Mood and Setting Lesson
Mood and Setting

Mood & Setting Extensions
Extensions

Mood & Setting PDF Downloads

Feelings Moods and Emotions II

Lesson Overview

The purpose of the lessons in this unit is to help Ohio students in grades 5-7 learn the characteristics of the literary text MOOD and SETTING indicators that they must master for their respective Ohio achievement tests. Special care has been taken to dovetail the lessons with the indicators and the types of questions commonly asked on Ohio tests. 

Ohio Academic Content Indicators

Mood
2001.EL.S05.G04-07.BG.L05.I07        
Interpret how an author’s choice of words appeals to the senses and suggests mood.

2001.EL.S05.G04-07.BG.L06.I07        
Distinguish how an author establishes mood and meaning through word choice, figurative language and syntax.

2001.EL.S05.G04-07.BG.G07.I07        
Interpret how mood or meaning is conveyed through word choice, figurative language and syntax.

Setting
2001.EL.S05.G04-07.BB.L05.I02        
Identify the influence of setting on the selection.

2001.EL.S05.G04-07.BB.L06.I02        
Identify the features of setting and explain their importance in literary text.

2001.EL.S05.G04-07.BB.G07.I07        
Analyze the features of the setting and their importance in a text.

Ohio Achievement/Proficiency Tests

Mood Question Types

• What is the mood of the selection?
• Given a list of emotion words, choose the one that suggests the mood of the selection.
• The author used the word(s)/paragraph “xxxx.” What mood is the author creating?
• The author used the word(s) “xxxx.” What does/do the word(s) “xxxx” suggest about how Character X was feeling in the selection?
• The author used the words “ xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx.” What feeling does the language in the sentence/phrase primarily express?

 Setting Question Types

• From a given list, choose the one that was a setting for the reading selection.
• Where is Character X going during/after a given event from the selection?
• Using a specific detail from the passage, identify the setting element (time, place, location) in which the story takes place. Then explain why the element is important to the story element (plot, theme, mood, etc.)

Annie Oakley
Episode Overview

This episode is about the famous 19th century American woman, Annie Oakley. In the tall tale portion of the episode, Annie saves a woman and her child from a raging fire by driving a team of horses up the side of a building and using her shooting skills.

Access this episode's Before Viewing and After Viewing discussion guides by downloading the complete unit guide.

Mood and Setting Lesson

Materials:

• Student Page: “Feelings, Moods, and Emotions II”
• Examples from the students’ everyday life to which mood and emotion is connected. Click here for ideas and suggestions.
• Several passages, short stories, or poems with which the students are familiar. The passages can be used to practice identifying and understanding mood and setting. Click here for ideas and suggestions.

Procedure:

• Provide the students with a definition of mood that they can understand.
• For example: The mood of a story is the feeling(s) you think about or feel when you listen to, watch, or read the story. The author’s choice of setting, objects, details, images, and words all contribute towards creating a specific mood. A vivid description/depiction of the setting can help discern the mood of a story.
• Some students may need a definition for setting.
• Discuss moods and feelings. Ask students to think about, list, or share the emotions felt by many people on the following occasions:
• The death of a loved family member.
• Winning a championship game in some sport following several losing seasons.
• Waking after a full night of sleep and remembering that the entire day is free to do exactly as one pleases.
• Waking from two hours of sleep and remembering that one must explain the car’s shattered front windshield to ones parents.
• “Feelings, Moods, and Emotions II.” Distribute the handout “Feelings, Moods, and Emotions II” and have the students complete it. The worksheet has five parts. Directions and Answer Key:
• Part A. After the students have completed Part A, ask them to share their choices. Discuss why different people have different choices. Explain that authors must add more detail to help us know the mood of a story, book, play, or movie.

For example: Some students may have pets that react strangely during storms and think that the pet’s behavior is funny. Others may be very frightened by storms while still others may feel that a stormy night is exciting.

• Part B. After the students have completed Part B, ask them to share their choices.

1. A child is terrified of a huge, menacing dog that is chained up next to the sidewalk where the child must walk.
2. A child is ecstatic when s/he learns s/he will be going on a vacation to Disney World in two days.
3. An adult watching a TV show that his/her children chose to watch is bored.
4. A cat is watching a mouse it wants to eat for dinner. It is waiting for a chance to pounce on the mouse.
5. A furious teenager is walking toward a bedroom after being grounded.
6. A teen is thinking about what his/her parents will do when they learn that s/he wrecked the family car.
7. An adult is watching a favorite comedy show and something hilarious happens.

• Part C. Answers will vary. Accept reasonable responses. For example. I knew what emotions they were feeling because of the clues in the sentence and because of my own experiences. If I know exactly how I would feel when I watch my favorite comedy show and how I would feel while I was waiting for my parents to decide what to do after I broke the TV.
  

• Part D. Answers will vary. Accept reasonable responses. For example:

1. A face showing fear
2. A face showing joy or excitement
3. A face showing little or no emotion
4. A face showing concentration or intentness
5. A face showing anger
6. A face showing concern, fear, worry, etc.
7. A face showing happiness or joy

• Part E. Descriptions will vary. Judge the students response to the prompt on a holistic rating scale such as the following: 4-Excellent or Superior, 3-Good, 2-Adequate, 1-Inadequate, or 0-no gradable response.
  
  
• Tune in to mood in everyday life. Choose one or more of the following methods and ask the students to share, list, or discuss the inferred, stated or implied moods:
• Display a text message followed by different emoticons. The following examples and symbols came from: “Text Messaging Shortcuts:” http://www.swalk.com/sms1.htm and “Emoticons:” http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/emoticons.html. Emoticons are stylized faces. Tilt your head to see the faces. Emotions are created with :-) and without :) “noses”.

• Select musical pieces that show distinct moods and play them for the students.
• Select artwork that show distinct moods and show them to the students.
• Select illustrations from children’s books or the Internet that show distinct moods and share them to the students.
• Select short passages from books and read them to the students.
• Have the students write indirect descriptions of settings in which the location is not stated. The descriptions should be rich in sensory details that help to infer or imply mood. Have students share their descriptions to see if their classmates can identify the setting.
  
• Have the students read short descriptive passages to identify words, phrases, or sentences that speak to the mood of the story. See the beginning of this unit for examples of the types of setting and mood questions found on Ohio’s tests. Have the students read the book or selection and identify the setting mood. Choose stories from current classroom texts, books from your local school or public library, or use one or more of the following Internet websites.
• Poetry for Upper Elementary Students: http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/poemiddle.htm
• Kids Space: Short Stories, Internet Public Library: http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/browse/rzn3000/
• Bibliomania: Short Stories: http://www.bibliomania.com/0/5/frameset.html
• Classic Short Stories: http://www.classicshorts.com/
• Wikipedia Short Stories (scroll to the bottom of the page): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_stories
• Fletcher Hill.com: http://fletcherhill.com/main.html
• International Children’s Digital Library: http://www.icdlbooks.org/
• Mrs. Dowling’s Literature Terms: Mood: http://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/Terms/Mood.html