UMF Unit-Wide Lesson Plan Template

Name: Abigail Hanson Program: Secondary Education - Course: CCP11 -

English English
Lesson Topic / Title: Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Lesson Date: 2/28/24 Lesson Length: 55 minutes. Grade/Age: Grade 11. Ages
● Observed lesson #1 16-17.

Learning Objectives & Content Standard Alignment - Selects, creates, and sequences learning
experiences and performance tasks that support learners in reaching rigorous curriculum goals
based on content standards.
Learning Objective(s) -Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

L1. Students will analyze how themes are developed - These objectives encourage
throughout a novel by examining the events, students to engage in close
characters, and symbols contributing to their reading and critical analysis
exploration. of the text “Animal Farm” by
L2. Students will compare and contrast the themes in George Orwell. By
"Animal Farm" with similar themes found in other examining specific elements
literary works or historical events, fostering a deeper such as events, characters,
understanding of universal themes in literature. and symbols, students gain
L.3 Students can identify multiple themes present in a deeper understanding of
a given text. how themes are developed
L4. Students can provide evidence from the text to and reinforced throughout
support their interpretations of themes. the narrative.
- This approach helps
students see the interplay
between different aspects of
the text and how they
contribute to the
exploration of key themes.

Content Standard(s) Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-R.4. This standard fits this lesson as

Read various texts closely to determine what each
text explicitly says and to make logical inferences;
cite specific textual evidence to support conclusions
drawn from the texts.
students will understand the concept
of theme in literature. Along with
understanding the theme, students will
then apply their knowledge to their
current class novel “Animal Farm” and
connect the novel to another story by
the same author.

Assessment - Uses assessment flexibly to expand and deepen understanding of learner performance
and determines best supports for continued learner growth.
Assessment Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

Revised 07/25/2023

● Animal Farm/1984 Theme Quote Quest: In-class
activity sheet where students are asked to:
- Identify and defend themes in George Orwell’s
Animal Farm as well as in the excerpt from his
best-known work, 1984.
1. Identify one theme in Animal Farm and 1984.
2. Choose a quote from the text that shows your
identified theme.
3. Explain in your own words, how the quote you
chose supports your theme.
4. CHALLENGE: See if you can find a theme that
applies to BOTH works. Find a quote from each to
support your identified theme.
Instructional Materials and Resources - Stays current in content knowledge and expands expertise in
reviewing instructional materials from the perspectives of both the discipline and individual learner
needs.
Materials, Resources, and / or Technology
- Google Classroom: For class assignments,
materials, exit tickets, and unit slideshows.
- Google Form: Exit ticket.
- Google Slides.
Materials (for students):
- Student laptop, copy of Animal Farm by George
Orwell, pen/pencil, note
- Access to Google Classroom.
- Hard copies of an excerpt from 1984 by George
Orwell.
- Hard copies of the Animal Farm/1984 Theme
Quote Quest.
The theme quote quest activity will
allow students to apply their
knowledge to both “Animal Farm” and
“1984” both by George Orwell.
Students will be able to make
connections between the two stories as
there are several different thematic
connections to each other. Students will
have to identify three themes in total
for the activity. They are allowed to
have their copy of the novel and they
will have an excerpt from “1984” that
spans the first 5 pages of the first
chapter.
The theme quote quest will be used to
assess students' current understanding
of the theme and its relevance to the
class novel at the end of the lesson. If
their answers indicate they do not
understand the content and the book,
this allows me to reassess and try
another approach in the future.
Instructional Decisions / Reasoning
- The school uses Google as
the primary platform where
all teachers can organize
and share resources,
assignments, and
announcements.
- Google Classroom is used by
the school to integrate with
other Google tools such as
Google Docs, Google Slides,
and Google Forms. This
integration makes it easy
for students and teachers to
access and collaborate on
various types of content.
- All of these materials are
necessary for all students to
meet the objectives and
complete the tasks for class.
Revised 07/25/2023
Instructional Methods: Selects, creates, and sequences learning experiences and performance tasks
by using a variety of instructional approaches, strategies, and technologies that make learning
accessible to all learners and support learners in reaching rigorous curriculum goals.
Teaching and Learning Sequence
1. Attendance/Daily Question. (5 minutes)
2. Overview of “Animal Farm” and theme. (5
minutes)
● Use Google slides on the smart board to guide
students through the instructional portion.
- Review the definition of the theme in
literature, and ask for a student to
provide a definition.
- Ask students to identify some themes in
Animal Farm that we have previously
discussed.
Proceed to the next slides and transition to
introduce 1984 (10 minutes).
- Watch the book trailer as a class. Prompt
students to pay attention to any
similarities they may see between the
two stories. (3 minute video).
3. After the video, follow up with students on the
prompted questions. Allow students time to think
about what they just watched and guide them into
making connections.
- Read the slide that introduces the book
and explain to the class how it connects
to our current class novel: Both are
written by the same author and are
dystopian.
4. I will hand out copies of the 1984 excerpt. Then
proceed to read it out loud. (5-10 minutes).
5. Animal Farm/1984 Theme Quote Quest Activity.
(25 minutes)
- On-paper or digitally in Google
Classroom.
● Directions: In this activity, you will be identifying
and defending themes in George Orwell’s Animal
Farm as well as his prolific short story “Harrison
Bergeron.” Identify themes in the two texts.
- Choose a quote from the text (“Harrison
Bergeron”) that shows your identified
theme.
- Explain IN YOUR OWN WORDS, how the
quote you chose supports your theme.
- Find a theme that applies to BOTH works.
Find a quote from each to support your
identified theme.
● Students will have the remaining period of class
to complete this activity.
● I will be available to students during class if they
need help.
Instructional Decisions / Reasoning
1. Every class begins with taking
attendance and there is a
question prompt on the smart
board for students to view as
they come into the room. This
allows for me to engage with
each student right at the
beginning of class.
2. This lecture covers all of the
foundational elements of what
a theme is in literature, how to
identify one, and how to put it
into a sentence, rather than
having one-worded themes.
The students will have
multiple opportunities to
answer questions asked by me
as a means for checking of
understanding.
3. I am using another story
written by the same author
because it connects well with
the class novel as both are
commenting on government,
society, and more in Russian
history. Students will gain
more understanding as to why
the author writes about this
and how there are similar
themes that can be identified
through the activity.
Revised 07/25/2023
 ● Students will turn in at the end of class or at the
beginning of tomorrow’s class if they do not
finish.

Meeting students’ needs (differentiation, extensions, Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

modifications, accommodations)
- Paper and digital copies of the reading, and
in-class activity will be provided.
- For the video students will be watching in class,
closed captions will be on for those who find them
helpful visually.
- Students will be allowed to take home and
complete if they do not finish the theme quote
quest in class.
- Absent students will have the opportunity to do
the work the following day or at home if they have
a computer available. They are expected to make
up any work they miss within three days of the
assignment being given to the student.
● Having these late periods and
extensions helps the students
have the support they need to
finish the work on time.
Especially in this instance, I
want every student to practice
identifying and forming
themes in their own words.
● I know some students like to
do their work on paper, and
most like to do it online, so
letting them have the option to
do either one is important.

Field Courses Only – Post lesson

Reflection
Block 3: 15/17 students were present.
Many of my students participated when asked questions through the lecture. Students
showed that they understood the purpose of themes in literature, their importance, and how
to identify one through class discussions. I could tell throughout the lecture portion of the
lesson that students were paying attention, making eye contact with me, minimal side
conversations. I had to stop three male students from talking during my lesson and they
responded well and stopped talking until I was done. One student, who is a repeated phone
user in class (which is forbidden per class and school expectations) was spoken to twice
about using his phone during lecture and during the read-aloud.

Fortunately, the students who were present engaged with the in-class activity well and
showed that they understood how to identify themes in multiple choices of literature
through the theme quote quest. I created the activity with the end goal in mind. I wanted to
see how students would engage with a short but substantial excerpt from a novel written by
the same author. This idea had been previously taught by me by my former English teacher
and I wanted to put my own twist on it by using it to teach theme as it is fitting for the class
novel unit.

From the theme quote quest, these two students demonstrated they understood the concept
of theme in literature and how to identify themes in both Animal Farm and 1984 by George
Orwell.

Revised 07/25/2023
Student A.

Revised 07/25/2023
Student A demonstrated that they do understand how to identify a theme and form it in
their own words. As well as explain and defend their theme and paired quote. For Animal
Farm, while the self-identified theme can be true, this is more of a subjective theme rather
than a factual theme. We had discussed in the introductory lesson the day prior, that themes
could be biased or subjective, it just depends on the reader and their interpretation of the
content.
Some issues arise in the quote section of this student's work. They were asked to provide a
citation with their quote and this student did not do so. Feedback and an example of a
citation will be provided to the student in Google Classroom.
For the 1984 theme, student A has demonstrated that they can identify and state a theme for
the excerpt of 1984. I knew that identifying a theme with just a few pages from a book would
be somewhat of a challenge for the class, but this student and others were capable of
forming a theme in their own words.
Student A provided personal feedback in the assignment sheet explaining their quote choice
and how they struggled to find a quote that best fits their theme. But for me, the quote they
chose is appropriate to their identified theme. Feedback will be provided in Google
Classroom, letting the students know that what they put down was fitting and that they did
not make a mistake in that section.

Student B.

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Student B demonstrated that they do understand how to identify a theme and form it in
their own words. As well as explain and defend their theme and paired quote. For the
Animal Farm section, they were asked to provide a citation with their quote and this student
did not do so. Feedback and an example of a citation will be provided to the student in
Google Classroom.
For the 1984 theme, student B has demonstrated that they can identify and state a theme for
the excerpt of 1984. They provided a quote that supported their theme well, missing the
citation as well. Their explanation for the theme and quote is well-thought out and they
connect it all, demonstrating again that they understand how themes work and how authors
use them.
Student B took on the optional challenge to identify a theme in both Animal Farm and 1984
which they did so by identifying how slogans and commandments are used to persuade
people in both stories, which is correct. Student B provided examples from both stories,
which are missing quotation marks and proper citations. But I knew that they were from the
book. I will provide feedback to the student about this section and how to properly cite it.

Standard and Indicator Instructional Reasoning and Rationale

Revised 07/25/2023
Standard 4 - Content Knowledge
The teacher understands the central
concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures
of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and
creates learning experiences that make
these aspects of the discipline accessible
and meaningful for learners.
Indicator - 4(d)
Stimulates student reflection on prior
content knowledge, links new concepts to
familiar concepts, and makes connections
to learners' experiences.
I chose this standard and indicator for this
lesson plan because I have implemented a
five-lesson learning experience where I am
teaching my students the idea of theme in
literature.
Rationale - This lesson plan is appropriate to
the standard and indicator because students
will be asked to reflect on their prior
knowledge and link it to a new piece of
literature they have not read before. This
allows them to build upon their knowledge
and further their learning experience.

TWS - TEACHER WORK SAMPLE LESSON PLAN

Topic - “Animal Farm” by George Orwell.
Assignment - Understanding theme by guided/prompted class discussion. Formative
assessment titled “Theme Quote Quest #1”.
How - The activity will allow students to apply their knowledge to both “Animal Farm” and
“1984” both by George Orwell. Students will be able to make connections between the two
stories as there are several different thematic connections to each other.
Why - This lesson is important for students can identify multiple themes present in a given
text and provide evidence from the text to support their interpretations of themes.

Standard and Indicator Instructional Reasoning and Rationale

Standard 5 - Innovative Applications of
Content
The teacher understands how to connect
concepts and use differing perspectives to
engage learners in critical/creative
thinking and collaborative
problem-solving related to authentic local
and global issues.
Indicator - 5 (c)
Facilitates learners’ use of content tools
and resources to maximize content
learning in varied contexts.
I chose this standard and indicator for this
lesson plan because I am implementing
multiple lessons where students are asked to
connect concepts in themes in literature. As
well as collaborate with me and their peers by
sharing their perspectives of the class novel
and provided texts.
Rationale - This lesson plan fits the standard
because students are being asked to
demonstrate their understanding of the
content by engaging in critical thinking. By
doing so, students will maximize their content
learning by forming their own themes in their
own words and making connections between
multiple pieces of literature that touch upon
real-world issues.

Revised 07/25/2023
TWS - TEACHER WORK SAMPLE LESSON PLAN
Topic - “Animal Farm” by George Orwell.
Assignment - Understanding theme by guided/prompted class discussion.
How - Class discussion as the pre-assessment. A formative assignment where students
have to identify multiple themes in literature and form connections.
Why - This lesson is important for students can identify multiple themes present in a given
text and provide evidence from the text to support their interpretations of themes.

Revised 07/25/2023