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 _2_ of 4; Plan #_4_ of 12; [90 mins.]

Plan type: __x__Full-Detail ____Summary

Content Requirement Satisfied: Reading experience, vocabulary instruction

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

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

Cognitive (know/understand):
2. Students will understand that if they only see people through stereotypes, they don’t get to see
how multifaceted people are.
a) Students will understand “the danger of a single story” or single perspective (Adichie).

Performance (do):
5.Students will be able to explain how people/characters are more than their single story/stereotype and
are multifaceted.
a. Students will be able to identify stereotypes that are untrue and unjust

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

10.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze literary texts of different cultures and eras.
m) Use reading strategies to monitor comprehension throughout the reading process.

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

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.6
Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from
outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.

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.

Formative Assessments:

Title of assessment tool: Headline of “The Danger of a Single Story”

Students will demonstrate what they already know about how people/characters are more
than their single story/stereotype and are multifaceted by completing the Do Now
headline activity today (objective 2a, 5a)
 Criteria: Looked for insights that people are more than just their stereotype and are
multifaceted in their small group discussions as well as in the headline they create

How data will be used: To address misconceptions immediately before moving to reading
next text

How students will receive feedback: Immediate verbal feedback

Title of assessment tool: Debrief and Annotations

Students will show their progress toward understanding how people/characters are more
than their single story/stereotype and are multifaceted by debriefing as a small group and
whole class after reading part of the excerpt of Kaffir Boy and by reviewing their
annotations (objective 2a, 5a)

Criteria: A thoughtful insights that use specific examples from the text and relates it to
their current understandings of stereotypes.

How data will be used: To see tracks of their thinking and decide what to mini-lesson
about next class before continuing to read/annotate.

How students will receive feedback: Verbal feedback via the group observation form on
the debrief and written feedback on their annotations (via sticky notes).

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 is often disengaged so

chose a culturally diverse
personal narrative related to
adolescent disinterest in
education to hope that he
sees himself in the text and
encourage more
engagement and
participation.
Jessica Jessica reads and writes
below grade level. The
vocabulary frontloading
and annotating will help
scaffold her reading.
Jose Jose is an ELL whose
English vocabulary may
not be adequate for
 comprehending this text;
thus, this lesson will
help build his
vocabulary and help his
reading comprehension.
Sarah There is flexibility in
today’s lesson so Sarah
can read as quickly as
she wants and make as
many annotations as she
wants.

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:

Students will be seated in their 4 person base groups (1 group of 5). The Do Now will be
projected up on the board via the slides (see Appendix A).

1. [3 mins.] Welcome, learning target and classroom norms

As students enter the room, I greet them by name and exchange a few pleasantries.

Good morning everyone, welcome to our 4th class of year! Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Take a minute or two to share with your base group one fun thing you did over the weekend.
[Allow 1-2 minutes to share. Teacher joins a base group and listens in and shares her own as
well].

Okay so today our learning target is: Students will be able to identify stereotypes in a text and
explain why the author chooses to include them. This lesson will go over two days (today and
Thursday).

2. [7 mins.] Classroom norms

But before we jump into the lesson today, I want to show you the classroom norms that y’all co-
created last week. You all did such a great job! Over the weekend, I read over the ones you
brainstorm and synthesized them into 2 main classroom norms that are overarching and
memorable.

And I want to review them now [projected on slides and read aloud while giving the rationale
behind them]. .
Classroom Norms Rationale

Participate to the fullest extent possible
For the classroom to run efficiently and for you get
the most out of your learning, you need to
participate to the fullest extent possible. This
includes coming to class prepared to learn, having
done homework/readings and with notetaking
 (writer’s notebook and pencil) and course
materials. This also includes arriving to class on
time, following teacher directions, engaging in
classwork, and participating in discussions. If you
do not participate, you are depriving yourself of
the opportunity to learn and for others to learn
from you. I will have a class participation grade so
you will be graded on this expectation as well.

Be kind and show respect to one another
Respect is a hallmark of the English classroom. In
order for us to have thoughtful discussions and
read diverse texts, we need to show respect to our
peers and our community. Part of this expectation
is learning how to judge/evaluate ideas (not the
person) and to listen to and seek out diverse
perspectives. “Home Court” is a major part of this
norm

These are super important in order for our classroom community to function. We will be
practicing how to maintain these norms throughout the year and you are always practicing
showing respect through our home court philosophy. Does anyone have any questions about
how to uphold these norms at this time? [Pause for questions}.

3. [7 mins.] Opening to Lesson: Danger of a Single Story Headline

[4 min] Introduce and Group Brainstorm

Now to transition: Last class, we watched and discussed Adichie’s TedTalk “The Danger of a
Single Story.” In your base groups, I want you to take 4 minutes to create a newspaper headline
or a bumper sticker that attempts to answer the question: what is the danger of the single story?
Or to rephrase it: why is a single narrative of a person dangerous? Headlines and bumper
stickers are short, to the point, and should be attention grabbing so keep that in mind as you
brainstorm. After you write your headline, each group with share it with the class. Do you have
any questions about what you are supposed to do before you jump into it? [Allow for wait time].
Okay a timer is up on the board to help you keep track of your time. Please begin and I will
walk around to help out if necessary.

[Teacher circles around to answer any questions that may arise and listen in for potential
misunderstandings in order to redirect instantaneously. Teacher reminds students when there is
1-minute left. If students seem to need more time, add on 1-2 minutes].

[3 min] Share
Thanks everyone for working so diligently. I heard some great thinking as I walked around and I
can’t wait for everyone else to hear your headlines. Let’s start with group #6 and go in reverse
order today for sharing. Can I have a volunteer from group #6, share their headline? [Go
around until every group has shared. If no one volunteers from a group, ask a specific student
(by name) to share.]

Thank you all for sharing and thank you for being attentive listeners as others shared. I heard a
lot of you say that the danger of a single story or single narrative of a person is that it creates
stereotypes by showing only one side or facet of that person. Remember what Adichie said: “the
problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one
story become the only story.”

4. [6 mins.] Pre-reading activity: Build background knowledge of South Africa and

Apartheid – Legalized Racism

Now Adichie is from the country of Nigeria and today we are going to start reading a text from a
South African author (show map of Africa on slides). Has anyone ever been to South Africa?
[Pause and scan for hands. If anyone has, allow them to share a little about their experience or
what they know about South Africa]. I haven’t been to South Africa but I have a friend who
lived there after college for a few months and then recently traveled back there for her
honeymoon [show some pictures from her trip]. Mark Mathabane, the author of the
autobiography we are going to read a chapter of today, grew up in a very different time and a
very vastly different place (show picture of “ghetto” of Alexandra). What do you notice about
these pictures?

Mathabane’s autobiography Kaffir Boy is about his childhood growing up in poverty-stricken

South Africa under the apartheid regime. Does anyone know what “apartheid” means or the
historical context? [Allow for wait time]. Mathabane calls the apartheid system legalized
racism. In 1948, the National Party gained power in South Africa and its all-white government
began enforcing policies of racial segregation under legislation called apartheid. This
segregation resulted in many negative consequences for Black communities – stripping them of
land, discriminatory laws that resulted in segregated neighborhoods or ghettos, and limited
educational and employment opportunities. The apartheid lasted from 1949 – 1991 (which is not
that long ago).

5. [22 mins.] Pre-reading activity: Probable passage

Probably passage = formative assessment, sets purpose, builds background knowledge, make
predictions and inferences, build vocabulary

[10 min] Introduce activity and model thinking

Before we read the excerpt, I want to help you set the stage and define unknown vocabulary you
may come across while reading. To accomplish this, we are going to complete a pre-reading
activity called a probable passage. Can I see a show of hands: who has done a probable passage
before? [Pause and scan for raised hands]. Great. And for those of you that have not, I will give
directions and model my thinking before you begin. It is a fun activity that will allow you to
work together in your base groups and begin to make predictions and inferences about the text.
[Pass out probable passage handout – appendix B].

Alright take a look at the handout I just passed around. I identified words from the text that are
important to your understanding of it. I want you to group them into the categories on the
handout. Work collectively in your base group to place each word in only one of the boxes – so
either characters, setting, problems, or outcomes/solutions. Any words you absolutely don’t
know the meaning of, place in the unknown words box. How many times can you put a word in a
box? [Call on one student – 1]. Yes, remember that you can only write down/place a word in
one box – no repeated words allowed! Then, in the “To Discover” section, I want you to write
down questions that have sprung up in your mind. These questions may stem from how certain
words relate to each other or what you now want to know about a certain character or problem.
Then, brainstorm a “gist statement” – one or two sentences that describe what you think the
story is about. A gist is the essence or main idea of something. I know I just threw a lot of
directions at you, but they will be projected up on the board if you get lost and I am going to
model some of my own thinking as well now. But as of right now, does anyone have any
immediate questions? [Teacher will provide some wait time for students to ask questions].

Written up on the board are the words you will be working with today:

gang
lobala
tribe
education
illiterate
matriarch
Kaffir
vice
shebeen
tsosti
bewildered
tyrannous
Alight, now I am going to model how I would go about deciding where to place some words
[project copy of handout on board and write on copy as thinking]. I’m going to begin with
“gang.” I know the simple, stereotypical definition of a gang from movies and even the news – a
group of bad guys, thugs, or criminals. I know that this text is set in South Africa, and I’m not
sure gang means the exact same thing there as it does here, but nevertheless, I would predict that
it still has a negative connotation. I think gang could go in the characters box (aka gang
members) or the problem box (gangs of criminals and thugs are usually dangerous and the cause
of many problems). Since I can only put the word in one box, I am going to write it under
problem. Now, I’m going to consider the word lobala. I’m predicting it is an African term and
since I am unfamiliar with it (and can’t even infer it’s meaning based on a root word or affix), I
am going to place it in the unknown words box. Does anyone have any questions about how to
go about categorizing the words? Let’s do tribe together. Take 30 seconds to chat with your
elbow partner about where you would place tribe and then I’ll ask someone to share. [Allow 30
seconds of partner talk].

Okay who would like to explain their thinking? [Call on a few students to get diverse
perspectives flowing].

• S1: Well I think a tribe is like a family or group of people. So I would put it under
characters.
• S2: I think of a tribe as more like a place or setting where a community lives so I would
put it under setting.
• S3: Maybe it could also be a problem. I’ve read about tribal fighting being prevalent in
my history classes.

Thank you for sharing those insightful predictions. Does anyone have any additional questions
before you begin working in your groups?

• Do we all have to agree and have the exact same sheet? No, after you discuss, feel free to
place words where you personally think they fit best. But I will ask for you to read out
only one gist statement to the class so make sure you decide on one if you all have
divergent thinking.

[10 min] Group work to complete activity

I will be circling around to help y’all out in any way I can. I predict that you may have some
questions about the discover questions and gist statement once you get around to it so please
raise your hand if you do. And please note that there are no definitively right answers here –
none of us could possibly predict exactly what’s going to happen in the text. The main objective
of this activity is to get you to start making predictions about these words in terms of the text and
get you to identify unknown words. You have 10 minutes to complete the probable passage,
beginning now. [Teacher sets timer and walks around to answer questions and probe thinking if
necessary. At the 2-minute remaining mark, suggest that students begin writing their gist
statements if they haven’t already.]

[2 min] Introduce activity and model thinking

Alright class, let’s come back together now. I am eagerly awaiting to hear your gist statements.
Which group wants to share first? [Each group shares gist statement.]
 6. [8 mins.] Address unknown vocabulary

While I walked around, I noticed most of you identified the same words as unknown words and
they are the African terms – shebeen, tsosti, lobala, and Kaffir. I tried to give you a hint that a
Kaffir is a person by capitalizing the K. Did anyone have a prediction or guess about the
meaning of any of those words?

• S1: Yeah from the title I thought Kaffir was a boy so I put it under characters.
• S2: I think shebeen is a restaurant or place to eat and drink. There is a South African
restaurant and pub called Shebeen in Charlottesville that I have been to with my parents.

Awesome, great inferences – you are definitely on the right track. Here are the basic definitions
for these vocab terms. Please write them down on your handout – you may need to write them
down on the back if you don’t have the room.
• shebeens - establishments where liquor is sold without a license
• tsosti - a thug armed, often armed with a weapon such as a knife
• lobala - bride price
• Kaffir – a South African racial slur, most often used by White people to refer to Black
people

Now, that you know the definitions of these African terms, please take 2 minutes to revise your
gist statements with your base groups.

7. [3 mins.] Three-minute break

Y’all have been working so diligently today; I am very impressed! Now that we are into our
second week of school and getting into the rhythm of class, we are going to start having our 3
minute break in the middleish of class. This is a great time to stretch your legs, to use restroom
(during this time more than just one can leave the room at a time to use the restroom but please
be quiet in the hallway so you do not disturb others), get water, chit-chat to friends or ask me
any questions. I will also play a student’s favorite song (from student interest survey). Who can
remind the class about how tech routine and norms? [If students are following tech norms
throughout the lesson, they may use this time to check their cell phones or other tech for social
purposes.]. Since I haven’t seen people misusing tech, you may also use your devices for social
purposes at this time. But once the 3 min break is over, your phones should be put away again.

[Three-minute break to stretch legs, use restroom, get water, chit-chat. Play a student’s favorite
song. ]

8. [15 mins.] Introduce and model reading activity: Annotation

Alright guys, hope you had a nice quick break and are ready to focus back on our reading
experience. To help start you off on this reading journey, I am going to read to you the first 2
pages of this excerpt that I passing out now [pass out excerpt – appendix C]. As I read, I want
you to follow along and circle any words you do not know. I will not only read the text but also
model a reading strategy to you –annotating a text which means stopping to think and take notes
on the page as you read. Sometimes, you can annotate directly on the page or, if the text needs
to be reused, you can annotate on sticky notes. Have you used this reading strategy of
annotation in any of your previous classes? [Scan for raised hands and call on 1-2 students to
share their experiences with annotating texts].

Annotating is really important when reading because it allows you to think critically about the
text and to have a conversation with it of sorts. Like you, I will circle words I don’t know, or I
may write questions or thoughts I have about the text in the margins. I also will try to underline
parts that reflect prejudices or stereotypes of:
• Black people/children
• White people
• education/school
• women

[Read page 1-2 and model annotating, particularly stopping to provide definitions of any
additional terms they may find unfamiliar and allowing the opportunity for students to use their
phones/chromebooks to look up a few definitions as well to share with me and the class. I will
also underline for our specific reading purpose (look for prejudices against/stereotypes of Black
people/children, White people, education/school, women) and write down questions. I will
encourage students to practice annotating with me as they will be tasked with completing
annotations when they read the rest of the chapter].

9. [10 mins.] Independent reading/annotation of next 5ish pages

Now, I want you to take the next 10 minutes to continue reading and annotating the excerpt.
Please continue to annotate/write directly on the text. Up on the board, I have the 3 specific
things I want you to do this go round of annotating:
1. circling words you don’t know – look them up!
2. writing down questions or thoughts in margins
3. underline for reading purpose: look for prejudices against/stereotypes of Black
people/children, White people, education/school, women

Does anyone have any questions before you begin this independent work? [Answer any
questions]. I will come around to answer any questions that may arise and check-in informally
with individuals as you work. [Students read and annotate independently. Teacher checks in on
progress—providing feedback on annotations and questions to probe thinking--and answers
questions.].

10. [ 4 mins.] Base Group Debrief:

Now that you have had a chance to read more of the text, I want you to debrief your insights with
your base group: please take 5 minutes to share what stereotypes and prejudices you found so
far and how they relate to the danger of a single story. [Students discuss in base groups.
Teacher walks around to assess student understanding, provide some immediate feedback, and
keep track of learning and respectful interaction via a group observation form].

11. [ 5 mins.] Whole Class Debrief:

As I walked around, I saw evidence of y’all making good progress towards annotating and
having conservations with the text as well as with working with your base groups. Oftentimes, as
I walk around during your small group debrief, I will collect notes: what you did well and some
general things we need to work on. Today, I had the following observations (use document
camera to project appendix D on the board. Use insightful student quotes to highlight and
review important content and use things to work on to help inform instruction for following day.
Allow students to respond within this whole class debrief).

Tomorrow, we will finish reading and annotating the chapter. For now, can you please pass up
your excerpts? I will review them before our next class to give you some feedback to help you
continue to progress in your annotating and constructing meaning of the text.

For homework, please read your choice book for at least 30 minutes!

You may pack up now. Thank you all for today! Please drop me an email or stop if any
questions come up before next class.

Resources/references
Tovani, So What Do They Really Know, Group observation form
Beers, When Kids Can’t Read What Teachers Can Do, Probable passage

Materials Appendix: (e.g., supplementary texts, Ppts, overheads, graphic organizers,

handouts, etc.)

Appendix A: Slides
Appendix B: Probable Passage Handout
Appendix C: Excerpt from Kaffir Boy from World Writers Today – Chapter 21
Appendix D: Group observation form
Appendix B: Probable Passage Handout

Probable Passage

Title of Selection: ____________________________________________

Character Setting Problems

Outcomes/Solutions Unknown Words To Discover…

1.

2.

Gist Statement (Prediction about what you will read)…

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Adapted from When Kids Can’t Read What Teachers Can Do Kylene Beers