Secondary English Language Arts: Revised ed:TPA Lesson Plan Template

Name: Amanda Willner

Lesson Title: The Things They Carried

Chapter 3 Unit Plan #2

Grade Level: Sophomore

Lesson Goals
Central Focus: Describe the central focus (of the unit) and explain how this lesson reflects the central focus.
To explore what we carry with us, synthesizing narrative strategies from mentor texts, and creating personal narratives and thematic
elements that reflect individual growth experiences. The lesson reflects the central focus because the students will be examining the
personal narratives of the characters in the text and commenting on the elements that make them effective.
List the title, author, and write a short description of the text(s) used in this lesson.
The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien follows the protagonist of the same name through the trials of the Vietnam War as he and his
friends from the Alpha Chapter attempt to cope with the unexplainable deaths Interspersed with pensive passages about telling war
stories, The novel uses a nonlinear plot and frequently addresses the audience about the way the stories are told.

Conceptual/Theoretical Framework (draw from research and readings in CI and English courswork:
The conceptual/theoretical framework is based around the idea that learning should be student-centered. A concept that is favored in
the Danielson Framework, it encourages student choice and exploration. This is why students will have a choice about what they write
for part of the lesson, as well as why they have in class time to explore a small part of the text that they are studying. In his article
Teaching Writing as a Process Not a Product, Donald Murray agrees that students must have an abundance of low stakes situations
where they can play around with the text and then experiment in their writing. While the students are generating a product in the
lesson, it is not a summation of one thought for the whole text, but rather an exploration of ideas that shows innovative thought and
active participation.
Standard(s) Addressed (use examples from both the Common Core State Standards and the Illinois Professional Teaching
Standards):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1.C
Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s)
and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1.E
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
IPTS 4N) engages students in and monitors individual and group-learning activities that help them develop the motivation to learn
Recall your central focus and explain how the standards (above) and learning objectives (below), that you have identified, support
students learning:
Literacy Standard W 9-10.1.C is supported in the learning objectives because students must write short responses to relate claims to

the text using evidence and other reactions. Literacy Standard W.9-10.1.E is supported in the objective and supports student learning
because they must synthesize a summary of the days lesson. IPTS 4N ensures that students are actively engaging with the text and
their peers.
Materials/ Instructional Resources:
Students will need to come to class with their books, paper, and a pen, as they should for each class. Instructional resources are the
same as the students materials, as well as having some sort of white board or projection to display the quick-write prompt. Small
post-it note tabs are also required. Both the students and the teacher should come in to class having read chapters one and two of
The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien.
*Learning Objectives (Add additional objective boxes as
needed):

*Assessment (both formal and informal)- Evidence of Student

Understanding:

Objective 1: Students will be able to record their reactions as

they read The Things They Carried.

Related Assessment: Students will complete the Silent Reading

Activity.

Explain the Assessments Alignment with the Objective:

The assessment aligns with the objective because it asks the
Students to be active readers as they write about their reactions to
The text.

Describe the form of Student feedback that accompanies

the assessment:
Students will receive feedback from their peers as they work through the
assignment. They will also receive written feedback from the teacher.

Objective 2: Students will be able to discuss how the text

makes them feel using evidence from the text.

Related Assessment: Students will be participate in a discussion

And an independent writing activity.

Explain the Assessments Alignment with the Objective:

The assessment aligns with the objective because students interact
With the text and their peers to discover how the author is using
Different devices to make the reader react in a certain way.

Describe the form of Student feedback that accompanies

the assessment:
Students will receive verbal feedback from the teacher during the
Discussion and written feedback from the teacher for the writing
Activity.
Lesson Considerations
Pre-Assessment:
From the previous lessons about chapters one and two, students are able to understand the basic plot of the chapter, as well as
identify the physical items that the soldiers carried with them in war. As sophomores, they can work independently as well as in
groups effectively. From the previous book, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, they understand that a person can be affected by
previous experiences.
Prior Academic Learning and Prerequisite Skills: (Cite evidence that describes what students know, what they can

do, and what they are still learning to do.)

Because this lesson is being taught in March, the teacher knows that most students can read at grade-level and identify basic literary
conventions, as well as explain how they are important to the text. The teacher has gathered this information through class
discussions and previous writing assignments. Students are also capable of having discussions about a text, usually focusing on
character development, for at least a third of the class period, usually using the text to support their claims. They are still learning
how to explore the text in more depth and transforming their reactions into academic arguments about the characters and the ways in
which the text is working.

Personal, cultural, and community assets related to the central focusExplain what you know about your students
everyday experiences, cultural and language backgrounds and practices, and interests.
While the students are predominantly White, there are a few students who represent minorities. All of the students are bound for
college and the school will not allow students to drop out as a part of their college and career readiness goals- they work with
students rigorously to get them to where they need to be before they reach a point where they feel they need to or can drop out of

high school. There is a student who speaks French, as this student is Congolese. The high school as a whole has a community of
students who are recognized to have disabilities, representing about fifteen percent of the student population. In this class, there is
one student who is on the Autism spectrum. A majority of the students are involved in activities sponsored by the high school, but
know to expect at least six hours of homework a night between all of their classes. However, because The Things They Carried can
have a bigger emotional impact than the students are accustomed to, their reading load for this book is lighter than usual.
Misconceptions:
Students could have misconceptions about how to approach their reactions to a text in an academic context. They could also have
misconceptions about how to incorporate reactions into academic arguments and discussions.

Language Objectives and Demands

Identify a Language Function:
The major language function for the lesson is to describe. With the unit focusing on personal narrative, it is important that the
students understand how an author can affect the reader and how they do so. By first describing how the text feels, they are
becoming invested in the text and being active readers. During the discussion, with some support from the teacher, they will be
describing the ways that the author made them react a certain way, and will then write about it to summarize the discussion.
Language Function. Using information about your students language assets and needs, identify one language function essential
for students within your central focus. Listed below are some sample language functions. You may choose one of these or another
more appropriate language function for this lesson.
Analyze

Argue

Describe

Evaluate

Explain

Interpret

Justify

Synthesize

Vocabulary:
The vocabulary used in the novel is at a level where all of the students can recognize and understand the words, especially since
they read at grade level. The student who speaks French could struggle a little bit since the student is one grade level below in their
reading level.

Learning and Linguistic Accommodations: Describe the instructional accommodations that you must make, as the classroom
teacher, in order to address the learning needs of students with special needs and students who are not English proficient or
students who use varieties of English.
Accommodations for students with Special Needs:
In this classroom there is a student who has Autism Spectrum Disorder. For this lesson, the accommodations for this student will
include keeping the classroom calm and comfortable, dim lights and low noise when appropriate, having a flexible time to read the
chapter and complete tasks, and telling the student what is coming next in the lesson. I will also consult with the Special Education
teacher to go over anything from an IEP or 504 plan.
Accommodations for students who are not proficient uses of Standard English:
I will consult the Bilingual/ESL teacher, and the student has a copy of the French version of The Things They Carried available to
him. He will be required to speak in English, and write in a way that is universally intelligible to his peers and teacher to understand
him, but will not be marked down because he is Bilingual. Supports throughout the year that are separate from individual lessons will
further his ability to write and speak English.

Explain your instructional decision-making and the way you plan to support student learning when using whole class,
small groups, and individualized assignments. In addition, explain accommodations for students who have
special needs and students who are not proficient users of Standard English as part of whole class and small
group arrangements
Individual assignments are designed so that students can work at their own pace because each student reads at a different speed,
but in a timely manner as well. Think-Pair-Share is used to slowly bring the students to the whole class discussion, especially since it
can be difficult for students to engage in the text after being pulled out of it because they were reading for about 20 minutes. The
individual writing activity gives students a time to reflect and summarize the discussion as well. Because the lesson plan is flexible,
students with special needs, who either need more or less time to complete the activity, can have the time that they need. It also
means that there should not be any triggers or anything that they are not capable of doing. For the student who is not proficient in
English, they will have the text in their dominant language, if necessary and already provided, will have a translator or tool to
translate their participation in group discussions. Writing should be completed in English as well as can be.
Time
5 min

*Lesson Plan Details

Lesson Introduction
As students enter the classroom, they will be given a half-sheet of paper on which they will summarize chapters one
and two from the previous day in a tweet. They will have approximately 2-3 minutes to complete this. Then they will
share their summaries with the class.

35
min

Learning Activities
Silent reading activity (~20 minutes)

5 min

Each student will be given several post-it note tabs. As a class, the teacher will direct students to place one around
the end of each page (end of 30, But the war wasnt all that way 31 you go pink 32, end of 33, 34, 35, 36),
modelling as they go along where to put them. They will be instructed to take out paper and a pen or pencil and then
to go to the beginning of the chapter. Then, after giving instructions they will complete the silent reading activity,
where they will read until they come to a post-it note, record any thoughts or comments with detail, and then pass
their paper to their left, so that at each new section they should receive a new piece of paper. They will be
encouraged to respond to the previous reactions and to write in complete sentences.
Think-pair-share Discussion (~15 minutes)
After the silent reading activity, the class with move forward with a think-pair-share discussion. With the piece of
paper that they have in front of them, students will consider, independently and silently, which of the comments they
find interesting and what they think is missing from what their peers wrote. They will share their ideas with a partner,
and then with the class. In the whole class discussion, the teacher will focus their thinking towards the ways in which
the author made them feel what they felt, using evidence to support claims. The teacher will also guide the students
in discovering what the characters are carrying with them besides physical objects, such as grief, regret, sadness,
etc.
The Formal assessment (silent reading responses and independent writing for the closure) will provide direct
evidence of students abilities to construct meaning from a complex text throughout the learning segment. The silent
reading response will assess the students ability to comprehend a text on the surface, to record reactions, and to
respond to peers. These are ongoing goals that are presented in a new activity, so the students will be engaged and
challenged while the read the text, linking the unit standards to the lesson standards.
Informal assessment (think-pair share) will provide direct evidence of the students abilities to respond to a complex
text throughout the learning segment. High school English classes should mimic college classes and academic
discourse which are led by reactions and responses to other conversations about texts. This not only challenges
students who move more quickly through material, but is accessible for all students because it is a low-stakes
situation and everyone can easily participate as any response is valid.
Closure
Independent writing- summarize the ways that OBrien gives the audience something to react to. When does he use
humor? Blunt honesty? Imagery details? Pacing? How do these devices make you react to what you are reading?
Extension
If the lesson is completed early (which should only happen if students are completely disconnected from discussion)
students can have the opportunity to start reading chapters four and five silently. The students will be responsible to
have these chapters finished by class the following day.

Resources and References (use APA or MLA listing the information from the conceptual framework above as
well as from any other categories where cited a source):
Danielson, Charlotte. "Evaluations That Help Teachers Learn." The Effective Educator 68.4 (2011): 35-39. Web. Winter 2015.

Murphy, Donald. "Teaching Writing as a Process Not Product." The Leaflet (1972): 11-14. Web. Mar. 2015.