Secondary Lesson Plan

Student Teachers Name: Lindy McBratney

Date: 2-12-15
Lesson Title: Word Choice
Subject: Writing
Instruction time: 20-30 minutes
Students level by grade: 9
Standard(s) to be addressed:
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Learning Objectives for this lesson:
Students will be able to compare words and select the appropriate and descriptive word in
sentences in order to enhance their writing skills. Students will be able to utilize proper word
choice in their writing.
Identified student needs and plans for differentiation:
Any student that does not have a writing probe will be instructed to work on another goal area
(ALEKS, reading or math) or homework. Students will also be given the option to either type or
write their writing probes.
Specific resources needed for this lesson:
Alien picture
Banish Boring Words! workbook
PowerPoint
Instructional method(s) used in this lesson:
I will use the gradual release of responsibility method in this lesson to introduce the topic of
word choice, demonstrate what boring and interesting word choices look like, guide them
through an example and then have them complete a short story based on a picture on their own.
Lesson Sequence:

Hook: Students will be asked about aliens and their interest in them.
Do you like aliens?
Do you believe in them?
Are we alone in the universe?
Do you think that area 51 is real?

Direct instruction/Modeling: I show students a boring sentence and then demonstrate

how the sentence can be enhanced through word choice. Students will be shown a list of
descriptive words from the Banish Boring Words! workbook.

Guided practice: As a class we will come up with some descriptive words to describe
the grey sky and how our day was and. Students will then be shown the alien picture. Together
we will come up with some words to describe it that I will write on the board.


Independent practice: Students will be given time to come up with their own story that
relates to the alien in the picture.

Check(s) for understanding and scaffolding of student learning: I will ask students to
underline their descriptive words and check them throughout their writing time. Before
independent writing begins I will share my story of the alien in the picture and highlight my
descriptive words. I will highlight poor word choices and ask the students if there is anything
wrong with them.

Assessment of/for learning: Students writing probes will be assessed using a districtapproved rubric.

Closure of the lesson: I will relate lesson back to organization (what they learned in their
last writing lesson) and how the two work together as tools to help students enhance their
writing.

Bridge to next lesson: In two weeks students will learn about ideas in the 6 Traits of a
Well-Written Paper model.
*Learning Target on board:
-I can write a well-organized paper with proper word choice.