help all students to understand the text further.
Students work in pairs to discuss their ideas about the two groups, the Socs and the Greasers. Students need to have their own A3 sheet, which they will refer to throughout the novel. This sheet will be assessed at the end of the unit.
After placing as much information as they can on their A3 sheets, students should work in pairs to complete their pattern-partner-reading sheet.
Students should be encouraged to write down summaries/quotes and page numbers, so that at the end of the unit they can easily find quotes for their essay.
Resources
Patterned partner reading
Read - Pause - Predict
Partners begin by making predictions based on the cover and title of the book. Next, they take turns reading a section silently or orally. After reviewing each section, they pause to confirm or revise their predictions and make new predictions about the next section. This process continues throughout the reading.
Read - Pause - Sketch
Partners take turns reading a section silently or orally. After reading each section, they pause and each sketch an idea from that part of the text. Then the partners share and discuss their drawings. This continues through the reading.
Read-Pause-Discuss
Partners take turns reading a section of text silently or orally. After reading each page, they pause. Each asks the other a question about the section of the text they just read, to which the other partners responds. This process continues through the reading.
Read-Pause-Connections
Partners take turns to read a section silently or orally. After reading each page, they pause to make and share text - self, text - text, or text - world connections. When using this pattern, students can use connections stems, such as this reminds me of ...,' 'I remember an experience I had like that,' 'I remember another book I read about this.
Teaching Tips
Reading strategies to improve comprehension
Purpose
The purpose of this activity is to firstly engage students in the text. Secondly, it is to increase students' metacognition and use of reading strategies which will in turn improve their reading comprehension. Thirdly, it is to ensure that as students read part 1 of the novel, and they have time to make their own connections to the text and to respond to it in open-ended ways. This is important to address diversity as students will respond to the text in many different ways; they will be responding to the text as 'real' readers do rather than responding to a set of study guide questions devised by the teacher.
Read and responding is also important for students to re-evaluate the experience of a text, elaborate their thinking, test their understanding, seek reactions from others and reflect on their interpretations, revising and reshaping their own interpretations, make judgements, evoke feelings or emotion, imagine, recall memories of people, places, events, sights, smells, feelings, attitudes and knowledge, identify and learn about new textual language, evaluate importance and accuracy, make connections between meanings derived from previous textual encounters and their current reading, viewing and listening, and identify the ideology, values and beliefs communicated by the author. (from Cairney, T. (2010), Developing comprehension: Learning to make meaning.Marrickville, NSW: e:lit.)
'Patterned Partner Reading' promotes strategic reading and provides a structure for reading interactively with a partner.
Resources
The 'Patterned Partner Reading' strategy comes from McLaughlin, M. & DeVoogd, G.L. (2004). Critical Literacy: Enhancing Students' Comprehension of Text. New York.Scholastic.
Teaching Tips
In the book orientation and prediction, encourage students to work individually initially. Then encourage them to discuss their predictions. The 'borrow-a-bit' strategy makes them think more deeply about what their partner has written, develops listening skills and also ensures accountability.
In the 'Patterned Partner Reading' strategy, encourage students to work with their partner to identify the stopping points. This could be a set number of pages or a significant episode in the plot. While student agency is preferable, provide guidance on these for students who will work best if you determine the stopping points for them. Download the file above for more guidelines to implement this strategy.
download (Patterned_Partner_Reading.pdf)
Add information to your A3 sheet.
Refer back to 'have' and 'have nots' PEC paragraph.
PPR sheet 2
Patterned Partner Reading questions for chapter 2:
Students should now read individually, some may choose to read in a pair or group, this will depend on your class.
As students finish reading they should continue working on their A3 sheets. At the end of each chapter students need to complete a PPR sheet. These will count towards their assessment and essay planning.
Patterned Partner Reading questions for chapter 3:
- What does Cherry explain as the difference between the socs and the greasers?
- What happens when Pony comes home after his curfew?
- Find and discuss one example of foreshadowing used by the author in this chapter.
PPR sheet 3
download (Chapter_3.doc)
Chapter Three
Students should now read individually, some may choose to read in a pair or group, this will depend on your class.
As students finish reading they should continue working on their A3 sheets. At the end of each chapter students need to complete a PPR sheet. These will count towards their assessment and essay planning.
Patterned Partner Reading Questions for chapter 4:
- What major conflict happens in this chapter? Explain how it begins, how it develops, and how it ends.
PPR sheet 4
download (Chapter_4.doc)
Chapter Four
Students should now read individually, some may choose to read in a pair or group, this will depend on your class.
As students finish reading they should continue working on their A3 sheets. At the end of each chapter students need to complete a PPR sheet. These will count towards their assessment and essay planning.
Patterned Partner Reading questions for chapter 5:
- Who does Johnny think is a hero (p. 76)? Do you think Dally is a hero based on what he did?
- Who's the spy for the greasers? Does this surprise you? Why or why not?
PPR sheet 5
download (Chapter_5.doc)
Chapter Five
Students should now read individually, some may choose to read in a pair or group, this will depend on your class.
As students finish reading they should continue working on their A3 sheets. At the end of each chapter students need to complete a PPR sheet. These will count towards their assessment and essay planning.
Patterned Partner Reading Questions for chapter 6:
- What's your own definition of a hero? Do the three boys prove themselves to be heroes, according to your definition? Explain.
PPR sheet 6
download (Chapter_6.doc)
Chapter Six
Students should now read individually, some may choose to read in a pair or group, this will depend on your class.
As students finish reading they should continue working on their A3 sheets. At the end of each chapter students need to complete a PPR sheet. These will count towards their assessment and essay planning.
Patterned Partner Reading Questions for Chapter 7:
- What condition is Johnny in after the fire? Why would this be worse for Johnny than someone else?
- Why did Pony think it was better to see Socs as "just guys" on p. 118? What do you think he means by this?
PPR sheet 7
download (Chapter_7.doc)
Chapter Seven
Students should now read individually, some may choose to read in a pair or group, this will depend on your class.
As students finish reading they should continue working on their A3 sheets. At the end of each chapter students need to complete a PPR sheet. These will count towards their assessment and essay planning.
Patterned Partner Reading Questions for chapter 9:
- On the bottom of p.133, when Pony asks what kind of a world it is, what comment is he making about how society judges people?
- What do you think Johnny's last words to Pony mean?
PPR sheet
download (Chapter_9.doc)
Chapter Nine
Students should now read individually, some may choose to read in a pair or group, this will depend on your class.
As students finish reading they should continue working on their A3 sheets. At the end of each chapter students need to complete a PPR sheet. These will count towards their assessment and essay planning.
Patterned Partner Reading Questions for chapter 10:
- How does Dally react to Johnny’s death? Explain why he handles Johnny's dying in so tragic a way.
PPR sheet
download (Chapter_10.doc)
Chapter Ten
Students should now read individually, some may choose to read in a pair or group, this will depend on your class.
As students finish reading they should continue working on their A3 sheets. At the end of each chapter students need to complete a PPR sheet. These will count towards their assessment and essay planning.
Patterned Partner Reading Question for chapter 11:
- What do you think is going on with Ponyboy when he says, "Johnny didn't have anything to do with Bob's getting killed" (p.166)?
PPR sheet 11
download (Chapter_11.doc)
Chapter Eleven
Students should now read individually, some may choose to read in a pair or group, this will depend on your class.
As students finish reading they should continue working on their A3 sheets. At the end of each chapter students need to complete a PPR sheet. These will count towards their assessment and essay planning.
Patterned Partner Reading questions for chapter 12:
- Why doesn't Ponyboy feel scared when the Socs approach him and he threatens them with a broken bottle (p.170-171)? How is this a dramatic change from the Ponyboy we have seen up until this point?
PPR sheet 12
download (Chapter_12.doc)
Chapter Twelve
Students should now read individually, some may choose to read in a pair or group, this will depend on your class.
As students finish reading they should continue working on their A3 sheets. At the end of each chapter students need to complete a PPR sheet. These will count towards their assessment and essay planning.
Characters
With a partner, create a sociogram of the main characters. Draw lines to show their relationships. In a sociogram, the central character is placed at the centre of the page and the other characters are placed around it. Arrows are used to show the direction of the relationship and a brief description of the nature of the relationship is placed alongside each arrow.
Discuss your sociogram with another pair, justifying your choices.
You can look at an example based on Lord of the Rings.
Sociogram
Teaching tips
A literary sociogram is a graphic organiser that represents the relationships among characters in a literary text. In a sociogram, the central character is placed at the centre of the page and the other characters are placed around it. Arrows are used to show the direction of the relationship and a brief description of the nature of the relationship is placed alongside each arrow. Students manipulate pieces of paper with the names of characters, until they feel they have arranged them in the best way to reflect their understanding of the text. Then the names can be attached to a piece of paper and the rest of the sociogram devised. A number of conventions may be useful in developing sociograms:
- Place the central character/s at the centre of the diagram.
- Let the physical distance between characters reflect the perceived psychological distance between characters.
- Let the size of the shape representing a character vary with (a) the importance, or (b) the power of the character.
- Show the direction of a relationship by an arrow, and its nature by a brief label.
- Represent substantiated relationships by a solid line and inferred relationships by a broken line.
- Circle active characters with a solid line. Circle significantly absent characters with a broken line
- Place the characters who support the main character on one side of a dividing line, and antagonistic characters on the other (goodies vs baddies).
When working with simple stories, one sociogram may be enough to capture the relationships. With longer or more complex stories, a series of diagrams will help to capture the changing relationships. Students can work independently and then share their sociograms or small groups of students can work collaboratively.
Younger students can use pictures of characters and word cards to construct their sociograms. Software such as Inspiration or MindMan could also be used. Sociograms can be used to help explore power relationships implied in non-fiction texts such as newspaper reports and feature articles, aiding in the development of critical literacy skills. Listening carefully to students’ explanations of their sociograms helps to provide insight into their comprehension and their ability to make inferences from texts.
S.E. Hinton does not used the word outsider, but obviously, she wants her readers to ponder who the outsiders are. Write an essay in which you explain what she may have meant by entitling her novel "The Outsiders". Be sure to define what you mean by an outsider, and then explain who you think Ms.Hinton meant. Be sure to use extensive examples from the book to back up what you say.
Essay
The rubric will guide students as they write, give feedback, and review their writing.
