Sample Lesson Plan Activity: Exploring Cultural Context through Short Stories

Objective:

Select a short story or excerpt to be used with 15 year-old students at a local state-run school. Analyze it to
understand its cultural and historical context, and develop strategies to teach this context to EFL high school
students effectively.

Materials Needed:

● A short story or excerpt (e.g., "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry or another culturally significant text)

● Background information on the cultural and historical context of the story

Activity Outline:

1. Introduction
o Discuss the pros and cons of the integrated approach to teaching literature, emphasizing the
importance of understanding both the text and its context.
o Analyze the short story selected and develop a lesson plan that integrates cultural context into
the teaching of the text.
2. Reading and Contextual Analysis
o Read the story and discuss its cultural and historical context. Work on your analysis using the
following questions as a guide:
▪ What are the key cultural and historical elements of the story?
▪ How do these elements influence the characters and plot?
What can students learn about the culture through this story?
▪
3. Discussion and Reflection
o Reconvene as a whole class and share your findings. Discuss how the cultural and historical
context shapes the understanding of the story.
o Highlight different perspectives and insights.
4. Lesson Plan Development
o In groups, design a lesson plan that integrates the cultural context with the teaching of the
story. The lesson plan should include:
▪ Objective: What should students learn about the story and its context?
▪ Activities: How will students explore the cultural and historical aspects? (e.g., role-
playing, research projects, discussions)
▪ Materials: What resources will be used? (e.g., multimedia, supplementary texts)
Assessment: How will students demonstrate their understanding of both the text and
▪
its context?
5. Presentation and Feedback
o Each group presents their lesson plan to the class. The rest provides feedback focusing on
the effectiveness of integrating context into the lesson and any suggestions for improvement.
6. Wrap-Up
o Summarize key takeaways from the activity.
o Discuss how understanding and teaching cultural context can enhance EFL students'
comprehension and engagement with literature.
Lesson Plan Activity: Exploring Cultural Context through Short Stories

Lesson Plan
Form: 4th. year -
Age group: 16 years old- Private School

Materials: Short Story:

"The Sniper” By Brian O’ Flaherty

Background Information:
Irish civil war: https://www.britannica.com/event/Irish-Civil-War

Lesson Plan Development:

● Lesson Objective: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to reflect upon

the physical and psychological effects of war on individuals and how it affects

their relationships.

● Lesson Plan Outline:

Pre Reading:

1) Teacher will hand out copies of the article “Irish History” . T will

divide students into small groups and assign each group a topic
Causes of the to Key facts
warthe Irish Major events Impact on Civilians
related Civil War.
 They will briefly research their topic and present their findings to the

class.

2) Teacher will lead then a discussion about how war affects

individuals both physically and emotionally, asking questions such

as:

- How do you think soldiers feel during wartime?

- How does violence change someone’s perspective on life?

3)Next, Teacher will write the title “The Sniper” on the board and will

ask students to predict what the story is about. Teacher will promp

discussion with questions such as:

-What is a sniper?

-What emotions or challenges might a sniper face?

o While Reading:

1) Teacher will instruct students to focus on the different types of conflict in

the story:

External (the sniper vs the enemy) and internal (the sniper’s emotional

and psychological struggle) As they read, students should gather examples

of both types of conflict.

2) After the sniper shoots his enemy

Teacher will ask students to write a short paragraph reflecting on how the

sniper might feel at that moment.

-How might he justify his actions?

-Is he proud? Is he regretful? Is he indifferent?

- What do they think the sniper will do next?

 After Reading:

1) Teacher will ask students to write an alternative ending to the story. They

will rewrite the final scene to explore different possibilities and reflect

upon the impact on their changes. For example:

● What if the sniper didn’t shoot his enemy?

● What if he realized the person he was about to kill was his brother?

2) Students will create a new story featuring a sniper as the main character

using the “We made a story” platform. They will aso design the main

character using Gencraft AI, ensuring they write as many detailed prompts

as possible to guide the character's creation.

● Assessment: After the follow-up the teacher will give them an exit ticket with

questions to promote reflection.

● - What connections can you draw between the Irish Civil War and other conflicts

where people are divided by political or personal beliefs?

Rubric for Lesson Plan: The Physical and Psychological Effects of War

Criteria Excellent (4) Proficient (3) Basic (2) Needs

Improvement
 (1)

Pre-Reading Students Students Students Students did not

Activity: thoroughly completed the completed the complete the
Group researched the research with research with research or had
Research assigned topic mostly clear minimal or highly
on the Irish findings. unclear details. disorganized
Civil War and presentations.
presented
detailed, well-
organized
findings.

While Identified and Identified Identified Did not clearly

Reading: provided strong external and conflicts, but identify the
Identification examples of internal with limited or conflicts or
of Conflicts both external conflicts with incorrect provided
and internal relevant but examples. irrelevant
conflicts in the fewer examples.
story. examples.

Post-Reading: Creative and Alternative Alternative Did not produce

Alternative well-developed ending was ending was a meaningful
Ending alternative clear, with present but alternative
ending, some lacked depth in ending or reflect
exploring the exploration of its changes or on the changes.
impact of changes and reflection on
changes with their impact impact.
clear reflection on the story.
on character and
story dynamics.

New Story Created a Created a New story and Did not create a
Creation (We detailed and relevant new prompts lacked coherent new
Made Story & imaginative new story with detail or were story or failed to
Gencraft AI) story with clear, clear prompts unclear, use detailed
well-written using Gencraft showing prompts with
prompts for the AI, but with limited Gencraft AI.
sniper character some gaps in engagement
using Gencraft detail. with Gencraft
AI. AI.