University of Arkansas

College of Education
Lesson Plan Format

Unit Title: Life of Pi Literacy/Social
Studies Collaboration
Lesson Title: Be the Shark, NOT Debate
Subject Area: Social Studies Grade Level: Eighth Grade
Duration of Lesson: 3-4 days Date(s)
Name: Ms. India Smith COE Course: EDUC 4335

I. Standard(s) and Objective(s)

Standard(s): CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide
an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.8
Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.

Objective(s): At the end of this unit, the students will be able to successfully debate a
topic from a familiar text using facts and reasoned judgment with attempts to exclude
any bias in hopes to successfully debate historical topic in the near future.

II. Assessment

Pre-assessment: The students will be required to defend both of Pis stories in a T-
Chart. The T-Chart should include textual evidence that will give the instructor clear
direction on if each individual student and class as a whole is ready to even begin
preparing for a debate. This is suggested to occur on a Friday so that the unprepared
students have the weekend to catch up. This T-Chart will also give instructors the
ability to pre-select pairs for the following activities.

Post-assessment: The students will enter the class the day after the debate and be
given an entrance slip. The students will be asked to choose the story that they most
believe and briefly describe how they came to this conclusion. Answers should
include references to textual evidence, group work, and class discussion. These
answers will give the instructor the ability to determine if the students are prepared to
debate a more historical topic. Students with IEPs, 504s, labeled ELL, ect.. answers
will be taken into careful examination.

III. Planning

When planning for this unit, the instructor should first take individual students needs
into consideration.

All 504s and IEPs should be taken into consideration.
- ADD/ADHD: review IEPs and 504s. Accommodate to those who need visual
instruction, auditory instruction, and to have a physical copy of instruction in their
hands. Pair with students who have a strong knowledge of the text.
- Visual impairment: give physical copy of instructions so that students that need to
see it up close have the opportunity. Read aloud for those that may be considered
legally blind.
- Auditory impairment: read instructions in a semi-loud teacher voice so that those
who may not be able to hear as well will receive full benefits from auditory
instruction. Physical copies of instructions are a must.
- ELL/Language Learners/Reading Disabilities/Speech Impairments: Make sure to
take time to answer any and all questions with best of abilities. Consider
carefully pairing of students. Take time to explain instructions to those who may
need more clarification. Pair with students who have strong knowledge of the text
and will be able to help these students understand topics and instructions.
- Gender/Religion/Culture take into consideration anything that might offend any
of the students religion, culture, gender role, ect
Carefully review pre-assessment to gauge if the students are ready for a debate over
the book and its two stories. If class as a whole is not ready, adjust time usage and be
prepared to have a class discussion over the stories. Collaborate with literacy
teachers and discuss possibilities as to why students would not be ready.
Review how classroom will be set up for the debate as to not throw off balance and
ability to manage classroom. Remember to carefully consider how groups will be
divided. Scaffold the students knowledge off one another.

IV. Engaging the Learner

The instructor will engage the learner by giving them a break from their typical
history class. The instructors will express the excitement in learning something new
and valuable to their journey to becoming good historians. The use of sharks as a
theme for the debate will maybe help peak a few students personal interest (plus they
are animals often mentioned in the Life of Pi novel.)

V. Methods, Activities and Resources
Methods: The students will be reassured that what they are learning will help them
in the future. To prepare for this assignment, the students will be given multiple
chances to learn, re-learn, discuss, write, read, and re-read the material. Several
adaptations for those with IEPs, 504s, labeled ELL, ect will have already be
taken into consideration before the lesson is every introduced to the children. The
instructor will be sure to remind children of the classroom rules to help reinforce
classroom management and to avoid the chaos that could come from students having
a debate that potentially could be heated. The instructor will have a firm closure
through having the students write their opinion and how they formed that opinion.
The instructor will be sure to reapply the debate method again using their own
content and to reinforce positive and constructive questioning.

Activities
Day One: (Suggested to begin on a Friday to allow students who are not prepared to
catch up over the weekend.) Begin the class with informing the students that they
are taking a break from traditional social studies class procedures. Take the first 15
minutes of class to go over the printed instructional handout being sure to include
time for any questions to be asked and answered. Give the students 25 minutes to
complete this T-Chart on their own. The instructor should walk around and observe
which students are filling out their chart and which students are not, paying special
attention to those who may have special needs, IEPs, 504s, ect.. This should give
the instructor some idea of if the class is ready to begin preparing for a debate before
the papers are turned in. The instructor should then pick up the papers and use the
last few minutes of class to remind the students to use the weekend to catch up if
they need to.
Day Two: The instructor should use the first few minutes of instruction to go over
the instructions for the group T-Chart. Afterwards, the students will participate in a
THINK-PAIR-SHARE that will require them to complete another T-Chart before
reviewing and discussing their chart with a pre-selected partner. The purpose of the
partner is to review what one another has written and challenge it if they want. This
activitys purpose is to have the students question what they are told. The instructor
will take this time to also talk to students whose previous T-Charts were very vague
and incomplete to see if they made any progress over the weekend. At the end of the
class, the instructor will have the students take the chart home and make index cards
for the next days debate.
Day Three: The instructor will have prearranged the classroom so that it is fit for a
debate. As the students walk in, they will turn in their previous days chart and
receive a colored Post-It note with their name on it. If a student does not have their
chart they are not allowed to participate in the debate. After roll is taken, the
instructor will tell the students which color represents the story they will be
defending. The instructor will have the students separate and begin the debate. The
instructor will remind the students that participation is a must and that the instructor
reserves the right to ask a student to participate. The instructor reserves the right to
calm the class if things get to heated, but should encourage students to have a
meaningful debate and argument.
Day Four: The students will enter the classroom and be given an entrance slip that
asks them to write down their opinion on which story is true. The student will be
asked to describe how they came to this conclusion and should be prompted but not
told to include steps such as literary analysis, group work, and class discussion.
This is a post assessment that will show the teacher if the students came to a
meaningful conclusion through questioning the truth. This should only be a 10-15
minute activity before moving on to the next historical unit.

Resources
Printed out instructions.
Printed out TCharts.
Extra copies of The Life of Pi.
Extra pens/pencils.
ELMO to show instructions and chart on the board.
Post-It notes.
Index cards.
If prescheduled, any resource or ELL teacher.

V. Potential Adaptations to the Lesson {PAL}

If on day one the instructor discovers that the class is not ready for a debate, the
instructor should collaborate with the literacy teachers and discuss potential reasons
for being off trac and how to bring the class where they should be.

If on day two it seems as though everyone is quickly finishing their arguments and
questioning during the THINK-PAIR-SHARE, the instructor may want to reorganize
groups and challenge the students to find one wrong fact on the TChart. The
instructor should also remind the students that they want to help out each other just as
much, because they may be on the same debate team. If this does not help classroom
management, the instructor may consider using the ELMO to have students come up
and share their facts. This will give lead way for good class discussion, but should
not turn into a debate.

If on day three, the debate is not catching hold and no students are participating the
instructor may want to help prompt the students with statements and questions. The
instructor should keep the students from being rude and hateful to each other. If
things are too heated, the instructor should encourage good discussion but discourage
the students from getting to upset.

VI. Collaboration

In order to collaborate with parents, the instructor should send out an e-mail saying
that all the students will be participating in a collaborative unit over the novel they
have been reading in their literacy classrooms. The instructor should encourage the
parents to have a practice debate at home using the index cards the students created.
If any questions and concerned arise, the instructor should answer them as quickly
and as professionally as possible.

This entire lesson is collaboration with literacy teachers, and the instructor should
remember to touch base with them often. The instructor should discuss how the
activities are going and scaffold off what the literacy teachers have to say.

The instructor should collaborate with the librarian to see if extra copies of the novel
can be borrowed for ones who may forget the novel at home or may not have the
funds to have bought it.


VIII. Reflection and efficacy (to be completed after teaching this lesson)