Teaching word choice and literary devices in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"

Learning Objectives and Rigor

The common core learning standards in grade 8 English for the mentioned lesson were set as the determination of a theme or central idea of the text and analysis of its development over the text course. It also included its relationship to the characters, setting and plot; determination of the meaning of words and phrases as the area used in the text, in addition to figurative and connotative meanings along with the analysis of the specific words' impact on meaning and tone. Effective engagement in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 8 topics and texts so that building on ideas and creating expressions become easy for the students was another common core learning standard addressed. As the lesson objectives indicate that word choice in the poetry is essential to express what the poet is feeling about, the word meanings and their usage in the poetry would help the students in understating what each word usage in specific context means and what the poet wants to express. The comprehension abilities of the students would be enhanced too. The content used for this purpose was Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven" and it was ensured that all the students, including the diverse learners, were engaged in rigorous thinking process by creating a list of words, thinking upon the questions in the mini lesson, formation of groups for certain activities, and giving an assessment in the form of homework that included selection of one stanza of the poem and replacing its difficult words with new ones.

Question 2: Teaching Strategies and Assessment

The teaching and management strategies that I used in the lesson included the prior knowledge of the student related to metaphor, similes, personification and literary devices such as themes, moods and tones. Other teaching strategies involved word choice activities that allowed the students to gain knowledge of connotation and denotation. The pupils were encouraged to work in groups to form pair of words. The lists were shared in the class so that students can have a look at other students' work. In addition to that, there was a guided activity for watching "The Raven" clip so that they were able to interpret the poem and its meaning from a holistic viewpoint. The reason for showing the clip to the students was to let them search for words and explain their importance to the poem. The identification of the literary devices, teaching the class what they learnt from stanza exercise and accepting the questions enabled them to gain extensive understanding of the topic and fulfill common core learning standards. The diverse students' learning strengths with which I tried to capitalize my teaching enhancement on included their already attained prior knowledge, entailing knowledge of literary devices, symbolism, assonance, and consonance etc. I assessed the impact of these strategies and their outcomes by scoring their homework assessment: the students who scored 2 or low needed assistance in comprehension; the students who scored mid-level to low-level 2 needed assistance; students who scored above 2 were known to be fast graspers. No adjustments were made in the instructional practice since it was a learning activity related to the lesson topic; rather, I provided assistance to the students who scored less and helped in understanding of the concepts more clearly.

Question 4: School Culture and Goals

The instructional goal that my school is pursuing this year is prohibition of individual teachers from disregarding or replacing the content that has been assigned to a specific course or grade level. I am addressing this goal in the classroom by not adding any new content other than the course outline so that students are not distracted from grasping the course topics and they remain on the right track. The learning activities and assignments are also designed in the same way so that if they search on their own, they are only persuaded to do so within the course limits. In collaboration with my colleagues, I have taken steps in the form of constantly reviewing and revising my course topics, lessons, texts and assignments in order to ensure that I am on the right path and that students learn the precise outcomes from the course that is suitable for their grade level.