Miss Alexis Smith’s Lesson Plans for Tuesday, November 6th, 2018

Standards: ELAGSE7RI4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a
text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific
word choice on meaning and tone; ELAGSE7RL3: Analyze how particular elements of a story or
drama interact (e.g., how settings shape the characters or plot).

Essential Questions (EQ): In what ways can you attack someone’s emotions? What societal
views do you identify with?

Learning Targets: Students can define “connotative” and “denotative.” Students can apply
connotative and denotative words to characters from the novel, Monster. Students can
differentiate between literal and interpretive meanings.

Materials: The materials needed for this lesson plan are as follows:

o Chromebooks (ideally one per student)

o Google Slides presentation with instructions
o Nearpod
o Paper and pencils for students who need them
o Projector
o Wheel Decide wheel with celebrities/characters on it

Hook (≅ 5 mins.): Miss Smith will have the first slide of the Google Slides presentation
projected on the SmartBoard. Students will be asked to consider the question, “In what ways can
you attack someone’s emotions?” Once students have had time to reflect on the question, Miss
Smith will hold a brief discussion on the answers to the question.

Activity #1 and Application (≅ 15 mins.): Miss Smith will have the second slide of the Google
Slides presentation projected. On this slide will be the instructions for each student to access
Nearpod via their Chromebooks. On Nearpod, students will have access to a Collaboration Board
where they will type comments in relation to the question, “What do you think ‘connotation’
means?” Miss Smith will read the live answers posted, then students will be asked to form 4
groups of 4 and 1 group of 5.

Using the Wheel Decide wheel, each group will be given a celebrity/character to roast (insult).
Students will collaborate to generate a creative and hurtful roast targeted towards the
celebrity/character. After the roasts are created, each group will share their roast, and students
who are listening will rate the roasts out of 5. Miss Smith will then hold a brief discussion on
how the roasts can make people feel, and she will reveal to students the definition of
“connotation.”

*Brain Break (≅ 2 mins.): Miss Smith will allow students to take a break from roasting
in order to redirect their focus on the assignment.

Activity #2 and Application (≅ 15 mins.): Miss Smith will ask students to reopen Nearpod, and
students will have access to the second Collaborative Board. Students must contribute to the
question, “What do you think ‘denotation’ means?” Miss Smith will read the live posts to the
class. Miss Smith will then ask a student from each group to record the list of adjectives from the
Google Slides presentation. Some of the adjectives include prickly, dull, rusty, circular, orange.

Students will explore outside to find examples of the adjectives they recorded. Each group
member will have an example to search for. Once students discover their examples, they will
report their findings to Miss Smith. Students will then come back inside the building, and Miss
Smith will prompt them to define “denotation” based on her asking them to find examples of
adjectives. Miss Smith will then reveal the definition of “denotation” to students.

Closing and Assessment (≅ 10 mins.): Miss Smith will hold a brief discussion asking students
to apply connotative and denotative words to the characters in the novel, Monster. Miss Smith
will then ask students to reopen Nearpod, and students will take a 3-question quiz. They will be
asked to answer questions based on their knowledge of the lesson. After the quiz, students will
respond to a poll of whether they enjoyed the activity.
Miss Alexis Smith’s Lesson Plans for Thursday, November 8th, 2018
Standards: ELAGSE7L1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
grammar and usage when writing or speaking; c. Place phrases and clauses within a sentence,
recognizing and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers; ELAGSE7RL3: Analyze how
particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how settings shape the characters or plot).

Essential Questions (EQ): What video game mods would you create? How can you know
someone is talking about you if they do not mention your name? What is your opinion on body
modifications?

Learning Targets: Students can explain how to correct dangling and misplaced modifiers.
Students can differentiate between dangling and misplaced modifiers. Students can create an
artistic representation of a character in the novel, Monster.

Materials: The materials needed for this lesson plan are as follows:

o Anticipation guide (one per student; attached)

o Audio reading of Monster
o Bucket
o Folded slips of paper with character names (one per student; attached)
o Google Slides presentation with lecture and instructions
o Markers
o Monster novel (ideally one per student)
o Printer paper (two per student)
o Projector
o YouTube

Hook (≅ 10 mins.): Miss Smith will hand out the anticipation guide for the New American
Lecture. Once students answer the questions on the anticipation guide, Miss Smith will project
the first slide of the Google Slides presentation on the SmartBoard. Students will watch the
YouTube video (start at 1:37) on the top 5 modifications for the video game, Fortnite. Miss
Smith will then ask students which modification they would like to be included in the game.

Activity #1 and Assessment (≅ 15 mins.): Miss Smith will lecture through the rest of the
Google Slides presentation, except for the last slide, and she will provide information on
dangling and misplaced modifiers. Students will be asked to record notes from the lecture on the
anticipation guide. Miss Smith will show several examples of dangling and misplaced modifiers,
and she will discuss how to correct those modifiers.

Miss Smith will ask students for a thumbs-up if they understand dangling and misplaced
modifiers, a thumbs-in-the-middle if they somewhat understand dangling and misplaced
modifiers, and a thumbs-down if they do not understand dangling and misplaced modifiers.

*Brain Break (≅ 2 mins.): Miss Smith will allow students to take a break from dangling
and misplaced modifiers in order to redirect their focus for the next assignment.
Activity #2, Application, and Assessment (≅ 25 mins.): Miss Smith will ask students to take
out their Monster books, and she will begin playing the audio reading of the book. Students will
be expected to follow along with the audio, and, to ensure this, Miss Smith will pause the
recording occasionally to have a brief discussion on the comprehension of the reading.

Once a certain stopping point is reached, Miss Smith will ask a volunteer to pass out markers and
printer paper to each student. Miss Smith will have students remove a folded piece of paper from
a bucket. On the slips of paper will be a character’s name. When each student receives a
character, they will be asked to draw a modified version of that character. Students will be asked
to reconsider and reference their notes on dangling and misplaced modifiers during the process
of the drawing.

Students must include an example sentence of dangling and misplaced modifiers in reference to
their drawn image. (If this activity is not completed in class, it will be homework. The drawing
and example sentences will determine if students fully understand what dangling and misplaced
modifiers are.)

Closing and Assessment (≅ 2 mins.): Miss Smith will ask students to participate in a Four
Corners exercise that is similar to a Likert Scale. One corner will represent Strongly Agree, the
second will represent Agree, the third will represent Disagree, and the fourth corner will
represent Strongly Disagree. Students will walk to the corner that best represents their response
to the statements that they enjoyed the activity and they understand dangling and misplaced
modifiers.