The Outsiders Unit Plan

Unit Author
First and Last Name Kelsey Stottsberry
School District Iberia R-V
School Name Iberia JH/HS
School City, State Iberia, Missouri
Unit Overview
Unit Title
The Outsiders Unit Plan
Unit Summary

The students will read the novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, determine the themes present in the novel, use graphic organizers to keep track of the character development in the novel, research, gather data, and make judgments based on the evidence and data about the crimes committed in the novel, and organize research, data, judgments, and evidence into a presentation to try to persuade others about who/what should be held responsible for the crimes committed in the novel.

Subject Area
English Language Arts
Grade Level
7th Grade
Approximate Time Needed
Approximately 31 days.
Unit Foundation
Habits of Learning Taxonomy

Webbs Depth of Knowledge:
1. Recall
2. Skills/Concepts
3. Strategic Thinking
4. Extended Thinking

Bloom’s Taxonomy:
• Analysis
• Evaluation
• Comprehension
• Knowledge
• Application


21stCentury Skills
• Core Subjects
• Learning and Innovation Skills
• Information, Media, and Technology Skills
• Life and Career Skills
Targeted Content Standards and Benchmarks
Reading-Literature
Key Ideas and Details

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

NETS-S Standards:

1. Creativity and Innovation: Students Demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
2. Communication and collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
d. Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems
3. Research and information fluency: Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from
a variety of sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
d. Process data and report results
4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making: Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.
b. Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project
c. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions
5. Digital Citizenship: Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related
to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.
a. Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
b. Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity
6. Technology operations and concepts: Students demonstrate a sound understanding
of technology concepts, systems, and operations.
a. Understand and use technology systems
b. Select and use applications effectively and productively
c. Troubleshoot systems and applications
d. Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies


Student Objectives/Learning Outcomes
The students will…

• determine themes that are present in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.
• analyze how the central idea develops throughout the novel.
• analyze how the setting affects the characters and plot of the novel.
• gather and organize evidence that will prove who/what is responsible for the crimes committed in the novel.
• prepare a defense for those who are not responsible for the crimes committed in the novel.
• prepare a presentation to turn in to the D.A. that shows who/what should be prosecuted for the crimes committed in the novel and who/what should not be prosecuted.

Curriculum-Framing Questions

Essential Question
How does society affect change?

Unit Questions How does society affect the individual?
How does the individual affect society?
What causes society to fail?
What responsibilities does society have to its people?
What is the function of a society?
What are the repercussions if society fails?

Content Questions
How does society fail the individuals in The Outsiders?
Who is responsible for the crimes committed?
Who should be punished for the crimes committed?


Assessment Summary

• Questioning the Big Question. I will put the Big Question (How does society affect change) on the board and the students will generate questions about the Big Question. We will discuss possible answers to the questions that the students generate. This assessment is to help the students start thinking about one of the major themes in the novel, The Outsiders, but S.E. Hinton. I will not tell them that societal issues is a theme until later on in the novel, but I would use this to introduce the theme to the students. This assessment will also aid in engaging the students in higher-order thinking skills.
• Themes KWL Chart. The students will fill out a KWL Chart on themes. They will put what they know about literary themes in the K column. They will put what they would like to know in the W column. At the end of the unit, they will put what they learned about themes in the L column. This assessment is for me to see how much the students know about themes and what I need to cover in regards to literary themes in a novel.
• Quizzes over the reading. I will give the students comprehension quizzes while we read the novel. I will do this to hold the students accountable for individual reading and to check that students understand the reading.
• Brainstorming themes in the novel. The students will brainstorm themes that are occurring throughout the novel. They will fill in a THEME brainstorm chart to help them brainstorm possible themes.
• Character-trait journals. The students will keep journals about the character traits of the characters in the novel. This will help keep the students organize the characters because it is easy to mix up the characters in the novel. This will also help with the final product at the end, because the students will not have to go back and read different sections of the novel. They can read their character-trait journals instead. This will also help me determine if the students comprehend the novel and that they don’t have any misconceptions about the characters. The students will have to write about the character’s physical appearance, personality traits, and actions. They will also have to find something unique about each character to help them differentiate between the different characters.
• Muddiest Point Activity. The students will fill out a Muddiest Point activity sheet that has them answer the following question: What was the most confusing thing you learned today? They will do this regularly.
• Chapter Summaries. The students will fill out a chapter summary that asks them to choose a “Star” of the chapter, list the 5 major events that occurred in the chapter, draw a picture symbolizing the conflict of the chapter, and find a meaningful quote or phrase, write it down, and then explain why the quote or phrase is meaningful to them.
• RAFT exercise (Role, Audience, Format, Topic). The RAFT exercise gives the students a safe way to write about the novel. The students will assume a Role (presumably a character in the novel). They will have to write to a specific audience (the class, another character, etc.) in a specific format (pamphlet, letter, email, song, etc.). They will have to write about a specific topic. There will be several options, and the students will have to pick two to three to write about. This exercise will help me determine if the students understand character relationships and events in the novel. This will also help the students engage in higher-order thinking skills. It is also a self-differentiated activity to help those that are struggling in one area or another.
• Complete KWL Chart. The students will put what they learned about themes in the L column of the KWL chart. This will show me that they learned something from the unit.

• Self-Evaluation. The students will evaluate their own projects by grading themselves using the Final Product Rubric. They will need to circle the score they believe they deserve, and they will need to put a reason for what they selected on each category.
• Final Product Rubric. The rubric for the final product will be given to the students before the final product is due to help guide the students while completing the final product. I will use this rubric to grade the students’ final products.
Unit Details
Prerequisite Skills
• Note-taking skills
• Movie maker
• Digital Camera
• Word Processing
• Multimedia (Infographic or other visual presentation)
Instructional Procedures

Instructional Procedures Summary
• Entry Point: I will put the Big Question (How does society affect change?) on the board and the students will generate questions about the Big Question. We will discuss possible answers to the questions that the students generate. This will help us discuss one of the important themes in the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.
• Student-Generated Questions: The students will be generating questions about the Big Question (How does society affect change?). The students will not try to answer the Big Question, but they will be generating questions to help clarify what the Big Question could be asking and/or the students will be generating questions to help guide how we could find out an answer to the Big Question. Examples of student-generated questions could be: What is society? Who makes up a society? What does society do? Etc. The students will also fill out a KWL Chart about literary themes. They will have to write about what they would like to learn about literary themes, which would be more student-generated questions.
• Acquire and Internalize Knowledge: The students will acquire and internalize knowledge by reading the novel, The Outsiders. They will participate in individual, small-group, and large-group reading. They will have to keep a character-trait journal to help internalize the multitude of complex and simple characters that are present in the novel. The students will also brainstorm possible answers to multiple unit questions while we go along. These could include: How does society affect the individual? How does the individual affect society? What causes society to fail? What responsibilities does society have to its people? What is the function of a society? What are the repercussions if society fails? The students will also take comprehension quizzes to hold them accountable for individual reading and for helping me determine what the students are understanding, and what they need extra help in understanding. When we finish the novel, we will revisit the answers we found/gave for the student-generated questions to see if we want to alter them, add to them, or take away from them. We also will revisit our KWL charts and add in any of the “L” column for things we learned while reading the novel. We will also do a theme-finding activity where the students will brainstorm the themes that are present in the novel.

• Deepen Understanding: The students will complete a RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) activity. The students will have to undertake a Role. This could be one of the characters present in the novel. They will have to write to a specific Audience in their role. This could be another character, the class, or the author. They will have to write in a specific Format. This could be a pamphlet, song, poem, email, letter, rap song, etc. They will have to write on a specific Topic. There will be several choices that the students can pick from, which will help the students automatically differentiate. These RAFT exercises will be graded on content, not grammar or spelling. This will be a good way for the students to investigate character relationships, themes, societal issues, and other important topics that are present in the novel. This will help the student think more deeply about the topics in the novel. They will have to choose multiple writing projects, so that they have to think in different ways about different situations. Some of these situations will require the students to determine cause/effect relationships, identify and select patterns or trends, compare and contrast one event in the novel to another event in the novel, make a judgment about a character as to whether or not they are responsible for any of the events that occur, see the events from several viewpoints, etc.
• Culminating Product: The students will be given their authentic task/problem. The final culminating product is set up on a website for the students to access. The URL is www.theoutsidersunit.weebly.com . “You are detectives who have been given Ponyboy’s witness statement (the novel). Based on this witness statement, that has been proven true based on additional witness statements, your job is to submit to the D.A. (District Attorney) who/what should be prosecuted for the crimes committed. You will gather evidence to prove who/what is responsible for the crimes committed, prepare a defense for those who are not responsible, and prepare a presentation showing your results that will be presented to the D.A. before she decides who to arrest and take to trial.” The students will have to determine the crimes, research data, take polls, interview, research the law, and judge who/what is responsible for the crimes. They will need raw data, primary sources, and secondary sources in their presentations. They will need to organize the information into a presentation tool: video (Windows MovieMaker), Infographic, website (Weebly), or Prezi presentation.
o Roles:
 Role 1: Paralegal- Your job is to help the D.A. in interpreting the law and providing a case against the guilty parties. You will need to research the specific laws that are broken and determine all crimes that are committed (even those that you don’t wish to prosecute). You will need to organize the laws and the crimes committed into a visually appealing way so that it is easy to include the information in your presentation. You will be responsible for presenting an equal amount of time to the D.A. and her associates.
 Role 2: Public Relations Officer- Your job is to deal with the public. You will need to develop a poll to give to your peers, other districts, and adults who have read the witness statement (novel) to help determine guilt. You will also need to develop questions and conduct an interview with someone who lived during the time period in order to help the D.A. understand the atmosphere (mood) of the setting. You will need to organize the data from your polls and answers to your questions in a visually appealing way so that it is easy to include the information in your presentation. You will be responsible for presenting an equal amount of time to the D.A. and her associates.

 Role 3: Research Analyst- Your job is to research primary (optional) and secondary (mandatory) sources to find data that others have published opinions or facts to help prove guilt or innocence of the parties who were involved in the crimes. You will need to organize your opinions, data, facts, etc. from your primary (optional), and secondary (mandatory) sources into a visually appealing way so that it is easy to include the information in your presentation. You will be responsible for presenting an equal amount of time to the D.A. and her associates.
 Role 4: Technology Expert- Your job is to research and become an expert on the technology that your peers might use for your presentation. You will need to explain to your peers what all of the technology options are and how to use them. Then, you and your peers will vote on which technology to use for your presentation. Once you have determined which technology to use, your job will be to organize the data (that your peers have prepared) into the presentation. You will be responsible for presenting an equal amount of time to the D.A. and her associates.
Reflection and Assessment: The D.A. (me) will decide who/what to prosecute based on the students’ presentations. I will use a rubric to grade their presentations, and the group with the most convincing presentation will convince me to prosecute someone or something for the crimes. The reflection will be the students coming back to the Big Question, and answer “How does society affect change in The Outsiders. Also, the students will answer the Unit Questions now that they have experienced the novel.

Instructional Procedures Plan:
• Day 1: Questioning the Big Question-I will put the Big Question on the board. The students will generate questions about the Bid Question. We will discuss possible answers to the questions that the students generate and answers to the Big Question. We will also introduce the 50’s and Harper Lee. I will use a clip from grease “Greased Lightning” to show them how the greasers dressed and acted. I will ask the students to make a Venn Diagram to compare the 50’s with today. I will use a biography over S.E. Hinton to introduce the author.
• Day 2: The students will receive a KWL chart. They will need to fill in the K (what do they know) and the W (what would they like to know) about themes. When they are done, we will start reading chapter 1 of The Outsiders together.
• Days 3-15: Read daily. Spend the last 15 minutes of class filling in their character-trait journals.
• Day 5: Comprehension Quiz
• Day 8: Muddiest-Point Activity
• Day 11: Comprehension Quiz
• Day 13: Muddiest-Point Activity
• Day 15: Comprehension Quiz
• Day 16: The students will receive a Brainstorming Themes activity sheet. They will fill in the activity sheet to help them generate a list of themes present in the novel.
• Day 17 and 18: RAFT Exercise.
• Day 19: Complete KWL Chart and Start the Final Cumulating Product project.
• Day 20-28: Project work days.
• Day 25: All individual work should be completed, and the group should be working on the presentation.
• Day 29-30: Project Presentation Day
• Day 31: The Big Question and Unit Questions – Reflection – Class Discussion




Accommodations for Differentiated Instruction

Special Needs

• The district purchased a book on CD (unabridged) that the students checked out and listened to in order to aid in comprehension for the struggling readers.
• Tutoring and extra time to finish reading assignments and other activities.
• Active, small-group instruction for struggling readers to aid in comprehension.
• Tutorials for certain types of software for those who struggle with technology.

Nonnative Speakers

• The district purchased a book on CD (unabridged) that the students checked out and listened to in order to aid in comprehension for the ESL readers.
• Tutoring and extra time to finish reading assignments and other activities.
• Active, small-group instruction for ESL students to aid in comprehension.

Gifted/Talented Students

• Students, who are gifted in the area of technology, will be offered the opportunity to make tutorials on the technology involved in the final products: Windows MovieMaker, Prezi, Infographic-writing program: Inforg.am, Piktochart
• Students, who are gifted readers can reenact and make videos of scenes in the novel.
• Students who are gifted readers can lead student discussions throughout the unit.





Printed Materials The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
19791-1991: The Bill of Rights and Beyond
Encyclopedia of American Law by David Schultz
Supplies The Outsiders unabridged book on CD or other digital copy
Internet Resources Teacher Resources
http://www.theoutsidersunit.weebly.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgYBN1IYClE
http://www.sehinton.com/>
StudentResources
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/5-important-principles-of-effective-infographics/65085/
http://piktochart.com/
https://infogr.am/
http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-to-create-a-survey
http://www.oklegislature.gov/osstatuestitle.html
http://www.oklegislature.gov/
https://www.surveymonkey.com/
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/how-conduct-interview
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/o/the-outsiders/book-summary>EbscoHost- http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/search/basic?sid=db03bb73-a993-4018-8a8c-a9ed946e1196%40sessionmgr4001&vid=1&hid=4106r>http://scholar.google.com/
https://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=005122431749820216170:hshk5euw5uw
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/getting-started-with-windows-movie-maker
https://prezi.com/support/
http://hc.weebly.com/hc/en-us/sections/200354313-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Weebly
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/5-important-principles-of-effective-infographics/65085/
http://www.weebly.com/
https://prezi.com/
OtherResources Collaborative school district to participate in polls, surveys, etc.
Voluntary participants in student-conducted interviews.