RUNNING HEAD: Validated Practices Project

Validated Practices Project:

Narrative and Artifacts of Facilitated Instruction
Terah Minor-Jones
Towson University

Author Notes: Included in this project, the reader will encounter several pieces of student artifacts. Only their
first names are used in this project to protect their identity. Also, included in this project are lesson plans, a
student progress spread sheet, and the VPP Narrative.
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Topic/Introduction
Loch Raven Technical Academy is a Baltimore county public middle school with about 900 students in

its population. The students at this school are in grades 6th - 8th and their ages range from 11 – 17 years old.

Along with teaching the National Common Core Standards, Loch Raven also offers classes in the visual and

performing arts, conservation sciences, international finance, and juvenile justice - all a part of their magnet

program. While offering several extracurricular activities that incorporates the neighboring community, such as

back to school nights, plays/musicals, and parent/teacher conferences, Loch Raven also hopes to create a

community where students can learn about skills, habits, and values needed to achieve their goals and take

advantage opportunities.

More specifically, the students in Ms. Dressel’s 8th grade, 1B class are in the international finance and

juvenile justice magnet program (aka Law and Finance). The students in this class have been in the program

together since they were in 6th grade. Their work ethic could be compared to those of honor students – needing

to be challenged academically, but with rigor that is in between the standard and gifted classes. There are 21

students in this class, 9 are boys and 12 are girls. This ratio correlates directly to Loch Raven’s overall

demographics. There are currently 54% of girls and 47% of boys enrolled at Loch Raven, which is similar in

comparison to the 57.4% of girls and the 42.6% of boys in Law and Finance (GreatSchools.org). This class’

ethnicity breakdown is as follows:

• 65% African American

• 20% White Americans

• 15% Other minority-race students

Since 61% of Loch Raven students are from low-income households, it was important to know how this

status influenced student learning. According to Loch Raven’s GreatSchools.org report, out of the 61% of

students in low-income housing, 47% are African American. Out of the 47%, only 40% earn a passing test score.
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Statistically speaking, when comparing those numbers to this class, only about 6 African American students and

3 White/Other students that live in low-income housing may be able to pass this class. Consequently, this news

caused me to make several adaptions while planning instruction. For instance, electronic homework was not

given during this unit because not all students had access to wi-fi or internet when they were not in school.

Another adaption made for this class included printing paper copies of work done electronically for students who

chose to continue to work on assignments outside of school. Loch Raven has a small population of students with

disabilities and/or who are ELL. In this class, there were no students that fell into these categories according to

their records. But just because it is not on their record, doesn’t mean students do not need accommodations; I

made small yet necessary ones. For example, when watching video clips, I place the captions on for students to

read the dialog.

Objectives and Curriculum Goals

The unit taught to Law and Finance had a focus on investing. Specifically, students were to research and

investigate how businesses were addressing environment, social, and governance (ESG) issues with in the US

and world economy. There are three national standards aligned with the objectives for this unit. The first standard

is:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a

text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

SWBAT compare two companies in order to determine whether to buy, sell, or hold stocks in those

companies.

Students focused on determining the meaning of new terms introduced during the lesson such as profit,

dividends, ESG, sustainable, and “going green” to name a few. This objective aligned with this standard because

in order to complete the specific learning target, students must be able to determine the meaning and what

classified as an ESG issue.

The second standard and objective that is aligned with the second lesson is:
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7 Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs,

videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

SWBAT investigate how companies are addressing environment, social, and governance issues in order

to determine how companies make “going green” the new $gold$.

The aspect chosen as the focus from this standard is the integration of graphs and charts. Students were

to investigate the visual information presented on a graph. This objective aligned with this standard because

students were supplied with charts for comparison. With the charts, students were challenged to gather

comparable data from the two companies. Once the gathered information was compared, students determined

how to use the information to answer the guided questions. Also it promotes investigation, which is essential

since students are now able to access information almost instantaneously. Investigating critically includes looking

for information from creditable sources.

Lastly, the standard and objective used in the third and final lesson of this unit is:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.5 Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially,

comparatively, causally).

SWBAT analyze how businesses are addressing ESG factors in order to write about sustainable

investing.

For this third lesson, students focused on the entirety of this standard. They were assessed by the

completion of a multiple-choice test and the InvestWrite Essay - writing about sustainable businesses. Before

writing their own entry, students had to first read an example on how an InvestWrite essay is written to determine

how they want to present information in their own writing. The objective aligned with the standard because, as

mentioned, students read an old InvestWrite submission in order to see how the author presented their

information.

Circumstances were bazar when administrating the pre- and post-test for this unit. This is because the

class is a part of the magnet program and most of the materials are already created and only need teacher
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facilitation. In my scholarly opinion, the program’s pre- and post-test did not directly align with the InvestWrite

lessons provided. However, my mentor teacher and I decided to give the 31 questions pre-test. After the test

was given, I chose four questions I knew would be answered over the course of my three-lesson unit. The four

questions chosen from the pre-test were based on vocabulary and closely aligned with the standard of

determining the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to

domains related to history/social studies. Similarly, to the pre-test, the post-test did not directly align with the

objectives given in the InvestWrite lessons. Consequently, after administering the provided post-test, I re-tested

my focus group of students with the same four questioned pulled from their pre-test.

Assessment Plan

Most of the assessments for this unit were formative. Students were given classwork to practice both

reading and writing the new terms from this unit. For example, the “Stock Owner: A Delicious Topic” reading and

worksheet (Lesson 1, Section 4) introduced and used the following terms: stock, cost, benefit, and profit. The

reading defines each term and explained their connection to the world of investing. Additionally, the “Thneeds

Need to be More Green” reading and worksheet (Lesson #2, Section 6) allowed students to think up different

ESG issues that could arguably come from the story of The Lorax by Dr. Sesus.

There were very few informal assessments in this unit. Aside from the teacher-directed, non-verbal

survey of “thumbs up or thumbs down,” the class had informal assessments presented to them in either

Kahoot.com or Vocabulary.com format. Kahoot.com allowed students to read different investing scenarios where

they would buy, sell, or hold stocks. It was also used to reinforce the meaning of terms like “dividends” and

“benefits.” Vocabulary.com was used as practice for all the terms in the unit. Students either completed this

activity for warm-up, when they finish their work early, or at home for practice.

The group of students chosen as the focus for this SLO were students scoring a C or lower at the end of

the second marking period. Although these students are extremely smart in conversation, which is evident during

class discussion, they seemingly are not very motivated to do their best in test-taking environments. Thus, it is

likely that the pre-test did not fully gather the prior knowledge these students may have possess. Almost all the
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students in this class scored 60>% on the pre-test. The students in the focus group scored an average of 22%.

This informed me, as we entered this new unit, that my students would be new to all information presented and

proper pacing in the lessons would be essential to their academic growth.

At the end of each lesson, an exit ticket or discussion post was given asking students two or three

questions based off the objective. The questions included terms from the lesson for that day. After completion, I

would review their answers to see if students met the learning objective. If they did, I continued to proceed with

the lesson next class. If they did not, I knew to either review or reteach the material that was not retained by

students. For example, after Lesson #2 was completed, students were to choose a company(ies) and an ESG

that is being addressed by said company(ies). If they chose a company that did not address their chosen ESG

issue, then they did not research enough on that company’s platform – or they did not research at all.

Instruction
“How do you know the “right” action to take when buying, selling, or holding stocks?” This was the

essential question asked in the first lesson of the InvestWrite unit. It was a lesson that was mostly student-

centered and required the completion of a series of activities reinforcing the definition and meanings of new

terms that associate with investing. Before completing the activities, students were told to sit in their Stock Market

Game (SMG) groups and were given three paper cookies per group member. Students were directed t o invest

their paper cookies in the answers to the activities planned for the day. The catch: they had to invest in the

questions before doing the activities based on what they think they would answer correctly. The pay-off: if student

answers were correct, they received twice the amount of paper cookies back and at the end of class, were able

to trade in the paper cookies in for real cookies! If they answered wrong, they simply lost their cookies. Then

independently, student were to invest their cookies in the Activity 1 and Activity 2 worksheets. But because of

time, my mentor and I withdrew the Activity 2 worksheet.

The second lesson’s focus was defining ESG and researching different ESG issues. Students were

introduced to the term and taught how to find if companies are addressing them. The essential question for this
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lesson was, “Is “going green” bringing in the gold?” The start of this lesson began with a teacher-lead discussion.

After informing students of Starbucks’ campaign to illuminate of straws in 2020, I explained to students how the

elimination of straws is connected to the ESG issue of Caring for the Environment. As a class we explored and

discussed the phrase “going green” and made connections to how it can help or hinder a business’ profits. Then,

I showed a presentation on what and ESG issue can be. In the worksheet “Thneeds Need to be More Green,”

students practiced naming ESG issues as they appear in a video clip and a written summary of Dr. Seuss is the

Lorax. Lastly, I modeled for my students the correct way to research a company’s sustainability and climate

report. This lesson ended with the practice of “buy, sell, hold” activity 1 and 2 worksheets.

The essential question from the second lesson followed students to the final lesson of this unit. This time,

students research their own ESG issues and companies addressing them in order to answer the InvestWrite

prompt. First, as a class, we read the winning InvestWrite essay from 2018. We annotated the writing, noting

how the author presented information. After, students chose a company(ies) and researched the ESGs they

address. Once the research was completed, students started their outlined that would eventually help them write

their essays. As mentioned earlier, none of my students need any specific attention or assistance according to

their school records. However, when video clips were watched the captions for the videos were always on. Also,

I provided several paper copies of the work done electronically, for students who left their devices at home or

preferred writing on paper.

Analysis, Reflection, and Self Evaluation

The change of percentages between the pre- and post-assessments are positive gains, showing that the

students in my focus group were able to positively demonstrate some or all the learning targets. All students

were able to take the information learned during practice and apply it for their assessment. For instance, after

introducing the words “stocks, bonds, and loans” during the paper cookies activity (Lesson 1, Section 4) and

then reinforcing the definitions of these words during teacher-lead debriefing (Lesson 1, Section 6), my students

were able to take that information to answer question #3 on the post-test. 63% of student were able to answer

this question accurately, compared to the 25% that got it correct on the pre-test.
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On the contrary, though most of my student percentages show positive growth, I did have a student that

did not increase or decrease in percentage at all. When referencing my Assessment Data spreadsheet, it is

Student Number 3 –will refer to him as Steve - who started and ended with an assessment percentage of 25%.

Having been with this class for a quarter, I can say that I am moderately familiar with Steve and his work ethic. I

noticed how he seemingly perks up when teaching about topics his is interested in and unfortunately, this unit

did not receive a perk-up. As a teacher I would have had to think of new ways to capture his action. I also offered

for him to come in before or after school, or during lunch if he needed to work on activity in a less distracting

environment. I actually always offered my time at lunch, but very seldom did students take advantage of it. I also

believe that because the rest of the class seemed to move on a quicker pace than Steve, it was easier for me

as the teacher to overlook Steve; especially because he is quit and tends to not talk very much during last.

As I reflect on strategies that were affective in instruction, the two that come to mind are the paper cookie

activity in (Lesson 1, Section 4) and introduction to ESG and ESG issues (Lesson 2, Section 4). I believe these

activities to be the most effective when considering retention, understanding, and enjoyment of the activity. For

instance, the essential question for Lesson 1 was “How do you know the “right” action to take when buying,

selling, or holding stocks?” Throughout the entire paper cookie activity, students were constantly asking

themselves the essential question because they were not sure if investing for more cookies would be worth

potentially losing more cookies. That potential risk and reward encouraged my students to re-read the and look

deeper into their texts to find the answers to their questions. They were reading critically. At the same time, the

readings were teaching the students more terms necessary for conducting this unit. Also, because students were

able to work in groups. I found students were more invested in their work since they were working with their

friends and relying on their work for more cookies. The introduction to ESG presentation was packed with

information, yet my students worked diligently to take necessary notes and asked important questions. By the

end of the presentation, my students and I were able to have a dialogue based on the terms and phrases

introduced to them within the presentation.

On the other hand, I did use some strategies that were not as effective. For example, almost the entirety

of the InvestWrite activity did not go according to plan. The prompt for the writing asks students to answer several
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questions in paragraph form. It did not explicitly state, nor did I explicitly state, how they should use the new

terms and phrases we had been discussing in their writings. So, unfortunately, not all of them did. Also, the

outline was not very helpful for students when using it to type their papers. The structure of the outline confused

most students; they did not understand, nor did I explain, how the structure of the outline would also be the

structure of their writing but in paragraph form. This ultimately caused me to receive several short answers to

page long InvestWrite responses. Lastly, as I found the pre-made lessons did not completely align with the state

standards, I did have to re-plan.

If I were to plan instruction for a unit like this in the future, I would start by initially informing my students

that the terms and phrases introduced on the pre-test will be the same heard throughout the unit. This way

students may be more inclined to remember definitions and meanings. I would also stress how those terms not

only relate to our unit, but also to the disciplinary language used in the specific field of economics and finance.

Also, because this unit was created prior to my teaching, I assumed the alignment between the lessons and

standards would be clear and evident. Next time, I would double-check to be sure to the state standards align

with each lesson as they are presented. As well as identity the alignments between the lessons and pre-and

post-test. At the beginning of the rotation, I wanted to complete the validated practices project early and

decided to conduct it in the first class I took over: Law and Finance. I was trusting the guidance of my mentor

when she assured me that this unit would be a “cookie cut” unit. In some ways it absolutely was, but for VPP it

absolutely was not. The unit provided all the materials (pre-made) nescessay and, naturally, I assumed the

alignment for standards and lessons would all be there as well. However, after finding a lack of alignment, I

had to spend much of my planning time re-creating lessons so that they did.

My first professional learning goal will be to continue to practice completing materials needed for an

SLO or VPP. I believe once I am more familiar and comfortable with the process of writing SLO’s, my

hesitation on completing them will start to decrease. My second professional learning goal would be to

continue asking the essential question more often throughout the day and especially while class is transition

between activities. By asking the question often, it will remind the students and myself on how the activities we
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are doing tie in together. Not only do I need to ask the EQ throughout the lesson, but I need to also promote

more higher-level thinking questions.

Ms. Dressel – 8th grade – MOD 1B – Law and Finance

Class Profile

Student Sex Race Grade Observation

1 Female African C Student is sometimes distracted by her peers and may need
American reminders to stop talking during instruction. She often
completes her work, but forgets to turn it in. Her cell phone
is out at least 1 time per class. Occasionally, she will
volunteer to read for class or answer questions.
2 Male African D Student sits near a group of friends. Most of the friends are
American hard workers so in turn Student 2 does get his work done.
But because he is a talker, is work is often done incorrectly
or incompletely. He likes the review game, Kahoot, and
rarely volunteers during class.
3 Male African D Student is quit, yet rarely on task. He is often day-dreaming
American or staring at his assignments. When he is working, he moves
at a very slow pace. He rarely volunteers during class.
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4 Female African D Student 4 sits near Student 3 and share some of the same
American qualities. Student 4 can also be found day-dreaming or
staring at her assignments. When she is working, he moves
at a very slow pace. She also talks during independent time;
rarely volunteers during class.
5 Male Caucasian C Student 5 always participates during class discussion. In the
beginning of the quarter, Student 5 was very motivated.
Now, Student and Mother are suffering from an illness.
Student 5, now, participates only when he is interested and
does not turn in assignments on time. His hygiene is not
well. Other students do not want to sit with him.
6 Female African C Student 6 went by one name during the year (to be closer to
American her best friend) and after an intense parent-teacher
conference, now goes by her birth name only. She comes
into school late, often with breakfast. She calls out and turns
her work in late. She will occasionally volunteer during class.
7 Female Caucasian C Student 7 sits in the back of the classroom alone. If a
teacher is back there, Student 7 will often talk to them. She
is pleasant and on time to class. She turns in her work and
works hard to participate in class, even when she does not
fully grasp concepts.
8 Female African D Student 8 is a student athlete (runs track and field). Before
American the season started, she rarely turned assignments in when
they were due and often had her phone out. However, she is
pleasant and polite. Once the season started, she scrambled
to get in her late assignments and worked hard on
maintaining her grade in class.

Alignment Table

National State Objective Assessment Lesson Activities that align to the

Standards objective(s) and assessment(s)
Lesson 1 CCSS.ELA- SWBAT compare Informal: • Warm-Up
LITERACY.RH.6- two companies in Kahoot • Housekeeping
8.4 Determine order to • Kahoot
the meaning of determine Formative: • Distribution of paper cookies
words and whether to buy, Cookie Activities • Cookie Activities – Comparing
phrases as they sell, or hold stocks – Comparing Companies: The Chocolate Factory;
are used in a in those Happy Birthday, Cookie; Stock
Companies: The
text, including companies. Ownership
Chocolate
vocabulary • Reviewing Terms
specific to Factory
• Safely Valve – Stock Market Game
domains related Happy Birthday,
(SMG), purchase stocks!
Cookie;
Stock Ownership
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to history/social
studies. Stock Market
Game
Lesson 2 CCSS.ELA- SWBAT Informal: • Do-Now: Vocabulary.com
LITERACY.RH.6- investigate how Vocabulary.com • Housekeeping Hook – No Straws
8.7 Integrate companies are • What’s an ESG?
visual addressing Formative: • The Lorax
information environment, The Lorax • Model a company’s ESG
(e.g., in charts, social, and • Buy, Sell, or Hold Practice: Activity 1 –
graphs, governance issues Buy, Sell, or Hold Annual Report and Activity 2 –
photographs, in order to Practice: Activity • Research a Company - Choose Two
videos, or determine how 1 – Annual Companies to Compare
maps) with companies make Report and • Safety Valve: SMG
other “going green” the Activity 2
information in new $gold$.
print and digital Research a
texts. Company ->
Choose Two
Companies to
Compare
Lesson 3 CCSS.ELA- SWBAT analyze Summative: • Do-Now
LITERACY.RH.6- how businesses Mid-Unit Test • House Keeping
8.5 Describe are addressing • Mid-Unit Test
how a text ESG factors in Formative: • Quick Class Discussion
presents order to write • Review of InvestWrite Winning Essay
information about sustainable Exit Ticket • Outline for InvestWrite
(e.g., investing. • Safety Valve: Start writing
sequentially, Outline for InvestWrite rough draft
comparatively, InvestWrite
causally).

Lesson #1 - Buy, Sell, or Hold

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
Objective: SWBAT compare different scenarios within companies in order to determine whether to buy, sell, or
hold stock in those companies.
Essential Question: “How do you know the “right” action to take when buying, selling, or holding stocks?”

Activities and Suggested

Explanation of Activity:
Times:
Warm-Up (10 1) Students have made their own warm-up for this Stock Market Game Unit. The
minutes): student going today will walk around and check their peer's warm-up for completion
and accuracy. The teacher or student volunteer will go over the answer with the class.
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Housekeeping (5 2) Teacher will go over the following:

minutes): • Warm-Up
• Housekeeping
• Kahoot
• Distribution of paper cookies
• Cookie Activities – Comparing Companies: The Chocolate Factory; Happy
Birthday, Cookie; Stock Ownership
• Reviewing Terms
• Safely Valve – Stock Market Game (SMG), purchase stocks!

Gateway Activity (10 3) Students will enter the classroom, pull out their devices, and start the following Kahoot
minutes): game as a class:
A. Naomie currently owns 10% of shares in Meow Mix Cat food. Last night she
watched the documentary, “Paw-Lease Save Our Cats!” and learned that cats
are becoming more and more scarce. Out of panic, she logged onto her Acorn
stock app and had to decide. Should she buy, sell, or hold?
B. Udoka loves playing videos games on PlayStation gaming consuls so much,
he invested in the company and has been for the past 4 years. Each year his
dividends increased by at least $200. But last year, upon the release of the
Nintendo Switch, Udoka’s dividends decreased by $500. Should he buy, sell,
or hold?
C. Amanda is a trade broker on the New York Stock Exchange floor. She buys
and sells for Beyoncé. B tells Amanda she wants shares in Coca-Cola
Beverages. For Amanda to get those shares, she would need to either sell
some of the shares Beyoncé already has in order to purchase or buy the
Coca-Cola shares, but not anything else. What should she do?
D. James swears he sees the successful rise of the flying car. He purchased
shares in Delphi Technologies who focuses on electrical and electronic
products -- thinking though we’ll be flying cars, they’ll still need wiring.
However, James’ investment has been stagnant (has not gone up or down)
ever since his purchase. What should he do?

As students choose to buy, sell, or hold in each scenario, teacher will ask 2-3 volunteers to
explain why they chose their answer.

4) Transitional phrases:
• So, how would we define selling, buying, and holding when speaking on
stocks and investing?
• We are going to practice the skill of selling, buying, holding but with paper
cookies as our currency.
• Explain how the students will be placed in their SMG groups and given paper
cookies to invest in the questions for the following three activities.

Cookie Activity (35 Minutes):

5) In their SMG students will invest their paper cookies in the questions they believe they will
answer correctly. This is done before they start the reading. SMG groups will have 3 minutes
to invest before the market closes and students begin the reading activity. After 10 minutes,
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teacher will review the answers. Any question SMG groups got correct, they will receive twice
the number of cookies.

This activity is to reinforce the reasons for buying and selling stocks in a company as well as
help students to investigate when a company is doing good or poor before they invest.

Vocab from Readings:

The Chocolate Factory: product, corporation, company
Happy Birthday, Cookie: profit, risk, benefit
Stock Ownership, a Delicious Topic: stock, benefit, reward, profit, dividends
Reviewing Terms (10 6) Teacher will go over the following terms:
minutes): • Risk, reward, profit, benefits

7) Students will play the same Kahoot game from the beginning of class to see if
their opinions on the scenarios changed now that they know the meaning of the
terms more.
Safety Valve - Stock 8) Teacher will also show students how to find the follow information on a
Market Game (10 company’s webpage and on finance.yahoo.com
minutes):
1. Look at the company’s annual report
2. Research the company’s performance, including revenue and net income
3. Latest analyst report: Are revenues growing? Are they making a profit?
4. Impact of current events; is there a new CEO, new projects, merger

9) If there is extra time, student will remain in their SMG groups to begin purchasing
stocks.

Lesson #2 – Is “going green” bringing in the gold?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7 Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or
maps) with other information in print and digital texts
Objective: SWBAT investigate how businesses are addressing ESG factors in order to write about sustainable
investing.
Essential Question: Is “going green” bringing in the gold?

Vocab Practice (5 1) Students will go on Vocbaulary.com and complete the exercise defining the
mins): following terms:
• P/E - price of the • income
stock • common Stock
• pf – preferred • share
stock • revenue
• dividends • compound
• investment Interest
• profit
House Keeping (4 2) Review the agenda and housekeeping for the day:
mins): • Do-Now: Vocabulary.com
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• Housekeeping
• Hook – No Straws
• What’s an ESG?
• The Lorax
• Model a company’s ESG
• Buy, Sell, or Hold Practice: Activity 1 – Annual Report and Activity 2 –
Research a Company -> Choose Two Companies to Compare
• Safety Valve: SMG
HW: Review Terms on Vocab.com for Mid-Unit Test NEXT CLASS!

Transitional Phrases:
• Teacher Question: “What does this question mean?”
Student Response: **CRICKETS**
• Teacher Question: “Well let’s break the question down. What does “going
green” imply?
Student Response: “Recycling?”
• Teacher Response: “Close! It can definitely be included! Let’s watch this
video clip about straws. It should be a great example of what it means to ‘go
green’”

Hook (5 minutes): 3) Students will watch a short video clip about Starbucks eliminating the use of
straws by 2020: Review Object, EQ first
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHazyBZrNbg

• Teacher Question: “Now that we’ve watched a concept of it, could

someone tell us what they think “going green” would imply?
Student Response: “Going green is like choosing to do what is best for the
world?”
• Teacher Response: “Can someone tie the word ‘sustainable’ from last
class into that last response? Use your notes if you need to!”
Student Response: “Well sustainable means to uphold or defend. So, like
“going green” is choosing to do what is best to defend the world. And keep it
safe?”
• Teacher Question: “So who can take their best shot at explaining what the
EQ mean?
Students Response: “Maybe it means is “going green” making companies
money?”
Mini Lesson (10 4) Teacher lead presentation on ESGs. Discussion the definition for each term and
mins): examples of what can qualify as an ESG issue. Notepage will be done in a word
document. Defining:
• environment
• social
• governance
• ESG issues
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• sustainability
• “going green”
5) Students practice naming ESG issues and sustainable companies in a Kahoot
game.
Transitional Phrases:
• Teacher Question: “Could someone explain to me what an ESG issue is
and give an example of some?”

The Lorax (15 mins) 6) Students practice naming ESG issues as they are shown in a clip and written
summary of Dr, Sesus’ the Lorax. Worksheet can be completed for homework.
Model researching a 6) Teacher lead, student-inquiry encouraged. The students will follow along on their
company addressing devices as the teacher leads them in finding the ESG issues being addressed by
ESG (15 mins): company Johnson n Johnson.

Explore: https://www.jnj.com/caring/citizenship-sustainability

Pull up photographs from websites so students can visually see examples.

• What ESGs according to our list could I do with JNJ?
• Have students pull 3 ESG related factors from this website and explain how
they know the factors correlate to ESG

Buy, Sell, or Hold 7) Students will complete the Activity 1 worksheet to practice reading data and date
Practice: Activity 1 – reports found when researching public and privately traded companies. Whatever
Annual Reports and is not finished here can be done for homework. They will also
Activity 2 – Choosing
a company (25 mins):
Safety Valve: 8) If there is extra time, student will remain in their SMG groups to begin
purchasing stocks.

Lesson #3 – Is “going green” bringing in the gold?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.5 Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively,
causally).
Objective: SWBAT analyze how businesses are addressing ESG factors in order to write about sustainable
investing.
Essential Question: Is “going green” bringing in the gold?

Activities and Explanation of Activities:

Suggested Times:
Do-Now (10 mins):
Housekeeping (5 mins):
Review the day’s agenda
1) Students will complete the Do-Now created by a fellow student. Once
completed the creator will show the class how to find the answer to the Do-Now.
2) Review the agenda and housekeeping for the day:
• Do-Now
• House Keeping
• Mid-Unit Test
• Quick Class Discussion
• Review of InvestWrite Winning Essay
Validated Practices Project 17

• Outline for InvestWrite

• Safety Valve: Start writing InvestWrite rough draft

Transitional Phrases:
Students Question: “Will this test be graded?”
Teacher Response: “This Mid-Unit Test will not count against you. We are
doing this just to see what you all have been learning, what was missed, and
what needs to be reviewed.

Student Question: “How long do we have to complete the test, and can we use
are notes?”
Teacher Response: “You will have 45 minutes to complete the test and you
may not use your notes.”

Teacher Response: “Clear your desk and get ready for the test. Read each
question carefully.”
Mid-Unit Test (30 mins): 3) Students will have 30 minutes to complete the Mid-Unit Test.

Quick Class Discussion 4) Teacher will lead a 5-7-minute class discussion reviewing ESG issues:
(10 mins):
Discussion Question:
• Could someone explain to me what an ESG issue is and give an
example of some?
Student Response: “An ESG are issues with social, environmental, and
governance. Like Clean Air could be environmental.”

• What are the benefits?

Student Response: “Benefit can be that the companies fixing these issues are
making the world a better place.”
Teacher Response: “A better place how?”
Student Response: “By making sure we are recycling or treating people right.”

• What risk comes with going green as a company and investing in

companies that are moving towards sustainable living?
Student Response: “Going Green is risky because production might be more
expensive...since going green can be expensive.”
Student Response: “Not everyone will agree with that the company should
move towards sustainable living. Like the straws. People like straws. Might
not want to pass them up. Which will cause Starbucks to lose money.”

• These are the thoughts you will want to keep in mind as you complete
you investWrite Essay.

Introduce the 5) Teacher will introduce the InvestWrite 2019 essay assignment.
InvestWrite (10 mins)
Validated Practices Project 18

Review InvestWrite 6) Class will read the winner of the InvestWrite competition from last year and
Winning Essay from highlight as they go. Discuss:
2018 (15 mins) • What are some of the points (details) the author makes in the essay?
• What is the main idea of the article?
• Why did the author choose to highlight those particular details?
• What conclusion does the author offer?

Research and fill out 7) After, students will have 20 minutes to choose an ESG issue and research a
InvestWrite Organizer few companies that are addressing these issues. They will fill out an exit ticket
(20-30 mins): that asks for the ESG they chose and the company(ies) addressing it.
Safety Valve: 8) Students will be given time to work individually on their InvestWrite graphic
organizers.
• They should have 3 sources: One from the company’s official website or
Yahoo.Finance
• If the chart is not filled out by the end of class, it must be done for
homework.

(Optional) Closure (5 9) Students will complete an Exit Ticket.

mins): • Their name, date, ESG issue, and company(ies)
• (optional) The name of the 3 sources you will be using for the
InvestWrite.