BYU English Teaching Program

Lesson Plan Template (2024 version—ENGL 426)

PLANNING
Date: 2/25/24 Class/Grade Level: ELA 8th grade

Title of Lesson: Genre/text exploration Lesson Length: 75 minutes

Standard(s): Learning Objective(s): Assessment(s):

Standard 7–8.R.10: Analyze the
structure an author uses to organize
a text, and how it contributes to the
text meaning.
I can identify the target audience of
each of the genres that we look at and
communicate that to my peers using a
graphic organizer.
I can identify what language is
appropriate to use in what genre and
communicate that to my peers in a
small group.
I can pick two genres that would be
relevant to present my research based
on purpose and audience.
Formative: Students will be in groups
of three and will rotate around the
room to different stations with
different mentor texts (podcast, digital
infographic, or speech). They will fill
out a graphic organizer using coggle
to write the characteristics.
Summative: Students will fill out a
google form at the end of the class to
submit two genres from the ones they
looked at today that could work for
their end of unit project.

Rationale: We are in the middle of an argumentative text writing unit. Instead of just writing an argumentative
essay they are working towards doing it in another format. Students are going to analyze the structure of format
of three different genre types that are related to argumentative texts. They will do this so they can understand
how different structures of texts change the meaning and audience they are presenting to. They will need to be
able to identify the target audience and what language is appropriate to use in that genre because this lesson will
prepare them to create their own research project in one of the three genres: podcast, infographic, or speech.
Students will be working towards the larger standard of 7–8.SL.3: Use appropriate language, grammar,
organization, development, and delivery styles appropriate to purpose and audience for formal or informal
contexts when they present their research to their classmates.

Concept(s) to Be Taught: Prerequisite Knowledge:

● How to analyze the structure of a text In the previous class we talked about what it means to
● How that structure contributes to the meaning of analyze something.
the text and purpose.

Materials Needed: Technology Use:

● Writers notebook (digital or physical) ● Students will use coggle.it to discuss and then
● Chromebooks create a graphic organizer of the different
● Mentor texts (podcast, speech, infographic) characteristics of each mentor text and what
● Headphones that does for the text. This will be better than a
● coggle.it account regular graphic organizer on paper because it
is quicker and it allows for the students to be
able to send it to me digitally and for all
students to have a copy without each having to
write their own copy on paper.
● Students will submit a google form at the end
of class picking two genres they could use for
their project and why they are choosing those
two. Google forms is better because I am able
to receive their answers immediately as well as
 see who answered what and the stats.
Instructional Strategies: Direct instruction, small group discussion, graphic organizer, digital learning, learning
stations, exit ticket.

Differentiation and Accommodations: Students will be given five extra minutes to go back to any station(s) where
they were unable to finish discussing or organizing their thoughts. This will be for students that need additional time.

PERFORMING
Time A) Preparing for Learning
15 minutes Students will begin class by doing a writer's notebook with a shared experience. The shared experience
will be the children’s book “Goal!” by Mina Javerbin. They will have five minutes after the video to
write down anything they think and wish to write about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RzbGJO8ACwI
Then we will spend another 5 minutes or less having some of the students share what they wrote. We do
this a few times a week to get students comfortable with their classmates in sharing their writing. This is
important because at the end of the unit they will be presenting their research project to one another.
10 minutes B) Directing the Learning
Okay class! Today we are going to be talking about Genre. *I will write the word Genre on the board*.
Can anyone tell me what they think of when I say the word Genre? (Students will share their thoughts of
what they think of when they hear the word genre, by the end of a few minutes we will have a list of
what they think of as genre). Awesome guys! So from what we gathered it looks like genre has a
similarity in form, style, or subject matter.

7 minutes Today we listened to “Goal!” read to us. The genre of that book is a children’s book. ( I will have the
Goal book pulled up) let’s go through and see what the characteristics of children’s books. What
characteristics do you all notice?( I will write on the board what they pick out, they may pick out things
like: there are pictures, there aren't too many words on the page, it tells a short story, has a moral at the
end). Okay! now that you guys know how to pick out characteristics from a genre I am going to have
you do the same thing in small groups on your chromebooks using coggle.it.

7 minutes I will show you how to use coggle before you get started. (I will model coggle.it on the board and have
the students follow along on their chromebooks). So first go to coggle.it. Then you can log in with your
google account, then you can make a main subject and add branches off of it. So you all are going to
write characteristics of these different genres. So you for example will write “children's book” in the
middle, then you can hit the plus sign and add different branches and that is where you can write
different characteristics like “not many words on the page”. Does anyone have any questions about
that? Coggle.it is great and you can use it with many different things to order your thoughts. (I will put
the students into groups by counting off numbers, there are three stations).
10 minutes
*The first station will be a podcast* students will examine the
characteristics of this podcast https://www.bookclubforkids.org/new-
blog/2015/7/14/episode-2-the-crossover which talks about Kwame
Alexander’s The Crossover. Students will listen to snippets of this
10 minutes podcast using headphones.

*The second station will be a speech* Students will examine Martin

10 minutes Luther King Jr.’s I have a dream speech
https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-
in-its-entirety. There will be printed copies of the speech at this
station.

*The third station will be an infographic* about taco bell. There will
be a chromebook set up with this infographic on it.
 While students are using coggle.it I will be going around to each group and seeing what they came up
with or if they need any help or guidance.

Students will then transition back to their seats to get ready for our exit ticket for the day.

5 minutes

C) Reinforcing the Learning

Okay all! good work today! As you know you all have picked different research topics. You will have the
opportunity to present your research in the form of a podcast, speech, or infographic. Please fill out a
google form and pick 2 out of the 3 that you are thinking about choosing right now.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/
1FAIpQLSeDil5oUPZxpEXwt8GfSkB8o62tOwT9ctrayw0zv5XA9qJv1Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

Activity to Avoid Wasted Time: Students can share with each other which genres they are considering picking.

FOCUS STUDENT: SKIP FOR NOW

Description of Focus Student Differentiation/Accommodation Plan

REFLECTING:
Reflection on the Lesson (write within 24 hours of teaching)
The framework that I chose was the Triple E. The Triple E stands for engage, enhance, and extend. I was able to
engage because students were on task and working on the standard as they were analyzing the texts and filling
out the graphic organizers. I was able to enhance their learning because as a group they were able to work on the
coggle.it in a quick and efficient way that allowed them to organize the group’s thoughts more quickly and
efficiently than a paper graphic organizer. Finally, I was able to extend it to the real world by showing that they
can use it for other things as well.