File - Progress Through Process

advertisement
Lesson Plans
1
Lesson # 4
[90 mins.]
Plan type: __x__Full-Detail ____Summary
Content Requirement Satisfied: RE, Vocab, and Model Text #1
Critical Learning Objectives
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
4_ Know how to actively engage with the text through reading strategies
a. Know How to use context clues to define words within a work
b. Know what the benefits of annotating a reading are.
Affective (feel/value):
9. Value the effect of working towards a goal
b. Value the true story of succeeding at working hard from such an influential
man.
Performance (do):
12. Comprehend and analyze a nonfiction piece and a poem
a. Comprehend the text of Malcolm X’s essay “Learning to Read”
b. Write reflectively about the reading
14. Use reading strategies to monitor comprehension
a. Complete the reading guide
b. Use annotations to talk with the text.
13. Understand and use vocabulary words
Apply knowledge of vocabulary words from the text
1. Emulate
2. Feigned
3. Abolitionist
4. Eloquent
5. Atrocities
SOL’s: [List with numbers portrayed in the SOL document]
10.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze literary texts of different
cultures and eras
Lesson Plans
2
b) Make predictions, draw inferences, and connect prior knowledge to
support
reading comprehension
h) Evaluate how an author’s specific word choices, syntax, tone, and voice
shape
the intended meaning of the text, achieve specific effects and support the
author’s
purpose
10.3 The student will apply knowledge of word origins, derivations, and figurative
language to extend vocabulary development in authentic texts..
b) Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meanings of words
and phrases
f) Extend general and specialized vocabulary through speaking, reading, and
writing.
Procedure:
(Italics represent what is spoken directly to the students)
Beginning Room Arrangement:
Rowed seating
1. [_15__mins.] Bridge: Hello Class, I hope you all are doing well in your second week of
school. I would like you to take the first three minutes of class to get situated for class,
meaning that you each have a pencil, some loose-leaf paper, and your journals ready
or know where to get them and start responding in your journals to the prompt I have
written on the board. {Last class we read _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_ and
discussed the concept of metamorphosis as a class. Think back to the first story you
can remember reading when you were a child. What was it? What was it about? Why
do you think you can still remember it? Some of us will be sharing with the class}[I
would be walking around making sure everyone is working and reading over their
shoulders to see that they are on task. I will use this time to get situated myself and
answer any questions and if everything is done and there is still time left I will freewrite with them] Take thirty more seconds to wrap up your thoughts. Ok. Pencils down
please, attention on me. Who would like to share their response?[wait for itttttttt… if
no hands raised go on eye contact.]Student X, what was the first book you can
remember reading?[ Students respond] {Try to get at least three students}
The reason I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to you last class and am asking
you fine ladies and gentlemen today about your first experience reading is because this
book {Hold up book} happened to play a similar role in my life as BookX played in
Student X’s life. This is one of the very first books I can ever remember reading. I can
remember being back in Kindergarten (and I should probably confide in you all first
and tell you that I was not a very good reader back then)and bringing book after book
Lesson Plans
3
to my teacher to ask for help reading because I simply wasn’t getting this reading
thing they wanted me to do so badly and I can remember going home and having this
very same book sitting on my shelf and looking at the pictures and willing the words to
make sense. Eventually as I grew and learned more about reading in class the words
that had seemed so difficult became clear and I was able to read the whole book by
myself. You can imagine how proud my little five year old self was at the time. Was the
way I recall learning to read similar to the memories you all have? [Students respond]
What I am hearing is that those of you who have spoken seem to agree that my
experience was rather normal. Now I would like to hear about the experiences you all
have had with learning to read. Go ahead and in your journals, on the same page if
there is room as the prompt that was on the board, write about the experience you had
with learning to read. Take the next 3 mins. Go
Take the next 30 seconds to finish up your thoughts. When you are done turn to
your partner and share your experiences with each other. One of you will be the
Speaker for the group and one the transcriber. {on powerpoint. What similarities or
differences you notice? When did you learn to read? Who taught you?} I would like
you to think about the similarities or differences you notice between your stories. You
have three minutes. Share. [Walk around the room observing]
Ok. Now that you all have shared we are going to try and see what the norm is
in our class. Group 1. What did you notice [Write responses on the board for
comparison. Every group presents]
What do we notice about the responses from everyone as a class? [Students
respond]
The reason we are talking about learning to read in a high school class is
because we are going to start a new reading today in class. We are going to be reading
Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read”
2. [__30_mins.] Step 1: FRONTLOADING
a. Watch brainpop (or better) video on the history of Malcolm X
i. Who is Malcolm X? Do we know? [Student response time]We are going
to watch a quick little video summing up important things about his life.
[Play]
b. Vocabulary Introduction with Frayer Model vocab WS and modeling
While you read through this piece there are a few words I would like you to pay
attention to. [Powerpoint=word list] these words are: Emulate, Feigned, Abolitionist,
Eloquent, Atrocities. Before we Start reading however we are going to do a short
group activity to get better acquainted with these vocabulary words. [powerpoint
example of a word] We are going to be using this model with all of the words on this
list. The word I chose for this example is _________ and so I put it in the middle circle.
Then I took a dictionary and in the top left I wrote the definition the dictionary gives
for this word. I then made sure to write this definition in my own words in the same
box. Next I wrote the characteristics of the word in the top right box. In the bottom two
boxes you will see that I have included examples, that follow with the definition of this
word, and non-examples, or ones that do not. You all will be breaking up into five
groups to each work on one word. Any questions before we begin?{answer} Ok lets
Lesson Plans
4
count of to five starting with you studentA. {Count heads} I want ones in this area, 2’s
towards the back there, 3 in the middle, 4’s to the corner back there and 5’s right up
here. Ready? Break.(5mins)
10mins:This is your 2 minute warning. In two minutes we will be coming
around to share. [Draw 5 outlines of the model on board]
10 mins:Ok. Group one. Will you start us off? Please come fill out the frame on
the board and tell the class what you wrote. Audience please give your peers your
respect and remember to take notes.{Presentations go on through five}
5: Overall were these words difficult? Had you seen many of them before?
{Students respond both times} Hopefully this exercise will help you when it comes to reading
Malcolm X’s essay.
3. [__15_mins.] Step 2: BEGINNING TO READ
a. Modeling the reading with the reading guide
What I am passing out now is the reading as you can see. You will notice that there is an
additional column to the right of the text. This has questions for you to answer during
reading to check your thinking and help you keep in touch with the text. I will show you
how I would work through this text if it were my first time reading it on the elmo. We will
start reading as a class an I will let you know what I am thinking while I move through the
reading. {Reading} Think aloud….demonstrate how to use annotations: So I am think
about this part because it really makes me wonder about why Malcolm X was writing to
this man Muhammad. I don’t know if it is important question but I am going to annotate
the text in the extra space between questions. This way I will remember that I thought this
question and can return to it later. In books often teachers ask you to use sticky notes. Is
there anyone here familiar with this concept? Good. What other sorts of things do we note
in annotations? Questions and what? [Ask Questions, Record reactions, Make
Connections, Give an Opinion, and say how I would Relate if I were in the situation.(Cris
TOVANI)} Notes on annotation are on the reading guide to help you remember. The rest
of the piece you will be reading on your own.
4. [_25__mins.] Step 4: DURING READING
.You have about 25 minutes to start reading this in class.
5. [_5__mins] Closure:
a. Homework Assignment = to finish reading and filling out the reading
guide
b. Exit slip: Group responsibilities for vocab worksheet.
Methods of Assessment:
Completion of the reading guide: By completing the reading guide questions and
including their 5(minimum) annotations they are showing that they are able to engage with
the teaxt using the reading strategies we went over in class. It demonstrates that they are
thinking about what they read with my guidance and demonstrates how well they can use
Lesson Plans
5
these comprehension strategies on their own as well. In total I get to see where they are at
on the reading spectrum when it comes to comprehension
Vocab group work and mini-sharing
Discussion
Differentiated instruction with a student in mind:
I feel that this reading will resonate well with Gage. It is a story of how a man can
overcome the obstacles in his way, even in prison. Gage’s father is presently incarcerated
and I believe this may help motivate him to believe that things will get better some day.
I feel this reading will also help catch James’ attention. He enjoys discussing aspects
of diversity and this text it by one of the big men who fought for civil rights in our history.
Materials needed:
Projector of some sort to model reading the text and filling out the reading guide
and to show the video on Malcolm X
Vocab handouts
Reading Guide w/ text for students to read from
Chalk/Dry Erase Board for students to share their mini group work assignments
with the class/ promethium board to save for online study
In Retrospect:
Lesson Plans
6
Materials Appendix:
Name:
Block #:
Date:
Reading Guide Questions and
Annotations
Learning to Read
MALCOLM X
Born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, Malcolm X was one of the
most articulate and powerful leaders of black America during the
1960s. A street hustler convicted of robbery in 1946, he spent
seven years in prison, where he educated himself and became a
disciple of Elijah Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam. In
the days of the civil rights movement, Malcolm X emerged as the
leading spokesman for black separatism, a philosophy that urged
black Americans to cut political, social, and economic ties with
the white community. After a pilgrimage to Mecca, the capital of
the Muslim world, in1964, he became an orthodox Muslim,
adopted the Muslim name El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, and
distanced himself from the teachings of the black Muslims. He was
assassinated in 1965. In the following excerpt from his
autobiography (1965), coauthored with Alex Haley and published
the year of his death, Malcolm X describes his self-education.
It was because of my letters that I happened to stumble
upon starting to acquire some kind of a homemade education.
I became increasingly frustrated. at not being able to
express what I wanted to convey in letters that I wrote,
especially those to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. In the street, I had
been the most articulate hustler out there - I had commanded
attention when I said something. But now, trying to write
simple English, I not only wasn't articulate, I wasn't even
functional. How would I sound writing in slang, the way I
would say it, something such as, "Look, daddy, let me pull your
coat about a cat, Elijah Muhammad-"
Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on
television, or those who read something I've said, will think
I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This
impression is due entirely to my prison studies.
It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison,
when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of
knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge of any
conversations he was in, and I had tried to emulate him. But
every book I picked up had few sentences which didn't
contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that
might as well have been in Chinese. When I just skipped
those words, of course, I really ended up with little idea of
what the book said. So I had come to the Norfolk Prison
Colony still going through only book-reading motions.
Pretty soon, I would have quit even these motions, unless I
had received the motivation that I did.
I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of a
dictionary - to study, to learn some words. I was lucky enough
What do I Annotate?
 Ask Questions,
 Record reactions,
 Make Connections,
 Give an Opinion,
 and say how I would Relate if
I were in the same situation.
Has this changed now? Is slang
functional language?
Lesson Plans
to reason also that I should try to improve my penmanship. It
was sad. I couldn't even write in a straight line. It was both
ideas together that moved me to request a dictionary along with
some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony school.
I spent two days just riffling uncertainly through the
dictionary's pages. I'd never realized so many words
existed! I didn't know which words I needed to learn.
Finally, just to start some kind of action, I began copying.
In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into
my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the
punctuation marks.
I believe it took me a day. Then, aloud, I read back, to
myself, everything I'd written on the tablet. Over and over,
aloud, to myself, I read my own handwriting.
I woke up the next morning, thinking about those
words - immensely proud to realize that not only had I
written so much at one time, but I'd written words that I
never knew were in the world. Moreover, with a little effort,
I also could remember what many of these words meant. I
reviewed the words whose meanings I didn't remember.
Funny thing, from the dictionary first page right now, that
"aardvark" springs to my mind. The dictionary had a
picture of it, a long-tailed, long-eared, burrowing African
mammal, which lives off termites caught by sticking out its
tongue as an anteater does for ants.
I was so fascinated that I went on - I copied the dictionary's
next page. And the same experience came when I studied that.
With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places
and events from history. Actually the dictionary is like a
miniature encyclopedia. Finally the dictionary's A section had
filled a whole tablet-and I went on into the B's. That was the
way I started copying what eventually became the entire
dictionary. It went a lot faster after so much practice helped me
to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my
tablet, and writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison I
would guess I wrote a million words.
I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base
broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read
and now begin to understand what the book was saying.
Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world
that opened. Let me tell you something: from then until I left
that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in
the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn't have gotten
me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad's
teachings, my correspondence, my visitors,... and my reading of
books, months passed without my even thinking about being
imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in
my life.
The Norfolk Prison Colony's library was in the school
building. A variety of classes was taught there by instructors
who came from such places as Harvard and Boston universities.
The weekly debates between inmate teams were also held in
the school building. You would be astonished to know how
worked up convict debaters and audiences would get over subjects like "Should Babies Be Fed Milk?"
7
Have you ever worked this hard to
achieve something?
How Is it that a man, while imprisoned,
felt freer than ever? What did you
think of when you first read this?
Lesson Plans
Available on the prison library's shelves were books on just
about every general subject. Much of the big private collection
that Parkhurst had willed to the prison was still in crates and
boxes in the back of the library thousands of old books. Some of
them looked ancient: covers faded, oldtime parchment-looking
binding. Parkhurst. . . seemed to have been principally
interested in history and religion. He had the money and the
special interest to have a lot of books that you wouldn't have in
a general circulation. Any college library would have been lucky
to get that collection.
As you can imagine, especially in a prison where there was
heavy emphasis on rehabilitation, an inmate was smiled upon if
he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books. There
was a sizable number of well-read inmates, especially the
popular debaters. Some were said by many to be practically
walking encyclopedias. They were almost celebrities. No university would ask any student to devour literature as I did when
this new world opened to me, of being able to read
and understand.
I read more in my room than in the library itself. An inmate
who was known to read a lot could check out more than the
permitted maximum number of books. I preferred reading in
the total isolation of my own room.
When I had progressed to really serious reading, every
night at about ten P.M. I would be outraged with the "lights
out." It always seemed to catch me right in the middle of
something engrossing.
Fortunately, right outside my door was a corridor light that
cast a glow into my room. The glow was enough to read by,
once my eyes adjusted to it. So when "lights out" came, I would
sit on the floor where I could continue reading in that glow.
At one-hour intervals at night guards paced past every
room. Each time I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped
into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I
got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light-glow, where
I would read for another fifty-eight minutes until the guard
approached again. That went on until three or four every
morning. Three or four hours of sleep a night was enough for
me. Often in the years in the streets I had slept less than that.
The teachings of Mr. Muhammad stressed how history had
been "whitened" - when white men had written history books,
the black man simply had been left out. Mr. Muhammad couldn't
have said anything that would have struck me much harder. I
had never forgotten how when my class, me and all of those
whites, had studied seventh-grade United States history back in
Mason, the history of the Negro had been covered in one
paragraph, and the teacher had gotten a big laugh with his joke,
"Negroes' feet are so big that when they walk, they leave a hole
in the ground."
This is one reason why Mr. Muhammad's teachings spread
so swiftly all over the United States, among all Negroes, whether
or not they became followers of Mr. Muhammad. The teachings
ring true-to every Negro. You can hardly show me a black adult
in America - or a white one, for that matter - who knows from
the history books anything like the truth about the black man's
8
How does it make you feel that
professors from Boston universities
and Harvard were coming to educate
prisoners? There are people not in
prison that can’t get that education.
Lesson Plans
role. In my own case, once I heard of the "glorious history of the
black man," I took special pains to hunt in the library for books
that would inform me on details about black history.
I can remember accurately the very first set of books that
really impressed me. I have since bought that set of books and I
have it at home for my children to read as they grow up. It's
called Wonders of the World. It's full of pictures of archeological
finds, statues that depict, usually, non-European people.
I found books like Will Durant's Story of Civilization. I read
H. G. Wells' Outline of History. Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du
Bois gave me a glimpse into the black people's history before
they came to this country. Carter G. Woodson's Negro
Historyopened my eyes about black empires before the black
slave was brought to the United States, and the early Negro
struggles for freedom.
J. A. Rogers’ three volumes of Sex and Race told about racemixing before Christ's time; and Aesop being a black man who
told fables; about Egypt's Pharaohs; about the great Coptic
Christian Empire; about Ethiopia, the earth's oldest continuous
black civilization, as China is the oldest continuous civilization.
Mr. Muhammad's teaching about how the white man had
been created led me toFindings in Genetics, by Gregor Mendel.
(The dictionary's G section was where I had learned what
"genetics" meant.) I really studied this book by the Austrian
monk. Reading it over and over, especially certain sections,
helped me to understand that if you started with a black man, a
white man could be produced; but starting with a white man,
you never could produce a black man - because the white
chromosome is recessive. And since no one disputes that there
was but one Original Man, the conclusion is clear.
During the last year or so, in the New York Times, Arnold
Toynbeell used the word "bleached" in describing the white
man. His words were: “White (i.e., bleached) human beings of
North European origin…" Toynbee also referred to the
European geographic area as only a peninsula of Asia. He said
there was no such thing as Europe. And if you look at the globe,
you will see for yourself that America is only an extension of
Asia. (But at the same time Toynbee is among those who have
helped to bleach history. He has written that Africa was the only
continent that produced no history. He won't write that again.
Every day now, the truth is coming to light.)
I never will forget how shocked I was when I began reading
about slavery's total horror. It made such an impact upon me
that it later became one of my favorite subjects when I became a
minister of Mr. Muhammad's. The world's most monstrous
crime, the sin and the blood on the white man's hands, are
almost impossible to believe. Books like the one by Frederick
Olmsted opened my eyes to the horrors suffered when the slave
was landed in the United States. The European woman, Fanny
Kemble, who had married a Southern white slaveowner,
described how human beings were degraded. Of course I
read Uncle Tom's Cabin. In fact, I believe that's the only novel I
have ever read since I started serious reading.
Parkhurst's collection also contained some bound
pamphlets of the Abolitionist Anti-Slavery Society of New
9
How did reading this joke make you
feel?
Can you remember the first book that
impressed you? What about it made it
stand out to you? What was the book?
Lesson Plans
England. I read descriptions of atrocities, saw those illustrations
of black slave women tied up and flogged with whips; of black
mothers watching their babies being dragged off, never to be
seen by their mothers again; of dogs after slaves, and of the
fugitive slave catchers, evil white men with whips and clubs and
chains and guns. I read about the slave preacher Nat Turner,
who put the fear of God into the white slave master. Nat Turner
wasn't going around preaching pie-in-the-sky and "non-violent"
freedom for the black man. There in Virginia one night in 1831,
Nat and seven other slaves started out at his master's home and
through the night they went from one plantation "big house" to
the next, killing, until by the next morning 57 white people were
dead and Nat had about 70 slaves following him. White people,
terrified for their lives, fled from their homes, locked
themselves up in public buildings, hid in the woods, and some
even left the state. A small army of soldiers took two months to
catch and hang Nat Turner. Somewhere I have read where Nat
Turner's example is said to have inspired John Brown to invade
Virginia and attack Harpers Ferry nearly thirty years later, with
thirteen white men and five Negroes.
I read Herodotus, "the father of History," or, rather, I
read about him. And I read the histories of various nations,
which opened my eyes gradually, then wider and wider, to
how the whole world's white men had indeed acted like
devils, pillaging and raping and bleeding and draining the
whole world's non-white people. I remember, for instance,
books such as Will Durant's The Story of Oriental
Civilization, and Mahatma Gandhi's accounts of the struggle
to drive the British out of India.
Book after book showed me how the white man had
brought upon the world's black, brown, red, and yellow
peoples every variety of the suffering of exploitation. I saw
how since the sixteenth century, the so-called "Christian
trader" white man began to ply the seas in his lust for Asian
and African empires, and plunder, and power. I read, I saw,
how the white man never has gone among the non-white
peoples bearing the Cross in the true manner and spirit of
Christ's teachings - meek, humble, and Christlike.
I perceived, as I read, how the collective white man had
been actually nothing but a piratical opportunist who used
Faustian machinations to make his own Christianity his initial
wedge in criminal conquests. First, always "religiously," he
branded "heathen" and "pagan" labels upon ancient non-white
cultures and civilizations. The stage thus set, he then turned
upon his non-white victims his weapons of war.
I read how, entering India - half a billion deeply religious
brown people - the British white man, by 1759, through
promises, trickery, and manipulations, controlled much of India
through Great Britain's East India Company. The parasitical
British administration kept tentacling out to half of the subcontinent. In 1857, some of the desperate people of India finally
mutinied - and, excepting the African slave trade, nowhere has
history recorded any more unnecessary bestial and ruthless
human carnage than the British suppression of the non-white
Indian people.
10
How else has prejudice affected people
in the past?
Lesson Plans
Over 115 million African blacks - close to the 1930's
population of the United States-were murdered or enslaved
during the slave trade. And I read how when the slave market
was glutted, the cannibalistic white powers of Europe next
carved up, as their colonies, the richest areas of the black
continent. And Europe's chancelleries for the next century
played a chess game of naked exploitation and power from Cape
Horn to Cairo.
Ten guards and the warden couldn't have torn me out of
those books. Not even Elijah Muhammad could have been more
eloquent than those books were in providing indisputable proof
that the collective white man had acted like a devil in virtually
every contact he had with the world's collective non-white man.
I listen today to the radio, and watch television, and read the
headlines about the collective white man's fear and tension concerning China. When the white man professes ignorance about
why the Chinese hate him so, my mind can't help flashing back
to what I read, there in prison, about how the blood forebears of
this same white man raped China at a time when China was
trusting and helpless. Those original white "Christian traders"
sent into China millions of pounds of opium. By 1839, so many
of the Chinese were addicts that China's desperate government
destroyed twenty thousand chests of opium. The first Opium
war was promptly declared by the white man. Imagine!
Declaring warupon someone who objects to being narcotized!
The Chinese were severely beaten, with Chinese-invented
gunpowder.
The Treaty of Nanking made China pay the British white
man for the destroyed opium; forced open China's major ports
to British trade; forced China to abandon Hong Kong; fixed
China's import tariffs so low that cheap British articles soon
flooded in, maiming China's industrial development.
After a second Opium War, the Tientsin Treaties legalized
the ravaging opium trade, legalized a British-French-American
control of China's customs. China tried delaying that Treaty's
ratification; Peking was looted and burned.
"Kill the foreign white devils!" was the 1901 Chinese war cry in
the Boxer Rebellion. Losing again, this time the Chinese were
driven from Peking's choicest areas. The vicious, arrogant white
man put up the famous signs, "Chinese and dogs not allowed."
Red China after World War II closed its doors to the
Western white world. Massive Chinese agricultural, scientific,
and industrial efforts are described in a book that Lifemagazine
recently published. Some observers inside Red China have
reported that the world never has known such a hate-white
campaign as is now going on in this non-white country where,
present birth-rates continuing, in fifty more years Chinese will
be half the earth's population. And it seems that some Chinese
chickens will soon come home to roost, with China's recent
successful nuclear tests.
Let us face reality. We can see in the United Nations a new
world order being shaped, along color lines - an alliance among
the non-white nations. America's U.N. Ambassador Adlai
Stevenson complained not long ago that in the United Nations
"a skin game" was being played. He was right. He was facing
11
Lesson Plans
reality. A "skin game" is being played. But Ambassador
Stevenson sounded like Jesse James accusing the marshal of
carrying a gun. Because who in the world's history ever has
played a worse "skin game" than the white man?
Mr. Muhammad, to whom I was writing daily, had no idea
of what a new world had opened up to me through my efforts to
document his teachings in books.
When I discovered philosophy, I tried to touch all the
landmarks of philosophical development. Gradually, I read most
of the old philosophers, Occidental and Oriental. The Oriental
philosophers were the ones I came to prefer; finally, my
impression was that most Occidental philosophy had largely
been borrowed from the Oriental thinkers. Socrates, for
instance, traveled in Egypt. Some sources even say that Socrates
was initiated into some of the Egyptian mysteries. Obviously
Socrates got some of his wisdom among the East's wise men.
I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading
opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had
changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the
ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to
be mentally alive. I certainly wasn't seeking any degree, the way
a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My
homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I
read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and
blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long
ago, an English writer telephoned me from London, asking
questions. One was, "What's your alma mater?" I told him,
"Books." You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in
which I'm not studying something I feel might be able to help
the black man.
Yesterday I spoke in London, and both ways on the plane
across the Atlantic I was studying a document about how the
United Nations proposes to insure the human rights of the
oppressed minorities of the world. The American black man is
the world's most shameful case of minority oppression. What
makes the black man think of himself as only an internal United
States issue is just a catch-phrase, two words, "civil rights." How
is the black man going to get "civil rights" before first he wins
his humanrights? If the American black man will start thinking
about his human rights, and then start thinking of himself as
part of one of the world's great peoples, he will see he has a case
for the United Nations.
I can't think of a better case! Four hundred years of black
blood and sweat invested here in America, and the white man
still has the black man begging for what every immigrant fresh
off the ship can take for granted the minute he walks down the
gangplank.
But I'm digressing. I told the Englishman that my alma
mater was books, a good library. Every time I catch a plane, I
have with me a book that I want to read-and that's a lot of books
these days. If! weren't out here every day battling the white
man, I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my
curiosity - because you can hardly mention anything I'm not
curious about. I don't think anybody ever got more out of going
to prison than I did.
12
Lesson Plans
13
In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I
would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended
some college. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with
colleges is there are too many distractions, too much pantyraiding, fraternities, and boola-boola and all of that. Where else
but in a prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able
to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day?
2.
http://www.brainpop.co.uk/humanities/historyfamouspeople/malcolmx/preview.
weml
This is a brainpop video that goes into the life of Malcolm X in a friendly cartoon
fashion
Lesson Plans
3. Frayer Model Vocabulary Workshop
14
Lesson Plans
15
Lesson # 5
[90 mins.]
Plan type: __x__Full-Detail ____Summary
Content Requirement Satisfied: RE pt. 2
Writing
Model # 2
Critical Learning Objectives
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
1. Know the steps in the writing process
a. Students will know that the first step of the writing process is to brainstorm
4. Know how to actively engage with the text
c. Know how to annotate text using the guidelines: (Cris Tovani)
 Ask Questions,
 Record reactions,
 Make Connections,
 Give an Opinion,
 and say how I would Relate if I were in the situation.
16. Know how to participate in a small group setting
a. Students will know how to equally contribute work in group
b. Student will come to group prepared
Affective (feel/value):
6. Value peer input
a. Students will value the different perspectives to problems their peers contribute
Performance (do):
10. Fulfill roles in group work setting
a. Students will be able to contribute to the group discussion
b. Students will participate equally
11. Create a written product about their “metamorphosis”
a. Students will begin drafting an essay on their metamorphosis.
d. Students will begin brainstorming a topic for their product
12. Comprehend and analyze a nonfiction piece and a poem
a. Comprehend the text of Malcolm X’s essay “Learning to Read”
c. SWBAT analyze the text through discussion
Lesson Plans
SOL’s:
10.1
10.4
16
The Student will participate in, and report on small-group learning activities.
f. Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make
decisions, and solve problems.
The student will read, comprehends, and analyze literary texts of different
cultures and eras.
b. Make predictions, draw inferences, and connect prior knowledge to support
reading comprehension.
m. Use reading strategies to monitor comprehension throughout the reading
process.
Procedure:
(Italics represent what is spoken directly to the students)
Beginning Room Arrangement: Start in rowed seating to be moved into pods. (in different
collared tapes on the floor there are markings showing where desks should be placed when in
the different formations.)
6. [_20__mins.] Bridge: Agenda {written on board], attendance Do now: We have
just finished reading “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X. In 3-5 sentences, jot down a
paragraph about your impression of the piece. What did you think about the
reading? We will be talking about this in class.
b. [five minutes after the bell rings] Hello class. I hope your collective day is
going well. If you will notice the agenda is on the board today. As you can see
we have a full schedule today. We are going to be discussing the reading. We
are then going to move on and start brainstorming and even writing a little bit
of our final project for the unit.? (two minute) let me quickly make sure you all
are here and we can begin.
c. Last class we started reading “Learning to Read” which you all should have
finished for homework. Right? I should be seeing lots of nods and hearing a lot
of “yes”s. I am really interested to hear what you all thought about the reading.
I know what I think about it but I would really like to hear about it from you
and see if you caught something different from the reading than I did. You all
should have just finished writing a paragraph explaining how the piece made
you feel. So what did you all write about? [Converse with students about the do
now writing. What did the feel? Did the like it? Dislike it? Were they shocked?
Appalled? What part stood out the most? What resonated (7 minutes for the
discussion in the hopes of insuring that every one has a chance to share an
idea.) [cold call students that may not normally speak in class](they have time
to prepare their thoughts so this is ok-Mintz}
d. [5 minute transition]I am really impressed with what I am hearing from you
all. I am glad to see that you all were really thinking while you were reading.
Lesson Plans
17
Today we are going to be doing something a little bit different then we have
been to talk about the specific things that came up when you were reading. You
will be talking about these points in groups. So what I would like you all to do
now is to stand up, put your backpack in the seat of your desk and look down at
the floor. Remember how we practiced moving desks the first week of class?
This is why. We will be working in groups today and many times in the future.
To help speed this transition along I have placed some markers on the floor to
guide you. Can you all see the color tape markers on the floor? When you wove
your desks I would like you to put the front legs of your desk on two of the blue
tape markers.The way you will do this is to turn your desks in to the rows about
fourty five degrees to make little diamond shaped pods. This means that these
two rows are pair, as are these and these.[walk down the row and point] So for
instance if I was (student name) I would take my desk, find the blue dots and
move it like so[moves desk] and then (student name) would move hers here.
See? Lets try it. (walk around helping.) good.
e. (one minute bridge to next step)Now that we are all settled what I would like
for you to do is discuss the reading that you all completed for homework in the
groups that you are now siting with. We are going to do this using the
annotations that you all took down in the margins of the reading guide.
Remember how I asked you to find at least five places to do this? You are going
to pick your best three and discuss them within your groups.
7. [__25_mins.] Step 1: small group discussion
f. Please take out your reading guides and take the next three minutes to pick
your three best annotations. I will be coming around while you are doing this to
see if they are all completed. {Take down who doesn’t and record later.} Did I
miss anyone? Good. Does everyone have three? Awesome.
g. 2 mins: What I am passing out now is a group discussion log. One person in
your group will take responsibility for being the scribe and take notes during
the discussion. When you talk about something interesting about one of your
annotations you record it in the box marked comments. I want to see who
brought what comments so please put names after them. You may not get to
everybody’s three total but I want to make sure that each person has one of his
or her annotations read. Are there any questions? If you finish early you can
turn to answering the questions that were on the Reading guide or bring more
annotations to the table. Lets get started. You have fifteen minutes. Begin.
h. 15 mins: [students discuss, teacher walks around the room listening to
comment, elaborating them, answering questions and observing who is
participating and who is not. Teacher should listen for cues that point to them
being done before time and check to see the group’s progress. If it seems like
everyone is finishing up early them move on to next step] While you are
finishing up your discussions please elect a speaker to be in charge of sharing
what your questions were and some things you talk about. This is your one
minute warning.
Lesson Plans
i.
18
5 Min.: Lets move through the groups from right to left and share. If your group
isn’t sharing make sure to be listening. Their group may have talked about
questions you had too. So group one. What were some of the things you
discussed? (continue doing this with every group.)
8. [__40_mins.] Step 2: Follow-Up (Wilhelm)
a. 6 min: I can see you all touched on some really great point of the essay in your
group discussions. I had some similar experiences as you did when I read the
text. Did any of you find yourself thinking about how you would have done if
you had been in this man’s situation? Take the next minute to think about it.
You are in prison for having committed some crime (which is a place I hope
none of you ever have to visit), and come to realize that you can’t communicate
well enough to seem respectable. Imagine that you hadn’t learned to read in
school for whatever reason. That for me is hard to even conceptualize because I
have to read so much in my everyday life. How could we text without know how
to read and write? Take the next five minutes to discuss this in your groups.
b. 4 min: I would really like to hear what you all came up with. Would you have
been able to make the metamorphosis that Malcolm X did while he was in
proson? What might have gone differently for you? {groups respond}
c. 10 mins. I can’t imagine going through what this man did and becoming the
way he did. It sounds like something we would hear about in a fairy tale. He
was able to make the metamorphosis from criminal to civil rights leader while
he was in prison and he did it all by himself. He took in all of that information,
he read and he read and holed it all inside thinking about what he was learning
and allowed it to change him into this educated man. Maybe we haven’t had to
go through these sorts of situations ourselves but I know that each and every
one of us, me included, has worked hard to overcome something. We are done
with group work for today so let more our desks back to face the from. Lets try
to get this done in one minute. Ready? Go
i. Thank you for moving so quickly everyone. For the next 5 minutes I
would like you to think about the obstacles you have had to overcome in
your life and succeed. (STERN and Gallagher). Take out a sheet of paper
and make a list of all of these. [create my own list with them] Go ahead
and finished up if you haven’t already in the next thirty seconds
ii. 3 mins. For the next few minutes I would ask you to weed through them
and find the ones that resonate with you the most, that carry some sort
of meaning with them and that are interesting enough that you will 1.
Want to write about it and 2 will want to share. You wont have to share
what you write today but the final project you will.
10 minutes: Model writing. I’m going to share with you my topic list. When I
think of the many things that I have struggled to achieve a few in particular
come straight to mind.[ point to the board where the list I was writing while
they wrote is projected by the elmo.] The first you will see is learning to drive.
The second is becoming a teacher and the third was learning to eat healthy and
get over my candy addiction. Of the topics on this list the one that I hold dearest
to my hear is learning to drive. {draw brainstorm map like a mountain] my
Lesson Plans
19
problem was that I was afraid(the hump of the mountain. Apex/conflict). I
didn’t want to hurt anyone and thing and I didn’t trust myself to be a good
driver (exposition). However I was 20 years old and needed to start being able
to get around. I had my permit but had never sat in the drivers seat of a car.
(resolution) I can still remember the feeling of the first time I opened up the car
on the highway out side of my neighborhood, the freedom, I felt like I was flying.
I wasn’t necessarily free of the fear but it didn’t seem like a big deal any more
and I learned that I needed to trust myself and challenge the fears that I have
because often times when you come out on the other side you are better for it.
What you all are going to do next is pick the one topic from your list and
brainstorm with it like I did here. You will have the option of either writing an
essay or a poem at the end of this unit and this will help you write them. So use
the rest of class to start brainstorming your problem in this way. If you finish
early you can start writing the essay draft. It doesn’t have to be solidly
structured but must show all of the parts of the problem and how you overcame
the obstacle and then what you learned from the metamorphosis.
10 Minutes: Go ahead and beginning. I will be walking around if you have any
questions.
9. [_5__mins] Closure: The bell is going to ring in five minutes so finish up what you
have so far. Your Exit slip today will be to answer this question: is it better for you to
have the paper agenda sheets or is the one on the board sufficient? Your
homework is to complete this draft. Length isn’t a problem but it needs to tell the full
spectrum of the story that you mapped out in the brainstorm. Have a great rest of the
day! I look forward to reading what you all write.
Methods of Assessment:
The group discussion log will identify that every student participated within the
group. It will show that they commented on the questions brought in and that they valued
what other students had to say (10.a.b.16.a.b.)
Completed reading guide will show that they were able to get through the reading
and able to comprehend it enough to answer the questions and interact with the text.(4.c.)
Brainstorming topic list. (1.a)
Differentiated instruction with a student in mind:
I have planned this lesson with Diana in mind. I have my students working in small groups
so that she will be in a situation where it is more comfortable to share thoughts. She can
build her confidence in speaking and the opinions she has by working her way up through
the groups. Students are also asked to gather their thoughts on paper before sharing with
the class which means there is no on the spot thinking.
Materials needed:
Lesson Plans
Colored tape on floor.
Discussion Log Ws
Student’s Reading Guides
ELMO
In Retrospect:
Materials Appendix:
20
Lesson Plans
21
Discussion Log
Group annotations (note who brought what to the group)
Comments Summary
Lesson Plans
22
Lesson Plan # 6
Week ___2___ of 4; Plan #___6_____ of 12; [90 mins.]
Plan type: __x__Full-Detail ____Summary
Content Requirement Satisfied: Syntax, Mentor text, Integration of Technology
Critical Learning Objectives
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
3._ Understand that word choice affects interpretation of a work
a. Students will understand that word choice is deliberate
2._ Know how language can be chosen with purpose
a. Students will know how to influence meaning through word choice.
Affective (feel/value):
Performance (do):
12. Comprehend and analyze a nonfiction piece and a poem
c. SWBAT analyze the text through discussion
d. Comprehend the poem “The Month of June: 13 ½” by Sharon Olds
e. Analyze the poem taking into consideration the words the author
chose
SOL’s
10.4
The student will read, comprehends, and analyze literary texts of different
cultures and eras.
b. Make predictions, draw inferences, and connect prior knowledge to support
reading comprehension.
h. Evaluate how an author’s specific words choices, syntax, tone and voice shape
the intended meaning of the text, achieve specific effects and support the
author’s purpose?
m. Use reading strategies to monitor comprehension throughout the reading
process.
Lesson Plans
23
Procedure:
(Italics represent what is spoken directly to the students)
Beginning Room Arrangement:
Rowed seating
[_10__mins.] Bridge: . Do Now: Pick up venn diagram worksheet. How is poetry
different than prose? What sorts of things are different in essays and poems? Fill out
this venn diagram to represent this idea. We will be sharing
[5 Min]: Hello class. I hope everyone is ready for today! If you have not already get started on
the Do Now prompt on the board and we will talk about what you all come up with in about
five minutes or so. (Set up the projector while they write. Pull up the video Give students a
thirty second warning=
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stxBwWYg3O0&feature=endscreen ) and this picture
of a wrecking ball
(http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g17/260717/260717_1269230846_large.j
pg) with the projector frozen so students can’t see what is being pulled up. You have thirty
more seconds on the timer so lets put down one more thought and set our pencils down)
[5 Min] Awesome. I Love how many eyes I see and how many of you wrote right up until the
end of the time. I can’t wait to hear what you all have to say. Last class we started
brainstorming our final projects by creating those story maps which you all should have with
you today. Give me a nod if what I am saying is correct. Good! I am seeing lots of nods. That’s
wonderful. You all should even have a very rough draft of the story you want to share on our
presentation day. Yay! More nods. This is good. This means you are already on the way to
finishing your first project in the class. Often times the hardest part to writing is just coming
up with the idea of what to write about and you all have completed this step. You have
brainstormed for your topic. You mapped out the progress the story is going to make as you
write it and even jotted down some ideas on paper to see how it would work out. You all may
remember that when we first started talking about this project I told you that you would have
a choice between presenting an essay or a poem. We have already read an essay by Malcolm X
that represented a persons story of overcoming a great obstacle just like the one you are
trying to create about your own metamorphosis and even discussed more about the essay
aspect of the project but today I would like us to turn our attention to the poetry side of
things. So now I would really like to hear what you all came up with for how poetry and prose
are different so I can get an idea of where you all draw the line of what makes a poem
different from an essay. Lets go ahead and write some of these ideas on the board from what
you all filled in on your venn diagram during the first five minutes of class.
[15 mins]Step 1: Students Share what they come up with.
These are all really great ways of explaining the differences between poetry and prose. (pull
up picture) When I think about the difference between these two forms of writing my
thoughts generally turn to something like what is represented in this picture. What we are
seeing is a car that has been smashed by this huge heavy wrecking ball. The wrecking ball
Lesson Plans
24
here is the essay. It is big and powerful and bends your will, so to speak, in a way that
conforms to whatever point is trying to be made within those pages. A poem however is
different in that it is more unassuming. On the pages it looks small but in reality it strikes
much like this little boy’s fist. (Pull up video) (play video = 57 sec.). This little boy, with his
tiny little fist, is able to break the board straight in half. Does anyone here know about the
physics behind that? (Students respond) Basically it comes to the idea of force and how a
smaller surface area has greater force with equivalent momentum behind it as an object with
a bigger surface area. Poems are smaller, more compact, the language perfectly chosen to get
a certain point across, the meaning squished into a small little fist that is meant to punch
straight through our barriers and make us feel these strong emotions. William Wordsworth
once said, and I am paraphrasing, that poetry is meant to make you feel as if you are
experiencing first hand what is being described within the poem. The purpose of poetry is to
evoke within the reader an experience of what is being described. An essay has weight and
meat to it, so to speak but is slower moving. Poems are the Bruce Lee’s of the fighting world,
quick and hard hitting, while Essays are more like sumo wrestlers, slow and big, but once they
get you in their grasp you are stuck. Thinking about these different representations of poetry
and prose, is there anything we can add to our Venn diagram? (Student response time)
[__12_mins.] Step 2: Teacher reads the poem out loud. Students then Read “The month
of June: 13 ½”. On their own a second time annotating as they go.
Now that we have a better understanding of the differences between these two forms of
writing I would like to turn our attention to an actual piece of writing, a poem entitled “The
Month of June: 13 ½” by Sharon Olds. (Pass out poem) I would like to first read this poem
aloud and ask you all to listen. Then you will read it individually and annotate the text using
our reading strategies from the essay.
Reading: “The Month of June: 13 ½”
“ As my daughter approaches graduation and
puberty at the same time, at her
own calm deliberate serious rate,
she begins to kick up her heels, jazz out her
hands, thrust out her hip-bones, chant
“I’m Great! I’m Great” She feels 8th grade coming
open around her, a chrysalis cracking and
letting her out, it falls behind her and
joins the other husks on the ground,
7th grade, 6th grade, the
purple rind of 5th grade, the
hard jacket of 4th when she had so much pain,
3rd grade, 2nd, the dim cocoon of
1st grade back there somewhere on the path, and
kindergarten like a strip of thumb-suck blanket
taken from the actual blanket the wrapped her in at birth.
The whole school is coming off her shoulders like a
Cloak unclasped, and she dances forth in her
Jerky child’s joke dance of
Lesson Plans
25
Self, self, her throat tight and a
Hard new song coming out of it, while her
Two dark eyes shine
Above her body like a good mother and a
Good father who look down and
Love everything their baby does, the way she
Lives their love.”
Now go ahead and read it over a second time to yourselves. Do notice that there is ample
room around the poem that has been placed there specifically so that you may annotate the
text as you go so someone give me one of the things we do when we annotate? (Students
respond with the rules: Ask Questions, Record reactions, Make Connections, Give an
Opinion, and say how I would Relate if I were in the situation). Take the next five minutes to
read it over and annotate the text. Try to think about how the poem packs its punch. Does it?
What is the meaning it is trying to get across? And how does it relate to metamorphosis? (set
up the elmo while they read)
[10 min] Step 3: Discuss the meaning of the poem. Lead to the metamorphosis aspect.
Talk about how it relates to the other readings in the class.
Lets go ahead and start talking about the poem. What things did you notice? (students
respond teacher records on poem so the whole class can see and copy if they wish) So lets
talk about the meaning of the poem for a second. What is the story that is being told about?
(students respond time) So we have a mother who is telling us the story of her daughter as
she grows up. Take a second and think about it. Think about how long thirteen and a half
years of story would be.
[20 min]Step 4: Use the poem to lead a mini lesson on word choice to show how the
words in the poem lead to the meaning. The author chose to use cocoon and such to
make you think of the life stage of a butterfly on purpose.
[5 min] Lets do a little experiment. On the back of your poems go ahead and write the story
that is being told in the poem in your own words. Get what you can down in a minute or two.
Who would like to share?( Share mine first if no one speaks up.) It is ok if it isn’t finished.
Like I said, 13 and a half years equates to a lot of story. (Students share).
[5 min]Now look back at the poem. Can you see the difference between your stories and the
poem?? The poem packs this huge story into this little punch. But how? What does the poem
do differently than say my story version, or your story version of the piece? (Goal is to pay
attention to the word choice.) Look at how the poet is describing growth here. She describes
her daughter as a molting caterpillar that is cracking out of her chrysalis.
[10 min] These images carry with them heavy connotations of growth. This little girl is going
through a type of metamorphosis and because of a few choice words this tie between the girls’
life and the butterfly is clear. For instance lets exchange all of the words relating to
metamorphosis with normal words that we use everyday and without these connotations. (Go
through the poem and get students to aid in substituting words in the text with more
common words.)
Lesson Plans
26
[10 mins] Step 5: Continue the mini lesson on word choice using it to condense
meaning in six word memoir.
What we are going to do now is the reverse of what we just did with the poem using our own
brainstorms. Will everyone pull out their super rough drafts and brainstorming map? Word
choice is extremely important always but when pieces are shorter the weight put on each
word is greater. For instance the shortest stories in the world can be as small as six words and
tell the reader all they need to know. It is through the careful selection of words that this is
achievable. Consider for a second one of the most famous of the six word stories. This is by
Hemingway. “For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.” In six words Hemingway is able to stir up our
emotions. I mean I don’t know about how it made all of you feel but to be honest the first time
I heard this I teared up a little. The simplicity of this short work is deceiving and punch it
packs is remarkable. We are going to focus on condensing our respective topics into these six
word memoirs as they are called. It will help us practice choosing words with purpose and
condensing a story into a smaller harder hitting punch of literature for creating poems. Some
other examples of these six word memoirs are on the screen.
[ 10 min] Step 6: Students then use the last 10 minutes of class to attempt create
a six word memoir. They will send these via text message to the poll anywhere
page that we will look at next class. The teacher has them try to pay attention to
word choice and how it is directing the memior’s meaning
For the remainder of class we are going to have time to condense our own stories into these
memoirs. When you finish your six word memoir you are going to post it to this website by
texting your memoir to this number( on board). If you do not have a phone to use today come
on up and you can use mine or use the class computer, which is already set to the page where
you would submit it. Next class we will review these memoirs and analyze how you all did. Are
there any questions? You have ten minutes. Go.
[_2__mins] Closure: Exit slip: hard copy of six word memoir.
Next class we will be drafting our final project in class so be thinking tonight about what form
you would like to present to the class. The exit slip for today will be your hard copy of the six
word memoir and make sure that if you haven’t finished them that you do so when you get
home and email the product to me before next class so I can put it on the pollanywhere site for
you.
Lesson Plans
27
Methods of Assessment:
Poetry Venn Diagram will provide a formative assessment of where my students stand
when it comes to poetry.
Six word memoir: This will demonstrate how well students understand the concept of
choosing words with purpose.
Differentiated instruction with a student in mind:
I Had Diana in mind when I incorporated the use of reading strategies into the lesson. They
will help her feel more confident about talking about the reading when she can look on the
paper and see the thoughts she had while reading.
I made sure to read the text aloud first for Mia’s benefit because of her trouble decoding
text due to her dyslexia. There is also a recording of the poem online that I can give her at
the poetry foundation website that she can listen to on her ipod or computer while she
annotates if she needs it.
Materials needed:
Venn Diagram Worksheet
Print of Poem
Projector
YouTube
PollAnywhere
Elmo
In Retrospect:
Materials Appendix:
Lesson Plans
28
Poetry
Prose
Lesson Plans
29
The Month of June: 13 ½
By Sharon Olds
As my daughter approaches graduation and
puberty at the same time, at her
own calm deliberate serious rate,
she begins to kick up her heels, jazz out her
hands, thrust out her hip-bones, chant
“I’m Great! I’m Great” She feels 8th grade coming
open around her, a chrysalis cracking and
letting her out, it falls behind her and
joins the other husks on the ground,
7th grade, 6th grade, the
purple rind of 5th grade, the
hard jacket of 4th when she had so much pain,
3rd grade, 2nd, the dim cocoon of
1st grade back there somewhere on the path, and
kindergarten like a strip of thumb-suck blanket
taken from the actual blanket the wrapped her in at birth.
The whole school is coming off her shoulders like a
Cloak unclasped, and she dances forth in her
Jerky child’s joke dance of
Self, self, her throat tight and a
Hard new song coming out of it, while her
Two dark eyes shine
Above her body like a good mother and a
Good father who look down and
Love everything their baby does, the way she
Lives their love.”
Lesson Plans
30
Lesson # 7
[90 mins.]
Plan type: ____Full-Detail ___x_Summary
Critical Learning Objectives
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
1. _ Know the steps in the writing process
c. Students will know that first drafts are not perfect drafts
d. Students will know how to free write
Affective (feel/value):
9. Value the effects of working towards a goal
a. Students will value the effort they put into their writing
Performance (do):
11. Create a written product about their “metamorphosis”
a. Students will begin drafting an essay on their metamorphosis.
SOL’s:
10.3
The student will apply knowledge of word origins, derivations, and
figurative language to extend vocabulary development in authentic texts.
b. Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meanings of words and
phrases.
Lesson Plans
31
Procedure:
(Italics represent what is spoken directly to the students)
Beginning Room Arrangement:
Row set up
[__8_mins.] Bridge: Greetings. Do Now: On the screen is our Poll anywhere survey.
On it is everyone’s Six-word memoirs. Read through them and pick three (not including
your own). In two to three sentences try to reconstruct the story. What is it telling you?
[__7_mins.] Step 1: The teacher will ask students to share their “blown up” versions of
the six-word memoir. Ideally each student’s memoir will be able to be blown up.
[_3__mins.] Step 2: Check in with the authors. The Teacher will ask students if their
six- word memoir blown up matched the intended purpose of the piece. The author will
respond to the blown up version and the class will discuss why this outcome occurred
with a focus on the word choice in the piece. The teacher will ask for volunteers since the
posted memoirs will be anonymous and the students my not want to associate their name
to them.
[__2_mins.] Step 3: The teacher will then post a quote on the board that reads: From bad
writing, I tell them, the seeds of good writing will eventually grow. Bad writing is
necessary before good writing emerges. “ (Gallagher). She will ask students to reflect on
the quote. Do the believe it? Disagree? Why? They will write for two minutes while the
teacher brings in the visiting Magician.
[_10__mins.] Step 4: The teacher will introduce the Magician and explain that she
would like students to watch the magician closely. The tricks he does are fantastic but
what she wants them to pay attention to is how they happen. The Magician will perform
various tricks for ten minutes.
[__10_mins.] Step 5: The teacher will then ask students what they saw. She will
introduce the idea that there is not much in the world that happens just like magic. Often
times we only see the final product of a work when it comes to writing, never the work
that occurs in between. It is just like these magic tricks. We see what the magician wants
us to see. Writers don’t always want to show how hard they worked because then it will
give away their secret and more people will be better writers. She will ask the Magician
to, very slowly, perform a trick or two, showing the steps that occur in between. She will
open the floor to questions from the students to the Magician. She will then thank him for
his performance, the students will clap, and he will be dismissed.
[__5_mins.] Step 6: The Teacher will transition into the work for today by talking about
how they have begun working on the final project by practicing the skills they will use to
write their final papers. Today they will be working on the actual first draft of their paper.
She will remind them that for homework they were supposed to decide which form their final
Lesson Plans
32
product was going to be in. She will reference the drafts as little caterpillars that have just
hatched. Now we will begin feeding them. She will present the final project informing them
of the fact that the paper will be due on X day and that the presentation to the class will be
two days after that. She will tell them that they will be editing the drafts they writing today in
class for the rest of the week and so they will have plenty of in class time to work on the final
project.
[_5__mins.] Step 7: Using Poll Anywhere again she will pull up a survey with two
choices: Poem/song, Essay. She will explain again how to use poll anywhere and let them
know that if they don’t have the resources to come to her and they can use her computer or
the class computers. She will explain that today will be a testing day. We will be working
with the form your result will be in and that songs are forms of poetry so, if a student is brave
they may create a rap or a song to perform. Students will submit to Poll anywhere their
choice.
[_45__mins.] Step 8: Students will spend the rest of the class drafting. They will start with a
mini intro to freewriting. The teacher will explain that the trick to freewriting is to never stop
writing, or at least to continue for a five min span of time. She will then explain that they
should pick their best sentence from in and starting a new paragraph with that sentence
continue free writing until a solid idea forms on the paper. 15 minutes in the teacher will pull
the students that are writing poems/songs.
The First 15 Mins: She will ask them if they are doing songs or poems. She will give
examples of songs they can use to guide them and let them hear the songs. ( Down by
incubus and Switchfoot song). She will explain that the students will aim for something in
between the mini memoir and the starting Idea free writing.
The second fifteen: Essay students will come up and work on question flooding the drafts
they have created to see where they can add more.
[__5_mins] Closure: Their Finished draft is due next class. It will be graded and
corrected so it is important that students turn in something resembling a finished
product. Also we will be revisiting vocabulary next class
Methods of Assessment:
Observation that students are working. (1.c.d. 9.a. 11.a.)
Freewriting samples (1.c.d.)
Drafts that will be turned in next class.
Differentiated instruction with a student in mind:
Adding in the option to create a song was a decision made with Gage in mind. Her is
passionate about music. Why not let him create his own in the process of finding his own
voice.
Materials needed:
Lesson Plans
Poll anywhere
Paper and pencil
In Retrospect:
Materials Appendix:
33
Lesson Plans
34
Lesson # 8
[90 mins.]
Plan type: ____Full-Detail __x__Summary
Critical Learning Objectives
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
1. Know the steps in the writing process
c. Students will know that first drafts are not perfect drafts
Affective (feel/value):
9. Value the effects of working towards a goal
a. Students will value the effort they put into their writing
Performance (do):
11. Create a written product about their “metamorphosis”
e. Students will be able to create a poem or essay that describes how they over
came a difficult time in their lives.
13. Understand and use vocabulary words
a. Apply knowledge of vocabulary words from the text
1. Emulate
2. Feigned
3. Abolitionist
4. Eloquent
5. Atrocities
SOL’s: [List with numbers portrayed in the SOL document]
Procedure:
(Italics represent what is spoken directly to the students)
Beginning Room Arrangement:
Rowed seating arrangement
[__5_mins.] Bridge: Do Now: Do Now: In writing the draft for homework did you encounter
any problems? Breakthroughs? How did the process go for you?
Lesson Plans
35
[__5_mins.] Step 1: The teacher will collect students drafts. She will then explain to the class
that she will be correcting them tonight and getting them back to the students by the next class.
She lets them know she will be looking at the whole paper but will focus on only two areas of
improvement. She will explain that these two areas will be determined by the needs of that
persons paper and improvement in these areas will affect their grade.
[__30 / 15 mins each_mins.] Step 2: Using the texts they have read as examples the students
will begin creating as a class the rubric they will use for the paper. The first focus they will
explore is the structure of the story within the piece. They will compare it with a work that is not
as exemplary and analyze the differences. They will create the rubric for the box on structure.
They will then move on to word choice. They will again use exemplars to come up with grading
criteria as a class. Each student will have a paper rubric they are writing this on and the teacher is
writing one too which will be word processed and handed out with the drafts.
[__5_mins.] Step 3: The teacher will discuss what else will go into the grade breakdown. The
items they need to include with the paper including all future edits.
[_15__mins.] Step 4: The teacher will loop back up to the do now. She will ask students about
what parts of the paper they had trouble with. They will discuss as a class what measures they
could talk to work past it. Each student will share.
[_5__mins.] Step 5: The teacher will discuss the final presentation portion of the final project in
depth with students so that they know that the work they are doing has a purpose and that they
can make sure they like what they are writing enough to share it with the class. The floor will be
open for student questions regarding the presentation. She will tell students that they will not
only be performing the project but their classmates will be reading what they wrote.
[_15__mins.] Step 6: She will address the subject of curse words. She will ask students why
people use curse words. She will record these reasons on the board and discuss with the class
when they think it is appropriate to use curse words. She will explain that curse words are only
appropriate in writing when the situation calls for it. Cursing is an act that is meant to be used to
accentuate a moment but adding the exclamation. Unless there is dialogue present, no cursing
should be found in the pieces. If there is cursing she will ask students to substitute the word in
the presentation so that someone walking by who happens to overhear won’t think there is a fight
going on and call the administration. She will also pass out a notice for parents about the
presentation date and let them know that they can come stop by and observe if they would care
to.
[_9__mins.] Step 7: Students will complete a vocab “quiz” using the words from the reading of
“Learning to read.” It will take the five words and as them to define them and write a paragraph
with them inside. The words must be used properly to receive full credit.
[_1__mins] Closure:The teacher will remind the students that just because they don’t have
drafts to work on that they should not stop thinking about their writing. Exit Slip: the vocab quiz.
Lesson Plans
36
Methods of Assessment:
Draft (1.c.9.a.11)
Vocab Quiz(13.a)
Differentiated instruction with a student in mind:
Diana is very shy when it comes to speaking in class and I felt that she needed to be
warmed up to the idea of the final presentation. In this lesson they are being introduced
early on so they can be as prepared as possible.
Materials needed:
Poll anywhere
Paper and pencil
In Retrospect:
Materials Appendix:
Lesson Plans
37
Lesson # 9
[90 mins.]
Plan type: ____Full-Detail __x__Summary
Critical Learning Objectives:
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
1._ Know the steps in the writing process
16. _Know how to participate in a small group setting
a. Students will know how to equally contribute work in group
b. Student will come to group prepared
Affective (feel/value):
6._ Value peer input
a. Students will value the different perspectives to problems their peers
contribute
9. Value the effect of working towards a goal
a. Students will value the effort they put into their writing
Performance (do):
10. Fulfill roles in group work setting
a. Students will be able to contribute to the group discussion
b. Students will participate equally
11. Create a written product about their “metamorphosis”
a. Students will begin drafting an essay on their metamorphosis.
c. Students will rewrite their first draft including peer revisions
SOL’s:
_10.7
The student will self- and peer-edit writing for correct grammar,
capitalization, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and paragraphing.
e. Analyze the writing of others
g. Suggest how writing might be improved
h. Proofread and edit final product for intended audience and purpose
Procedure:
(Italics represent what is spoken directly to the students)
Beginning Room Arrangement:
Groups of 3-4
Lesson Plans
38
1. [_15__mins.] Bridge: Morning greeting. The teacher will go over the agenda on the
board will the students. She will then lead them through a review of what
workshopping entails and detail what is expected of them as group members. This
will include an explicit revision of what not to do and the rules for borrowing the
computers from the school
a. She will then hand out the corrected drafts that students handed in last class
electronically that she printed out for them. Students will have 5 minutes to
look over the papers and ask any questions they may have.
b.
2. [ _20_mins] Step 1: Rubric Explanation :She will explain that each student will
notice that their paper has two consistent problems highlighted. These problems
will be what the last two blocks on the grading rubric will be. She will hand out a
printed copy of the rubric from the other class with the two missing spots. Students
will meet with the teacher during the workshops to create these.
3. [__10_mins.] Step 2: Revision vs. Editing. The teacher will explain to the class
the differences between the concept of revision and editing. She will explain
that editing is surface features while revision entails the internal pieces of the
paper. She will model this with the students using Gallagher’s “I like” strategy.
and provide a handout with examples of questions stems for when doing both.
She then clarifies that today the focus would be on revision of work and so
they should focus on those questions when looking at the worksheet and their
peers work.
4. [__5_mins.] Step 2: Students will each collect a computer from the cart to use.
Each student will then email their paper to their peer reviewers who will then
open the files, turn on track changes and begin to edit the paper.
5. [_35 mins] Step 3: Students will begin workshopping. The teacher will them pull
small groups of students to the front table by paper error (noted on a sheet not
called out to the class) She will guide them in five-ten minute mini lessons of how to
use this properly and how to fill out the rubric correctly.
6. [__5_mins] Closure: The teacher will ask all students to save their work and
send a copy of the edited document to both the teacher and the student whose
work it was. The laptops will then be checked in to the cart and class will end.
Methods of Assessment:
Students revision of peer’s work. This will show that they participated and
understand the concept of revision.
Differentiated instruction with a student in mind:
Lesson Plans
39
I keep Gage and James in mind when I include workshops into class time. I know
they have things to do outside of school so I give them a place where they can complete
their work.
Mia will be able to work with a partner for this process so that if she can hear what
she is reading while she tries to decode the piece.
Diana should flourish in the small group sessions that workshopping allows for. I
will also be able to work with her one on one in the mini-conferences which will allow for
me to get to know where she is in the process.
Materials needed:
Computer cart
Word processor with track changes
Revision and editing expectations sheet
In Retrospect:
Materials Appendix:
Lesson Plans
40
Lesson # 10
[90 mins.]
Plan type: ____Full-Detail ___x_Summary
Critical Learning Objectives:
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
1. _ Know the steps in the writing process
b. Students will know that editing is repairing the surface errors in a paper
16. _Know how to participate in a small group setting
a. Students will know how to equally contribute work in group
b. Student will come to group prepared
d. Students will know how to self-monitor behavior in a group setting
Affective (feel/value):
6._ Value peer input
a. Students will value the different perspectives to problems their peers contribute
10. Value the effect of working towards a goal
a. Students will value the effort they put into their writing
Performance (do):
10. Fulfill roles in group work setting
a. Students will be able to contribute to the group discussion
b. Students will participate equally
c. Students will participate respectfully within the groups
11. Create a written product about their “metamorphosis”
b. Students will draft a product that is edited and error free
SOL’s:
10.7
The student will self- and peer-edit writing for correct grammar,
capitalization, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and paragraphing.
e. Analyze the writing of others
g. Suggest how writing might be improved
h. Proofread and edit final product for intended audience and purpose
Lesson Plans
41
Procedure:
(Italics represent what is spoken directly to the students)
Beginning Room Arrangement:
Start in a circle then move to Groups of four/three
[__5_mins.] Bridge: Morning greeting. The teacher will go over the agenda on the board
will the students. Do Now: How did the second draft of your paper go? Do you think it
improved? What are you most proud of? Where do you think you could have improved?
[__20_mins.] Step 1: The teacher will lead students in a discussion over what works well in
a group setting and what doesn’t. She will start by mentioning what they did that impressed
her last class such as working hard and not getting distracted etc. She will then ask them to
write on a piece of paper their thoughts over how the workshop went without naming names
or using identifying information. Simply note what went well, what didn’t and what you
would like improved on a piece of paper. The students then throw their papers to someone
else and catch another they then throw papers until they lose track of whose paper they have.
Students will then read what is on their slip of paper and the group will discuss how to fix the
problem if it occurs again. Every student will read and the class discusses.
[__10_mins.] Step 2: The teacher will then have students draft a behavior contract as a class
which they will then use to check their behavior throughout the day.
[__5_mins.] Step 3: Each student will write on a piece of paper what area they will focus on
working on, write how they plan to do so and sign it.
[__5_mins.] Step 4: Students will move desks into the group pod formations and get a
computer to start the workshopping process.
[_35__mins.] Step 5: The teacher reminds them that they are focusing on the editing aspects
of the piece today and that they should spend about 10 minutes per paper so they can insure
they get to each. The teacher will observe this process and run mini lessons from the big table
in the classroom.
[__10_mins] Closure: Students will be instructed to save and email their edits to the author
and the teacher and return their computer to the cart. Exit slip: they will return to their
behavior contract and assess their own behavior. Did it work? What can they work on next
time?
Methods of Assessment:
Copy of workshopped product : this will show that every student has participated by
color coding viewer’s responses. Each student will read two other student essays and correct
them for editing flaws and this will demonstrate that they know what to look for.
Lesson Plans
42
Differentiated instruction with a student in mind:
I keep Gage and James in mind when I include workshops into class time. I know they have
things to do outside of school so I give them a place where they can complete their work.
Mia will be able to work with a partner for this process so that if she can hear what she is
reading while she tries to decode the piece.
Diana should flourish in the small group sessions that workshopping allows for. I will
also be able to work with her one on one in the mini-conferences which will allow for me to get
to know where she is in the process.
Materials needed:
Computer Cart
Chalk board
In Retrospect:
Materials Appendix:
Lesson Plans
43
Lesson # 11
[90 mins.]
Plan type: ____Full-Detail __x__Summary
Content Requirement Satisfied:
Critical Learning Objectives
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
5. Know how to present information to an audience
a. Students will know the proper tips to follow when presenting to the class:
 Proper posture,
 Make eye contact,
 To address the audience,
 Speak clearly,
 Speak from your diaphragm,
 and be prepared.
16. Know how to participate in a small group setting
c. Students will know how to provide constructive feedback
Affective (feel/value):
6. Value peer input
a. Students will value the different perspectives to problems their peers
contribute
9. Value the effects of working towards a goal
a. Students will value the effort they put into their writing
8. Feel confident presenting to the class
a. Students will feel they have the tools to present confidently to the class.
Performance (do):
11_ Create a written product about their “metamorphosis”
e. Students will be able to create a poem or essay that describes how they over
came a difficult time in their lives.
SOL’s: _10.1
The Student will participate in, and report on small-group learning
activities.
f. Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make
decisions, and solve problems.
j. Analyze and interpret other’s presentations
Lesson Plans
44
Procedure:
(Italics represent what is spoken directly to the students)
Beginning Room Arrangement: Pod seating arrangement
[__18_mins.] Bridge: Do now: What is the scariest part of presenting in front of the
class? Student will have the first five minutes of class to respond to the do now
prompt.
a. The teacher will greet the class and comment on how everyone must be
feeling freer having completed their writing assignments. Notes how they are
almost through the final unit project. The teacher will talk about how will
every good project there are places were we can improve. She will mention
how it is important to reflect on your activities and actions so that next time
you can insure to improve. Students will then begin the Reflection
assignment which will be handed in with their final papers.
[__10_mins.] Step 1: Presentation of rubric for next classes presentation. The teacher
will go through the rubric with the class and use examples and non-examples to
demonstrate what the behaviors look like.
[__15__mins] Step 2: Fishbowl: with the teacher as the presenter and four chosen
students to respond using the rubric. The teacher will then model how a proper
presentation should go using her essay/poem about learning to drive.
b. 5 mins. The students will then provide feedback using the rubric their
presentations will be graded on next class.
[__32_mins.] Step 2:Toastmasters Activity.
3 mins: The teacher will introduce the activity as practice for the next class.
Each student will be speaking in their small groups. The activity will entail
writing a short speech which they will then present to their group as a toast
while following along with the rubric for presentations. Their group mates will
then use the rubric to give them feedback.
5 mins.The students will then take five minutes to write a two paragraph
speech. The first paragraph will introduce the speaker and talk about a difficulty
they had in the process. The last will be a description of how they succeed and
vanquished the assignment and the thanks they have for their peers.
5 mins: The teacher will let them know that This will also be a celebration for
the hard work that they have completed and each student will be given snacks
and a champagne flute with sprite or ginger ale in it. Students will collect snacks
and drink and go back to their seats.
Lesson Plans
45
14 mins: Each student will present their speech and receive feedback from their
peers. They will have 4 minutes each, 2 for speech and 2 for feedback. The
teacher will walk around and observe taking down notes of who is presenting
and who isn’t and who is giving feedback and who isn’t.
2 minutes. The activity will end wil the teacher giving a toast to the class and
wishing them good luck on their presentations next class.
[ 10 mins] Step 3: The teacher will allow students to use the last 10 minutes to
prepare for their final presentations
[__5_mins] Closure: Exit slip: How do you feel about presenting next class? Did the
activity help alleviate your fear from before? The teacher will remind students to
upload their finished product to the google presentation if they haven’t already so that
the class can see it while they present next class.
Methods of Assessment:
The reflection assignment will assess how they feel they did in completing the assignment.
It will assess obj: 9.a.
Fishbowl observation worksheet will show that they taking notes on how it is best to
present and give feedback.
Differentiated instruction with a student in mind:
Diana, being quiet may be anxious about the idea of having to present her creation
to the class. This day has been created entirely to insure that students are scaffolded into
the activity and feel more comfortable presenting to the class. They will watch me present
then practice making toasts to their success in completing the assignment in their small
groups and then next class they will be on their own.
Materials needed:
Plastic champagne glasses
Reflection assignment
Student copy of the rubric
Fishbowl observation worksheet
Toastmaster speech and feedback notes.
In Retrospect:
Materials Appendix:
Lesson Plans
46
Lesson # 12
[90 mins.]
Plan type: ____Full-Detail __x__Summary
Content Requirement Satisfied:
Critical Learning Objectives
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
5. Know how to present information to an audience
a. Students will know the proper tips to follow when presenting to the class:
 Proper posture,
 Make eye contact,
 To address the audience,
 Speak clearly,
 Speak from your diaphragm,
 and be prepared.
Affective (feel/value):
8. Feel confident presenting to the class
a. Students will feel they have the tools to present confidently to the class.
9. Value the writing process
a. Students will value the effort they put into their writing
Performance (do):
15. Present a finished work to the class
a. Students will be able to present their final draft of the unit project which
will either be a narrative essay reading or a poetry slam.
b. Students will be able to provide constructive feedback to peers
SOL’s:
10.1
The Student will participate in, and report on small-group learning activities.
j. Analyze and interpret other’s presentations
Procedure:
(Italics represent what is spoken directly to the students)
Beginning Room Arrangement:
Rowed seating
[_10__mins.] Bridge: Agenda Sheet, Turn in hard copy of process paper of their
final draft with edits included. Open by Telling the students how proud they have
made me. They have spent the past three weeks working towards this goal of
Lesson Plans
47
presenting a finished work of their own creation. Their little Caterpillar thoughts are
ready to hatch out of the cocoon of paper and take flight through their speech. Let them
know how much the teacher is looking forward to hearing what they have created.
[_5__mins.] Step 1: Introduce the peer feedback method: Students each receive five
slips of paper. Each has a student’s name on it. They are responsible for providing
feedback for those five students but can also contribute to the others. They have two
colors of paper. The one is for “wow” comments. The students write things they really
enjoyed or that took them by surprise. The other color is the “why” slip where they
inquire about a decision or two that the presenter made in the process. Remind
students to keep their comments constructive and that we all have been working hard
on our assignments to get to this point in the process.
[__70_mins.] Step 2: Students present. Volunteers go first than call by name. Each
student gets 2-3 minutes. [teacher grades using the rubric]
[_5__mins] Closure: Let students know what their homework is. And thank everyone
for presenting. Exit slip = the feedback slips. Homework, reflect on the process you
went through to write you project. What went well? What would you change next time
around?
Methods of Assessment:
Presentation Rubric (obj. 5.a,15,a 15.b)
Feedback slips (15.b)
Homework (9.a, 8.a)
Differentiated instruction with a student in mind:
The students have a choice of what type of work they created and presented. For my ELL
students I will make sure they have access to a copy of the work so they can read along
while they listen if that helps them. This might simply be projecting a finished product on
the screen so everyone can see it and follow.
Materials needed:
Projector, student work, feedback slips, agenda sheet, presentation rubric.
In Retrospect:
Materials Appendix:
Download