Writing Lesson Plan

EDIS 5401: English Education

Context:

Course name: Standard English 6

Grade level: 6
Length of lesson: 75 minutes

Students: 24 students of varying degrees of motivation and ability; 17 Caucasian

students, 3 African-American students, one Middle-Eastern student, two Hispanic
students, and one mixed-race student. The two Hispanic students are also English
Language Learners who often sit near one another and support one anothers
learning. Three students have IEPs. Most of the class reads at or below grade level
as determined by diagnostic reading assessments at the beginning of the year,
where students read passages and verbally answer questions about the passage
they have read. Many of them have proficient decoding skills, but struggle with
producing substantive meaning and connections to texts they are reading.

Current Unit: Inhabiting Perspective: Experiencing Life Through Literature:

Perspective, Voice, Empathy & Reading Strategies within the context of multicultural
texts

Context: This lesson will take place during the second week of classthe years first
week of real instruction. Students have already set up their Personal Writing
Response Journals on their Chromebooks in Google Classroom the previous week,
the infrastructure of which was introduced when students did initial writing
responses to their Cultural Artifact Icebreaker Activity. This lesson is following a
class period in which Think-Alouds are introduced as a reading strategy with Sandra
Cisneros short vignettes from The House on Mango Street: My Name and Boys
and Girls and a class period elaborating on text-coding connections with an excerpt
from Louise Erdrichs Chickadee. During this lesson, students will be responding to
instructor-written prompts paired with various paintings: one by Guatemalan artist
Paula Nicho Cumez called Mas All del Universo, which translates to Beyond the
Universe in English and the other an untitled piece by Ojibwe artist and storyteller
Nokomis. Students will be writing an Alternate Perspective Journal using these texts
in their Personal Writing Response Journals, which are to be revised with a grammar
mini-lesson the following class focusing on coordinating conjunctions.

This lesson is adapted from a lesson from the website Teaching Central America.

Virginia SOL(s):

6.7 The student will write narration, description, exposition and persuasion.
a) Identify audience and purpose.
b) Use a variety of prewriting strategies including graphic organizers to
generate
and organize ideas.
c) Organize writing structure to fit mode or topic.
 d) Establish a central idea and organization.
e) Compose a topic sentence or thesis statement if appropriate.
f) Write multiparagraph compositions with elaboration and unity.
g) Select vocabulary and information to enhance the central idea, tone, and
voice.
h) Expand and embed ideas by using modifiers, standard coordination, and
subordination in complete sentences.
i) Revise sentences for clarity of content including specific vocabulary and
information.
j) Use computer technology to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish writing.

Common Core State Standard(s):

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.A
Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a
narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally
and logically.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory
language to convey experiences and events.

Objectives:

Students will UNDERSTAND that:

1) Writing can be used as a way to occupy and explore different

perspectives.
2) Reading and writing is a way to practice empathy.
3) Difficult situations can be sources of inspiration for art and writing.

Students will KNOW that:

1) Artists emerge from all types of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

2) Literature, music, visual art and film are all forms of art that seek to
communicate a shared experience.

Students will FEEL (Affective):

1) Students will feel empowered through their writing of a narrative

considering a different perspective.
Students will be ABLE to:

1) Craft a narrative response piece using a mentor text, occupying a

perspective different from their own.
2) Interpret and respond in writing to Latin and Native American artwork in
different artistic mediums, including short stories, novel excerpts, and a
painting.

Assessments: Methods for evaluating each of the specific objectives listed

above.

DIAGNOSTIC: Students will demonstrate what they already know by

Initial observation during class, including conferencing during small-group
Think-Alouds the previous class, as well as the sample writing response from
the cultural artifact introduction activity serve as the diagnostic assessments.
o Experience with previous years indicates to the instructor that students
in the beginning of the year excel in creative writing projects though
concrete writing skills, including that of basic spelling and
grammar/punctuation conventions, are not strong. This was reinforced
this year by evaluation of sample writing responses from the cultural
artifact writing response.

FORMATIVE: Students will show their progress towards todays objectives by

Alternate Perspective Entry to Personal Writing Response Journal; students
will begin writing their Alternative Perspective Entries responding to Cumezs
painting with the guidance of a mentor text written by the instructor.
Students will be revising these entries and then selecting strong phrases from
their individual journal entries to use in their Found Poems. The Alternate
Perspective Entry will be considered a prompt for a Thought Log. [VSOL 6.7
b, d, f, g, h, j] [CCSS 6.3 A, D]
o Criteria for grading:
Is the student able to write a narrative from a different
perspective in the first person?
Does the students narrative have a beginning, middle and end?
Has the student attempted to include vivid details and
descriptions which are used to set and strengthen the narrative
scene?
o Students intial drafts will be evaluated based on a Narrative Writing
Checklist they are given.

SUMMATIVE: Students will ultimately be assessed (today or in a future lesson) on

these standards by
Submission of Final Draft of Found Poem; students will submit a final draft of a
Found Poem after two rounds of revision done in in-class workshop. The
Found Poem will be constructed from powerful words and phrases drawn from
perspective-based entries from their own Individual Personal Interpretation
Journals.
 Performance of Found Poem; on the last day of the unit, students will perform
their Found Poetry pieces to the class in a celebratory Poetry Jam.
Individual Personal Interpretation Journals (GoogleDocs); these will be
ongoing journals in which students include Thought Logs about class texts
as well as independent reading texts, responding to premade prompts or
making their own. Journals will be submitted bimonthly for completion grades
and again at the end of the semester to assess for quality of interpretation
and level of engagement in the journals cumulative entirety. Students will
have to integrate their use of reading strategies into their journal entries
especially logographs, which will have a staggered introduction at a later
time. Journals will also include a summative self-assessment in which they are
to reflect on how their reading and writing skills have improved throughout
the course of the unit. They will be able to use their self-assessments from
previous lessons as references. Feedback will be provided through a
summative statement and a rubric. [VSOL 6.7 b, d, f, g, h, j] [CCSS 6.3 A, D]
o Criteria for grading:
Is the student employing reading strategies thoughtfully?
Is the student able to use reading strategies to aid in his or her making
of connections, predictions or visualizations?
Has the student been questioning the text?
Is the student able to demonstrate progress in the utilization of reading
strategies to engage and make personal interpretations?
Is the student able to evaluate and compare different reading
strategies and how they align with scaffolding their personal
interpretation of the text? (Are they able to identify what works better
for them and what doesnt?)

Materials Needed:

Copies of:
o Alternate Perspective Journal Entry/Found Poetry Slam Handout
(APPENDIX A)
o Painting Slideshow (One slide with painting and medium, content
expressed below in APPENDIX B)
o Thinking about Paintings Handout (APPENDIX C)

Instructional Steps (Procedures): Detail student and teacher behavior.

Beginning Room Arrangement: The desks will be arranged in a seminar-style circle

and the digital projector will be on, showing the Cumez painting. One of the lights
will be cut off so that students will be able to see the slideshow. Every seat will have
a post-it note on the desk. On the whiteboard, have different sections written out
with the adjectives, Purposeful, Unsure, Homesick, Transported, and
Hopeful, along with their student-friendly definitions, with space underneath for
student votes. Students will also have copies of the two-sided Thinking About
Paintings handout and an index card the students will use as an entrance ticket.

I. Welcome/greeting/announcements (5 minutes)
I will greet my students at the door, encouraging them to take a seat, get settled
and get their agendas filled out and their materials ready for class. I will ask
students to start by looking at the painting and thinking of the question on the slide.

Hello everyone! Please write your name on the post-it on your desk and cast your
vote with the post-it in the space on the board corresponding to the answer to the
question on the slide that you most agree with. [Once students have all come in,
cast their votes and gotten settled in their seats, progress to the next part of the
Warm-Up Activity.]

II. Hook/bridge/opening to lesson (15 minutes)

Once you have cast your votes, Id like you to look even more closely at the
painting to find one detail from it that can describe why you chose to vote for that
particular adjective to describe the painting as a whole. Take one minute to look at
the painting and its details, thinking about why you picked the adjective you have
picked. [Take this minute to write this phrase up on the whiteboard: I chose the
adjective __________________ because in the painting, I can see
______________________.] Now, lets reflect on our thoughts in writing on the
entrance cards on your desks. [Hold up index card to demonstrate.] Up on the
board I have written out part of a sentence, and you can take two minutes to fill in
the blanks with your own thoughts! Write this sentence filled in with the adjective
you chose and the detail or details you found. We will talk about it more as a class
when the two minutes is up. Again, this will be on the blank, white side of the
handout on your desks. Alright, go! [Allow for students to write about the painting
using the sentence stem.] Okay, lets go ahead and come together as a class and
talk about what we see.

[Take this time to observe the classrooms votes, what they thought about the
painting and what details they drew out. Draw attention to the classrooms votes
was one adjective more popular than the others? Why? Talk about drawing out
evidence from the painting (details).]

So what we have found based on the casting of the post-it vote is that our
classroom represents a variety of interpretations of this one painting, but all (or
most!) of those interpretations are supported by evidence from the painting. This is
so much like reading and the experience of readingevery reader is bringing with
them a set of background and life experiences that are shaping the way they read,
or, the way they see a painting. Think of all the adjectives we dont even have listed
out! And then you will begin to get a sense of the relationship between someones
perspective and the world that they live in. Now that we have all of these great
ideas going, lets flip our handouts over to the page with the words on it, and you
will see we will be thinking more about paintingshow we can observe them and
the language we can use to talk about them. Today we are going to be talking a
little bit about two paintings: this painting here and also another painting by an
Ojibwe artist named Nokomis. [Flip to Nokomis Slide.] If you remember, Chickadee
and Makoons, the characters we were reading about last class from Louise Erdrichs
novel Chickadee, are both Ojibwe Native Americans!
 III. Cumez (25 minutes)

[Flip Now, this painting, if you havent already seen on the slide, was painted by a
woman named Paula Nicho Cumez, who is a Guatemalan painter. It is called Mas
All del Universo, which translates in English to Beyond the Universe. We have
already gotten started talking about some of the details that you all have drawn out
to cast your votes, and that is great material for this first thinking stem, which says,
In this painting I can see Now, take three minutes to write about what you can
see in the paintingwrite about it as if you are describing it to someone who cannot
see the painting, like you are describing it to them over the phone! What would you
say? Take three minutes to write in this space about what you can see. [Give
students three minutes to write.] Now, you are going to take another three minutes
to talk to your partner about what you can see in the painting. [Remind students
mid-way that they both should have a chance to talk. Take this opportunity to erase
the whiteboard.] Alright yall, what have we got? What did you and your partner talk
about that you saw in this painting? [Call on volunteers, write their ideas/details up
on the whiteboard. Do this many times, calling on pairs that have not participated.]
Thats great guys, you are doing a great job! [Repeat this model with the next two
stems, leaving the last one blank.]

You all have done some awesome thinking with this painting, and Im going to ask
you now to start thinking bigger. Whats the story of this painting? Who is this
woman, and what is happening? I would like for you to take a look at this last stem
and write for two minutes, imagining yourself in the painting, uncovering the bigger
story. [Give students two minutes to write. Repeat the procedure on the backside of
the handout sheet with the Nokomis painting.]

IV. Narrative Writing (30 minutes)

Alright everyone, now that weve adequately investigated our pieces of art, were
going to move on to the next part of our classthe writing. Weve already done
some discussing and reflecting on why reading is powerful. Hmm, can someone
refresh me on some reasons that reading can be powerful? Remember our
Buzzwords! [Point at Buzzwords on whiteboard, call on students to share how
reading can be a powerful experience and words can be a powerful tool. Scaffold
students with follow-up questions in a feedback loop to prompt more out of their
answers if necessary.] Yes! Reading can make us experience things weve never
experienced, go to places weve never gone or seen just by reading words on a
page! We can see inside the minds of characters who are similar to us and feel
comfort in that, we can see inside the minds of characters who are different than
we are and try to understand them. By reading books you are meeting people, you
are learning. You are exploring corners of the world, and you are finding out more
about yourself. You read and you learn and then you get to make choices about the
kind of person you want to be.

Now, what about writing then? Why dont you turn to your neighbor and talk about
your experiences with writing, inside of school or outside of it and what that has
been like for you. Take two minutes, starting now. [Give students time to talk,
regroup and discuss a bit as a class.]
Weve got great thoughts circulating about writing Some of them positive and
some of them maybe not positive just yet. But the truth about writing is that it is a
way to exercise your voice. You get to say what you want to say, you get to be
heard by the people that read you, you get to create something out of nothing! This
is what I will be asking you to do today: write creative pieces called Alternate
Perspective Journal entries based on the art weve looked at in class. [Pass out
Alternate Perspectives Handout with checklist.] The best part is, you get to choose
which painting you want to do the writing piece about. I want you to choose the one
that has a story which compels you most. Let me read to you the writing prompts
for either painting. [Read prompts aloud, have students follow along on their
handouts.] Again, please make a choice for the one with the story that speaks to
you. Take two minutes to read back over the prompts and decide which you want to
write about. [Give students time to decide.]

Alright, now that weve decided which prompts we are answering, please get out
your Chromebooks, go to your Individual Response Journals Folder in Google
Classroom, click on it and open up a new document. This document you will title
Alternate Perspective. [Write this on the whiteboard for students to reference.]
Here, you will start your journal with the stem at the bottom of the page, that says,
I can imagine myself in the painting, and I want you to imagine yourselves in
the story the prompt presents. If you are stumped, look back at your Thinking About
Paintings handout to draw out details of the painting you can write about. You can
even use the adjectives you chose at the beginning of the class period to describe
how you are feeling if you chose the first painting. Remember, because you are
writing from her point of view, you will be using the word I.

[Go over checklist criteria; allow students to begin writingthey do not have to be
rushed because the next day will be used for writing also. Conduct individual
conferences with students while they are writing to help them get started.]

V. Conclusion (15 minutes)

Thank you all for being great writers and observers today! I have had a great time
seeing how you all have been exercising your creative voices to inhabit new
perspectives. For homework this weekend please finish your first draft of your
Alternate Perspective Journal Entry! See you next week.

Attention to Individual Student Needs: Detail specific actions/materials

you will use to differentiate your instruction to meet various individuals
learning needs in this lesson.

I will give attention to individual student needs through thoughtful partnering,

modeling and explicit instruction, and extra support and scaffolding through
individual conferences. My students who are struggling a great deal with writing and
spelling, such as Betsy, my English Language Learners and my students with IEPs
will have the Chrome application called Chrome co-writer installed in their Google
Classrooms. My co-teacher will have helped with setting this up in the beginning of
the year for Cultural Artifact writing samples. I will also likely spend a little more
time with these students during conferencing to ensure that they understand the
assignment. I can give these students a three part flow-chart graphic organizer as
well in case they need more scaffolding to create a story with a beginning, middle
and end (see APPENDIX D).

I also want to give detailed and constructive feedback for cumulative journals when
they are submitted at the end of the semester, so that students can use that
feedback to grow in succeeding semesters. Depending on the level of feedback and
additional guidance and scaffolding the student needs, feedback could range from
solely instructor reflection/comments at the end of the journal to more intensive, in-
text feedback on some specific pieces to be gone over with me in individual
conferencing. In individual conferencing, we could develop an individualized list of a
students areas of growth and areas that are growing, and need more attention.
These could be the goals set for the next semesters journal.

Technology Use:

A digital projector will be used to display the paintings on a slideshow. Students will
use individual Chromebooks and Google Classroom to draft their narrative pieces.