Teacher: Talia Verrecchio Date: 12/3/21

TCNJ Lesson Plan

Title: Day 11: The Reflection, Part 2 Unit #1 Lesson #11

Aim/Focus Question
Write out the Learning Objective from the Unit Plan

Why does it make sense for my reflection to go at the end? Can it go somewhere else?
Daily Learning Objectives/Skills/Dispositions (SWBAT) Corresponding Assessments
Include the learning objectives specific to the lesson and Include the formative assessment or summative
skills/dispositions from the Unit Plan. assessment that correspond to each objective.

Daily Learning Objectives: Corresponding Assessments:

1. TSWBAT identify the differences between 1. Take notes on what they notice about the
structures and styles of the reflections in the two mentor different features/styles of each mentor
texts. text.
2. TSWBAT form their own opinions on the 2. Debate with their classmates through a
differences they observe about the reflections in the two pros and cons list on which structure is
mentor texts. more effective, in their opinion.
Skills/Dispositions Corresponding Assessments:
1. TSWBAT draft two different versions of their short 1. Compose two drafts of their short
memoirs: one with the reflection portion at the memoir, focusing on the placement of the
beginning, one at the end. reflection.
Standards – Cut and paste full standards here.

NJSLSA.W3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

1. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot
lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

2. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved
over the course of the narrative.

Student Understandings/Misunderstandings/Misconceptions
What do you anticipate your students already know going into this lesson, misunderstanding, and having misconceptions of? How
does this lesson relate to students’ lives/society?

Beginning (Do Now/Opening/Hook)

Your beginning should engage students in the material for the day and be related to the objectives above. It is good to make your
beginning relevant to the students’ lives and to make an overt connection between the beginning and the Aim/objectives for the day.

As the students enter, the opening will be projected on the screen at the front of the room (via Google
Slides).
Teacher: Talia Verrecchio Date: 12/3/21
The students will see the agenda on the screen. It will instruct them to pick up the class materials at the
front of the room, which will be a copy of a new mentor text, Camp Dread or How to Survive a Shockingly
Awful Summer by Ransom Riggs. It will also instruct students to take out a previous mentor text they have
from earlier in the unit, Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan.

The screen will also read, “Do Now: In your WNB, respond to the following: Summarize the importance of
the reflection section of a short memoir. Explain its purpose and effects.”

Transition – Explicitly connect the discussion of the “Opening” to the day’s “Aim” and then to the first “Activity.”
We learned yesterday all about the reflection portion of a short memoir: what it should include, why it is
important, how long it can be. Now, let’s turn our focus to where we can place it within the overall work
in order to best showcase what we learned from the experience and its larger implications. Please take
out the two mentor texts, Fish Cheeks and Camp Dread, which have two very different structures
regarding the story and the reflection, so we can read them together and take a closer look at their
differences.

Middle – Context/Application (Mini Lesson, Activity, Guided Practice)

1) balance of instructional time and time for application; 2) transitions (in italics) when moving to another topic/activity; 3) clear
instructions for the students (often in a list/outline) that you model activities for the students, when needed; and 4) questions w/
anticipated answers.
 Beginning with Camp Dread, the teacher will ask the students to briefly glance over the entire text
before reading, just to notice its structure on the pages. She will then read an excerpt from the text
aloud, its reflection section, as the students follow along.
 The teacher will then ask for a volunteer to read the reflection portion of Fish Cheeks.
o This short mentor text has already read by the class in the beginning of the unit.
 After the two texts have been read, the students will be asked to, independently, …
o take a few minutes to mull them over
o jot down quick notes in their WNBs regarding what they noticed about the different
features and styles of each reflection section
 The students will then be asked to turn and talk to their neighbor, sharing what they took note of.
 The teacher will then draw a T-Chart diagram on the board, taking responses from students
regarding the features and styles of each.
o The students will be asked to copy down the diagram in their WNBs to have notes on two
types of structures for the reflection section to reference as they write later on.
 Next, the teacher will display her own short memoir(s) on the projector screen. She will show two
different versions she had drafted; one will be with the reflection placed at the beginning like in
Camp Dread, and the other at the end like in Fish Cheeks. (I do)
 On the board, the teacher will create a pros and cons list for her drafts. She will then guide the
development of a pros and cons list for the (overall) two styles of reflections, composed of student
responses—debate style. (We do)
 Keeping Camp Dread, Fish Cheeks, and the teacher’s memoir in mind, the teacher will ask students
to reflect on the differences between reflection placements the effects they create. Based on their
own opinion, they will be asked to decide which placement style they think they like better or find
more effective overall. They will be asked to write this preference down at this point in the lesson.
 The teacher will highlight that there are both pros and cons of any stylistic element in a piece of
writing and inform students that it is up to them as writers to decide what best fits their piece.
Teacher: Talia Verrecchio Date: 12/3/21
 Now that the students have taken a look at a variety of different placements of the reflection, they
will be asked to implement what they have learned into their own short memoir.
 The workshop portion of class will begin, where students will be asked to draft two versions of
their short memoirs; one with the reflection portion at the beginning, and one at the end. (They
do)
o The students at this point in the unit should already have a developed story section and a
draft of the reflection (or at least what they wanted to include in the reflection).
o It should be a matter of moving things around rather than drafting two whole new pieces
o This might be easier if done on their laptops (cutting and pasting)
As the students are drafting, I will conference with students about their overall drafts, answering any
questions they would like addressed.
Transition – Explicitly connect the discussion of the last activity in the “Middle” to the “Conclusion.”
Now that you have two different drafts of your own short memoir reflection, let’s think back to your pre-
determined preference and see if your opinions have changed or stayed the same after you have
transitioned from reader to writer.

End/Conclusion of the Lesson

End each lesson together as a class to sum up the material for the day and bring the class back to the “Learning Objectives” and
“Aim” for the day. (For example, an “exit slip” or another short activity that brings the lesson full circle.)
The students will have an exit ticket that answers the following: What placement style did you prefer
after reading the mentor texts? After writing your own two drafts, did that preference change? Why or
why not?

Homework
What is the students’ homework to help them apply the knowledge they have learned from the day’s lesson?

Read over the two drafts you have developed and make a list of the pros and cons for each draft (another
they do). Be prepared to come to class and discuss which draft and reflection structure you will choose
for your final copy and why.
Materials
List any materials you need for the lesson.

 Projector, document camera

 Google Slide
 Chalkboard/Whiteboard and chalk/marker
 Copies of the mentor text, Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan and Camp Dread or How to Survive a Shockingly
Awful Summer by Ransom Riggs from Breakfast on Mars
 Student WNBs
 Laptops with developed drafts
 Teacher’s WNB
 Pen and/or pencil
Question Reflection
1) Copy and paste the key questions written out above in the categories listed below; 2) Include anticipated student answers in
parentheses. (Remember, you may not have different amounts of questions for each categories in every lesson; but it is typically a
goal to have at least one question from each category per lesson.)
Knowledge Questions:
1.
Teacher: Talia Verrecchio Date: 12/3/21
Application Questions:
1.

Critical Thinking Questions:

1.

Differentiation
How will you differentiate your lesson for students based on the following:
Readiness, Interest, Learning Modality, Content, Process, and Product