Half Hollow Hills School District

Independent Formal Lesson Plan

Id

Teacher

Building

Department Cert Type

4787 Courtney Freer West Hollow (053) ENL

Tenure Date Opened Observation Date Observer

Professional Tenured 11/17/2016

1/18/2017

Date Closed

Lori Campbell 1/12/2017

Desired Results
What are the goals for the lesson?
There are several goals for this lesson as it relates to the unit which includes reading the novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by
Christopher Paul Curtis. I would like for the students to continue to learn how to work together effectively especially in challenging situations
such as analysis of text. A goal for each student to be able to identify the literal and figurative meaning of the song "Blackbird" by Paul
McCartney. Another goal of this lesson would be for the students to work together to understand how this song from popular culture is directly
related to the modern civil rights movement.

What do you want students to know, understand and be able to do?

The goal is for students to be able to know the difference between literal and figurative meanings of text. Students to be able to analyze text in a
supportive environment such a balanced group setting, and use prior knowledge that Miss Clark and I have taught them in order to apply the
knowledge to a new lesson and concept. They will be able to identify the literal as well as the figurative meaning of this song, as well as be able to
analyze the symbolism contained within the song and be able to connect it to the civil rights movement as well as the text that we are engaged
with currently. Students should be familiar with the movement and be able to answer questions regarding the movement, the march, and
segregation. Students should be able to work with one another in small groups while being supported and guided by the two teachers in the room.
Students should know what literal and figurative language is, as well as have knowledge of specific literary devices such as symbolism and be able
to identify within the context of the song. Students should also be able to identify mood. Students should know the difference between a noun,
verb, and adjective, and be able to apply knowledge to the context of the song. Students should be able to complete a close activity summarizing
key concepts. Students should be able to reflect on the figurative meaning of the song, as well as the impact it could have on a person.

How does this lesson fit with a larger unit?

This lesson fits into the larger unit because it is part of the Sixth Grade English Language Arts Curriculum. Students need to be able to work
together, listen to one another, and react and respond to one another appropriately as well as use information each other has to offer to further
understanding of difficult concepts such as figurative language and symbolism in a text. Students are constantly working on analysis of text and
learning to read for deeper meaning, as well as analyzing the words and literary devices that an author uses to understand development of ideas
as they relate to the text, themselves, the world in general, and from text to text as well.

Learning Plan
How do you plan to engage students in the content?
Students are motivated very much by pop culture and music in general. We have been working to educate the students about the movement,
and to get the point across that it was a peoples' movement, and its success can be attributed to the ordinary citizens who through
extraordinary sacrifices made tremendous change, tolerance, and acceptance possible. Song writing/lyrics are a form of poetry that is accessible
to students, especially middle-schoolers. Kids are very into music, and technology, and the videos will be engaging as well as a good tool for the
ENL students to better connect to the lesson in general. Having the actual history of the song as well as testimony from McCartney will engage
the students as in an excellent primary source who was a second-hand witness to everything that was going on in the world during this time of
change. While this topic is challenging and difficult in general to discuss because of it's sensitive nature, our students are interested and
motivated to learn about such an important time in our nation's history and something that our nation continues to struggle with in the present
day.

What will you do?

We will begin by distributing the student guide for the lesson and ask for the students to pay close attention to some hints we may giving that
will help to guide them. We will begin with the PowerPoint that was created which quickly reviews key components of the modern civil rights
movement that we have already taught, to hopefully put the lesson into the proper context. We will then ask the students to come up with
slang terms for women. We will share their ideas, and then tell them that in England, women were called "birds", and that the author of the
song is British. They will begin to realize that the song is not, in reality, about an actual blackbird. We will listen to a live version of the song from
the 1970s and then watch a very brief, but rare video of the first time he played this song in the 1960s for his producer, George Martin. The only
sounds you hear in the song, as well as on the official album version, are Paul's voice, his guitar, and his foot tapping. In reality, when the song
was produced, because of the difficulty of the finger picking (guitar style used in the song), that Paul's producer added a metronome in which
would mimic the sound of the tapping and allow for Paul to focus on playing, while keeping a key component in the song- the foot tapping was
meant to symbolize the sound of the marching! Then, as students work in small groups to analyze the text of the song, including the figurative,
literal language, as well as the use of the adjectives which describe the nouns, and the verbs used as well as analysis of the connotations
associated with all, we will work to aid the groups as needed. When a sufficient amount of time has gone by and based on the progress we
assess as we observe and guide the groups, we will come back as a large group to share ideas and then, we will share the actual meaning of
the song. We think that perhaps this lesson may take longer than one period, and am willing to revisit what we need to the following day as it
is difficult and may take more than one period to analyze. We will then assign a cloze activity, designed to review key concepts of the movement
itself that each student will complete individually so we can assess individual understanding of the key concepts taught, as well as an individual
reflection assignment about the song and its meaning which I will grade.

What will the students do?

Students will be given instructions at the beginning of the period. They will be in their assigned groups their group from the day prior. They will
receive a student guide that coincides along with the PowerPoint that was created to guide the lesson. Students will first answer review questions
that are teacher guided reviewing the key ideas learned already about the modern civil rights movement. Then, students will brainstorm together
with their small groups slang words often associated with women. Students will share. They will hear the British slang term for a woman- "bird".
They will the listen to and watch two videos depicting the song "Blackbird" with Paul McCartney singing. Students will then work in small groups to
analyze the text of the song, identify the literal and figurative meanings of the song, analyze the use of the adjectives, nouns, and verbs in the
song, identify the connotations associated with all, and try to apply this knowledge to the main goal which is to identify the actual meaning of the

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song and how it relates to the movement. Students will share their ideas. Students will complete a cloze activity reviewing key concepts of the
movement, individually. Students will complete a reflection activity individually which will be graded and assessed for understanding of the lesson.

Assigned Evidence
How do you plan to assess student achievement of the goals? What procedures will you use? (Use Upload Files on the Track Assignment
view to include any tests or performance tasks, with rubrics or scoring guides. After Upload, use the edit button to put Lesson Plan in the
File Description field.) How do you plan to use the results of the assessment?
The plan to assess student achievement through question and answer, observation during the group setting, as well as during the share sessions
of
the group work. We will also assess by grading the cloze activity, as well as the reflection.

Half Hollow Hills School District

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