Lesson Plan A Title Take a Stand: Election Time 50 Minutes Setting Local public school classroom, Honors level

21 students, 10 White, 5 African American, 2 Hispanic, 1 Asian, 3 Other (Middle Eastern) Theory into Practice Background 1.) The classroom for social contact; interaction among students (Weinstein 29) a. The classroom will be utilized for student movement and engagement. b. During the discussion, students will move around the room to different stations as a way to express their opinions. Even if student is not speaking at the time, he/she is still expressing ideas based on where they choose to stand. c. The classroom is set up as a mini-amphitheater so it is difficult to divide students into groups because the desks are stationary. This movement gives students a chance to interact without this worry. 2.) Conversation as Curriculum: Using talk to help students think- class-discussions, debates (Burke 242) a. Students are expressing/sharing ideas orally to the whole class. b. Students will use their handout to record their thoughts so as to make participating within the discussion more comfortable. c. Experience from this activity will benefit students in future lessons because they will be exposed to a variety of viewpoints that they may not have considered; being aware of other perspectives can improve student understanding. Objectives Content: Take a Stand: Election Edition Language: Use background knowledge, personal experiences, and evidence to form and support your own opinions and beliefs of the topics at hand Social: Participate in dialogue/debate o Be respectful to others opinions o Wait for others to finish talking, do not talk out of turn o Do not yell or attack Materials Pre-Activity Info Sheet, Take a Stand Packet (attached)

Preparation Have copies of each document made, students will pick them up as they walk in, have stations set around room, objectives clearly displayed on board

Procedure 1.) Students pick up documents as they enter the classroom 2.) Introduce Activity (about 5 minutes) a. explain relevance-election day, right to vote, connects to curriculum (identity/family) b. go over objectives: content, language, social c. overview of documents d. allow students to ask questions 3.) Give students 15 minutes to go over documents and complete writing 4.) Establish guidelines of dialogue (about 5 minutes) a. Students move to the station which most closely represents their opinion for each statement (strongly agree-strongly disagree; stations labeled in different areas of the room) b. Teacher will act as moderator- introduce each statement, offer new viewpoints/perspectives, keep pace c. Students are to speak to each other, not just direct answers to the teacher 5.) Dialogue Activity (20-25 minutes) a. Introduce topic/statement b. Ask if students need any clarification about terms/ideas; if possible have another student answer if he/she feels comfortable enough, if not teacher can explain c. Choose one students to begin; call on students to respond (both sides). Offer new viewpoints if dialogue reaches a standstill. (Judge how long to talk about each topic based on student engagement). d. To move on, transition to next topic: repeat process. e. With about 5 minutes left for activity envision stopping point within the dialogue and guide students to that point, then wrap up activity. 6.) Have students go back to their seats. Restate goals, objectives, relevance. Thank students for participation and cooperation. Discussion Questions 1.) Pick one of the topics discussed in class and write a viewpoint that someone had that conflicted with your own. Are there any parts of this viewpoint you may agree with? Why/why not? 2.) Did this activity change your mind about any topics? Make you feel more strongly about your own? Why? 3.) What is another political topic you would have liked to discuss? What is you view on that topic? 4.) What did you base your opinion on for the majority? Previous knowledge? Personal experience? Fact sheet? Other?

Languages/Accommodations Other languages of students in the class are African American English and Spanish. Because this activity was meant to encourage the formation of opinions and to participate within a dialogue being able to use evidence to support claims, students were able to

complete the writing portion with any language they wanted. This allows the formation of ideas to come more easily by not having to think about not only what to write but how to write it, then, the hope is that students will feel more comfortable speaking if they already have what they want to say written down. Students could also speak with slang, African-American English, or any other form of English, because the lesson was focused on content.

Special Education Accommodations One student in the class has ADHD. To accommodate this student, he was given the documents used in class the night before so as to be able to be more comfortable with the material while he was completing it during class. The movement aspect of this activity gave him a release for his energy and he was able to focus more on the dialogue. Assessment (rubric attached) Take a Stand packets are to be collected at the end of class to be assessed. Main writing objective: using evidence to support a claim/opinion. Extension Ideas Students will be composing essays about the class novel, The Glass Castle, and will be using the writing pattern of using evidence to support claims. Students could reflect on the discussion portion of the activity and write about what they thought were good arguments and why. Source of Activity Field Mentor, Ryan Carlson, recommended an activity which would allow students to move around the room. I had gotten the idea of a Take a Stand activity from another field mentor, Kristi McGee. Resources and References Burke, Jim. The English Teachers Companion: A Complete Guide to the Classroom, Curriculum, and the Profession. 3rd Edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 2008. Print. Weinstein, Carol Simon and Novodvorsky, Ingrid. Middle and Secondary Classroom Management: Lessons from Research and Practice. 4th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 2011. Print. Illinois State Standards Knowledge Indicator: Standard 5- Instructional Delivery 5D.) The competent teacher understands disciplinary and interdisciplinary instructional approaches and how they relate to life and career experiences; Connected social sciences within the lesson to enrich the value or student writing and speaking. Performance Indicator: Standard 4- Learning Environment 4J. ) The competent teacher creates clear expectations and procedures for communication and behavior and a physical setting conducive to achieving classroom goals;

Declared social objectives of the social aspect of activity (discussion); students were to speak respectfully, not attack others opinions, do not yell, do not speak out of turn. Created safe learning environment for students to feel comfortable participating.

Common Core Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Students used prior knowledge, personal experience, and other facts as evidence to support claims they created. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1d Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented. During the class discussion, students listened to a variety of perspectives from other students about their opinions, and responded to them either by agreeing or disagreeing and explaining why. Reflection In my opinion, the lesson went smoothly, but there are many changes I would make to improve it if I were to teach it again. First, I would spend more time on it so that students could be more comfortable about making opinions about each topic. I might give the students the info sheet to look at for homework and research other information and come with questions, then spend one day on the writing portion, then one day on the discussion. I also think it would be beneficial to teach this lesson interdiscipinarily. Also, I would use topics that the students said were important to them. I would probably delete the last two topics on the chart. I placed them on the list for the sake of generating variety, but they proved to be rather boring for kids, and since discussions about the first three topics became so deep there was not enough time to get to these two anyway. In terms of my own role, I am happy that I chose to extend the discussion time for the first three topics, leaving out the last two, because I felt it was more important to have the students engage within a deep and meaningful conversation, rather than just touch on each topic lightly. Next time, I would like to have a more active role, not to take away from the students, but to offer up alternative ways of thinking about some of the topics. I was apprehensive about doing so this time because I did not want my personal thoughts to show through. Overall, I was impressed with the amount of student engagement. Almost every student participated within the dialogue at least once. I was nervous that some students might just follow the crowd if they were too uncomfortable to side with the minority, but many times students stood up for and defended what they believed in even if the other students all disagreed with them. Declaring the social objectives was very important in creating a safe environment for students to participate within.

Pre-Take a Stand: Election Info Sheet

Today you will be participating in a Take a Stand activity that will ask your opinion on several hot topics of this presidential election. To prepare yourself, please look over this handout which explains different viewpoints on these issues.

Economics: Tax cuts for the wealthy

For Trickle Down effect: money will make its way down to the other classes Biggest spenders; will stimulate the economy Do not want to risk people moving their money to other countries due to too high of taxes Paying an unfair percentage of taxes For Gives access to healthcare to more people Qualifying doctors/hospitals may get monetary aid Voucher system; optional Against

They will be hurt the least by taxes Trickle Down does not work Give tax cuts to middle and lower classes Richer getting richer, poorer getting poorer

Healthcare: Government regulation

Against

Requirements are too strict; many doctors/hospitals do not fall under regulation Preference of free market; do not want too much government control

Education: Gov. should give money for students to go to college

For Cost of college is too high; not accessible to many deserving people Government pays for school K-12, why not college as well Having more educated citizens will make America more competitive in global market For America needs to remain present until Al Qaeda is no longer a threat Afghan government is not steady enough to function on its own yet

Against America already struggling to pay for K-12 school systems College is not a requirement; privilege not a right Loans, grants, scholarships are available from private companies

War: American troops in Afghanistan

Against Very costly; losing money and lives America should focus on its own government/people

Environment: Should be heavily invested in by the government

For Environment will be diminished if we use up resources as rapidly as we are Can find more efficient or cheaper resources than coal, gasoline Need to invest now to protect future generations Against We should allow private companies invest in environment instead of government money $9billion has been spent on the environment in the past four years which could have been spent on other issues Major effects on the environment will not occur until after our lifetime

Directions: Read each sentence below. Circle either SA (Strongly Agree), A (Agree), D (Disagree) or SD (Strongly Disagree) to show how much you agree or disagree with each sentence. Then, write a short 2-3 sentence explanation in the space provided, you may use examples from the info sheet to support your opinion. Be prepared to share your opinion with the class

Sentence
1. I support tax cuts for the upper class.

Strongly Agree SA

Agree A

Disagree D

Strongly Disagree SD

2. Healthcare should be regulated by the government.

SA

SD

3. The government should provide money for college.

SA

SD

4. America should keep soldiers in Afghanistan.

SA

SD

5. The environment is an important issue that should be heavily funded for by the federal government.

SA

SD

Choose one of your responses on the other side of this sheet that you agreed with, and use the space below to write a paragraph explaining your position in greater detail.

Choose one of your responses on the other side of this sheet that you disagreed with, and use the space below to write a paragraph explaining your position in greater detail.

Take a Stand Rubric

Chart (completion) Has opinion circled for each statement with 2-3 sentences supporting why Responses States position on topic (agree or disagree) Uses 2-3 examples of evidence to support opinions (prior knowledge, experience, facts) Total 5 pts

5 pts 10 pts 20 pts