Collaboration for all Learners - Unit Plan

Objective/s: Students will determine the theme/central idea of a text and be able to show their thought processes through graphic organizers. By the end, students will learn to use at least one type of graphic organizer to study.

Standards: (Include complete standard)

LAFS.7.RL.1.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

Materials:

Whiteboard

Projector

Laptop/computer (teacher’s)

Copy of “The Little Red Riding Hood”

Graphic organizers printed on paper (1 per student available)

Assistive technology (4 speech-to-text tablets and online graphic organizers)

Computer lab

Accommodations:

Relevant topics to relate with students

Verbal guidance explaining each task to be done

Numerous ways to complete assignment (can be digital, completed with AT, written)

Two different graphic organizers to choose from

Computer access

(Scenario accommodations):

Frequent breaks to complete tasks

Distracting items or noises in classroom eliminated/limited

Allowed extra time to complete graphic organizers

Positive reinforcement and positive feedback

Assistive technology (speech-to-text and text-to-speech)

Set: Teacher will ask students what their favorite childhood story is. As students bring up their memories, the teacher will ask them what the main plot was of those stories to get them in the right frame of mind for the lesson. The teacher will share the historical background of the stories and their authors when applicable. Then, the teacher will introduce The Little Red Riding Hood.

Modeled Instruction / Demonstrate: When the first student shares their childhood story, the teacher will make two different graphic organizers (sequence chart and main idea web) and follow along with that student. This is a demonstration of how to use the graphic organizers.

Shared Instruction / Guide: The teacher will make several web charts and sequence charts on the board and fill out the spaces as students describe their favorite childhood stories. Together the teacher and students will decide what material is written on which side of these graphic organizers. Students may also write on the board if they request.

Guided Practice / Collaborative Learning: Students will read The Little Red Riding Hood in turns alongside the teacher. The teacher will take breaks for students to write in their own graphic organizer. Together, students and teachers will research the historical background of the author and time period. Students will use ½ graphic organizers shown earlier in the lesson.

Independent Practice / Independent Learning: Students use their own graphic organizer and read another European folktale from that time of their choice. Alongside that, students will break out into groups and research the historical background of the authors and the time when the story of their choice was written. They can share their research with one another.

Closure: Students will effectively retell the main plot of their story and the historical background of it in a minimum of 3 paragraphs, using their graphic organizers as outlines.

Assessment:

#1 Students will complete ½ graphic organizers as they read the story.

#2 Students will write an essay of ⅗ paragraphs detailing the main plot and historical background of their story.

Reflection: (To be completed at the end of lesson; Be sure to be reflective about your teaching behaviors and student outcomes (academic and behavioral).

If students do not respond as expected in this assessment, the teacher will work with students using a sequence chart to write about the historical backgrounds of some of their stories. If specific students need more assistance on their own stories, the teacher will break out into a group with those students.

Objective/s: Students will be able to point out key aspects of drama/poetry structure and how it creates the writing’s meaning.

Standards: (Include complete standard)

LAFS.7.RL.2.5 Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.

Materials:

Whiteboard

Projector

Laptop/computer (teacher’s)

Copies of the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

Highlighters, pens, pencils (to annotate papers)

Multiple choice quizzes printed

Assistive technology (4 speech-to-text tablets)

Tablets/phones allowed to access online quiz documents

Accommodations:

Relevant topics to relate with students so that poem’s language is not too confusing

Guided analysis of poem with students

Verbal guidance explaining each task to be done

Numerous ways to complete assignment (can use AT, write, or type)

Students put in groups to use each other’s strengths

(Scenario accommodations):

Frequent breaks to complete tasks

Preferential setting when writing about poem

Mixed-ability groups

Limited to no noise distractions

Multiple choice quizzes can be completed orally or on tablets/phones

Allowed extra time to complete quizzes and tasks

Positive reinforcement and positive feedback

Assistive technology (speech-to-text and text-to-speech)

Set: The teacher will ask students about their experiences with having to make big decisions. For example: “Did you have another school your parents were thinking of sending you to? Have you ever had to decide between two options? How did that change your life? How do you think things would have turned out had you chosen the other option?”

Modeled Instruction / Demonstrate: The teacher will read Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s “It Might Have Been” to the class. The teacher will explain how this poem relates to the conversation they had at the start of the lesson.

Shared Instruction / Guide: Teacher will demonstrate how to make a main idea web chart for the poem. The teacher will elude to the first lesson to refresh students on how to use this graphic organizer for poetry, and how it is a versatile tool. The teacher will then speak about how poetry has a particular rhythm and flow compared to narrative stories and dissect one stanza using the annotation tools listed above. There are 4 stanzas in total in this particular poem.

Guided Practice / Collaborative Learning: Students will dissect the remaining 3 stanzas of the poem in 3 mixed-ability groups. This will be a short activity and each group will share one brainstorming paper to share with the teacher or present to the class. Together each group will write about the particular language and spacing/breathing used in the poem and how it contributes to its atmosphere and significance.

Independent Practice / Independent Learning: On their own, students will read the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost and annotate the stanzas given the knowledge they have. The teacher will walk around and assist students who need it, and give frequent breaks as well as positive reinforcement to those who are participating. Students will then discuss amongst each other their findings. Students will annotate 2/4 stanzas. They will highlight 4/6 quotes from the poem.

Closure: The teacher will pass out multiple choice question papers to each student. There will be 10 multiple choice questions and one written portion. Students will not be graded but will serve as a non-formative assessment to gauge where students are at. Students will complete 7/10 questions. Finally, students will write ⅗ paragraphs on the structure of the poem and explain its main idea and how it came to be using the poem’s structure.

Assessment:

#1 Students will complete multiple choice questions. Regardless of whether they get the right answers or not, students must complete 7/10 questions. This counts for 4/10 of the points available for this lesson.

#2 Students will write an essay on the poem and share their findings on the dissection of the stanzas in a minimum of 3 paragraphs out of 5. They will identify and cite ⅗ quotes from the poem. This counts for 6/10 of the points available for this lesson.

Reflection: (To be completed at the end of lesson; Be sure to be reflective about your teaching behaviors and student outcomes (academic and behavioral).

If students do not respond as expected in this assessment, there will be guided instruction on this poem and how the structure of it impacts its meaning. There will also be more breaks added so that students can talk more amongst themselves in mixed-ability groups alongside the teacher.

Objective/s: Students will be able to identify ⅖ elements of a story and identify 2/4 ways the setting of that story shapes the plot and its characters.

Standards: (Include complete standard)

LAFS.7.RL.1.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).

Materials:

Whiteboard

Projector

Laptop/computer (teacher’s)

Copies of The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

Annotating tools (highlighter, pencil, pen)

Graphic organizers (sequence charts and main idea webs)

Assistive technology (4 speech-to-text tablets)

Accommodations:

Guided questions provided to students

Verbal guidance explaining each task to be done

Students put in groups to use each other’s strengths

Computer lab available to students when they break out into groups

(Scenario accommodations):

Frequent breaks to complete tasks

No visual or noise distractions (headphones provided for students who wish to listen to audiobook or video)

Allowed extra time to complete questionnaires and tasks

Positive reinforcement and positive feedback

Extra guidance and after-class hours available upon request

Assistive technology (speech-to-text and text-to-speech)

Set: Teacher will introduce the author Guy de Maupassant and explain to the class his background and style of writing. The teacher will describe what the late 1800s and early 1900s were like, the time during which Maupassant lived. Then the teacher will ease into the topic of discussion: The Necklace.

Modeled Instruction / Demonstrate: The teacher will read The Necklace to the students in the class. If necessary, students will also have access to audio recordings and video recordings of the same story. The teacher will also hand out a guided questionnaire to the students to hold onto.

Shared Instruction / Guide: The teacher will complete a questionnaire with students and students will then be asked to break that information down into their own graphic organizers. Students will be informed that these graphic organizers will be used as their foundation to write about

Guided Practice / Collaborative Learning: Students will be split into groups of 3-4 in their own breakout areas. Students will discuss the story in 2/4 ways: historical context, main idea, influence of time period on setting, and character drama. They will document their ideas in a shared document and only one person per group will submit this work.

Independent Practice / Independent Learning: Students will write an essay on 1-4 points made during their collaborative learning time. Students may choose to focus on one aspect or even write about all 4 as distinct points in their essay relating to how setting and time period affect the main idea of the story as well as how characters interact with one another. Their essay will be ⅗ paragraphs long, and include 4/6 quotes from the story or ⅗ facts about the author and time period to support their claims.

Closure: Students will effectively write an essay detailing the effects of time period and place on the characters in the story, or focus on solely the historical context or main idea of the story in a ⅗ paragraph essay. This is after they make a graphic organizer of 2/4 of these aspects of the story in their collaborative group. Both assessments will be collected.

Assessment:

#1 Students will write about 2/4 aspects concerning the short story The Necklace with a group of students. 1 per group must be submitted. This will count for 4/10 points.

#2 Students will write a 3-5 paragraph essay on 1-4 of these aspects, and will include 4/6 quotes from the story and/or ⅗ facts about the author and time period from where they lived. This will count for 6/10 points available in the lesson.

Reflection: (To be completed at the end of lesson; Be sure to be reflective about your teaching behaviors and student outcomes (academic and behavioral).

If students do not respond as expected in this assessment, there will be another assessment used in the form of an open-ended and open-book written exam. Students will write about the main plot of the story and how characters interact in the story using 4/6 quotes from the story. This will count for 6/10 points. As for the first part of the lesson, students will work alongside the teacher using guided questions to write about 2/4 aspects about the story.

Objective/s: Students will be able to make two out of three comparisons and contrasting points between original source material and audio/video/multimedia version of material.

Standards: (Include complete standard)

LAFS.7.RI.3.7 Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each medium’s portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the delivery of a speech affects the impact of the words).

Materials:

Whiteboard

Projector

Laptop/computer (teacher’s)

Drawing tools (pencils, coloring pencils, crayons)

Tablets/phones allowed (computers at school available if so)

Guided questionnaires printed

Assistive technology (4 speech-to-text tablets)

Accommodations:

Relevant topics to relate with students

Guided questions provided to students

Verbal guidance explaining each task to be done

Numerous ways to complete assignment (can be digital, drawn, etc)

Students put in groups to use each other’s strengths

(Scenario accommodations):

Frequent breaks to complete tasks

Preferential setting

Answers to questionnaires can be answered verbally if preferred by the student

Allowed extra time to complete questionnaires and tasks

Positive reinforcement and positive feedback

Assistive technology (speech-to-text and text-to-speech)

Set: Teacher will introduce/refresh students on a very similar story shown to them earlier in the semester (lesson 1): The Little Red Riding Hood. The teacher will begin by testing students’ memories by asking them about the story and what they remember from it (allowing students to tell the story themselves as a group).

Modeled Instruction / Demonstrate: The teacher will show students a short video retelling of The Little Red Riding Hood. While viewing with students, the teacher will pause occasionally to fill out a guided questionnaire to document the main plot points of the story. This will be done on the whiteboard. Then, the teacher will show their own picture book retelling of the story to the class. Students are allowed to also request to pause and ask questions at their own pace.

Shared Instruction / Guide: The teacher will create a venn diagram on the board about the similarities and differences between the short story and short video. Together with the class, the teacher will fill out each section of the diagram. Students may also get up to write on the board as requested.

Guided Practice / Collaborative Learning: Students will pick a short story and matching short audio/video/multimedia rendition of the story from 3 choices. From there, students will be put into different small groups to read and watch/hear renditions. As students read their stories, the teacher will go around handing out guided questions to help students with comprehension of the stories. The teacher will go around assisting students with this section, and allowing students to move around the classroom and also take a peek at other groups to see how they are doing. After doing that, groups will take turns telling the teacher what the main idea was of the stories.

Independent Practice / Independent Learning: Students will create their own venn diagrams to compare and contrast stories with their newer renditions. This will be their guide in making their own renditions of the story. As the teacher did in the beginning of the lesson, students will make their own quick picture book of the story using any form of media or expression (digital picture book with stock images, drawn-out picture book, etc) that retains the main idea of that story. Their rendition can be made in any form of media, and students with special needs may use their AT tablets and have the option of making audiobooks from speech-to-text. Their story must have some comparisons and differences from the source material.

Closure: Students will effectively retell the main plot of a story and effectively make comparisons and contrasts between source material and newer renditions.

Assessment:

#1 Students will complete guided questionnaires, of which each has 10 guided questions. Students will answer 8/10 questions to be turned in to the teacher after activity. This will count for 4/10 points the entire lesson is worth.

#2 Students will create their own picture books that encapsulate the main idea of their selected stories with similarities as well as differences to the source material. Picture books will have 2/3 similarities and 2/3 differences to their source material. This will count for 6/10 of the points available for this lesson.

Reflection: (To be completed at the end of lesson; Be sure to be reflective about your teaching behaviors and student outcomes (academic and behavioral).

If students do not respond as expected in this assessment, there will be further instruction in a different manner. In this case, the teacher will provide group instruction to students of shared stories and work on their main plot points with guided instruction.

Objective/s: Students will be able to tie previous lessons into this final lesson by: using graphic organizers, collaborative mixed-ability groups, and reading analysis to write about the meaning of words and phrases in poetry.

The objective of this lesson is to encapsulate previously learned material and to build upon it through students’ increased knowledge on deciphering poetry and recognizing its structure as meaningful and purposeful.

Standards: (Include complete standard)

LAFS.7.RL.2.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.

Materials:

Whiteboard

Projector

Laptop/computer (teacher’s)

Copies of Maya Angelou’s “Touched By An Angel”

Computer lab

Breakout areas/rooms

Drawing and annotating tools

Guided questionnaires and multiple-choice quizzes printed

Assistive technology (4 speech-to-text tablets)

Accommodations:

Relevant topics to relate with students

Guided questions provided to students

Verbal guidance explaining each task to be done

Numerous ways to complete assignment (can be digital, drawn, written, stylized, etc)

Students put in groups to use each other’s strengths

(Scenario accommodations):

Frequent breaks to complete tasks

Preferential setting

Answers to questionnaires can be answered verbally if preferred by the student

Allowed extra time to complete questionnaires and tasks

Positive reinforcement and positive feedback

Assistive technology (speech-to-text and text-to-speech)

Tasks broken into manageable smaller tasks, (ex. Annotating will be one step, and figuring out how to go about interpreting the piece will be another step)

Further guidance and after-class hours

Set: Teacher will refresh students on each lesson they have participated in, pointing out what they learned in each lesson and how they built upon prior knowledge in each lesson. The teacher will then explore more on lesson #2, where students analyzed Robert Frost’s poetry. This final lesson will pick up where they left off on poetry.

Modeled Instruction / Demonstrate: The teacher will introduce Maya Angelou’s history to the class using a quick 5 minute video Crash Course. These videos are designed to be aesthetic and visually memorable, using different pictures and animation. This will be used as an example for what students can do in their own projects for this lesson.

Shared Instruction / Guide: The teacher will then read Maya Angelou’s “Touched By An Angel” to the class and provide guided questionnaires for students to fill out as the teacher reads. Here there will be frequent breaks upon request for students to fill out their questionnaires. Afterwards, there will be a 5-question multiple choice quiz. Students will answer ⅗ questions and hand them in to the professor.

Guided Practice / Collaborative Learning: Students will break out into groups and complete one graphic organizer and brainstorming strategy about the poem. The teacher will walk to each group and assist each group with their graphic organizers to ensure that their time is being used wisely. Each group will have one leader present their findings and compare with other leaders from the other groups. Each group must have 2/4 stanzas from the poem analyzed.

Independent Practice / Independent Learning: Students have multiple ways to complete this project. They can approach the lesson in these ways, but are not limited to: decorating their copy of the poem with different highlights, annotations, and drawings in the background to literally illustrate the meaning of the poem, creating their own drawing or short video recording on the poem, or orally reciting the poem to the class and using body language and writings or drawings on the board to help describe the significance of the poem’s phrases. These are some suggestions as to how the assignment can be completed, but student’s are free to bring about their own suggestions for this final lesson. The one important thing that must be turned in at this point are their graphic organizers pointing to what information they used on their project, and 2/4 quotes from the poem that struck them the most as the defining lines of the poem.

Closure: Students will create a creative project reflecting on the impact of phrases and rhythm on storytelling in poetry, and how it is purposeful. Students must include 2/4 quotes from the source material and are allowed to use any of their previous assignments to back up their reasoning.

Assessment:

#1 Students will complete guided questionnaires, of which each has 8 guided questions. Students will answer 6/8 of those questions to be turned in to the teacher after activity, as well as ⅗ questions from the multiple choice portion. This will count for 3/10 points the entire lesson is worth.

#2 Students will create their own visual projects about the importance of phrases, spacing, stanzas, and language used in poetry using their research, graphic organizers, and previous work. They have multiple ways to go about this assignment, but it is a requirement that students include 2/4 quotes from the poem to support their claims, and to turn in their graphic organizers and brainstorming work.

Reflection: (To be completed at the end of lesson; Be sure to be reflective about your teaching behaviors and student outcomes (academic and behavioral).

If students do not respond as expected in this assessment, there will be a class group assignment where everyone works on a singular art activity out of these 3 options: 1) reciting the poem in groups of 4, where two students recite the poem and two other students draw on the board or act it out for the class, 2) making a PowerPoint collage to tell the story of the poem in pictures, or 3) making a poster board about the main plot with quotes from the poem and accompanying imagery.