The Pearl

Grade Levels

Excerpt

Each of the following lessons is geared to a specific skill category and Common Core standard. It includes a step-by-step guide to teaching the lesson as well as handouts, assessments, modification, and enrichment activities. The lessons follow accompany the short story of The Pearl by John Steinbeck.

Table of Contents:

Lesson 1: Studying Diction and Mood in a Narrative Passage

Lesson 2: Imagery in descriptive writing

Lesson 3: Creating Suspense in Narration

Lesson 4: Characterization in Narrative Writing

Lesson 5: Writing a Paragraph of Exposition

Lesson 6: Dramatizing the Story

Lesson 7: Exploring Personal Values

Lesson 8: Studying New Vocabulary Words in Context

Lesson 9: Tracing the Chronological Development of Plot

Lesson 10: Using the Dash in Punctuation

Lesson 11: The Nature of Courage           

Lesson 12: A Matter of Choice

Lesson 13: Creating Imagery

Lesson 14: Punctuating dialogue

Lesson 15: Examining Naturalism

Lesson 16: Parable/Fable

Lesson 17: A Twist of Fate

Lesson 18: The Rest of the Story

Lesson 19: The More Things Change…

Lesson 20: Universal Truths

About

This is a full eight-week unit to teach The Pearl by John Steinbeck. All of the lesson are aligned to Common Core Standards for 9th-10th grade.

This eNotes Curriculum Plan has been developed to teach students key reading skills. Whereas many lesson plans focus on the comprehension of a single text, eNotes Curriculum Plans build the expertise that enables students to understand a variety of texts. Using an exemplar text as a guide, the plan teaches students to perform textual analysis, develop an argument, and connect style, structure, and theme.

Our Curriculum Plans have been developed by experienced teachers who shared their best ideas for how to engage students, optimize their lesson time, and instill fundamental reading skills. These are tried and tested practices that have successfully advanced students’ comprehension of complex literary works and prepared them for the reading they will do as college students and adults.

Each lesson begins with an introduction that highlights the skill category and objectives of the lesson. The skills are designed to deepen understanding of the work currently being studied as well as other texts that the student encounters in his or her future reading. All of our lessons are aligned to Common Core standards, and we list the specific standards that are met by each lesson.

Each lesson also includes an instructional guide that provides step-by-step directions on how to present the material, engage students in an activity, and conclude the class. We have included suggestions on how to modify and enhance the material, as well as an assessment for student work. Many of the lessons also include handouts that can be photocopied and implemented in the classroom.

We hope you and your students enjoy these lessons. Our goal is to provide an effective, engaging experience in the classroom and develop the skills that will enable students to be lifelong readers.