Lesson Plan Template: EDIS 5400 & 4882

Context:
Course name: ADV/Honors Language Arts 7
Grade level: 7th grade
Length of lesson: 45 minutes (half Kim half Clay)
Description of setting: Burley Middle School, students arranged in rows of 3 desks per row with
4 rows on each side of the classroom. Also a table and rug available for flexible seating.
Students: 20 students, majority of students are gifted
Current Curriculum: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Lesson Plan Date: Towards the middle of the novel. Students will have covered the first half of
the book. Students will have previously discussed in group discussions about listening and
speaking. The overarching objectives include collaboration in a respectful manner as well as
beginning to explore thoughts on prejudice, discrimination, and community through the text and
each other.

Objectives (KUD format)

SWBAT:
Know:
1. Students will know that mood refers to the emotional atmosphere produced in the
characters through the language in the novel. (K1)
2. Students will know how to listen to their peers’ differing opinions and knowledge of the
text with respect. (K2)
3. Students will know how to contribute positively to the discussion. (K3)

Understand:
3. Students will understand that how a writer characterizes a main character can portray more
information about setting and conflict. (U1)
4. Students will understand that each student has a different experience and understanding of the
text. (U2)
5. Students will understand that they need to be accepting towards each members offering to the
discussion. (U3)

Do:
4. Students will be able to connect the conflicts in a text with conflicts in the world outside of
school. (D1)
5. Students will be able to describe the impact of word choice and imagery that affects character
development within the novel. (D2)
6. Students will reflect on their own participation and that of their peers, in order to better their
speaking and listening skills in the future. (D3)
7. Students will be at ease in their groups regardless of differing opinions. (D4)

Virginia SOL’s:
(Borrowed)
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.
e) Use a variety of strategies to actively listen
7.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fictional texts, narrative
nonfiction, and poetry.
a) Describe the elements of narrative structure including setting, character development,
plot structure, theme, and conflict.

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

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the
text; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.3
Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the
characters or plot).

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

Diagnostic: Students will demonstrate what they already know by…

● Students will demonstrate what they know by filling out their graphic organizer to
determine theme, character development, and central ideas of the text as well as conflict
and connection with their life outside of the classroom. (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.2,
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.3, VSOL 7.5a, D2, U1)
Formative: Students will show their progress toward today’s objectives by…
● Students will show their progress towards today’s objectives by sharing with their group
their thoughts from the graphic organizer on character development, plot/theme, how it
relates to the world outside of the classroom, as well as their feelings that emerge from
 the themes in the novel. (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.3, VSOL 7.5a, VSOL 7.1a, VSOL
7.1e, D1, U1, U2, U3, D3, K2)
● Students will show their progress toward today’s objectives by discussing how the mood
in the novel has an impact on their perception of the novel in an individual setting as well
as a group discussion. (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.3 , VSOL 7.5a, D1, D2, D4, U1, K1)
○ Criteria for assessment:
■ Are students able to find the reference within the novel that they are
writing about?
■ Can students use the stem sentences provided to respectfully
communicate?
■ Can students identify the conflict within the passage and draw conclusions
about setting and character development?
■ Have students developed their listening and interpretation skills with each
other through their group discussions?

Summative: Students will ultimately be assessed (today or in a future lesson) on these

standards by…
● Students will ultimately be assessed on these standards by their ability to demonstrate
their own critical thinking as well as their group discussion demonstrating their
collaborative effort and ability. (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.2, VSOL 7.5d, VSOL 7.1a,
VSOL 7.1e, D1, D2, D4, K2, U1, U3)
● Students will ultimately be assessed on these standards by completing an exit slip that
will help the teachers know where the students are at this point in the lesson. (VSOL 7.5,
D3)
○ Criteria for assessment:
■ Did students change or develop their thoughts from what they originally
wrote on their graphic organizer?
■ Do students think that they did a successful job at discussing today’s topic
with peers?

Materials Needed (list):

● Appendix A: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
● Appendix B: Do Now written on Board of prompt for respectful and production
discussion characteristics
● Appendix C: Questions Stems handout
● Appendix D: Graphic Organizer
● Appendix E: Note cards with exit slip question written on them.
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:

When students first walk into the classroom, there will be four rows of three desks in a straight
line on both sides of the room separated by a space to walk. There will be an orange rug at the
front where they may sit as well as a round table with four chairs at the back of the classroom.
They will sit first at their desks while announcements are being made as well as the bridge and
hook of the lesson are being discussed. Once the lesson is explained they may move into their
groups which will be pre-assigned.

1. [5 mins.] Welcome/greeting/announcements
● The students will enter the room and Kim and Clay will greet each student and ask how
their previous class went if they had one or how their day has been so far. We will
instruct them to take a seat as they collect themselves and be thinking of sharing if they
would like a fun thing that they did over the weekend or within the past few days to
lighten the mood. I will have the Do Now (see Appendix B) written on the board for
them to begin to think about.
● Hi everyone! I know we haven’t talked very much but to start off we wanted to take five
minutes before we started the lesson to get to chat with y’all. First we would just like to
see what y’all’s first thoughts of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry were, would y’all ever
pick up this book outside of class to read for fun? No answer is wrong so don’t worry we
just want your honest opinion. [Wait] Wow that is so cool, thank you for sharing. What
kind of genres typically interest you when you like to read outside of class? [Wait]
Awesome! My favorite genre is fantasy or one of the classic romantics. Personally
Wuthering Heights. (Kim) My favorite genre is Southern Literature.

2. Hook - 10 minutes (Kim)

So I know y’all have been reading Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry, and I have also been reading it
to be able to relate to what y’all are reading. Today I would like for us to get into different small
groups and discuss our reading for this week. Before we break out into groups though, I would
like us to go over classroom norms and refresh our memories on what we should and shouldn’t
be doing during group discussions. As your Do Now work, I want everyone to take 2 minutes
and with an elbow partner discuss a few things you think are necessary to have respectful and
productive discussions. I’ll start the timer - your 4 minutes begin now. (Students will jot down
norm ideas and thoughts for 4 minutes. While the students are writing their ideas, we will be
going around the room and making sure that the students are doing their assignment and
providing assistance to any student that may need it. It will also be a way to make sure that the
students are staying focused and on topic.) Thanks for reflecting on that everyone. Now is
anyone willing to share some ideas? (Allow for students to raise their hands and share classroom
norms and what they believe are dos and don’ts of group discussions. Write down the students
answers on the board as a reminder throughout the discussion.) Those were some really good
points everyone. I’m about to tell you our next assignment that will be working in your seating-
groups. I want you to really think about everything you just shared, and put it into practice when
we move on to this next part of the lesson. Everyone ready to start our discussions? Let’s get
started!

3. Mini-lesson - 10 minutes (Kim)

Now let’s start off today’s lesson discussing in our groups, and always keeping those classroom
norms in mind, what are some good discussion techniques we can use to have a sustained and
productive discussion? Remember to think about specific actions you can take to keep the
discussion going, or include the members of your group that may be a little quieter or less
outspoken than you are. Be warned y’all, I am going to call on each group to give me at least
one specific thing I can do to make it the discussion a good one, and I will ask for it to be
different than the previous group, so make sure you come up with a couple good actions. (I will
circulate around the room, briefly checking in with each individual group, pushing them to go
deeper with their ideas and helping them when needed.)
Great job everyone, I heard some really great ideas and I’m excited for y’all to share
some of the ideas you came up with, with the rest of the class. (Here I will call on the individual
groups and each will share one to two ideas that they came up with. The students work in groups
and have discussions very frequently, so I will be expecting them to come up with specific
answers like: “We can ask our group members what they think”, “We can make sure to not
interrupt each other”.)
Those were some wonderful ideas to keep in mind. To put into practice what we just went
over I’m going to write the norms we’ve just established on the board. I really want everyone to
try to use them in this next discussion activity. When I say “go”, each group will go ahead and
take 5 minutes to discuss how everyone felt about the reading. You don’t need to take notes, I just
want you to practice your discussion skills and focus on it being productive and using those
question stems. Maybe there were some things that excited you, or shocked you. Maybe there
were even certain moments that you didn’t quite understand. I want you all to share those
thoughts with each other, and help each other out with answering questions. (During this time, I
will continuously circulate from group to group providing support and assistance whenever they
need it. It will also be a way for me to monitor the productivity of their discussion and make sure
they are staying on topic, and following the directions of using the sentence stems.)

4. Activity (Individual) “Think” Graphic Organizer [8 mins.] (Clay)

 ● Today for the first seven minutes, we are all going to work on these graphic organizers
and fill out the sections based off of the reading you have read so far in Roll of Thunder,
Hear My Cry. Can I have two volunteers to pass out the handout? [Have two students
pass out graphic organizers (See Appendix D)]
● Ok so now that everyone has a handout, you all will have 7 minutes to fill out the boxes
and think about the topics that are the headings in bold: Character Development, Plot,
Relation to life outside of the classroom, and Personal feelings about themes you have
encountered. If you have any questions you can ask them and Kim and I will also be
walking around the room if you need help.
● [Set apple timer for 7 minutes. As students are working, walk around the room
periodically to see if any student needs help jumpstarting a response to any of the
questions. If students need to use the restroom let them use the system that is in place
with the clip board and passes so as not to disturb other students. Survey the room to see
when students are done]
● You all have about 2 minutes left and I can see that some of y’all are finished. If you are
done, you can take out your book and continue reading. If you are still working you still
have some time.
● [Timer goes off]
● Alright guys I can see that a few of y’all are still finishing up. Let’s take a couple more
minutes to complete our final thoughts and finish filling out these handouts.
● Continue to walk around the room to gauge when to end the cushion time to allow for a
smooth transition into the next segment. Once I notice that every submission has been
turned in I will continue with the lesson.

6. “Share” with your group thoughts on Graphic Organizer [12 mins.] (Clay)
● [Timer goes off]
● Excellent work class. Next I am going have you all go off in your color groups. What you
all are going to do in your groups is discuss what you have written down in your Graphic
Organizers. As you do this, try to remember and utilize the norms that were discussed
earlier with Kim and try to use some stem sentences from earlier. Remember that every
opinion and idea is valued in this classroom because each and everyone of you is valued.
Pink tag group will bring their chairs to the orange carpet at the front of the classroom.
Brown tag group will stay on the whiteboard side of the classroom in the back around the
desks. White tag group will be on the window side of the classroom around the desks and
Purple tag group will be around the round table in the back of the classroom. And finally
Yellow tag group will find space in the front half of the room on the whiteboard side.
Please bring your organizers and an open mind with you when you move. It might also be
a good idea to bring over a blank piece of paper and a pen to write down some of your
peers’ ideas. Reminders will be posted on the board as well and please feel free to always
 ask me or Kim any questions. You will all have roughly 12 minutes to work on this, go for
it!
● [Be present as they gather their things and move to their flexible seating. Make sure to be
available if they get confused about where to go]
● [Set timer for 12 minutes on the apple timer in the classroom]
● [Walk around while listening to conversations. Listen for discussion on theme, character
development, and respectful responses. Join in on occasion to ask a probing question but
for the most part let the students discuss and discover their own understandings of
connection with the novel. They should not be influenced by the teacher’s opinions and
the students opinions are neither right nor wrong and make sure that the students know
this]
● Everyone! Remember that no opinion is right or wrong. I just want to see any
connections or development you have discovered within the text. Keep working y’all are
making good progress. Y’all have about 6 minutes left.
● [Continue to walk around and monitor. Make sure that conversations are being respected
and that every child is being heard. If respect is not being utilized, step in and say: Don’t
forget to keep an open mind to new perspectives. Here we are all apart of the same
community of learning and our norms that we created together at the beginning of the
class encourage open-mindedness. Return to desk with about 3 minutes left]
● Alright everyone you all have just about 2 minutes left so begin to wrap up your
conversations.
● [Timer goes off]
● Good job everyone! As I was walking around I could tell that a few groups needed just a
little more time to discuss. Take the next 2 or so minutes to finish up.
● Walk around classroom as they finish talking. Notice when groups get quiet and end the
cushion time.

7. [5 mins] Closure: → EXIT SLIP (Kim and Clay)

● Excellent work today class. We made great progress today and we heard some great
conversations. Before you leave, we would like for you to complete this Exit Slip. It isn’t
graded but we would like for you to turn it into Kim or me before you go. The exit slip is
so that we can get some feedback from y’all on the activity today.
● [Hand out note cards (See Appendix E) with a question written on them:
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt”] What do y’all think
of this statement? Do you think it is true? How would you relate this to the novel? All of
this is up to y’all’s interpretation.

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)
 In order to address some of the students needs I allowed time during set up for them to
talk about whatever they wanted to without being concerned with school. During this time they
could discuss social life or what was happening at home with a friend. This allowed them to
better be able to focus during the actual assignment at hand when it was time to get down to
work. I also allowed students to walk around and move when it was time to get into their groups
to work on the summary. During this group time they could either walk, stand or sit with their
group, whichever strategy best helped them concentrate and stretch and focus on the assignment.
I kept the Do Now prompt up on the board during the intro and hook so that the students
could see it and work on it as they were getting acquainted with the classroom. They were able to
see their own responses demonstrated on the board throughout the entire lesson as a reminder for
what kind of responses they should be thinking about in a respectful manner. Students were also
given stem questions to further help them discuss respectfully when they broke off into groups.
Kim and I made sure that we were available to students if they needed to ask questions
and as we walk around the room we will listen in to their conversations and would intercept and
redirect if they were getting off topic.
We also allow for some cushion time if students who work a little slower need more time
to fully develop their thoughts or if students want to delve deeper into what they are working on.

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

handouts, etc.)

Appendix A:
Copy of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Appendix B: Write the question on the board for Do Now: What are some necessary things/rules
to keep in mind when developing a respectful conversation and dialogue among peers?

Appendix C: Question stem handout on next page

Appendix D:
Graphic Organizer on next page

Appendix E: Note card with exit slip question written on it: How did today’s activity make you
feel/how do you feel about the themes in the novel such as prejudice?
 Graphic Organizer
Character Development Plot
Relation to life outside of the classroom Personal feelings about themes encountered
 Stem Questions:

1. Thank you so much for sharing, have you considered…

2. I would love to hear more on what you think about…
3. I never thought of it this way, these were the thoughts that I had…
4. I would love to know more of where you are coming from would you mind explaining
more about what you meant?