Technology-infused Lesson Plan

 

LESSON PLAN (Quinn Blackley)

PLANNING

Date: 3/14/22

Class and Grade Level: 9^th Grade English

Title/Subject of Lesson:

Workshopping Personal Narratives inspired by Ghost & Pairing Narratives with Digital Media

Lesson planned for 80 minutes

 

State (or Common) Core Curriculum Standard(s):	Learning Target(s):	Assessment(s):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.   CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.   CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).	·       I can select and integrate details into my narrative. ·       I can organize my narrative to include a clear sequence of events. ·       I can identity areas in my writing to revise, edit, rewrite, and experiment with based on my intended purpose and audience. ·       I can identify my purpose and audience.	·       Students will practice identifying and writing precise language during our mini-lesson. ·       I will monitor workshopping sessions with students to see how they are applying the feedback steps we discussed. ·       Students will add “precise language” to their editor checklists to check whether they are able to integrate precise language into their final personal narratives. ·       Exit ticket with revision plan

Concept(s) to Be Taught:

·       Using precise language

·       Integrating telling details

·       Making the narrative multimodal through choosing an accompanying image

·       Giving, receiving, and implementing feedback

Rationale: The writing style used by Jason Reynolds throughout Ghost is very reflective of the personal narrative genre, which is a genre that hits on some of the critical core standards students need to practice and master. Of these, skills such as using precise language, selecting telling details, increasing digital literacy through pairing an image with the narrative, and using feedback in the revision process are all important to a student’s development as lifelong writers.

Materials Needed: First, I will need access to both the slideshows about 1)  precise language and 2) using images to add detail/context to narratives. Students will also need to access computers and the internet to work on their narratives.

Learning Strategies to Be Used:

·        Group discussion

·        Small group workshopping

·        Modeling

·        Looking at examples

 

Differentiation and Accommodations:

Culturally diverse learners: Students will have access to a variety of personal narratives written by authors of different cultural backgrounds to see how variable the presentation of their narrative may be, so they can tell their story in a culturally significant way.

ELL: Students whose native language is not English will be able to access copies of Ghost in their native language and may use google translate while writing their personal narratives when necessary.

Gifted learners: Gifted learners may add an additional writing goal to their editor’s checklist to add another challenge while writing and revising.

Learners with disabilities: Visually or auditory-impaired students can sit close to the board in class. Learners who have difficulty grasping the concepts can work with me one-on-one or work in partnerships of differing ability to get help from peers. When they create an individual goal for their editor’s checklist, they can choose a goal that appropriately challenges them.

PERFORMING

Announcements: N/A

Continuation from Previous Lesson: During last class, we started drafts of our personal narratives and talked about integrating sensory language into our stories. Today’s class is going to build on that as we talk about writing with precise language and what other important conventions we see in personal narratives as a genre.

Lesson Presentation:

A) Preparing for Learning

 

(3 min): So, in the last couple of classes we’ve had together, we’ve brainstormed for our personal narratives and by now we should all have a working draft. We also learned about incorporating sensory language into our personal narratives. Will everyone pull out their drafts and highlight any examples of sensory language they added in? We’ll be adding sensory language to our editor’s checklist so it’s important that we mark those moves now.

B) Directing the Learning

 Mini-lesson on using precise language (15 min): In addition to adding sensory language to our narratives, let’s consider another ingredient to add in. When you hear the word “precise,” what do you think of? [Allow students to think and then choose a couple people to respond.] Being precise means getting right to the point. It’s sort of like getting the most bang-for-your-buck with your words—choosing just a few words that go a long way. What’s the opposite of “precise”? [Allow students to think and then choose a couple people to respond.] The opposite of precise might be “wordy,” meaning there are a ton of words being used to describe something. It could mean too much detail or sensory language. Sometimes when we do too much of a good thing, we lose focus on the point of what we’re writing, right? The reader might get distracted. Let’s consult some models of precise language to see what it can do for our writing. [Begin the slideshow on precise language. The script for the slides is imbedded in the slides’ notes.] Now that you’ve found a place to integrate some precise language into your own personal narratives, pull out your editor’s checklists and add “precise language” to it. In your final draft of the personal narrative, you’ll need to highlight at least one example of precise language you wrote.

Making our narratives multimodal (20 minutes): If we zoom out and consider the conventions of the personal narrative genre, there’s another thing I want us to take into consideration. But first—what do I mean when I say “conventions”? [Call on someone to answer.] Conventions are like the “must haves” within a genre. So a convention for most any type of writing would be having a title, for example. A convention of haikus is the 5-7-5 syllables. When you think of a newspaper or a website, do you only see words? No. What else might you find? You’ll likely find an image to go along with most of the articles in a newspaper/website, right? Think back to the NYT award-winning personal narrative I had you read last night (flipped learning hw)! Did it have an image with it? Why do you think that image was added? Let’s look at some other ways authors make their writing multimodal by adding images. [Begin the slideshow on adding images to personal narrative. The script for the slides is imbedded in the slides’ notes.] Like the examples we’ve just looked at, choose an image that has some kind of connection to your narrative. What do you want your reader’s first impression to be when they see the title of your personal narrative and the image that comes along too? You’ll have the next 15 minutes to either find or create an image to attach to your personal narrative. So, make sure to get a chromebook to add this image to your draft.

Peer workshop time (30 minutes): Now we’ll be breaking into our peer workshop partnerships. If you need help remembering who your partner is, I’ve put the list up here by my desk. During our feedback time, let’s follow the TAG process—tell the author something you enjoyed about the writing and why, ask a question, and give an idea. Remember that our goals are to be kind, specific, and helpful. I’m going to write the TAG principles up here on the board so you can refer back to them. The other thing I had you do to prepare for class today was read your draft and come to class with at least one specific question you could ask your peer reviewer about your personal narrative (flipped hw). Use that as a starter for your conversation with your peer reviewer. Each narrative will be workshopped for 15 minutes, okay? So start by reading the whole thing through together, then the author may ask their prepared question. The remainder of that 15 minute chunk of time will be dedicated to TAGging. I’ll let you know when to switch to the second personal narrative.

Personal Writing Time (10 minutes): Each of you should have some feedback from workshopping with your peer reviewers. In the next 10 minutes, go to your draft and work on implementing that feedback. Make sure you are highlighting any items that appear on our editor’s checklist, too.

C) Reinforcing the Learning:

(2 minutes) Students will fill out an exit ticket 1) describing the steps of revision they took today and their revision plan moving forward in their draft and 2) explaining why they chose the image they did to pair with their personal narrative.

ATAWT: If there’s extra time left at the end, I’ll have students come and choose another personal narrative to read from a bank of hard copies I’ll have prepared at the front of class. I’ll invite them to consider how precise language is being used and think of anything they’d like to mimic in their own writing.

REFLECTING

Did the mini-lessons/content connect smoothly or did it seemed forced? Did students have enough time to workshop/write?