Introductory Week Lesson Plan

Unit Working Title: First Week of School

Context:
Grade Level: 8th
Lesson Theme: Establishing Norms and Safe Learning Space
Week __1__; Plan #__3__ of 3; [90 mins.]
Plan type: _____Full-Detail ____Summary
Unit Learning Objectives:
SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
1. Students will know ways that their peers operate in the classroom including daily
classroom routines and expectations, and behavioral norms.
Affective (feel/value) and/or Non-Cognitive:
2.
Students will understand that we can find common ground in spite of our differences.
3.
Students will understand the importance of working collaboratively and efficiently with
peers.
4.
Students will understand that they are part of a team in the classroom and that their
actions and words have an impact on those around them.
.

Performance (do):
Students will be able to illustrate their knowledge of classroom values of community, norms, and
procedures through a summative assessment.
SOLs:
7.1 The student will participate in and contribute to conversations, group
discussions, and oral presentations.
CCSs:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacherled) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
Methods of Assessment:
Diagnostic

Formative

Summative

 Train Wreck & Partner Grid Common Threads; student Students will perform skits
prompted students to get
success throughout the
to demonstrate their
to know each other
activity will promote
knowledge and
individually [Obj. 1]
understanding of
understandings of
common ground in spite
classroom routines and
Common Threads will
of differences [Obj. 2)
expectations [Obj. 5]
prompt students to make
Home Court & Observations
explicit connections to
each other
[Obj. 2
[Obj. 1, Obj. 3, Obj. 4]
& Obj. 3]
Reflections [Obj. 1 & Obj. 4]

Beginning Room Arrangement:

[Changes in this arrangement that become necessary later will be noted in the plan]
The class is currently set up in a large circle.
Procedures/Instructional Strategies
[Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.]
1. [__5__ mins] Welcome & Do-Now:
I will greet students as they enter the class. The Do-Now on the board will instruct them to find a
seat in the circle and to store their belongings under their desks. The goal for the day will be
projected: Establishing Norms and Safe Learning Space.
2. [__10__ mins] Common Thread Game:
I will explain to students that this game is going to help us clearly see simple ways that we are all
connected, even though we are all different as we have been learning throughout the week. I will
need a ball of twine or string for this game. I will start with the string. I will share one small fact
about my life or a personal interest. Students will think of a way to connect to what I share.
Students will raise their hand when they have thought of a connection. I will choose a student
and toss the string while holding on to the end of the string. Then, the student with the string will
share a small fact or personal interest. Other students will think of a way to connect and raise
their hands. The student will choose another student, preference given to students who have not
had the string yet, and pass the ball of string while still holding on to part of it. The object is to
have all students share something, creating a web that shows we are all connected through
each other.
3. [__45__ mins] Home Court:
Now that we have established that we are all connected, I will explain that we will need to work
as a team to continue defining what kind of learning space we will have.
This activity is multifaceted, but a critical part of developing classroom norms. Each step will
serve as a subheading under this step of the overall lesson.
A. Introduction (2-3 minutes): I will refer to the previous days Owners Manual activity
referenced in the Exit Cards they completed at the end of class. In this activity, students
looked really hard at themselves and how they work, and this activity has them bring
those qualities into a team mindset. I will start by introducing the overall activity,

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

home court. I will begin by telling students that statistically teams win more games at
home than when they are away. This fact is consistent across sports and also between
amateur and professional players. To celebrate different students interests, I will remind
students that there are many ways of thinking about a team that arent just about
sports--like dance teams, debate teams, and families.
Partner Brainstorm (5 minutes): I will ask students to turn to a partner and brainstorm on
scrap paper. They will answer the question: Why do you think teams perform better when
they play at home? I will emphasize that brainstorming means quantity over quality; they
should write everything down.
Partner Prioritize (2-3 minutes): After a couple of minutes, students will work with the
same partner to prioritize the list according to how much they believe each reason actually
affects a team; number one makes the most difference, and so on. They will write their
prioritized list on the backside of their original scrap paper or on another piece.
Share Out/Norms (10 mins.): I will remind students to reference the Quiet-AttentiveListening chart during share out. Then, pairs take turns reading an idea to the class
following these instructions: When it is your turn, read your number one idea. If that has
already been mentioned, read your number two, etc. If all of yours have been taken, go
back to your number one and read that. As you listen, check off the ones that are
mentioned and add the new ones to your own list in your composition notebook. Students
will typically choose fan support and comfort with their playing field as the top two
reasons. After sharing out, I will open up class discussion to briefly talk about why these
things improve performance playing at home.
Writing Prompt (7 minutes): Students will independently respond to the prompt: How do
fan support and a comfortable playing field relate to the academic success of the people
in this room? How can we create a home court advantage here? I will remind students to
reference the Silent-Patient-Waiting list as they finish up their writing, but I will encourage
them to write as much as they can in the time they have. Students will complete this
writing in another blog post.
Partner Share & Blog Comment (8 mins.): Students will turn to a different partner to share
what they wrote during the writing prompt. They will share their blogs with each other
following the same procedure they followed when sharing with me on the first day. They
will then read each others blog posts and provide a comment on the post. I will explain
that this will give them brief practice commenting on blogs, which they will need to be
able to do next week. I will explain that their comments dont need to be paragraphs, but
rather a sentence or two responding to what their partner wrote. For example, they could
write something that they agreed with or liked a lot in the post.
Whole class reflection (5 mins.): I will ask students, In what ways do you think this activity
was important? Why? I will then facilitate this discussion about how important common
ground, collaboration, and teamwork are in our classroom, identifying and clarifying any
misconceptions.

4. [__25__ mins] Skit Preparation and Presentation:

I will explain to students that all of the things we have covered and created together this week
are super important to make sure that our classroom is safe, efficient, and inviting to learn in. To
make sure that we are all understand the routines and expectations, students will work in small
groups to create skits based on everything covered this week. Skits will be about classroom
procedures for Quiet-Attentive-Listening, Silent-Patient-Waiting, Home Court, and Daily Classroom
Routines. Students will be split into four groups and assigned ONE of the previously listed
procedures. Their task will be to write and perform a 2-3 minute skit about their assigned
classroom procedure. The students will choose to make the content of their skit an example or

non-example of the assigned procedure. The students will be asked to be dramatic, emphasizing
the example or non-example in a fun, memorable way. I will take notes during each skit and
assess how well each group understands the classroom procedure they perform. To assess
individual students understanding of ALL classroom procedures, I will have students fill out a
graphic organizer consisting of four boxes. Each box will be assigned one of the four assigned
classroom procedures (Quiet-Attentive-Listening, Silent-Patient-Waiting, Home Court, and Daily
Classroom Routines). Students will fill out 3 of the 4 boxes while they watch other groups
perform. At the end of the skits, students will individually fill in the box corresponding to the
procedure their skit was based on. Students will be responsible for using the box to record both
the main idea(s) of each classroom procedure and evidence for how to exemplify or not
exemplify that procedure (based on the student skits). Students will also draw a symbol or
picture representing the main idea identified in each skit. This will allow me to assess the
students on each of these critical classroom norm activities, helping ensure all students
understand how the classroom will function throughout the year.
5. [__10__ mins]
I will allow time for students to ask questions and reflect as a large group about the work done
this week to build community and a safe learning space in the classroom.

Materials Needed:
Ball of twine or string
Scrap Paper
Student device & Laptop cart (from the school) as back up
The Silent-Patient-Waiting chart (displayed)
Summative Assessment Rubrics