CBUP Lesson Plan Template: EDIS 5401

Unit Working Title: “The Danger of a Single Story”: Confronting Stereotypes Through
Reading and Writing Personal Narratives

Unit “Big Idea” (Concept/Theme): Confronting stereotypes

Unit Primary Skill focus: Personal narrative and reflection

Week _1_ of 4; Plan #_1_ of 12; [90 mins.]

Plan type: ____Full-Detail _x___Summary

Content Requirement Satisfied: n/a

Unit Learning Objectives (numbered) [from my Backwards Design Unit Document],

followed by Specific lesson objectives (lettered) being taught in this lesson:

Cognitive (know/understand):

3. Students will know how to show respect in a community and to their peers.
a. Students will know classroom norms and routines that help maintain a respectful,
positive, and inclusive classroom community.

SOL’s: [List with numbers portrayed in the SOL document]

1. 10.1 The student will participate in, collaborate in, and report on small-group learning activities.

a) Assume responsibility for specific group tasks.

b) Collaborate in the preparation or summary of the group activity.
e) Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with diverse teams to accomplish a
common goal.
f) Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make
decisions, and solve problems.
g) Access, critically evaluate, and use information accurately to solve problems.
i) Use a variety of strategies to listen actively.

CCS’s: [List with numbers portrayed in the CCS document]

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 Summative

n/a first day of school

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 students—identify them by name)

What have you done (visible in the lesson plan procedures) that differentiates for the a)
readiness, b) interests, and/or c) learning environment for your profile students.

Student Name Readiness Interest Learning

Environment

Tyler Tyler can be disengaged if

he doesn’t see the relevance
of what he is learning.
Today’s lesson is very
personal to account for
adolescent perspective in
the classroom.
Jessica Jessica reads and writes
below grade level. I
will suggest books for
her that are
developmentally
appropriate but also on
grade level.
Jose The student interest
inventory will provide me
insight into ways to engage
Jose throughout the year.
Sarah Sarah loves to read and will
be excited her gets more
choice in texts this year.

Procedures/Instructional Strategies
Each step should have bolded heading that identifies the activity, and then is followed by the
teacher scripting, student and teacher actions, and a description of the activity.
[Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.]

Beginning Room Arrangement:

As base groups have not been assigned yet, students will sit wherever they like (desks are
arranged in groups of 4). Slides for the day will be projected up on the board.

1. [ 3 mins.] Welcome and Attendance

I will welcome students to the first day of school. I will take attendance and ask students their
preferred names.
I will introduce the essential question for the day: Why is reading important to my life? How do
I choose what books to read?

I will share the agenda for the day.

1. Icebreaker
2. Setup routines
3. Library – choice books and reading routines
4. Student interest inventory
5. Unit Promo

2. [25 mins.] Icebreaker – snowball fight

I will explain the snowball fight icebreaker which is a great way for students to learn a little
about each other and build community on the first day. Half of the students will get a colored
piece of paper and half of the students will get a white piece of paper. On the paper, students
will be instructed NOT to write their name on the paper but to write down:
- Something you did over summer break
- One of your yet-to-be accomplished #lifegoals
- Something you are looking forward to this school year

Students will then crumple up their paper into a snowball. Colored paper students will stand on
one side of the room; white paper on the opposite. Snowball fight ensues. In the end, students
must find a snowball of the opposite color they wrote on. Students must find the student whose
paper theirs belongs to. Then, take 4 minutes to learn more about their peer as they will
introduce them to the whole class and share what they wrote down. Students will go around and
introduce partners.

3. [5 mins.] Setup basic routines

I will introduce basic routines for getting attention (ring a bell) and leaving class to use the
restroom.

To help foster self-regulation and autonomy as well as reduce unnecessary disruptions to class
time, students will not have to ask me every time they need to go to the restroom. Instead, I will
have a sign-out sheet at the back of the classroom by the door with one bathroom pass. If a
student needs to use the restroom, they will note their name and the time before quietly grabbing
the pass and exiting the room. When the student returns, they will sign back in on the sheet. For
this policy, there will be added expectations that no one is allowed to leave for the first ten
minutes of class (which is a school wide rule and is a time period when directions and
explanations are usually made), students will only be gone for approximately two minutes, that
only one student is allowed to go at a time, and that students will not take advantage of my trust.
I will explain this routine and associated expectations, model how to properly fill out the form
via the Elmo document camera, and have students ask any clarifying questions.

4. [5 mins.] Setup technology routine

I will then go more into the technology routine and expectations for class time. I will take a poll
asking students if technology/cell phone use distracts them from learning? I will set the
expectation that technology should be used productively and purposefully for educational
pursuits in the classroom. Ask for student examples of appropriate and inappropriate tech use in
the classroom.

Set tech routine via stoplight visual on the board:

Students will get a 3 min break during the middleish of class. During this time, if they have been
following the tech norms, they may use tech for social purposes. I will also explain the
consequence – If cell phone or computers are used inappropriately in the class, individual
warnings will be issued but if it becomes a larger problem, break will be eliminated.

5. [25 mins.] Library for book talks and to choose choice books

5 min - Class will go to the library. I will explain that one of my goals is for students to develop
a love of reading and appreciation of literature. To do this, students will choose books to read
independently. To choose what books to read, they can browse the school library and the
classroom library. The teacher/librarian/peers will also conduct booktalks throughout the year to
peek student interest. Students will keep a running reading list to keep track of what books they
want to read next. Students can also ask the teacher for suggestions based on interests.
Although students have free range to choose their books (does not have to be canonical texts),
the books should be appropriate for their reading level.

10 min – I will book talk on 2 books and then show students 10 other suggested books,
categorized by genre to get students started/build excitement. Students will make note of what
books they want to read in their reading notebook.

10 min – Students will have 10 minutes to choose a book.

6. [5 mins.] Introduce student reading record and 30 min reading homework per
night
I will make a deal of sorts with students. Everyday students will show up to class and be
prepared to work diligently. If they do and complete assignments and progress toward learning
goals, most days students will only have 30 min of homework each day – to read their choice
book for 30 minutes. Occasionally, other homework will be assigned but all homework will be
purposeful. To keep track of the books they read, they will fill out a student reading record (I
will show them an example and pass out a copy to each student). My goal is to have them read
often, read well, and enjoy reading!

7. [13 mins.] SSR

I will setup the routine for Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) in the classroom. I will first ask
students if they know or think they know what to do in SSR. SSR involves silent reading for a
sustained period of time (often more than 10 minutes) and will help them build their reading
stamina, fluency, comprehension (and hopefully instill a passion for reading!). Students should
be reading quietly and independently so that they do not distract their peers. During SSR,
students can choose to move to a different space in the classroom (the reading area with the
couch and chairs or standing desks if they prefer some movement or even the floor), but they
should stick to one place after they decide. Some days, if the weather is nice, we will also go
outside to read and the expectations will be the same, with the addition that students must stay in
relatively close physical distance so that I can see everyone (I will set exact perimeters on the
day so they can clearly visualize the distance in the moment). I will explain that I will hold
reading conferences with students during this time and soft, classical music will play in the
background to help drown out the hushed tones of the conferences. I will have students
participate in SSR for 10 minutes after the explanation as practice. Students will participate in
SSR at least twice a week.

8. [2 mins.] Student interest inventory

I will pass out student interest inventory. I will explain that this will help me get to know a bit
about them, to see their interests in English, school, and out-of-school, and to help me assign
them to base groups. For homework, I will ask them to finish the inventory thoroughly and
thoughtfully.

9. [7 mins] Closure:

I will thank students for a great first day and remind them of homework – 30 minutes of reading
each night (so an hour before the next class) and to complete the student interest survey.

I will also show them the unit promo to build excitement for the unit.

References/resources:
Atwell, Book talks, reading list, student reading record
Pease, Snowball fight

Materials Needed (list):

Slides
Paper for snowball fight
Books for book talks and suggestions
Student reading notebooks
Student reading records
Student Interest Inventory
Unit Promo