Emily+Bastian's+Mindmeister+The+Book+Thief Lesson+Plan

**//PLANNING//** **Date**: December 14, 2010 **Class and Grade Level:** English 8
 * LESSON PLAN**

**Title/Subject of Lesson**: Better understanding of theme and character development in //The Book Thief// through individual and group analysis.

**Objective(s)**: · Students will be able to analyze a novel through categorizing themes, characters, and important events in a novel. · Students will be able to use their own understanding of the novel to share ideas with their peers through using the tool Mindmeister. They will be able to collaborate their ideas both inside and outside of class. · Students will be able to value the insights of others as well as their own.

**State (or District) Core Curriculum Standard(s):**  · Objective 3 (Comprehension of Literary Text): Comprehend literature by differentiating the uses of literary elements in narrative texts. A. Describe a character's traits based on what other characters think, say, and do. B. Identify themes in literary works.

**Concept(s) to Be Taught:** · Analysis of literature · Mind Mapping · Building Ideas and collaborating with peers · Group work

**Materials Needed:** · Mindmeister.com · //The Book Thief// by Marcus Zusak

**Strategies to Be Used:** · Class discussion, asking and answering questions · Analysis of themes and meaning through reading //The Book Thief// and using Mindmeister **//PERFORMING//** **Announcements:** We will be starting our first novel for the year, //The Book Thief//! Today we will begin this unit by looking at the first few pages, and discussing the tools we will use to analyze this book.

**Lesson Presentation**:

A) **Getting Started**: Ask if the students if they know what a mind map or a book map is. Ask if any of the students have heard of Mindmeister. Discuss the uses of book maps in mapping out ideas or concepts. Discuss how they are helpful in categorizing and developing ideas when reading or writing.

B) **Directing the Learning:** Bring up Mindmeister on the projector (if available), if not use a printed screenshot to show the students how it looks and just use the whiteboard during class to begin the map.

Explain that we will begin reading the Prologue in class. Go down the rows of students or ask for volunteers to read each paragraph, being sure to pause at these times and add to the mind map (see example image below):
 * Page 1 “himself” (as the narrator)- don’t know who that is right now, but follow the words written on the mind map included below.
 * Page 1 “The colors” (theme)
 * Page 1 “the book thief” (character)
 * Page 4 “Dark, dark chocolate” (colors) – represents the death of Leisel’s brother
 * Page 5 – what the book is about – A girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, A Jewish fist fighter, thievery
 * Page 5- Death saw the book thief 3 times

Continue through the prologue, making note of key passages and key terms. After you have pointed out a few of them, ask students to point out some things to be written down. There are no right or wrong answers; just help the students get their minds moving. Create a mind map similar to this on the board or through Mindmeister if it is accessible in the classroom. This sample in the class will help students begin their own group mind maps and continue adding to them throughout the remainder of the novel.

**Assignment:** The assignment throughout the rest of the novel will be given in small groups (make groups of students before class and display them when necessary). Each group of 5-6 students will be responsible for creating a mind map on Mindmeister. Creating an account is just like creating an account for an email and each student in a group will have a shared map that all the students in the group and the teacher can view. Each student has a different color so as the teacher you can see who is editing the mind map and who is not. (Amazing!)

The easiest way to begin this assignment would be in a computer lab so all the students can do it at the same time and the teacher will know who has accounts and whether each group has made it possible for the teacher to view their mind map.

**Evaluation of students work:** Each reading assignment given the students will be required to add two items to their group’s mindmeister. Since each student has an individual color attached to their name, it will be easy to see who is adding what. The mind map can be played from the beginning to see the progress as time goes on and students add more information. This makes it easy for the teacher to see who is participating and what they are writing. This exercise will help students study for the test and/or write an analysis of the book when they are done.

Example of a groups collaborative mind mapping:

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