UMF Unit-Wide Lesson Plan Template

Name: Rebecca Long Program: SMED Course: EDU 460

Lesson Topic / Title: Presenting Video Game Pitches

Lesson Date: 3/4/2022 Lesson Length: 70 minutes Grade/Age: 10

Learning Objectives & Content Standard Alignment - Selects, creates, and sequences learning
experiences and performance tasks that support learners in reaching rigorous curriculum
goals based on content standards.

Learning Objective(s) Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

1. Knows how to use questions and comments to 1. A skill students don’t often get
give constructive criticism and positive feedback to practice is asking
appropriate questions. It is
2. Knows how to present to a specific audience with difficult to formulate questions
a specific goal in mind that prompt a complex
response from a presenter
without practice and modeling.
I remember there being a steep
learning curve in college about
how to be an engaged audience
member and ask stimulating
questions. It was also difficult
to answer the kind of complex
questions posed to me when I
gave presentations too. So, I
thought because the final
project of this unit was framed
as a “pitch” it would be a good
opportunity for students to
practice asking and answering
productive questions. I also
think asking meaningful
questions is a skill students
will have to use in their adult
lives. For example, students
will have to ask such questions
when interviewing for jobs. All
of this is the reason I had
students include a questions
slide in their presentations and
gave them question stems to
use.

2. Presenting to a specific
audience is something students
have been working on
throughout this unit. For this
lesson, and the assignment
being presented in it, students
were to place themselves in the
position of someone who is
selling a product to a board
who would approve its
production. Meaning they
 would have to give a
comprehensive idea of what
their product would be in an
enticing way. Students
frequently have to present
information in school, but
presentation skills aren’t
usually focused on. By creating
a mock scenario to act out
students are getting used to the
idea of having an audience and
goal when presenting which is
something they unconsciously
have to consider every time
they make a presentation. It
also offers the opportunity to
teach about aesthetics and why
they matter. Understanding
both audience and design is a
skill students will probably
have to utilize in their adult life
too. Almost every job a student
could go into would require
them to present information to
someone for a specific purpose
in a specific format.

Content Standard(s) Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

ELA.912.R.CS - Demonstrates the ability to comprehend, These four standards are Mt. Blue
interpret, and analyze appropriately complex literary High School’s main English standards.
texts. They are the standards I will be
grading my students using and are
ELA.912.S.CS - Demonstrates the ability to have formal therefore most appropriate for me to
and informal discussions as well as give formal and put in my lesson plans. They are also
informal presentations. based on Maine’s Common Core state
standards, so they are suitable
ELA.912.W.CS - Demonstrates the ability to write and according to state expectations too.
revise writing as well as the ability to complete short and Moreover, they cover a wide variety of
sustained research. subjects that align with my four unit
goals and the objectives and
ELA.912.L.CS - Demonstrates the ability to use content assignments of this lesson. Also,
specific language and more generalized vocabulary as because this is the last lesson of the
well as capitalization and punctuation rules. unit it makes sense that all the
standards used throughout the unit
would be assessed somehow.

Specifically, the first standard

corresponds to this lesson because
students’ final projects show their
ability to understand, expound on, and
analyze Macbeth. To create an original
product that incorporates significant
portions of the text students really
have to be knowledgeable about the
play and think critically about it.

The second standard is met by this

 lesson because students will be giving
a formal presentation, and asking and
answering formal questions. This is
something students have been
working up to throughout the unit by
giving informal and formal
presentations, so it makes sense for
this standard to be assed in the final
lesson of the unit.

Standard three is suitable for this

lesson because students have been
writing and revising their final
projects based on my feedback for
weeks. Most every student has also
had to do some research for their
projects.

Standard four applies to this lesson

because students will be using content
specific language and general
vocabulary in their presentations and
in the questions they have to
ask/answer. Students will also get the
opportunity to see content specific
language in the production of Macbeth
we’ll be watching in class. And, when
we pause to discuss, they'll use both
general vocabulary and more specific
language. Students will also have to
show a grasp of general mechanics
such as capitalization and punctuation
in their presentations. That is one of
the areas their final projects are being
graded on, so they should be aiming to
show their mastery of it.

Assessment - Uses assessment flexibly to expand and deepen understanding of learner

performance and determines best supports for continued learner growth.

Assessment Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

Summative: The presentations occurring during this Summative: This assessment was
lesson are the summative assessment for the entire unit. designed to assess every goal and
They are pitches for a game students have created based standard students had been working
off of Macbeth. Said pitches should include a basic game on throughout the unit. There were
concept, gameplay elements, game mechanics, and game research elements, a presentation,
design inspired by the play. students had to do character and
theme analysis, show their writing
Formative: Observing both the students' use of questions skills, use textual evidence, display
during the Q&A portion of the presentations and the proper mechanics, and more. It was
answers the presenters give. designed so that students with
different strengths would be able to
show them. For example, students
who excelled in graphic design could
do well in the character design and
game design portions. Students who
enjoyed music could add background
 noises and sound effects. Students
who think logically could create a
series of levels and intricate story
lines. Students who prefer to work
with their hands had the option of
making a physical game too. I also
purposefully gamified this
assignment. I knew from collecting
data about students that many of
them had an interest in gaming, so I
gamified this assignment and the
whole unit to make them relevant and
engaging to students. I also wanted to
show that classic literature can be
relevant to their lives and have themes
or raise questions that they connect
to.

Formative: In a way, the questions

requirement during the presentations
is more a way for me to pretest
students on their ability to
ask/answer questions. We haven’t
done much with how to ask/answer
questions before this, and will only
have a short mini-lesson at the start of
class about it. So, this is really an
opportunity for me to see where
students are at with this skill. Then, it
will let me know whether we should
continue working on this skill or not.

Instructional Materials and Resources - Stays current in content knowledge and expands expertise
in reviewing instructional materials from the perspectives of both the discipline and individual
learner needs.

Materials, Resources, and / or Technology Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

Students’ laptops Students’ laptops are needed so that

Teacher’s laptop they can present their final projects.
Projector Unlike other presentations where I
Students’ reader/writer notebooks would project students' work to save
Question stems sheet transition time, these presentations
Agenda are meant to be more formal and
therefore students will put up their
own work. This choice also makes
sense because pacing is an important
part of presenting, and it’s difficult to
control pace and transitions when
someone else is in control of your
presentation.

My laptop is needed just in case a

student can’t use their laptop to
present. This has happened in the
past, and it pays to be prepared.

The projector is needed to put

 students’ presentations up.

Students’ Reader/writer notebooks

are needed during the presentations
so students can write down their
questions as they think of them.
Having students come up with
questions while they’re watching
ensures they are paying attention to
their peers, and thinking critically
about what they are being presented.
By writing their questions down it
also ensures that there will be
questions to answer right away when
the presenters ask.

From what I observed, students had

no experience crafting complex
questions. When asked previously to
come up with questions students
mainly asked dead end yes or no
questions. And so, I knew that if I was
going to require them to create
questions to ask presenters I would
have to prepare them somehow. I
decided on creating a sheet of
question stems that students could
use to start their questions.

The agenda is necessary so that

students know the plan for the class
is. This means we can get started with
class right away without much time
spent discussing what we will be
doing for the day.

Instructional Methods: Selects, creates, and sequences learning experiences and performance
tasks by using a variety of instructional approaches, strategies, and technologies that make
learning accessible to all learners and support learners in reaching rigorous curriculum goals.

Teaching and Learning Sequence Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

Students will present their final projects to the class. By starting class with presentations
Using question stems students will write two questions we are following a similar structure as
or comments about each presentation in their RWN’s. our usual routine. This is particularly
Each student is expected to ask one question throughout important today because students are
the presentations. (50 minutes) doing a high stakes presentation and
working within our regular routine
Discussion about where we are going in our next unit (10 could provide comfort and security to
minutes) nervous students.

Catch-up time (10 minutes) The questions/comments that

students make about each
presentation in their RWN’ is meant to
be a form of peer evaluation. Students
get a lot of feedback from me, but
 rarely from their peers and some
students aren’t adult motivated. Peer
to peer feedback can also often offer
insights that I miss as a teacher and
can be valuable for students in
different ways. This also encourages
students to be active listeners during
presentations. And, it lets them
practice giving constructive feedback,
a skill which they will definitely have
to use in future class and their outside
life.

Meeting students’ needs (differentiation, Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

extensions, modifications, accommodations)
Modeling supplies students with a
Modeling how to ask questions during clear image of how to do something. It
presentations shows them step by step how they
should complete a task. For students
Making sure students know what’s coming next who struggle with translating
directions, with visualization,
Giving catch up time processing, etc. seeing a task done in
front of them and with them is
Continually rewording directions/instructions extremely useful. In general, it also
limits misunderstandings because
students are seeing exactly what you
expect of them. This means students
can start right off when given the
assignment too. It also limits
frustration on everyone's part because
directions will be as clear as possible.

Students who benefit from

pre-exposure and structure will profit
from knowing where we are going
next. Also, predictability is very
important in creating a comfortable
classroom environment. School
should be a safe palace for students
and it's hard to feel safe in an
unpredictable environment. Even
small things like going over the next
unit contribute to this.

Having built in time for students to

receive help or work on assignments
is extremely important. I frequently
give in class work time because some
students are most productive in the
classroom and least productive at
home. It also means I can be present
to help students as soon as problems
arise. In this particular lesson, having
catch up time was beneficial because
it was the class of the unit and we
would be moving on to new content.

Being able to reword or simplify

 directions or explanations is key for
comprehension. If students are
struggling to comprehend something
then breaking down or rewording the
explanation will encourage student
comprehension to be as high as
possible. Saying instructions multiple
times will also help in this.

Field Courses Only – Post lesson

Reflection

This lesson was kind of a mess. Many students were not finished with their final
projects and did not have much to present. I ended up just letting students share
what they had so we could get some closure for the unit. It’s somewhat frustrating
because the assessment was introduced weeks ago and students had multiple full
class periods to work on just this project. There were a few finished products that
were extremely well done, but then some students had barely one slide. I find
myself having to move on to another topic even though I feel like I’m leaving some
students behind. I feel like I’m in a constant battle with time, and I have the sense
that this is a feeling I’ll have to get used to.

On a brighter note, students seemed pretty receptive to the next unit topic: Night
and the Holocuast. Many students read the memoir in middle school, but didn’t
remember much of it, which is good for us. One thing I never anticipated in
becoming an English teacher was just how much history I would have to know. In
preparing for this until I’ve had to really learn a lot about the Holocaust myself. It
makes me think of how well a co-taught call between the two disciplines could
work.

The catch up time was very productive, but it still feels like a lot of students have a
lot to do. There was a little bit of distraction here and there but the focus wasn’t
terrible. I was also able to go around and help a lot of students during this time and
I even tied up some loose ends with a few students about late assignments.
Although I wish it wasn’t needed, the catch up period ended up being time well
spent.

Teaching Standards and Rationale

Standard # 5 Innovative Applications of Content

"The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage
learners in critical/creative thinking, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic
local and global issues."

Indictor O: “Understands creative thinking processes and how to engage learners in producing
original work.”

Rationale: This lesson plan shows my proficiency with standard five because it encouraged
students to share their creative porcess and express their ideas, knowledge, and connections by
sharing an original work they created. Almost all areas of the assignment presented in this
lesson fostered students' creativity from the general game concept students had to come up with
to the literal aesthetic design of the game. Throughout the creation of the project I encouraged
students to think creatively by asking them to answer questions about the different features of
their game. These questions were also intended to help them create new material that integrated
students' ideas, knowledge, and connections about Macbeth. For example, the What characters
could you play as? slide was meant to utilize students' understanding of the main characters of
the play to create characters for their game. The What levels would there be? question was aimed
at getting students to integrate important plot elements by creating a leveling system of their
own. There was even a stared reminder that students needed to utilize significant aspects of the
play in their game, but still develop their original ideas. Overall, students had to connect
concepts from all throughout the unit and apply their critical and creative thinking skills to
create the original game “pitch” they shared in this lesson.