UbD Lesson Plan Template

Client Organization: Lesher Middle School

Main Contact: Tom Dodd, Principal
Email Address: tdodd@psdschools.org

Telephone: (970) 472-3800

Date: 9/9/2014

VITAL INFORMATION
Author
Subject
Topic of Study or Unit
Grade/Level
Summary

Aubrey Eder
English
Asian American Perspectives
Grade 7 / English 7
This lesson is an introduction to the Asian American Perspectives unit. It will introduce the
students to graphic novel conventions and how to read the graphic novel.

STANDARDS
Standards

7.2.1.b.ii. Use Craft and Structure to: Analyze how a dramas or poems form or structure (e.g.,
soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning. (CCSS: RL.7.5)
7.2.2.b.ii. Use Craft and Structure to: Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text,
including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas.
(CCSS: RI.7.5)
7.2.2.b.iii. Interpret a variety of graphical representations and connect them to information in the
text
7.2.3.a.v. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by
checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary). (CCSS: L.7.4d)

UBD (UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN) LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS

REQUIRED:
STAGE 1 DESIRED RESULTS
Established Goals

Understandings
Related
Misconceptions
Essential Questions

Knowledge

Skills

Analyze how a graphic novels form contributes to its meaning.

Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text.
Be able to interpret a variety of graphical representations.
Students will understand that
- Genres have specific conventions that are unique to that style.
- Graphic novels are not just pictures books for an older audience.
- There are multiple ways to a text.
How do genre conventions shape a story?
What are the genre conventions of a graphic novel?
Can you read pictures?
What is important to read in a graphic novel?
How do you read a graphic novel?
What are dialogue balloons, thought balloons, panels, and sound effects?
Students will know
- What the conventions of a graphic novel are
- Know the definitions of key terms dialogue balloons, thought balloons,
panels, and sound effects
- What a graphic novels appearance looks like
Students will be able to
- Read an alternative text in a meaningful and successful way
- Interpret images like a text
- Identify conventions of a graphic novel

UBD (UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN) LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS

REQUIRED:
STAGE 2: Assessment Evidence
Performance Task Description:
What authentic performance tasks will students demonstrate the desired understandings?
By what criteria will performances be judged?
Through what evidence (e.g. quizzes, tests, academic prompts, observations, homework, and journals) will
students demonstrate achievement of the desired results?
How will students reflect upon and self-assess their learning:

Goal
Role
Audience
Situation
Product/Performance
Standards

For students to know the basic elements and vocabulary

associated with graphic novels.
The students role is to identify the conventions of a graphic novel.
The teacher
The situation is that students have little to no experience with
graphic novels and the elements and conventions of graphic
novels. The assessment comes after discussion and group work.
See the attached assessment on this Weebly page below.
Refer to standards above.

UBD (UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN) LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS

REQUIRED:
STAGE 3: Learning Plan
What learning experiences and instruction will enable students to achieve
the desired results? How will the design:
Where are your students headed?
Where have they been?
How will you make sure the students know where they are
going?

How will you hook students at the beginning of the unit?

What events will help students experience and explore the

big idea and questions in the unit?
How will you equip them with needed skills and
knowledge?

The students are going to be doing a unit on Asian

American Perspectives and their main text is going to
be a graphic novel, American Born Chinese. The
assumption is that most students have not had
experience with graphic novels in the classroom, so
this lesson is intended to give the students the basic
knowledge to build off of in order to talk about graphic
novels.
A common reaction to starting a new novel for class
reading can vary, and for those developing readers it
is not something they typically look forward to. In
order to get them excited and hooked I will pull up a
few of the panels from American Born Chinese and
we will discuss them, then I will ask if any of them
know about the novel and their background with
reading graphic novels. I will then introduce this text
as our main text for the unit. My expectation is that the
idea of being able to read a text that is not traditional
will get them excited and intrigued.
The chalk talk allows students to explore their ideas
with their classmates in a conversation where they
feel more inclined to speak up since the speaking up
is in written form. After allowing them to explore the

ideas we will discuss as a class what each word

means, and if necessary we will refer to a dictionary if
the students cant figure out what it may be.
In this particular lesson students will be able to reflect
and rethink once they fill out the blank graphic novel
How will you cause students to reflect and rethink?
assessment sheet. This will be done after class
How will you guide them in rehearsing, revising, and
discussion, and if students want to explain a particular
refining their work?
decision they made on the sheet that will be allowed.
The students will also reflect in their writing journal.
Throughout the unit they will work on a culminating
text that is a graphic short story. It will start off in
How will you help students to exhibit and self-evaluate
traditional narrative formative, and then they will be
their growing skills, knowledge, and understanding
able to turn that into a graphic version that will give
throughout the unit?
them the opportunity to exhibit their knowledge of both
narratives and graphic novels.
This is something that can be challenging to answer
How will you tailor and otherwise personalize the learning
unless I am aware of specific student situations. The
plan to optimize the engagement and effectiveness of ALL good thing with graphic novels is they allow for a
students, without compromising the goals of the unit?
range of student engagement from a range of skills
and styles of learning.
1. Begin with this image from American Born Chinese on the
SmartBoard or Projector. Have the students talk about what they
see, and if they know what this image is from (5 minutes).
2. Ask students about graphic novels (I would have already
collected and looked over all of the pre-unit surveys about
graphic novels, but the students have yet to have the opportunity
to share their background knowledge with the class (5 minutes).
3. After discussing graphic novels, and this image, a bit more I
will introduce our next book we will be reading, American Born
Chinese. I will explain that we will go over how to read a
nontraditional text like this, but before we do that we are going to
see what we know about the conventions of graphic novels (10
minutes).
4. Introduce the Chalk talk activity. Using 4-5 pieces of butcher
paper that are placed around the room have students write an
idea/word/related to the element written on the paper (dialogue
balloon, thought balloon, panel, sound effects, etc.) After they
have written their thought make sure they draw a line to the
concept, or they may respond to a classmate's comment and
connect the line there. After everyone has written at least one
comment on each paper have them respond only to their classmates comments (25 minutes).
5. Have students come back together and go over some of the key ideas that they wrote on each piece of paper. I
will then show them more examples from American Born Chinese and as a class we will locate each of these words
and what they are doing in the panel (10 minutes).
6. Give them a panel we have not discussed that is labeled, have them put what each letter is (dialogue balloon,
thought balloon, etc.). I will allow the students to explain an answer if they feel it necessary, and this will serve as
an assessment of their understanding of the conventions (5 minutes).
7. After collecting the assessments the books will be checked out (5 minutes).
8. We will begin reading the text as a class, and I will model different ways to read the pictures, texts, etc. As
questions arise I will encourage students to ask them aloud so we can figure out the process of reading this text
successfully (remainder of class).