K20 LEARN | Lord of the Flies Unit, Lesson 7

Summary

In this seventh lesson of the "Lord of the Flies" unit, students examine the idea of evil and whether or not individuals can overcome the worst thing they have ever done.

Essential Question(s)

How does the author use symbolism to develop characterization and theme?

Snapshot

Engage

Students participate in an Always, Sometimes, or Never True activity.

Explore

Students read assigned articles attempting to answer these questions: Can we come back from the worst thing we’ve ever done? Does the worst thing we have ever done define who we are?

Explain

Students share articles using a Jigsaw activity.

Extend

Students discuss topics in a Socratic Seminar.

Evaluate

Students watch a video and answer the following question based on the reading and class discussion in a Flip: Do you agree with the argument made by Bryan Stevenson?

Materials

Lesson Slides (attached)
Always, Sometimes, Never True handout (attached; one per student)
"Psychology of Fraud: Why do Good People do Bad Things?" (linked; one copy per group of four students)
"Why do Good People do Bad Things?" (linked; one copy per group of four students)
"What Makes Good People do Bad Things?" (linked; one copy per group of four students)
"Do Juvenile Killers Deserve Life Behind Bars?" (linked; one copy per group of four students)
Pens/pencils
Internet access for video

Engage

Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the lesson. Display slide 3. Remind students of the essential question for the unit. Display slide 4 and review the learning objectives for this lesson.

Display slide 5. Pass out the attached Always, Sometimes, Never True handout.

Review the directions for the Always, Sometimes, or Never True strategy with students and have them reflect on the quotes in the handout individually.

Once students have completed the Always, Sometimes, Never True handout, show slides 6-11 to guide a whole group discussion. Encourage students to take notes on their handouts as their classmates give their reasons for their answers.

Explore

Display slide 12. Share the instructional strategy, Jigsaw, with students. Assign students to groups of four. Then have them number off from 1 to 4 within each group. Distribute the following news articles and have students read the article corresponding to their number. There should be four students per group, with each group member reading a different article ("ones" reading article one, "twos" reading article two, etc.).

As students read, ask them to monitor their reading to answer the questions. They are becoming an "expert" on their article.

Can we come back from the worst thing we have ever done?
Does the worst thing we have ever done define who we are?

Explain

Display slide 13. To complete the Jigsaw activity, have students share out their articles with their groups. After the groups have completed their discussions and expanded their information about this topic, hold a class discussion.

Ask students to share any new information they have learned from the reading. Have students reflect on how their earlier knowledge differed from or was expanded by reading the articles.

Extend

Teacher's Note: Preparing for a Socratic Seminar

If this is the first time you or your students have participated in a Socratic Seminar, review the steps below.

The purpose of a Socratic Seminar is to initiate an ongoing discussion of a topic using support from a text (close textual analysis). Ensure that the texts you select provide ample avenues for interpretation and discussion. As the students read the texts, encourage them to make annotations.
Schedule activities so that students have at least 24 hours to prepare for a Socratic Seminar. Remind them that the more textual support they have, the more in-depth and rich their discussions will be. Encourage them to generate a few open-ended questions of their own.
Provide students with 4-6 questions (2-3 that are closely aligned with the texts and 2-3 that are more philosophical) in a handout. These questions will be addressed during the Socratic Seminar. To facilitate this step, attach the questions to the texts so students can make annotations specific to the questions as they are reading.
Before beginning the Seminar, cover the rules. The seminar is not a debate. Students work to gain a deeper understanding of what the author is trying to express in the text. The point of the exercise is collaboration, not argumentation.
Make sure that you have already distributed the classroom Established Norms for collaboration. You may want to review them together before starting this exercise.

Display slide 14. Inform the class that they will participate in a structured discussion on the questions: "Can we come back from the worst thing we have ever done? Does the worst thing we have ever done define who we are?"

Teacher's Note: Directing the Socratic Seminar

Divide the class into two groups: the Inner and Outer Circles. The role of the Inner Circle participants is to answer and discuss the questions provided. Having several smaller groups enables more students to participate. Small groups are more likely to engage in discussion than large groups.

The role of the Outer Circle participants is to quietly listen to the discussion and record their observations of the speakers. Having an Outer Circle encourages the speakers to be more conscious of their participation. Although the role of the Outer Circle is not directly participatory. The presence of other students’ observing the dialogue increases meaningful participation in the Inner Circle.

When the first group of students is ready to begin, ask one of the questions that closely aligns to the text to get the conversation started. Beginning with an open-ended question helps build confidence for later discussion when the tougher questions are introduced. Provide 15-30 minutes for the discussion of each question per group.

Once the first group in the Inner Circle has completed their discussion, have the students switch spots with those in the Outer Circle.

Once both groups have had a chance to participate in the Socratic Seminar, ask students to reflect and evaluate as a class. Have students self-reflect on their participation throughout the activity and complete a general evaluation of the activity as a concluding activity.

Consider the following guiding questions as a concluding exercise:

At any point, did the Socratic Seminar revert to something other than a dialogue? If so, how did your group handle this?
How did group members demonstrate they were actively listening and building on others' ideas?
How has your understanding of the texts been affected by the ideas explored in this seminar?
What parts of the discussion did you find most interesting? In what parts were you least engaged?
What would you like to do differently as a participant the next time you are in a seminar?

Evaluate

Display slide 15. Ask students to critically view the video as you play it.

Based on the reading, discussion, and any part of this lesson, ask the students: "Do you agree with the argument made by Bryan Stevenson?"

Display slide 16. Ask the students to record their response to this prompt in Flip.

Resources

Effron, D. (2018, Aug. 14). Why do good people do bad things? The Ethics Center. https://ethics.org.au/good-people-bad-deeds/
Dittmann, M. (2004). What makes good people do bad things? CommonLit.https://www.commonlit.org/texts/what-makes-good-people-do-bad-things
Joffe-Walt, C., & Spiegel, A. (2012, May 1). Psychology of fraud: Why good people do bad things. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2012/05/01/151764534/psychology-of-fraud-why-good-people-do-bad-things
K20 Center. (n.d.). Always, Sometimes, or Never True. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/145
K20 Center. (n.d.). Bell Ringers and Exit Tickets. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/125
K20 Center. (n.d.). Flip. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/1075
K20 Center. (n.d.). Jigsaw. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/179
K20 Center. (n.d.). Socratic Seminar. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/781
Stevenson, B. (2012). We are more than the worst thing we've ever done. [Video]. TedTalk. https://youtube/CfNVlpA83gA
Totenberg, N. (2012). Do juvenile killers deserve life behind bars? CommonLit. https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/do-juvenile-killers-deserve-life-behind-bars

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Lord of the Flies Unit, Lesson 7

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