Lesson Plan

Context:
Course name TEAM21
Grade level 9th
Length of lesson 55 minutes
Description of setting, students, and curriculum and any other important contextual characteristics
TEAM is an innovative class structure where four core subject teachers work together to create a project-
based learning classroom experience for students. Underperforming middle school students are
recommended or selected for the program.
There are 3 adjoining classrooms, with one subject teacher stationed in each room.
We have 53 students that for 3 hours every morning. These students are split up into 3 groups. These
groups rotate every hour (so in one day, students have been taught 3 different subjects). Since there are 4
subjects (English, math, science, history), some teachers are "off" on certain days so that students are
taught all 4 subjects by the end of the week.

This is the second lesson (out of twelve) in our Perspectives Unit. This unit is related to the World
Religions unit that students are learning in history; as students learn about the tenets of major religions
around the world, I am challenging them to consider what is their own perspective and what influences
the way they view the world. The essential questions driving the unit are: what is my perspective on
life/the world? What influences my perspective on life/the world? What is the value and difficulty of living
with others with differing perspectives?
In the last lesson, students read the first half of the article Creating a Positive Family Culture: The
Importance of Establishing Family Traditions by Brett and Kate McKay, where they read a personal
account of the authors unique Christmas traditions. As a class, we defined what a tradition is and
students were given the opportunity to share about some of their traditions.

Unit Learning Objectives (numbered) [from my Backwards Design Unit Document], followed by
Specific lesson objectives (lettered) being taught in this lesson:

SWBAT:
Cognitive (know/understand):
-Students will know why traditions are important (related to identity, security, values, cultural/religious
heritage, and creating meaningful memories).
-Students will understand that perspective is the lens through which we view the world
-Students will know that culture, social context, personal experiences, and belief systems influence
perspective

Affective (feel/value) and/or Non-Cognitive:

-Students will feel that traditions are an important part of our identity
-Students will value peer-to-peer discussion as a part of the learning process

Performance (do):
-Students will be able to explain why traditions are important
-Students will be able to engage in peer-to-peer discussion through writing
-Students will be able to use reading strategies to check their comprehension as they read

SOLs: [List with numbers portrayed in the SOL document]

9.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze a variety of literary texts including narratives,
narrative nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
m) Use reading strategies to monitor comprehension throughout the reading process.

9.6 The student will develop narrative, expository, and persuasive writings for a variety of audiences and
purposes.
CCSs: [List with numbers portrayed in the CCS document]
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and
expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Methods of Assessment:

Diagnostic Formative Summative

Creating Family Traditions
article Part 1 Reading Guide
Last class, we read the first half
of an article where the author
describes his Mexican-rooted
holiday traditions. Students
completed a reading guide that
gave me information on their
understanding of what traditions
are and their ability to use
reading strategies as a
comprehension tool.
Daily Quick Writes
Students open each lesson by
responding to writing prompt on
the board. They write for a short
period of time, then they respond
to a partners writing. This is a
low-stress formative assessment
that engages their background
information, acts as a scaffold
leading to verbal small-group
discussions, and acts as a
diagnostic tool for me to gauge
their readiness in writing and
discussion.
At the end of each week, I read
and respond to their quick writes.
Creating Family Traditions
article Part 2 Reading Guide
Students will read the 2nd part of
the article we started last class on
their own and answer reading
guide questions. These questions
ask students to check their
comprehension as theyre reading
through summary, identifying
important points, etc. (see
appendix).
Walk-a-Mile Project
This is a multi-media project
where students will interview a
peer. They will create a product
that demonstrates their knowledge
of what perspective is, what
influences perspective, and the
values and difficulties of living
with others that have a different
perspective than they do. Students
will then present their project to
the class.
Socratic Seminar
Students will use the fiction and
nonfiction readings they have read
in class for a Socratic seminar in
the future. This assessment will
demonstrate how they have grown
in using textual evidence in
discussions and in listening and
responding appropriately in small-
group discussions.

Procedures/Instructional Strategies
[Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.]

1. [5 mins.] Bridge/Hook/Opening to lesson: Video on traditions

I will open with an engaging video where a comedian talks about family traditions (Appendix A). This
will encourage students to recall the last lesson where we discussed what traditions are.

Good morning, everyone! Last class, we talked about what tradition is, what our personal traditions are,
and we read an article where the author described their unique Christmas traditions. Just to jog your
memories and get us going, Im going to play a video where a comedian gives his take on holiday
traditions.
 2. [15 mins.] Quick Write and Response

Students will open their laptops and work on the Quick Write for the day. I have the prompt projected on
the board, and I will read it out loud to them.

Please open up to Google Classroom and get to your Quick Write. The prompt for today is, Why
is it important to have traditions? Give at least 2-3 reasons why. You have 4 minutes.

There are several students in the class who have a hard time getting started when they write its not
uncommon for them to stare at a prompt for the entire allotted time for writing because they dont know
what to do and dont think to ask for help. For these students, I will work with them one-on-one and
encourage them to look back at the previous lessons quick write, where they wrote about what traditions
are and gave examples of traditions. This will help them get some ideas on how they can start to address
the prompt.

Students will then have 3 minutes to craft a written response to a partners writing.

Please switch your laptops with a partner, someone who has not read your quick writes yet. You will have
3 minutes to respond to their writing. Remember, you can ask a question, talk about what they could add
to their answer, explain what you agree or disagree with, etc.

Once students have finished responding to their partner, I will ask them to share what they responded
with. When students share, I will type up their answers and project them on the board so that all students
can add the responses to their notes (which are added to their quick write for the day).

3. [20 mins.] Read article independently, answer questions, review answers

Students will then read part 2 of the article they read in the last lesson on their own (Appendix C). This
article has questions that serve as a reading guide to check their comprehension. I will pass out the papers
and give directions.

Were going to read the second half of the article we started last class. You will read this on your own
and answer the questions on the right side of the page. You will have 10 minutes.

As students work independently, I will walk around and keep an eye out for individuals who tend to
struggle with reading comprehension in order to provide direct support.
After students are finished, we will go over a few of the answers and add to our notes on why tradition is
important.

4. [15 mins.] Perspectives mini lesson

I will pass out the roundtable notes (Appendix D). This is a graphic organizer that students will be using
in a future lesson to analyze a short story. Today, they will take notes on what perspective is and what
influences perspective on this graphic organizer, which will help them get used to the format.
Now that weve covered traditions and why theyre important, lets talk about what all that has to
do with our perspective.
I will talk through the following points as I fill out the graphic organizer that is projected on the board.
Students will copy the notes down. I will also ask students to come up with examples for the influences
on perspective as we fill in the graphic organizer.
Perspective definition: perspective provides a lens through which we learn to see the world.
4 influences on perspective:
1) belief system religion (ex. Christianity, Islam, Judaism), morals (sense of right and
wrong), values
 2) experiences what have you experienced personally?
3) social context who you spend your time with, what we value as a society
4) culture what is your familys history, nationality, background, etc.?

I will make connections to what we have been learning about tradition so far. For example, Christmas
traditions fall under belief system, experiences, culture, and social context. Students will be asked to think
critically in this manner in a future lesson.

5. [1 mins] Closure

Once we have finished filling in the notes, I will ask students to begin thinking about the personal
influences in their lives that form their perspective on the world.

For homework this weekend, I want to challenge you to think about each of these four areas of influence
in your own life and how they shape your unique perspective. Next class, were going to dive deeper into
this topic as we read. Thank you, and have a wonderful weekend!

Differentiated Instruction to accommodate one or more of my profiled students:

Fernando is a Latino male student in my TEAM class. He has a tendency to distract his peers during class
by doing funny things and making them laugh when they should be working. He often does not finish his
class work as a result. Upon further observation and discussions Ive had with him, Ive discovered that
his behavior is often a symptom of his genuine confusion about the material and the directions that were
given; instead of asking for help, he distracts himself and his peers, perhaps in order to mask his
confusion.
In order to accommodate his needs, I have employed several methods of accountability. For the quick
write, by having students respond to each others writing, Fernando has added peer pressure to stay on
task. If he is confused about how to respond to the quick writing prompts, I can easily redirect him to a
related past writing prompt he responded to in order to help him get started.
The graphic organizer we are using to take notes adds a visual element that makes it easier for Fernando
to redirect himself if he gets distracted, as well as being a more effective method of mentally organizing
information for better recall later.

Materials Needed (list):

Student laptops
Projector
60 copies of Why Traditions are so Important for Families article
60 copies of Roundtable Notes

Materials Appendix: (e.g., supplementary texts, Ppts, overheads, graphic organizers, handouts, etc.)

Appendix A Jim Gaffigan video on family traditions

Appendix B Quick Write (on Google Classroom)
Appendix C Why Traditions are so Important article/reading guide
Appendix D Roundtable Notes
Appendix C
Appendix D