Date: November 18th, Cycle Level: Secondary 4

TITLE: 2015 ELA

Learning about Personal Time: 1:35-2:25p.m.
Essay Writing Duration: 50 minutes

OBJECTIVE(S) By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1) Understand, through completion of a worksheet and
discussion, the difference between a fact and an opinion and
how these elements are used to create meaning in a
persuasive personal essay.
2) Establish their opinion on the statement "Books are
dead." and be able to justify their opinion through
discussion in small groups and as a class.
3) Produce, in writing, a short persuasive paragraph stating
whether they agree or disagree with the statement "Books
are dead.". The writing activity should demonstrate the
students' knowledge of persuasive writing techniques, such
as using fact and opinion, and how they can use these
techniques to communicate meaning effectively.

DESCRIPTION In class, students have been working on writing personal

essays on their thoughts regarding the importance of body
image. As they continue writing their first draft and begin
the peer editing process before submitting the final draft,
this lesson will help them understand how to effectively
incorporate facts and opinions to best persuade their
audience.

GROUP SIZE AND -The desks will be organized into groups of 3 in order to
enable effective group discussion without students being
MATERIALS overshadowed by others and contribute equally to the
conversation.
-Student will need:
A copy of the class English textbook, which
 includes a copy of the short personal essay they
have to read in class.
The "Fact/Opinion" worksheet.
Their cell phones in order to respond to a class poll.
A sheet of loose-leaf in order to complete the
writing activity.

SUBJECT-SPECIFIC Competency 1: Uses language and talk to communicate

and learn.
COMPETENCIES
Competency 2: Reads and listens to written, spoken, and
media texts.
Competency 3: Produces texts for personal and social
purposes.

CROSS CURRICULAR Competency 1: Uses information.

COMPETENCIES Competency 4: Uses creativity.

Competency 6: Uses information and communications
technologies.
Competency 8: Cooperates with others.
Competency 9: Communicates appropriately.

TIME LESSON PLAN

INTRODUCTION/WARM-UP Introduction/Warm-up (5 minutes)

(10 minutes) 1) At the beginning of the lesson, students will verify
the class list posted on the door to verify which
group they will be sitting at.
2) Once students are settled, direct students' attention
to the chalkboard, where a plan for the day has been
written:
Vote and discuss "Books are dead." Do you
agree or disagree?
Go over facts and opinions through a brief
PowerPoint. Read "Turning the Page" and
complete "Fact and Opinion" (Appendix A)
T-chart.
Individual writing activity.
 "Books are dead." Vote! Agree or Disagree?
1) In order to begin the class and get the students
engaged with the topic being discussed in class that
day, students will be asked to vote on whether they
agree or disagree with the following statement:
Books are dead.
-Be sure to clarify that "books" in this statement is
referring to hard copy, printed on paper books they
would find at Chapters.
2) In order to view the results of the vote, students will
text in their vote and the results will appear on the
Smart Board.
3) After the results are in, students will discuss their
thoughts with their groups and present one idea to
the class. After a brief discussion, students will
begin the next activity.

DEVELOPMENT (30 Turning the Page: Reading a Personal Essay

MINUTES) 1) Before they begin reading, distribute the "Fact and
Opinion" worksheet so students can make small
notes as the teacher presents a brief PowerPoint on
how to distinguish between a fact and opinion,
ensuring that students understand the following:
-A fact is a piece of information that can be strictly
defined and proven true.
-An opinion is a statement that expresses a belief,
value, or feeling. An opinion cannot be proven true
or false.
2) Then, students will individually read, in their
textbooks, a personal essay by Robert Costanzo
titled Turning the Page

After they have read the essay, students

will work with their group to complete the
"Fact/Opinion" worksheet and assess
which elements of the text are considered
facts and which are considered opinion
based.
 Discussion:
1) After having read the personal-opinion essay, have
students answer the Evaluating Discussion
Question at the end of the text:
Identify the point in the essay at which the writers
thinking turns around. What is Costanzos opinion
at the beginning of the essay? What is it at the end
of the essay? How effectively is his opinion
expressed or developed?
2) After students have discussed in groups, engage in a
discussion about the question as a class. Ensure the
students understand how Costanzo used fact and
opinion to persuade the reader.
Writing Activity:
1) In order to confirm student understanding of fact
and opinion and using these strategies in a
persuasive text, students will use their completed
fact/opinion sheet in order to state whether they
agree or disagree with the statement presented at
the beginning of class: "Books are dead.". It is
important that students keep the following in mind:

How does Costanzo present his opinion

effectively?

How can you persuade your audience to

believe that your opinion on the subject is
correct?

CLOSURE (10 minutes) 1) Students will be completing the writing activity until the
end of the lesson, and take them home if they have not yet
finished.
2) If all students finish writing early, they will share their
paragraphs out loud with the class. If there are no
volunteers, teacher will pick at random.

ASSESSMENT In order to ensure understanding, students will be assessed

on the following:

1) The Fact and Opinion worksheet will be picked

up to ensure students have understood the
difference between the two, but will not be graded.

2) Students will be generally assessed on the quality of

 the discussion with their group

3) The writing activity will be picked up and graded to

ensure students understand how to use fact and
opinion to persuade their audience, and to ensure
students understand how their beliefs, values, and
experiences are revealed in their writing. Note that
if students have not completed it in class, they will
complete it for homework and submit it the
following class.

IF THERE IS TIME LEFT AT -If all students have completed their writing activity and
have all presented them to the class, students will read a
THE END OF THE LESSON personal book until the bell rings.

IF TIME RUNS OUT -It is important to note that students may not fully
understand the concepts discussed in class prior to the
BEFORE LESSON IS
writing activity. If that is the case, I will spend more time
COMPLETE explaining the differences between a "fact" and "opinion"
and how they are used to effectively persuade an audience
before beginning the writing activity, which will be
completed the following class as a result.
-Given all students understand the concepts discussed in
class thus far, they will complete the writing activity. If the
class period ends before all the students have finished
writing their letters, it will be completed for homework.

PROFESSIONAL Professional Competency 1: To Act as an inheritor, critic

and interpreter of knowledge or culture when teaching
COMPETENCIES students.
ADDRESSED Professional competency 2: To communicate clearly in the
language of instruction, both orally and in writing, using
correct grammar, in various contexts related to teaching.
Professional competency 3: To develop teaching/learning
situations that are appropriate to the students concerned and
the subject content with a view to developing the
competencies targeted in the programs of study.
Professional competency 4: To pilot teaching/learning
situations that are appropriate to the students concerned and
to the subject content with a view to developing the
 competencies targeted in the programs of study.
Professional Competency 5: To evaluate student progress
in learning the subject content and mastering the related
competencies.
Professional competency 6: To plan, organize and
supervise a class in such a way as to promote students'
learning and social development.
Professional Competency 7: To adapt his or her teaching
to the needs and characteristics of students with learning
disabilities, social maladjustments or handicaps.
Professional competency 8: To integrate information and
communications technologies (ICT) in the preparation and
delivery of teaching/learning activities and for instructional
management and professional development purposes.
Professional Competency 10: To cooperate with members
of the teaching team in carrying out tasks involving the
development and evaluation of the competencies targeted in
the programs of study, taking into account the students
concerned.
Professional Competency 12: To demonstrate ethical and
responsible behaviour in the performance of his or her
duties.

TEACHING SKILL TO BE During this lesson, I would like to work on ensuring all
students are focused engaged during discussion portion of
TARGETED
the lesson. Moreover, I would like to execute proper
techniques for drawing students back to me before moving
on to the next portion of the lesson.

ACCOMODATIONS -Multiple students in the class take require more time to

read a text, whether they be international or just prefer
additional time to read at home so they do not take too
much time in class. As a result, I have photocopied the
essay and ensured it was given to students who needed it on
Friday, so they have already had to the opportunity to read
it over the weekend before coming to class on Wednesday.
-When completing the "Fact and Opinion" sheet, some
students may not understand the difference between the two
terms at this point. In order to accommodate these students,
I will leave the definition of both fact and opinion, as well
as an example in which they are both used in a sentence,
projected onto the Smart Board as they complete the
 activity, in case they need reminders on what the terms
mean. I have also included some key slides from the
presentation on the back side of their "Fact/Opinion" sheet
to refer to if need be.
-In order to fuel discussion among the international
students, I will be placing them with students who will
engage in a strong discussion that they can participate in.
Realistically, a shy international student may not participate
as much in discussion, no matter who they're placed with.
They will, however, be actively listening to the discussion
going on around them. Therefore, I will place struggling
international students in groups with students who have
strong English skills, which will provide those students with
the necessary support to succeed. Generally speaking,
weaker students will be placed with stronger ones.
-Students will have access to a dictionary and thesaurus
while completing their writing activity.

Lesson Reflection This lesson and its multitude of activities definitely

engaged the students. Students responded extremely well at
the very beginning of class when asked to use their
smartphones in order to respond to an online poll. Due to
the lack of technological resources available within the
school, using what they have on them as a learning tool
proved to be extremely effective, and I plan to continue to
have students work with their smartphones in the future.
Moreover, the multiple activities planned during the lesson
kept students on the ball and actively engaged at all times.
Students were asked to read and take notes, discuss their
findings with peers, and apply their learning through a
writing activity. What I noticed during this lesson was that
students were constantly working and were not left to stare
aimlessly around the room during class time.
Ultimately, one thing I would like to improve for next time
is planning a writing activity that was more like an exit card
and less time consuming so that it could have been finished
during that class period instead of for homework. Moreover,
ensuring the discussion on the vote at the beginning of class
remain a maximum of 5-10 minutes would allow students
more time to read and discuss with their peers.
Royal Vale School Name:
English 206 Group:
Ms. Alfieri Date:

Turning the Page

Fact/Opinion Sheet
Fact Opinion