Lesson Plan for “To Kiss a Girl” by Ruby Yayra Goka

Grade and Subject: 10^th grade English

Topic: To Kiss a Girl by Ruby Yayra Goka

Objectives:

1. Analyze the book’s main themes, plot, and character arcs.
2. Make use of citation skills and knowledge of literary elements.
3. Formulate answers and thoughts about the book’s literary and cultural merit.

Materials: Handouts with possible discussion questions, copies of books, poster paper, markers, scotch tape, a ball of yarn.

 

Opening (5 minutes)

Present pictures that connect with the main elements of the book.

1. Death
2. Adolescence
3. First love
4. Family

These connect to the book’s main themes by connecting the characters’ experiences to images in which students are able to make connections. Open up a discussion to the class about other themes and plot elements of the book. I will also show a book trailer for the book which sets the theme for the book’s discussion for the day. This lesson will focus on literary elements and allow students to elaborate on important elements of the novel.

 

Direct Instruction (5 minutes)

Students will learn from a PowerPoint about the background information about the author and the novel’s context. This presentation will include cultural context and the applications to the novel. I will also introduce the plan for the lesson which includes a group activity and class-led discussion.

 

Guided Practice (10 minutes)

Students will be placed into groups of 4 and given a theme or character arc to focus on. The groups will each be tasked with creating a poster explaining the theme of character arc and citing specific textual instances in which these literary elements are shown. The posters will be hung up around the room for the duration of the lesson. Each group will then present their poster to the entire class and other groups will be able to ask questions about their reasoning and thoughts.

 

Assessment (15 minutes)

Students will be instructed to sit in a circle with all students being able to see each other. A ball of yarn will be used in this discussion to ensure that each student contributes to the discussion. I will start the discussion by posing a question to the class and then throwing the ball of yarn to a student who has an answer. Once a student gets the ball of yarn they will hold onto a piece of yarn and then throw the ball to the next student. Students will be encouraged to pose a question to the class or answer a question about the book’s literary and cultural elements.

 

Closing (5 minutes)

In this lesson, students were able to focus on literary elements such as theme and character arcs. A PowerPoint presentation elaborates on authorial and cultural contexts for the novel. Then, in groups, students were able to explain the assigned literary element and create a poster board that cites specific instances in the text. Students were also able to discuss the novel in a class-wide discussion focusing on literary and cultural elements of the text.

 

*This lesson plan format is from The Ohio State University’s Educational Psychology 2309 course taught by Naima Khandaker.

Works Cited

Goka, Ruby Yayra. To Kiss a Girl. Digibooks Ghana, 2018.