After Twenty Years O. Henry - Wikispaces

Collection 4 Student Edition pages 388–397

Lesson Plan and Teaching Strategies

After Twenty Years O. Henry

Preteach RESOURCES

LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILLS (10 minutes) In the Holt Reader: After
Build Background/Set a Purpose Tell students that O. Henry is Twenty Years for students
known for stories that have an unexpected twist at the end. Explain that who need more scaffolding
the selection is about a man who is waiting to meet a friend he hasn’t in a workbook format
seen in twenty years. The story begins with the man waiting in a
doorway, and a policeman walks by. Ask for volunteers to predict what In this book: Vocabulary Skill
the unexpected ending might be when waiting to meet a friend after Builder, p. 91; After Twenty
twenty years. (Point students to “What Do You Think?” on page 388.) Years Selection Test, p. 96

Have students look ahead at the images on page 393 and respond to the Consult Holt Audio Library
Analyzing Visuals question on that page. “How do the images on this for recordings of most
page reflect the mood, or atmosphere, of the story?” selections.

Have students discuss who they would like to see in twenty years. A WORD BANK
friend, a relative? What kinds of things may have changed about the
person? What might have remained the same? As students read, have habitual
them compare their responses to these questions with how the man’s intricate
friend has changed or stayed the same. dismally
egotism
VOCABULARY SKILLS (10 minutes) simultaneously
Preteach Vocabulary Words Review the meanings of the vocabulary
in the Word Bank. Then give students these sentences to complete: ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
1. Eben’s plan to win the chess game involved [intricate] strategy. Preteaching Academic
2. Jacqueline failed [dismally] at pretending to be happy for Jan. Vocabulary (5 minutes)

3. Getting a latte from the coffee bar was a daily, [habitual] event. Write these terms and their
4. Peter’s [egotism] made him believe he was always right. meanings on a chalkboard or
5. Linda [simultaneously] juggled three balls and jumped rope. transparency. Review them
with the students before
Remind students to watch for these words as they read the story. previewing the selection.

LANGUAGE COACH SKILL (10 minutes) Analyze: To carefully study
Derivatives Use your knowledge of the base, or main part, of a word and examine the details
to figure out the meaning of another version of that word. For example, Narrative: A story
the word “necessary.” There are similar words such as “necessity” and Organizational: Of or related
“necessarily.” Have students use each of these words in a sentence. to organization
Perceive: To become aware
Write these sentences on the board. Have students complete each one of; to realize
by adding a word from the box.

permit permissible permission

1. It is not [permissible] to speak without raising your hand in class.

2. She was given a driver’s [permit] that allowed her to drive if she
was accompanied by an adult with a driver’s license.

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75 Differentiating Instruction

3. Melissa was only eleven, but she received her father’s VOCABULARY SKILL
[permission] to fly alone to visit her aunt in New York City.
Especially for ELL
LITERARY FOCUS (20 minutes) (15 minutes)
Create strips of paper with
Omniscient Point of View Explain that omni- means “all” and -scien the stem perm-, and the
means “knowledge.” So an omniscient narrator is “all knowing.” This suffixes –issible, -it, and –
type of narrator can see into the thoughts of all characters. Other words ission. Allow the students to
with omni- include omnivorous—meaning all kinds of foods. Ask: Can piece these strips of paper
you think of an animal that is omnivorous? Have students use the word into the correct word that
omnivorous in a sentence. This will help them remember the meaning completes the sentence. If
of omniscient. Another helpful reminder is to tell students that many the students, enjoy this
people think of God as all knowing, or omniscient. activity, create new
sentences and strips of
Have students work with the idea of an omniscient narrator by writing paper for the words admit,
two paragraphs. In the first paragraph, the writer (narrator) writes about admission, admissible, and
a dog who is lost, but the puppy’s boy finds him and takes it home. In station, stationary, and
this story, the narrator is objective, so only include events that would be stationed.
seen by an objective observer, someone standing on the street watching.
In the second paragraph, the narrator writes the same story, but now the READING/WRITING
narrator can see into the dog’s mind and the boy’s mind (the narrator is
omniscient and knows how both of these characters are feeling). Ask: If Especially for ELL
you could understand what the dog is thinking and feeling, and what the (15 minutes)
boy is thinking and feeling, what would you add to this story? Have Have students practice
students write their stories and share them with the whole class. sentence combining. Model
how to combine two
Divide the students into groups of three. Have them create a two- sentences:
column chart with the headings “Objective Narrator” and “Omniscient 1. Justin was surprised that
Narrator.” Write the things that the omniscient narrator knew that the he was chosen to be on the
boy narrator didn’t. Tell students to spend five minutes talking about Little League baseball team.
their dog stories. Ask volunteers for examples from their charts. 2. Justin thought he was a
lousy baseball player.
READING FOCUS (45 minutes) Combined: Justin was
Making Predictions Explain that making a prediction means trying to surprised that he was
guess what will happen in a story. Say: We make predictions every day. chosen to be on the Little
For example, you might predict how your parents will react if you come League baseball team
home with mud all over your clothes. Or, you might predict what kind because he thought he was
of movie you’ll be watching when your friend rents Four-Headed a lousy baseball player.
Dinosaurs Rule the Earth. Stories have clues that help you predict what
will happen. Look at the title of the story, look at any pictures, and read Now, have students practice
the first paragraph. These will give you some clues to help predict what sentence combining using
may happen. the paragraphs they wrote
Have students work in pairs to fill out a chart like the one at the right. about the boy finding his lost
As they read the selection, prompt them to use clues to make dog. Have students rewrite
predictions about what will happen next in the story. their paragraphs by
combining two sentences
into one sentence.

READING FOCUS

Predictions Chart

Clue Prediction

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76 Differentiating Instruction

Direct Teach VOCABULARY SKILL
Especially for ELL
(60 minutes)
Chunk the Text Help students pace their reading by dividing the (5 minutes or less)
selection into “chunks” or parts. After the students have read each part, Help English-Language
stop to help them answer the Making Predictions questions in their text. Learners understand
For each question, ask students to underline clues in the story that idiomatic expressions and
support their predictions. unfamiliar words in After
Part 1: ends page 391, column 2: [Have students answer the Reading Twenty Years. Write the
Focus Question, C, that appears here.] paragraph on page 392,
Part 2: ends page 392, column 1: [Have students answer the Reading column 2, on the board:
Focus Question, D, that appears here.]
Part 3: ends page 394, column 2: [Have students answer the Reading “You bet! I hope Jimmy has
Focus Question, I, that appears here.] done half as well. He was a
kind of plodder, though, good
Check for Understanding fellow as he was. I’ve had to
compete with some of the
WRITING FOCUS (15 minutes) sharpest wits going to get my
pile. A man gets in a groove
Dialogue Have students write down words, phrases, or complete in New York. It takes the
sentences from the selection that tell them about the personalities of the West to put a razor edge on
policeman and the man waiting for his friend. him.”
Explain that in “After Twenty Years,” O. Henry uses dialogue to tell the
story. Dialogue is conversation between two or more characters in a Have a student volunteer
story. Read aloud a brief sample of the dialogue to students, so that read the paragraph aloud.
students understand the difference between dialogue and narration. Help students with the
meanings of these terms. If
Assign two different students the parts of the policeman and the man in there is time, have students
the doorway. Have them read aloud the dialogue on page 392 in the rewrite the paragraph without
second column, beginning with the man in the doorway: “ ‘Three idiomatic language.
minutes to ten,’ he announced.” Now have students copy this portion of
the dialogue in their notebooks, paying attention to how punctuation is
used in dialogue. Discuss any questions students may have about
punctuation in dialogue.

Ask students who listened to the dialogue what they learned about each
of the characters. Have them review their notes on the personalities of
the two men and put a star next to the conclusions they drew from
dialogue and a circle next to the conclusions that they drew from the
story’s narrator.

Think As a Reader/Writer Think about a close friend and what makes
him or her different from your other friends. Make a list of your friend’s
characteristics. You might include characteristics such as “good in
math,” “doesn’t get easily upset,” “very loyal to friends,” “loves
animals.

Original content Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.

77 Differentiating Instruction