CBUP Lesson Plan Template: EDIS 5401

Week 1 of 4; Plan #1 of 9; [90 mins.]

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):
1. Students will understand that their identities are affected by the communities they are a
part of.
b. Understand the rules and expectations of this specific classroom community

Performance (do):
8. Students will be able to listen actively to their peers.
c. Students will be able to collaborate in order to generate and understand class norms
d. Students will be able to listen while others are talking

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

9. Students will respect the diverse voices in their classroom communities through active
listening.
a. Students will understand that each member of our community brings unique
experience, background, and perspective to the classroom

SOL’s: [List with numbers portrayed in the SOL document]

7.1 The student will participate in and contribute to conversations, group discussions, and
oral presentations.
a) Communicate ideas and information orally in an organized and succinct
manner.
b) Ask probing questions to seek elaboration and clarification of ideas.

CCS’s: [List with numbers portrayed in the CCS document]

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others'
ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Methods of Assessment:
1. Interest inventories (formal diagnostic): 9a
2. Snowball Fight Share (informal formative): 8d, 9a
3. Explain routines to a partner (informal formative): 1b
4. Stickies during norm generation (formal formative): 8c
5. Quick Write (formal formative): 9a

Procedures/Instructional Strategies
Beginning Room Arrangement: The room is currently set up in a big circle. I will be standing
outside the door to greet students as the come in the room. There is a Do Now on the board that
reads: You may choose any seat today. On the piece of paper on your desk, please write down 1.
One cool thing you did over the summer, 2. Something you are excited about for this upcoming
year, and 3. Your favorite snack. Do not put your name on this paper.

1. [3 mins.] Welcome & Do Now

I will greet students at the door, making sure I can see the hallway and the classroom in order to
supervise as students get settled and start writing their snowball fight facts. The board says that
they are allowed to choose their seats for today and store their things underneath them. There is a
Do Now on the board asking them to take out a piece of paper and write down 1 fun thing they
did over the summer, 1 thing they’re looking forward to this year, and their favorite snack. They
will be instructed not to put their names on these papers.

2. [14 mins.] Get-To-Know-You Game: Snowball Fight

[2 mins.] I will explain how the game works. Students will form two lines on either side of the
room, crumple of the pieces of paper they used for their Do Nows, and take a minute to a minute
and a half to have a “snowball fight” with them, throwing them back and forth across the room.
At the end of this time I will say “freeze” and everyone will pick a snowball up off the ground (if
they end up with theirs they may switch with someone).

[5 mins.] Students will then have five minutes to find the person their snowball belongs to using
only the things listed on the paper (no names). Once found, students will share the stories of
what is written on their papers and spend some time getting to know their peers.

[7 mins.] When this time is up, we will go around the room and each person will introduce their
partner to the class, elaborating on the 3 things they had written on the paper. This will also serve
to take attendance.

3. [15 mins.] Go over class routines

I will explain that these routines will help the classroom run smoothly and ensure that we are
respecting everyone’s time each day.

“If you can hear me clap once” (3 minutes) – Whenever I need to get the attention of the class or
quiet the room down, I will quietly say “If you can hear me clap once,” followed by “If you can
hear my clap twice” at the same volume. This will repeat until the entire room can hear my
whisper. I will explain to them that this lets them take control of how quickly we are able to quiet
down and transition. I will challenge students to quiet down as fast as they can, letting them
know I’ll be watching for this throughout the week. We will practice this by taking a short break
where they may talk to their neighbors and then reconvening using this strategy.

Do Now (2 minutes) – When students enter the classroom each day there will be a Do Now
posted on the board. This will give instructions for days where the usual setup is changed,
provide review of previous material, or get students primed for the content of a particular day. I
will reference the Do Now that was posted at the beginning of class today, and add that part of
this routine will be to retrieve their notebooks from the bin at the back of the room if the board
asks them to do so. After the explanation, I will have students turn to the person next to them and
explain how the Do Now will work in our classroom.
Notebooks (3 minutes) – Having referenced their class notebooks during the explanation of the
Do Now, I will now explain the way we will be using notebooks in our classroom. Most Do
Nows will be done in the notebooks, as well as vocabulary instruction, general notes, and writing
drafts. I will check their notebooks every other week to evaluate their progress and gauge their
engagement with the material. I will then ask students to turn to a different partner than they had
before and explain how the notebook process will work. During this time, I will be passing out
notebooks I purchased at the dollar store to each student. I will listen and re-explain if necessary.
I will pause here and answer any questions the students have.

Set up notebooks (8 minutes) – Following the explanation of notebook use, we will spend
a few minutes sectioning the notebooks for use in class. There will be a section for vocab words,
Do Nows, journals, drafting, and revision. There will be a table of contents at the front that we
will add to as we write.

4. [12 mins.] Practicing Classroom Meeting

I will then shift into explaining how Classroom Meeting with work in our class. For this routine,
students move into a circle on the floor. It lasts for 10-15 minutes and a different student leads
the circle each day. They begin with a greeting (handshake, high five, fist bump, etc.) that gets
passed around the circle. To give their greeting, they must look the people on both sides of them
in the eyes and say their names.

Example:
Student: “Hi Ms. Bishop! (fist bump)
Teacher: “Hi Student A! (fist bump)” turn to the other side “Hi Student B! (fist bump)”

The greeting is then followed by a “share” that changes each day. It can range from personal
goals and accomplishments, to something on their bucket list, to what they ate for dinner last
night. They get excited regardless of what the share is and it gives them some time at the
beginning of class to socialize and refocus for the rest of the period. This really helps the
classroom feel more like a community, as students get to know themselves and each other a little
better each day.

Most of my students will have done this everyday in their classes the previous year, so I will ask
for volunteers to explain the steps. I’ll make sure they cover: student leaders each day, greeting,
ice breaker/share question, and short game. We will practice this briefly since we are already
configured in a circle. I will mention that tomorrow we will practice moving to the rug at the
back of the room for this meeting.

5. [15 mins.] Active/Attentive Listening

I will explain to students that the routines we have in place make it possible for them to
individually maintain order in the classroom. Holding themselves accountable for their volume
and transition time, coming into class and getting straight to work, and always being prepared by
having and maintaining their notebooks are all things they can do to keep the classroom running
smoothly. We will spend some time now generating norms and expectations that we will work
together throughout the year to adhere to and maintain. Students will be working in pairs for this
activity. I will draw a large T-Chart on the white board with three sections: one that says “looks
like,” one that says “sounds like,” and one that says “feels like.” Pairs of students will be given a
pad of sticky notes. I will ask students what teachers and students would be doing if they were
listening actively and carefully to someone during a discussion or group activity. Students will
then take some time to brainstorm and write down what active/attentive listening looks, sounds,
and feels like. They will place their sticky notes in the appropriate columns up on the board. I
will then lead the class through a brief discussion of the norms they have listed on their stickies
and we will decide together which ones we want to keep as our main norms.

After class, I will compile the information on the sticky notes into a chart that will be posted in
the room throughout the year as a reminder and reference for students as we move through our
units. If there are norms I want to include that are not mentioned on the sticky notes, I will bring
them up during discussion and add them to the chart.

6. [10 mins.] Leaning Towards Literacy

[5 mins.] We will watch the Crashcourse Literature video titled “How and Why We Read,” and
have a short discussion to get us excited about all the reading we will do during this unit and this
year. I will give them a little intro into our first unit, showing the “Promo” for what we will be
doing.

[5 mins.] I will have them do a short writing exercise about how they identify as readers and
their expectations for our class. This will serve as a diagnostic writing sample.

7. [10-15 mins.] Interest Inventories

I will explain to students that the work they’ve done today has helped them start working with
and getting to know each other, but that I haven’t had much of a chance to get to know each of
them individually. I will explain that I have created a student inventory sheet that will help me
get a better idea of who each of them are as individual students and people in terms of their
preferred learning environments, interests, and unique things about them. I will collect these at
the end of class and use their interests and learning preferences to form base groups that they will
be seated in for the remainder of the unit.

8. [5 mins] Closure:

To wrap up class, I will ask students to reflect on all we covered today. Specifically, I will ask
them to recount the three routines we went over and the norms we generated. I will remind them
that there will be a chart for us to refer to and help hold us accountable throughout the year. I
will let them know that the rest of the week will be focused on getting to know our identities and
the identities of our classmates. As their exit ticket, I will explain the Who Is It game that we will
be playing throughout the week and have then write down their facts about themselves.

Who Is It: Students write down 5 facts about themselves. The first is one they think they will
have in common with about 90% of the people in the room. The next is one they think they will
have in common with about 70%, the third with 50%, and the 4th with 20%. The final fact
should be something they believe will be unique to them. This shows students a plethora of traits
or experiences they have in common while also showing the uniqueness of each student

Materials Needed (list):

1. Interest inventories
2. Sticky notes
3. Smart Board
4. Do Now PPT slide
5. “How and Why We Read” video