Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETS•S—Template I
(More Directed Learning Activities)
Template with guiding questions
Teacher(s)
Name Whitley Parker

Position Teacher

School/District

E-mail

Phone

Grade Level(s) 10th

Content Area Engligh/Language Arts

7-8 class days of 50 minute periods, spread over 3 week of class (could be flexible for others’
Time line implementation)

Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and strategies do you
expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject area benchmarks? ) Please
put a summary of the standards you will be addressing rather than abbreviations and numbers that indicate which
standards were addressed.

Content Standards: ELAGSE9-10RL2: Determine a theme and/or central idea of text and closely analyze 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. The specific
technologies in the lesson that support this standard are Google Docs, Infogram, Google
Slides, and others as approved by the teacher.

ELAGSE9-10RL3: Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting
motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance
the plot or develop the theme. The specific technologies in the lesson that support this
standard are Google Docs, Infogram, Google Slides, and others as approved by the
teacher.

ELAGSE9-10SL3: Evaluate and/or reflect on a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use
of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted
evidence. The specific technology in the lesson that supports this standard is Google Docs;
students will use this to provide feedback to their peers as their evaluation and reflect on
their peer’s points of view.

ELAGSE9-10SL4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly,

concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the
organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and
task. The specific technologies in the lesson that support this standard are Google Docs,
Infogram, Google Slides, Screencast-O-Matic, VoiceThread, and others as approved by
the teacher.

Page 1 of 12
 ELAGSE9-10SL5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio,
visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings,
reasoning, and evidence and to add interest (Georgia Department of Education, 2015).
The specific technologies in the lesson that support this standard are Google Docs,
Infogram, Google Slides, Screencast-O-Matic, VoiceThread, and others as approved by
the teacher.

NETS*S Standards:
1d: Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate
the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer
their knowledge to explore emerging technologies. All of the technological tools used in this
lesson help support this standard.

2a: Students cultivate and manage their digital identity and reputation and are aware of
the permanence of their actions in the digital world. All of the technological tools used in
this lesson help support this standard.

6a: Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives
of their creation or communication. All of the technological tools used in this lesson help
support this standard.

6b: Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into
new creations. All of the technological tools used in this lesson help support this standard.

6c: Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a
variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations. All of the
technological tools used in this lesson help support this standard.

6d: Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their
intended audiences (International Society for Technology in Education, 2018). All of the
technological tools used in this lesson help support this standard.

Overview (a short summary of the lesson or unit including assignment or expected or possible products)

This series of lessons serves as a summative assignment for the independent reading we’ve conducted in class
during the spring semester. Students selected books for independent reading in January and had to complete
reading at least one book by Spring Break. Many students read more than one book during this time frame; those
students will choose their favorite of the books they read to focus on for the independent reading assignment.

This summative assignment is a “book talk” in which students share a review of their book; overview of plot,
theme, and characters; and share how they connected with the book as well as other people who could relate to
the reading. This project involves students creating a visual representation of these elements from their book and
presenting their review to their classmates. Students will be expected to keep a progress log throughout the
assignment so that I can provide support as needed. In addition, students will have many choices for the format of
their visual and their presentation. During presentations, students will provide feedback to one another. Finally, to
culminate, students will reflect on the assignment, both with peers and individually.

This lesson should take about 7-8 class days for most of my classes. We will need about 1 day to discuss the
assignment and for students to develop project plan, 3-4 days for students to work on creating their visuals and
presentations, 2 days to present projects, and 1 day to reflect. Based on class size and class length, this lesson
may take more or less time. In addition, this activity could be split over non-consecutive days. I am planning to
split it up over three weeks of class, interspersed with our poetry unit. I currently teach 10 th grade resource
language arts classes. All of my students have IEPs and receive special education services; therefore, my class
sizes are relatively small (8-15 students) and presentations will not take as long. Splitting the assignment over a
couple of weeks will allow me to work with students who need extra help and provide extended time for students
who receive this as an accommodation in their IEP.

Page 2 of 12
All students are expected to produce the following products: a project plan/log, a visual about their book, a
presentation of their book and visual, feedback for peers, a group reflection, and an individual reflection. The
learning objectives that pertain to this lesson are as follows. Objectives will be referred to by their number
throughout the rest of the lesson plan narrative.
1. Students will use technology to create a project plan based on learning objectives and track their
independent progress toward meeting learning goals with 80%* accuracy as measured by the student
project progress log portion of the rubric. (This objective connects to the following standards: ELAGSE9-
10RL2, ELAGSE9-10RL3, 1d, 6a, and 6c.)
2. Students will analyze the theme, plot, and characters from their independent reading book as well as
evaluate the relevance of the book for a peer reading audience; they will choose technology to create a
visualization of this information with 80%* accuracy as measured by the project visual portion of the
rubric. (This objective connects to the following standards: ELAGSE9-10RL2, ELAGSE9-10RL3,
ELAGSE9-19SL5, 1d, 2a, 6a, 6b, and 6c.)
3. Students will publish and present the evaluation of their independent reading book (covering theme, plot,
characters, and relevance) by choosing technology to create a presentation of their visual and required
book talk elements that is clearly organized and applicable to the audience with 80%* accuracy as
measured by the project presentation portion of the rubric. (This objective connects to the following
standards: ELAGSE9-10RL2, ELAGSE9-10RL3, ELAGSE9-10SL4, ELAGSE9-10SL5, 1d, 2a, 6a, 6b, 6c,
and 6d.)
4. Students will use technology to provide collaborative, authentic feedback to peers by evaluating and
reflecting on peers’ points of views in their independent reading presentations with 80%* accuracy as
measured by the peer feedback portion of the rubric. (This objective connects to the following standards:
ELAGSE9-10SL3, 1d, 2a, and 6a.)
5. Students will use technology to reflect on their own learning in both collaborative and individual settings
with 100%* accuracy as measured by the reflection portion of the project rubric. (This objective is a
culmination of all of the standards for this lesson.)

*The accuracy level for each learning objective will be individualized to each student based on his/her IEP goals
for language arts as well as his/her progress in language arts class. The above accuracy levels reflect the
average accuracy levels desired for most students by this point of the school year. The accuracy level for the
reflection is higher than the other objectives because the expectations for the reflection are not as strenuous.
Each student should be able to engage in a complete and authentic reflection and reach 100% accuracy for that
objective.

Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care or
want to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or generate
interest about the topic? Additionally, what questions can you ask students to help them focus on important
aspects of the topic? (Guiding questions) What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring
to this topic and build on?) Remember, essential questions are meant to guide the lesson by provoking inquiry.
They should not be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” and should have many acceptable answers.

In their visual representations and presentations, students will address the following essential questions in their
independent reading book talks:
1. Would you recommend your independent reading book to others and why? Who would you recommend
your book to?
2. How did you relate or connect with your book’s content and how could other people relate to it?
3. Were the characters in your book relatable and interesting? Why?
4. Was the plot and conflict in your book relatable and interesting? Why?
5. What are the universal themes present in your independent reading book?

I will use the following guiding questions to help students progress toward each essential question.
 Did you like your independent reading book or not? (EQ 1)

Page 3 of 12
  What did you enjoy about your book? (EQ 1)
 What did you dislike about your book? (EQ1)
 Do you think other people would like to read it? (EQ1)
 Who would be most interested in reading this book? (EQ1)
 Did you feel a connection to the book? (EQ2)
 Was there something in the book that reminded you of a real-life experience? (EQ2)
 What age of people would relate most to this book? (EQ2)
 What hobbies/interests are most represented in this book? (EQ2)
 What gender or race or ethnicity or culture of reader would most relate to this book? (EQ2)
 What age were the characters in your book? (EQ3)
 What gender/race/culture were the characters in your book? (EQ3)
 What interests did the characters in your book have? (EQ3)
 What problems did your characters face in the book? (EQ3)
 How did your character change throughout the book? (EQ3)
 Did any of the character’s experiences remind you of your own experiences or the experiences of other
people you know? (EQ3)
 What was the main problem characters faced in your book? (EQ4)
 Did this problem remind you of something you’ve experienced personally? (EQ4)
 What are some of the main ideas in the story? (EQ5)
 What are some of the main emotions expressed in the story? (EQ5)
 Does the story have any themes about identity or personal growth? (EQ5)
 Does the story have any themes about love or romance? (EQ5)
 Does the story have any themes about friendships? (EQ5)
 Does the story have any themes about family? (EQ5)
 Does the story have any themes about helping others/society? (EQ5)
 Does the story have any themes about anger/revenge? (EQ5)

Coming into this lesson, students should have some prior knowledge that will help them engage in this activity
and build on their learning. Throughout the year, we have studied theme, characters, plot, text-to-self connections,
and text-to-world connections. Students have practiced analyzing literature throughout the school year in teacher-
led, collaborative, and independent contexts with a variety of texts. At this point, they have a strong understanding
of the key vocabulary (theme, character, plot, connections, etc.) and should be able to apply it to complete this
analysis with their independent reading books. In addition, throughout the independent reading unit, students
have completed journal entries about their books. The journal entries covered subjects such as attitudes,
characters, themes, conflicts, plot, and textual connections. The journal entries have given students time to reflect
on their reading; they will be able to use these journal entries to inform the start of their book talk projects. In
addition, the journal entries have allowed me to formatively assess their understandings of their books as well as
their readiness for this project. I have worked with students as needed to help them understand their books and,
in a few instances, I have helped students choose new books if they were reading something they strongly
disliked, they did not understand, or beyond their reading level. Overall, students have much prior knowledge to
bring to this project; the book talk will require them to use skills we’ve been building all year and apply them to a
work of literature that they have read independently.

Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to generate new
knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)? How will you assess
what they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?) You must attach copies of your assessment and/or
rubrics. Include these in your presentation as well.

Students will be summatively assessed on their book talk for this lesson. Their book talks will be graded with a

Page 4 of 12
rubric. The rubric covers several different components of the assignment: the progress log, the visual, the
presentation, the peer feedback, and the reflection. The visual and presentation make up the bulk of the book talk
assignment and will be weighted more heavily on the rubric. The progress log, peer feedback, and reflection are
included in the rubric to help hold students accountable for all stages of the book talk project. The rubric is linked
here. The assignment sheet for the project is linked here.

To help students progress toward their summative assessment, I will formally assess their progress throughout
the lesson as well using three different formative assessments. The first formative assessment is the student plan.
At the start of the assignment, students will develop a plan for completing it. This will include which tools they plan
on using as well as how they will divide up the work over our in-class project days. From this plan, I will be able to
make sure students have a realistic plan in place and help them address any issues before we begin working on
the projects. This also provides me with the opportunity to review and approve any students-proposed technology
tools (not from my provided list of choices) that students have requested to use. Plans will be submitted using
Google Forms. It is linked here. The second formative assessment is an open, active question sheet. This is
created using Google Docs. Students can submit questions and issues that they encounter throughout the project.
I will provide answers and peers can provide answers as well. This Doc will be used from the time that students
are given the assignment through the submission of final reflections; it will help create a collaborative FAQ
resource that will benefit all students. I can also formative assess to see if there are major gaps in learning that I
need to address in class. This Google Doc template is linked here (to preserve student privacy, I have linked the
blank template format). The third formative assessment is the project progress log. Students will keep a progress
log that tracks what they’ve accomplished on that day, what they need to work on the next day, and anything they
need help with. I will check the progress logs daily to make sure that students are making progress with their
assignments and to assess which students need assistance. Based on the “help needed” portion of the progress
logs, I will differentiate instruction as needed for individuals, small groups, or even the whole class. The progress
log is linked here.

Products for both the summative and formative assessments will be differentiated based on student choice and
preference. Students will have multiple options for completing their progress logs, presentations, and visuals.
Students will have the choice of using various technology tools as well as paper/pencil resources to complete
each portion of the project. Providing this level of differentiation through choice will help students have increased
engagement in the lesson through an increase in control of their own learning. In addition, the various options will
appeal to individual student strengths and learning preferences, thereby making this a lesson that can easily meet
the varied needs of diverse learners.

Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resources—online
student tools, research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etc—help
elucidate or explain the content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology
skills should students have to complete this project?)

Students will use various different types of technology in this lesson and will be able to choose from a variety of
digital tools to demonstrate their learning. In order to engage with the lesson, students should have a few
prerequisite technology skills. They should have basic computer knowledge (be able to type, log into their school
Google accounts, navigate to new webpages, and follow directions to explore any unfamiliar tools). At this point in
the school year, we have used G-Suite tools many times; all of my students can independently log into our school
Chromebooks, access their Google Drives, and use Docs/Forms/Slides to complete or submit work. There are a
few new tools provided as options in this lesson. I have used several new tools for various assignments
throughout the year and most of my students have been able to navigate these with ease. They have the general
computer savvy to engage with new technology. However, if students do not feel comfortable with new digital
tools, they can complete this lesson using only tools that are familiar to them.

The following tools will be used throughout the lesson:

 Google Docs: Used for students to submit questions as they engage in the project and create a
collaborative, ongoing FAQ resource (formative assessment)
 Google Forms: Used for students to submit their initial plans for completing the project (formative

Page 5 of 12
 assessment)
 Google Doc/Audio Submission/Paper Format: Students will have a choice of how they keep up with their
project progress log; these will be checked daily regardless of format chosen by the student (formative
assessment and included in the summative rubric)
 Infogram/Google Slides/Student-Selected: Students will have a choice of the platform they use to create
the visual support for their book talks; they can choose a different tool and have it approved by me for
project use (Included in summative rubric)
 Screencast-O-Matic/VoiceThread/Live (non-tech) Presentation: Students will have a choice of how they
create their book talk presentation; they can use technology or present a live presentation to the class
(Included in summative rubric)
 Google Docs: Used to create a peer feedback chart; students will provide feedback to one another as
they share their book talks (Included in summative rubric)
 Coggle: Students will use this mind-mapping tool to collaboratively reflect on what they’ve learned
throughout this project; they will follow a teacher model to create the reflection (Included in summative
rubric)
 Google Forms: Students will reflect individually on the project by completing a brief Google Form survey
(Included in summative rubric)

Note: All Google tools will be used through our secure, school domain. For additional student privacy, students will
be instructed not to use their full names when sharing/publishing in various platforms.

Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson? How can
you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)

Going into this lesson, my students have prior learning from throughout the school year and our independent
reading unit thus far. As discussed in the “Essential Questions” section, students have worked with the concepts
and terms in this unit throughout the school year. At this point, they have a solid understanding of our classroom’s
literary analysis process and can apply these skills to their independent reading books. In addition, students have
been completing independent reading journals over their chosen books throughout the semester. This has allowed
me to formatively assess their understanding of their book and has provided students with the opportunity to think
through literary concepts as they read. Before beginning this project, students have already completed journal
entries on character, plot, theme, and personal connection. These journals have shown me that students have the
literary foundation needed to engage in this lesson. This prior learning will help them tie everything together for
their book talk presentations.

My students have strong interests and varied needs that I considered when planning this lesson. In terms of
interests, my students have chosen novels or books of interest to them for this entire unit. They enjoy having
choice and control over their learning. By getting to choose their books as well as which digital tools they will use
to express their learning, students will be able to engage in the lesson in a way that appeals to their interests on
an individual level. Considering needs, my students frequently need support breaking large projects into smaller
steps and managing their time in class. Due to deficits in executive functioning, organization, and time
management, I have made sure to include procedural and organizational supports in this project. The progress log
and project plan serve this purpose. They are described in more detail in the “Assessment” section. I anticipate
that my students will find it difficult to stay on task and/or to correctly analyze their books. The reading journals
have helped me address misconceptions in analysis, but I plan to provide assistance to all students through the
project creation work days to ensure that students are engaging in effective literary analysis. Students will also be
provided with guiding questions in their assignment sheets to help them break this task into smaller steps and
chunks. To help with staying on task, students will be graded on their progress logs in their summative
assessment for the lesson. This accountability (through both the log and the summative grade) will help students
use their class time effectively. I will also be sure to use strong classroom management (discussed in the following
section) to help with this possible difficulty.

Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and the use
of digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (Small groups, whole group, individuals,
Page 6 of 12
classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the Internet while completing this
lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet lesson and explain how you will resolve or
trouble-shoot them? Please note: Trouble-shooting should occur prior to implementing the lesson as well as
throughout the process. Be sure to indicate how you prepared for problems and work through the issues that
occurred as you implemented and even after the lesson was completed.

To promote positive behavior management, I have a token economy system in my classroom. This is a system
throughout the special education department at my school. Students can earn “Wildcat Cash” in varying amounts
as tokens for certain behaviors or accomplishments and exchange the tokens in my room for certain rewards or
shop in the school store for nicer rewards. I use my token economy flexibly to help me manage student behaviors
as needed; the majority of my students find this system very engaging and meaningful. For this lesson, students
will be able to earn “Wildcat Cash” for completing their daily progress logs, using their time in class, and using
their technology appropriately. To assess whether or not students are using their time and using technology
appropriately, I will monitor class actively throughout our in-class work days. This means circulating throughout the
room and using teacher proximity to help manage student off-task behaviors. At this point in the school year, my
students have used the Chromebooks to complete several projects; this level of behavior expectation is not new
and the routines associated with this technology use are familiar.

To engage in this lesson, we will use a class set of Chromebooks within my classroom. Students will be
responsible for safely handling the Chromebooks, not eating or drinking around them, logging on and off, and
returning them safely at the end of class. Depending on the technology students choose to use, they may also be
using their cell phones at certain points in the lesson (particularly if they choose VoiceThread to create their book
talk presentation). Throughout the lesson, students will be engaged in a variety of different types of instruction.
For the assignment introduction and plan creation, students will be working in a whole-group setting. For their
work days, students will be working individually with teacher support. For the presentations, students will be
working in the whole-group setting in a collaborative arrangement. Finally, for the reflection, students will work with
small groups and independently.

Throughout this lesson, I will actively try to provide equitable technology access to all students. Providing
equitable access to technology in my classroom will help me address the digital divide in through this lesson. The
digital divide refers to students in certain groups (low-income, minority, etc.) who do not have the same access to
technology as their peers; this inequitable access creates an achievement gap in their learning. Providing
equitable access in the classroom can help students finish their homework and assignments, gives access to
technology beyond school hours, strengthens communication between teachers and families, and helps students
develop an understanding of digital citizenship (Lynch, 2018). For this lesson, I will use email and Remind
messages to communicate with students and parents throughout the process. This will help me communicate with
all stakeholders involved. In addition, I will provide extra work hours before/after school during our work day
sessions. This will help provide access to technology beyond the school day. Many students can go home and
continue working on their project, but for those who can’t I will hold a session before and after school for each of
our work days. I will communicate this in advance so that students can sign up and communicate the change in
schedule to parents. This will also help me know how many students to expect at each time. I will offer additional
work times as needed. In addition, for those students who do not have access to transportation that allows them
to come early or stay late, I will offer some extra work sessions during our study hall. This will provide a little less
time than before or after school, but it will be an option for all students and provide equitable technology access.

Finally, I have considered trouble-shooting concerns in planning this lesson; when using technology (in the
classroom and beyond) it is always wise to have a back-up plan in place should things not go as planned. This
lesson is designed to be interspersed between our poetry unit instruction. Should we encounter major
technological difficulties (such as internet outages or technology that simply isn’t working), I can rearrange the
dates of our book talk lesson. If there is a major issue with the internet or technology, I will pause this lesson and
proceed to the next lesson of our poetry unit, reworking the dates of the book talk project and communicating the
changes to students and parents. It is much more likely that we will encounter a smaller problem like a
malfunctioning Chromebook or website that isn’t working correctly. To help address the possibility of a
Chromebook that isn’t working, I will check out an extra Chromebook to have as backup. As an additional backup,
I have a student desktop in my room that students could use. Should something happen with all of the
Chromebooks (very unlikely, but possible), I will schedule a computer lab or laptop cart for our book talk lessons.
With the choices embedded in the lesson and assignment, there are backup options built in should there be any

Page 7 of 12
technology that is not working correctly. UPDATE AFTER IMPLEMENTATION: During implementation of the
lesson, there were only two small issues with technology that required some trouble-shooting. For one, my third
period class had some issues with internet connectivity one day. Due to this, my third period got an additional
work day for their book talks and I rearranged the schedule of their lessons. Doing this required flipping one of
their poetry lessons with one of their book talk work days. In addition, we had some logistical issues with
recording screencasts and VoiceThreads at the same time. To help with this, I had a paraprofessional monitor a
few students as they recorded in the hallway and also set up after school/before school/during lunch recording
times if students really wanted to record at school without background noise. Many of my students chose to
record their presentations at home if this was a feasible technological option for them. Some students also had
difficulty with the Wi-Fi on their phones, making it difficult to record with VoiceThread at school; in this case, some
filmed at home and some switched to using the computer or doing a live presentation instead. Overall, a large
portion also chose to conduct a live presentation, using their class time to perfect their visual and rehearse what
they wanted to say; several made notes and shared them with me so I could help them refine their presentations.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities – Describe the research-based instructional strategies you will
use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your role? What are the
students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the analysis, evaluation, or
creativity levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy? How can the technology support your teaching? What authentic,
relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students complete? How will they build knowledge
and skills? How will students use digital tools and resources to communicate and collaborate with each other
and others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?

Throughout this lesson, my role is to explain the project to students, answer their questions to support their
learning, provide feedback on their plans and throughout the creation of their project, and facilitate work
sessions/presentations/feedback/reflections. Students’ roles are to develop a plan for learning, create and publish
a presentation, provide feedback to one another, and reflect collaboratively on their learning. This lesson is
designed for students to use higher order thinking in creating their book talks, providing feedback to peers, and
reflecting on the process. Students have to remember and understand what they’ve learned about literary terms
and analysis throughout the school year and apply these concepts to their own reading as they analyze their
independent reading books. In developing their book talks, they will evaluate their books and create a
presentation that demonstrates this assessment. Students will also be evaluating and analyzing as they provide
peer feedback and reflect on their learning process. In this way, this lesson incorporates skills from each level of
Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students will use technology to support and guide their learning at each stage of the process.
In the creation of their book talks, they will be connecting the books to real life through their recommendations and
thematic analysis. In addition, the practices of providing commentary and feedback as well as reflecting with a
collaborative group are real-world, authentic skills students will need throughout the rest of high school and in
post-secondary life. Throughout the process, students will be collaborating though they are creating individual
presentations. They will collaborate as they ask questions and respond to one another, as they provide feedback
to each other, and as they reflect together.

Throughout this lesson, I will incorporate a variety of research-based instructional strategies. This lesson begins
by activating students’ prior knowledge through the project planning activity. Activating prior knowledge is
beneficial for helping students connect new knowledge to what they’ve already learned. Basing a lesson on prior
knowledge helps me ensure that students are connecting prior learning to what they’ll be focusing on in this
project. I will also use scaffolding through the lesson. Scaffolding is the process of gradual removing supports
from student practice to help progress toward independent mastery (Archer & Hughes, 2011). In this lesson,
students will have additional supports in place to help them organize their learning and use their time wisely. The
use of the project progress log as well as one-on-one teacher support will help scaffold this process. Based on the
progress log and daily check ins, I will provide additional support to individual students and groups as needed. To
help students engage in this project, they are using a graphic organizer to track their progress (unless they
choose to use an audio format) and to provide feedback to peers. Graphic organizers are a visual representation
that can help students see connections between various concepts (Adler, n.d.). The use of graphic organizers in
this case will help students visually understand the information they need to include in their progress logs and
peer feedback responses. Providing visual guidance will help students include all required components for these
activities as well as keep their ideas organized. The graphic organizers will be provided through Google Docs.
Google Docs as a platform helps students collaborate with technology. Google Docs is a technology application
that includes features for collaboration and working together. In addition, this use of technology allows students to

Page 8 of 12
effectively collaborate in real time while interacting with and communicating with the full community of learners in
the classroom (Solomon & Schrum, 2014). Students will use Google Docs for their graphic organizers and for an
ongoing, FAQ resource. The FAQ resource will be collaboratively. The nature of Google Docs will allow for me to
easily monitor many students’ progress simultaneously. Students will use other Google tools (Google Forms and
Google Slides) to submit information, provide a reflection, and as an option for presenting. Throughout the
creation of their visuals and presentations, students will be able to choose from a variety of digital tools. This
choice incorporates Universal Design for Learning by allowing students choice of how to express their learning,
thereby meeting the needs of diverse learners and increasing student engagement (Morin, n.d.). After presenting,
students will reflect on the learning process in heterogeneous groups. Heterogeneous groups provide an
opportunity “wherein each student can learn from other students in the class” (Herrmann, 2014). Grouping
students heterogeneously (based on how they did with the book talk presentation) will ensure that each group’s
reflection is representative of the overall class experience with the project; in addition students in a heterogeneous
group will learn more from sharing their different experiences with one another.

This lesson should take approximately 7-8 class days for completion. A brief description of each day’s instruction
follows in list format. These days could occur consecutively or could be split up. I am planning to provide a split
between day 1 and days 2-4; this will allow students time to develop plans and allow me time to formatively
assess them. I am also planning to provide a split between days 2-4 and days 5-6; this will allow extended time for
students to complete their projects if needed before presenting. As stated previously, all of my students have IEPs
and nearly all of them receive extended time as an accommodation. This also allows me time to schedule after
school/before school work sessions to troubleshoot technology problems and/or provide equitable digital access.
(Resources are linked below as they are mentioned.)
1. Day 1: Introduction/Plan
 This portion of instruction aligns with learning objective 1 (in Overview)
 Whole-group instruction
 Introduce plan to students
 Give students assignment sheet
 Present teacher sample book talk (Google Slides, Infogram) to students
 Students will create plans in the assignment sheet and submit using Google Forms
 Students can post questions on FAQ Google Doc
2. Days 2-4: Work Days (There may need to be an additional day added here based on progress)
 This portion of instruction aligns with learning objectives 2 and 3 (in Overview)
 Independent instruction with teacher support
 Students work on visuals and presentations
 Students complete project logs
 Students can post questions on FAQ Google Doc
3. Days 5-6: Presentations (I have small classes, but other teachers may need more days)
 This portion of instruction aligns with learning objectives 3 and 4 (in Overview)
 Whole group instruction
 Students play presentations or present live
 Students provide feedback to each peer using Google Docs
4. Day 7 (Reflection)
 This portion of instruction aligns with learning objective 5 (in Overview)
 Small group instruction with independent exit slip
 Students work in heterogeneous small groups to create a Coggle group reflection
 Students complete a Google Form as an independent reflection/exit slip

Page 9 of 12
 to accommodate various learning styles and
Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process
abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide
extensions and opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)

I will provide differentiation for this lesson based on content, process, product, and environment.
 The content for the lesson is naturally differentiated as students are working with their individual reading
books. I helped them choose these books in January. Books were chosen based on student interests and
reading levels. As needed, I helped students choose new books if their chosen book was not engaging,
too difficult, or too easy.
 The process is differentiated through student choice and teacher scaffolding. Students will have choices
for how they complete their project logs. They will also receive teacher support or remedial instruction as
needed based on the daily formative assessments in the lesson. The progress log itself requires students
to create an individualized plan for their process used to complete the project; this will help each project
be differentiated to the needs of each individual student.
 The product of the lesson is differentiated as discussed previously in the “Assessment” section.
 The environment will be differentiated by allowing students to work in different areas of the room as need
(as long as technology remains safe and secure). In addition, sensory needs will be considered for noise
level and fluorescent lights in the room. The environment will also be differentiated when students work in
heterogeneous groups for their reflection.

In addition, I will provide opportunities for enrichment as well as incorporate assistive technology.
 For enrichment, students who finish early will be matched with a peer to help coach them through the rest
of their project or be allowed to engage in additional independent reading of their choice. Another
enrichment opportunity for students will be to find others (peers, teachers, family members, etc.) who
have read the book they chose for their book talk. After finding other readers, students will interview them
and incorporate other perspectives into their projects.
 For assistive technology, I will use the following supports:
o Students will be allowed to use voice-to-text within Google Docs to type their responses.
o Students can chose to record and create an audio version of their progress log.
o Students can choose to present their presentations live or pre-record them to share a recording
with the class.
o Students can use pre-made images or create their own images for their visual.
o Students can use headphones for sensory sensitivity while working in the classroom.

Reflection (Will there be a closing event? Will students be asked to reflect upon their work? Will students be
asked to provide feedback on the assignment itself? What will be your process for answering the following
questions?
• Did students find the lesson meaningful and worth completing?
• In what ways was this lesson effective?
• What went well and why?
• What did not go well and why?
• How would you teach this lesson differently?

BEFORE TEACHING: I am naturally a very reflective teacher. Throughout the lesson and following the lesson, I
plan to spend time reviewing how things are going to identify areas of strength and weakness in this lesson plan
and its implementation. To help me gain a broader understanding of how well the lesson went, I will be gathering
information from my students. Students will complete both a small group and an individual reflection activity. This
information will help me consider the student perspective of the assignment and will inform my overall reflection
on my teaching. In the group reflection, students will create a mind map of things they learned, things they
enjoyed, and things that were issues during the project. For the individual reflection, students will complete a short
Google Form survey about which parts of the assignment they found the most meaningful. These student

Page 10 of 12
reflection activities will enhance my understanding of the lesson’s success, but will also provide closure for
students as well.

AFTER TEACHING: In reflecting on this lesson, I think that it went well overall. For the most part, my students
were engaged and created book talk presentations that demonstrated insight and learning from the school year.
They created impressive visuals overall and remarked that they enjoyed getting to share their books with one
another. From students’ feedback and my own perception, the progress log seemed to be one of the most
successful components of the project. This allowed me to easily track student progress and helped students stay
focused. Several students said that the progress log forced them to use their class time and they found
themselves less distracted than they usually feel during independent work and projects like this. I noticed that
students used their time more efficiently than they did during our most recent independent/technology project.
Also based on student feedback and my own reflection, I think that the layers of choices were effective in this
lesson. Several students shared that they really liked getting to choose how to complete the project; it made the
process more enjoyable for them.

While I think this was an area of strength generally, I do think the choices I provided were an area of weakness as
well. In trying to create different choices for students, I feel that I bit off a little more than I could chew. Some
students felt similarly, sharing that they were a little overwhelmed by all of the options. If I could do this again, I
would narrow the options down, so that students had choices, but not for as many elements of the project. We
have completed many technology projects throughout the year, but students have never had this much freedom
before. In addition, many of the options in the project were new technologies and students felt they needed time to
explore them all before choosing. In the future, ideally, I would provide choices from tools that they’ve already
used. This means that students could make informed choices and that implementation would be easier as
students would already know how to use the options in the lesson. Other areas of weakness were the timing and
the feedback portion of the lesson. I underestimated the work days that students would need to complete the
project. Students who were only creating a visual (and presenting live) had plenty of time, but students who were
trying to create a visual and a presentation struggled. In terms of peer feedback, I overall feel this was a beneficial
part of the lesson. Most students tried to provide quality feedback to peers and it increased student engagement
during peer presentations. However, many of my students struggled with constructing quality peer feedback. In
the future, I would provide more explicit instruction on how to provide feedback to others before this portion of the
lesson. I think I would have students fill out the peer feedback form when I presented my sample book talk on the
first day of the lesson; this would have served as both an introduction to feedback and a formative/pre-
assessment. From this, I could determine how much and what type of direct instruction on providing feedback
would be needed for students to be successful with this portion of the project.

Overall though, I would call this a successful lesson—and most of my students agreed! With some adjustments, I
am planning to use it again next school year.

Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience
with implementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson?
Please provide a quality reflection on your experience with this lesson and its implementation.
Other than my reflection in the previous section, I would provide the following advice to others who might
implement this lesson:
 Practice each technology tool with your students before incorporating it as a choice in a lesson; when
creating choices for students, choose tools with which they are familiar. This will make it easier for
everyone (students and teacher included!).
 Limit the technology choices if this is the first technology project you’ve done with your students. My
students have completed many projects (with less choice/more teacher direction) throughout the year and
were still somewhat overwhelmed by the choices I incorporated. Choices in learning are important, but
are more meaningful and beneficial when they are comfortable for students.
 Ask for student input and preferences for creating visuals and presentations before choosing tools! This
way you choose tools you know students will want to use and you might learn about some new resources
from your students.
 Have paper options for the project too! Even though technology is wonderful and it can create
collaborative and engaging learning experiences that require students to use higher order thinking, I still
Page 11 of 12
 have a few students that wanted a paper version of their project log. I also had one who created his/her
visual on paper. These students still used the Google Docs, Google Forms, and Coggle to engage in the
lesson process, but were more comfortable working with paper for certain aspects.
 Collaborate with your technology specialist to identify possible areas of troubleshooting needs and
develop a plan ahead of time.

References

Adler, C. R. (n.d.). Seven strategies to teach students text comprehension. Retrieved from

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/seven-strategies-teach-students-text-comprehension

Archer, A., & Hughes, C. A. (2011). Effective Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching. New York, NY:

Guildford Press.

Georgia Department of Education. (2015, April 15). 9th-10th grade English language arts Georgia Standards

of Excellence (ELA GSE). Retrieved from https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-

Standards/Frameworks/ELA-9-10-Grade10-Literature-Composition-Standards.pdf

Herrmann, E. (2014, January 15). Grouping students: Heterogeneous, homogeneous and random structures.

MultiBriefs. Retrieved from http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/grouping-students-heterogeneous-

homogeneous-and-random-grouping-structures/education

International Society for Technology in Education. (2018). ISTE standards for students. Retrieved from

https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students

Lynch, M. (2018, January 12). 4 ways that digital equity can level the learning field. Retrieved from

http://www.thetechedvocate.org/4-ways-digital-equity-can-level-learning-field/

Morin, A. (n.d.). Universal design for learning (UDL): What you need to know. Retrieved from

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-approaches/educational-

strategies/universal-design-for-learning-what-it-is-and-how-it-works

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2014). Web 2.0: How-to for educators (2nd ed.). Eugene, OR: International

Society for Technology in Education.

Page 12 of 12