RU Teacher Education Lesson Plan Format

Candidate Name: Hannah Kennedy

Date: 11/18/19
Grade Level: 11th Grade

Lesson Title/Topic: Out of Order Adjectives in Descriptive Writing

Standards:

11.6) The student will write in a variety of forms, with an emphasis on persuasion.
a) Generate, gather, plan, and organize ideas for writing to address a specific
audience and purpose.
b) Produce arguments in writing developing a thesis that demonstrates
knowledgeable judgments, addresses counterclaims, and provides effective
conclusions.
c) Organize ideas in a sustained and logical manner.
d) Clarify and defend position with precise and relevant evidence elaborating ideas
clearly and accurately.
e) Adapt content, vocabulary, voice, and tone to audience, purpose, and situation.
f) Revise writing for clarity of content, accuracy and depth of information.
g) Use computer technology to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish writing.
h) Write and revise correspondence to a standard acceptable both in the workplace
and in postsecondary education.

11.7) The student will self- and peer-edit writing for correct grammar, capitalization,
punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and paragraphing.
a) Use a style manual, such as that of the Modern Language Association (MLA) or
the American Psychological Association (APA), to apply rules for punctuation
and formatting of direct quotations.
b) Use verbals and verbal phrases to achieve sentence conciseness and variety.
c) Distinguish between active and passive voice.
d) Differentiate between in-text citations and works cited on the bibliography page.
e) Adjust sentence and paragraph structures for a variety of purposes and audiences.
f) Proofread and edit writing for intended audience and purpose.

Specific Observable Objective(s):

Students will be able to:

1. Identify out-of-order adjectives within a piece of writing.
2. Use out-of-order adjectives within own writing to enhance persuasive voice.
3. Self- and peer-edit writing to identify out-of-order adjectives and to search for incorrect
grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. The only new thing to these students will
be the addition of out-of-order adjectives to their persuasive papers.
Essential Vocabulary:

Adjectives- Descriptive words that modify nouns.

Out-of-order Adjectives- Adjectives that come after the noun they described. (ex. The sky, dark
and threatening, loomed over the city.)
Persuasive essay- Using ethos, logos, and pathos reasoning within writing to prove to an audience
that your view is more legitimate that all other views.

Assessment:

The teacher will informally assess the students’ ability to identify out-of-order adjectives through
their ability to point them out in provided writing. The teacher will informally assess the students’
ability to use out-of-order adjectives within their own writing by having them locate appropriate
spots to use them and then by having them highlight them. The teacher will formally assess
students’ ability to use and identify out-of-order adjectives by having them use them in their own
essays, and by then having students self- and peer-edit in order to find and add out-of-order
adjectives to their writing.

Student Considerations:

Within this class, there are several students with IEP and 504 plans. In order to adequately
accommodate learning to these students, the teacher will go through the lesson with the special
education co-teacher before the class. This will allow the co-teacher to then make informed
judgements for specific learners’ needs. All directions will be read-aloud, and students with
accommodations will be allowed to leave the room to a quiet area if needed. Not only this, but
students will be allowed to collaborate with peers, as this will help all students in their learning.
Visuals will also be provided on the board, and the teacher will write with the students on the
document cam. This is a block class period of 70 minutes, and the teacher will assess student needs
for “brain breaks” or switching of activities if needed, especially since this is a very squirmy class
period.

Instructional Resources, Materials, and Technology:

Model Sentences
Model Writing
Highlighters
Smart Board
Composition Notebooks
Document Cam
PROCEDURES:

The Beginning (a.k.a. Anticipatory Set): (10 minutes)

1. These students have had plenty of practice with descriptive writing, and because of this, I
will be starting this lesson straight to the point with out-of-order adjectives and how to
identify and use them. For the prewriting activity, I will ask them to picture a barn with their
eyes closed. While their eyes are closed, I will continue to describe different styles of barns
and how they might imagine them. Prompting with questions such as “How old is your barn?
What color is your barn? How big is your barn? Are there any animals in it? Etc.” I will then
ask them to write a bulleted list in their composition notebooks with everything they can
picture about their barn, as we will be using these lists shortly.

The Middle: (50 mins)

1. For this part, I will be demonstrating a model for the students by creating out-of-order
sentences about the barn I picture. First, I tell them a short synopsis about my barn: “My
barn is at least one-hundred years old. It is falling in and is barely standing. The plants
around it have started to reclaim its property, and if there are any animals living inside, it
would consist of snakes, rats, and birds’ nests. Mine has a broken ladder leaning into the hay
window, but if one dared to step on it, it would effortlessly break. Etc.” After this, I tell them
that we will be working with something called Out-of-order adjectives and that we will be
writing with them later in the class so be sure to pay attention. (5 mins)

2. Write example sentences on the document cam: (5 mins)

 Alone in the field stands an old barn, decrepit and worn, against the bright green
foliage.
 The barn’s walls, greyed and collapsing, began to weep with time.
 An old ladder, moss ridden and sad, stood in solidarity against its old friend.
 A lone black snake, hidden and warm, curled beneath the fallen stalls that once held
mighty steeds before.
 The land, strong and fertile, slowly reclaimed the old building that took its spot so
many years ago.

3. (5 mins) After doing this, ask the students what each of the highlighted sections have in
common with one another. The out-of-order adjectives come after the word being described.
What is decrepit and worn? The barn. What are greyed and collapsing? The walls. Etc.

After this, it is important to take baby steps toward the goal of having them use them within
their own writing. In order to do this, put sentences with blanks where the out-of-order
adjectives are supposed to go, allowing the students to call out answers they would like to
see in the sentence:

 The roof, _____________ and ______________, was the first to fall. (ex. eaten away and rusty)

4. I will then show a much different picture of a barn to the class than the one I described. This
one will be vibrant and full of life.
 Then, I will have the students work with a partner to create at least five different sentences
about the barn. Remind them while they work that they can describe the color, the doors, the
roof, the walls, the look, etc. I will then ask students to share with the class what they came
up with. (10 mins)

5. I will then demonstrate how out-of-order adjectives can be used within writing. By showing
my own prewritten story about my barn on the document cam: (5 mins)
 My family lives in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Here, families survive off the
land that has been passed down through generations of coal miners and farmers.
Because of the extreme poverty, these people do not have money to rebuild or tear
down many of the buildings that their ancestors built. On my family’s farm, full of
vegetation and life, there stands an old barn. This barn was once full of life and tools
and sustained entire families for years. Now the old barn, decrepit and worn, stands
alone in a field of green. The roof which once stood so strong, finally succumbed to
the years of weathering it was forced to endure. The walls, grayed and collapsing,
seemed to weep against its fallen counterparts. An old ladder stood in solidarity
against the building, serving as a proud reminder of what once was. A lone black
snake, hidden and warm, curled beneath the fallen stalls that once held mighty steeds
before. As the building is reclaimed, so are the memories that once stood with the
barn.
Leave this example on the board for the following activity.

6. The reason I chose a barn is because there are thousands of them scattered across Virginia,
and here in Riner you pass several just to get to school every day. This will also fit perfectly
with our Appalachian unit, and if there is another building or place that reminds you of
home, feel free to use it and brainstorm new descriptors about it. For those of you who still
want to write about the barn you picture, please get out the lists you used earlier. The
teacher will then put out small containers of markers at groups of desks. Flip to the next
page in your composition notebooks and draw what you picture your barn or building to
look like. Think about the state of the building. The color. What objects surround the
building? What is inside the building? Think about the specific colors you see. If you are
drawing a barn is the color cherry red or perhaps more of a faded plum? What is the weather
like? Sunny or stormy? What in the land like? Barren or lush? Think about whether the
building is smooth or ridged from age. Etc. After about 5 minutes of drawing, ask students to
then write about their barn for the next 15 minutes of class. (20 mins)

The End (a.k.a. Closing): (10 mins)

1. For the closing activity, I will ask students to exchange papers with a partner. Asking
partners to highlight each out-of-order adjective they see in the paper. After this, the partner
will share their favorite sentence their partner wrote using an out-of-order adjective with
the class.
2. Make sure to remind students that notebooks will be due tomorrow, and that this will be
part of the grade so to be sure to complete the writing for homework if it is not finished.
Teacher Reflection on Practice (following the lesson):
1. What evidence did you collect to show your students attained today’s objective(s)? Please
explain how you know which students did and did not master your objectives. Use formative
assessment data to support your claims regarding the portion of students who did and did
not master the learning objective(s).

2. Based on the result of your assessment, what will you do tomorrow? Can you go ahead as
planned or will you need to reteach concepts from today’s lesson? (Explain how you will
reteach and/or connect and feed forward.)

3. If you have to teach this lesson again, what might you do the same and what might you do
differently?