Mood and Tone

Austin Walker

8^th Grade English

Period 4

6-22-07

Approximate time: 50 minutes

Objective:

1. The student will recognize mood and tone and distinguish between the two
   1. English 8.  2.di

Materials:

Paper, pencils, whiteboard, markers, Tone and Mood handouts, CD player, CD, Mood and Tone Quiz

Set:

1. Write the Do Now on the board: “Describe a time when you have said the same thing but meant something different.  Example:  You have said “Nice shoes” sarcastically to someone with dirty shoes, but also “Nice shoes” to someone with new Air Jordans.  How did the person you were talking to know if you were being kind or sarcastic?
2. Give students 5 minutes to complete the Do Now.  Ask for volunteers to read their work.
3. Tell the students that it is the Tone that signifies the difference.
4. Tone and mood are literary elements, much like the literary devices Ms. Graham mentioned.
5. We will be discussing Mood and Tone today, which are related but not identical.

Procedures:

1. Distribute the “Tone Handout.”  Go through the Handout, making sure to provide extra examples if necessary.  Make sure to mention the “don’t you take that tone of voice with me.”
2. Play the two songs in order to show the difference in tone.
3. Talk about tone being the emotional state of the author, and Mood being the emotional state of the reader.  Distribute the “Mood Handout”.
   1. People talk about a “romantic mood” but not a “romantic tone.”  The mood is about setting, the tone is about personal feeling.
4. Take the “mood and tone quiz,” but review it with the students beforehand.
5. When completed, ask the students to write independently on a new sheet of paper:
   1. A  2 or 3 sentence group with a happy tone
   2. A  2 or 3 sentence group with an sarcastic tone
   3. A  2 or 3 sentence group with a mysterious mood
   4. A  2 or 3 sentence group with a lighthearted mood
   5. A  2 or 3 sentence group with different tone and mood.

Closure:

1. Restate the objective
2. Have the students define tone and mood
3. Make mention of Ms. Graham’s lesson about literary devices and preview that more of this work will be coming their way.

Evaluation:

1. Informal: The Teacher will listen to students (M) as they work aloud on the mood and tone worksheets and write their sentences at the end (C).
2. Formal: The teacher will grade the students’ quizzes (M) to determine whether students comprehended the difference between mood and tone (C) and record the grades in the gradebook (D).