Running head: EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 1

Expressing Yourself Project Proposal

Lia Matalon

Arizona State University

EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 2

Abstract

This paper is a 10 day plan for a project based learning activity for a classroom of 7th graders.

Students will be given a driving question for this project that they will be able to further explore

and analyze throughout the 10 days. The driving question will be how can we advocate for others

with mental health issues in today’s society? The goal of this project is to have students give

mental health a voice as they advocate for those struggling with mental health while

simultaneously expanding the community’s knowledge on mental health. Included in this 10 day

plan is a brief narrative about the teacher and school environment, a summary of the project and

how it will impact the students and the community, a project narrative that goes a little more in

depth regarding each day, as well as a budget plan for the cost of anything needed throughout

this project.
EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 3

Expressing Yourself Project Proposal

Applicant Narrative

I am Miss. Matalon and I am a 7th and 8th grade English teacher at Summit Academy.

Currently, this is my 6th year teaching at Summit Academy. I came to this school straight after I

graduated from Arizona State University (ASU) with a Secondary Education English degree. I

have always been a people person and love helping others no matter what it may be, which is

why I chose teaching as my career. It is extremely rewarding to watch each student flourish in

their unique way throughout the school year just as a flower would if you were to give it the

proper care. There is so much pressure in today's society to be perfect. My vision is to erase the

pressure from my students' brains as being perfect is nearly impossible. I want to instill in my

students that as long as they are trying their best, as well as continuously showing improvement

that is what counts. However, I will still hold my students accountable for them putting forth the

proper effort. My goal is to help students grow both academically and personally through a

mixture of an executive and a humanist approach.

Project-based learning is something I believe that gives me the ability to better engage

my students in real world issues while at the same time allotting for collaboration and critical

thinking. As I started becoming more educated on project-based learning my viewed changed

and it opened my eyes to endless possible activities I could also do in an English classroom

combining project-based learning. My goal this year is further pursue this type of learning within

my classroom.

This past year, our English department as a whole, has rapidly increased our technology

usage within the classroom. In my classroom we have what is called a COW, which stands for

Computers on Wheels. Since we are not a huge school each English teacher is assigned a
EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 4

designated COW to have throughout the entire school year. Each COW has 32 computers in it

leaving more than enough computers for each one of my students to use. For example, my 4th

period only has 26 students leaving 6 extra computers, which also is assuming attendance is

perfect that day. We use Google Classroom almost every day as that is where I have the students

turn in most of their assignments. Students also must have all of their final drafts typed for any

essay we work on and then that too gets uploaded to Google Classroom for me to grade.

Sometimes I will leave a short video for each individual student while grading. This allows me to

give them better feedback on their essays or any other assignment, instead of leaving several

comments they will never read. Technology is also incorporated through the students’ benchmark

test. The students are required to take this test every quarter, expect 4th quarter as that is when

they have state testing. Benchmark tests are done completely online, both the reading portion and

the writing portion. Some of my students like benchmark testing online better as now they have

an option during the reading test for the articles to be read to them through a recording. I am

constantly looking for new ways to integrate technology within my classroom as technology is

such a dominant part in these students’ lives.

School Environment

Summit Academy is a Title I school located in Chandler Arizona, although it is in the

Mesa School District. The total population of the Mesa School District is approximately 469,321.

This school district is a big melting pot and has a mixture of different races, even though the

most common race tends to be Caucasian. There are 85.8% Caucasian students, 3.1% African

American students, 3.8% American Indian students, 2.2% Asian students, and 7.7% of students

are another race. Roughly, 32.8% of these students live with their grandparents due to previous

household issues. The median income per household within the Mesa School District is $47,951.
EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 5

For most families elsewhere in Arizona, this is only one salary income whereas in Mesa this is a

whole household income average. Since this number is pretty low it is not incredibly shocking

that 12.4% of people live below the poverty line (Proximity 2009). With this being said, several

of my students are and/or have dealt with a lot of hardship in their lives. This is where project-

based learning will fit in perfectly as they will be able incorporate their real world issues and

apply it back to what is happening in the classroom.

For this specific project, I decided to concentration on my 4th period as it is my most

diverse class this year. My 4th period class has a total of 26 students, 12 of which are male and 14

of which are female. The class consist of 12 Caucasian students, 10 Hispanic students, 2 African

American and 2 American Indian. Out of the 26 students, 8 are minimally proficient, 5 are

special education (SPED) students, and 1 is an English language learner (ELL). This is one of

my smaller section classes, but due to the diverse background of the students I believe this class

will lead to the most interesting outcome.

Summary of Project

The driving question for this project that the students will be able to expand on is, how

can we advocate for others with mental health issues in today’s society? The entry event will

consist of students watching a short YouTube video titled “Winnie the Pooh Character Disorders”

to introduce the concept of mental health issues. From there, the students will place themselves

in 5 different groups (one group will have 6 students instead of 5) based on what mental health

issue they believe they can relate to. The mental health issues they are able to choose from will

be depression, anxiety, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and attention

deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD).

EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 6

Each group will be creating a portfolio using Weebly to help organize and keep track of

everything they do during this project. Throughout the rest of the week we will be working on

multiple activities in order to analyze different works expressing mental health issues such as a

short story, a poem, and 3 songs. As mentioned above, technology integration is something the

school has been trying to be better at this year, therefore almost every activity will have a

technological aspect incorporated into it. For example, after reading the poem “Ariel” by Sylvia

Plath instead of just doing a basic think pair share, the students will use a website called Padlet to

collaborate with one another about how this poem ties back to mental health issues. The intent of

this project is for it to be student driven so most of their work will be done within their groups or

as a class discussion after they thought through the answers individually. After we finish

analyzing these works, students will research further information about their specific mental

health issue and create a presentation to inform their classmates about their topic. They will

continue deepening their understanding of their topics. While at the same time looking for

resources for others with mental health issues to use and explore. Students’ will be expected to

relate their topic to their own life as well as learn how to make others aware of the major mental

health issues in today’s schools.

The outcome of this project will be each group creating a short presentation that they will

share at the school assembly where there will be other students, parents, teachers, administration,

etc. The presentation could be presented in numerous ways such as a slideshow, song, play,

speech, short video, etc., it is supposed to be whatever the students feel most comfortable and

confident in doing. Students will be giving mental health a voice as they advocate for those

struggling with mental health issues. They are going to advocate for those without a voice while

at the same time educating our community on the severity of mental health issue within it.
EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 7

Impact

By allowing the students to have a voice and advocate for mental health there could be a

change in community’s outlook on this topic. For those who are secretly drowning within

themselves and personally fighting mental health issues, they could feel safer to speak up and get

help. Students will slowly start to realize they are not going through this alone. Not only are

there other students probably struggling with the same issue, but their parents and teachers are

there to help them. They want students to open up and lean on them rather than having the

students’ bottling up their mental health struggles. This advocacy project will also help parents

and teachers, or anyone in the community for that matter, to realize the signs of different mental

health issues when present. While the kids are at school the teachers will be able to look out for

signs and afterwards when the kids go home the parents will also be able to determine if there are

signs showing.

Due to the fact that the students will be working in groups there will be constant

collaboration opportunities. The students will be able to use one another as a springboard to

bounce ideas back and forth with each other. It also allows for me, the teacher, to check in with

them more often. There will not be 26 students to individually meet with rather only 5 different

small groups, which gives me more time to sit in with these groups and ask them more

stimulating questions to further their research. This project will also allow for the teacher to learn

more about the students as they are working on a mental health topic they can relate to.

Therefore, the teacher may be shown a new perspective of a particular student. The community

may also view the school with great amount of pride and respectful as the school will be taking

on a project that is seen to impact this schools’ community tremendously. The goal is to make

sure students know there is help out there for them, for teachers to know how to help support
 EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL
these students and look for the signs showing potential mental health issues, and for the
community to know the school is there to help and wants to make a bigger change.
Days: Objectives/Learning Goals
Content Standards: 8.SL.2
ISTE Student Standards: 1a,
1b, 1c, 1d, 2b, 2d, 3a, 3b, 3d, 4a,
4d, 5b, 5c, 6b, 6c, 6d
ISTE Educator Standards:
1c, 2c, 3b, 4a, 4b, 4d, 5a, 5c, 6a,
6b, 6c, 7a, 7b
Objective: Student will be able
to develop a basic
understanding of the different
types of mental health issues
and select one they feel they
relate to the most.
Link to YouTube Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKulR
2BlQlA
Day 1
(See
Appendix
A)
8
Project Narrative
Technology
Activities Assessments
Integration
- Students will actively Student will place  Weebly Portfolio
engage in watching the 2nd themselves into on their computer
half of the short video groups based off  YouTube in order
“Winnie the Pooh of the mental to watch the short
Character Disorders” while health issue they video “Winnie the
thinking of possible ways believe is most Pooh Character
this video demonstrates relatable to and Disorders
mental health awareness. create a Weebly
- Students will write down portfolio to kick
anything they noticed while start their project.
watching the short video
that relates to mental health
or any question they still
have.
- Students will share what
they wrote down, both their
thoughts and their
questions, with their
shoulder partner.
- Students will start
thinking of additional
questions they may have
that could stem off of the
driving question the teacher
has explained to them.
- Students will actively
engage in watching the 1st
half of the video while
thinking of possible ways
this short video correlates
to the driving question
about mental health.
- Students will participate
in a class discussion on new
knowledge they found after
watching the short video.
- Students will consider
what mental health issue
they feel the most
connected to and create a
group with other students
that feel that can connect to
that specific mental health
topic as well (there will be
5 group and one group will
 EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL
Content Standards: 8.SL.3
ISTE Student Standards:
N/A
ISTE Educator Standards:
N/A
Objective: Students will be
able to collect and analyze
content presented by a real
psychologist.
Day 2
Content Standards: 8.RL.4
ISTE Student Standards: 1b,
1c, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3d, 4b, 6a, 6c, 6d,
7a, 7b, 7c
ISTE Educator Standards:
1a, 1c, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 4c, 4d, 5a,
5c, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7b
Objective: Students will be
able to analyze a poem relating
Day 3 to mental health and explain
how it addresses their mental
health issue within their group.
9
have 6 students instead of
5)
- Students will create a
Weebly account and
starting forming a portfolio
in order to help keep
everything organized and
easy to keep track of their
work throughout entire
project.
- Students will email a copy
of their link to the Weebly
portfolio before they leave
the class.
- Students will actively Students will There will be no
engage in the psychologist have a ticket out technology during day 2.
presentation as he/she the door where
proves more information on they will write
depression, anxiety, down one new
ADD/ADHD, OCD, and fact they learned
eating disorders. as well as one
- Students will actively take thing they now
notes while psychologist is would like to
discussing and addressing explore further
each mental health issue. within their
- Students will sit within groups’ mental
their groups and ask follow health issue.
up questions they may have
to help further explore their
mental health topic.
- Students will ask the
psychologist for resources
he/she has that they are
willing to share.
- Students will actively Students will  Padlet (a
engage in popcorn reading work within their collaboration tool
the poem “Ariel” by Sylvia groups to have a website) using either
Plath as a class. meaningful their cell phones or a
- Students will individually discussion on computer.
write down notes on what how this poem  Weebly Portfolio on
they believe the meaning relates to their a computer.
the poem is trying to mental health
convey. issue and write a
- Students will use a cell brief summary (3-
phone of computer to log 6 sentences) on
into Padlet. their Weebly
- Students will use Padlet in account.
order to collaborate with
their classmates on their
ideas on what the poem
means.
- Students will participate
in a class discussion and
explaining their ideas
shared on Padlet.
 EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL
Content Standards: 8.RL.2
ISTE Student Standards: 1b,
1c, 1d, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 4b, 5c, 6a,
6c, 6d, 7a, 7b, 7d
ISTE Educator Standards:
1c, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 4b, 4c, 5a,
6b, 6c, 7b, 7c
Objective: Students will be
able to demonstrate their
understanding of “The Yellow
Wallpaper” and the correlation
it has to mental health through
Day 4 an illustration.
Content Standards: 8.SL.2
ISTE Student Standards: 1b,
1c, 1d, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 3b, 3c, 3d,
4b, 4d, 5c, 6b, 6d
ISTE Educator Standards:
1a, 1c, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 3c, 4a, 4c,
4d, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7a, 7b, 7c
Objective: Students will be
able to analyze how songs can
have a deeper meaning behind
Day 5 them and how they can
advocate for mental health
issues.
10
- Students will get into their
groups and tie this poem
back to how it specifically
relates to the mental health
issue they are working on.
- Students will get into their Students will  Weebly Portfolio on
groups and read the short work with their a computer.
story “The Yellow group to create an
Wallpaper” together. image
- Students will show representing how
engagement of the story by “The Yellow
jotting down notes as they Wallpaper”
are reading the story. connects to their
- Students will have a brief mental health
discussion with their group topic and then
at the end of read the short upload to
story discussing how it Weebly.
relates to their mental
health topic.
- Students will work
together with their group to
create an illustration
representing what they
gathered from “The Yellow
Paper” and how it
correlates back to the
mental health issue they
have.
- Students will use their cell
phones to each upload a
picture of that image on to
their Weebly portfolio.
- Students will actively Students will be  YouTube to listen to
listen to 3 different songs able to the songs.
Breathin by Ariana Grande, collaborate with  Cell phone in order
1-800-273-8255 by Logic, their group to record the song
and Life Must Go On by members to they have created.
Quinn XCII. create a song  Weebly Portfolio on
- Students will patriciate in about their mental a computer.
a class discussion on how health issue and
they believe the songs can present it in front
have an impact on mental of the class.
health issues.
- Students will work with
their group to create their
own song about their
mental health issue.
- Students will use a cell
phone to record the song
they have created and each
upload it onto their Weebly
portfolio.
- Students will take turns
presenting their song in
front of the class.
 EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL
Content Standards: 8.W.7
ISTE Student Standards: 1b,
1c, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3d, 4b, 4d, 5b, 5c,
6a, 6c, 6d, 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d
ISTE Educator Standards:
1a, 1c, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 4c, 4d, 5a,
5c, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7b
Objective: Students will be
able to further investigate their
mental health issue through
Day 6 researching.
Content Standards: 8.SL.4
ISTE Student Standards: 1a,
1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 2d, 3b, 3c, 4b, 4c,
5b, 5c, 6a, 6c, 6d, 7b, 7d
ISTE Educator Standards:
1a, 1c, 2b, 3a, 3b, 3d, 4c, 4d, 5a,
5b, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7a, 7b, 7c
Objective: Students will be
able to present their
information to the class and
apply their knowledge and own
experiences.
Day 7
11
- Students will actively
listen to their classmates
when they are presenting
their songs.
- Students will be able to Students will be  Computers or cell
use their computers in order able to take the phones in order to
to research their mental information found use the internet to
health topic more in depth. while researching research their topics
- Students will work on their topics and  Google slides on
their teamwork skills while create an computer to
researching to create a short informative collaboration with
presentation with their presentation that their group in order
group. they will submit to create a
- Students will research to their Weebly presentation
questions they may still portfolio. together.
want answered or  Weebly portfolio on
interesting facts they may computer
have not known about.
- Students will use Google
Slides to create a
presentation to present to
their classmates later on in
the week.
- Students will upload their
link to their presentation on
their Weebly portfolio.
- Students will take turns Students will be  Presentation on
with their group to present able to assess Google Slides using
the presentation they their classmates a computer
created the previous day in through a peer
class to their classmates. review rubric.
- Students actively engage
and listen to their
classmates while they are
presenting new information
to them.
- Students will ask the
group that presented more
questions to help them
further research other
information their
classmates may be
interested in learning.
- Students will be giving
time at the end of each
presentation to also
contribute by adding a
personally stories they feel
comfortable sharing to use
as real life examples within
our classroom.
- Students will receive
feedback about their
presentation from the
teacher as well as more
simulating questions.
 EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL
Content Standards: 8.SL.1
ISTE Student Standards: 1b,
1c, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3d, 4b, 4d, 5b, 5c,
6a, 6c, 6d, 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d
ISTE Educator Standards:
1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3d, 4b,
4d, 5b, 5c, 6a, 6c, 6d, 7a, 7b, 7c,
7d
Objective: Students will be
Day 8 able to refine their
presentations using both their
classmates’ and teacher’s
feedback.
Content Standards: 8.W.3
ISTE Student Standards:
N/A
ISTE Educator Standards:
N/A
Objective: Students will be
able to express themselves and
their emotions through writing
Day 9 a letter.
Content Standards: 8.SL.4
ISTE Student Standards: 1a,
1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 2d, 3b, 3c, 3d, 4b,
4c, 5b, 5c, 6a, 6c, 6d, 7b, 7d
ISTE Educator Standards:
1a, 1c, 2b, 3a, 3b, 3d, 4b, 4c, 4d,
5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7a, 7b, 7c
Day 10
Objective: Student will be able
to demonstrate different ways to
advocate for their mental health
issue and those without a voice
bringing awareness to mental
health.
12
- Students will work with Students will be  Computers or cell
their group to adjust their able to add on to phones in order to
based on the feedback their Weebly use the internet to
given to them. presentation with research their topics
- Students will use their stories  Weebly portfolio on
classmates’ stories to add demonstrating computer
real life applications to how their mental
their presentation. health issue is
- Students will continue to affecting people
research any other question in their
that may have been brought community.
up during presentation day
in order expand their
presentation with additional
information.
- Students will upload their
revised presentation onto
their Weebly portfolio so
that way the teacher could
check if they made the
correct edits.
- Students will individually Students will be There will be no
write a letter to their mental able to write a technology during day 9.
health issue as if the mental letter and have
health issue could read it. the teacher check
- Students will format the off that it
letter in friendly letter expresses their
format and pretend that emotions to their
their mental health issue is mental health
a real person. issue they chose.
- Students will express any
emotions they have towards
their mental health issue
whether it be angry,
gratitude, confusion, etc.
- Students will be able to let
out anything they would
like during this time in their
letter as long as it is school
appropriate.
- Students will make any Students will be  Jing (screen
last minute touches they able to feel fully casting video
need to make to their prepared to
presentation/project before present at the
from teacher) on
presenting at the assembly. assembly and had the computer
- Students will use the a group meeting  Weebly portfolio
teacher’s screen casting with the teacher on computer
video on Jing to review all to get checked off  Google Slides on
of the steps they need to for presentation
make sure they have day.
computer
covered everything.
- Students will take turns
giving short presentations
to the teacher
demonstrating what they
EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 13

plan to present at the

assembly and how.
- Students will make sure
their Weebly has
everything needed on it and
is ready for the final grade.

Summit Academy highly encourages teachers to incorporate technology within their

lesson plans. With that being said, if there ever was a situation when the technology in the

classroom failed and/or stops working the teacher would call the librarian to come in and help fix

it. The librarian is usually able to make it into the classroom to fix the issue within 15 minutes or

less, which is extremely helpful this way the students do not get too behind compared to other

students or other classes. This project is going to be exceptionally innovative as it is all able to

have a direct impact on the students’ lives. This will also transform student learning as this

project may cause the students’ to feel more comfortable, safe and open while in the classroom

due to the fact that they are sharing very personally stories throughout this with their classmates.

For the following year of doing this project, it might be expanded to all sections of 8th grade

English, instead of just 4th period. The hope is that eventually multiple schools decide to

contribute in this project, therefore students everywhere start to feel comfortable speaking up

when they are struggle to find their voice.

Budget

Possible Funding
Item # and Cost Where to purchase
Source
The Yellow Wall Paper
36 @ 5.07 each akj Education DonorsChoose.org
Book (Class Set)
2 packets (50 sheets) Lakeshore Learning
Unruled Chart Tablet DonorsChoose.org
@ 19.99 each Materials
Crayola- Coloring Teachers’ School
5 @ 4.11 each DonorsChoose.org
Markers Bold 8pk Supply
Crayola- Regular Size Teachers’ School
5 @ 2.71 each DonorsChoose.org
Crayons 24pk Supply
Multipurpose Printer
4 @ 6.01 each Best Buy Education DonorsChoose.org
Paper
EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 14

2 packets (5 Pads
Post-it Original Notes
with 100 Sheets School Specialty DonorsChoose.org
3x3 Inches
each) @ 9.08 each
Arizona Schwartz
Psychologist 1 @ 200.00 GoFundMe.com
Group, LLC

The cost of having a psychologist come in for a day to allow the students to learn from a

real life expert is one of the high expenses for this project, but is also extremely beneficial for

students. They will be able to further their knowledge on mental health issues while at the same

time talk about real life examples and scenarios the psychologist has dealt with. The project will

also require a class set of the short story “The Yellow Wall Paper” as the students will use that to

analyze the mental health issues demonstrated throughout the short. Once they have read the

short story within their small groups they will later create an illustration representing what they

gathered from “The Yellow Paper” and how it correlates back to the mental health issue they

have choosen. This will help the students make connections to the short story and the time period

it is written in to present day. As the students will be creating an illustration it will require

purchasing crayons, markers, and multipurpose printer paper, which will all be funded by

donorchoose.org at a total cost of $58.14. The post-it notes will also be funded by

donorchoose.org, costing $18.16 for 2 packs. The students will use these for jotting down notes

as they go throughout the project and to share their ideas with others.
EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 15

References

Arizona School District Demographic Profiles. (2009). Retrieved March 19, 2019, from

http://proximityone.com/az_sdc.htm

Create a Project. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2019, from

https://secure.donorschoose.org/teacher/projectcreation-review.html?id=4057067

School Fundraising. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2019, from

https://www.gofundme.com/start/education-fundraising

Standards: English Language Arts. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.azed.gov/standards-

practices/k-12standards/english-language-arts-standards/
 EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 16

Appendix A

INQUIRY (5E) LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Teachers: Lia Matalon Subject: English Grade: 8th

Common Core State Standards:

 8.SL.2 Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually,
quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its
presentation.
Objective (Explicit):
 Student will be able to develop an understanding of the different types of mental health issues and
analyze which one they relate to the most by getting into groups and setting up 5 tabs on their Weebly
portfolio.
Evidence of Mastery (Measurable):
 Include a copy of the lesson assessment.
 Provide exemplar student responses with the level of detail you expect to see.
 Assign value to each portion of the response

Student will place themselves into groups based off of the mental health issue they believe is most relatable to and create a Weebly portfolio to kick
start their project.

Sub-Objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex)

 How will you review past learning and make connections to previous lessons?
 What skills and content are needed to ultimately master this lesson objective?
 How is this objective relative to students, their lives, and/or the real world?

 SWBAT: present their thoughts and questions about the short video titled “Winnie the Pooh Character Disorders” to their peers.
 SWBAT: create a Weebly portfolio on their computer to use throughout the rest of the project with their groups.
 SWBAT: create critical thinking questions and thoughts regarding the short video titled “Winnie the Pooh Character Disorders”.
 SWBAT: identify the different mental issues the character are associated with after watching the 2nd half of the short video titled “Winnie the
Pooh Character Disorders”.
 SWBAT: analyze the driving question for the project through watching the 1st half of the short video titled “Winnie the Pooh Character
Disorders” and use the content seen in the video to help figure out which mental health issue they relate to the most.

Key vocabulary: Materials:

Engage
 How will you activate prior knowledge?
 How will you hook student attention?
 What question will you pose, based on your objective, that students will seek to answer in Explore?
Teacher Will: Students Will:
 Ask the students to watch a short video and see if they notice  Actively engage in watching the video while thinking of
any correlation to mental health issues. possible ways this short video demonstrates mental
 Play the 2nd half of the “Winnie the Pooh Character Disorders” health awareness.
video.
Explore
 How will you model your performance expectations? (Remember you are not modeling what you want students to discover but need to
model expected behavior or required procedures.)
 How will students take the lead and actively use materials to discover information that will help them answer the question posed in the
Engage?
 What questions or prompts will you be prepared to use with students while they are “exploring”?
Teacher Will: Students Will:
 Ask students to write down anything they noticed while  Write down anything they noticed while watching the
watching the short video that relates to mental health or any short video that relates to mental health or any
questions they may have regarding the video. questions they still have.
 Walk around and monitor the students to make sure they are
participating.
 EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 17

Co-Teaching Strategy
 What co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?

Differentiation Strategy
 What accommodations/modifications will you provide for specific students?
 How will you anticipate students that need an additional challenge?

For students who need extra help I will provide them with a fill in the blank worksheet and a word bank to help guide them into
better understanding the video and its correlation to mental health issues. I will also walk around the classroom and help those
students who need extra help as it is a student driven pr I will have time to do so.

For students who need an additional challenge I will ask them to use tier 3 level words while writing their questions and
thoughts down allowing them to expand their vocabulary while doing a simply task.
Explain
 How will all students have an opportunity to share what they discovered?
 How will you connect student discoveries to correct content terms/explanations?
 How will all students articulate/demonstrate a clear and correct understanding of the sub-objectives by answering the question from the
Engage before moving on?
Teacher Will: Students Will:
 Have the students share what they wrote down, both their  Share what they wrote down, both their thoughts and
thoughts and their questions, with their shoulder partner. their questions, with their shoulder partner.
 Walk around and observe each pair while asking more  Start thinking of additional questions they may have
questions provoking additional thoughts. that could stem off of the driving question the teacher
 Explain to the students the driving questions of this project has explained to them.
(how can we advocate for others with mental health issues in  Actively engage in watching the video while thinking of
today’s society) and ask them to ponder it while watching the possible ways this short video correlates to the driving
1st half of the short video. question about mental health.
 Play the 1st half of the “Winnie the Pooh Character Disorders”
video.
Co-Teaching Strategy
 What co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?

Differentiation Strategy
 What accommodations/modifications will you provide for specific students?
 How will you anticipate students that need an additional challenge?

For students who need extra help I will make sure they are sitting next to students who have patience and are willing to help
others gather their thoughts. These students will help those who need extra help form questions they may have by sharing their
thoughts and questions for the other students to build off of. I will also make sure to go sit and spend a little extra time with
those students while walking around and observing.

For students who need an additional challenge I will ask them to write down key vocabulary words they hear throughout the
video for future reference.
Elaborate
 How will students take the learning from Explore and Explain and apply it to a new circumstance or explore a particular aspect of this
learning at a deep level?
 How will students use higher order thinking at this stage (e.g. A common practice in this section is to pose a What If? Question)?
 How will all students articulate how their understanding has changed or been solidified?

Teacher Will: Students Will:

 Ask students stimulating questions such as “what if”
questions regarding what they noticed to help drive critical
thinking in a class discussion.
 Ask students spilt off into groups depending on what mental
health issue they believe they may relate to the most (there
will be a limit of students in each group therefore students
may need to consider 2 mental health issues they relate too).
 Participate in a class discussion on new knowledge
they found after watching the short video.
 Consider what mental health issue they feel the most
connected to and create a group with other students
that feel that can connect to that specific mental health
topic as well (there will be 5 group and one group will
have 6 students instead of 5)

Co-Teaching Strategy
 What co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?

Differentiation Strategy
 What accommodations/modifications will you provide for specific students?
 How will you anticipate students that need an additional challenge?

For students who need extra help I will sit with them in order to create them a Weebly account and then allow them to use a
template I created for their portfolio that way they do not have to design it themselves and it will be a little more structured for
them.
 EXPRESSING YOURSELF PROJECT PROPOSAL 18

For students who need an additional challenge I will ask them to create and extra tab on their portfolio for them to submit their
extra work such as a letter they write to their mental health issue topic tell them how they feel.
Evaluate
 How will all students demonstrate mastery of the lesson objective (though perhaps not mastery of the elaborate content)?
 How will students have an opportunity to summarize the big concepts they learned (separate from the assessment)?

Teacher Will: Students Will:

 Ask students to create a Weebly account and start forming
a portfolio in order to help keep everything organized and
easy to keep track of their progress through the project.
 Ask students to add 5 tabs to their Weebly account and
blog their reasoning behind why they picked the mental
health issue they did.
 Have students email a copy of their link to the Weebly
portfolio before leaving class.
 Create a Weebly account and starting forming a portfolio
in order to help keep everything organized and easy to
keep track of their work throughout entire project.
 Create 5 tabs on their Weebly and write a blog post on why
they chose the mental health issue they did
 Email a copy of their link to the Weebly portfolio before
they leave the class.