MorganBennett

LessonOneReflection

Asaneducationmajor,Iamoftentoldtocreatelessonplanshowever,itislessoftenthat
Igettoputmylessonsintoaction.Itwasveryexcitingformetofinallygettoteach
real
students!Whatsmore,Ihadaverypleasantteachingexperience.Ontopofthat,Ihadtochance
topracticecoteachingwithmyfellowCSUstudent,Laura.

Tomonitorstudentunderstandingofthecontent,LauraandIwalkedaroundtoverbally
andvisuallycheckstudentunderstanding,thenwealsocollecteda321.Forourfirstlearning
target,identifyingthepurposeofOntheQuaiatSmyrna,wehadadiscussionwithstudents
aboutwhattheythoughtthepurposewas.Wealsohadthemunderlinethepartsofthestorythat
toldthemwhatthepurposewas,andwhereHemingwayusedethos,pathos,andlogos.From
havingstudentdiscussion,LauraandIcouldgatherwhatwasdifficultforstudentsandwhat
studentsunderstoodwell.Thenextpartofourassessment,thatwecollected,wasthe321.For
our321,wehadthestudentswritedownthreetakeaways,twoquestions,andonepieceof
feedbackforLauraandme.Thiswasaninterestingwaytoassesswhetherourlearningtargets
weremetornotbecauseoftheparticipationofthestudents.Alotofthestudentswrotedown
reallygoodinformationandweredefinitelyengagedinthelessonhowever,someofthestudents
wroteverysuperficialanswersforthefactandquestionpart.Anexampleofthiswas,the
meaningbehindthelostgeneration.Iwouldhavelikedtoseemorespecificanswerslikewhat
thatmeaningis.Ithinkbecauseofthis,itwouldbeimportanttoreiteratetheunderstandingsfor
thelessonlateronintheunit.Withthatbeingsaid,ourunderstandingsstatethatwewant
studentstobegintounderstandtheinfluenceofWWIonliteratureandfurtherdeveloptheir
knowledgeofethos,pathos,andlogos.Becauseofthedegreethatweprovidedourstudents
with,Ibelievethatthemajorityofthestudentsdidmeetthelearningtargetsfromourlesson.

IfIweretoteachthislessonagain,Iwouldmakeminimalchangestothelessonplans.I
reallylikedtheactivitiesandIenjoyedthereadingthatweworkedwith.However,Ithinkit
wouldhelptostructuretheactivitiesmorebeforelettingthestudentsloose.Anexampleofthis
couldbeseeninthebeginningactivity:theteaparty.Teapartiescanbeareallyengagingway
forstudentstoprereadatextandmakeinferencesandconnectionsaboutwhatwewillread.
Thisactivityhasalotofpowertomakestudentsexcitedtolearn,ifdoneproperly.Ithinkthat
sincethiswasthefirsttimethatthestudentsparticipatedinateaparty,LauraandIshouldhave
demonstratedtheteapartypossiblyinanIdo,Wedo,Youdo.SinceIwascoteaching,it
wouldhavesetusupnicelytofirstdemonstratehowtointeractwiththequoteweweregiven
withLaura.Then,wecouldhavebothpickedtwostudentstotalkwithforawedowecould
havecombinedourtwolittlegroupstoshowtheclasswhatitlookslikeastheactivitycontinues.
Finally,atthatpoint,Iwouldturnthestudentslooseandletthemstarttheteaparty.


IfIweretoteachafollowuplessontotheclass,Iwouldhavemykiddoscontinueto
practiceethos,pathos,andlogos.Afterseeingtheirintroductorylesson(taughtbyMrs.
Goldberg),andreviewingethos,pathos,andlogoswiththestudentsasecondtime,itseemslike
somethingthatwouldbebeneficialforstudentstoreviewagain.Ontopofthat,Iwouldliketo
continueourexplorationofthelostgeneration.WereadashortstorybyHemingway,butthere
aretonsofotherinterestingshortpieceswecouldworkwithtolearnmoreaboutthelost
generation.Duringthelecture,Imentionedotherfamousauthorsofthetimeandnottoomanyof
thestudentswerefamiliarwiththeseliteraryclassics,likeFitzgeraldandGertrudeStein.Since
thisisanAmericanliterature/historyclass,itwouldalsobeagreatopportunitytofurtherexplore
theothermediumsthatwerecreatedinthetime,forexample,poetryandartwork.

Toconclude,Iwanttoshareoneofthecommentsastudentleft:Howtherearebetter
authorsthanothersbecauseIHATEreading,andthatwasprettygood!ThisisSOexciting!We
readaHemingwaystoryandastudentactuallyenjoyedreadingit.AsanEnglishteacher,thisis
mygoaltoshowstudentsthatreadingisntsobad,andthattheclassicauthorsarentallthat
stuffy.Evenafterhavingsometimetoprocessthiscomment,itstilljustmakesmesohappy.
ThiscommentisthereasonwhyIwanttobeateacher,andnow,morethanever,Icannotwaitto
beintheclassroomfulltime.

Teacher
:Ms.MorganBennettandMs.LauraHodapp
February2016
School
: ThompsonValleyHigh
English

Title
:InfluenceofWWIonLiterature
2

Date
: 18
Grade

Level
:11th

Content

Area
:
Lesson

#:

1
of

ContentStandard(s)addressedbythislesson: (WriteContentStandardsdirectlyfromthestandard)
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.1112.3

Analyzetheimpactoftheauthor'schoicesregardinghowtodevelopandrelateelements
ofastoryordrama(e.g.,whereastoryisset,howtheactionisordered,howthe
charactersareintroducedanddeveloped).
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.1112.4

Determinethemeaningofwordsandphrasesastheyareusedinthetext,including
figurativeandconnotativemeanings;analyzetheimpactofspecificwordchoiceson

meaningandtone,includingwordswithmultiplemeaningsorlanguagethatisparticularly
fresh,engaging,orbeautiful.(IncludeShakespeareaswellasotherauthors.)
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.1112.9

Demonstrateknowledgeofeighteenth,nineteenthandearlytwentiethcentury
foundationalworksofAmericanliterature,includinghowtwoormoretextsfromthe
sameperiodtreatsimilarthemesortopics.

(From:
http://www.corestandards.org/ELALiteracy/SL/1112/
)
Understandings:

(BigIdeas)
Studentswillbegintounderstandhowmajoreventsshapeliterature.Theywillalsofurtherdevelop
theirknowledgeofhowethos,pathos,andlogoscanaffectawritersdiction.
InquiryQuestions:

(Essentialquestionsrelatingknowledgeatendoftheunitofinstruction,select
applicablequestionsfromstandard)
Howdoauthorsuseethos,pathos,andlogostoeffectivelyconveymeaningtoreaders?
Howdomajoreventsinfluencetheliteratureproducedduringatimeperiod?
EvidenceOutcomes:

(LearningTargets)
1. GivenaHemingwaytext,studentswillbeabletoidentifyanddiscusstheauthorspurpose,as
wellashisuseofethos,pathos,andlogoswiththoughtfulinsight.
2. GiveninformationonthemajoreventsofWWIandTheLostGeneration,studentswillbeable
toconnecthowtheseissuesshapedtheliteratureofthetime.

ListofAssessments:

(Writethenumberofthelearningtargetassociatedwitheachassessment)
WholeClassDiscussionLearningTarget#1
321ActivityLearningTargets#1/2

PlannedLessonActivities
NameandPurposeofLesson
Shouldbeacreativetitleforyouandthe
studentstoassociatewiththeactivity.Think
ofthepurposeastheminirationalefor
whatyouaretryingtoaccomplishthrough
thislesson.
Approx.TimeandMaterials
Howlongdoyouexpecttheactivitytolast
andwhatmaterialswillyouneed?

InfluenceofWWIonliterature;Thepurposeofthis
lessonistogivestudentsanintroductiontothelost
generationandtheliteraturethatthesemenand
womencreated.
~60minutelesson
Materials:

AnticipatorySet
Thehooktograbstudentsattention.
Theseareactionsandstatementsbythe
teachertorelatetheexperiencesofthe
studentstotheobjectivesofthelesson,To
putstudentsintoareceptiveframeofmind.
Tofocusstudentattentiononthe
lesson.
Tocreateanorganizingframework
fortheideas,principles,or
informationthatistofollow
(advancedorganizers)
Ananticipatorysetisusedanytimea
differentactivityornewconceptistobe
introduced.

Procedures
(Includeaplaybyplayaccountofwhat
studentsandteacherwilldofromthe
minutetheyarrivetotheminutetheyleave
yourclassroom.Indicatethelengthofeach
segmentofthelesson.Listactualminutes.)
Indicatewhethereachis:
teacherinput
modeling
questioningstrategies
guided/unguided:
wholeclasspractice
grouppractice
individualpractice

PowerPoint
SkeletonOutlineforstudentnotes
PhrasesfromOntheQuaiatSmyrna
OntheQuaiatSmyrnahandout

TeaPartyActivity
(fromKyleneBeers,
WhenKids
CantRead,
p.94101)
Studentswillgetaslipofpaperwhenthey
comeinwithsentenceorexcerptfromOn
theQuaiatSmyrnabyHemingway).(12
minutes)
Introduceteapartyactivity(The
studentsbreakintosmallgroupsand
sharetheirsentences,tryingtomake
connectionstooneanther'sexcerpts.
Astheactivitycontinues,thegroups
getlargeruntilthewholeclassis
talkingandsharingtheirsentence
togetherandmakinginferencesabout
whatthetextmightbeabout/the
contextofthetext.)
Teachercanguidestudentsbyasking
questionslike:
Whatdoyouthinkis
happeninginthisstory?
Whatisthecontextofthe
story?
Afterwards,havestudentsjotnotes
aboutwhattheydiscussedintheirTea
Partyactivity(~3minutes)
TheInfluenceofWWIonAmericanLiterature
powerpoint
Introducetimelineofimportanteventsinthe
timeperiod(Laura)(5minutes)
ZoomInonTheLostGeneration(TLG)
(Morgan)(5minutes)
StudentswillthenreadOntheQuaiat
Smyrnatwice(20minutes)
First,wewillreaditasaclasswith
studentsvolunteeringtoread.
Thesecondreadwillbe
independentlywithstudentsfollowing
guidelinesonscreen.

checkforunderstanding
other

Underlinethreeinstances
whereHemingwayuses
ethos,pathos,orlogos
IdentifyHemingways
purpose
RelatethispiecebacktoThe
LostGeneration
Classdiscussionontheirfindingsof
ethos,pathos,andlogos(Laura)(7
minutes)

Closure

Thoseactionsorstatementsbyateacher
Finalactivity:321
,forcollection(onahalfpieceof
thataredesignedtobringalesson
paper)(5minutes)
presentationtoanappropriateconclusion.
3thingsyoulearned(i.e.abouthow
Usedtohelpstudentsbringthingstogether
WWIshapedAmericanLiterature,
intheirownminds,tomakesenseoutof
howanauthorusesrhetorictoachieve
whathasjustbeentaught.AnyQuestions?
theirpurpose,etc.)
No.OK,letsmoveonisnotclosure.Closure
2questionsyoustillhaveaboutallof
isused:
this
Tocuestudentstothefactthatthey
havearrivedatanimportantpoint
1thingwedidwellorcouldworkon
inthelessonortheendofalesson.
asteachers
Tohelporganizestudentlearning.
Differentiation
Oneexampleofdifferentiationthatwehaveplanned
Tomodify:Iftheactivityistooadvancedfor ishavingthestudentsfirstreadOntheQuaiat
achild,howwillyoumodifyitsothatthey
Smyrnaasawholeclass,andthenagainindividually.
canbesuccessful?
Thisisawayofscaffoldingallowsallstudentstofirst
Toextend:Iftheactivityistooeasyfora
hear
thestory,andthentodivedeeperontheirown.
child,howwillyouextendittodeveloptheir Anotherwaywewillprovidedifferentiationforour
emergingskills?
studentsisbyusingdifferentmethodsofteaching.We
willbeverballylecturing,usingapowerpoint,
providingskeletonnotes,andhavingstudents
participateinahandsonactivity.
Assessment
Wewillbeassessingstudentsinformallyduringthe
Howwillyouknowifstudentsmetthe
classdiscussionaboutrhetoric.Thelevelof
learningtargets?Writeadescriptionof
participationanddegreeofresponseswillgiveus
whatyouwerelookingforineach
insightintohowwellstudentsunderstandrhetoric,as
assessment.
wellashowWWIshapedAmericanLiterature.Inthis

assessmentwearelookingforanunderstandingof

whatexactlyethos,pathos,andlogosare(thestudents

havejustbeganlearningthis),andanabilitytomake

connectionsbetweenwhattheylearnedinthe
PowerPointabouttheLostGeneration/WWIandthe
texttheyhaveread.


Wewillalsobecollectingthe321assignmentfrom
theendofthelesson.Thiswillallowustogaugeall
studentslearning,notjustthosewhospeakupduring
thediscussion.The321willalsohelpustoassess
studentsbecausetheycanlistquestionstheystillhave
aboutthematerialwehavelearnedthatday.