Tennessee Benchmark Lesson Plan Template

Lesson plan originally created by:_______Tim Wasem_____________________

Quality Lesson Components
Lesson Title

My Lesson
Structuring a body paragraph

Lesson Plan Overview / Details

Summary of the task, challenge,
investigation, career-related scenario,
problem, or community link

In this lesson, students will evaluate the shape of a paragraph and learn
how to create easy flow through the paragraph.

N/A
Tennessee Career & Technical Ed (CTE)
Program of Study:
Grades:

9 to 12
8th grade ELA

Course Title
9:05-9:45 AM
Lesson Time

Tennessee CTE Standards &

Competencies

Course Standard:
Course Competency:

Common Core Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.1.e
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows
from and supports the argument presented.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults,
develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning,
revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach,
focusing on how well purpose and audience have been
addressed.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.

Tennessee Benchmark Lesson Plan Template

Tennessee CLEs

Objectives and Goals

Students will learn the correct components of a paragraph

Students will practice making a clear paragraph

Students will learn how to present information in the

correct order

1. Hook/Set
Getting Started/Essential Question
Visual: MC Escher drawing of a house that doesnt make sense. The
stairs are upside down, inside is outside, etc.
All things require good design and part of good design is taking the right
steps. When you build a house, you have to start from the bottom up,
and you have to think through how someone will move through the
house. You have to give them a door to enter through and rooms that
are connected by doors. Imagine going into a house and you realize that
the first room, the living room, isnt connected to any other parts of the
house. Wheres the bathroom? you ask the owner. You need to go
outside and try the third front door. Then go up the stairs and then down
the other stairs into the enclosed backyard. Youll see a small building.
Thats the bathroom. This design doesnt make sense.

A paragraph follows the same principles of design. You need to give the
reader a point of entry and guide them through the information in a way
that help them understand what you have to say with total clarity.

Quality Lesson Components

My Lesson

Tennessee Benchmark Lesson Plan Template

2. Lecture
Discover/Explain

1. After the hook, Ill hand back our last writing assessment
practice.

2. On the board, Ill go over the components of a paragraph:

Introduction (T), evidence/example (I), explanation (D), and
conclusion (E). As I introduce them Ill compare then to house
construction once again.

3. Students will take notes on the elements of a paragraph.

3. Demo/Modeling: I DO

4. Checking Understanding
Formative Assessment

Quality Lesson Components

5. Guided Practice (Group Work or Lab):
WE DO

1. Ill put a paragraph Ive written on the board. The students will
watch as I identify all the parts of my paragraph. I will also plan
to put 1-2 errors that I can fix as I go.

Questions to ask:
o Why does the evidence come before the explanation?
o Why do you think the evidence shouldnt be in the first
sentence of a paragraph?
o
My Lesson

1. Ill introduce an argumentative prompt: Should schools use

textbooks or tablets?
2. Ill also include pro/con comments.
a. Technology-based instruction can reduce the

time students take to reach a learning

objective by 30-80%, according to the US
Department of Education and studies by the
National Training and Simulation
Association.
b. Students may pay attention to apps, email,
games, and websites instead of their
teachers. 87% of K-12 teachers believe that
"todays digital technologies are creating an
easily distracted generation with short
attention spans." [24] Four-fifths of students
aged 8 - 18 multitask while using digital
media.
3. After a vote, well fill in the paragraph structure in
agreement or disagreement, using these quotes as
the primary evidence. Theyll write it as a
paragraph, but divide it up.

Tennessee Benchmark Lesson Plan Template

6. Independent Practice (Lab): YOU DO

1. The students will then have 5 minutes to reread the body

paragraphs of their argumentative essay. While reading, they
have to choose what they believe to be their weakest
paragraph.

2. On the backside of their worksheet, they will rework one of their

own paragraphs to fit this form. They can add words and
information to do so.

3. Ill ask for two examples from students.

4. This will be collected.

Quality Lesson Components

7. Closure
Designed to help students bring things together.
Teachers should:

Provide informal review of proficiency and determine if

gaps exist on behalf of individuals and/or class
Review standards and objectives covered
Remind what this is leading up to

My Lesson

Revisit the imagery of moving through a house. The

paragraph should allow the reader to enter with ease,
move about without confusion, and exit just as easily.

Students should:

Assess their own performance/learning (in groups, pairs

or individually)
Individually review steps, procedures, information to
increase performance
Connect content to powerful questions or ideas

8. Assessment

Index card: Write the four elements of a paragraph on

an index card.
Ill also check their paragraph revision for accuracy.

CTE Competency Attainment Rubric Categories Embedded

Tennessee Benchmark Lesson Plan Template

Webb's Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Level

Scaffolding Extensions
(modifications provided to IEP or GT students)