Anticipation Guides Powerpoint of Unit

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Lesson One

Name: Celia Meyer


Placement/Level: Ft. Clarke, 8th Grade Reading
Lesson Title: Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance, Day 1
Purpose or Goal of Instruction: The goal of this lesson is to begin familiarizing students with the
concept of the Harlem Renaissance, and get them interested in the topic as their next unit of study. I
want to focus on excitement and prediction, so students will spend the majority of the time thinking
about what they might be learning, and anticipating what some of the big ideas of the unit will be.
Since this lesson will set the pace and the tone for the rest of the unit, I want it to be interactive and
enjoyable, with the focus on what students are excited to learn about, and not necessarily what
background knowledge they might acquire.
Rationale: Were moving away from the unit on the 60s and Civics Rights and into a new unit. For the
first three days of the unit, I will introduce the new unit through pictures, a short video, poetry, a short
essay, and activities that ask students to predict what they think the unit will be about and gain
familiarity with the new concepts and ideas in a fun and interactive way.
Objectives:
SWBAT: Use ideas from videos, images, and their classmates predictions to predict answers to
questions on an anticipation guide for the unit.
Procedures for Teachers:
Preparation and Materials Needed:
Anticipation Guides- 1 per student
Video and image links for the Harlem Renaissance to show to class
Powerpoint of Unit
Introduction: I will introduce the lesson by explaining that the class is moving into a new unit,
and introduce the essential question for the unit: What was the Harlem Renaissance? I will pass out an
anticipation guide that students will fill out individually. Each of the statements on the guide is
something that students will read and learn about as we progress through the unit, so they can refer back
to how they felt about the statement as we progress to see if and why their opinions changed, or became
more solidified with reading. After they have completed it, I will lead them through a Think-Pair-Share
activity based on the guide. At this point, students will be allowed to share whether they agree or
disagree with the statements provided with their partner, and what made them come to that decision
(instinct, prior knowledge, a complete guess, etc.). I will not attempt to persuade students toward any
specific conclusion. Student pairs will be allowed to share how they answered with the class, and why
they answered as they did for each statement on the guide. Finally, students will watch a 3 minute video
clip that very broadly introduces the Harlem Renaissance and revisit some predictions to see if their
answers have changed. In addition, on the back of their anticipation guide, students will write down one
question they have about the Harlem Renaissance, and what they are most excited to learn about. We
will keep this anticipation guide in their binders, to think back about and see how their ideas have
changed as they read.
Assistance/Scaffolding: While students are filling out the anticipation guide, the teacher will
circulate to provide assistance for any students who are confused about a word or statement. The teacher
will also facilitate the sharing of responses during the Think-Pair-Share activity, especially if students
seem reluctant to share their thoughts.

Closure/Summary: The lesson will end with students reviewing their anticipation guides and
keeping them in their binders for further reflection throughout the lesson, and independent reading time
if time allows.
Connection to previous and forthcoming lessons: This lesson will set the tone for the whole
unit, so I want it to be fun, upbeat, and interactive. Students will begin to start to think about ideas they
will explore for the next nine weeks, and those ideas will help them shape the way they read and give
them a purpose for reading as well.
Procedures for Students:
1. Quick introduction presentation about me. Listen to introduction of unit and explanation of unit
essential question. 5 minutes
2. Fill out the anticipation guide independently, then discuss with a partner each statement before
sharing with the class (Think-Pair-Share). 25 minutes
3. Watch short video clip and view artwork from and about the Harlem Renaissance, and revisit
anticipation guide for discussion of new ideas/predictions. Add a question/wondering they have and an
idea they are excited about learning to the back of their anticipation guide. 10 minutes
4. Finish up any of the above activities that ran over time; independent reading. 10 minutes.
Assessment:
Work collected/observed: Anticipation guides and participation will be observed. Students will
keep their guides in their binders.
Criteria Used: Students are expected to be actively participating in the Think-Pair-Share activity
(if not sharing with the class, at least sharing with their partner), and the anticipation guide will be
checked and informally assessed for completion.
Accommodations:
Challenge: Students looking for a challenge can research some of the statements from the
anticipation guide on the classroom computer if they finish quickly.
Support: Students needing additional support during the Think-Pair-Share activity will be able
to use the teacher as a resource. Students with IEPs or 504s that grant them additional time for
assignments can complete their anticipation guides and accompanying opinion questions for homework
and show me their complete guides the next day, instead of at the end of class. Students with hearing or
visual needs have already been accommodated with the classroom seating chart. Students with a need
for oral repetition of instructions have had their needs met by being able to see instructions displayed on
the board, being able to read the instructions at the top of their anticipation guide, and hearing the
instructions read aloud and clarified by the teacher. Students with ADHD or other attention disorders
will be accommodated by the rapid pace of this lesson.
ESOL: Students who are still learning English, or who have English as a second language, will
not be penalized for misspelling words on their anticipation guide or using incorrect grammar (no
student will be), because the anticipation guide will just be informally checked for completion. Using
the guide is an accommodation itself, because instead of discussion the points aloud, students can read
them and reflect on them, and get clarification if needed.
Standards Addressed:
LAFS.8.RI.1.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Reflection:
I wound up doing the Introduction to Me powerpoint on a separate day from the rest of the
lesson, and I am glad we had a full 15-20 minutes to do it, instead of the 5 minutes I allotted myself

originally. The students got very into asking me questions and finding out more about me. I think doing
the introduction activity helped me gain their trust, and hopefully will encourage them to work hard for
me and respect me as an authority figure. I also enjoyed having them write down things about
themselves and advice for me on index cards- I learned about several student concerns like ADHD, and
many students told me in their advice section that they thought I was already doing a great job, which
was encouraging to read.
Since we visited the book fair for the first half of the period on Thursday (2/4), we took the
second half of Thursday and the beginning of class on Friday to finish the anticipation guide. 2nd period
flew through it, and was not very willing to share their responses with the class, so the discussion time
was much shorter. Every other period only got halfway through the guide on Thursday, and since I did
not want to start the next activity with 2nd period and no other period, I spent the class on Friday
finishing the guide activity, and then allowed for independent reading time (some periods got more time
than others, depending on how fast they finished the guide). The students needed some independent
reading time allotted to them regardless, since they have an independent reading project due on the 24th
and many of them have not made any major projects in their books.
I was very encouraged overall by the amount of student participation in the anticipation guide
activity. The partner work was mostly on task, especially when I started walking around the classroom to
listen to individual conversations. I also quickly learned that just telling students to get with a partner
sitting next to them does not work- some students intentionally leave themselves out, and others try to
work with someone a few desks away. By asking them to point to the person they are going to work
with, I could easily see where partner corrections needed to be made, ensure everyone was working with
someone sitting near them, and that no one was left out. In addition, many students that I have never
seen volunteer to speak in class before participated and shared their opinions, and I think part of their
participation was a result of giving them the chance to think about and talk about their reasoning with a
partner, so when it came time to volunteer for responses, they already knew what to say.
In order to improve this lesson for next time, I would clarify some of the sentences on the
anticipation guide. While I wrote many of the statements myself, some were taken from the teacher
guide for the textbook students are working with. Often, those sentences confused students, and I had to
rephrase them verbally in multiple ways before they understood. Simplifying and clarifying the
statements on the guide would help students form an opinion and complete the guide more easily, and
potentially lead to more class participation as well.
Lesson Two
Name: Celia Meyer
Placement/Level: Ft. Clarke, 8th Grade Reading
Lesson Title: Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance, Day 2
Purpose or Goal of Instruction: As we are still introducing the unit, students will spend today
continuing to gain familiarity with some of the ideas they are going to explore in depth for the remainder
of the 9 weeks over which the unit will take place. We are working with the first poem introduced in the
textbook (Dream Variation by Langston Hughes), and in addition to allowing students to continue to
gain familiarity with some of the ideas that will be prevalent in the unit, I want to see where the students
are in terms of literary analysis and interpretation. This slow-motion reading activity will help me
determine that, as well as see how students work in small groups as opposed to pairs or independently.
The ideas about identity and race presented in the poem will also help students connect the ideas in their

anticipation guide to actual literary writing, and see how the statements we talked about yesterday
influenced much of the art produced during the Harlem Renaissance.
Rationale: In terms of the gradual release model (Fisher and Frey, 2008) students need to be introduced
to the topic and work as groups and a whole class before beginning independent work, and this slowmotion reading activity will allow them to further their ideas in a group setting and whole class setting,
as well as thinking independently. This lesson will also continue to stimulate student interest for in rest
of the unit, and the ideas presented in the unit.
Objectives:
SWBAT: Identify figurative language and literary devices in a piece of poetry.
Procedures for Teachers:
Preparation and Materials Needed:
Harlem Renaissance Textbook- class set
Loose-leaf paper- 1 sheet per student (they can supply their own if they have it)
Introduction: The teacher will introduce the day by inviting students to turn to page 5 in the
textbook and look at the painting. The students will view the painting, then the teacher will direct them
to look at the title of the poem on the opposite page (Dream Variation by Langston Hughes). The
teacher will ask students to predict what the poem is about, based on the words and the picture
accompanying the poem. There will also be time for students to discuss what they like about the
painting, what is makes them think of, and how it makes them feel, and any other impressions they have.
This exploration of the painting, its possible meanings and messages, and how students compare it to
the poem title will be done in the form of a brainstorm, with the teacher writing down student ideas and
scaffolding connections and generation of ideas. The teacher will then give the directions for, and model
how to successfully complete, a slow-motion reading of a poem (I will use the poem Reel One as my
example). The teacher will monitor student progress while they complete the slow-motion reading
activity on their own, and discuss their findings and ideas in small groups, and then the teacher will
facilitate discussion when the small groups share with the class. The teacher will ask some final
questions about the poem to challenge student thinking, if the points were not already raised. These
questions include asking students opinions of specific imagery and word choice, and the purpose of
using those images and diction versus making a different stylistic choice.
Assistance/Scaffolding: The teacher will provide cues and prompts to students who are not sure
about what types of things to be looking for in the poem, or who do not understand the poem on their
own. Discussion will be facilitated and scaffolded when students need encouragement to share.
Closure/Summary: The lesson will end with the class sharing their individual and group
findings with the class, asking any questions they have about the poem, and possibly responding to some
ideas and questions about different interpretations and meanings as presented by the teacher. In terms of
questioning, I will be asking students what images in the poem they found striking or interesting, to
describe their overall reactions, any patterns they noticed while they were reading, any significant
metaphors or similes; basically how they chose to interpret the poem and what was meaningful to them
in their reading. The questions and interpretive ideas are designed to help students further their own
thinking and ideas, and not to seek an answer I already know; the questions will be open-ended and the
student answers will depend on their individual interpretations. Students might also find it helpful to
refer to their anticipation guide to see if that inspires any interpretations or questions based off of the
poem, and I will encourage them to reference their anticipation guide while they read and discuss. If any
time remains students will do some independent reading.

Connection to previous and forthcoming lessons: This lesson builds off of the previous lesson
by asking students to take their predictions a step further and think about how what they learned
yesterday might impact their understanding of a poem written during the Harlem Renaissance. Students
are also continuing to develop their skills as questioners of writing, rather than just responding to
questions posed by others. Students will continue and conclude the introduction to the unit the next day.
Procedures for Students:
1. Look at the picture and poem title opposite the picture, and, based on what was discussed and
predicted yesterday, think about what the title might mean, and what the image might be about. Class
brainstorm on the board to generate ideas. 5 minutes
2. Complete slow-motion reading activity with the poem. Share your findings with your small group. 25
minutes
3. Discuss findings and opinions about the poem with the class. 15 minutes
4. Independent reading. ~5 minutes
Assessment:
Work collected/observed: Student participation in the small group and whole-class discussions
will be observed. Student completion of the slow motion activity will also be noted: those ideas that they
write down will be collected. Students not participating or paying attention will be noted.
Criteria Used: Students are expected to participate actively in the discussions in both their small
groups and the whole class, though more so in the small group time since many students might feel shy
about sharing personal opinions with the class. Slow-motion reading observations and interpretations
that students write down will be assessed informally in order to begin to determine at what level students
are in terms of literary analysis, and their work will be given a small in-class work grade based on
completion of the task (not based on if what they wrote was correct, just if they attempted to complete
the activity and made note of some ideas).
Accommodations:
Challenge: Students can complete an additional slow-motion reading that compares the picture to
the poem if they finish early.
Support: The teacher will circulate and provide support during the small group discussion and
individual activity. The teacher will scaffold class brainstorm and discussion with cues and prompts.
Students with ADHD or other activity disorders are supported during this lesson due to the amount of
interactive activities and the variation of activities in the lesson. Students with IEPs and 504s that grant
additional time will be able to spend extra time on their slow-motion reading, and discuss in groups
when they finish. Students with hearing and visual accommodations are accommodated by the seating
chart. Students who need directions presented to them orally have had their needs met by not only being
able to see the directions displayed on the board, but also by hearing the teacher read them and elaborate
on them orally.
ESOL: The brainstorm with ideas verbally and visually represented will help ELL students
receive comprehensible input in two different ways; ELL students will benefit from reading the poem
multiple times and thinking about ideas personally before having to share, and ELL students will not be
required to share with the class as long as they make an effort to share with their small groups (their
notes from their readings will help them decide what to say, and feel more comfortable sharing).
Students can also ask for a translation of the poem to read as well as the original English version, if that
will help with interpretation of figurative language.
Standards Addressed:

LAFS.8.RL.1.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
LAFS.8.RL.1.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the
course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective
summary of the text.
Reflection:
I was mostly very happy with the way this lesson went. I think the students did a good job with
the slow-motion reading, especially since they had never done an activity like that before. The modeling
and think-aloud I did with Reel One definitely helped students figure out what they were supposed to
be doing, and I think it also gave them some ideas about what things to look for when analyzing a poem.
Some periods were definitely more involved and willing to participate than others, and some even
wanted to help me work through Reel One, and got very into what that poem means. I think many
of the students found the Langston Hughes poem challenging, but I was also encouraged when hearing
the students share in their small groups and with the whole class, because students I have never seen
share before were providing their theories and evidence, and they were very interesting and insightful
interpretations of the poem that I had never even thought of or read about when I looked into scholarly
analysis of Dream Variation to prepare.
Some things I would do differently include not letting students choose their own groups, and
requiring them to submit their notes to me for a participation check. I decided to trust the students and
let them form their own groups of three and four, but too many times, one student was left out, or two
students would try to work together in a pair, and not as a group of three or four. I even had one group of
six attempt to work together, which would make it very difficult for all of the group members to share
their thoughts and ideas effectively in a ten minute time period. I want to be able to let the students
choose their own groups sometimes, because I think for many students, getting to work with people you
are friends with or people you like makes you more willing to share and participate than if youre forced
to work with people you dislike. On the other hand, there are also many students who, when they get to
work with their friends, spend their time talking about their weekends and not the topic they should
actually be discussing. I think for future activities where students work in groups, I will have them count
off and form groups based on numbers, until they can show me they can stay on task when they are
doing group work.
In addition, while many students were writing down a lot of ideas, observations, and analysis of
the poem, many more were just staring at their paper and writing maybe one sentence for each readthrough of the poem. I think I will randomly collect in-class work for a small completion/participation
grade, and see if that inspires any more diligent work. I have heard from many teachers that this group
of 8th graders is the most apathetic they have ever seen, and many students will not do work if they
know it is not for a grade, and even then some still might not do it, so I will try collecting some of the inclass work in the future that I was not planning on assigning a grade to, to see if that will inspire the
students to put in a little more effort. I dont really like feeling like I have to do that, because not only is
it more work for me, it seems as though it is a mean way to inspire students to do work, as if the in-class
work turns is a punishment, rather than something to help them succeed. Unfortunately, I am not sure at
the moment how to inspire more diligent in-class work from students aside from collecting the work for
a grade, especially since I am already letting them work in groups and doing more interactive, rather
than individual, activities than I have seen them do before, which is what many of them told me they
like to do.

Lesson Three
Name: Celia Meyer
Placement/Level: Ft. Clarke, 8th Grade Reading
Lesson Title: Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance, Day 3
Purpose or Goal of Instruction: As the final Introduction day to the unit, students will read a short
essay that mentions some key figures in the Renaissance and what the area was like at the time. The
purpose of the lesson is to spend a final day introducing the idea of the unit, and give students more
background knowledge so they can apply what they learned to their future readings and writings about
the topic. I will be doing a reciprocal teaching activity today, which will help me understand what skills
students have at metacognition, and monitoring their own understanding. Students will be exposed to
this type of exercise for potentially the first time, and begin to understand that much of the thinking and
idea generation is going to come from them during this unit, and not be handed to them by the teacher.
This lesson also serves as the first time I will be able to collect student-generated questions, and the
importance of questioning literature and other pieces of writing is explained to the students.
Rationale: This short essay excerpt compares the Harlem of the 1920s and 30s to modern Harlem, and
provides some historical context without going into very much detail. Students will be able to use this
essay as a means to predict what some big ideas of the unit are going to be.
Objectives:
SWBAT: Accurately predict, summarize, question, or clarify information from an essay (Still
Life in Harlem), according to their assigned role in the reciprocal teaching activity.
Procedures for Teachers:
Preparation and Materials Needed:
Prepare first page of essay for read-aloud (model relating information back to anticipation
guide as well as how to successfully complete the various roles in the activity).
Introduction: Teacher will explain that they will be reading an essay in class today that will help
them learn more about the Harlem Renaissance. The teacher will read aloud the first page of the essay
for the class. During the reading, the teacher will model how to connect ideas from the essay back to the
anticipation guide, if/when appropriate, to show students how they can think about those ideas while
they are reading. The teacher will also model how to complete each of the roles for the reciprocal
teaching activity. Then teacher will split students into groups of 4 to complete a reciprocal teaching
activity for the rest of the class. A slide with role explanations will remain up during the entirety of the
lesson, so students can refer back when they need to refresh what their job is. In order to participate in
the reciprocal teaching activity, students will be divided into groups of four. At the end of every other
page of the essay (three times total), the students will stop and complete their respective roles. The
summarizer will summarize the last two pages of what was just read, the predictor will predict what
happens next, the clarifier can look up any confusing words or clarify a portion of the text that seemed
confusing (with the aid of the teacher or their group members if necessary), and the questioner will ask a
question about what they just read. After students finish reading the essay in their groups, they will write
down three big ideas they think will be important to consider while they are reading and working with
the rest of the pieces in the unit. These big ideas can relate to concepts like identity, freedom, growth,
etc; students should aim to consider thematic concepts such as these and predict which will be important
as they read based on their prior knowledge.
Assistance/Scaffolding: The teacher will model how to complete each of the roles for the
reciprocal teaching activity, and provide assistance to groups while they are reading the essay. The

teacher will spend time with each individual group, to make sure they all understand what they are doing
and scaffold the task if necessary.
Closure/Summary: The closure of the lesson will come from students finishing their reciprocal
teaching activity.
Connection to previous and forthcoming lessons: This lesson will close the introduction
section of the unit. Once this lesson is completed, students should have enough background information
to be able to complete short readings and assignments about and based on the Harlem Renaissance, and
know enough about it to understand some of the references or ideas brought up in those readings (which
is an important task in the pacing guide, though not as relevant to developing literary minds). Students
will also use this essay as a means to consider what some main themes or big ideas of the unit will be,
so they can look for evidence of those big ideas as they continue to read.
Procedures for Students:
1. Students will listen attentively as the teacher reads aloud the first page of the essay, and notice how
she models thinking back to the anticipation guide and the correct way to complete the roles for
reciprocal teaching. 10 minutes
2. The student will complete their role for the reciprocal teaching activity, pausing at the end of every
other page so each student in the group has a chance to complete their part. Students will also make
individual notes about what their group had to say. They will use this piece of paper to note any big
ideas they think will continue to come into play as we read pieces written during this time period.
These notes and big idea generation will be collected and informally assessed for completion. Student
questions in particular will be noted, to assess what type of questions students tend to ask. 40 minutes
Assessment:
Work collected/observed: Student participation will be observed during the reciprocal teaching
activity. Student reciprocal teaching notes will be collected.
Criteria Used: All students are expected to complete their role in a meaningful way, so that all
students in their group can benefit from what they have thought about or are confused about, so the
group can come to an answer and build a more solid knowledge base about the topic. The notes will be
collected and assessed for completion.
Accommodations:
Challenge: Students who want a challenge can take on the additional role of recorder during the
reciprocal teaching activity, and take notes on their groups most important insights.
Support: The teacher will circulate during the activity, and offer assistance and scaffolding to
those students who need it. For students with IEPs and 504s that grant additional time, they will have the
option to complete their notes for homework and submit them the next day for homework (they would
have to check out a textbook). Students with ADHD or other activity disorders will benefit from this
lesson because their role is constantly changing, and they will have to complete a different task every
time a stopping point is reached. Students with hearing or visual impairments have been accommodated
by the seating chart, and can remain in groups that are close to the front of the classroom. Students who
need directions orally read to them have had their needs met in this lesson, and all future lessons, by
being able to see the instructions for the task on the board, hearing the teacher read those instructions
aloud, and hearing the teacher orally elaborate on those instructions to clarify meaning.
ESOL: ELL students will have the option of working in groups with at least one other ELL
student of their same language background, if any such student exists in the class. ELLs will benefit
from this lesson because by discussing the passage as a group, and making sure all group members have
a task to complete, the ELL student will be encouraged to produce comprehensible output for the rest of

his or her group members, and his or her group members will have to make their meanings clear, and
produce comprehensible input for the ELL student, so everyone will have similar notes and ideas to
submit.
Standards Addressed:
LAFS.8.RI.1.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
LAFS.8.SL.1.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others
ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Reflection:
I think this reciprocal teaching activity overall went really well. I had a bit of a rocky start with
second period, because I do not think I was very clear when I gave the instructions, so many of them did
not do the activity as I had planned, but after I figured out exactly what I needed to say, the other periods
did much more complete work. I think learning how to give effective instructions aloud (even if they are
written on the board) is something I still need to work on.
All of the students were involved and mostly on-task, and since they all had individual jobs to do
in their groups, they were all participating as equally as possible. I think many of them got much more
out of this reading by working in a small group and questioning, clarifying, predicting, and
summarizing, than they would have gotten out of it if I had read the whole thing aloud and just asked
them comprehension based questions. Many of the questions and potential clarifications I overheard and
saw written down were very thoughtful, and students were not afraid to say I dont know who that
person is or I dont know what that word means, and then try to figure it out. If they had been
working in a whole-class setting, I am not sure those questions would have been asked at all, and the
student engagement would have suffered.
I had another administrative walkthrough while teaching this lesson, and got good reviews from
the principal. That was encouraging to see, but I still think I could improve this lesson by being more
clear with my expectations for student work and how students were to rotate jobs in their small groups (I
drew a diagram on the board and explained it to students several times, but I still think there was some
general confusion; not enough confusion to derail the lesson, however.).
Lesson Four
Name: Celia Meyer
Placement/Level: Ft. Clarke, 8th Grade Reading
Lesson Title: Cluster 1, Day 1: Description
Purpose or Goal of Instruction: For this cluster, students are being asked to work toward meeting
standards that deal with describing, so today will be spent explaining the cluster one essential question
(What was life like during the Harlem Renaissance?), the importance of descriptive language in writing,
and how to identify descriptive language (so they can better write descriptively on their own). I will be
using this lesson to not only assess where students are in terms of understanding the importance of
descriptive writing and their ability to write with strong descriptions, but also to emphasize that this is an
important skill to have as a writer.
Rationale: Students will benefit from some explicit instruction on how to write and track descriptive
language, especially after self-evaluating their own skill. Having the chance to practice after this

instruction with the whole class before continuing to develop the skill on their own will allow the
students more time to effectively process and internalize the ideas.
Objectives:
SWBAT: List descriptive details based on all of their senses using a graphic organizer.
SWBAT: Create a short descriptive paragraph using effective sensory details.
Procedures for Teachers:
Preparation and Materials Needed:
Graphic organizers- 1 per student
Smartboard slide with space to fill in class examples
Introduction:
Bell Work: As students enter the room, they will see instructions on the board to get out a piece
of paper, and in as much detail as possible, describe the classroom exactly as they see it through writing.
After five minutes of writing, I will stop them and ask for examples of what they came up with, and then
ask students to self-assess their own descriptive ability based on the examples from their classmates and
what they had written. They will write down their self-assessment and submit it to me, so I can better
adapt my lessons.
Next, the teacher will introduce the lesson by explaining the overall goal and essential question
of the first group of lessons. Since the goal asks students to become proficient at describing, and being
able to describe life during the Harlem Renaissance, as a class, we will brainstorm what life is like in
Gainesville (adjectives, activities, favorite places to go, etc). Students responses will be written on the
board. Next, students will be given a sensory details chart, which they will keep and fill out throughout
the next two weeks of lessons. As a class, we will go over an example for each sense, and then as an exit
slip, students will write a paragraph including at least one sensory detail for three different senses about
their morning/day so far, or another topic of their choice that they think they can write about easily using
a variety of sensory details. Any time left over after students finish writing their paragraph (including a
brief statement on how they tried to improve their descriptive ability) will be spent on independent
reading.
Assistance/Scaffolding: I will provide scaffolding to students by going through examples for the
sensory details chart, drawing from my own experiences and the experiences students share with the
class, and I will monitor student progress and assist when needed during the exit slip writing.
Closure/Summary: The lesson will close with an exit slip, which invites students to practice
descriptive writing with sensory detail. Any time remaining after students finish writing their paragraph
will be used for independent reading.
Connection to previous and forthcoming lessons: This lesson is connected to the next two
weeks lessons because they all deal with description, and learning about the days and lives of people
during the Harlem Renaissance. Students will be asked to find details that help answer the essential
question, and become better descriptive writers by practicing creative writing using a variety of sensory
details.
Procedures for Students:
1. Complete the bell work by describing the classroom in as detailed a way as possible. Write a selfassessment of their descriptive ability after hearing some examples from classmates. 5 minutes
2. Listen to explanation of the essential question and goal of the unit, and participate in the what is life
like in Gainesville? brainstorming activity. 10 minutes
3. Provide examples for the sensory details chart class exercise, and record some examples in their own
chart for future reference. 10 minutes

4. Write a descriptive paragraph using sensory details based on their morning so far, or another creative
paragraph of their choice. They must include at least three sensory details, and each detail must be for a
different sense. Students can share at the bottom of this exit slip what steps they made to improve their
descriptive skill after self-evaluating their bell work. 20 minutes
5. Independent reading. 5 minutes.
Assessment:
Work collected/observed: Participation during the class activities will be observed, and the
combined bell work and exit slips will be collected.
Criteria Used: Students will be expected to participate during the class explanation and their
exit slips will be assessed based on their ability to effectively incorporate sensory, descriptive detail.
This will be a formative assessment to determine how much more explicit instruction on including
sensory detail in writing will be necessary.
Accommodations:
Challenge: Students who would like a challenge can also complete a descriptive paragraph for a
fictional world, in addition to the real world. Or, if they choose to write about a fictional world
originally, complete a second paragraph about their morning so far.
Support: Using a graphic organizer for the sensory details is an example of a support
accommodation. Students with support accommodations for additional time will be allowed to submit
their paragraphs the next day, after completing them for homework. Since this lesson moves quickly, and
includes a variety of activities, students with ADHD or other activity disorders will benefit from not
having to focus on one task for too long. Students who need to hear instructions orally will benefit from
the teacher repeating instructions aloud and clarifying them to the class, and students who have hearing
or visual impairments will have been seated near the front of the room.
ESOL: ELL students will have the option to spend additional time at home writing their
paragraphs and submit them for homework, and they will also benefit from the visual nature of the
graphic organizer and in-class practice.
Standards Addressed:
LAFS.8.RI.1.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Reflection:
Overall, this lesson went well, especially after adding the steps to think about what you need to
think about in order to describe well, and by giving students the option to describe the room again
instead of a different topic at the end of the lesson. I think the self- assessment activity was valuable,
since students had to actually stop and reflect on their abilities, even if it was just to say I dont know if
Im any good or not. I think the class brainstorm worked out well in most respects, especially after
beginning to call attention to what was and was not a sensory detail after finishing the brainstorm. That
gave the students a better idea of what direction to go in while thinking of ideas of sensory details after
the brainstorm. I think I would do a lesson like this again in the future, likely before a descriptive or
creative writing assignment in order to help students before they plan and brainstorm for their own
papers. That way, if students finished the activities very quickly, like second period did, they could begin
their individual assignment, since having students just write one paragraph did not take very much effort
from many students, and they finished with nearly 20 minutes left in class (although that certainly was
not the case in all classes).
Lesson Five

Name: Celia Meyer


Placement/Level: Ft. Clarke, 8th Grade Reading
Lesson Title: 7th Avenue: The Great Black Way- Day 1
Purpose or Goal of Instruction: Students will be introduced to the new vocabulary used in this essay.
Students will continue to identify descriptive details, and use the description to learn about what life was
like during the Harlem Renaissance. The lesson is also designed to invite students to form questions
based on what they are reading, and allow those questions to inform their later reading.
Rationale: Students need to understand the words in writing fluently in order to comprehend the
messages, both obvious and subtextual, presented, so learning the new vocabulary in the essay in context
will help them comprehend the surface details more completely, so they can do more inferential thinking
on their own. In order to follow the gradual release model, the teacher will model finding and noting
descriptive details, so students can later practice on their own. In addition, allowing students to
formulate questions as they read will help them set a purpose for later reading and provide the
opportunity for student-led discussion in later classes.
Objectives:
SWBAT: Correctly define new vocabulary words and apply their knowledge of these words to
write a sample sentence including the new word used correctly.
SWBAT: Create a question that demonstrates what they understand so far from the essay, and
what they still need and want to know.
Procedures for Teachers:
Preparation and Materials Needed:
Vocabulary charts for 7th Ave- 1 per student
Introduction: The teacher will introduce the lesson by passing out the vocabulary graphic
organizer, and invite students to predict or provide their ideas for definitions for the words listed.
Students will have this chart with them as we begin to read the essay, and as we encounter the words
listed, students will again provide ideas for definitions for the words, now that they have a context.
There will also be space on the vocabulary chart to include new words the student does not know that
are not already provided by the teacher. Once we begin to read the essay, the teacher will model finding
descriptive details to include and noticing new words through a think-aloud, and encourage student
volunteer readers to do the same.
Assistance/Scaffolding: The teacher will assist and scaffold potential student definitions for
words, and help students better understand the new words in context while reading aloud. The teacher
will also scaffold student definition creation as the words on the chart are found in the essay. The teacher
will scaffold through a think-aloud how to notice and write descriptive sensory details in their charts.
Closure/Summary: The final activity for the day is students beginning to read the 7th Avenue
essay, noting descriptive details to add to their charts, and when they find the new vocabulary words.
Connection to previous and forthcoming lessons: In addition to learning new words, students
are practicing locating descriptive details that help them answer the question what was life like during
the Harlem Renaissance, which is the overall goal for the cluster of lessons.
Procedures for Students:
1. Go over vocabulary chart, and tell students to listen or watch for these words while we are reading the
essay. Students will be invited to predict what these words mean, or share their definitions if they
already know. We will go over each word as we find it in the essay. 10 minutes

2. Begin reading the essay (combined teacher read-aloud for effective modeling and student volunteer
after several read-aloud paragraphs), and record instances of descriptive details that help answer the
essential question. In order to facilitate noting of key descriptive details, the teacher will think-aloud as
she encounters them. As each new vocabulary word is found, students will share ideas of what that word
means based on the context, and as a class we will come to a consensus on a definition. The teacher will
help guide students toward an acceptable definition if they are struggling. 35 minutes
3. During the last five minutes of class, as an exit slip, students are to write down two questions or
wonderings they have about the reading so far. The questions can be clarification questions, questions
relating to their big ideas so far, questions that relate back to their anticipation guide, or just a new
wondering they have about any idea encountered in the essay thus far. These questions will be used
during the jigsaw activity tomorrow (the questions the teacher feels will inspire the most thoughtful
discussion will be saved and reproduced for the activity, and the teacher will supplement with additional
questions if necessary). 5 minutes
Assessment:
Work collected/observed: Students will keep their vocabulary charts in their binders, and their
inclusion of new descriptive details on their chart will be observed. Student questions will be collected.
Criteria Used: Students are expected to fill out the vocabulary chart completely, and read
quietly and attentively, identifying and writing down details that will help them answer the essential
question. The questions will be assessed for thoughtfulness, and the best will be used to facilitate
discussion.
Accommodations:
Challenge: Students can create a poster for a vocabulary word of their choice, especially if it was
a word they encountered on their own not included on the original list, with the definition and a sentence
in which the word is used correctly included. *Extra credit- if students have a completely filled out
vocabulary chart, including three words they found on their own, and they turn in a poster (at least 8x11
paper size) that includes a picture in color (drawn or printed), the definition, and the word correctly used
in a sentence, they will get 1 point extra credit applied toward their next vocabulary quiz grade.
Support: Students who need additional support will be given additional examples of descriptive
details from the story, so they know what kinds of things to look for while they read. Students who have
not completed the definitions for the vocabulary words we encountered so far or finished writing their
questions will be invited to come in during lunch or after school to go over the definitions or finish their
questions.
Standards Addressed:
LAFS.8.RI.1.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
LAFS.8.RI.2.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning
and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
Reflection:
This lesson worked out well for all of the classes. I think having students guess or suggest
potential meanings and definitions for the words before we read, then stopping to ponder the words in
context as we reach them, helped the students understand the words on a deeper level than they would
have had they just written down a provided definition.
I started the reading, then asked for volunteers. Usually I had plenty of people volunteer to read,
but if someone did not volunteer, I simply took over for another paragraph or two. I also stopped the

readers periodically (about three times total) to ask for examples of sensory details students were finding
in the reading. I noticed that many students were not recording them on their own, and would have a
blank organizer if I did not stop and ask for examples. While I think hearing examples is beneficial, and
many students are still learning this concept, I also want to stress individual accountability. I think when
we read The Typewriter, I will have students provide examples to the class twice, and then clearly
state my expectations that students are finding their own details, so they get individual practice doing so.
The Typewriter is significantly longer than this article, so I want to give students the majority of the
reading to work with on their own in terms of finding examples, and not just provide the examples for
them.
In addition, while reading this article out loud was fairly painless since it was relatively short and
I had plenty of volunteers, I think I will have to change the way we read The Typewriter. Although
Mrs. Thomas does not think individual, silent reading of in-class texts is a good idea, I think we will
have to do some individual and some whole-class reading of that story. Since the dialect will potentially
be confusing for some readers, I want to not only discuss dialect but also model how to read and hear it,
which is why some read-aloud time will be important for that story. However, since the story is so long,
I do not think reading the whole thing out loud is really feasible. It would likely take us three days just to
read the entire story, and many students read faster to themselves than aloud. I wish they could come to
class already having read the story, but as that is not an option, we will simply have to devote plenty of
class time to getting it read before we can discuss it.
While the classes were able to finish reading and turn in questions by the end of the first day,
since Fridays classes were shortened to 30 minutes, which was not enough time for lesson sixs
activities, I gave the students additional time to work on their vocabulary charts, which I will give a
small completion grade to. They did not have to finish Friday; they have until Wednesday (2/18) to show
me they are done.
Lesson Six
Name: Celia Meyer
Placement/Level: Ft. Clarke, 8th Grade Reading
Lesson Title: 7th Ave- Day 2
Purpose or Goal of Instruction: Cluster goal- describe what life was like during the Harlem
Renaissance. Lesson Goal- for students to finish reading 7th Ave, work toward meeting the description
standard and identifying sensory/descriptive details in writing, and using cooperative learning to answer
critical reading questions about the article.
Rationale: Students are continuing to practice their ability to find and identify descriptions that help
them decide what life was like during the Harlem Renaissance. Discussing student-generated questions
in small groups will help students understand different points of view other students have taken on the
essay, and make connections they might not have considered on their own. Discussing particularly
interesting or insightful questions as a class after the small group discussions will also inspire deeper
understanding and engagement. Since they have been doing this for a few days now, they are working
more in small cooperative groups than as a whole class.
Objectives:
SWBAT: Identify descriptive or sensory details in an essay.
SWBAT: Analyze an essay for key details that help them answer the essential question.
SWBAT: Apply their knowledge of using description in a creative writing passage.

Procedures for Teachers:


Preparation and Materials Needed:
Instructions/Questions for Jigsaw activity- 1 per group (~5-6 copies, to be shared
between periods).
Introduction: The teacher will introduce the lesson by letting students know they are going to
finish reading 7th Ave, either independently or through a read-aloud strategy (depending on what
students want to do and/or what worked the day before). While students read (or directly after finishing),
they will fill out their sensory detail chart for the essay. They will also complete their vocabulary chart at
this time, if any words had spaces blank. After everyone has finished reading (or the read-aloud is over),
the teacher will explain the jigsaw activity, and split the students into their home and expert groups.
Each expert group will be in charge of discussing one or more of the questions the class produced during
the exit slip activity the day before. The teacher will circulate at this point to monitor student discussion
and scaffold understanding if necessary. The expert groups will report back their discussion findings to
their home groups so each student has a chance to hear about the different ideas discussed, and what
questions their classmates raised. After the jigsaw activity is concluded, the teacher will introduce the
creative writing activity, if any time remains in class.
Assistance/Scaffolding: The teacher will provide assistance and scaffolding to students while
they work in their expert and home groups during the jigsaw activity, to clarify questions or prompt
students toward deciding on an answer, if an answer exists.
Closure/Summary: The day will end with students finishing reporting back to their home
groups from the jigsaw activity, or if time remains, beginning their creative writing activity. (Or
independent reading, if there is only ~5 minutes left in class.)
Connection to previous and forthcoming lessons: This lesson builds directly off of the
previous lesson, which introduced the essay to students, and continues the theme of the cluster, which is
description. The Jigsaw activity students complete will help them answer the essential question: what
was life like during the Harlem Renaissance?
Procedures for Students:
1. Students will finish reading 7th Ave and fill out their sensory details chart. 20 minutes
2. Students will complete a Jigsaw activity in order to answer questions about the essay.
20-30 minutes.
3. If time, students will begin their creative writing assignment (~10 minutes left), or do
independent reading (~5 minutes left).
Assessment:
Work collected/observed: Students jigsaw participation will be observed, and their completed
vocabulary chart and added-to descriptive details chart will be graded for completion.
Criteria Used: Jigsaw participation will be assessed based on each student's ability to relate their
groups discussion and ideas about the questions back to their expert groups.
Accommodations:
Challenge: Students who would like a challenge can present a summary of all expert group
findings to the class after the experts have reconvened in the home groups.
Support: The teacher will circulate during the Jigsaw activity to provide assistance and support,
and can provide expert groups with examples or cues to help them answer their question. Students who
need extra time may borrow notes from other students to copy at home. Students who have visual or
hearing impairments will be seated in groups near the front of the classroom. Students who have ADHD

will benefit from this activity because students are not focusing on one thing for too long, and the
activity is very interactive.
Standards Addressed:
LAFS.8.RI.1.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
LAFS.8.W.1.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
Reflection:
Today was a little crazy, partly because we had a lot to get through in a short amount of time, and
partly because I had a sub that tried to take over the class when it wasnt her job. The students did a very
good job on the Jigsaw activity overall. Although I was not able to use as many of the questions that I
collected from students as I would have wanted to, since most of them were fact-based and not open to
inquiry and the exploring of ideas, I used as many student-generated questions as I could, and came up
with a few of my own as well. I chose the 5 best questions to use in the expert groups. The students did a
great job thinking about those questions, and tying in ideas from the reading and from the anticipation
guide to help them come to a conclusion about it, since many of the questions I used had no definitive
answer. I was actually very pleased with some of the insightful comments students were making.
I also had a chance to understand how important prompting and cueing students are. I worked
with each expert group as they worked through the question, in order to hear their ideas and help them
think of new ones. Being able to ask those prompting questions is definitely a skill I am going to keep
developing, but I was happy to see the light come on in students eyes when they figured out the
direction I was prompting them toward, and get there the rest of the way on their own.
Classroom management was a struggle for me today, not only because the students were working
in groups, but because the substitute was stepping on my toes a bit. If she felt students were getting out
of hand, she would raise her voice and tell them to listen to me, and her reprimands often lasted longer
than it would have taken me to regain control anyway, and in addition she was undermining my
authority by saying anything in the first place. I will have to keep this experience in mind, and, as you
suggested, tell subs (in a kind and courteous manner, of course) to keep quiet and let me handle the
class, even if they think they know better, because this is my opportunity to learn and deal with those
situations.
I am also aware that part of the problem could have been that students were working in groups
they chose themselves (for at least the beginning and end portions of the class, I could be a bit more
deliberate with the expert groups by giving certain question cards to certain students), and not groups I
assigned. I considered doing this, but wanted to give students the opportunity to show me they could
work with their friends and still be productive. I also wound up having multiple students absent from
each class this day, so planning groups ahead of time would have been almost pointless since I would
have had to rearrange them to accommodate for the missing students. That being said, I still think the
next time students work in groups, I will set the groups beforehand and assign students to groups I think
will work well together. If nothing else, that will give me the opportunity to compare how that activity
functioned vs. the activity where students chose their own groups, and see which was more effective
overall.
Lesson Seven
Name: Celia Meyer
Placement/Level: Ft. Clarke, 8th Grade Reading

Lesson Title: 7th Ave- Day 3


Purpose or Goal of Instruction: Cluster goal: Describe what life was like during the Harlem
Renaissance. Lesson Goal: use what you know about including detail and describing life to write a short
creative passage about what life will be like in Gainesville in 70 years.
Rationale: Since the main standard being addressed during this cluster of lessons is description,
students will be doing a creative writing assignment in order to practice including description in their
writing. This will help them not only become better writers, but being able to see how authors include
description to answer questions about what a situation, period in time, person, etc. was like. This is an
independent project, since students have been working toward meeting this standard for several days,
and the gradual release model is being implemented.
Objectives:
SWBAT: Apply their knowledge of including descriptive details to correctly and effectively use
at least 15 descriptive sensory details in a piece of creative writing.
Procedures for Teachers:
Preparation and Materials Needed:
Directions for creative writing assignment- 1 per student
Introduction: Teacher will introduce creative writing assignment and pass out the directions
handout if there was not enough time to do so yesterday. Students will work on this creative assignment
for the remainder of the period, and finish for homework if they do not finish by the end of the period.
Students will also be expected to use age-appropriate grammar and conventions, and their ability to do
so will be incorporated into their grade, but most of the emphasis will be on their ability to use
description effectively and communicate their original and creative ideas well.
Assistance/Scaffolding: The teacher will circulate and offer prompts and suggestions for student
writing while they complete the assignment. She will also clarify any instruction that students might be
confused about.
Closure/Summary: The teacher will collect the creative writing assignments at the end of the
period if students have finished, and explain that they can take them home to finish or make changes if
they desire.
Connection to previous and forthcoming lessons: Students are finishing their three day session
with the 7th Ave essay, and continuing to work toward meeting the description standard. This lesson
and activity will give them more practice adding and identifying descriptive details in essays and fiction
writing.
Procedures for Students:
1. Read creative writing instructions. 5 minutes
2. Begin and finish writing creative writing assignment (1 page, single spaced, front and back; at
least 2 sensory details per sense included). 45 minutes
3. Finish assignment for homework if necessary.
Assessment:
Work collected/observed: Creative writing will be collected and assessed based on their ability to
include all aspects of the assignment, and the overall quality of the writing.
Criteria Used: A rubric, which grades students on their ability to include 15 sensory details (3 per
sense), write a complete creative piece that meets the page requirements, the effectiveness of their detail
when describing life in Gainesville 70 years from now, and the overall coherence, flow, and grammatical
correctness of the piece.

Accommodations:
Challenge: Students who finish early can peer-review each others papers for completion and
effective use of sensory detail.
Support: Students who need more time can finish their creative writing at home for homework.
Standards Addressed:
LAFS.8.W.1.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
Reflection:
This creative writing assignment turned into a two-day assignment, since Mrs. Thomas and I
decided it was going to be worth a test grade and emphasized as an important submission for the class,
so I decided to give them two days to work on it in class instead of one. I gave them paper to brainstorm
on, and before they started typing their papers they had to show me their brainstorm. I also decided to
allow students to resubmit this assignment after receiving their first grade, but I am not telling them they
can do so until after they have turned in the first submission. That way, they will have the option to
implement the feedback I give them, and hopefully improve their writing for their final grade for the
assignment.
After two full days to work on the paper in class, which only needed to be one page long typed,
or the front and back of one page if handwritten, most periods only had about a 50% submission rate. I
emphasized that they could in fact turn in a second draft, and the grade on their second draft would
replace the grade on their first draft, so even if they turned in their paper to me for a late grade, as long
as they got me a second draft by Friday, the late grade would disappear. I also said, however, that I was
no longer accepting submissions after Friday, for either a first or second draft. It is now Wednesday of
the week the second draft is due, and I still have about 30 missing first drafts. It is a little frustrating that
the students do not take the initiative to turn in their work, even when given the opportunity to try again
and do better.
Of the assignments I did get, for the most part I was fairly pleased with them. Most students did
a great job incorporating sensory details into their work, and since they could describe future Gainesville
as any world they could imagine, I got some fairly creative pieces. I liked seeing some students who
arent as motivated in class excel at this assignment, and I was careful to commend them and be
encouraging, as well as providing some helpful feedback. I think I would do this assignment again in the
future, with either an emphasis on sensory details again, or modify it to emphasize another aspect of
writing students are practicing. I think creative writing in particular lends itself to emphasizing
description, which is why I liked this assignment for this lesson and this cluster of lessons that focus on
describing. In addition, I am glad I asked students to do some brainstorming before they began writing. I
noticed while students were writing that if they had a full brainstorm sheet, they were more likely to stay
on topic and finish in class, and those students also had, in general, a higher score on their paper than
those that did not spend much time brainstorming (although that was not a hard and fast rule- there were
some students who began writing right away and still did a fantastic job. I think it depends on the
student whether brainstorming will lead to a better paper, but for most students it was beneficial, so I
will continue to include that step as well).
I used a rubric with this assignment, and went over the rubric carefully with the students, and
they each also had a directions sheet that basically reiterated and explained what was on the rubric.
Although the rubric helped me a lot with the first batch of essays I got, I wound up wanting to go more
and more off-rubric as I continued to grade. I think in this circumstance the rubric was helpful, but I
think for the analytical paper I will avoid using one and see how grading works out (likely the students

will benefit, since theres not prescribed amount of points to take off, and I tend to lean toward giving
the higher grade).
Finally, this assignment definitely helped me see what areas and aspects of writing students
needed the most help with. There was general confusion over using apostrophes correctly, an abundance
of comma splices, lack of knowledge on how to properly use semicolons, using proper punctuation after
introductory clauses and words, and how to properly punctuate quotes and dialogue, among other things.
I realize that these students might not have had instruction in these areas of writing before, and I really
wish I had another week of the internship available to me to do a writing workshop, but as it is Im
already trying to squeeze so much in (what with what I actually want to do and what Im required to do)
that I do not have time for a writing workshop day, or week for that matter. Also, since we are the
reading class, according to Mrs. Thomas the students are learning about how to write and about the
things I am noticing in their writing in their Language Arts class, which is why I should not spend a lot
of my time on writing activities or teach them writing.
Lesson Eight
Name: Celia Meyer
Placement/Level: Ft. Clarke, 8th Grade Reading
Lesson Title: The Typewriter- Day 1
Purpose or Goal of Instruction: Students will begin a new set of lessons based on the short story The
Typewriter. This group of lessons is still contained in cluster 1, so they still focus on describing and
answering the essential question what was life like during the Harlem Renaissance? During this
lesson, students will learn which new vocabulary words to look for in the story, learn about how
different authors use different dialects in their writing and what effects the use of dialect has on the
writing and interpretation of the story, and hear a short mini-lesson on questioning and the importance of
questioning in the classroom. I want students to be prepared to encounter the new and potentially
unfamiliar words they will see in this short story, and since it is more complex than anything I have done
with them before, I think being able to read the story more fluently once they learn the new words will
help them comprehend more readily on the surface level, so they can dive into deeper thinking.
I also wanted to include a lesson on dialect, not only because Dorothy West uses a distinct
African American dialect in her story, but also because students might not have encountered the use of
dialect in literature before. I want to emphasize to students that knowing a characters dialect can
provide you some information about them, such as perhaps where they are from or the language used in
their home, but I also wanted to emphasize that a characters (or persons) dialect cannot tell you how
smart someone is, the events of their past, or other elements of a characters (or persons) history that
cannot be reflected in dialect alone.
Finally, since my inquiry project will revolve around questioning and asking questions in the
classroom, I wanted to do a short lesson on why asking questions is important and go over some
guidelines or suggestions on how to come up with a good question, in order to see if this lesson will help
students come up with questions that will help them learn more consistently in class. I emphasized that
questioning can help you monitor your own understanding, connect with the text, and eventually lead to
a deeper understanding of what a text has to offer, and suggested that if students have a difficult time
formulating their own questions, they could think about questioning motive (why an author or a
character made a choice they made), questioning something that sticks out to them or something that is
interesting to them, as well as thinking about elements of writing like tone and themes, and questioning

not only what they are in that particular piece of writing, but why they are the way they are (E.g. why is
the tone sad in this passage, when the scene is a birthday party?). I was sure to give this lesson after the
questioning survey had already been administered, so as to not sway students original opinions.
Rationale: Since were starting on a new story, students are going to be doing a whole-class discussion
on dialect, learning about the literary term and what authors use it for. Students will also be, just like
with the last essay that included new or unfamiliar words, predicting what those words might mean
before beginning to read. This will help them remember those words when they encounter them in the
story, and recognize when to stop and evaluate their understanding based on words they do not know.
Learning about dialect will prepare them to read and interpret the use of an African American dialect in
the story. The lesson on questioning will hopefully help students keep the task of asking questions in
mind when they read in the future, not only in this class but for the rest of their lives, so they can grow
to be more inquisitive readers and deeper thinkers.
Objectives:
SWBAT: Define the literary term dialect
SWBAT: Correctly identify and use new vocabulary words in context.
Procedures for Teachers:
Preparation and Materials Needed:
Vocabulary charts- 1 per student
Introduction: I will introduce the lesson by going over the vocabulary activity and giving
students the chart to fill out as they read. We will, as with the first story, go over the words as a class,
and try to predict or guess what they might mean. We will modify the definitions and record them in the
chart as we encounter them in the story. After they have completed that activity, I will lead a group
discussion on the literary term dialect. After our discussion has concluded, students will begin reading
the short story with whatever time is left in class. They will be instructed to write down one question or
wondering after every 2 pages of text.
Assistance/Scaffolding: I will provide assistance when students review the vocabulary charts
and when students participate in the class discussion. I will provide prompting and cues as students learn
about the new term (dialect), and begin to understand it and how it is used.
Closure/Summary: The lesson will conclude with a read-aloud of the first part of the story by
the teacher, and if additional time remains, students continuing the story on their own at their own pace.
As/if they read alone, students will be noting descriptive details to fill into their chart, as well as
stopping when they encounter the words included in the vocabulary chart in order to decide on a
definition based on the context of the word, or looking up the word in a dictionary to inform their
definition choice. We will go over each of the words after students have finished reading the story.
Connection to previous and forthcoming lessons: Students are continuing to practice their
descriptive detail identification, and learning about new terms and words that will help them understand
the stories and ideas presented in this unit.
Procedures for Students:
1. Students will take a short survey on questioning. 5 minutes
2. Students will participate in the mini-lesson on questioning. 15 minutes
3. Students will participate in the mini-lesson on dialect. 10 minutes
4. Students will review the new vocabulary words they are going to encounter in the story. After,
we will start reading, pausing to consider the vocabulary words as we find them, and pausing to
write down questions at the end of every other page. 20 minutes
Assessment:

Work collected/observed: Vocabulary charts will be kept in students binders, but observed for
completion once we have reviewed the new words as a class. Participation in the class discussion will be
observed. Student questions and wonderings will be collected.
Criteria Used: Vocabulary charts will be informally assessed for completion. Questions will be
assessed based on completion; students should have at least one to submit by the end of the period, and
four total by the time they finish reading the short story.
Accommodations:
Challenge: Students who want a challenge can add antonym and synonym columns to their
vocabulary charts, and fill them in.
Support: Students who need more information or examples will be given a printed handout that
explains the term dialect in greater detail. Students who need additional time can take a few extra
minutes to fill out their survey, and nothing else in this lesson requires additional time for independent
student work. Student with sight and hearing impairments have been accommodated through the seating
chart. Students with attention disorders will be accommodated through this lesson because we are doing
many different things in a short amount of time, so they never have to focus on one thing for more than
15-20 minutes. The lesson is also fairly interactive, which will accommodate their need to talk and
interact.
ESOL: ELL students will be accommodated with an additional handout if they request one, for
both the dialect discussion and the questioning mini-lesson. ELL students will also be able to ask me any
clarification questions they need to in order to understand what the statements are saying.
Standards Addressed:
LAFS.8.RL.1.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
LAFS.8.RI.2.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning
and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
LAFS.8.SL.1.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others
ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Reflection: Overall, I was pleased with the way this lesson turned out. I wanted to be sure to give the
students a chance to learn about how to come up with meaningful questions, and most classes were
fairly receptive to that lesson. I will be interested to see how students ability to question grows or
progresses after this lesson. The lesson on dialect was fairly interactive, and students did a good job
talking about what they knew about dialect, and we worked through how authors might show dialect in a
story, as well as what a dialect can and cant reveal about a character. The classes all participated in this
discussion fairly actively, and I think it helped prepare them for the African American dialect we
encountered in the story. I would do a lesson like this in the future as well, when teaching a new group
of students who are about to encounter dialect in a story.
Finally, although we did go over the new vocabulary words with all of the classes, and spent time
predicting what they might mean, only one class actually got to start reading today. I am glad we do
spend the time going over the vocabulary before we start reading though, because it makes the students
much more aware of the words when we find them in the real story. This time, the students were much
more active voicing their predictions before reading, as well as trying to decide what the word meant in
context when we reached it. Although I am not a huge fan of doing vocabulary lessons, and feel that an
effective way to tackle vocabulary would be for students to keep a private vocabulary journal, I am glad

that my method of approaching this assignment seems to help them. That being said, I will have a much
better idea of how my approach to teaching vocabulary works when they take their vocabulary test next
week, and I can evaluate how the students did and see if my efforts helped them at all.
Lesson Nine
Name: Celia Meyer
Placement/Level: Ft. Clarke, 8th Grade Reading
Lesson Title: The Typewriter- Day 2
Purpose or Goal of Instruction: Students are continuing to read the short story The Typewriter. The
goal is still to learn about what life was like during the Harlem Renaissance, and be able to describe it,
so they will continue to find details that help them answer that question while they read. I found this
short story meaningful for both the unit and my goal of helping students improve their ability to
question. The author makes very deliberate choices, such as to not give her main character a name, and
the main character makes very interesting choices as well, which will give the students a lot to think
about and question. The ending of the story is also fairly dramatic and very open to interpretation, which
should hopefully lead to a flood of questions. In terms of the Harlem Renaissance, this short story was
written at the very beginning of it, and does an excellent job depicting what it was like for those people
who moved North in search of a better life, but did not find it. This should help students think about
their anticipation guides, and what we assumed about the people who lived in Harlem.
Rationale: We will be reading the story together as a class. Both myself and student volunteers will
read the story. Together, we will discuss and work through some potentially confusing scenes, but the
students will be working independently to ask questions, and write those questions down to turn in to
me. Students will also be working independently to fill in sensory details on their chart while we read.
Since this is the first time students are encountering the story, I want some of the lesson to be a wholeclass environment, and some aspects of it to be more independent.
Objectives:
SWBAT: Evaluate their understanding of the short story, and write questions that, when
discussed, will increase their understanding.
SWBAT: Identify descriptive details in The Typewriter, especially those that answer the
question what was life like during the Harlem Renaissance?
Procedures for Teachers:
Preparation and Materials Needed: Pre-read and review the book, in order to find potentially
difficult or confusing aspects of the story that might need further explanation.
Introduction: The teacher will introduce the lesson by giving students directions about the days
activities, which include continuing to read the short story, writing down their questions and wonderings
at the end of every page to monitor their comprehension and spark discussion, and asking them to
continue to fill out their sensory details chart and vocabulary charts as they read.
Assistance/Scaffolding: The teacher will monitor students understanding of the story as we
read it aloud together, and clarify certain aspects that require some interpretation (first by asking for
student interpretation, and then adding on to that as needed). The vocabulary aspect of the lesson will be
scaffolded by the teacher as she stops the class to go over each word, facilitates discussion about the
word, and writes the final class definition on the board for everyone to use.
Closure/Summary: The lesson will end when students have finished reading the story (or at
least the majority of it).

Connection to previous and forthcoming lessons: Students learned about a new term and
literary technique that will help them understand and guide their reading yesterday, and will spend time
discussing how the author used dialect and its effects once everyone finishes reading. We will also go
over the vocabulary words as they were found in context, and fill out the vocabulary organizers after
reading. Students are also continuing to find descriptive details in the story, which helps them answer the
essential question of the cluster. The lesson is also directly related to the lesson on questioning, since
students are being asked to apply their new knowledge of effective questioning to the story in order to
ask questions that will help them understand the story, and find a deeper meaning in the text.
Procedures for Students:
1. We will read the short story The Typewriter. At the end of every other page, write down one
question or wondering. Fill in your sensory details chart as you read. We will stop to talk about the
vocabulary words as we find them, and fill in the definitions on your organizers. You will keep your
questions until tomorrow, when we finish the story, at which point you will turn them in. 50 minutes
Assessment:
Work collected/observed: Students will be observed on their ability to find and fill in sensory
details to their chart as we read, and as needed the teacher will remind them to find those details.
Students will also be observed on their ability to stay on task and follow along with the class as we read
together, especially if they are not volunteering to read. Student questions about the reading will be
collected.
Criteria Used: Throughout the period, students are expected to remain on task and complete the
independent reading of the short story. The questions collected will serve as a formative assessment to
see how students are progressing in their ability to question literature as well as how they understand the
story thus far.
Accommodations:
Challenge: If students finish reading, they can look back over their questions and attempt to
answer their own questions, citing lines or phrases from the story as evidence for their answers.
Support: Students who need more time to finish the story can check out a photocopy version of
the story to finish at home. Students with attention deficit disorders will benefit from the frequent breaks
in reading to reflect and ask questions about what we have covered so far. Students who have IEPs for
preferential seating, hearing, or vision impairments have been accommodated by the seating chart.
ESOL: Students for whom English is not their first language will have access to dictionaries
throughout our time reading the story, and have been advised that they (and all students) can ask
questions at any time if some aspect of the story is confusing. The vocabulary chart will help keep
students aware of potential new words and how to use them correctly, and the questioning assignment
will give students the opportunity to think seriously about what they read and if they understood it
(which will benefit everyone, and not just ELL students).
Standards Addressed:
LAFS.8.RL.1.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
LAFS.8.RI.2.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning
and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
Reflection: I was very happy to finally get to work with a short story. I think the students, for the most
part, really enjoyed it as well. They were able to ask me any clarifying or close-ended questions they had
while they were reading, and then I encouraged them to think of open-ended questions to turn in to me. I

thought for the most part students did an excellent job coming up with questions, and the questions they
asked while they were reading showed me that they were following along and engaged, and that they
just needed a little extra guidance to understand a complex story. The ending in particular sparked large
amounts of questions and a lively discussion in which we considered many possibilities. I collected the
four (or more- many students turned in upwards of 10 questions) questions they wrote while reading,
and used them to facilitate the activity we did the next day.
I enjoyed working with this story with the students, and I think they liked it too. This lesson
definitely reinforced for me my desire to teach, but more than that, my desire to teach literature. I think
the students got more out of reading this short story than any of the articles we have read so far, and not
only did they like reading it more, they had more to say about it. I know that English classes are
continuing to move toward only working with informational text, but teaching literature and poetry is by
far what I enjoy the most, and what I hope to spend the majority of my time on in the future. It is a
shame that there are only three short stories provided in this textbook, and that I will only be here long
enough to teach one of them. I will, however, be supplementing the textbook with another short story I
found written during the Harlem Renaissance by Zora Neale Hurston, since I was not a fan (particularly)
of the other short stories in the textbook.
Lesson Ten
Name: Celia Meyer
Placement/Level: Ft. Clarke, 8th Grade Reading
Lesson Title: The Typewriter- Day 3
Purpose or Goal of Instruction: Students are finishing their work on The Typewriter today, by
working in small cooperative groups to answer each others questions from yesterday (the best questions
for eliciting thoughtful discussion were collected and turned into flashcards for a Numbered Heads
Together activity, plus a few extra if necessary. The questions chosen will be those that cannot simply be
answered, but require analysis or deeper consideration of meaning. There may be multiple
interpretations of the question, or the question might not have a definite answer). Students will also be
practicing using a text to answer higher-order thinking skill questions based on the text, in order to
increase those skills.
Rationale: Critical reading skill practice will help students with close reading activities for years to
come, and answering the essential question is the goal of the unit and should be addressed in all the
lessons in this cluster. In addition, since students have been working toward answering that question for
over a week now, they will be working in cooperative groups instead of as a whole class or in a teacherdirected setting, as per the gradual release model.
Objectives:
SWBAT: analyze the short story The Typewriter to answer questions that test their critical
thinking and analytical skills.
Procedures for Teachers:
Preparation and Materials Needed:
Questions and student groups prepared for the Numbered Heads Together activity
Introduction: The teacher will introduce the lesson by explaining the rules for the Numbered
Heads Together, dividing students into groups, and leading the activity. Students will be divided into
pre-arranged groups to allow for maximum participation and productivity. In this activity, students are
split into five groups, with as close to 4 people in each group as the class size allows (some groups will

have 5 people). Each person at each group is assigned a number 1 through 5, so there will be five 1s,
five 2s, and so on. As the teacher displays a question on the board about The Typewriter, either a
question one of the students submitted or one the teacher added, the groups talk about the question and
decide on a group response. Students are allowed to take notes and use the book (they are actually
highly encouraged to use the book to find textual support) while they give their response, but one person
is not allowed to write down the response for the whole group (everyone has to write down the groups
response on their own paper if they want to use that paper while sharing). Everyone in the group is in
charge of knowing their groups response to the question. After a few minutes of group discussion, the
teacher pulls a slip of paper out of a basket that has a number 1 through 5 on it, and all of the people
with the assigned number that is drawn stand up to share their groups response. For example, if I drew a
3, all of the people who were a number 3 (there should be five total) would stand up and be the groups
representative for that turn. Their group is not allowed to coach them or give them answers at that pointit is up to them. In this way, each person on each team is responsible at all times for participating and
being involved in the activity, because they could be called upon to answer for any given question. The
teams that give solid, text-based responses will be awarded a point for that round (sometimes multiple
groups get a point). Since theses students love playing games and are competitive, they should be very
eager to do this activity. After all the groups have responded to any given question, there will be time for
additional comments and discussion before the next question.
Assistance/Scaffolding: Assistance will be given to all groups as they complete the activity in
order to challenge their critical thinking skills. If a group does not understand the question, the teacher
will assist and scaffold their thinking until they reach a point where they can draw a conclusion on their
own.
Closure/Summary: The lesson will conclude when time runs out or students answer the final
question, and do independent reading for the rest of the period.
Connection to previous and forthcoming lessons: Students are finishing their work with The
Typewriter, and beginning their final work with the essential question for the cluster.
Procedures for Students:
1. Participate in the Numbered Heads Together activity. 50 minutes
Assessment:
Work collected/observed: Student participation in the cooperative activity will be observed.
Criteria Used: Students are expected to actively participate in the cooperative activity, and be
ready to give the answer their team discussed together.
Accommodations:
Challenge: Students who need a challenge can answer an additional question that asks them to
compare the images of life presented in 7th Ave and The Typewriter, using key details from the
texts to support their answers
Support: Students will be supported by their teams and by the teacher if the group needs some
scaffolding or prompting to answer the question. Students with attention deficit disorders will be
accommodated by the rapid pace and interactive nature of this lesson. Students with hearing or visual
impairments will work in groups close to the board. Students with IEPs or 504s for extra time can ask
for extra minutes to discuss if they feel it necessary.
ESOL: Students whose first language is not English have been placed into supportive groups that
can offer extra explanation (though no students in these classes are technically defined as ELL
students anymore; there are a few whose first language is not English but they are all proficient in

English), and can take advantage of the rule that allows them to write down the answer or notes to the
answer to help them give their oral response.
Standards Addressed:
LAFS.8.RL.1.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
LAFS.8.SL.1.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others
ideas and expressing their own clearly.
LAFS.8.W.1.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
Reflection:
I was very excited to do this interactive activity with the students, and they were looking forward
to it as well. My morning classes did a fairly good job staying on task and answering the questions in a
thoughtful, meaningful way, often using quotes from the text to support their answers. My afternoon
classes were a different story- they were more concerned about who was in their group than answering
the questions. I even had a student ask if he and one other member of his group could be their own
group, because they did not like the other three people in their group. I wound up having to give a 5
minute lecture on respect which took away time for the activity. Many of the students asked the next day
if we would be able to continue playing the game, so I know they liked it, but I had already planned a
different assignment and was frankly very frustrated with the way the afternoon went, so I did not allow
them to continue the game. Maybe I should have given them a second chance, because I should not let
the behavior of some students ruin it for the group, however I had only planned for it to be a one day
activity originally and needed to move on in my schedule. I will consider doing an activity like this
again soon.
Despite the poor and disrespectful behavior some of the students exhibited, I think overall the
activity was a success. I like that all students were working together to answer a question, and then got
to hear each groups response (especially if it was very different from their own). That allowed them to
hear a wide number of possibilities they might not have considered. I also like that each student is
responsible for knowing their groups response, so they all feel positive peer pressure to pay attention
and contribute. I think most students had fun doing this, and got to practice thinking skills like analysis
and synthesis of ideas and facts to come to a conclusion, which are skills they will continue to develop
throughout their lives.

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