Unit Working Title: Who Am I?

– Harnessing Identity Through Language

Unit “Big Idea” (Concept/Theme): Reclaiming Identity in Language Variations

Unit Primary Skill focus: Code-Switching

Week __1__ of 4; Plan #__3__ of 9; [90 mins.]

Plan type: Full-Detail

Content Requirement Satisfied:

(Note: Refer to the list in the document called “Concept Unit Lesson Plans”)

Unit Learning Objectives (numbered) [from my Backwards Design Unit Document],

followed by Specific lesson objectives (lettered) being taught in this lesson:

Cognitive (know/understand):

2. f. Students will understand that Standardized English is not the only appropriate manner of
speaking and writing.

4. SW know how to code-switch in written and oral language.

j. Students will know that familiar English is a variation of standardized English.

Performance (do):

5. k. Students will be able to examine language variations in literature using a T-chart.

5. l. Students will be able to discuss the use of familiar English in literature.

Affective (feel/value) and/or Non-Cognitive:

SOL’s:
7.4 The student will read to determine the meanings and pronunciations of unfamiliar words and
phrases within authentic texts.
a) Identify word origins and derivations.
b) Use roots, cognates, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to expand vocabulary.
c) Identify and analyze figurative language.
d) Identify connotations.
e) Use context and sentence structure to determine meanings and differentiate among multiple
meanings of words.
f) Extend general and specialized vocabulary through speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

CCS’s:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types
are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

Methods of Assessment:
[How will you know if the intended learning occurred?] List all methods of assessment used in
this lesson or which are related to this lesson and come in a future lesson. After each assessment,
indicate in brackets the number(s) and letter(s) of the unit objective and the related lesson
objectives that the assessment is evaluating.

Diagnostic Formative Summative

Title of assessment tool: Title of assessment tool: Title of assessment tool:

o Student questionnaire
o Exit slips from last
class
Students will demonstrate
what they already know
about language variations by
having completed a student
questionnaire asking them if
they knew anything about
code switching.
Exit slips--- Students will
demonstrate what they
already know about language
variations by having
completed an exit slip asking
them about their feelings
towards language variations,
and standardized English.
Criteria:
I will be looking to see if
they are able to describe
code-switching. And if they
don’t I will be able to see if I
need to go over anything they
didn’t understand. I will also
be observing throughout the
class how they handle being
introduced to language
variations.
How data will be used:
Exit Slip
Students will show their
progress toward
understanding the importance
of language variations by
completing an exit slip that
asks them to explain how
authors use language
variations to shape characters
and settings.
Criteria:
It will allow me to see that
they are able to understand
how language variation can
paint vivid pictures of stories
or characters in literature. It
will also allow me to see if the
students are able to understand
that language variations add to
characters’, places’, and
individuals’ identities.
How data will be used:
This data will be used as a
way to see if the students are
able to understand that
language variations are very
powerful linguistic tools in
certain contexts and for certain
audiences. If I find that
students are “not getting it”,
then I will take some time to
“Into the World Project”
Students will ultimately be
assessed on (today or in a
future lesson) their ability to
code switch, and their respect
for language variations by
creating a project that
demonstrates their ability to
code-switch in a chosen
language variation, explain it,
and show their respect towards
other language variations, by
not mocking them and
supporting their fellow students
in their research and
exploration.
Criteria:
There will be a summative
assessment rubric where
students will demonstrate their
ability to code-switch, their
respect towards other language
variations, and how they feel
language is a part of their own
identity.
How data will be used:
The data will be used to give
the students a final grade, and
also to gauge if by the end of
this unit they were able to gain
a better understanding overall
 The data will be used for me
to see what the students need
to go over before continuing
on with today’s lesson. If I
can see that the students are
not understanding language
variations, and standardized
English versus other
variations, then I will take
some time going over this in
class.
How students will receive
feedback:
They will be receiving
feedback through their exit
slips. I will be going over
them orally as a whole class.
They will also be getting
feedback throughout the
lesson, I will be encouraging
them and also guiding their
understanding throughout the
entirety of the lesson, and the
unit.
go over whatever it is they did
not understand during this
lesson.
How students will receive
feedback:
Students will receive
individual feedback on their
exit slips in the following
class. It will be oral feedback,
given to the students as a
whole class.
on language variations in
written and oral literature.
How students will receive
feedback:
Students will be getting both
written peer feedback during
their final project gallery walk
and written feedback from
myself on the summative
assessment as a whole. They
will also be receiving feedback
in the form of a final grade
after they have submitted their
project.

Differentiated Instruction to accommodate one or more of my profiled students:

(This is where you identify specific aspects of this lesson which have been differentiated in order
to address the needs of one or more of your profiled students—identify them by name).
What have you done (visible in the lesson plan procedures) that differentiates for the a)
readiness, b) interests, and/or c) learning environment for your profile students.

Student Name Readiness Interest Learning

Ilyas On grade level (7th Ilyas is always a very
grade) dynamic student, that is
interested in participating in
the class discussion, and
chatting with his fellow
students.
In this lesson in particular,
we will be doing a lot of
group work, and sharing
aloud, which will support
his enthusiasm in active
participation. He also likes
Environment
Flexible seating is
available for him. I
also made sure to
provide both audio
and visual versions of
the poem, with
instructions about
what to do. This will
help him, because he
will be able to hear
the poem, and have a
hard copy to reference
 it when he is read aloud to,
and that is something I will
be doing during this lesson.
throughout the lesson.
He likes being read
to, but sometimes
cannot recall things
he has read, so this
supports his learning
preference, and helps
scaffold his learning. I
equally go up to him
and check in to make
sure that he fully
understands the
activity and see if I
can do anything to
further clarify for him
or help in any way.

Procedures/Instructional Strategies
Each step should have bolded heading that identifies the activity, and then is followed by the
teacher scripting, student and teacher actions, and a description of the activity.
[Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.]

Beginning Room Arrangement:

[Changes in this arrangement that become necessary later will be noted in the plan]
Students will be expected to come in and sit at their assigned seats, there will be no changes in
the seating today or throughout the lesson. The seats are arranged as base groups with the
students in six groups of four students. The classroom is arranged in this manner, so that the
students always have an elbow-partner to work with, and are easily be able to do group work,
without disrupting the class’ seating arrangement, or getting up. I will have hand-written the “Do
Now” on the board (Appendix A), before the students come into the classroom. That way I can
focus on being present and greeting them as they enter the room.

1. [_5_mins.] Welcome/ “Do Now”

Good morning y’all, it’s good to see everyone today. As you are coming in and get started, I
want y’all to take a look at the “Do Now” that I have written up on the board. Y’all should be
taking out your writing journals, and spending the next 5 minutes answering the prompt that is
up. This is independent work time, so I should hear no talking during this activity. (See
Appendix A)
(While the students work on the “Do Now”, I will be walking around the room, checking in with
students, and making sure that they are all getting settled and working on their “Do Now”.)

2. [_20_mins.] “Mother to Son” Read Aloud

Alright y’all, please put your pencils down. Would anyone like to share what they came up with
for the “Do Now”? (I will call on about 3 students to share what they wrote about, there are
typically quite a few volunteers, but I want to keep this part of the lesson short, to make sure we
have plenty of time for the rest.)

Could I please have three volunteers to share what they wrote?

William: For the first one I said “How long have you been on the island?”
Lucy: For the second one I have “Nothing ever comes of it.”
Spencer: And for the third sentence I wrote “I wouldn’t think anything.”.

Great job y’all. Now why did y’all think I made y’all do that?

Will: Because you wanted us to correct the familiar English to formal English.
I am so glad you used the word “correct” Will, because I want us to just go ahead and scratch
that word from our vocabulary. When it comes to language variations, there is no “correcting”.
That is exactly why I asked y’all to “translate”. You see there are so many different language
variations in English, and just because they are not considered “standard” doesn’t mean they
are wrong. Not only do some of the greatest writers have used language variation in their work
or in their spoken English, but y’all use spoken English varieties at home, and with your friends
all of the time, and that isn’t wrong at all. I’m going to show y’all what I mean. Today, we are
going to be working with Langston Hughes poem “Mother to Son” (See Appendix B). Langston
Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He criticized
the divisions and prejudices within the black community based on skin color, and was one of the
leaders of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement for African-American culture.

I am going to start by having a volunteer pass out copies of the poem, and then I am going to
read the poem aloud to y’all. While I read, I want y’all to listen carefully to the language of the
poem. Listen to the language variation he uses, and how he says certain words or phrases. Is
everyone ready?

(Here I will read the poem aloud.)

Alright, now that I have read the poem to y’all, I am actually going to play a recording of
Langston Hughes reading the poem. Again, I want y’all to listen carefully to the language of the
poem and then y’all will be asked to answer the questions at the bottom of the poem page with
your elbow partner.

(Here I will play the recording.)

Alright, now that y’all have heard and read the poem twice, I want y’all to turn to an elbow
partner and answer the two questions at the bottom of the page. Y’all have 5 minutes, get to
work.

(While the students work, I will be circulating the room, making sure that any of the students
who need a little more help are supported. I will be checking in with Ilyas to make sure he
understands, and I will also be making sure that some of my more turbulent students are on task.
I anticipate some of the students having a little bit of trouble with some of the language, or who
things are written in the poem, so I will be circulating and checking in to each base group, and
taking the time to explain what students may not have understood.)
Alright, thank y’all for working so hard. I would like to have two volunteers to share their
answers, we will spend about 5 minutes answering the questions and discussing what y’all came
up with.

3. [_15_mins.] Identifying Familiar Language

Great job y’all, I can really tell that y’all understand the poem really well. I’m excited to move
on to this next part. For the next 5 minutes, I want y’all, with the same elbow partner to go
through the poem again, and highlight the familiar English in the poem. Before we get started,
does anyone want to remind the class what familiar English is?

Anna-Kate: So, familiar English is any variety of English that is not considered “Standardized”
or formal English. It’s like, the way we are all speaking right now.

That’s correct Anna-Kate, it encompasses any variation of English that is not considered formal,
for example, I use the word y’all to address the class, and that is not considered formal English.
Does anyone have any other questions before we get started? Alright, y’all have 5 minutes.

(While the students work, I will be circulating the room, making sure that any of the students
who need a little more help are supported. I will be checking in with Ilyas to make sure he
understands, and I will also be making sure that some of my more turbulent students are on task.)

Good job y’all. May I please have a volunteer to pass out the T-charts? (See Appendix C)
Thanks!
So here is how the T-chart works, I need everyone paying close attention to this. There are two
columns, one for each language variety to be contrasted, so as y’all can see there is one column
for familiar English, and one for formal English. The left-hand column is for examples of the
grammatical patterns y’all have collected from the text. The right-hand side is for the formal
English translation. Then for the pattern, we will work together to identify the pattern found in
the text examples.
Alright, now we are going to come back together and see what y’all came up with. I am going to
write a list on the board of all of the familiar English y’all found in the poem. As I write the
familiar English on the board, y’all can go ahead and copy those phrases into your charts.

(Here we will work together as a class to build a list of the familiar English in the poem. What I
am expecting the students to have picked up on is:
 Multiple negations: “ain’t been no” (lines 2, 13, 20)
 Subject-verb: “I’se” (lines 9, 18, 19)
 Shift in pronunciation of final consonant: “reachin’ landin’s” (line 10), “turnin’ corners”
(line 11), “goin’ in the dark” (line 12)

I know some of these may be difficult, so I will be prompting the students throughout. Based on
previous lessons, I know most of them will be able to pick up on double negatives, but if not, I
will prompt them asking them to look at the specific line “ain’t been no” and helping come to the
understanding of the double negative.
For other issues like shifts in pronunciation, I will prompt them by rereading certain lines of the
poem and asking to think about my pronunciation.)
Great job y’all, that’s everything in the poem – now we are going to take everything we just
found and work with a T-chart.

4. [_25_mins.] T-Chart
Great, so now that we have the familiar patterns filled out, let’s start with exploring these
different patterns.
The first pattern we are going to explore is multiple negations, I want y’all to take 5 minutes with
an elbow partner and translate the phrases into formal English, any questions? Let’s get started!
(While the students work, I will be circulating the room, making sure that any of the students
who need a little more help are supported. I will be checking in with Ilyas to make sure he
understands, and I will also be making sure that some of my more turbulent students are on task.)
Great job y’all, now has anyone identified the pattern that the multiple negations follow for
familiar English?

Spencer: There are multiple negative words in one sentence. Like in one clause.

Perfect – and what about for formal English? Someone else?

Will: For the formal English, its only one negation per independent clause.

Great job y’all. Alright, we are going to go ahead and repeat the process for the other two
grammatical patterns we found in the poem. Go ahead and copy the “I’se” subject-verb phrases.
Y’all have another 5 minutes with your elbow partners to translate to formal English.

(Here again, while the students work, I will be circulating the room, making sure that any of the
students who need a little more help are supported.)

Great job y’all, now has anyone identified the pattern that the subject-verb phrases?
Maddie: Yeah, so instead of using “I am” or “I have been”, in familiar English, we use “’se”
instead of “be” in the formal English.

Alright, last one, 5 minutes, let’s write down all of the shift in pronunciation of the final
consonant. Work with your elbow partners to translate the phrases.
Can anyone tell me what the grammar rule is for this last one?
Ellie: For informal the words end in “–in” instead of “-ing”, and for the formal English it just
ends with the “-ing” ending.

5. [_20_mins] Translating & Discussing

Great job everyone, this last part y’all will be doing a little bit of code-switching practice. I
would like y’all to translate the poem from familiar English to the formal English. You may of
course use all of the phrases y’all have already translated in the T-Chart. Please take about 10
minutes to translate the poem into formal English. You may write the translation on a separate
piece of paper or on the back of the poem.
I also want y’all to give this a shot independently. If you finish early, you may start quietly
sharing what you have come up with, with your base groups. Does anyone have any questions
before we get started?
(Here the students will be working on translating the poem. I will be walking around and making
sure they are all able to translate it. As they work I will be checking in with my ELL students,
and the students who have trouble staying on task, making sure they understand the directions
and are on task.)
Ok, let’s all come back together. How did everyone feel about that translation? Good? Now,
does anyone want to read what they came up with as a formal English translation?
(Here I am anticipating have the time to have 2-3 students sharing what they wrote for their
translations.)
So, what do y’all think about the translated version of the poem? What about the poem has
stayed the same? Does it change how the poem sounds?

(Here I will give students about 10 minutes to discuss what they thought about the two different
versions of the poem as a whole class discussion.)

Great job y’all. Alright, we are almost done for the day. The last thing I want y’all to do is
reflect on this code-switching and translating process between familiar and formal English.

6. [_5_mins] Exit Slip/Closure

It looks like we have just enough time to do one last closing activity. I am going to pass out an
exit slip to each of you with a prompt at the top of the page (See Appendix D). Please put your
names on it so that I can collect it when y’all are done. Does anyone have any questions about
the prompt?
(Here I will take any questions students might have about the prompt.)
Alright, please answer the question as thoroughly as you can in the remaining time. I will be
walking around the class if you have any questions.

Materials Needed (list):

o Do Now
o T-Chart
o Exit Slip
o Computer & Speakers for YouTube Audio of poem

Materials Appendix: (e.g., supplementary texts, Ppts, overheads, graphic organizers,

handouts, etc.)
Appendix A: “Do Now”

Please translate these sentences from familiar English to formal English:

1. How long you ben on de islan’?

2. Nuffn never come of it.

3. I wouldn’t think nuffn.

 Appendix B: “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX9tHuI7zVo

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

1. How does the author’s use of language contribute to the poem’s meaning?

2. What is the “mother” telling her son?

Appendix C: T-Chart

Familiar English Formal English

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

Example 4:

The Pattern: The Pattern:

Appendix D: Exit Slip

Name: Date:

How do language variations help authors to shape characters and settings?