TJ Brandt

Gabrielle Dawe

Reflection on Planning
The planning process helped us see how exactly we were going to set up the lesson and
do it in an effective and an organized way. After having this course (EDR 308) we have learned
many useful strategies that we will take with us. Through all of the literacy theories, discussions,
and the ideas of questioning, we have a whole new view on literacy as a whole. Our lesson, (and
even our whole unit) is built off of some of the literacy theories that we have learned within this
course. Chapter 8 of the Strategies that Work textbook involves many of the concepts that
we wanted to bring forth in this lesson. We believe that questioning is an essential part in the
learning process and we wanted to both pose questions for students as well as encourage them to
create their own. The chapter states Questions are the master key to understanding, they clarify
confusion, and stimulate research efforts. We included plenty of open discussion in our lesson
that revolves around answering questions that come from both the teacher and students. We feel
that the questions will lead to a better understanding of the topic, which will in turn help them
understand whats going on in the world today. This idea relates to Freires idea of reading the
word and the world. We want our discussions and activities to ultimately connect to their own
thinking and experiences while being able to take it a step further.
We also wanted to emphasize the idea of a safe learning environment. This entire lesson
is based on the idea that students should be able to express their feelings towards the subject
without any judgement. They should feel comfortable asking any questions as it will ultimately
lead to better discussions. No question is a dumb question. Aside from discussion, there are
different ways of asking questions that we use throughout our lesson. For example, the KWL will
allow students to write down any questions or ideas that they might have. These can be used for
discussion or even serve as personal research topics about ideas they want to learn more about.
Another belief that we felt was super essential for this lesson was Christensens idea of critical
literacy. The idea of critical literacy is present in our lesson as we want our students to look at
immigration, society, and history from a deeper stand point. We feel that we give students several
opportunities that encourage them to think critically about the topic of immigration.
Our lesson also pulls from Gloria Ladson-Billings culturally relevant pedagogy. Not only
does our lesson focus on how the feelings that arise from the struggles of immigrants, but also
has students connecting the various texts and lessons into one meaningful learning experience.
We feel that our lesson helps give different perspectives on cultures and races that they wouldnt
get otherwise. It doesnt just focus on one ethnic group but instead covers a variety of them.
Based on the structure of the lesson we expect that students will gain a better understanding of
the hardships of immigrants, become more sympathetic towards different groups, and want to
make a difference. Children of different backgrounds will all learn about injustices of
immigration laws and will be able to strive for a common goal: change.

Atitscore,wefeltthatifwearegoingtoteachalessonaboutthestrugglesweneededto
presentitonamorepersonablelevel.Thefirstlessonoftheunitinvolvesthehistory.Overviews
ofhistoryarehardtoconnectto.Youdontgetagoodchancetoreallydiveintohowpeoplefelt
asyouaretryingtocoveralargeamountoftime.Withourfeaturelessonplanwewantedgetthe
studentstobemoreconnectedtowhattheywerelearning.Itsonethingtolearnaboutthe
strugglesthatgroupsofimmigrantsface,butitsanothertoreadafirsthandaccountofsomeone
whoexperiencedit.Wechosethesespecificwrittenaccountsbecausewefeltthattheywere
engagingforthereader.Theyaredescriptive,heartfelt,andmostimportantlyspeakthetruthof
theirsituations.Thedocumentarywaschosenbecauseitencompassescurrentdaystrugglesthat
undocumentedimmigrantsface.Studentsgettoactuallylookintotheeyesofthesepeoplewho
areinextremepainbecauseoflawsintheUnitedStates.Theyareabletobutnamesandfacesto
thestruggleswearelearningabout.Alloftheseactivitiescombinedcreateapersonalexperience
thatwehopewouldgetstudentsemotionallyinvolvedinthisissue.