English 9 Modules

Lesson Plan Info: A Sound of Thunder

Title: A Timey-Wimey Mess: The Consequences of Time Travel and Change
Author & Email: Erin Munley emunley@access.k12.wv.us
Accommodations by Kathleen Trumble mtrumble@access.k12.wv.us
Subject: English Language Arts
Grade Level: Grade 9
Duration: 6-7 days (based on 50 minute periods)
Focus/Driving What consequences, known or unknown, can accompany a given choice?
Question:
Lesson Overview: This lesson is meant to expand vocabulary and better the students’ understanding of
actions and their consequences.
Content Standards and determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the
Objectives: literary text, including figurative and connotative meanings;
ELA.9.R.C2.1 analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on
meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time
and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
ELA.9.R.C17.1 determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-
meaning words and phrases based on grade 9 reading and content,
choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
 use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence,
paragraph, or text; a word’s position or function in a
sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
 identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that
indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g.,
analyze, analysis, analytical; advocate, advocacy).
 consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g.,
dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital,
to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify
its precise meaning, its part of speech or its etymology.
 verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a
word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in
context or in a dictionary). *
 write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events
using effective technique, well-
chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
 engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem,
situation or observation, establishing one or multiple
point(s) of view and introducing a narrator and/or
characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or
events.
 use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing,
ELA.9.R.C9.3 description, reflection and multiple plot lines, to develop
experiences events and/or characters.
 use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they
build on one another to create a coherent whole.
 use precise words and phrases, telling details and sensory
language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences,
events, setting and/or characters.
 provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what
is experienced, observed or resolved over the course of the
narrative.
 demonstrate command of the conventions of standard
English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
 use parallel structure.
 use various types of phrases (noun, verb, adjectival,
ELA.9.L.C15.1 participial, prepositional, absolute)
and clauses (independent, dependent; noun, relative,
adverbial) to convey specific meanings and add variety and
interest to writing or presentations.

21st Century Learning N/A

Skills and Technology
Tools:

Teacher Facilitation for Teacher will introduce the vocabulary words identified by the textbook to the
Student Acquisition of students. Students will take the given definitions for the vocabulary words and put
Background them into their own words on the given flashcard sheets.
Knowledge:

Anchor Texts & “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury

Questions for Close
Reading:
Vocabulary Students will be given new vocabulary words verbally by the instructor. The teacher
Development: will provide a worksheet of word association flashcards for the students to cut out
and complete. In their own words, the students will copy a definition for each given
word into each box of the worksheet. On the other side of each card, students should
create a drawing to represent each word.

Words from textbook: Annihilate, expendable, depression, paradox, delirium,

resilient, remit, revoke, primeval, subliminal
Managing the Lesson: Day 1: Vocabulary
Teacher will pass out flashcard worksheet to students. Students will define each of
the vocabulary words on the worksheet and give each word’s part of speech. Students
will cut apart the words to use as flash cards. On the reverse side of the flash card,
the student should create a picture to represent each vocabulary word.

Students would then compose a short essay correctly utilizing all of the vocabulary
that answers the following prompt: “You have been given a working time machine
that can travel to any location in time and space. Where would you go? Who would
you meet? What would you do?”

Accommodation: Visual aid creation to increase memory. As students complete

flashcards, call students attention to word cues in the definition that signal part of
speech.

Day 2: Cause and Effect

Teacher will introduce cause and effect to the students. Using a graphic organizer,
have students come up with two events or decisions that have been made in their
own lives; these should be put into the boxes under effect. Then have the student
identify the cause for these two events or decision (link in materials section).

Instructor will then show clips/an episode from the series Doctor Who; Suggested
episodes include, but are not limited to, the following: “Fathers Day” from Series 1
(2005)**, “Blink” from Series 3 (2007), “The Wasp and the Unicorn” from Series 4
(2008), “The Pandorica Opens” from Series 5 (2010)**, and/or “Angels Take
Manhattan” from Series 7 (2012). While watching, students should be identifying
instances of cause and effect within the episodes in the remaining boxes of their
worksheet. Episodes should be chosen by the instructor ahead of time based on the
comprehension level of the students.
** “Father’s Day” and “The Pandorica Opens” can also be used to further the
understanding of paradox because the characters exist more than once in the same
location at the same time. There are consequences with this existence that will
enhance the understanding of time travel in the novel.

Accommodation: Provide (prompt) students with examples of effects.

Day 3-4: Reading “Sound of Thunder”

As the students read through the story, they should be completing Skeleton Notes
(attached). The notes will act as framework for the story and is based upon
knowledge that the student will need for the assessment at the end of the unit.
Students will fill in the blanks with the appropriate information from the text.

Accommodation: Instructor will utilize an audio version of the story (CD with
textbook). Intermittently, the instructor will stop the audio and lead the students
through the questions that have been covered in that section of reading. The
instructor will assist the students in achieving the correct answers through verbal
guided questioning and volunteers. Completed skeleton notes will also be made
available to readers to compare correct answers with their own independently.

Day 5 (and 6, if necessary): Review

Before the lesson, the instructor should create index cards containing questions or
vocabulary usage situations that could potentially appear on the assessment for the
short story. The cards should be separated into equal groupings, either randomly or
by category (number of groupings should be based on class size and number of
questions)
 Accommodation: Struggling students may defer to another student as long as they
repeat the correct answer.

Day 6 (or 7): Assessment

Students will complete a formal assessment that covers key elements and
information covered during preliminary activities and/or the reading of the short
story. The instructor may use the test that accompanies the textbook or create an
assessment of his/her own.

Accommodation: Provide oral testing and clarification of directions to struggling

readers.

Active Literacy: Students will complete skeleton notes as they read in order to assert understanding
and comprehension.
Post Literacy: Students will work in groups to assert understanding and correct information that
may be incorrect, misunderstood, or missing in order to increase comprehension and
prepare for an assessment.
Product/Performance: Students will create visual flashcards to help enhance memorization and recall.
Students will also complete skeleton notes that will act as a study guide for the
assessment.
Reflection: Reteach cause and effect to struggling individuals and connect it to other readings
that have been completed.
Materials & Resources: Textbook for vocabulary definitions
(Elements of Literature, Third Course)
Worksheet containing vocabulary words
Worksheet for cause and effect
(http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO/GO_pdf/causeeffect_chart.pdf)
Colored pencils, crayons, and/or markers
Laptop with internet access
Projector
Video clips of Doctor Who
YouTube (http://www.youtube.com)
Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dinstant-
video&field-keywords=doctor%20who&sprefix=doctor+who%2Caps%2C341 )
iTunes
Skeleton Notes Worksheet
Websites: Listed with materials
Career Connection: Reading strategies: word association for memory recall, reading from a textbook for
a profession

Narrative writing: storytelling and communication skills that can be used as a

connecting point in the workplace
Files Uploaded: N/A
Date Created: March 26, 2013
Date Modified: May 28, 2013
Key Word Search Sound of Thunder, vocabulary, narrative writing
Fields:
 Annihilation Expendable Depression Paradox

Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________
Definition: ______________ Definition: ______________ Definition: _____________ Definition: _____________
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________

Delirium Resilient Remit Revoke

Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________
Definition: ______________ Definition: ______________ Definition: _____________ Definition: _____________
_______________________ _______________________ ______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________ ______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________ ______________________ _______________________

Primeval Subliminal __________________ __________________

Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________
Definition: ______________ Definition: ______________ Definition: _____________ Definition: _____________
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________

___________________ ___________________ __________________ __________________

Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________ Part of Speech: __________
Definition: ______________ Definition: ______________ Definition: _____________ Definition: _____________
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________

Name______________________________________ Period __________ Date ______________________

 “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury
Skeleton Notes

Vocabulary

annihilate, expendable, depression, paradox, delirium, resilient, remit, revoke, primeval, subliminal

Plot
1. _______________ is the protagonist of this story. At the opening of the tale, he has arrived at _______________,

a company that specializes in _______________________________.

2. Some words that describe _______________ would be as follows: ____________________________,

__________________________, and ___________________________.

3. ______________________ doesn’t guarantee that clients will __________________________, but it does

guarantee ______________________.
4. ______________________ is the guide on this excursion to ______________________.
5. The first rule ______________________ gives for the trip is “________________________________________.”

The penalty for violating this rule is ______________________________________________________________.

6. The discussion of ___________________ between Travis and Eckels is an example of _____________________.
7. The two candidates in the resent election were ______________________ and ______________________.
8. The hunters will be traveling to __________________________. He is given the option to __________________

before they make the trip back in the machine.

9. Eckels plans to shoot a _________________________________.
10. The people in the time machine with Eckels are __________________________, the Safari Guide;

_________________________, his assistant; _________________________, a fellow hunter; and

______________________, another hunter.

11. The second rule of the trip is to ______________________________________, which hovers six inches above

the ground. They must follow this rule so that _______________________________________________.

12. They cannot change anything about their surroundings except what they are specifically there to kill because it

will trigger_______________________________, meaning that ______________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________.
13. ______________________ went back in time before the trip to be sure that _____________________________

________________________________________________________.
14. ______________________ studied the ______________________________ for _______________________

until it met its end by ____________________________________________.

15. They trail the men are to follow is marked by ____________________________. The beast they are hunting has

been marked with a ___________________________.

16. The travelers won’t run into themselves in the past because __________________________________________.

It creates a _______________________________.
 17. When the dinosaur finally appears, Eckels ______________________. ______________________ tells him to

go____________________________________, but he ends up _______________________________________.

The following inference can be made about Eckels based on his actions: ________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________.
18. After the dinosaur was killed, ______________________ and ______________________ threw up. The group

found ______________________ in the ______________________. ______________________ wants to leave

______________________ in the past, but ________________________________________________________.

19. ______________________ forced Eckels to _____________________________________ from the

_____________________. He must do this because ________________________________________________.

20. The significance of the years mentioned in the return trip is as follows:
a. 1492
b. 1776
c. 1812
21. When the group returns to their present, things are very different: ______________________ is the president,

the ______________________ has changed, and the setting is now ______________________.

22. All of the changes to their present were caused by __________________________________________________.
23. At the end of the story, we can infer than _________________________________________________________.

“A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury

Skeleton Notes KEY

Vocabulary

annihilate, expendable, depression, paradox, delirium, resilient, remit, revoke, primeval, subliminal

Plot
1. __Eckels___________ is the protagonist of this story. At the opening of the tale, he has arrived at

_Time Safari Inc._, a company that specializes in ___safaris in the past_________.

2. Some words that describe __Eckels________ would be as follows: ____rich_______,

___arrogant__________, and ____shallow__________.

3. __Time Safari__________ doesn’t guarantee that clients will _______survive___________, but it does

guarantee ____the animals (dinosaurs)_____.

4. ___Travis_______ is the guide on this excursion to __Jurassic Period/past/60 million years____.
5. The first rule ___Time Safari Inc.__ gives for the trip is “______don’t shoot unless given permission______.”

The penalty for violating this rule is __$10,000 and government action______________.
6. The discussion of __the election____ between Travis and Eckels is an example of __foreshadowing____.
7. The two candidates in the resent election were ____Keith________ and ___Deutscher________.
8. The hunters will be traveling to __60 million years ago__. He is given the option to __leave with their money__

before they make the trip back in the machine.

9. Eckels plans to shoot a ___Tyrannosaurus rex__________.
10. The people in the time machine with Eckels are ____Travis___________________, the Safari Guide;

__Lesperance__, his assistant; __Billings___________, a fellow hunter; and _____Kramer_________,

another hunter.
11. The second rule of the trip is to ___not step off the metal path___________, which hovers six inches above the

ground. They must follow this rule so that ____they don’t kill anything important_________________.
12. They cannot change anything about their surroundings except what they are specifically there to kill because it

will trigger__Butterfly/Ripple/Domino Effect___, meaning that _____one small action will ripple and magnify

over time with catastrophic results______________________________________________________.

13. ___Lesperance______ went back in time before the trip to be sure that ___they wouldn’t change the future

because of something they did in the past (i.e. kill an animal)__________________.

14. ___Lesperance_______ studied the ___Tyrannosaurus rex_______________ for ____its entire existence____

until it met its end by ___a tree falling on it____________.

15. They trail the men are to follow is marked by __a raised path_______________. The beast they are hunting has

been marked with a ___a red paint bomb______.

16. The travelers won’t run into themselves in the past because _____time won’t allow them to do so___________.

It creates a ___paradox__________.
17. When the dinosaur finally appears, Eckels ___panics_________. _____Travis___________ tells him to

go____back to the time machine______, but he ends up ___running off the path into the jungle___________.

The following inference can be made about Eckels based on his actions: ________________________________

_______he is going to change the future because he ran off the path__________________.
18. After the dinosaur was killed, __Billings______________ and ____Kramer______________ threw up. The group

found ___Eckels_______________ in the ___time machine_______. ___Travis______________ wants to leave

____ Eckels_________ in the past, but ___Lesperance stops him because he could alter the past further____.
19. ____Travis__________________ forced Eckels to _____retrieve the bullets_______________ from the

__dinosaur’s skull__. He must do this because _the bullets don’t belong in the past and can’t be left behind__.
20. The significance of the years mentioned in the return trip is as follows: (important American History dates)
d. 1492 Christopher Columbus
e. 1776 American Revolution/Declaration of Independence
f. 1812 War of 1812/Second War for Independence
21. When the group returns to their present, things are very different: ___Deutcher__________ is the president,

the ___language________ has changed, and the setting is now __slightly altered________.
22. All of the changes to their present were caused by ____Eckels stepping on a butterfly_______________.
23. At the end of the story, we can infer than ____Travis shoots and kills Eckels_______________________.