Activist Poster

Lesson Plan for Grade 7, Read 180

Prepared by Miss Trejo

PURPOSE

The purpose of this lesson activity is to help students review their knowledge of the past
two activists they have been learning about for this unit as they prepare to write their
first essay of the semester.

CA STATE STANDARD(S) AND/OR CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS

1. Comprehension and Collaboration (1): Engage effectively in a range of

collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grade 7 topics, texts and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
2. Production and Distribution of Writing (4): Produce clear and coherent writing in
which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose,
and audience.

LEARNING GOALS

1. By the end of this lesson, my students will be able to work together in groups of
three to be able to create a poster on an activist’s background or describing their
fight for change.
2. By the end of this lesson, my students will be able to look through their assigned
texts and determine which pieces of information best summaries/contributes to
their activist’s background/fight for change.

VOCABULARY

1. Activist
2. Resources

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 3. Desperate
4. Activsim
5. Announced

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

1. How does one’s background determine how one sees the world?
2. What are some injustices, or problems in the world, that you would like to be an
activist for?
3. How did reviewing these activists improve your understanding for their fight for
change?

MATERIALS NEEDED

4. Students will be using craft paper, poster paper, markers, color pencils and glue.
For students who are researching their activist’s current life, they will be allowed
to use their Chromebooks for further research.

ASSESSMENTS

1. Formative Assessment 1: Students will engage in a small group discussion to

determine which student will be assigned each role to create the poster (an
organizer/researcher, scribe, or artist).
2. Formative Assessment 2: Students will be guided through answering questions
in their interactive textbooks about information activists.
3. Self-Assessment: Students will be able to self-assess themselves by making sure
they have the answers to all the criteria needed for their own section of the
poster. Each group (Background and What the Activists Fought For) will have
guided questions that will help them put down the appropriate and sufficient
amount of information on their posters. These questions will be displayed on the
overhead projector for them to reference back to while they work. As they work
on their own section of the poster, they will need to make sure that they are
answering the questions to the best of their abilities in order to present their
findings. Every student will need to participate and talk about their section.

ACTIVITY

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OPEN:

I will first begin the lesson portion of the class period by informing students that we will
be doing something different/out of our usual routine for today. Students are in a routine
of doing work out of their interactive textbooks and direct instructions so they tend to
become excited when it’s something different. I will also inform them that we are not
necessarily learning anything new but rather reviewing the texts we already read in
class as this is going to help make one of their final assignments for the semester easier. I
will also inform them that they will be working in groups—an announcement that
always seems to perk them up and get excited about.

BODY:

I will then inform the students of who is in what group. There will be four groups of
three with one group of four. I will show the list of names in each group (strategically
placed so that each group has at least one talkative student to help engage all students)
and ask them to quickly sit with their group members.

Before we begin the official project, I will assign them which poster they will create:
Malala or James “Kofi” Anon, Background or Their Fight for Injustice. Before they are
given their poster paper, I would like for students to write down on a piece of paper what
they already know about their topic. They will work collectively to write down as much
as they can. Students will not be able to look at their interactive textbooks during this
time.

I will then tell students that for this project, each student will have a role (a researcher,
an artist, and a scribe) and everyone will participate; the one group of four will share the
role of a researcher. I will instruct students to decide which role they would like to
choose among themselves. After they have decided, I will display the requirements for
each role:

Researcher

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 ● Have their Interactive Textbook out
● They will decide which pieces of the text they would like to include and consult
with their group members to come to an agreeance

Scribe

● They will write the bullet points, quotes and other important words and/or
phrases that the group decides to add

Artist

● Draw pictures that correlate to their activist (the flag from where they were born,
symbols representing what they fought for, etc.)
● If they don’t feel confident in their drawing skills, they can share pictures from
Google and share it on a Google Doc for me to print it out for them

Every student will need to participate—whether it be from fulfilling their roles,

collaborating with their peers to add on information, and filling up any empty space
within the poster. To further aid the groups, I will have guided questions provided on the
board for them to make sure they are providing a sufficient and purposeful amount of
information on their posters:

Background

● When and where were they born?

● What was their home life like?
● Where did they grow up?
● What happened in their childhood?

Fight for Injustice

● What did they fight for?

● What did they do about it?
● What organizations did they create?
● Who are they helping?

Students will have about 45 minutes to complete their poster. They can use construction
paper, markers, color pencils, scissors, glue and optional print outs.

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CLOSE:

Once students have completed their posters, they will have the opportunity to present
their posters to the class. Each group member will speak during their short presentation
to explain their reasoning as to why they chose to add what they did. Students in the
“audience” will be reminded to be respectful during their peers’ presentations by being
quiet and actively listening. Students will be able to self-assess themselves as they
describe their bullet points, quotes and images displayed on their poster and highlight
the importance of why they added those aspects.

TEACHER SLIDES

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STUDENT SAMPLES

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 “Activist Poster” Rubric

Beginning Developing Proficient Total Points

1 point 2 points 3 points

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 Answered the Group did not Group did not Group answered
guided questions answer any of answer all/only all four of the
the guided answered a few guided questions
questions on of the guided on their posters.
their posters. questions on
their posters.

Provided Group did not Group only Group provided

Drawings/Images draw or print provided one at least two
images on drawing or images or
their poster. printed image in drawings on
their poster. OR their poster that
group provided related to their
images that were activist.
not related to
their activists.

Color Group did not Group only used Group used at

provide any one color in their least two colors
color to their poster. on their poster.
poster.

Total Points: ___/9

NEXT STEPS...

After this activity is completed, students will be reminded of the purpose of making their
poster: a review of information they will be using to create an essay. Within this poster,
students will write down key bullet points, quotes (evidence from the text) and
explanations as to why they chose to include their information written down.

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