CAPSTONE
English Academy
Daily Lesson Planning Tool
Woodside High School
Teacher: S. Brandt
Course/Grade: English Senior Seminar
School: Newport News, VA
Journal Writing Guidelines Assignment for
PREPARING/PRESENTING A JOURNAL TOPIC using online
Lesson Topic:
databases such as Gale, SIRS, etc.
Date of Lesson: QTR 2
CCRE/Objective
39, 17, 9, 10
Materials and Resources:
LCD or SmartBoard, Laptops, Calendar, highlighter, pen/pencil
Teacher
Student
Engage
& Hook
1. Ask students if they had a question about
something, where would they get their answer to
the question? (answers may vary with possible
answers of asking their friends, parents,
teachers, “Googling it”, etc. – some may say it
depends on if the question is personal or
academic).
2. Continue to question students about their
answers. Which source would be the best?
Which would be the most credible? Lead
students to see the value in taking what others
say such as friends/parents and then research
more on their own before making a conscious
decision.
3. Remind students of the discussion they had
when they went to the library for the scavenger
hunt – what makes a source credible?
1-2 Student responses could be given:
 by teacher calling on students to respond
 by putting responses on sticky notes and
then post them on the board to see
common answers
 think-pair-share
 in a journal response then share some of
the responses
Explain
& Model
1. Again, remind the students of their visit to the
library for the Library Scavenger Hunt where they
researched articles from the library’s online
databases such as Gale, SIRS, etc.
 You may want to review with the
students the online databases using the
SmartBoard.
2. At the end of the Library Scavenger Hunt lesson,
students had to find one book title and three
articles from one of the online databases that
coincided with their text set topic.
3. Tell students they will choose one of those
articles from the Library Scavenger Hunt or a
different article, but the article MUST come from
an online database such as Gale, SIRS, etc.
4. Lastly, remind the students of the Plagiarism
Article Summary lesson and the Journal Writing
Lesson
Component
2011-2012 Capstone
Guidelines lesson that you modeled with them
the first marking period. They are going to do
the same process with this lesson:
 Select an article (however, this time the
article must come from an academic
source such as one of the online
databases – Gale, SIRS, etc.)
 Highlight and annotate the article
 Type a paragraph summary of the
article, use proper MLA documentation.
 Choose a visual that represents the
article/text set topic.
 Create one or two journal questions for
the audience to respond after their oral
presentation to the class on the date
they select to present.
 Model again for students if necessary
1. Have a calendar with the dates of the 2MP that
the class meets.
2. Randomly call each student (student names
pulled out of a hat, etc.) to select a date during
the 2MP to orally present their article, visual, and
journal question relating to their text set topic.
3. While the teacher speaks to each individual
student about the date he/she picks to present
his/her article, the rest of the class can be on the
laptops researching their article, visual, etc., that
they will present to the class.
Explore
& Apply
1. Choose an article from one of the library’s
online databases such as Gale or SIRS that
pertains to a topic of interest in regard to the
novel/book you are currently reading in your
text set. Articles must be of sufficient
length (5 or more paragraphs). When in
doubt, ask the teacher.
2. Use the writing process that we have
practiced since the beginning of the year:
 Read the article. Highlight important
information and annotate.
 Restate the information in your own
words on index cards.
*NOTE: Part of this grade depends upon the
collection of data. If the report is plagiarized,
credit is denied.
 Set the article aside. [Do NOT omit this
step]
 Arrange index cards in their order of
intended use. Omit cards that contain
unnecessary information.
 Write the rough draft using information
listed on the cards.
 Have a peer editor (another student or a
parent) read the rough draft, making
grammar/content corrections.
 Type (double spacing) the final draft in
proper manuscript form, including the
name of your source in proper MLA
format.
 Create one or more discussion questions
about the summary. Choose one
question to ask the audience to respond
to in his/her personal journal.
 Create a visual aid (picture on
PowerPoint slide, collage on poster
board, video, etc.) that enhances the oral
presentation. Think about the topic you
want to convey to the audience and how
it relates to not only the novel/book you
are currently reading, but to humanity as
2011-2012 Capstone
well. A copy of the article pasted to
poster board does not constitute a
visual enhancement. Your visual
should ADD TO the information you
already have in the article.
1. In the 2MP, student presentations will be made
during the first five minutes of class.
 If a student "forgets" the assignment,
he/she receives a zero--no late reports are
accepted. Absences are made up in class
if a date is available; otherwise the
presentation is scheduled after school
during tutoring hours. [Tuesdays]
1. Present the summary orally to the class on
the date the student picked. (Minimum 3
minutes)
2. Ask the class to respond to your journal
question in their journals: each student will
write twelve (12) lines in response to
question presented by the student.
 A full line is from margin to margin on
the paper
 1/2 lines do not count as full lines or
portions of full lines
 Lines must be numbered
 Writing the question is not a
requirement since the question itself is
not considered part of the twelve line
response.
Evaluate
& Close
This document was developed as part of the English Capstone Collaborative Pilot Program, a VDOE grant, supporting a partnership between James
Madison University and SURN at The College of William and Mary to pilot and develop materials for the English Senior Seminar. Virginia educators have
permission to use and adapt this document for educational purposes.
2011-2012 Capstone