common core: implementing arts through communication,...

California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) Arts Initiative www.ccsesaarts.org

Content:

Title: Handout #:HANDOUT

Common Core: Implementing Arts through Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity K-12Developed by Sacramento County Office of Education, Crocker Arts Museum, and California Musical Theatre

Planning Guide for Close Reading

© 2014 Sacramento County Office of Education Adapted from the Basal Alignment Project Template | Adapted from Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2012). Text-dependent questions. Principal Leadership, 70-72. Page 1 of 10

Grade: Middle School

Unit: Transformation Week: December 1–5, 2014

Text: “Defying Gravity” lyrics and surrounding script from Wicked

Number of Reads: 5 days – 4 days plus culminating task

Suggested Time: 30 minutes daily

Common Core ELA Standards:

CCSS ELA Reading Literature 1–7 & 10, grades 7–8

VAPA 1.0 Artistic Perception, Theatre: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 Objective: Students will closely read the lyrics “Defying Gravity” to understand the role of choice in transformation. Students will represent their understanding visually or through performance.

Close Reading Guidelines • Choose a short, worthy passage

– If there’s a staple, it’s too long! • Plan for rereading

– Where’s the evidence? – Different foci for each read

• Limit frontloading and preteaching vocabulary – Give students the chance to struggle a bit

• Design text-dependent questions – Part to whole

• Require students to “read with a pencil” – Independently read and annotate

• Incorporate after-reading tasks


Initial Read of the Text Annotate

General Understandings Key Details

• What is the key idea/theme of the text? What is the evidence? • What is the overall organization of the text? • How did the author organize the ideas?

• Which details support the key idea? • The who, what when, where, why, how much, or how many • Are there any nuances in meaning? • Are there any shifts or patterns in the writing? Look for signal words and phrases. • How did the author develop the argument, explanation, or narrative?

Corresponding Text-dependent Questions

Text-dependent Questions Evidence-based Answers

Read the lyrics. Annotate by boxing central message and circling unclear words or phrases.

Words and phrases will vary. Central message may include: • Close my eyes and leap • You can’t pull me down • Defying gravity • Is ever gonna bring me down

Who is singing the lyrics? Elphaba (mainly) and Glinda

Based on the first and third stanzas, what do you think happened? Breaking away from a controlling situation: • through with playing by someone else’s rules • taking a leap

Someone has been putting limits on Elphaba; she wants to be free: • you can’t pull be down


Without yet knowing who Glinda is, what can you say about her character’s role in what has happened?

They seem to be friends/know each other. Unclear if she is involved in controlling Elphaba. She wishes Elphaba well, but doesn’t go with her.

What concerns does Elphaba have about venturing out on her own? What details in the lyrics support your answer?

She’s taking a leap, some trepidation: • trust my instincts • till I try I’ll never know

Each person in the circle reads one stanza aloud. How does this change your initial understandings of the lyrics?

Answers will vary.


Read # 2 Annotate

Vocabulary

• Literal and inferential meanings • Figurative language • What roles do the individual paragraphs, sentences, phrases, or words play? • Does the meaning of words go beyond the denoted meaning? • What is the connotative meaning of the words? • When is figurative language used and to what effect? • How can meaning be altered by changing key words? • Why may have the author chosen one word over another?



What does Elphaba mean when she states, “Some things I cannot change; But till I try I’ll never know”?

Change is possible, even if before she thought it wasn’t. If she takes a chance and stops being afraid, she may be able to make a change.

What is the tone of the lyrics? What words and phrases support your claim?

Hopeful • I think I’ll try… • I’d sooner buy… • You can’t pull me down… • It’s time to trust my instincts…

Apprehensive • And you don’t live to regret it… • It’s time to trust my instincts…

Close my eyes…


Read # 2 Annotate

Text Structures Text Features

• Description • Sequence • Cause and Effect • Problem/Solution • Compare/Contrast • How does organization contribute to meaning? • Why do authors begin and end when they do?

• Headings • Labels and captions • Boldface • Italicized print • Graphical elements • Realistic illustrations • Photographs



Read the lyrics within the context of the script. How does this change or strengthen your understanding of what is happening to the main character, Elphaba?

Madame Morrible declares there is an enemy among them. The enemy is evil and has green skin, implicating Elphaba. Calls her a “wicked witch.” We get a sense of fear from Glinda. The community is being turned against Elphaba. We know Elphaba has some magic and Glinda fears that as well.

What stage direrections help make the lyrics in the final stanza so memorable?

“But as they surge toward her, she actually appears to rise.” Underscores the lyric “you can’t bring me down” and the use of the words “solo” and “free.”


Read # X Annotate

Author’s Craft & Purpose

• What is the author's purpose for writing - entertain, inform, persuade? How do you know? • From whose point of view is the text told? 1st person? 3rd person limited/omniscient? • How reliable is the narrator? How do you know? • What is the genre of the text?




Read # 3 Annotate

Inferences

• Probe each argument in persuasive texts* • Probe each idea in informational texts* • Probe each key detail in literary texts* • Where does the text leave matters uncertain or unstated? • How do the parts build to a whole? • Whose story/perspective is not represented? *Observe how these build to a whole



To whom is Elphaba referring when she states, “To those who’d ground me; Take a message back from me”?

The Wizard and those who work for/with him (Madame Morrible).

What other parts of the lyrics support your claim?

“No wizard that there is or was is ever going to bring me down.”


Read # 3 Annotate Opinion/Argument

• What is your opinion about the text? What evidence do you have to support your opinion? • What argument is the author presenting in the text? How does the argument build? • Which forms of rhetoric are used? To what effect?



Choose one line from the lyrics that best conveys what you know so far about Elphaba as a character and her transformation.

Answers will vary. Students perform the lyric line for their group/class.


Read # 4 Annotate Intertextual Connections & Diverse Text Types

• What other texts support or refute the claims and counterclaims made in this text? • What other texts represent a similar or different experience/perspective? • What questions does this text left unanswered/unexamined that may be worthy of being researched? • What diverse text type/media supports deeper understanding of the text? (song, video clip, art)



Using your knowledge of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, explain the juxtaposition between the film version of the Wicked Witch of the West and Elphaba from Wicked.

Film version seems scary, evil. Musical version seems vulnerable; trying to save and reinvent herself.

Watch and listen to Maya Angelou recite her poem, And Still I Rise. What comparisons can you make to Elphaba’s character?

Both have a sense of defiance. Can’t keep them down. Poem:

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.

This is reminiscent of what is being done to Elphaba by Wizard.

What contrasts can you make?

Do not get a sense of fear in the poem. Poem relates to historical events in her past. No self-doubt in the poem.


After-Reading Task What is the role of choice in transformation?

• After reading and discussing the lyrics to “Defying Gravity,” create a tableau, collage, or monologue that defines the consequences, positive and negative, of Elphaba’s decision to transform herself.

Additional Tasks • Read an accompanying excerpt from the book Wicked • Listen to the song “Defying Gravity” • Watch the Tony Awards performance of “Defying Gravity” on YouTube • Closely read other related text with same theme • Closely read other parts of the script that support theme and give deeper meaning • Compare/contrast a unit of study when transformation is not a choice

Note to Teachers

common core: implementing arts through communication,...

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