Abigale Upham

9th Grade Humanities

Unit: Perspectives
20 Feb. 2014
Agenda Snapshot:
Of Mice & Men
1. Have students turn their Intro Revisions
in.
2. Draft Body Paragraph #1
Move into Perspectives Project
3. Begin reading The Art of Racing in the
Rain to give students the gist of their new
novel, draw in interest, and prepare for
discussion (and more reading) on Friday.
Homework
4. Study for Southern States Geo Quiz
5. Typed body paragraph #1 due Friday for
peer review session.
Common Core Standards:
Writing Standard (Text Types and Purposes)
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to
examine and convey complex ideas,
concepts, and information clearly and
accurately through the effective selection,
organization, and analysis of content.
a. Introduce a topic or thesis statement:
organize complex ideas, concepts, and
information to make important connections
and distinctions; include formatting (e.g.
headings), graphics (e.g. figures, tables),
and multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with well-chosen,
relevant, and sufficient facts, extended
definitions, concrete details, quotations, or
other information and examples appropriate
to the audiences knowledge of the topic.
c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to
link the major sections of the text, create
cohesion, and clarify the relationships
among complex ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific
vocabulary to manage the complexity of
the topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style and
objective tone while attending to the norms
and conventions of the discipline in which
they are writing.
f. Provide a concluding statement of section
that follows from and supports the
information or explanation presented.
WS (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.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed
by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or
trying a new approach, focussing on
addressing what is most significant for a
specific purpose and audience.
Language Standards (Conventions of
Standard English)
3. Apply knowledge of language to
understand how language functions in
different contexts, to make effective
choices for meaning or style, and to
comprehend more fully when reading or
listening.
a. Write and edit work so that it conforms to
the guidelines in a style manual (e.g.
MLA).
Lesson Objective (What will my students
know by the end of the lesson? What will they
do to learn it?)
By the end of this lesson, my students
will have written the first body paragraph of
their Of Mice & Men Essays. In order to get
to this final step I will go through the
concepts and arrangements of a body
paragraph and provide a continuing example
throughout. They will then be given class
time and one-on-one help to write their own
body paragraph which they will type and
bring in Friday for peer revisions.
By the end of this lesson, my students
will have understanding of the next novel we
are going to read that connects with our
Perspectives Project. We will read the book
jacket and part of the first chapter in the
hopes of drawing students in and getting them
to begin thinking about the book, topic and
project before discussing Friday.
5-10 min: Have students turn in their revised
Intro Paragraph and get settled while
Paragraph #1 handouts are passed out and
looked over.
I will be able to assess students
introductory paragraphs. The paragraphs
will already have been edited by a peer and
revised by the time I have them. Because of
this I will be able to get a clear
understanding of what areas students are
both strong and struggling in regarding
writing MLA essays. (We have spent the
weeks reading up to the essay assessing
students understanding and analysis of
Steinbecks themes and messages in Of Mice
& Men already or we would not have been
able to move forward into the paper.)
15 min: Go through body paragraph outline
and example with class.
I will prod students to provide
examples and answer questions regarding the
outline of the essay structure and content.
15: Students will draft their Paragraph #1 and
have a chance for one-on-one questions and
guidance.
I will walk around to ALL students
multiple times to assess their progress and
material as well as work through remaining
questions students have. Between these two
investigative methods I should be able to
determine how successful the lesson was or
was not and if I need to implement a clearer
structure with a new example and possibly a
handout at the beginning of class tomorrow. I
will also be able to assess tomorrow by seeing
the peer review results of their body 1
paragraphs.
10: Read the inside jacket of The Art of
Racing in the Rain and begin the first chapter
where our narrator and his story are partially
introduced.
This assessment will be more abstract
as I will have to judge students attention
levels and other signs of interest, disinterest,
or struggle with the story. However, our
discussion tomorrow should help to pull more
students on board and allow me to assess any
literary pressures presented by this book.
5 min: Remind students of homework and to
keep our new book in mind as we will come
into class tomorrow with the objective of
finishing the chapter and holding a
discussion!