Barberi - Unit Plan - Day 10 Grade/Subject: 8th Grade English Teacher: Andria Barberi Number of Minutes: 50 minutes Lesson

Title/Topic: Let's Blog! Dates: 1/18/13 STANDARDS/BENCHMARKS/GLCE/HSCE addressed in this lesson: L.8.3: Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. W.8.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. W.8.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. W.8.5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. OBJECTIVES Through these learning activities, the student will demonstrate the ability to: Students will compose their final argument and post them on the class blog. Students will choose another student's argument to read, compare, and evaluate. Time: ANTICIPATORY SET/INTRODUCTION Tech Lab: "Tech Lab!" will be displayed on the board when the students enter the room. Under this will be a list of items the students should bring to the lab to ensure they are successful in the day's assignment. INPUT Task Analysis 1.) Tech Lab: "Tech Lab!" will be displayed on the board when the students enter the room. Under this will be a list of items the students should bring to the lab to ensure they are successful in the day's assignment. Please bring the following: *Your copy of The Wave *Your first and second drafts *Your peer editing worksheets *Your clock buddy handout 2.) Final Draft Typing: Students will type up their final drafts on a word document for two reasons: 1. It is a familiar format and will help them with any grammar/spelling mistakes 2.) This can be printed out for the teacher to use for grading. 3.) Blog Posting: Once students have completed their final draft they will print it out and bring it to the teacher for a quick review. If they draft is approved the student should attach their drafts, peer editing worksheets, and rubric, and turn all in to the teacher. While meeting with the teacher, the student will draw a name of a fellow classmate. This is the classmate whose blog they will read and reply to. Once it has been approved they will then copy and paste it into a post on our class blog. (http://nrmsenglish8.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=5&action=edit&message=6&postpost=v2), which they will access through our coursesites page: barberia.coursesites.com They can then adjust to font, add a picture, or do anything else they would like to improve the look of their post. 4.) Peer Post Reading: Students read another classmate's blog argument and post a reply with positive feedback. This feedback could include agreement, a statement about how the argument helped them see the issue in a different way, or a statement general enjoyment while reading the post. *If the student whose blog someone is supposed to read is not up yet, students should use this time to begin reading Chapter 10. Conversely, once they have finished posting a reply to someone else's blog, students should begin reading Chapter 10.

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Barberi - Unit Plan - Day 10 7.) Reading Chapter 10: As stated above, once students have posted their blogs and replied to another student's blog they should read Chapter 10 until the end of the hour. 6.) Wrap Up: The teacher will tell students to leave their books in the lab in a nice orderly fashion at the front of the room. They will be reminded that we will resume reading on Monday, so we can find out if our arguments play out in the novel or if the characters take different actions than we would. The teacher will ask students how they felt about the blogging activity by asking them to give either thumbs up, thumbs in the middle, or thumbs down. LEARNING STYLES Linguistic: Students will read and respond to the work of another student while on the blog. METHODS Individual writing Web 2.0 INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES Presenting Information: The teacher will remind students of the three final goals of the assignment: to type up their argumentative essay in a word document, post their argumentative essay on the class blog, and then reply to another student's post. Checking for Understanding: The teacher will circle the room during the writing and editing time, working one-on-one with students as necessary. Guided Practice: The teacher will instruct students on an individual basis as needed during the blog posting/final draft typing. Independent Practice: Students will work individually on their final drafts, blog posts, replies, and silent reading. CONCLUSION/CLOSURE Wrap Up: The teacher will tell students to leave their books in the lab in a nice orderly fashion at the front of the room. They will be reminded that we will resume reading on Monday, so we can find out if our arguments play out in the novel or if the characters take different actions than we would. The teacher will ask students how they felt about the blogging activity by asking them to give either thumbs up, thumbs in the middle, or thumbs down. REFLECTION Do students feel rushed? Are they familiar enough with the blog to complete this project successfully? Do they fulfilled by posting their arguments on the web for all to see? Will this help them feel interested in the outcome of the story or feel connected to it? Does the blog/publishing aspect to this writing assignment raise student's level of effort because they know others will read and evaluate their work? Will they enjoy reading other students' arguments and having their arguments read or will this raise their level of anxiety?

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Barberi - Unit Plan - Day 10 ASSESSMENT The students will be summatively assessed based on the quality of their arguments, with a large fraction of the points focused on the counter argument. They will also be assessed by their ability to post their work on the blog and thoughtfully reply to another student's post. This assessment ties together their knowledge of the argument genre of writing, an important element of writing that teachers are to focus on according to the Common Core State Standards, and their understanding of the novel we are reading. The assignment pushes students to think critically about the major themes of our unit, power and individuality, as opposed to the other themes we touch on throughout the unit, belonging, following the crowd, and outsiders. My intention is to front-load students with activities on all of the topics that ask them to think critically about these big ideas and relate them to their lives, so they are prepared to successfully accomplish their argument writing assessment. RESOURCES NEEDED All student argument work for the lesson: 2 drafts, peer editing worksheets, rubric Copies of The Wave Student notebook paper Pencils CLASSROOM SET-UP: We will go directly to the tech lab once attendance has been taken and students have their supplies.