Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETS•S—Template I
(More Directed Learning Activities)
Template with guiding questions
Teacher(s)
Name Shanna Batson

Position English III and IV Teacher

School/District Gulfport High School/ Gulfport School District

E-mail [email protected]

Phone 601-672-3150

Grade Level(s) 11th and 12th grade

Content Area English

Time line 1 week

Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and strategies do you
expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject area benchmarks? ) Please
put a summary of the standards you will be addressing rather than abbreviations and numbers that indicate which
standards were addressed.
Citing strong and thorough text evidence, determining an author’s point of view, write
Content Standards informative text to examine complex ideas, gather information, integrate multiple sources
Use technology to locate information, use a variety of media to communicate information,
NETS*S Standards: and produce creative works

Overview (a short summary of the lesson or unit including assignment or expected or possible products)

After reading the nonfiction book, Just Mercy, students will research a topic of injustice in the United States that
Stevenson mentions in the book. Broad Topics include incarcerating juveniles, the death penalty, prison
conditions in America, prison reform, incarcerated minorities/ socioeconomic inequality in prisons, and mental
illness and prison. In groups of 2-4, students will watch an intro video on Edpuzzle, research the topic, reread the
chapter that corresponds to the topic, and create an informative presentation on the topic (or a subtopic therein).
Each group will create a mind map/ concept map to assign the portions of the presentation. The presentation can
be a video, a slideshow, a brochure, a website/ blog post, a podcast, or an infographic. The presentation should
last at least 5 minutes.

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Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care or
want to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or generate
interest about the topic? Additionally, what questions can you ask students to help them focus on important
aspects of the topic? (Guiding questions) What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring
to this topic and build on?) Remember, essential questions are meant to guide the lesson by provoking inquiry.
They should not be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” and should have many acceptable answers.

What are the factors that create an imbalance of power within a culture? What is justice? How can we apply
mercy to systems and institutions in our society in order to make them more just? When should an individual take
a stand against what he/she believes to be an injustice?

Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to generate new
knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)? How will you assess
what they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?) You must attach copies of your assessment and/or
rubrics. Include these in your presentation as well.

The teacher will give a formative grade for the Edpuzzle videos.
The teacher will give a formative/ completion grade for the concept map/ mind map for completion and split group
assignments. The concept map should also have a decision on the type of presentation for the group.
The teacher will be checking in with the small groups each day and checking on their progression.
The presentation will be a summative grade, using this rubric.

Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resources—online student
tools, research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etc—help elucidate or
explain the content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology skills should students
have to complete this project?)

Students should have some previous knowledge of the presentation software that they choose to use. The
directions for the project and expectations will be on google classroom. Students can create concept maps using
Lucidchart, mind meister, or Canva. Each group will be given a sample concept map as an example. Students
can create presentations using Google Slides, Microsoft PowerPoint, Prezi, Canva, or another type of
presentation creation software. Students can use Canva to create videos (or another type of software they are
familiar with), or anchor to create a podcast. Students will post presentations to google classroom and present at
the end of the week.

Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson? How can
you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)

Prior learning: The class has read and/or listened to the nonfiction novel, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson and
completed reading logs for each chapter.
Needs and Interests: Groups will be formed by which topic students choose to research. Presentations are by
choice as well, so students can work with technology with which they feel familiar. With choices in both the topics
and the final presentation, all students should find an interest.
Difficulties: Some students may not understand Stevenson’s point of view, which is why students will be
instructed to reread the chapters that correspond with the topics. Since students are in groups, group members
can assist with difficulties also. Students also use the concept map to sign up for different aspects of the project,
so they can choose something that they understand.

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Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and the use
of digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (Small groups, whole group, individuals,
classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the Internet while completing this
lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet lesson and explain how you will resolve or
trouble-shoot them? Please note: Trouble-shooting should occur prior to implementing the lesson as well as
throughout the process. Be sure to indicate how you prepared for problems and work through the issues that
occurred as you implemented and even after the lesson was completed.

First, the students in each group will complete an Edpuzzle about their topics. That Edpuzzle will be a formative
grade. Students will be working in small groups and the tables will also be arranged in small groups. Each group
will break down the assignments for the presentation using a concept map. The concept map will be a formative
group. The directions are in a checklist format so that the teacher can check each day and review with each small
group the tasks that must be completed. The teacher will move around the room and check in with groups at the
beginning and the end of class. Computers are 1:1 in this class, so every student has access to the technology
needed for the project. Trouble shooting can be done by the teacher or peers that have used the websites before.
If needed, the students can consult the help websites, such as https://www.canva.com/help/editing-and-designing/.
If group members are having a hard time and do not complete their assigned portion of the project, the students
have two options: they can turn it in without that portion and it will only affect the negligent student’s grade OR they
can complete that group member’s work for extra credit or points.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities – Describe the research-based instructional strategies you will
use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your role? What are the
students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the analysis, evaluation, or
creativity levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy? How can the technology support your teaching? What authentic,
relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students complete? How will they build knowledge
and skills? How will students use digital tools and resources to communicate and collaborate with each other
and others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?

According to Heather Wolpert-Gawron on KQUD.org, “research proves that student choice increases both
engagement and motivation for tweens, teens, and in fact, all age levels” (2018, para. 16). This project offers choices
in two places: in the topic and in the format of the presentation. Students who fear public speaking can even opt for
the video or podcast presentation route. The learning environment will support these activities because the tables will
be set up for small groups, and each student will have his or her own computer. The students’ roles are to research,
create citations, reread sections of the book to find applicable quotes and the author’s POV, and organize a
presentation. Communication and collaboration are encouraged by the concept map that breaks down each project
section, the group checklist, and the presentation. Each suggestion for the software has a sharing capability that
allows several students to work together on one project (especially Canva). The Google Doc checklist will be a
shared document as well. The teacher’s role is to check on individual student and group progress and assist as
needed. The teacher will also give formative grades for the Edpuzzle assignment and the group concept map. The
teacher will also grade the final project using the rubric. The students are analyzing, evaluating, and creating. They
will analyze the chapters of the book, evaluate research websites, and create an informative presentation. The
technology will help the students to create the presentations. The teacher will be checking in with each small group in
order to facilitate collaboration and trouble-shoot problems as needed. The students will build knowledge and skills
through researching, MLA formatting, and creation of the final presentation.

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Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process to accommodate various learning styles and
abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide extensions and
opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)

Differentiation is built into this project through choice. First, the students are able to choose their topics and methods
of presentation, so they can choose something that fits their interests or learning style. Then, students can choose,
within their groups, which portion of the project they will be focused on. That way, students who struggle with
research can opt to complete the introduction and the conclusion, or even work on the editing of the final
presentation. If the students need assistive technology, there are links to audio for the book and add-ons that read
websites aloud for research. The teacher also included a link to the Purdue owl website to help students with MLA
formatting. Students can extend the project and be enriched as much as they want by going over 3 sources,
interviewing an expert in the field, or going over the 5 minute minimum.

Reflection (Will there be a closing event? Will students be asked to reflect upon their work? Will students be
asked to provide feedback on the assignment itself? What will be your process for answering the following
questions?
• Did students find the lesson meaningful and worth completing?
• In what ways was this lesson effective?
• What went well and why?
• What did not go well and why?
• How would you teach this lesson differently?)

Student will reflect on the project and lesson by completing this google form. The teacher will review the
responses and make changes as needed.

Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience with
implementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson? Please
provide a quality reflection on your experience with this lesson and its implementation.

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I teach a senior English class, and as we are finishing up our senior year, any project that has more than 5 minutes
of work is immediately the worst thing that has ever happened with seniors. The students started by ranking their
two top topics, and I put them into small groups according to those. Many of the students wanted to research
incarcerating juveniles, so in the future, it might be a good idea to break that into subgroups like juveniles on death
row, rehabilitation of juveniles, etc.
The students jumped right into their Edpuzzle assignments. We have done Edpuzzles several times during class, so
they felt familiar with those. Then some of the groups hit a wall. I had to walk around and help the students set up
their concept maps. Most groups took the easy way out and made a copy of my sample concept map and just
added their names. Only two groups, both had members who were familiar with Canva, decided to create their own
map. The groups all chose Canva to create the concept maps. I had to assist a few groups in the creation of the
map and the assignment of roles because they were having a hard time communicating. I also assisted the groups
by showing them templates on Canva for videos, what anchor looked like for recording podcasts, and some other
ideas for the presentation. By day 2, all groups had specific assignments and had picked a presentation method.
Most groups chose Google Slides because of their familiarity. One group chose to create an infographic on Canva,
and one group chose to complete a Canva presentation that looks like google slides. No groups chose podcasts or
videos. I think that if, as a teacher, I introduce creating small videos and podcasts for other projects throughout the
year, students would not be as reticent.
I checked in with all the groups on day 4, and many of them were not ready to present, so they were given an extra
day. I assisted the students with Canva as needed and helped them add pictures. Most students were very familiar
with Google Slides, so if they were stuck, someone in their group assisted them.
Students presented on day six of the lesson, and some of their presentations were not as in depth as I would have
liked. As seniors who are about to graduate, several groups did just enough to pass the assignment. I would advise
a teacher working on this project to have certain goals or checkpoints that the students need to accomplish each
day, so that students will not wait until the last minute to complete goals. Students also need extra help with the
MLA citations, as some groups chose not to complete those citations at all, or they just put the website/article URL
on a sheet of paper.

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