Concept Unit

Lesson Plan Template

Unit Working Title: Why Do I Care?
Unit Big Idea (Concept/Theme): Value Systems
Unit Primary Skill focus: Reflection
Week 2 of 3; Plan # 5 of 9; [90 mins.]
Plan type: Summary
Content Requirement Satisfied: Mentor Text
Unit Learning Objectives (numbered) [from my Backwards Design Unit Document],
followed by Specific lesson objectives (lettered) being taught in this lesson:
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
Affective (feel/value) and/or Non-Cognitive:
Performance (do):
4. Students will be able to write a memoir that reflects their own value systems.
a. Students will know that memoirs are in the first-person point of view.
b. Students will know that memoirs use description to show what is happening.
c. Students will know that memoirs share the authors thoughts and feelings about
the topic.
d. Students will know that memoirs include dialogue.
e. Students will know that memoirs include a reason why the story is important.

SOLs: [List with numbers portrayed in the SOL document]

CCSs: [List with numbers portrayed in the CCS document]
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as
needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.10

Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and
shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences
Methods of Assessment:
[How will you know if the intended learning occurred?] List all methods of assessment used in
this lesson or which are related to this lesson and come in a future lesson. After each
assessment, indicate in brackets the number(s) and letter(s) of the unit objective and the related
lesson objectives that the assessment is evaluating.
Diagnostic

Formative
I statements- 4a
Description editing- 4b
Thoughts freewrite- 4c
Dialogue practice- 4d
Importance brainstorm- 4e

Summative
Exit card- 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e
Memoir- 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e

Procedures/Instructional Strategies
[Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.]
Beginning Room Arrangement: The class will be arranged into tables of desks, with four
desks pushed together to create a table group. There will be five different desk groupings/tables
in the classroom.
1.

[5 mins.] Bridge/Hook/Opening to lesson: Review Magic

As students come in I will tell them to pull out and look back other their text Magic from
yesterday. I will ask them to take a few minutes re-reading the story, noting the details we talked
about yesterday. I will let students know they should do this because we will be using the text
again in class today.
I will also hand out the rubric for the memoir assignment so that students know what to expect.
We will take a few minutes going over each part to make sure everyone is on the same page
and that there are no questions.
2.

[5 mins.] Introduction to memoir elements

I will tell students that as a reminder, we are looking at this text because it is a good example of
what our memoirs will look like. They wont be as long, but they will be similar in the way they
are structured. I will tell them there are 5 key functions in memoirs, and that to be successful

you must meet each criteria. I will show the list on a PowerPoint and tell students we will be
going over each of them together. This way, they know how to put it in their own writing.
3.

[5 mins.] First-person narrative

I would ask students to identify who is speaking in Magic. If they told me her name, I would
ask them what words in the memoir made them think that. They would say the word I, and I
would tell them this means the author if writing in first-person narrative. She is speaking from
her point of view in the story, so she can use I or me in the story. I will tell students that all
memoirs should be in the first-person narrative.
4.

[10 mins.] First-person narrative statements

I will tell students that they will use this type of writing in their memoirs too. I will tell them that
now I would like them to take a few minutes forming some I statements about what happened,
how they felt, or what they thought about during the story they are using for their memoir.
During this time I will circulate the room and help students who are struggling to think of ways to
phrase what happened.
5.

[5 mins.] Description highlighting

I would then tell students that using description to show the reader what is happening is another
element of memoir. Together we would go through the first two pages and highlight all instances
of good detail or description. Thisway, students will have some examples of what showing the
reader what is happening looks like.
6.

[10 mins.] Description editing

I would then tell students that in order to have good memoirs, theirs should be descriptive as
well. I would tell them to choose a few of their I statements and add more description to them
like the examples we saw in Magic.
During this time I would circulate the classroom and help students who are having trouble.
7.

[5 mins.] Thoughts and feelings

I would explain to students that the third aspect of a good memoir is that the author shares how
they feel about the incident. Together we will skim through the memoir and highlight in a
different color places where we see the author telling the reader how she felt about what was
happening or the other characters. I will tell students they can use this as an example for their
own writing.
8.

[10 mins.] Thoughts and feelings free-write

I will tell students that they will need to include this in their memoirs, so we are going to practice
a little bit and get some ideas down now. I will tell students to think about the event and the
people who were a part of it, and just conduct a free write about their thoughts and feelings. I
would remind them that a free write does not have to be perfect. They should just focus on
getting their ideas down for now.
9.

[5 mins.] Dialogue

I would explain that if there are other people involved, dialogue should be included too. We will
highlight together again places where the dialogue can be used as an example in Magic. I will
point out some of the structures, such as starting a new line when a different person speaks,
and tell students they should follow this format in their memoirs.
10.

[10 mins.] Dialogue practice

I would tell students that we are going to take a minute to practice the format of dialogue in their
memoirs. They should think about a person involved in the story, and what the words spoken
between them may have been. Its ok if they dont remember them exactly, just as long as they
get the gist of it.
11.

[5 mins.] Reason why important

I would tell students that our last aspect is that the author gives a reason why their story is
important. I would give a minute for students to do their own individual searching for this reason,
and then we would go over it together.
12.

[10 mins.] Reason why important brainstorm

I would tell students that they need a reason why their story is important, but its ok if they dont
know exactly right now. I will tell them theres a chance they will find out along the way, and that
we will be doing another activity with this later on. For now, I want students to brainstorm
possible ways they think their story could be important.
13.

[5 mins] Closure:

I would ask students to fill out an exit card recalling the 5 elements of memoir that should be
included in their own memoirs. I will also have them identify which one they think they will have
the most trouble with. I will collect these to use as data for future workshops.

Differentiated Instruction to accommodate one or more of my profiled students:

(This is where you identify specific aspects of this lesson which have been differentiated in
order to address the needs of one or more of your profiled studentsidentify them by name)

This lesson will probably cause some problems for Will, who does not enjoy reading
comprehension or finding evidence in the text. I would challenge him to think about why finding
these in our text could help our writing, and have him explain his thinking to the class.
Materials Needed (list):
PowerPoint
Memoir rubric

References: Less is More memoir chapter