Lesson Plan Template rev 1/22/18

Date: 03 March 2019 Teacher’s Name: Ms. Emily Hay

Subject: English Language Arts Grade level: 11th
Unit: Interpreting Speeches Length of lesson: 45 minutes

Central Focus: This lesson segment will focus on how students analyze and interpret an
author’s view on racism and social issues discussed in informational texts of historical
significance. Students will engage with Malcolm X’s speech “The Black Revolution” which
presents a different perspective from that of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights
Movement. The goal of this learning segment is for students to think critically about what is
explicitly said in the speech in order to draw their own inferences about the ideas presented in
the text.
Lesson Title: Mindful Reading of Speeches
For unit, _3_ out of _5_:

Essential Question(s): Why is it important to think critically when reading an informational

text? How does using textual evidence support interpretations of the text?

Learning Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves
matters uncertain.
a. Develop factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions for further exploration of the
topic(s).

Pre-Assessment: The teacher will collect the exit slip that students completed for homework.
There will be an image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. giving his speech at the March on
Washington on the board. Students watched King’s “I Have a Dream” speech for homework so
this image will activate prior knowledge. On the left side of the image will be the word Reading
and on the left side of the image the word Listening. As students walk in, the teacher will ask
them to decide which way they liked interacting with the speech and to mark a tally under the
Reading or Listening column. The teacher will call on a few students to explain how listening to
the speech was different when compared to reading it in class (3-5 minutes). This will get
students to begin to think critically on how the informational text is presented.

Learning Objectives: Assessments:

 Identify and describe how inferences  Whole-class discussion
can be made from reading and  Text Break Activity Worksheet
listening to a speech  Partner Discussions
 Analyze and interpret ideas from the  Handout #1
speech “The Black Revolution”
 Cite evidence to support inferences
about what the speaker is trying to say
at a specific point in the text.
 Lesson Plan Template rev 1/22/18

Differentiation: During the guided practice, students will complete the Text Break Activity with
mixed-ability-level partners. The video

Academic Language: Syntax: sentences. Discourse: analytical, interpretative. Specific

Vocabulary: segregation, discrimination. Language functions: Identify, describe, analyze,
interpret, cite.

Procedure:
Anticipatory Set
The teacher will explain that for this lesson students will be analyzing and interpreting another
speech from the Civil Rights Movement. The teacher will write two questions on the board for
students to copy down in their notebooks:
1. When reading or hearing a public speech, why is it important to think critically about
what the speaker is saying?
2. How can misinterpreting the ideas presented in a speech be harmful?
Students will be asked to answer these questions by completing a quick write for 3-5 minutes in their
notebooks. The purpose of this activity is to get students thinking about the significance of questioning a
speaker’s ideas presented in a speech. This is a quick journal activity that will track students thinking and
won’t be collected.

Initial Phase
Direct Instruction
The teacher will tell students that they will be reading a speech by Malcolm X, a civil rights
activist who was known for possessing radical ideas on racial discrimination. The teacher will
remind students that to inform their own opinions of Malcom X’s speech “The Black
Revolution,” it is important to have some background knowledge on the speaker and his ideas.
A short youtube clip will be shown that provides a mini biography on Malcom X as a civil rights
activist and public speaker. The video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a3hT8f6Kkk
(4:30 minutes). This will provide background knowledge for students on the context of the
speech and speaker before they begin reading “The Black Revolution.” The teacher will explain
that since Malcom X articulates ideas that were considered radical in the 1960’s, it is difficult to
understand all the ideas he brings up in the speech together. The teacher will tell students that
to help them think critically about the ideas Malcom X proposes in “The Black Revolution” they
will read the speech using a Text Break Activity. The teacher will have separated the speech
prior to the lesson and will hand out copies of the broken-up text. The teacher will demonstrate
this during reading strategy by reading the first text break aloud to students. Next, the teacher
will explain that taking a break while reading gives students an opportunity to infer and reflect
on what they read. The teacher will then select a quote or phrase to help draw an analysis
about what Malcolm X might be saying in that specific section of the text or infer where his
speech might be going. Students will have already learned how to analyze a text and make
inferences based on their own analysis of a text. The teacher will remind students that if they
 Lesson Plan Template rev 1/22/18

are struggling to come up with an inference they can write a question about their selected
quote instead (15 minutes).

Middle Phase
Guided Practice
Students will be separated into pairs to complete the rest of the Text Break Activity. Students
will work with their partners to read and discuss four more text breaks in the speech, and
complete the Text Break Activity together. This strategy will help reinforce the students’ use of
evidence to support their own analysis and inferences on what the speech says (15 minutes).

Concluding Phase
In the last 5 minutes of the class period, students will be given Handout #1 to be completed for
homework. This handout will require students to use the textual evidence they selected for
their Text Break Activity in order to complete the handout. Handout # 1 will ask students to
take three quotes they selected from the speech and write down what the text explicitly said,
what they think speaker means, and why they believe their inference matters. This assessment
will reinforce the critical thinking practices that students learned today.

Follow up: Students will complete Handout #1 for homework. This assignment corresponds to
the work that students completed in today’s lesson.

Materials: Smartboard, notebooks, broken-up version of “The Black Revolution” speech

(attached in assessments) , Text Break Activity, Handout #1

References and Resources:

Link to Malcolm X speech “The Black Revolution”:

http://malcolmxfiles.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-black-revolution-april-8-1964.html

Youtube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a3hT8f6Kkk