Lesson Plan Template

EDIS 5400: English Education

Context:
Course name: English Language Arts
Grade level: 6th grade
Length of lesson: 60 minutes
Description of setting, students, and curriculum and any other important
contextual characteristics: This lesson will be taught to a 6th grade Standard English
class at Sutherland Middle school. There are approximately 20 students in the class, and it
takes place during the middle of the day. The class is split by lunch and recess, so
instruction takes place both before and after these time frames. There is a special
education co-teacher in the classroom as well during this block. Students vary in ability
and needs. Certain students have reading disabilities, and need extra time or assignments
read aloud to them. Other students have a harder time communicating with peers and
become upset when they get something wrong or do not understand what is going on.
This unit will come early on in the year. It will not only help build class community by
working together and finding out interesting facts about each other, but will be a good
introduction into the writing process. Students will take one of the truths that they
brainstorm in todays activity to use for the following steps of drafting, revision, and
editing. This will be an introduction into the memoir genre. Students will have looked at
shorter examples of memoirs already for reading assignments and workshops, and we will
have looked at a longer memoir text together as a class. They will have started a Writing
Territories list at the very beginning of the year, and this activity will help them add to the
list. It will also teach them a brainstorming activity they can do if they are looking to add
to their Writing Territories in the future.
Virginia SOL(s):
6.7 The student will write narration, description, exposition, and persuasion.
b) Use a variety of prewriting strategies including graphic organizers to generate
and organize ideas.
Common Core State Standard(s):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as
needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
Objectives (KUD format):
Know:
1. Students will know the importance of generating interesting topics for writing.
2. Students will know a specific strategy to brainstorm topics for memoir.
Understand:
1. Students will understand that through brainstorming they can come up with unique,
exciting writing topics.
2. Students will understand that planning before writing can help create the best
topics and stories.

Do:
1. Students will be able to use a specific strategy to brainstorm and generate memoir
topics.
Assessments: Methods for evaluating each of the specific objectives listed
above.
Diagnostic: Students will demonstrate what they already know by
creating a Writing Territories list earlier in the unit. I will read through the students lists
that they have created thus far and get a general idea of how the students brainstormed,
and what exactly they brainstormed about. I will identify students who may need more
support in brainstorming and help them specifically during the lesson and activities.
K2, D1, VA SOL 6.7 b, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.5
Formative: Students will show their progress toward today's objectives by
completing the Find the Fib activity. Throughout the activity I will circulate the room and
observe students. By listening to their discussions, seeing what ideas they write down, and
asking guiding questions I will gain insight into how well students understand the
brainstorming process, its importance, and specifically ways to do it for memoir. I will give
students feedback through verbally supporting their ideas and comments in discussion or
asking guiding questions for extension.
K1, K2, U1, D1, VA SOL 6.7 b, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.5
completing and exit card before they leave class. The exit card will have them answer the
questions Based on our activity today, what are 2 characteristics of a good memoir? and
How does brainstorming help us in writing? I will look for answers for the first question
that touch upon the fact that memoirs include personal experiences and are unique. For
the second question I will look for answers that include the fact that brainstorming helps
us think of things we may not have otherwise though about, or that it helps us get our
ideas together before writing. I will collect the cards and write feedback for the students to
get the next day,
K1, K2, U1, U2
Summative: Students will ultimately be assessed (today or in a future lesson) on these
standards by...
writing a short memoir based on a personal experience they used for the Find the Fib
activity. After a lesson about the characteristics of a good memoir, students will begin to
write their own pieces from ideas they created in this brainstorming activity. I will look for
students to use one of their facts they wrote down (unless they discuss with me about
using something else), to include the characteristics of good memoirs that we discuss, and
any other writing criteria that we create. I will read a draft of the students pieces and
provide feedback that will help them to think about why they chose this fact in the first
place.
VA SOL 6.7 b, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.5
Materials Needed:
Projector
Find the Fib worksheet for all students
PowerPoint
Welcome slide
My own fibs and truths

Exit card questions

Index cards to give out for exit cards
Instructional Steps (Procedures): Detail student and teacher behavior.
Beginning Room Arrangement: Students are seated at assigned desks in groups of 4.
The groups are assigned based on behavior and skill level. Students who have trouble
staying on task and focusing are not seated near one another. If a student needs
improvement in a certain skill, they are seated next to someone who excels in that skill
and can help them improve while working together.
[Changes in this arrangement that become necessary later will be noted in the plan]
I.

Welcome/greeting/announcements (10 minutes)

Open PowerPoint to slide 2

Hello class! As youre coming in please take a seat at your assigned desk. While we are
waiting for everyone to get ready, please quietly sit and read your SSR book at your desk.
We will get started in just a few minutes.
II.

Hook/ bridge/ opening to lesson (10 minutes)

Begin will general discussion on brainstorming. Conversation could go something like this:
Teacher: Today we are going to start learning about the writing process. Who thinks they
know what the very first step of the writing process is?
Student: Write the story?
Teacher: Thats a great guess. But there is something that comes even before that step.
Heres a hint; how do you figure out what youre going to write about? What did we do
when we created our Writing Territories lists?
Student: Brainstorming!
Teacher: Great! Brainstorming helps us figure out what we should or want to write about
before we sit down and just start writing. Who can tell me some ways they have used
brainstorming before?
Student: When I have had to write before I usually just think about something I like and
then write about it.
Student: When my teacher tells me I have to write about something sometimes I make an
outline about what I want to say about it.
Student: Usually I write about things that Ive done or know a lot about.
Teacher: Those are some great examples. Brainstorming is a great strategy to help us
generate ideas of what we could write about. Everyone has interesting things about their
lives, and sometimes it takes actually sitting down and thinking about those things to
remember them. If I just picked the first topic I could think of, I might miss out on writing
about something that would be more interesting or unique. Brainstorming before we write
helps us to get all the ideas out there and then make a better decision about what story
we want to tell.
III.

Instructional steps (30 minutes)

Go to PowerPoint slide 4.
Now we are going to do a fun brainstorming activity that we can use when thinking of
topics to write about and to build our Writing Territories list. Specifically, the topics we
think of in this activity will help us to write memoirs. We have read several examples of
memoirs so far and will go into more detail later on about how to write a good memoir. For
now, just remember that a memoir is a written account in which someone describes their
own past experiences. The activity we are going to do is called Find the Fib, and it will
help each of us generate ideas about past experiences that we could write about. Here is a
list of 5 statements that I generated about myself. 4 of them are true, and one of them is a
lie. Lets read them together. Who wants to read the first one?
Have students volunteer to read each of the following statements that are also shown on
the PowerPoint slide:
1. I broke my pelvis in a car accident my senior year of high school.
2. Ive been to Nicaragua for a mission trip.
3. I tried out for the American Idol experience when I went to Disney World.
4. My theater group in high school won a state championship.
5. I went to the Colts vs. Broncos game one year for my birthday.
Thanks everyone. Like I said before, one of these statements isnt true. Who wants to try
to guess which one is the lie?
Give several students the chance to guess which one in the list is not true. Have them try
to explain why they believe it is the lie. For extension, guide students with the following
questions:
- What about this makes it seem like a lie?
- Does it seem like something that has happened to a large amount of people?
- What about it makes it different from the other options?
- What criteria did you use to decide it was the lie?
- What was your thought process in singling out this option?
Those were all great guesses. The real answer is number 3. I never tried out for the
American Idol experience, but I really wanted to. The line was too long and my family
wanted to make sure we got around to different things in the park. We did go inside and
watch people perform when we were at Disney.
Go to PowerPoint slide 5.
Now I want you to try and come up with your own facts and fibs. On the worksheet that I
am passing out, write down 3 true things about yourself and one lie. It doesnt matter
which line you write them on. Try to think of facts that people may not believe is true. It
should be something unique to yourself; something youve experienced, something youve
gone to, something youve tried, something that happened to you Make them as
interesting and crazy as you possibly can. That way people will have a hard time figuring
out which ones are true and which one is the lie. When I was thinking of my examples, I
tried to think about the most vivid or special memories that I have. I tried to think about
significant things that happened in my life that other people may not have experienced.
Youll have about 10 minutes to do this. If you finish early, just take out your silent reading
book and read at your desk.

Give students 10 minutes to think about and write down their truths and fib. Circulate the
room to make sure students are on task. If you see an answer that is maybe too simple or
general, ask the student to try and brainstorm another statement. For students struggling
to figure out what to write, try giving some of the following prompts:
- Think of events you experienced when you were younger
- Something crazy that happened when you were playing sports
- Something special about a vacation you have gone on
- The best day you can remember having and why it was so special
- A favorite fun memory with your best friend
- Anything you can think of that you dont think anyone else you know has
experienced before
Go ahead and wrap up what you are writing if you havent finished. Now, what I want you
to do is to pass your paper in a clockwise direction in your group. Read the statements
that the other person wrote down, and try to guess which one is their fib. When you think
you know which one it is, write that number in one of the boxes at the bottom of the sheet.
Continue passing the papers around until everyone has seen and guessed on each others
sheets. If you are the first person you get the paper you will write in the Student #1 guess
box; if youre the second person to get the paper youll write in the second box and so on.
Does everyone understand? Make sure you dont tell people which one is your lie yet- we
want to see if you can fool each other! Go ahead and get started.
Allow 5 minutes for students to read each others papers and guess which ones are the
fibs. Circulate the room and answer any questions students may have during this part of
the activity. Example question:
Student: What if we are sure we know which one of them is the lie?
Teacher: You can write that number in the box, but dont tell anyone else that you know
which one it is. We want everyone to be able to take their best guess on their own.
Ok class now that youve all taken a guess, go ahead and share with your table which one
was actually the lie.
Give a few minutes for students to discuss.
Great, lets come back together. Who can share one of their truths that someone else
thought was a lie?
Have students volunteer to answer. When they share, ask someone at their table who
thought that was a lie to explain why they thought it wasnt true. Look for answers that
say something about it being unbelievable, too crazy, or different from what they thought
about that person.
- Learn something new?
- Find out something interesting?
- Unique experience?
Sample conversation/discussion:
Student 1: I thought (statement) was a lie because it didnt seem like something that
would happen to them.
Teacher: What about it was so unbelievable?
Student 1: Well it seemed like something that you would hear about in like movies or
something. Like, it doesnt seem like something that would actually happen to a person.
Teacher: So we could say that it is a unique experience?

Student 1: Yeah I guess so. Ive never heard of that happening to someone else. And if it
has then it probably hasnt happened to a lot of people.
Teacher: Did you learn something new about the person from this truth they shared?
Student 1: Well I learned that it happened to them. I didnt know that before.
Teacher: Ok, so you learned about an experience they had that you were unaware of.
Does this change anything you thought about them?
Student 1: (Depending on statement, could be yes or no. Have them explain why).
Teacher: if the person were to write about this experience giving more details, do you
think you could learn even more about them?
Student 1: Yeah definitely.
Teacher: Who else could share one?
Student 2: I thought (blank) was a lie because it seemed too crazy.
Teacher: Why did it seem crazy?
Student 2: Just because I never would have thought they would have done that.
Teacher: So it gave you more information on the person that you didnt know before?
Student 2: Yeah I feel like Ive seen a different side of them now.
Teacher: Would reading about this experience in more detail be interesting to you?
Student 2: Yeah for sure.
Teacher: Why is that?
Student 2: Because its something I havent heard of someone doing before. Its new to
me so it would be cool to learn about it. Its not something like super common that Ive
read about a million times.
Teacher: So the interesting factor comes from the fact that its different and unique, and
unlike what youve seen or experienced?
Student 2: Yeah.
Thanks for sharing everyone. You all had great examples, and I learned some really
interesting things that are unique to you that I may not have known otherwise. Doing this
activity not only helps us find out interesting things about each other, but it also helps us
generate interesting topics for writing. Like we talked about in the beginning of class,
coming up with original things to write about can sometimes be difficult. We want our
audience to be interested in our story, and brainstorming things about ourselves that are
unique, different, or one-of-a-kind will help grab readers attention because it will be
something they have not seen before. Who thinks they could write a great story about one
of the truths they wrote down?
IV.

Closing (10 minutes)

Go to PowerPoint slide 6.
Great job, class. Please take out your Writing Territories list, and add your statements that
you wrote down to the list. Put a star next to the one you would be interested in writing
about,
Give students 3-5 minutes to do write their statements down.
I will now pass out an index card to each of you. Please answer the questions that you see
on the board as an exit ticket. Leave it on your desk when you have finished.
Give students 3-5 minutes to finish their exit cards.

Thanks for a great class today everyone, see you tomorrow!

Attention to Individual Student Needs: Detail specific actions/materials you will
use to differentiate your instruction to meet various individuals learning needs
in this lesson.
For students who have trouble focusing or working individually, I will make sure to
circulate to them specifically when they are filling out their Find the Fib worksheets. I will
make sure they are on task and attempting to fill out the worksheet. If they are really
struggling to think of facts, I will encourage them to think of events they experienced
when they were younger, something crazy that happened when they were playing sports,
something special about a vacation they have gone on, the best day they can remember
having and why it was so special, a favorite fun memory with their best friend, or anything
they can think of that they dont think anyone else they know has experienced before. I
will also make sure to let students know that it is ok if they do not guess the answer right
for the other students fibs. I will remind them that it is supposed to be challenging to
figure out which one is a lie, so they dont get upset if they dont get it right. Students will
also be seated with other students that they work well with, communicate well with, or
who help keep them on track so that the students who have a harder time have a peer
they can turn to. Furthermore, I will make sure to circulate specifically to students who I
know have a harder time communicating or understanding instructions to ensure that they
are aware of what they are supposed to be doing and how they should do it.
Technology Use: Detail specific technology being used in the lesson with
explanation for why it is being used.
The one aspect of technology I will use in this lesson will be a PowerPoint presentation. It
will be used to project my fib list on the board. I will do this so that students will get a clear
idea of what sorts of sentences they should be writing. They will see that what I wrote are
not simple, basic facts but rather interesting things unique to me personally. By modeling
this, students will have a better idea of what they themselves should write as their facts
and fibs. Also, the PowerPoint will include basic instructions for students when they do
their own Find the Fib activity. If they get confused at any point, they can check the
instructions on the board first to see if it helps clarify their understanding of the activity.
Finally, the PowerPoint will show the questions that the students are to answer for their
exit cards. Having the questions projected will allow students to read them at their own
pace and know exactly what they are supposed to be answering and focusing on.
How this lesson incorporates specific insights from course readings and/or class
discussion:
This activity is taken from Kelly Gallaghers book in chapter 5 which is entitled Beyond
Fake Writing: The Power of Choice. Several of our readings have talked about the
importance of giving students choice when reading and writing. We dont want students to
resent these things because they feel they are being forced to read or write about certain
things. Giving choice helps students with creativity and personalization, and allows them
to see the opportunities that reading and writing can bring. Specifically with this activity, it
helps students learn how to brainstorm creative topics for their own writing. They will

move beyond fake writing and hopefully become invested in what they decide to write
about because it is about them and is something they think is unique about themselves.
Materials Appendix:

Name: ____________________
Date: ____________________
Class period: ____________________

Find the Fib

On the lines below, write 4 things that are true about yourself and 1 that
is a lie. It doesnt matter which lines they go on. Afterwards, other
students will try to guess which number is the lie!
1. ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Student #1 Guess:

Student #2 Guess:

Student #3 Guess: