The Problem
Even though I left the k12 classroom years ago, I still enjoy creating ELA & Humanities content for edtech companies. With that in mind, here's a demo lesson I created for 7th grade ELA.
The lesson is intended to teach one of my favorite concepts in literature: Situational Irony. To master this concept, students will explore the concept through a range of activities, and then they will apply the concept to a classic short story by Saki, "The Storyteller."
The Solution
The lesson begins with a fun group activity that gets students up and moving, examining silly examples of Situational Irony in news headlines and Failblog memes. Once students deduce the definition of Situational Irony, they must create their own original examples and explain what makes them ironic. Next, students will learn about a famous author, Saki, who loved to use irony to poke fun at stuffy authority figures and ridiculous societal rules. Finally, students will tackle Saki's "The Storyteller" and work in groups to identify how the text uses irony to challenge stodgy British stereotypes about "proper behavior."
The lesson follows Common Core State Standards and includes the following items:
1. The Teacher Guide
2. The "Oh, the Irony!" warmup activity
3. The Student Guide
The content is all designed using Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Acrobat. It was a fun exercise in my old ELA Know-How, and it's another example of what I can complete in less than a day.
