Concept Unit

Lesson Plan Template

Unit Title: I Celebrate Myself and I Sing Myself: Self-Discovery in the 9th Grade
Unit Big Idea (Concept/Theme): Identity
Unit Primary Skill focus: Personal Writing
Week 1_____ of 3; Plan # 1_______ of 9; [90 mins.]
Plan type: X___ Full-Detail ____Summary
Plan Theme: Introduce Identity; Introduce Personal Writing: Reflective Writing
Related Essential Questions:
What does identity mean to you? What are the things that comprise your identity?
How does ones self-image impact how he/she views and acts within the world?
To what extent do we and can we invent ourselves?
Content Requirement Satisfied: Embedded Technology (blog), Reading Experience, Mentor
Text Instruction (Magic)
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
1. Students will understand that writing is a powerful tool of personal reflection and
communication.
a. Students will understand that personal writing is one way through which identity can
be expressed and communicated.
b. Students will know that reflective writing is writing through which one explores their
thoughts about a topic or experience by considering the past and present as a means
of looking ahead to the future (Gallagher, 25).
i. Students will know components of reflective writing.
2. Students will understand that identity is made up of personal attributes, personal experiences,
background and culture, and relational and community roles.
a. Students will understand the concept of identity and its multi-facets
i. Personal attributes
c. Students will understand that identity can be expressed in multiple ways, but
especially through writing.
3. Students will understand that an author makes specific word, syntax, and figurative language
choices that impact the purpose of their writing.
d. Students will understand that reading strategies aid comprehension and interpretation
of literary texts.
i Students will know specific reading strategies related to reading personal writing.
Affective (feel/value) and/or Non-Cognitive:
N/A
Performance (do):
6. Students will be able to analyze the concept of identity and identify the different elements of
their personal identities.

a. Students will be able to analyze the concept of identity.

b. Students will be able to identify attributes of their own identities.
c. Students will be able to reflect on what has contributed to and shaped their personal
identities.
7. Students will be able to identify and analyze forms of personal writing.
a. Students will be able to analyze mentor texts for elements of reflective writing.
b. Students will be able to analyze elements of reflective writing in songs, video, poetry,
and memoir.
9. Students will be able to develop narrative and expository personal writing for the purpose of
reflecting on their identities.
a Students will be able to brainstorm, set a purpose for writing, and initially develop
ideas related to personal attributes, experiences, and background that are meaningful
to their personal identities.
SOLs:
9.4
The student will read, comprehend, and analyze a variety of literary texts including
narratives, narrative nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
k) Analyze how an authors specific word choices and syntax achieve special effects and
support the authors purpose.
9.6
The student will develop narrative, expository, and persuasive writings for a variety of
audiences and purposes.
a) Generate, gather, and organize ideas for writing.
i) (Use computer technology to) plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish writing
CCSs:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course
of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an
objective summary of the text.
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).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared
writing products, taking advantage of technology's capacity to link to other information and to
display information flexibly and dynamically.
Methods of Assessment:
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.
Diagnostic

Formative

Summative

Independent Writing about

Favorite holiday (1.b): as a
pre-reading activity,
students will write about
and share with a partner
their feelings about a
favorite holiday. The
details each student shares
will reflect the depth of
their ability to access
reflective thoughts and
feelings about events and
memories that are
meaningful to them. The
teacher will listen into
students conversations to
assess what students are
already doing, as well as
what students might need
emphasized in regards to
reflective writing
Do Now Identity Tweet
(2.a, 6.b): as students write
about their identities using
Tweets, the teacher will
be able to assess how
students understand the
concept of identity, and
also self-identity.
Reflective Blog Post 1
(2.a.i): students will
demonstrate their initial
perceptions of their own
identity through their
brainstorming and writing.
The teacher will read
students posts to look for
understandings that are
shared by students, as well
as understandings that are
unique. The teacher will

assess these posts to see

which aspects of identity
have been identified by
students already (and how
thoroughly), and which
will need to be explored
more in depth.
Whole-class brainstorm
and question generating
about identity and its

Reading Experience (1.b,

1.b.i): students
internalization of the
reading skills taught will
manifest in their ability to
identify Liz Rosenbergs
thoughts and feelings from
Magic. The teacher will
monitor students during
reading annotations, as
well as informally assess
students responses when
they discuss the reading
and identify the reflective
elements of it.
Reflective Blog Post 1
(6.b, 6.c, and 9.a):
Students own perceptions
of their identity will be
made clear in their blog
posts; the teacher will
assess students responses
by considering how many
elements of identity
students brought into their
blog post when they selfreflected on their identity
(6.b). Additionally,
students brainstorming
skills will be clear on their
blog post: the teacher will
be able to determine how
thoroughly and usefully
students know how to
brainstorm, and she will
determine if she needs to
explicitly teach
brainstorming, or if she
should give individual
students assistance with
brainstorming (9.a).
Reading Experience (1.a,
2.c, 3.d, 3.d.ii, 7.a, 7.b):
Post-reading questions
will ask students to
identify Rosenbergs
thoughts feelings (7.b),
analyze the effect of
Rosenberg portraying
thoughts and feelings
through writing (1.a, 7.b),

Reading Experience (1.b,

1.b.i): Students answers
to the post-reading
questions of Magic will
demonstrate their
understanding of reflective
writing and how it is used
in writing. The teacher
will assess students
engagement with these
questions (and through
them, reflective writing),
and use these answers to
inform how fully the class
will need to revisit
reflective writing in the
coming classes (reflective
writing will always be
woven into lessons, but
this assessment will help
the teacher decide how
much a review of it must
be included).

forms of expression (2.c,

6.a): this brainstorm will
function similarly to
Reflective Blog Post 1 in
that it is a diagnosis of
how students are thinking
about identity and how it
can be expressed. The
teacher will use this
diagnosis to inform the
decisions she makes about
the elements of identity to
really support students in

learning and interacting

with, as well as the aspects
of identity students seem
most interested in right
from the start. The teacher
will also use this
discussion to inform how
explicitly she will want to
focus on writing being a
form of identity
expression.

analyze the writing for

elements of reflective
writing (7.b), and analyze
the significance of
Rosenbergs decision to
use personal writing in
this instance (1.a, 2.c).
Students answers to these
questions will demonstrate
their competency using the
reading skills they have
been taught (3.d, 3.d.ii)
Reflective Writers
Notebook entry (1.b,
1.b.i): when students
revisit their Reflective
Writers Notebook entry
on their favorite holiday,
they will analyze their
entries for reflective
elements. As they do so,
they will demonstrate how
well they have internalized
the concept of reflective
writing. They will also be
able to see how much
reflecting they already do
naturally.

Procedures/Instructional Strategies
Beginning Room Arrangement: The class is currently set up in 5 pods of 4 desks (Learning
Arrangement 1)
Step One: Welcome to Class
Students enter the room and go to their assigned seats. The song Roar by Katy Perry is playing
and a Do Now is posted via a Powerpoint presentation on the board: Do Now: Turn in your Post
Card assignment to the homework basket. Pick up the two packets next to the homework basket.
Open your Writers Notebook to the Do Now section. Write todays date in the top right corner
of the page. Be ready to write when the bell rings! Students Writers Notebooks are already on
students desks. When the bell rings, the students are in their seats. The teacher shuts the music
off and draws students attention to the front of the class to introduce the Hook writing activity.
Step Two: Do Now/Bridge (15 minutes)
[1 minute]
Hello, class, it is excellent to see you all today. As you have seen from our start-of-class Do Now,
we are going to begin today with some writing! Following up on the conversation about identity

that we started last class when we discussed Jessie J.s song Who You Are, we are going to
start this week off by thinking about our personal answers to this question of Who You are.
Switch PPT to the slide: Do Now Part II: Brainstorm of Self-Identity. Here is the prompt for our
writing warm up today, but before I introduce it, I want you all to take thirty seconds to write the
title of this slide, Do Now Part II: Brainstorm of Self-Identity at the top of your page. Please do
this now and put your pencils down when you have finished writing. Teacher waits while students
write and put pencils down (about 30 seconds)
[30 seconds]
When it looks like most students have finished, the teacher explains the prompt. Your task, in the
next three minutes, is to brainstorm in your Writers Notebooks a list of characteristics you think
represents who you are. These can be positive things and negative things, strengths and
weaknesses; anything and everything you can think of! I know from your interest inventories that
each of you is a vibrant and wonderfully complex person, so you should have a lot to write
down. The goal is to come up with at least ten things that are representative of who you are.
Dont overthink the prompt: just write as much down as you can think of! Plus, the more things
you come up with, the more you will be prepared to complete the second part of this writing
warm up. So keep that in mind! If you have any questions, please look up at the prompt on the
board or raise your hands. Otherwise, the clock starts now! Go ahead and start writing your list.
**Specific instructions on the PPT for this phase of the Do Now:
In your Writers Notebook, brainstorm a list of anything and everything that makes
you who you are
Try to come up with at least ten things
Be creative! Think of strengths/weaknesses, likes/dislikes, your background, etc.
Be prepared to refer to this list again after you make it
[3 minutes]
Students write their lists in their Writers Notebooks while the teacher takes role and is available
to answer questions. As teacher prepares to give the next instructions, she scans the room to see
how much students are writing: it is a good sign if the students have made progress toward a list
of at least ten things.
[2 minutes]
It looks like you all have gotten a lot of good things down. Thats excellent and is going to help
you a lot now because youre going to come up with a Tweet that describes you. Has everyone
heard of Twitter? Raise your hand if you use Twitter. Most students will probably raise their
hands. Pay specific attention to Grace, an English Language Learner, who is less saturated in
American cultural tendencies. For her benefit, be clear about what Twitter is and how it is used.
Good! You all will have to teach me some Twitter tricks because I actually dont have one. For
anyone else who does not have Twitter, a Tweet is an online post that consists of 250 characters.
The idea is that Tweets are short, succinct, and evocative of something specific. For our
purposes this morning, we want to write a short description of who we are using the hashtag
#WhoIAm. A hashtag is kind of like a title or label for your Tweet. These Tweets can be funny or
creative; my only requirement is that they are written in such a way that reflects your personal
style and self. Heres my example.
Helpful and hopeful. Reflective and respectful. Artistic and active. Traveled and traveling.
Musical and methodical. Insightful and inquisitive. Wonder-filled and wandering. Blessed
and believing. Loves adjectives and alliterations. #WhoIAm

See how Ive taken a list of words that describe me, a list that maybe resembles the ones you just
came up with, and put the words together in a Tweet that represents many things about me? I
decided to write using two of my favorite things, adjective and alliterations, or words whose
beginnings have the same sounds; but you dont have to do that. Now, lets get writing. You will
have five minutes to start your Tweet: dont worry if you dont finish. Get a good start, though.
Let me mention that your audience for this Tweet is just you, so dont worry about being required
to share it out to the class. Okay, the directions are on the board. Go ahead and start writing
underneath your brainstormed list. Dont forget to title your Tweet! You can just write Identity
Tweet.
**Specific instructions on PPT:
Title your Tweet with the title of this prompt, Identity Tweet
Drawing from the list of self-descriptors you just wrote, compose a Tweet (an
approximately 250-character sentence or two) describing yourself.
Be creative
Make sure that how you write the Tweet, as well as what you write, is reflective of
you!
[5 minutes]
Students begin to compose their Tweets. The teacher circulates as students write, getting a feel
for how quickly the students are writing, as well as for what they are writing. The teacher will
specifically be looking to see if the students are writing a lot: the students enthusiasm for this
activity and topic will likely show through how much they write. The teacher will remind
students when they have one more minute.
[30 seconds 2 minutes]
I hope that was a fun and provocative for you. Though this is by no means required, is there
anyone who would like to share what they have so far? Its okay if you didnt finish. If students
are feeling bold, the teacher will allow two to three students to share.
[1 minute]
Okay guys, now that youve had a chance to get your identity-related creative juices flowing,
were going to prepare to dig into this theme a lot more. But first, lets just look at our agenda
for the day. The teacher will take a minute to walk through the agenda and make any relevant
announcements.
**Agenda from PPT:
Do Now: Identity Tweet
Diving into Identity: Whole-class brainstorm and question-generation of Identity
concept
Introduce Personal Writing
Mini-lesson on Personal Writing
Example of Personal Writing: Magic, by Liz Rosenberg
Guided reading activity
Looking ahead: unit project and tonights homework
Opening to Lesson
Step Three: Whole-Class Brainstorm and Question Generation Related to Identity (20 minutes)
[1 minute]

The purpose of the next fifteen minutes is to generate as many aspects, understandings, and
questions related to identity as we can. We also want to look into ways in which identity can be
expressed. You all have already gotten this thinking started off with the lists you generated
during our Do Now. In a moment, were going to return to those lists. Before we go there,
though, please take out the packet you picked up this morning that says Exploring Our Unit
Concept: Identity on the first page. When you have put that packet on your desk, please look up
to show me you are ready to move on. Teacher waits about twenty seconds for students to get
their packets out. At this time, I would like you to turn to your elbow partner and share the list of
identity characteristics you came up with in your Writers Notebooks. I want each of you to first
share what you wrote, and then I want you to analyze which characteristics between the two of
you are different, and which are the same. Think about what makes the characteristics different,
but also see what you find your two lists have in common. If you can sort any of the
characteristics at all, go for it. But your main task is to think about why some of the
characteristics are different, and then find similarities despite the differences. On the front page
of your Identity packet, go ahead and write down the characteristics that are different and any
notes you come up with about their differences. Also write down what you find that is similar. I
am going to give you two minutes to share and discuss. Make sure both of you are contributing
equally to the discussion; a good measure of this is to determine if the other person is not
talking.
When we come back together, be ready to discuss what you found. Since students like Sam
sometimes dominate in small group settings, be sure to check in on him as he interacts with his
partner.
[2 minutes]
Elbow partners compare their lists and discuss what makes the characteristics they wrote about
different, and what characteristics share.
[4 minutes]
Lets come back together and discuss. Raise your hand if you and your partner brainstormed
characteristics that were mostly different. Students raise hands. Okay, now raise your hand if you
and your partner brainstormed characteristics that were mostly similar. Students raise hands.
Raise your hand if you and your partner had a relatively even split of similar and differing
characteristics. Students raise hands. Teacher comments on these results. What did you notice
when you discussed? What kinds of characteristics were different? Teacher asks 3-4 partner pairs
to share what they found when it came to differences. Looking for: personal
characteristics/details (likes sports, comes from a Latino family, is from another country, etc.).
When possible, the teacher asks students to share examples. These are excellent observations! It
sounds like the differences you were noticing came from characteristics that were unique to you
individually. How about the similarities that you found? What about your lists were similar? Did
anyone come up with any sorts? Again, the teacher hears from 3-4 partner pairs. Looking for:
commonalities in the types of characteristics written (interests, culture, family, community
involvement, etc.). Again, the teacher asks for specific examples.
[3-5 minutes]
What Im hearing from you all is that you found that when it comes to characteristics of identity,
there are characteristics that unique to individuals, like the personal examples you all found
(teacher cites a couple of examples). But you also found that there are what seem to be
overarching characteristics of identity that are shared: people are identified based on where they
come from, what language they speak, who their family is, what they like. Does this sound like
an accurate summary of what we have just discussed? Well, you guys are on exactly the right
track. Much of the independent work that you do during this unit will be to explore your personal

characteristics of identity. But much of the work we do in class will be exploring the different
aspects of identity that all people share. What I would like to do now is brainstorm a list of
possible shared identities. Lets start with the ones you noticed, and go from there. Can we just
go around the room, starting with Student X and Student Y? What shared identity
characteristics did you find?
From here, the teacher facilitates a whole-class brainstorm of shared characteristics of identity.
As students share out, the teacher writes on a large piece of Post-It paper and the students write
on their packet fronts (As I write the shared characteristics we come up with, I want you all to
copy the same things down onto the front of your packet, under where you were just writing in
your partner share. Lets label this brainstorm: Exploring Identity Characteristics that are
Shared.
During brainstorm, ideal answers would be:
Heritage
o Country
o Culture
o Race
o Language
o Family members
o Family history
Spiritual
o Religion
Experiential
o Being elected something (class governance)
o Travel
o Personal illness/disability
o Traumatic event
o Happy event
Interests/preferences/passions
Personality
Activities involved in/actions
Age
Relationships
o Friends
o Family
o Romantic
o Community
Physical location
o Home
**It is possible that students will have many of these or none of them. Some questions to prompt
students to get here include:
Build from identity characteristics: what kinds of things did students put as personal to
themselves? How can the teacher help sort them?
What are some basic characteristics of a person that you can think of?
o Interests/preferences, passions, personality, activities involved with, positions
they hold, race, gender, SES, home, religion, age, occupation

o These are traits people often use to categorize other people. Do you think that
individuals also use these traits as part of their self-concept of identity? If yes, the
teacher can write these things and then prompt students deeper into thinking about
how they personally identify, and whether others might do the same
[3 minutes]
This is a fabulous list! I am encouraged that, though there are so many different people in the
world today, there is a lot we all have in common in terms of how we view our own selves. Now
that we have generated this list of shared characteristics, I want us to think about some
questions that we have about identity. We can think about shared and personal characteristics of
identity as we come up with questions. If you flip to the second page of your identity packet,
youll find a space in which we can write our questions. The questions we came up with during
yesterdays class are there. I have a couple to add. Teacher hangs up another piece of Post-It
paper with the following questions:
What does identity mean to you? What are the things that comprise your identity?
How does ones self-image impact how he/she views and acts within the world?
To what extent do we and can we invent ourselves?
Is it important to be authentic and real, and vulnerably show your real self to others?
Is it better to conform to social standards and certain social identities, or is it better to
maintain a sense of individuality? Why?
Lets use these questions as a jumping off point. The teacher writes on the Post-It paper questions
students come up with as they share.
[3 minutes]
Were going to keep asking questions about identity throughout this unit. Please add any
questions that you personally have about identity to this packet: it is important to be asking
questions, because questions guide our thinking! In our last minute of this part of the lesson, lets
turn to the third page of your packets. Turn to your table mates and talk about how individuals
express their identities. Go ahead and brainstorm specific examples of identity expression. Make
sure you write them down! Well come together and share out as a class when youre done.
Students brainstorm at their tables.
[1 minute]
Okay, what did you come up with? Students share and the teacher records on another sheet of
Post-It paper what they say.
Looking for:
Clothing
Tattoos/piercings
Friend groups
Activity involvement
Creating music
Creating art
Writing
[1 minute]
I love how you all are thinking really deeply about different forms of identity expression. I can
tell that you all are pulling from neat personal and peripheral experiences, and that is exactly
what I want you all to be doing all throughout this unit. Lets take a look at this list real quick.
There is one form of identity expression that we are particularly going to be focusing on
throughout this unit. Can anyone guess what it is? Correct answer: writing. In the next couple of

weeks, we are going to look into how individuals use writing to express their identities. Maybe
some of you have used writing to express your identity before. Maybe you have enjoyed someone
elses writing in which they express their identity. Both of these things will take place during this
unit.
Main Lesson
Step Four: Mini-Lesson: What is Personal Writing? [8 mins.]
During this portion of the lesson, teacher delivers a mini-lesson on personal writing
specifically reflective writing and then the students do an activity that helps them practice
reflective writing skills.
Before we can look into and ourselves engage with expressing our identity through writing, we
want to identify some ways in which this is done. So our first task is to learn about what kinds of
writing individuals might use to express themselves. If you will please turn to the next page of
your Identity packet, we are going to learn about personal writing. Teacher goes over a short
definition of personal writing based on first paragraph of Personal Writing Notes worksheet.
In this unit, we are going to be focusing on two types of personal writing, reflective and
expressive writing. Today, we are just going to focus on reflective writing. Teacher goes over
Reflective Writing section of the Personal Writing Notes with students. When the class gets to
the examples section, the teacher and students brainstorm forms of writing that could go under
the category of reflective writing. During this lesson, the teacher really emphasizes that reflective
writing uses words and writing to analyze how an experience has had an impact on them.
Step Five: Reading Experience [35-40 minutes]
The teacher leads students in a activating their prior knowledge about one of the topics covered
in the reading: holidays.
Pre-Reading [7 minutes]
The students will respond to the following prompt in their Writers Notebooks: Describe a
memorable experience that took place on your favorite holiday. Be sure to identify the holiday,
the experience, and talk about how the experience made you feel and think. Students will write
for about six minutes. Then the class will come together to read Magic.
Pre-Reading + During-Reading [8 minutes]
The teacher will communicate that the class will read Magic as an example of reflective
writing. Magic is part of a memoir written by Liz Rosenberg. The class goes over the
definition of a memoir. Then, the teacher reminds students of what reflective writing is, and sets
the goal for reading Magic: to identify the elements of reflective writing it contains. The
teacher announces they will read Magic by going through and underlining the parts where Liz
Rosenberg shares how she felt (either explicitly or implicitly). The teacher models how to do this
by leading the class in reading the first six paragraphs. The teacher reads Magic under the doc
cam while students follow along in their Reading Experience packet (which contains the story
and some post-reading questions). After the teacher had modeled how to read Magic and look
for reflective clues, the students finish reading on their own.
During-Reading [15 minutes]
Students finish Magic independently, marking for Lizs feelings and thoughts.
Post-Reading [10 minutes]
In their packets, students answer Post-Reading questions, which ask students to identify
Rosenbergs thoughts and feelings (during the memory, as well as inferring how the older Liz felt

reflecting on this memory of getting the red sled), analyze the effect of Rosenberg portraying
thoughts and feelings through writing, analyze the writing for elements of reflective writing,
identify the characteristics of Rosenbergs identity portrayed in Magic, and analyze the
significance of Rosenbergs decision to use personal writing in this instance.
Step Six: Connecting to the Text [5 minutes]
After having read and analyzed Rosenbergs Magic, students return to their own reflections
about holidays from the beginning of the reading experience. Annotating their own writing in the
way they annotated Rosenbergs writing, the students will analyze for reflective elements they
wrote naturally. After they have done this, they will write a couple of sentences about the effect
of writing reflectively about this memory: how did they feel writing about it? Did they realize
something new about themselves or the memory through reflecting upon it?
Closure
Introducing Portfolio Project (just the reflective piece) and Assigning Homework (8 minutes)
[6 minutes]
The teacher explains the reflection students will be working on throughout the unit. She
introduces the prompt and lets students look at the requirements.
[2 minutes]
Introduces the Reflective Writing Blog assignment, explaining that it will help students to
develop their reflective writing piece. The teacher assigns the first blog post:
Reflective Writing Blog 1: Who Do You Say You Are?
o Brainstorm the personal characteristics of your identity (build from brainstorm we
did in class) use bullet format
o Based on these characteristics, construct a paragraph describing your identity
Returning to Identity Brainstorm + Dismissal (2 minutes)
Before the class packs up, the teacher brings students back to their brainstormed list of identity
characteristics and questions and forms of expression. She asks the students if, after reading
Magic they feel they have anything else to add to the list. If they do, the teacher adds it to the
Post-It paper. The teacher then thanks the students for a great start to the unit; she affirms their
thinking and questioning and identity searching. She then dismisses the class to pack up and
prepare to leave.
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 studentsidentify them by name)
Grace: This lesson can provide accommodation to Grace in a couple of ways:
firstly, since there are a lot of opportunities in which personal ideas are
shared, this lesson allows for a lot of stop-and-think moments before asking
students to share in front of the whole class. This will allow Grace to prepare
her thoughts and her language before participating. Additionally, the
brainstorming in this lesson might be difficult for Grace because of the
terminology related to identity that is used. The teacher can be sure to
explicitly define what she means by the different terms she uses, and she
can check in with Grace throughout the lesson to make sure Grace feels
comfortable answering the prompts and questions asked of her. Lastly, there
are a fair amount of cultural references that take place in this lesson (Twitter,
holidays, colloquial things from Magic); the teacher can be sure to

explicitly mention what each of these things refer to, just to make sure Grace
(and all students) are on board.
Sam: Given that part of this lesson is based on concept attainment (which is
a generally difficult instructional method), Sam can really be a leader
throughout this lesson. Since he is so often insightful, the teacher can invite
his analytical mind to really help lead some of the more abstract thoughts
about identity. However, to curb Sams enthusiasm, this lesson, which asks
students to write a lot down before sharing it, will provide Sam with an outlet
to express his thoughts and develop them, instead of eagerly waiting to blurt
them out. During group work, the teacher can be explicit that everyone in
the partner pair or small group should be contributing, and to follow up on
this with Sam, she can check in to make sure he is giving his
partner/partners opportunities to speak.
Materials Needed (list):
Katy Perrys Roar
Homework basket
Identity Concept packet
Reading Experience Packet
Post-It Paper
Doc Cam
Writers Notebooks
Portfolio Assignment
Magic by Liz Rosenberg
PPT for Do Now and Agenda
Materials Appendix: (e.g., supplementary texts, Ppts, overheads, graphic organizers,
handouts, etc.)

Name: ________________________
__________________

Date:

Exploring Our Unit Concept: Identity

In the space below, please write the categories of identity you,
your partner, and the class come up with:

In the space below, please write the questions about identity we

came up with in class. Here are a few from our first discussion to
get us started:

Who am I?
Do I feel pressure to be somebody I am not?
Do I find it hard to be my true self?
Why do people struggle with being themselves?
Do we agree with Jessie J. that everybodys bruising because of selfidentity questions? Does everyone struggle with identity?
Is it important to be true to who you are?
Is it easy to be true to who you are?
How can we confidently be ourselves without caring about what others
think?
Is it important to care about how others perceive you?
What does identity mean to you? What are the things that comprise your
identity?
How does ones self-image impact how he/she views and acts within
the world?
To what extent do we and can we invent ourselves?
Is it important to be authentic and real, and vulnerably show your real
self to others?
Is it better to conform to social standards and certain social identities, or
is it better to maintain a sense of individuality? Why?

In the space below, please write some ways in which individuals

express their identity or identities. You can list specific examples
or ideas that you have about this.

Name: _________________________

Date: _______________

Forms of Personal Writing

Personal writing is a form of writing we do for ourselves. We use it to express our
thoughts and feelings, process through what is going on internally, reflect on
experiences we have had, and creatively craft a work of linguistic art. Personal
writing can be about anything we want it to be about: our lives, the world, and
even fictional topics. Personal writing is personal: its what we make in the way
that we want to make it.

Reflective Writing

This form of personal writing occurs when a writer uses writing to explore how a
specific experience (s) has shaped or influences the writer. Its all about thinking
through how what has happened has made you who you are.
Reflective writing helps a writer to explore and unlock new thoughts and feelings
related to an experience, a thought, or a feeling.
When you write reflectively, you look at the past and assess how it can help you
make sense of the present and future.
This is the act of REFLECTION!

Examples!
Reflective Writing
A student writes about how she has been changed by, and how she has grown up
because of her parents divorce.

Journal
Memoir
Autobiography
Article
Blog Post
Hashtags

Expressive Writing
This form of personal writing occurs whenever a writer pens:
1. Thoughts
2. Ideas
3. Feelings
4. Questions
5. Creative expression
Expressive writing is about an authors experiences.
Expressive writing can be written in first person point of view. An authors unique
voice is expressed through word choice, sentence style (syntax), use of figurative
language, and personal stories.
Expressive writing is the form of writing in which authors tell readers how they
feel.
Creative expressive writing may not be about an authors life. Creative expressive
writing can be fictional. But an author still uses word choice, syntax, figurative
language, personal experience, and more to express their thoughts and imagination
through writing.

Examples!

Expressive Writing
A student writes about her parents divorce, describing how it made her feel sad,
angry, and confused.
Journal
Blog Post
Emoji
Poetry
Novel
Short Story

Works Cited
Gallagher, Kelly. "Chapter 2: Express and Reflect." Write like This: Teaching Real-world Writing
through Modeling & Mentor Texts. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2011. 23-61. Print.