West Virginia State University

College of Professional Studies: Department of Education

LESSON PLAN FORMAT GUIDE (Updated 9/19)

Teacher Candidate: Brianna Moore Date: April 20, 2019

School: Hurricane Middle School Grade/Subject: 6th Grade English/Language Arts
Lesson Topic: Narrative Essay on Virtual Field Trips

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES/ STUDENT OUTCOMES

1. Students will use laptops to embark on a virtual field trip to a museum.
2. Students will write half-page narratives of what they encountered on their virtual field trip.
3. Students will share their experiences in small-group discussion.

RATIONALE
By requiring students to use the laptops to visit their virtual destination of choice, they are
building their technological skills and gaining cultural experiences. The virtual field trip also helps the
students with interpreting information that is presented in diverse formats. They will then take that
information and create a narrative essay detailing their trip, which helps them to build their writing skills.
The group discussion will also help them build their speaking skills and prepare for more in-depth
discussions and debates later in their careers. The sheet that they will fill out from the discussion also
helps them to practice interpreting information presented in diverse media and formats, which will be
important as they encounter various formats of information, such as word problems, sets of data, and
speeches, throughout their lives.

WV CCRs
ELA.6.22 – Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
ELA.6.30 – Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas
and expressing ideas clearly.
ELA.6.31 – Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively,
and/or orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.

NATIONAL STANDARDS
NCTE 8 – Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases,
computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate
knowledge.

ISTE STANDARDS
ISTE For Students 4b – Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that
considers design constraints and calculated risks.
ISTE For Educators 5a – Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster
independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs.
ASSESSMENT
Diagnostic/Pre-Assessment
1. I will ask students if they’ve ever taken a field trip, and then ask two students to tell me what
they did on their favorite field trip.
2. I will then tell the students that they just shared a narrative and we will review what a
narrative is via discussion.
a. I will remind them of the characteristics of a narrative and point out examples that
they have read in class.
3. Next, I will ask the students if they’ve ever taken a virtual field trip or used Google Maps to
explore an area. I will then explain to the students that we will be using laptops to take virtual
field trips and then writing a story about our experience.
a. I will assure students that I will be giving them step-by-step instructions on taking a
virtual field trip and they do not need to have any prior experience.

(Objectives 1 and 2)
Formative Assessment
 I will observe and check-in with students as they complete their virtual field trips and
write their essays.
 I will assist students that are struggling with any part of the assignment, such as technical
difficulties or not understanding what is being displayed in the virtual museum.
 I will check in with students as they progress their small-group discussion to ensure they
are on-topic.

(Objectives 1, 2, and 3)
Summative Assessment
Students will write a short narrative essay about their virtual field trips and share with their
classmates via small-group discussion. They will also fill out a sheet (See Attachments) for their
group discussion that covers basic details of their group members’ virtual field trips.
(Objectives 1 and 2)

MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
Describes how time is set to accommodate the lesson. Just give time and not details. For example:
Overall Time 90 minute lesson
Time Frame 10 min. teacher intro and discussion
30 min. individual virtual field trips
15 min. individual work
20 min. discussion
15 min. closure
 DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION/ ADAPTATIONS/ INTERVENTIONS
Based on the student characteristics noted in the Differentiated Instruction Considerations chart,
describe the accommodations made in the lesson to meet learner differences.
Ways to differentiate content: Ways to differentiate based on how students accumulate
information (process):
N/A
N/A

Ways to differentiate product: Ways to differentiate learning environment:

Choice of virtual destinations Flexible grouping

Choice of group members Safe classroom
Students encouraged to participate in discussion
Students allowed to move to standing desks as needed

PROCEDURES
This section has five parts; each is an important part of the lesson.
1. ANTICIPATORY SET
1. I will complete the Diagnostic Assessment as described above, then students will get their
laptops from the laptop cart and log-in.
2. I will ask students why they would take a virtual field trip instead of an in-person field trip.
a. I will take two responses.

2. INTRODUCTION
1. I will remind students of the objectives for the lesson
2. I will use the ELMO to show an example of a virtual field trip
a. I will show the students the Planetarium website and click on a couple constellations
to show the students how it works.
b. I will show students how I would answer the guiding questions for the narrative
essay.
i. I will tell students that I will name the location I am visiting, my favorite part
and why, and the part I found boring and what made it boring to provide
students with some examples.
3. I will direct students to type in one of the websites on the board to begin their virtual field trip
a. They will choose from the following:
i. Planetarium
ii. Volcanoes
iii. Yellow Stone National Park
iv. The Great Lakes
v. Boston Children’s Museum
vi. Smithsonian Museums
b. As they reach their websites, I will again remind them of the objectives and pass out
the Guiding Questions sheet (See Attachments)
i. I will tell students that they are not required to turn this sheet in, but they
must answer each of these questions in their short narrative essay. I will also
tell them that I recommend using this sheet to answer the questions and take
other notes,
3. BODY & TRANSITIONS
1. I will make sure all students have chosen and reached a website for their virtual field trips,
then check-in to make sure they are on task and not having any issues.
a. If they are off-task, I will quickly and quietly redirect them back to their virtual field
trip and remind them that we have a limited amount of time for the virtual field trips.
b. If they are having any issues (e.g., technological difficulties, misunderstanding the
information), I will help them as I am able to and direct them to other resources that
they can look up after they complete their virtual field trips.
c. Students who finish this activity early can either get a head-start on their narrative
essay or can begin another virtual field trip.
2. After the 35 minutes for the virtual field trip is up, I will instruct students to put away their
laptops and get out a sheet of paper and tell them they will now write a short narrative essay
about their virtual field trip.
a. The essay should be from a half to a full page.
b. They will have about 25 minutes to write their essay.
i. I will remind them that this is considered a first draft, so I do not expect their
essay to be perfect; they just need to do their best and make sure they follow
proper grammar and spelling rules.
c. I will remind them that they need to put their name, block number, and date in the top
right corner, write a title at the top of the page, and indent the start of their
paragraphs.
3. After they have written their essays, I will instruct the students to get in groups of three to
five students and pick a section of the room to work in.
a. They must bring a writing utensil with them, along with their short narrative essays,
and any notes they took during the virtual field trips..
4. I will pass out the discussion sheets (See Attachments) and explain the instructions to
students.
a. They will put their group members’ names on the provided lines and answer the
questions about their group members’ virtual field trips.
4. CLOSURE
 After they have finished their discussion and completed their sheets, they will turn the
narrative essays and discussion sheets in.
 I will ask students what we did today
o Went on virtual field trips
o Wrote short narrative essays about the virtual field trips
o Discussed our virtual field trips/narrative essays and completed sheets on the
discussion
 I will then ask the students to share one thing they learned or something interesting they
saw and take approximately five responses.
o If time allows, I will take more responses.
5. Assessment (Refer to description above.)
Students will write their essays and complete their discussion sheets (See Attachments), which
will serve as the Summative Assessment.
STRATEGIES
Teacher-led discussion
Independent practice
Simulations
Peer groups

MATERIALS
Laptops
Writing Utensils
Loose-leaf paper
Worksheets
ELMO

EXTENDED ACTIVITIES
If Student Finishes Early
If a student finishes the virtual field trip early, they may choose to begin another virtual field trip
experience, find more information on the field trip they chose, or get a head-start on their narrative essay.

If Lesson Finishes Early

If the lesson finishes early, I will allow the students to regroup for more discussion or begin another
virtual field trip.

If Technology Fails
If technology fails, we will use science and history books for virtual field trips. Students can write their
narrative essays as if they had visited a museum dedicated to whatever topic they chose.

POST-TEACHING
Reflections
In preparation for writing your reflection, you may want to record initial thoughts prior to leaving the
school. The reflection should address the indicators on the Lesson Plan Rubric.
Data Based Decision Making
The data alone has little if any value. You MUST use your analysis of the data to make decisions
concerning future lessons. Data are collected to be used to drive future instruction.
 Differentiating Instruction Considerations

When planning, consider all areas in this chart. Put the first name of students who are characterized by these
descriptors. Then, move to the Differentiated Instruction chart to describe how you accommodate
differences.
Learning Differences Sensory Differences

Attention Differences Behavioral Differences

Motivational Differences Ability Differences – Remediation

Physical Differences Ability Differences – Enrichment

Communication Differences Cultural Heritage

Gender Differences Student Interests