The reason I was drawn to this element of effective instruction is because, as a student myself, the visual/media element is very important to me. It shows effort and planning when a piece of media is used thoughtfully into a lesson plan. Media can though be used as a crutch. Many people know the teachers that just have their students watch videos the whole class period. After a while, students probably tune out a video if that is all they are exposed to.
In my lesson plan, I would probably use media to facilitate the other two elements I plan to list whether it be through Powerpoint, Prezi, a Youtube video, a photo, a sound clip, or anything media oriented.
The next element I chose was, "Ask students to generate a range of ideas, interpretations, solutions, questions, and connections." Feedback of students allows the teacher to see what the student knows and if the student even read what they were supposed to. Ideas that could come from these stories would be, "why do we react they way that we do to both of these stories?" I myself was not left with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Thinking up these questions to ask the students about engages the student in different ways. Engaging them then leads to the making of connections in their own life. They can even come up with their own questions about the story and get feedback from other students and their thoughts.
The final element I would use would be, "Make explicit connections between present and past lessons, students’ lives, other texts or subjects, the real world, and the big Ideas around which lessons are organized." I find this one to be important because it goes well with the others but in this element the explicit connection is meant to be made. When an explicit connection is made, it seems to last longer than a fleeting thought. I would probably ask my students, "what these articles remind them of in their own lives or in books, articles or essays they have previously read?"
The isolationism reminded me of the Hunger Games. Most students have read the Hunger Games and if they have not, I could have them read or re-read it in my classroom. Divergent is also another YA novel that has the seperation of others. The separation of each district or group reminded me of how in "The Lottery" they discuss how the other areas they have heard of who have ridded themselves of this lottery are crazy. In The Hunger Games, they do something similar by placing all the names into the bowl and selecting tributes that are sent to their deaths, similarly to the lottery. In Divergent, they also are sent away or left factionless if they do not comply to the societal rules.
This is an activity that students could also make a connection to by thinking of other literature or movies they have seen or other elements presented in the class. Even social situations that are occuring now, does society have anything in place currently that is similar to "The Lottery" or the child kept in the city of Omelas? Are these things happening in the United States or elsewhere?
All of these elements are important because they play off the others to form a strong plan. If I just walked into a classroom and said, "I'm going to talk about these stories and tell you what I think and you have to take notes," the students may not learn as well as they could. Through the use of different methods, asking questions and making explicit connections, the student might leave the classroom knowing more than they did before and it strengthens their critical thinking skills.
In school, teacher do not always ask, "what do you think about this?" but these short stories allow for this conversation to happen and that's why all the elements are important. It causes current teachers and future teachers to take a different approach and switch-up the regular classroom. In engaging students, one must be creative and all the elements allow for that to be possible.
I feel as though my lesson plan would be effective because it is something I myself would respond to. Too many times I have been in a classroom being told someone else's thoughts and not encouraged to have my own. Even if the student feels they don't have any thoughts on the subject, they can still be prompted to think, even if it's simple.