OVERVIEW & CONTEXT

Your name:

Allie Trillet

Grade level and school:

Edna Allen Elementary School

Title of lesson:

Public Issues Exploration - Next Years School

Teaching date(s) and time(s):

March 31st 1:00pm

Estimated time for lesson:

45 min - 1 hr

Overview of lesson:
Provide a short description of the
lesson (3-4 sentences).

Students will read and discuss two articles about the

boundary changes for their school district as Edna
Allen is closing next year. Students will find facts and
details to assist them in writing an argumentative
essay to the school board. The argumentative essay
should include their stance on whether or not students
should be allowed to choose their school next year.

Context of lesson:
Briefly explain how the lessons
align with what would come before
and after it.

Edna Allen Elementary School is closing at the end of

the current school year. Students have already been
assigned a school for the 15-16 school year based
upon where they live.

LEARNING GOALS
Central question:

Specific learning goals:

Identify 2-3 goals which relate
to the content, reading
informational texts, and
writing opinions in the lesson.

Connection to Michigan Grade

Connection to activities
Level Content Expectations
(GLCE) for social studies, the
Common Core State Standards
(CCSS), and the C3 Framework
for Social Studies State Standards

1. Students will be able to

compose a brief letter to the
superintendent on whether or
not students from Allen
Elementary School should
have been able to choose what
school they attend next year
after their school closes.

P3.3.1 Compose a brief essay

expressing a position on a
public policy issue in the
United States and justify the
position with a reasoned
argument (GLCE).

Students will be composing

a brief letter to Dr. Meissen,
the superintendent, taking a
side on whether or not they
should have been able to
choose what school they
attend next year and justify
their position on the public
issue.

2. Students will be able to take

a side and state their opinion
on whether or not students
from Allen Elementary School
should have been able to

CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.4.1 Write
opinion pieces on topics or
texts, supporting a point of

Students will be writing an

opinion letter with several
supporting reasons and
evidence to go with their

choose what school they attend

next year using supporting
reasons and information from
articles.

view with reasons and

information (CCSS).

chosen position on the issue.

3. Students will be able to

analyze two articles in order to
make meaning of the text and
pull out reasons to support
their argument using evidence
from the text.

CCSS.ELALITERACY.RI.4.1 Refer to
details and examples in a text
when explaining what the
text says explicitly and when
drawing inferences from the
text (CCSS).

Students will be analyzing

two informational articles
and making sense of the text
to draw inferences and find
supporting reasons and
points to use as evidence for
their letter.

4. Students will be able to use

evidence from two articles to
develop claims in order to
answer the compelling central
question, Should students
from Allen elementary School
have been able to choose what
school they attend next year?

D3.4.3-5. Use evidence to

develop claims in response to
compelling questions (C3
Framework).

Students will be using

evidence from two articles in
order to fully answer the
central question, Should
students from Allen
elementary School have
been able to choose what
school they attend next
year?

ASSESSMENTS
Assessment
Description

Assessment
Type

Connection to learning goals: 2-3 sentences explaining how

these assessments address the learning goal(s) you identify
above. Include an assessment for each learning goal (it is
possible to address multiple learning goals with one
assessment, but this is not necessary). Clarify what level of
work or what kind of response would constitute a +, , -

Planning Sheet

Formative
Summative

Students will be using a planning sheet with a Tchart to take notes on their informative articles.
They will be using the T-chart as they analyze
the text and find evidence for both the YES
and the NO columns from the text (learning
goal 3 and 4). After writing three reasons with
evidence for both the YES and the NO
columns, students will take a side on the issue. 3
reasons for each side with supporting evidence
directly from the text constitutes a +, 2 reasons
for each side with supporting evidence for at
least half of these reasons constitutes a , only 1
reason for each side with or without supporting
evidence constitutes a -

Student Writing Formative

Students will be writing a formal letter to the

Summative

school superintendent about whether or not they

should have been able to select what school they
attend next year. They will be taking a side and
state at least three reasons with evidence, all
from the text, in order to support their position
(learning goal 1, 2, and 4). A letter with a
definitive position on the issue and 3 supporting
reasons constitutes a +, a letter with a definitive
position on the issue and 2 supporting reasons
constitutes a , a letter with a definitive position
and only 1 reason constitutes a -

ATTENDING TO THE LEARNERS

Anticipating student ideas, literacy
practices, strengths, and
challenges:
Describe at least 3 ideas, strengths,
and challenges you anticipate
students - as a group or individual
students - might have related to the
learning goal(s).

- Students likely have strong opinions

on the topic because they are being forced to
move schools and likely leave their friends
- Students who are attending the same
school as some of their friends might be okay
with the districting
- Students who have no friends
attending their school will likely say that they
believe students should have been allowed to
choose

Making the content accessible to all

students:
In 2-3 sentences, describe how you
will help ALL students engage
productively in the lesson. This
includes identifying assumptions
made during the lesson about
students prior experiences,
knowledge, and capabilities; making
the representations, explanations,
and/or vocabulary accessible and
meaningful to all students; and
making connections to students
personal, cultural, and social
experiences during the lesson, if
appropriate.

Students will sit on the carpet while we explain the

purpose of the lesson, the central question, and model
finding the important parts of a document. This will
allow all students the same opportunity to connect
with the information, understand the expectations, and
comprehend the question which they will be writing
about. The lesson connects to all students
experiences as it is a topic which all students are
experiencing as their school closes and they are forced
to move schools. This directly connects to the
students social experiences.

INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE
Materials:
List the materials you and the

Powerpoint, highlighters, whiteboard, poster board,

lined paper, pencils, 25 copies of document 1, 25

students used. (Make sure these are

attached to this document.)

copies of document 2, 25 copies of T-Chart, 25 copies

of planning document

Time frame:
For each
step, indicate
how many
minutes it
will take.

Steps describing what the teacher and students do/say: Notes and reminders:
Include steps of the lesson, as well as any assessments
Include management
you will conduct.
considerations.

5 min

Intro/Explanation
- Hello boys and girls! Today we have a really
fun exploration to work on together.
- So, similar to the exploration we did about the
history of Michigan, today we are going to
have a class discussion as we read a couple of
documents and we are going to use the
information which we gain to answer a Central
Question.
- As you all know, Allen Elementary will be
closing next year, and the district has split up
all the students, based on where you live, and
placed you in new schools.
- So, as we work through a couple of
documents, we want to answer the Question
Should students have been able to decide
which school to attend next year?
- We are going to look through 2 different
documents to create a T-Chart which provides
evidence for whether students should or should
not have been allowed to choose which school
you attend next year
- As we develop an opinion on the topic, we
want to make sure that our opinions are based
upon the information and evidence which we
draw from the two documents and use that
evidence to support our opinion.
- At the end of our discussions, you will each
write a mock letter to the superintendent of the
schools informing him whether or not you
believe that student should have been able to
choose and why.

10 min

Model first document

Alright, so to find some crucial information so
that we can pick which side we choose, we are

going to look at a couple of documents.

First, we are going to look at this document
which was taken from the Plymouth Schools
Website and DOES NOT support students
choice to choose which school they attend.
-The first thing that I see is that it says During
the Fall of the 2013-2014 school year, the
Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Board
of Education commissioned a system
assessment to review our status as a school
district and identify needs to become an even
higher-performing school district. So the
School Board decided that they would identify
how to become a higher-performing school
district
-Next I see that it says Our steering committee
was directed to come up with a plan to rightsize our district, optimize the use of our
facilities and create the capacity to enhance our
programs, said Dr. Michael Meissen,
superintendent, Plymouth-Canton Community
Schools. So this means that the
superintendent of Plymouth Canton Schools
said that by closing schools, the schools will
be the right size, the facilities will be used
better and the programs will be better.
-Here I see that it says Transportation costs
were carefully considered and we wanted to
minimize the disruption of neighborhoods
where we had relocation due to the closing of
Fiegel Elementary School several years ago.
This tells me that a man whose job it is is to
create these school boundaries said that when
they made these boundaries, they put in
careful consideration for the cost of students
getting to schools, whether that be for the
parents who have to drive the students or for
the buses.
- So now that I have collected all of this
information, I can put it into our TChart. These
ideas give me examples for reasons why
students should not have been able to choose
which school they go to. If I were to choose to
argue that students should not have been able

to choose, I would utilize these ideas in my

paper.
10 min

Students Annotate document

-Call on students to
- Together, we are going to work through this
read aloud
document in the same way which Ms Trillet
worked through the anti-kids-choice article,
together, we are going to work through this NY
Times article to find reasons why students
should have been able to choose which school
they attend during the 2015-2016 school year
- This time you are going to lead it and I am
going to help you
Call on students to read aloud
-What does depression mean?
-Who can summarize what that sentence
means?
Stop at certain points and have students turn
and talk to see if they can develop points from
what they just read
-Turn and talk to your partner- can you find a
reason that students should have been able to
choose what school they go to from the
sentence they just read?
-What evidence are you using for that reason?
Was it a quote that someone said? Was it
something you just made up? Did it come from
the article?
Guide students to finding points that: students
without friends have a higher chance of
depression, students without friends have a
higher chance of anxiety, schools focus too
much on school and not on relationships,
schools should also focus on relationships and
friendships, etc.

5 min

Student Ideas in T-Chart

We will work with the students to create the TChart as we annotate the documents

10 min

Class discussion
- I want you all to turn and talk to one another
and discuss whether you each believe that
students should or should not have been
allowed to decide which school they attend

during the 2015-2016 school year

-Who can raise their hand and tell me
something that you and your partner talked
about?
-Who can raise their hand and respond to
something that he/she just said? Do you agree?
Disagree? Why?
-What are some reasons why students should
have been able to choose?
-What are some reasons why students should
not have been able to choose?
-What do you think about what he/she just
said?
-Where are we finding these examples?
10-15 min

Individual Writing
- You will each have about 10 minutes to write
a letter to the schools superintendent. This
letter should include a topic sentence, followed
by your stance on the issue and it should be
supported by evidence which you found in the
documents which we worked through. Further,
we want you to write a letter to the
Superintendent, using the evidence which we
found, to make an argument for or against
students choosing which school they attend.
Ms West and I will be walking around the room
conferencing with each of you to help or guide
you as you work.

5 min

Conclusion
You all did such a great job participating,
finding evidence and using that evidence to
write your argumentative letters. It is
important to remember that when we make an
argument for or against something, our side is
supported by evidence, you all did a great job
doing that today!

REFLECTION ON PLANNING

Learning goal for self:

State at least one learning goal that

Allie: A learning goal which I have for myself during

this lesson is to work on my management skills. The

you have for yourself, with regard to

your teaching. In other words, what
are you working on to improve your
teaching practice? Consider any
feedback from observations you may
have received. Note: This may or may
not be the same thing as the learning
goals you have for yourself.

skill which I would, specifically, like to improve are

my skills when calling on students. I often feel that I
do not allow for enough think-time before calling on
students which often gives the students who raise
their hands first, the quick thinkers, and advantage. I
would like to consider and implement ways to get the
whole class involved and also allow all students
adequate time to consider, and even reconsider, the
questions which I ask them.
Eila: One learning goal I have for myself is to think
quickly and improvise while teaching. Often, I find
myself wanting to be consistent with my lesson plan
and feeling nervous when a student does/says
something unexpected. Although planning is
important before enacting a lesson, I would really like
to be able to feel comfortable for all student thoughts
and react calmly and quickly even if it is not an
expected comment.

Preparing to teach this lesson:

Describe the things you did in
preparation to teach this lesson. For
example: practiced the activity with
the actual materials, answered the
worksheet questions yourself,
thought through timing, researched
materials, etc.
Not applicable to revised template.

To prepare to teach this lesson:

- we practiced annotating each
document -- both practicing how we would
model annotating the first document and
considering ideas which the students might
bring when annotating the second document.
- considered how the students might
react to the facts and evidence in each article
- we practiced delivering the lesson
- we considered timing with regards to
our specific classroom
- we considered management options
with regards to specific students

** Attach the adapted documents and any handouts/worksheets you plan to use with the students.

http://www.pccs.k12.mi.us/node/2941 - Article from School Board on why they did the boundaries the
way they did

Boundary steering committee submits recommendations to

school board
During the Fall of the 2013-2014 school year, the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools
Board of Education commissioned a system assessment to review our status as a school district
and identify needs to become an even higher-performing school district. One of the ongoing
needs of the school district has been to determine pupils assigned to schools. The elementary
school recommendations are that two schools - Allen Elementary and Tanger Center - be closed
at the end of the 2014-2015 school year. Our steering committee was directed to come up with a
plan to right-size our district, optimize the use of our facilities and create the capacity to enhance
our programs, said Dr. Michael Meissen, superintendent, Plymouth-Canton Community

Schools. The study also was used to develop boundary recommendations for each of our
schools to create stable and equitable attendance zones for our elementary and middle schools.
Boundary Study Steering Committee Chairman Kurt Tyszkiewicz said that for the
elementary school portion of the study, there were five priorities. We wanted to allow for
growth for the neighborhood schools, while giving careful consideration of our high-needs
population, Tyszkiewicz said. Transportation costs were carefully considered and we wanted to
minimize the disruption of neighborhoods where we had relocation due to the closing of Fiegel
Elementary School several years ago.The final priority was to balance capacity utilization for
elementary schools. The diversity of our students needs was considered when limiting the
average school size to about 500 students. The aim was to achieve balance between school
communities with educational needs and socioeconomic status. Student population projections
were made over the next three years and each school had a room-utilization target of 85 percent
over that time, in the recommendation, he said. In addition, the steering and advisory committees
also operated under several guiding principles while doing their work equity of high-quality
educational opportunities among neighborhood schools, successful transition between schools,
cost efficiencies and long-term solutions.

ANNOTATED FIRST DOCUMENT CHEAT SHEET- for Allie

Boundary steering committee submits recommendations to

school board
During the Fall of the 2013-2014 school year, the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools
Board of Education commissioned a system assessment to review our status as a school district
and identify needs to become an even higher-performing school district. (So the School Board
decided that they would identify how to become a higher-performing school district) One of the
ongoing needs of the school district has been to determine pupils assigned to schools. (This tells
me that assigning students to schools has been an ongoing need, so its been happening for a
while) The elementary school recommendations are that two schools - Allen Elementary and
Tanger Center - be closed at the end of the 2014-2015 school year. Our steering committee was
directed to come up with a plan to right-size our district, optimize the use of our facilities and

create the capacity to enhance our programs, said Dr. Michael Meissen, superintendent,
Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. (The superintendent of Plymouth Canton Schools said
that by closing schools, the schools will be the right size, the facilities will be used better and
the programs will be better) The study also was used to develop boundary recommendations for
each of our schools to create stable and equitable attendance zones for our elementary and
middle schools. (This tells me that there was a study done that create school zones which
were best fitted for each child)
Boundary Study Steering Committee Chairman Kurt Tyszkiewicz said that for the
elementary school portion of the study, there were five priorities. We wanted to allow for
growth for the neighborhood schools, while giving careful consideration of our high-needs
population, Tyszkiewicz said. Transportation costs were carefully considered and we wanted to
minimize the disruption of neighborhoods where we had relocation due to the closing of Fiegel
Elementary School several years ago. (A man whose job it is is to create these school
boundaries said that when they made these boundaries, they put in careful consideration for
the cost of students getting to schools, whether that be for the parents who have to drive the
students or for the buses) The final priority was to balance capacity utilization for elementary
schools. The diversity of our students needs was considered when limiting the average school
size to about 500 students. The aim was to achieve balance between school communities with
educational needs and socioeconomic status. (This tells me that the school board also
considered the diversity of the school when he made these boundaries, it is important to have
diversity) Student population projections were made over the next three years and each school
had a room-utilization target of 85 percent over that time, in the recommendation, he said. In
addition, the steering and advisory committees also operated under several guiding principles
while doing their work equity of high-quality educational opportunities among neighborhood
schools, successful transition between schools, cost efficiencies and long-term solutions.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/reading-writing-rithmetic-and-relationships/?_r=0

Reading, Writing, Rithmetic and

Relationships
By RONI CARYN RABIN DECEMBER 20, 2010 10:41 AM

Children go through ups and downs like everyone else. But even in elementary school, some
children are shy and awkward, and they can easily become social outcasts, anxious about social
interactions and maybe a tad depressed. Just one friend is enough, a new observational study
suggests, to buffer an anxious, withdrawn child against depression. Having at least one friend
seemed to put the brakes on the downward slide toward depression during the pre-teenage years.
Children who were completely isolated and had no friends at any point in the two-year study
were at highest risk of sliding into depression, said Dr. William M. Bukowski, professor of
psychology at Concordia University in Montreal. He suggests parents, teachers and schools are
often so focused on academic achievement that they overlook a key tool to keeping children
emotionally healthy through adolescence. Schools are naturally keen to promote kids academic

achievement, Dr. Bukowski said, but friendship is something that teachers might want to pay
attention to. Its an important value. People have often said it should be the fourth R; that after
reading, writing, rithmetic, it should be relationships.
When you look at the effect of certain mental health interventions, teaching children to manage
their anxieties and changing the way children think about their experiences, and so forth the
effect of having a friend is so great that it wouldnt surprise me to see that having a friend is
going to be as powerful as the effect of some treatments.
This study points to some things that those of us who work with adolescents especially know:
by the time kids become depressed, they either have not had friends for a long time or theyre
losing their friends, said Dr. Anne Marie Albano, an associate professor of clinical psychology
at Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute. And one of the things we do is try
to activate them to engage with people.

Name:

Date:

Yes! Students Should Pick!

No! Students Should Not Pick!

Reason 1:

Reason 1:

Evidence:

Evidence:

Reason 2:

Reason 2:

Evidence:

Evidence:

Reason 3:

Reason 3:

Evidence:

Evidence:

Name:

Date:

Dear Dr. Michael Meissen,

I believe that students should/should not (circle one) have been allowed to choose which school
they attend next year because

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