Concept Unit

Lesson Plan 2 [90 min]

Unit: Life Isnt Fair: Overcoming Adversity in Literature
Unit Primary Skill focus: narrative writing
Critical Learning Objectives:
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
1) Students will understand that effective collaboration relies on adhering to a set of
agreed-upon expectations and consequences.
2) Students will know more about their peers.
Affective (feel/value):
3) Students will feel valued knowing that their input is important.
4) Students will feel that their non-academic interests/lives are important.
Performance (do):
5) Students will be able to create class consequences that align with the expectations.
6) Students will be able to converse with a variety students.
7) Students will be able to provide supporting evidence.
8) Students will be able to question the reliability of a narrator.
9) Students will be able to choose a book for sustained silent reading.
SOLs: [List with numbers portrayed in the SOL document]
Communication
7.1 The student will participate in and contribute to conversations, group discussions, and
oral presentations.
a) Communicate ideas and information orally in an organized and succinct manner.
Procedures/Instructional Strategies
[Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.]
Beginning Room Arrangement:
Desks will be arranged in a circle. Name cards from yesterday will already be on the
desks.
A Declaration for Students:
I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. Ill be a better somebody when I leave. I
am powerful, and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. I have things to do,
people to impress, and places to go.
-Rita Pierson
When the students enter the room, I will have the above saying projected on the board.
This saying will begin our day every day for the first week of class.

1. Opening
I will point out the declaration on the board and remind them of the TED talk we
watched in the last class. I will explain that although the talk focused on studentteacher relationships, it is just as important to have relationships and get to know
their peers.
2. [35 mins.] Two Truths and a Lie
Students will be asked to write down two truths and a lie. An example of my own
is given (without revealing the lie). Make sure students understand that their
statements will be shared with the class.
After students are done writing, I will present my statements and have students
ask me questions to try to figure out the lie.
Example: One of my statements might have been that I met Hilary Clinton in a
train station in Philadelphia. Students would ask, why were you in Philadelphia?
Why was Hilary in the train station? What year was this? The idea is that they try
to catch the person in their lie by asking for details.
Have students write down my name and the truth of mine they found most
interesting in their notebooks. Encourage them to do this for at least five
classmates. Go around the class. This is somewhat time consuming but extremely
fun and it gets the students talking.
3. [15 min] Appointment Clocks
Students will be doing Steinkes Appointment Clocks so that we will have a list
of partners at the ready for later in the year. Students are encouraged to take notes
about their classmates.
4. [ 20 mins.] Guided Group Discussion
We will talk about the consequences students turned in as exit slips. We will
revise them and assign them to appropriate expectations.
5. [25 min] Read Dating
I show my students our class library and show them the checkout log. I introduce
the concept of Read Datingits like speed dating with books. I let students
know that they will be doing a Read Dating project later in the semester similar to
what I am about to do so they will want to pay attention. I pull out a timer, and
speak for 1 minute each on 5 books from different genres. I then have students
write rankings of the books. I will explain that in the real Read Dating project,
everyone will turn in their rankings because we will have enough books for
everyone to choose something they really want to read. But for today, I want
students to only turn in their rankings if they want to read the book for SSR.

I explain that by tomorrow they will need a book for Sustained Silent Reading and
that if they dont want to read any of the books I introduced, they will still need to
pick a book for tomorrow. I will use their rankings in a drawing to see who gets
the book.
After the drawing, I will allow students to mill about and chose books for
tomorrows SSR. Students are supposed to read that book until everyone has
picked a book. During this time I draw the rankings from a bowl, drawing until I
get a name for each bowl. I ask the student whose name was drawn if theyd like
to read the book or something from the library instead. This goes on until each
book is distributed.
6. [5 mins] Closure: Exit Slip
Have the students write down new information they got about at least two of their
peers. This can be from Two Truths or the clock activity. [This will also help me
learn about my students]. Ask students to turn in slips, name cards, and
composition notebooks in the Turn In basket.
Students will also write down the name of the book they have chosen for SSR.
Methods of Assessment:
Formative:
o Group Discussion (1, 3, 6)
o Two Truths (2, 4, 6, 7, 8)
o Appointment Clocks (2, 4, 6)
Summative:
o Exit Slip (2, 9)
o List of consequences (3, 5)
Differentiated Instruction to accommodate one or more of my profiled students:
Todays activities are very interactive which is great for Eli, who doesnt like focusing
for long periods of time. Since Eli likes to talk to his classmates, the Lies, Clock, and
discussion activities should help keep his attention focused while allowing him to share
his thoughts.
Materials Needed:
SmartBoard
Appointment clocks
Paper
Pens/pencils
5 1-minute book talks with the physical books
5 labeled bowls