Problem Based Enhanced Language Learning

iteachELLs, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University

Teacher: Grade/Subject:
Brent Cheatham, Danny Minks, Hannah Davis, Hannah 11th Grade American History
Day, Chandlar Stone, Kirtland Kack
Title of Experience/Topic:
Civil Problems and Rights
Problem
How do we encourage more civic involvement from all citizens?

Time Frame: ​1 class/60 min period

Content Standard(s):
● HS.C2.1 Explain the importance of individual participation in civic and political institutions.
● HS.C2.2 Analyze the role of citizens in the United States political system over time and compare this to
the role of citizens in other political systems
● HS.C2.6 Evaluate the contributions of individuals and groups, including Arizonans, who have played a
role in promoting civic and democratic principles.

Integrated Language Arts Standards):

● 11-12.RI.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves
matters uncertain. 11-12.RI.2 Determine and analyze the development and interaction of two or more
central ideas over the course of a text to provide a complex analysis or objective summary.
● 11-12.RI.3 Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals,
ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards):

Reading:
● B-11: reading high-frequency words.

Writing:
● B-7: writing a persuasive paragraph that states a position/claim and supports arguments with evidence.
● B-1: writing legibly in standard writing format.
● E-6: sequencing ideas into a cohesive, meaningful order, with instructional support.

Speaking/Listening:
● E-5: identifying the main ideas/concepts of presentations.
● E-6: responding to social conversations by rephrasing/ repeating information and asking questions.

 
  
1
Content Language Objective ​(Language Function + Content Stem + Supports ):​ (​​verbs should be in ​bold​​)
Students will be able to ​write​​ a persuasive paragraph (5-6 sentences) in a cohesive order on how to encourage
civil involvement ​using​​ the reading and video.

Sub-Objectives: (​​steps to achieving main objective – verbs should be in ​bold​​)

Students will ​demonstrate​​ the impact of the 15th and 19th amendments, Equal Right Amendment, and The
Civil Rights Act of 1964 by the activities.
Students will be able to ​discuss​​ as a group what new information they learned from reading.
Students will be able to ​annotate​​ their reading to determine what information they know and do not know.

Materials:
● https://www.nationalcivicleague.org/why-civic-engagement-matters/​- Why Civic Engagement Matters
● https://youtu.be/vPecVXLuyZY​-Why voting is important as Americans and Arizonans
Vocabulary taught prior to the experience
(Background):
● 15th Amendment to the US Constitution
● Equal Rights Amendment
● 19th Amendment to the US Constitution
● Civil Rights Act of 1964
Vocabulary developed during lesson:
Amendment: A specific change with legal process
to a document, and in this case, to the Constitution
of the United States.
Civics: The study of the rights and duties of
citizenship.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: Ended segregation in
public places as well as banned discrimination in
the workplace based on race, color, or ethnicity.
Citizen: a native or naturalized member of a state
or other political community
ERA/Equal Right Amendment: a proposed
amendment to the US Constitution stating that
civil rights may not be denied on the basis of one's
sex.
Natural Rights: A freedom people have relating to
life, liberty, and property.
Republic: A representative democracy where
citizens choose their lawmakers, such as the
United States.

Lesson Planning Considerations:

Academic Conversation:
What language function will students have the opportunity to practice? How will this language be explicitly
taught? How will this language be applied and practiced?
Students will be given lots of vocabulary to use and integrate into their assignments. These vocabulary words
will be words which deal specifically with civic engagement and its importance as a citizen of the United
States. The students will use this language to discuss and annotate their readings in a group and in class
discussions.
Ex: Civics: ​the study of the rights and duties of citizenship.

1
​ orld Class Instructional Design and Assessment Consortium (2012). ​Model Performance Indicator​. Retrieved
W
from ​https://www.wida.us/downloadLibrary.aspx  
 
  
Amendment: ​A specific change with legal process to a document, and in this case, to the Constitution of the
United States.

Establish the Problem:

How will prior knowledge be accessed? How will the problem be introduced to students? How will students
inquire about the problem (optional planning tool attached) How are students using language (reading, writing,
listening, and/or speaking) and how are they being supported?
Prior knowledge will be accessed with a review on previous lessons that discussed voting rights, particularly
pertaining to the causes and effects of the 15th and 19th amendments.

“Who should be allowed to vote?” is a question that even the most developed countries will continue to ask
themselves. But why?

Then the students will be presented with these scenarios: Four families with different backgrounds. Here is
some basic information to know about each one:
1. The Potter’s: Dual-parent family of 5.
a. Name-Title-Age
i. Harry-Father-45
ii. Ginny-Mother-38
iii. Luna-Daughter-19
iv. James-Son-18
v. Albus-Son-15
b. Birthplaces:
i. Harry: Continental U.S.
ii. Ginny: Nicaragua.
iii. Luna: Continental U.S.
iv. James: Continental U.S.
v. Albus: Continental U.S.
c. Citizenship:
i. Harry: U.S.
ii. Ginny: Permanent resident with no intention of gaining citizenship in the U.S. because
she cannot have dual citizenship with U.S. and Nicaragua. She wishes to maintain her
Nicaraguan citizenship because she has family there and does not want to lose her right
to vote with them.
iii. Luna: U.S.
iv. James: U.S.
v. Albus: U.S.
d. Criminal records: None.
e. Employment:
i. Harry: Magician.
ii. Ginny: Magician.
iii. Luna: Attending college/not employed.
iv. James: Attending high school/not employed.
v. Albus: Attending high school/not employed.
f. Ethnicity:
i. Harry: Third generation U.S. born. Identifies as White.
ii. Ginny: Latin-American heritage. Identifies as Latino.
iii. Luna: Identifies as white, but has obvious Latin features like her mother.
 
  
iv. James: Identifies as white, with fair skin like his father.
v. Albus: Identifies as white, with fair skin like his father.
2. The Addams’s: Dual-parent family of 4.
a. Name-Title-Age
i. Gomez-Father-50
ii. Morticia-Mother-45
iii. Wednesday-Daughter-24
iv. Pugsley-Son-17
b. Birthplaces: All born in the continental U.S.
c. Citizenship: All U.S. citizens.
d. Criminal records: None.
e. Employment:
i. Gomez: Investor, philanthropist.
ii. Morticia: Home maker.
iii. Wednesday: Unemployed, still lives at home.
iv. Pugsley: Graduated 1 year early from high school, leaving for college in the fall.
f. Ethnicity:
i. Gomez: First generation U.S. born. Identifies as African-American.
ii. Morticia: Heritage traces back to U.S. slavery. Identifies as African-American.
iii. Wednesday: Identifies as African-American.
iv. Pugsley: Identifies as African-American.
3. The Jones’s: Single-mother family of 4.
a. Name-Title-Age
i. Casey-Father-Deceased
ii. April-Mother-35
iii. Raphaela-Daughter-19
iv. Mikey-Son-18
v. Donny-Son-16
b. Birthplaces: All born in the continental U.S.
c. Citizenship: All U.S. citizens.
d. Criminal records:
i. April: 1 felony, assault.
ii. Raphaela: 1 misdemeanor, burglary.
iii. Mikey: No criminal record.
iv. Donny: Minor. No record available.
e. Employment:
i. April: Currently unemployed and on welfare.
ii. Raphaela: Fast food worker.
iii. Mikey: Hardware store worker.
iv. Donny: Movie theater worker.
f. Ethnicity:
i. Casey: Heritage traced back to U.S. slavery. Identified as African-American.
ii. April: Fourth generation U.S. born German-American. Identifies as White.
iii. Raphaela: Olive complexion, with many of her mother’s features. Identifies as
African-American but has been mistakenly identified as a White person on several
occasions.
iv. Mikey: Closer to father’s complexion. Identifies as African-American.
v. Donny: Closer to father’s complexion. Identifies as African-American.
 
  
4. The Grey’s: Dual parent family of 3.
a. Name-Title-Age
i. John-Father-30
ii. Elaine-Mother-26
iii. Jean-Daughter-9
b. Birthplaces:
i. John: Continental U.S.
ii. Elaine: Unknown. Speaks spanish more fluently than english.
iii. Jean: Continental U.S.
c. Citizenship:
i. John: U.S.
ii. Elaine: No valid I.D.
iii. Jean: U.S.
d. Criminal records:
i. John: 1 felony, loitering. 2 misdemeanors, public drunkenness & disorderly conduct.
ii. Elaine: 2 misdemeanors, public drunkenness & disorderly conduct.
iii. Jean: Minor. No record available.
e. Employment: Unemployed and homeless.

Now present the following tasks/questions:

1. Identify who, in each family, currently have the right to vote in federal and state elections and explain
why.
2. Who, in each family, would have been able to vote in 1850? 1900? 1950?
3. If you could change laws for voting rights, would you grant/take away the right to vote to/from anyone
in these scenarios?
Creating the Experience:
How will students work together to develop and present solutions? How are students using language (reading,
writing, listening, and/or speaking) and how are they being supported?

Listening-Students will practice their listening by participating in their group discussions and listening to their
peer’s presentations. Also, students will be able to listen and watch the video above, gather, and discuss their
thoughts from it.
Reading-Students will practice their reading by reading and annotating the article above. Students will be
given the opportunity to work with others.
Writing-Students will practice their writing in the warm up, the exit ticket, making a poster, and note taking.
Speaking-Students will have to discuss as well as present their information to the class and in small groups.
Support: Students will be discussing with partners or groups based on their language proficiency to encourage
cooperative learning and to help students.

Evaluate:
When and how will you use formative and summative assessments to measure student progress and learning
(content and language)?

Formative: -We will give the students an exit ticket that they will have to fill out before they leave the room.
the exit ticket will have space for the students to say ‘what they think one way to improve civic involvement
is?’ Warm up: Have the students write about one amendment that they know and like relating to civic
involvement(voting rights, women's rights…).
 
  
Summative: The students will be given a short test covering the content from the entire lesson at the end of the
unit.

Lesson Plan Step-by-step instructions:

Engage:
How will you introduce the lesson/engage the learners to either build background knowledge and/or build on
background knowledge?
Teacher will:
● Teacher will have the students pull up the
video link on devices, and watch it and pay
attention to key topics and points.
● The teacher will go over class expectations
and rules for using technology in class
Explore:
How will students explore the problem/concepts to find a purpose for learning the content vocabulary?
Teacher will:
● Provide students with the article to read
online.
● Provide students with a printed copy of online
article as well (for ELLs, 504s, and IEPs)
● The teacher will go over class expectations
and rules for reading articles as groups
Student will:
● Students will be put into groups of four with at
least one member being an ELL student (and no
more than two).
● Students will watch the video, analyze the topic
and content. Students will take notes during the
video.
● After the video, students will share one thing
they learned with group members. Closed
Captions will be available so that students can
read as well as listen (for ELLs, 504s and/or
IEPs)
Student will:
● Students will be put into groups of four with at
least one member being an ELL student (and
no more than two). Using three different
highlighters, students will annotate the article
using a color-code system.
○ Pink-newly discovered words
○ Yellow-questions or topics questioning
○ Blue-Main ideas

Explain:
How will students learn the key vocabulary? This is the direct instruction part of the lesson to ensure all
students have access to all the content and key vocabulary to support the understanding of the content
Teacher will: Student will:
● The teacher will go over class expectations ● Students will be given a list of vocabulary
and rules for class discussions and give the words from the unit.
students the problem again: How do we ● Using these words to help the discussion,
encourage more civic involvement from all students will discuss the article they read, the
citizens? video they watched, and ideas they have to fix
● The teacher will monitor the students to the problem: How do we encourage more civic
ensure that they stay on task. involvement from all citizens?
 

Elaborate:
How will students move the learning from short term to long term memory to ensure they KNOW the content?
Teacher will:
● The teacher will go over class expectations
and rules for class discussions.
● The teacher will monitor the students to
ensure that they stay on task.
Evaluate:
How will you use formative and summative assessments to measure content and language objectives?
Teacher will:
● The teacher will monitor and facilitate the
discussions.
● The presentation will be a summative
assessment.
● The presentation reflections and exit ticket
will be formative assessments.
Student will:
● As a group, students will write down their
solutions to the problem on a poster.
● Students will need to incorporate at least 2 out of
the 3 persuasive methods in their
poster/presentation: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
● Students will be given different colored markers
and will be encouraged to get creative with their
display of their solutions to the problem.
Student will:
● Each group will present their poster to the
class. Every member must speak in the
presentation.
● During the presentations, students watching
the presentation must individually put their
thoughts and questions into a graphic
organizer that they create on Popplet.
● Students will complete an exit ticket, as a
group, answering the following questions in a
paragraph.
○ They will need to mention 2-3 points
from the article and 2-3 points from the
video in their answers. 1. Explain the
importance of individual participation
in civic and political institutions 2.
What is the role of citizens in the
United States political system? 3. List
2-3 contributions of individuals and
groups, including Arizonans, who have
played a role in promoting civic and
democratic principles.
  

Post teach Reflection:​​ (should be done after teaching this lesson in your classroom OR as a micro teach)

I taught this lesson in my internship on Friday, November 9th. Since I am currently teaching High School
seniors, the problem was very engaging to them, even for the 2 ELLs in the classroom. Many of my students
come from a variety of backgrounds, so the activites really sparked their interest and engagement. For the
ELLs in the classroom, their biggest struggle was during the presentation. It appeared that they were rather
nervous to discuss up front of their peers at first. However, after some encouragement from myself and the
class, they powered through it and the presentations went very well. After they shared their posters, I hung
them up around the room to be on display so students could walk around and read them closer, take pictures of
them, etc. if they wanted to. I spoke with the 2 ELLs in my classroom about what they thought about the
lesson, and they really liked all of the group work and the color-coding incorporated into the lesson. They said
it made them feel more included in the learning and that it was more fun. In my classroom in the future, I will
continue to incorporate as many group work opportunities as I can.