Teacher: B.

Brown
Subject (s): ELA 7 (Resource)
Date(s): 11/28/2016-12/2/2016
Essential Question:
Should we make a home in space?
NVACS/ Standard(s):
RI 7.10 - By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
L 7.4 - Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7
reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
SL 7.1 - Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly
Language Objective (student-friendly):
I will read and analyze informational text; I will follow group norms to complete an assignment
Standard 1-New Learning is Connected to Prior Learning and Experience
Warm-Up Question:
M: Should we make a home in space? Defend your position with evidence from the articles read in class.
T: What is the past tense to walk? What is the past participle?
W: What is the past tense to crying? Past participle?
Th: What is a verb? Provide a present verb and give its past tense.
Collect the editorial essays from the students.
Mini Lesson for assessing prior knowledge: Assess students' knowledge on what a verb is and brainstorm a list of
action words, both in the past and present tense. Complete this in notebooks in a T-Chart with the verb in its present
tense on the left side and past tense on the right side. Teach the difference between past and present participle. Have
students work on writing the past and present participle with each verb. These concepts will be found throughout

the small group portion of the unit and is on the selection tests. It will also be tomorrow's warm-up question for
additional practice.
Review the chart on page 170 with students and have small groups create small-group learning strategies. Review
the boxes as a class by placing the answers on a master box on the board. Students will then create a list of group
learning strategies norms that will be followed for each class.
Jump Start: On page 174, have students engage in a conversation about the importance of space exploration by
asking if they have seen TV shows or movies that depict the colonization of other planets. Point out that some say
that the future of the human race depends upon space exploration. Ask students if they agree. Why or why not?
Have students identify specific reasons for their opinions.
Place the vocabulary words: colonize, planetary and interstellar on the vocabulary word wall (QHT chart based on
prior knowledge of the words.
Indicator 2 students will use knowledge and experience from past classes to determine how group work should be
carried out in the classroom
Standard 2-Learning Tasks have High Cognitive Demand for Diverse Learners
Ask groups to look closely at the three types of context clues and discuss how these types of clues can clarify
meaning on page 174. Encourage students to think of one other type of context clue they might encounter as they
read the article on page 175-176.
In groups, students will read the article on pg 175 and 176, Future of Space Exploration Could See Humans on
Mars, Alien Planets. As students read they will annotate by marking evidence that support space exploration in the
article. Students will connect the article to their own lives by considering explorations they have taken, such as
visiting a new place or meeting new people.
Students will answer the following comprehension questions in a brochure in a small group setting, 1. What is the
goal of the 100-Year Starship project? 2. What does Jemison mean when she says that the project must be
inclusive? 3. What is one of the challenges faced by the project? 4. To confirm your understanding of the article,
summarize its main ideas.

Indicator 3 students have moved from whole class to group learning, which is less guided and requires more
active cognition and participation from students to generate answers.
Standard 3- Students Engage in Meaning-Making through Discourse and Other Strategies (Including 3+ high level
questions)
High Level QuestionsWhat skills and talents would benefit the space program? Justify your response.
Why do you think Jemison believes it is important for the public to be enthusiastic about space travel?
What other goals does Jemison have, in addition to building a spaceship?
Students will work in a group to revisit sections of the text they marked during the first read. They will need to
justify what they noticed and formulate questions they have. This will be done in a close read, which is the second
time reading the text.
Students will review and clarify with their group by discussing Jemisons goals.
Groups will share ideas from the article that they found particularly important. Students will take turns presenting
the ideas and answering the questions asked and the conclusions reached.
Groups will engage by answering the essential question on the board: Should we make a home in space? Answers
will be placed on the board and share with the rest of the class.
Students will work together to determine the authors purpose. Fact vs. Opinion activity: Place the facts vs.
opinions chart on chart paper for each group. Each portion of the chart will be completed to show knowledge on
why an author would include facts instead of opinions in a selection. Below the chart, students will answer the
following questions: What kinds of facts does the writer include? What kinds of opinions does the writer include?
Infer: Based on the kinds of details included in the selection, what is the writers main purpose for writing the
article? Connect: Review the quotations that the writer chose to include. Do these choices suggest an attempt to
persuade readers? Why or why not?
Visual Presentation: Students will work together to create a digital presentation in which they incorporate text and
images to explain a topic. Options for possible topics include: An illustrated report about Mae Jamison that includes

highlights of her career and her interest in the 100-Year Starship project and an illustrated exploration of what
would be involved in achieving the 100-Year Starship project, including various spaceship designed that would
allow people to warp time in space. Each group will gather information from multiple print and multimedia
sources to create a short research-based visual presentation. Students should prepare and use notes and visual aids
to present the information.
Students will present their visual presentations to the class. They will make sure that all equipment is working
properly before they begin the presentations, speak clearly and with enough volume so that everyone in the
audience can hear, and students will need to cite sources.
Indicator 4 students will work together in an environment that enables collaboration, participation and is an
effective experience.
Indicator 2 students will work together to create a digital presentation that incorporates text and images to show
knowledge on topics presented in the My Perspectives text.
Standard 4-Students Engage in Metacognitive Activity to Increase Understanding of and Responsibility for Their
Own Learning
DOK 1: Recall: What is the goal of the 100-year starship program? What does Jemison mean when she says that
the project must be inclusive? What is one of the challenges faced by the project? Write a brief summary of the
main points of the article. (pg 177)
DOK 2: Concept/Skill: use context clues to define the selection vocabulary, apply the four principal parts of verbs
(pg 180)
DOK 3: Strategic Thinking: analyze text, Should we spend money to send a spaceship to another planetary system,
or should we use that money to solve problems closer to home? Write a paragraph in which you persuade readers
either to fund or not to fund the 100-Year Starship project. Include an example of each of the four principal parts of
verbs in your paragraph. (pg 180)
DOK 4: Extended Thinking: create a multimedia presentation either an illustrated biography of Mae Jemison or
an informational brochure explaining the requirements necessary to achieve the goals of the 100-Year Starship
project
Indicator 2 groups will each be responsible for completing tasks within the given time frame on their own.
Standard 5- Assessment is Integrated into Instruction

Multimedia presentation will assess students understanding of the article

Connection to small group learning performance task - Jemison argues that the main obstacle to space exploration
is not developing the technology, but rather creating public interest. This raises the question, should people in our
country be more interested in space exploration than other issues?
Connection to unit performance based assessment - Jemison's project is called the "100 Year Starship", indicating
that space exploration is no short-term project. Colonizing another solar system would take abundant resources,
and those resources would never return home. Is it worth investing the time and resources in a project such as this
when there are so many more pressing needs here on Earth?
Indicator 2 all activities lead up to the Performance Task at the end of the group learning section of the unit
Supplementary Materials: My Perspectives books, iPads, notebooks, paper, color pencils, color crayons and
markers.
Potential Modifications to Lesson: groups who are falling behind may be given an adjusted assignment through
modifications and accommodations found in IEPs.