Concept Unit: Lesson Plan #3

Unit Working Title: This I Believe

Unit Big Idea (Concept/Theme): Status Quo
Unit Primary Skill focus: Questioning, personal essay
Week __1__ of 3; Plan #__3__ of 9; [90 mins.]
Plan type: ____Full-Detail ____Summary
Content Requirement Satisfied: Reading Experience, Vocabulary Instruction
Unit Learning Objectives:
SWBAT:
Cognitive:
1. Students will understand where the status quo comes from and how our
societal norms are impacted by
it.
b. Students will know that the status quo is influenced by:
iii. Personal beliefs.
2. Students will understand that asking questions can help us explore who we
are.
a. Students will understand that the tensions between our beliefs and interests can
lead to questions
that impact our values and decisions.
Affective and/or Non-Cognitive:
4. Students will feel optimistic by the possibilities of questioning the status quo.
a. Students will feel that grappling with the tension between their personal beliefs
and interests
could lead to real, authentic change.
5. Students will be able to question the status quo.
a. Students will consider how their interests can impact their beliefs.
Performance:
8. Students will be able to express the significance of diverse perspectives in
various communities.
a. Students will be able to identify the values of other people in a nonfiction text.
SOLs:

8.7 The student will write in a variety of forms, including narration,

exposition, persuasion, and informational.
h. Use computer technology to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish writing.

CCSs:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present
the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact
and collaborate with others.
Methods of Assessment:
Diagnostic

Students will
demonstrate their initial
ability to critically
consider values by
completing an Entrance
Card and participating in
a class discussion. (1biii,
2a, 8a)
Students will
demonstrate their prior
experience with beliefs
and interests by
completing a
brainstorm. (2a, 4a, 8a)

Formative

Students will reveal their

understanding of the
tension between belief
and interest in reflective
group discussion during
the whole class reading.
(1biii, 2a, 4a)
Students will reveal their
ability to analyze the
values of other people in
reflective group
discussion during whole
class reading and in
short, written responses
during reading. (2a, 5a,
8a)
Students will
demonstrate exploration
of their own beliefs and
interests and how they
can ask questions by
using their brainstorm
lists of beliefs and
interests to begin
drafting a potential
piece for their final
writing assignment.
(1biii, 2a, 4a, 5a)

Summative

In a future lesson,
students will
demonstrate mastery of
the concept
questioning the status
quo by reviewing small
writing pieces they have
created throughout the
unit. They will select
ideas from these pieces
to further develop into a
personal essay. Todays
piece on beliefs and
interests could serve this
purpose. (1biii, 2a, 5a,
8a)

Beginning Room Arrangement:

[Changes in this arrangement that become necessary later will be noted in the plan]
Students will be seated in their base groups. As they come into class, the Do-Now will be
written on the board. They will need to get an index card from the front of the room and
answer the question, What does it mean to believe in someone or something?
Procedures/Instructional Strategies
[Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.]

1. [__15__ mins] Opening to lesson:

Entrance Card (5-7 mins): Prior to class, I will write the two entrance card questions on the
board: What does it mean to believe in someone or something? As students are entering
class, I will hand them all index cards and instruct them to answer both of these questions
independently on their index cards. There is an Entrance Card questions written on the
board. Please write your answers to both of these on your index card. Its okay if you
arent totally sure about an exact answer; just give it your best guess. Well be talking
about these questions as a class when everyone is finished. Dont forget to put your name
on your card and leave it on the corner of your desk when you are done. I will be collecting
these. As students are finishing up, I will collect the Entrance Cards and skim students
responses. Though I plan to go over the specific answers, these cards will help me get a
sense of what students already know before we discuss as a class.
Discussion of Entrance Card Question (10 mins): Wrap up your last thought if you are not
already finished. Wait 30 seconds at most for students to finish writing. Please pass your
entrance cards up to the front of the room now if I have not already collected it. Thanks
for getting right to work as class started. So, lets go over what a belief is. What do you
guys think? Take several student responses. Keep track of general responses in a list on
the board. I anticipate that some of their ideas might have to do with religion, morals,
trust, faith, etc. After a few students have shared, write this definition on the board: a
feeling that something is good, right, or valuable. I will be using this discussion to focus
our particular discussion today. As Im writing, Thanks for sharing your ideas. Theres a lot
of good stuff going on here. So, here underneath your responses, Ive written a definition
that can help us focus our discussion on belief today. Read the definition aloud. Can
anyone give me an example of this? Wait for student responses. Provide this example if
students dont offer it: treat others as you want to be treated. So in my example, the
golden rule is something that I believe is right or valuable because it can improve how
people care for each other. Any other examples? Allow students a few moments to
continue sharing.
2. [__7__ mins] Brainstorm Lists (Beliefs & Interests):
Great! Thank you for sharing your ideas about beliefs. That was really important for us to
find a way to describe and explain what we think a belief is for each other. Now that we
are all on the same page, I want you guys to do a little bit of brainstorming. We are going
to make two lists, but well do one at a time. For each list, I will give you 2 minutes to
write down everything that comes to your brain. You are going to need your writers
notebooks to make these lists, so please take that out now. Wait 1 minute for students to
get out their notebooks. Go ahead and turn to two fresh pages side by side. I will hold up a
notebook to show them what I mean by two fresh pages side by side. At the top of the left
page, please write My Beliefs. Im going to give you 2 minutes now to write down some
of your own examples of things that you think are your own beliefs. These can be things
that you have learned in school, from your family and friends, your own ideas, anything
you can think of. Feel free to also write where these beliefs come from down. So, going
back to my example from earlier, if I wrote the golden rule on my brainstorm list, I could
also write school beside it because thats where I learned about it. The point is to empty
out your brain, so try to keep writing the whole time. Remember to keep our definition in
your mind. Read and point to the definition on the board again. Ok, I will keep time on my
watch. Youve got 2 minutes, starting now! Keep time for two minutes while students make
their lists.

Finish writing your last idea, and stop! At the top of the fresh page on the right side,
please write My Interests. For this brainstorm list, I want you to think specifically about
activities that you like to do. Maybe there is a club or a sport or an event you like to
participate in. Maybe there are certain things that you like to do with your friends or your
family or even specific hobbies that you might have. Keep thinking about things TO DO.
Please try to avoid your likes and dislikes. This should not be a list of favorite movies,
books, foods, places, etc. I want you to focus on things to do. I know this seems like a
completely random list to make after we were just talking about our beliefs, but later you
will see that it is actually connected. Just like the previous list, youve got two minutes to
make this one and keep writing. Ready, go! Give students 2 minutes to brainstorm. Go
ahead and finish writing that last idea and stop.
3. [__15__ mins] Pre-Reading Vocabulary:
Thank you guys for staying focused and making your lists. You can actually close your
writers notebook now and slide it into your desks. We will be looking at your lists again
later in class, but right now we are going to switch gears a little bit. I will begin passing out
the vocabulary sheet as I am talking. In a few minutes, we are going to read an article
about a Muslim girl, Alaiya, about your age, who loves boxing. This is totally her favorite
sport. We are going to read about some challenges that she has faced in boxing,
sometimes because of her religious beliefs. Before we do this, we need to first talk about
some of the terms we are going to come across in this article. Did everyone get a copy of
the vocabulary sheet I just passed out? I will make sure that every student has a copy of
the sheet.
So lets talk about this first one for a few minutes because it is going to be really
important that we understand this while we are reading the article. Has anyone ever
heard of a hijab before? What do you think it is? Choose students who have not spoken as
much in class if they volunteer to share. Listen to their ideas. I will explain this further,
revealing the definition on the document camera matching their handout. I want students
to know very clearly what it is and its purpose to Muslim women who choose to wear it. I
dont want to get into a discussion about why they should or should not wear it at all.
Limiting conversation here should hopefully eliminate that. If students do ask questions of
this nature, I will tell them that I would love to talk more about it outside of class time.
Great, thank you for sharing! So, the hijab is basically a scarf or cloth that many Muslim
women wear to cover their heads. In Islamic religious culture, this is basically something
women do in order to dress modestly. To help you understand what I mean by this, think
about our school dress code. We have some rules to help guide our students in dressing
appropriately for school. In Islam, this is sort of their dress code, helping women know how
to dress in a way that they think is appropriate on a daily basis. For some parts of Islam,
this can be a choice for women. In the article we are going to read today, the girl cares a
lot about her religion and wants to follow the hijab tradition.
For the remaining two vocabulary words, I will follow a similar procedure: ask students if
they are familiar with the word, allow for student responses, uncover the definition on the
document camera, building on student responses. The remaining vocabulary words are:
Amateur Boxing & Fencing. The purpose in this procedure is to have the students explore
the words first where have they heard the words, in what contexts, what do they already
know about it, if they dont know the word at all, is there a part of the word that means
something to them, etc.
4. [__3-4__ mins] Washington Post Video:

Now that we are familiar with some key terms that we will encounter in reading Alaiyas
story, I actually have a video of Alaiya in action. So, before we read Im going to show you
all the video so that you can really visualize what she looks like and what kind of boxing
shes doing. Que and show the video to the students.
5. [__15__ mins] Read & Discuss the Article Together:
**Refer to MY reading guide in the materials appendix. This outlines my think
aloud process in detail.
6. [__25__ mins] Writing Workshop Time:
Now that weve read Alaiyas story, I think we can start to see the ways that her beliefs in
Islam and her interest in boxing are kind of at odds with each other. For Alaiya, instead of
giving up boxing, shes actually standing up for her beliefs, maintaining that status quo,
but challenging the status quo in boxing. I think this can happen for our beliefs and
interests too sometimes. Lets take another look at those lists you made at the beginning
of class. I want you to look closely at your lists and see if you can find a pair, one from
each list, that are a little at odds. Maybe you really believe and value volunteering your
time to help others, but you love sports and spend all your time at practice. Think about
those two things, and really reflect on how dealing with the tension between these two
things could spark change. Maybe, instead of spending all of your time at practice you
volunteer to help coach the little league. This would let you pursue your interests sports
while better adhering to what you claim to believe in. Or, maybe based on your interests
you need to rethink some of your beliefs.
Im going to give you the remainder of class time to write a blog post answering this
question: How can I challenge my beliefs or my interests to spark change in my life? Write
this question on the board for students to reference while they are writing. Im giving you
some extra time to write today because these ideas are important for you to explore. Next
week, we will start working on our unit projects. The more ideas you have in your blog
posts the easier it will be to get started with the project in class next week. Go ahead and
get out your laptop or tablet and get started. I will be circulating around to help out if
needed. Lets remember our Silent-Patient-Waiting and Home Court norms in order to
respect our peers as they are working.
7. [__5__ mins] Closure:
Ok, lets bring it back together before we end for the day. Can I have a couple of people
just share out your belief and your interest that you wrote about? You dont need to
explain everything you wrote, but just the belief and interest. Pause for a couple of
students to share. Excellent work today, guys. I cant wait to read these blog posts! It
sounds like you really put a lot of thought into them and have some great ideas flowing.
Thank you for working so hard today. Get excited for next week because you will really get
to put these awesome ideas to good use. Have a great weekend!
Differentiated Instruction to accommodate one or more of my profiled students:
Grace In the vocabulary handout, I have included pictures of each of the words which
will help familiarize her with the words even more after discussing and writing down the
definitions.

Bethany Much of todays class is focused on students individual interests. This should
create better buy in and motivation for Bethany because she will be able to brainstorm
and write about the things that she is interested in outside of school. This will help avoid
the disruptions she tends to cause when she is uninterested in topics.
Materials Needed:

Index cards
Scrap paper
Vocabulary Handout (blank)
Vocabulary Handout (teacher copy)
Annotated Article for teacher Think-Aloud
Hard copies of the article
Laptops or tablets
Document Camera
Projector

Materials Appendix:

Video: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/12/14/meet-the-15-year-oldminnesota-girl-fighting-to-box-while-wearing-a-hijab/
Article: https://newsela.com/articles/hijab-boxing/id/13534/

Vocabulary Handout: Amaiya Zafar Article

Hijab

Amateur Boxing

Fencing

Vocabulary Handout: Amaiya Zafar Article

Hijab the traditional covering for the

hair and neck that is worn by Muslim women

Amateur Boxing competitive

boxing typically fought in a ring,
contestants wear head gear and
score points for punches

Fencing the art or sport of fighting

with swords

Muslim girl wants to knock out old boxing rules to

wear hijab in the ring
By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff
12.18.15
Amaiya Zafar is a young girl in Minnesota who, like many her age, found a
sport she loves and desperately wants to practice. Through it, she hopes to
learn more about herself and test just how good she can become
But there are significant barriers standing in her way. For
one, the sport Amaiya fell in love with is amateur boxing.
More significantly, she is a 15-year-old Muslim girl who is as
devout as she is dedicated. Amaiya wants to wear a hijab, a
head covering for Muslim women, under her boxing
headgear and uniform. While it is nearly impossible for her
to find opponents in her size and age group, the bigger
roadblock is that international rules that govern the sport do
not allow her to wear a hijab in competition. Maybe, the
10th grader thinks, boxing rules should change with the
times.
"I think the rules are old school," said Amaiya, who lives in
Oakdale, Minnesota. "I don't think there's anything wrong
with getting them changed."
Her mother, Sarah O'Keefe-Zafar, believes the rule is now having
consequences, which no one expected. "I don't think they ever intended to
exclude anybody from the sport," she said.
Dedicated Training Instilled Confidence
Against the odds for most young girls, Amaiya fell hard for boxing two years
ago when she saw the ring at a gym. Her father, Mohammad Zafar,
suggested that she take up fencing, but that wasn't for Amaiya. "I'll box
before I'll fence," she told him. And that was that. He helped her to
understand the finer points of the sport by showing her videos and teaching
her about amateur boxing. Finally, she stepped into a gym and then into the
ring.
"Everyone was like, 'That's Amaiya. She's the small one,'" she said.
Her parents, meanwhile, went from supportive to enthusiastic. "When she
first trained, I came into this as a mom and a nurse," O'Keefe-Zafar said, "but
she was dedicated and trained for over a year without sparring. And I
watched her go from a timid little girl to a confident young person."

Amaiya faced opposition from some boys who did not think a girl could box,
but eventually, she found acceptance in the ring. "Now they're my team,"
she said.
And when Amaiya, one of three children in her family, takes a hit? "I look at it
as something I did wrong defensively," she said. "I try to learn from it and
focus a lot on defense."
Where To Draw The Line In The Ring
Rules about a hijab are not the only obstacle in Amaiya's way. She now
stands 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 106 pounds. She is always, she says,
"the small one" at the gym. There are not a lot of possible opponents for
women to begin with, let alone those in her height and weight class. In
addition, opponents must be within two years of one another. Then there is
the hijab, since removing it is not an option for a girl who cares deeply about
her religion.
International boxing rules say that she cannot cover her arms and her legs
below the knees. Amaiya would like to wear a long-sleeved shirt and leggings
beneath her tank top and shorts. USA Boxing has requested a provisional
ruling from AIBA, the international boxing organization.
Until the AIBA gives its decision, Martino said there is only so much officials
could do.
"We have 30,000 amateur boxers in the United States," Martino said. "So if
you make allowances for one religious group, what if another comes in and
says we have a different type of uniform we have to wear? You have to draw
a line someplace."
Jaylani Hussein, executive director of Minnesota's Council on AmericanIslamic Relations, said that USA Boxing's appeal to AIBA was the right move.
"You know, I think we are looking for an opportunity for this young girl to get
a chance to do what all young teenagers (do), especially girls who want to
play in this unique sport boxing and the only difference is that she's a
Muslim," Hussein said.
"Patient And Hopeful"
Amaiya is not the first athlete to fight to wear a hijab during sports. In the
spring of 2014, FIFA, the world soccer organization, lifted a ban on players
wearing religious head coverings during games.

So the teen focuses on her training, because boxing is something that is

always there for her. "If I'm in a bad mood, emotional or having a bad day,"
Amaiya said, her mother will tell her to go to the gym.
While her mother says the family is "patient and hopeful" that AIBA will
decide she can wear her hijab, Amaiya is taking her enthusiasm for the sport
in another direction. "I'm teaching a boxing class at the gym on Saturday
mornings," she said, "and I have eight (students) wearing hijab in the class."
Reproduced with permission. Copyright 2015 Washington Post. All rights
reserved.

**ANNOTATED TEACHER COPY: THINK ALOUD POINTS**

Muslim girl wants to knock out old boxing rules to
wear hijab in the ring
By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff
12.18.15

Amaiya Zafar is a young girl in Minnesota who, like many her age, found a
sport she loves and desperately wants to practice. Through it, she hopes to
learn more about herself and test just how good she can become
But there are significant barriers standing in her way. For
one, the sport Amaiya fell in love with is amateur boxing.
More significantly, she is a 15-year-old Muslim girl who is as
devout as she is dedicated. Amaiya wants to wear a hijab, a
head covering for Muslim women, under her boxing
headgear and uniform. While it is nearly impossible for her
to find opponents in her size and age group, the bigger
roadblock is that international rules that govern the sport do
not allow her to wear a hijab in competition. Maybe, the
10th grader thinks, boxing rules should change with the
times.
"I think the rules are old school," said Amaiya, who lives in
Oakdale, Minnesota. "I don't think there's anything wrong
with getting them changed."
Her mother, Sarah O'Keefe-Zafar, believes the rule is now having
consequences, which no one expected. "I don't think they ever intended to
exclude anybody from the sport," she said.
Dedicated Training Instilled Confidence

Against the odds for most young girls, Amaiya fell hard for boxing two years
ago when she saw the ring at a gym. Her father, Mohammad Zafar,
suggested that she take up fencing, but that wasn't for Amaiya. "I'll box
before I'll fence," she told him. And that was that. He helped her to
understand the finer points of the sport by showing her videos and teaching
her about amateur boxing. Finally, she stepped into a gym and then into the
ring.
"Everyone was like, 'That's Amaiya. She's the small one,'" she said.
Her parents, meanwhile, went from supportive to enthusiastic. "When she
first trained, I came into this as a mom and a nurse," O'Keefe-Zafar said, "but
she was dedicated and trained for over a year without sparring. And I
watched her go from a timid little girl to a confident young person."
Amaiya faced opposition from some boys who did not think a girl could box,
but eventually, she found acceptance in the ring. "Now they're my team,"
she said.
And when Amaiya, one of three children in her family, takes a hit? "I look at it
as something I did wrong defensively," she said. "I try to learn from it and
focus a lot on defense."
Where To Draw The Line In The Ring
Rules about a hijab are not the only obstacle in Amaiya's way. She now
stands 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 106 pounds. She is always, she says,
"the small one" at the gym. There are not a lot of possible opponents for
women to begin with, let alone those in her height and weight class. In
addition, opponents must be within two years of one another. Then there is
the hijab, since removing it is not an option for a girl who cares deeply about
her religion.
International boxing rules say that she cannot cover her arms and her legs
below the knees. Amaiya would like to wear a long-sleeved shirt and leggings
beneath her tank top and shorts. USA Boxing has requested a provisional
ruling from AIBA, the international boxing organization.
Until the AIBA gives its decision, Martino said there is only so much officials
could do.
"We have 30,000 amateur boxers in the United States," Martino said. "So if
you make allowances for one religious group, what if another comes in and
says we have a different type of uniform we have to wear? You have to draw
a line someplace."

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of Minnesota's Council on AmericanIslamic Relations, said that USA Boxing's appeal to AIBA was the right move.
"You know, I think we are looking for an opportunity for this young girl to get
a chance to do what all young teenagers (do), especially girls who want to
play in this unique sport boxing and the only difference is that she's a
Muslim," Hussein said.
"Patient And Hopeful"
Amaiya is not the first athlete to fight to wear a hijab during sports. In the
spring of 2014, FIFA, the world soccer organization, lifted a ban on players
wearing religious head coverings during games.
So the teen focuses on her training, because boxing is something that is
always there for her. "If I'm in a bad mood, emotional or having a bad day,"
Amaiya said, her mother will tell her to go to the gym.
While her mother says the family is "patient and hopeful" that AIBA will
decide she can wear her hijab, Amaiya is taking her enthusiasm for the sport
in another direction. "I'm teaching a boxing class at the gym on Saturday
mornings," she said, "and I have eight (students) wearing hijab in the class."
Reproduced with permission. Copyright 2015 Washington Post. All rights
reserved.