Dominique Matte Lesson plan 3, draft 1

EDIS 5400: English Education

Context:
Course name: English 10, American Literature
Grade level: 10
Length of lesson: 90
Description of setting, students, and curriculum and any other important contextual characteristics:
There are 19 students in the class. There are two ELL students, WIDA Level 3 for Speaking and
WIDA Level 4 for Listening. Both are between WIDA 3 and 4 with reading, typically forming solid
interpretations of the text although they occasionally struggle with figures of speech or difficult
words. For writing, they are both solidly at level 4 with little struggle to express what they mean
and most of their errors come from lack of lexical knowledge. Three of the students struggle
with Reading Comprehension, in that they need help making inferences based on context.
There are three gifted students in the class. They are all avid readers and writers, however
sometimes they get bored with the content of the class.
This is the first writing assignment of the year for these students. It is only the third week of
school. The students have done some journaling and have developed a Writing Territory (which
they did during the first week of class) from which to they were to choose a general topic for
this assignment.
This is the fifth lesson in a unit on narrative writing. Throughout the first three days, we read
excerpts from several narratives and identified what characteristics we as a class saw across the
works. We then spent time exploring different aspects of narrative writing that we saw, such as
sensory language, putting in dialogue, etc. In the fourth lesson, the students were given a
lesson on brainstorming and completed a brainstorming worksheet (Appendix A) in class for the
memoir they are going to write based on an idea from their writing inventory. Today, they will
be starting their first draft.
The next lesson will be on revising. The instructor will take a similar approach to revising,
explicitly showing the students on her own work how to pick portions for revision. The students
will do targeted partner revision in the revision lesson. After the revision lesson, the second
draft of the paper is due to be turned in. It is graded for participation with notes on areas the
student may improve upon
Editing will take place after the second drafts are graded. The instructor will be able to at that
point decide what mini-lessons to give based on common student mistakes seen during the
grading process. After the mini-lesson, students will be given a class period and a half to
workshop while the teacher has conferences with each student. The students will turn in their
final paper after these workshop days.
We made a rubric together in class (Appendix H) on day three for the memoir.

Virginia SOL(s):
9.6 The student will develop narrative, expository, and persuasive writings for a variety of audiences
and purposes.
e) Elaborate ideas clearly through word choice and vivid description.
Common Core State Standard(s):
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events
using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture
of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.

Objectives (KUD format):

U1: Students will understand that narrative writing is created through the unique stylistic writing
choices of the author.
K1: Students will know that writing a memoir requires the writer to show the audience an experience
through deliberate language and style choices.
D1: Students will be able to expand on a previously established idea, focusing on making deliberate
writing choices to adhere to a set of guidelines
D2: Students will be able to create well-chosen details, sequencing of events, authentic voice, and
realistic dialogue aligned with memoir writing.

Assessments: Methods for evaluating each of the specific objectives listed above.
Diagnostic: Students will demonstrate what they already know by

The review portion of the class and the do now are partially diagnostic. They measure the student
understanding within the genre study. This allows the instructor to gauge if students are prepared to move onto
the next stage in the study, which is the creation portion. If students during the Do Now review fail to show they
understand the material, the instructor will go back over the lesson on characteristics of memoir and revisit the
Do Now afterwards.
U1, K1, VA SOL 9.6, 9.6e, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3.d

Formative: Students will show their progress toward today's objectives by

Oral Reflection: Students will show their progress through their reflection at the end of the lesson. The oral
reflection will show the instructor if the students are engaging with the writing assignment and are trying to
apply the characteristics of memoir that were discussed in the last lesson and in the review.
U1

Conferencing: The students will show their progress during their one-on-one conferences. During these, the
instructor will be able to assess how the students feel about applying characteristics of memoir and how they
feel about the writing process in general.
U1, K1, D1, D2, VA SOL 9.6, 9.6e, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3.d
Written Reflection: The written reflection Exit Card (Appendix I) requires the students to explain one
characteristic of memoir they are struggling with and one area they feel they are confident in. It is similar to the
oral reflection, except that the students are requested to explicitly refer to a part of their rough draft they are
struggling with and cite it. This will allow the teacher to know if they need to revisit any of the instruction on
memoir or memoir writing. The instructor will give notes to each student on their Exit Card with guidance for
what part they are struggling with. While reviewing the Exit Cards, the instructor will also note if the class as a
whole is struggling with the same aspects of the assignment. If so, the instructor will revisit that portion of the
lesson in the beginning of the next class.
U1, K1, D1, D2 VA SOL 9.6, VA SOL 9.6e, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3

Summative: Students will ultimately be assessed (today or in a future lesson) on these standards by...
The students will turn in a final draft of their memoir which will be graded by a writing rubric determined in
class. They will be given a number grade as well as given notes in each section of the rubric on where they can
improve. The students will have an opportunity at the end of the semester to improve their grade by doing a
final revision of the work to add to their portfolio. By doing so they can earn up to half of their lost points back.
U1, K1, D1, D2, VA SOL 9.6, VA SOL 9.6e, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3

Materials Needed:
Appendix A: Brainstorming Sheet
Appendix B: Excerpt from reading
Appendix C: Teacher Brainstorm Example
Appendix D: Teacher Rough Draft Example
Appendix E: PowerPoint
Appendix F: Mapping Worksheet
Appendix G: Exit Ticket
Appendix H: Rubric
Instructional Steps (Procedures): Detail student and teacher behavior.
Beginning Room Arrangement:
[Changes in this arrangement that become necessary later will be noted in the plan]

The desks are arranged in their regular clusters. The teacher will be at the door handing students copies of the
Do Now Reading (Appendix B). The first slide of the PowerPoint (Appendix E) should be up on the board
directing students to find a seat and an elbow partner to complete the Do Now questions based on the reading.

I. Welcome/greeting/announcements (15 minutes)

Do Now: Students should be given the first 10 minutes after the bell rings to complete the Do Now. Once the
bell has rung, the teacher should circulate around the room to help any students who have questions and to
gauge if the students are struggling with the Appendix B. If need be, the instructor can add 3 minutes to the time
to complete the Do Now.

Greeting: Hello, everyone! I hope you are having a great week. I heard some great stuff while you were
completing the Do Now. Lets go over it!

II. Hook/ bridge/ opening to lesson (2 minutes)

(Slide 2) Here are the characteristics that we came up with last class as a group that lend to memoir writing.
Remember, these were terms that we as a class came up with together to sort of categorize what we see in
memoirs that makes them effective. First, we have Expressive writing that shows, not tells. Remember when
we talked about this last class, we said it includes figurative language, descriptions, stuff like that. Who can give
an instance of an example of this in the text I gave you? Where in the text do we see figurative writing? Where
do we see her weaving the context into the story? (Call on one or two students) Great, now our second
characteristic Uses an authentic, authorial voice. Hmmwho can explain to me what this means? What do we
mean by authentic? What is authorial? What is voice? Where do we see this in the writing? (Call on one or two
students with at least one cold call) Okay, awesome. Our third characteristic is The structure, time, and pacing
lend to the impact of the story. Sometimes this might sound trickier than it is. Any thoughts on what this
means? Does anyone remember from last class? What do we mean by time and pacing? What about structure?
How does a story make an impact? Where is an example of it from the work? (Call on two-three students with at
least one cold call) Last but not least, we have Realistic dialogue. Where do we see that in the text? What is
realistic about it? What would be an instance of unrealistic dialogue?
Examples the instructor can offer up if no student response:
Expressive/figurative Writing: Houses never rest (What type of figurative language is this? What image does
that paint for you? What does it even mean?) (line 1 of Appendix B)
Authorial Voice: I turned out my light. I peered in. (short sentences used for effect), chuffing and lumbering
(word choice) (Are these words we use regularly? Are these words you would use in your paper? How does this
influence how you think of the author?
Timing and Structure: I turned out my light. I peered in. (create sense of things happening quickly) Story goes in
chronological order (why?)
Realistic Dialogue: When Annie says How goes it?, from where Cranston starts speaking, onwards (end of
excerpt)

Awesome thoughts everyone! It seems like we are feeling pretty comfortable with characteristics of memoir,
which is great because we will be beginning the first drafts of our memoir today! So, as was on the PowerPoint at
the start of class, all of you should have your Brainstorming Worksheets (Appendix A).

III. Instructional steps (25)

Mini-Lesson: Today we will be expanding on the idea that we picked from our brainstorming worksheet. Then,
we are going to spend 30 minutes starting our first draft. There are a few things I want to be super clear with
regarding your first draft. (Slide 3) Its just a draft!! We are going to revise it, you will have time to talk to me
about it, it will not be graded. This draft is about you getting started with the writing process and getting
involved in the piece you are creating. Please do not worry about it being perfect or worry about me judging it
harshly. This draft I will only be looking at if you decide to turn it in for review or if you would like me to help you
with something. This is YOUR memoir, about YOUR experiences, written in YOUR voice. The writing process is
very, very difficult for most people.

A really hard part of the writing process is getting started. Has anyone here had a hard time starting a paper? Or
another type of writing? Why was it hard? What did you struggle with? (Leave space for two or three students
responses. There are various reasons that students struggle to get started, some may not struggle at all). Yeah,
there are tons of reasons why it is hard to start writing something. I struggle with it because I want it to be
perfect on the first draft, so I get stuck on the little details.

Well, today we are going to work together to get my paper started. So, for your viewing pleasure here is my
brainstorming worksheet (project Appendix C onto the board). Remember like we talked about last time class, I
started my worksheet with a selection from my Writing Inventory that I showed you all at the start of the school
year when we were setting up our Journals. The idea I picked for the memoir was riding a bike. From there, I
thought of different stories from my life that involved riding a bike. Then we had gone through the process of
selecting which idea to expand on, and I ended up picking the idea here to write about when I tore my rotator
cuff in college when I was on the rowing team and had to ride the stationary bike every day at practice for two
months. (Use blank slide or Microsoft Word to type into) So I am going to write a few sentences of my memoir
based on my brainstorm. While I do this, I want everyone to feel free to throw out ideas on what I could add. If
you have an idea, raise your hand and I will call on you.

So I am going to write my first sentence for my memoir. I want to engage the reader and introduce the story with
this first sentence. BUT I want to show not tell the reader. Referring to our review at the beginning of the class,
what are a few ways in which I could do this? (Wait for student response. If none, follow up with: What have we
seen in the memoirs we have read? What are some ways that writers open a story without giving a direct
description of the scene?) Great. I like the idea of using dialogue to open the story! It is a little mysterious and I
think it pulls the reader in. I am going to pick a piece of dialogue that I remember really well from when I went to
get my x-ray (Teacher writes first sentence on page from Appendix D). Okie dokes, now where to go from here?
There are endless options. I guess I better add more information about this particular instance to flesh it out a bit
more since the reader is totally in the dark about what is going on. Also, I want to interject myself into this in the
first person since it is a memoir (Teacher writes up second and third sentence from Appendix D). Okay. What
should I do now? Any suggestions? What about the characteristics we saw in good memoir writing. How can I
incorporate more of those? What else can I introduce? (Instructor should write several more sentences based on
student input. These sentences should be authentic to the information the students are providing the teacher,
so they are developed in the moment.)So I have my first (x number of) sentences of my memoir! Looking at these
now, I can see that they are not perfect. My vocabulary is pretty limited and I do not have a lot of strong verbs.
But thats okay! I am going to keep adding to this draft while you all work on yours!

Writing Workshop (32 minutes):

Everyone should take out a notebook or a piece of paper as well as their brainstorming sheet. I do not want you
using your computers for this activity. Since this is personal memoir and a first draft, there is nothing for you to
research. I want you to just write. For homework from last class, you should have picked out an idea from your
brainstorming sheet. You are going to spend 30 minutes working on writing your memoir.. I will be coming
around while you are writing to check up on you and see how its going. At that time, you can let me know if you
are having any issues with your paper. So if you have a specific question, please try to wait until I am in between
conferences. You can write your name on the board if I am in a conference and I will get to you as soon as I can.
This is an INDEPENDENT activity which means no talking. If you would like to change seats or listen to music, go
ahead! Just be mindful of those around you. Get to work!
During the workshop, the teacher will circulate to the different students. Conferences do not necessarily
need to go in a specific order since this is their first writing assignment. However, it could be helpful to
go to students who have questions.
During conferencing, the instructor should have the students also have out their brainstorming sheet.
This will give the teacher an opportunity to see if the student had a lot of ideas on their topic or if they
are just getting started. It will work well to help the instructor see if the students need additional
scaffolding on getting into their memoir.
Questions to ask during conferences: What do you think is going well for you? Why did you choose your
topic? Is there anything you are struggling with? What is the hardest part of writing for you so far? Did
you struggle with getting started?
Anticipated Questions: Common grammar and spelling questions, use of quotation marks and other
aspects within the context of fiction writing, or trouble with getting started. For grammatical and
stylistic questions, the instructor will stress that for now the students should just do their best since it is
a draft. There is no need to worry about editing concepts until we get to them. For now, just get the
words on the page!
For students who express they are having trouble with getting started, the instructor can offer the
students the mapping worksheet (Appendix F) to help them organize their thoughts. There should be
enough copies made for every student in the class.
 For students struggling to decide on an idea from their brainstorming activity, the instructor may offer
scaffolding and guidance to help the student make a decision by asking things such as Which idea do
you remember most vividly? Which one do you think is the most important to you? Which one do you
think was most impactful on your life?.

IV. Closing
Reflection: (10 minutes)
Okay everyone, the 30 minutes are up. Lets come together as a class. (Slide 4) At your seat, as you reset, take a
moment to think about something you thought was hard about starting your memoir and something you found
easy. (Teacher hands out Appendix H) Please write them down on the Exit Ticket. Make specific reference to
where in your writing you struggled. I am collecting your Exit Ticket. (Give students 2-3 minutes to think about
this question and to shift out of independent work mode). Okay, who would like to share their thoughts? (Allow
students to share their thoughts).
Anticipated difficulties: getting started, incorporating all of the aspects of a memoir, showing not telling,
sentence variation, incorporating dialogue. For these, the instructor can encourage the students to refer
back to the previous three lessons we have had on writing or the instructor can point to specific
examples from memoirs we have read together in class.
Anticipated easy parts: using the first person, writing about something familiar

Review: (5 minutes)
Its great to hear how you all felt about the drafting process. It can definitely be very tricky to get started on a
work of writing. I appreciate you all giving it your best shot. A lot of the comments you made relate to things that
can be fixed during the revision process or relate to trying to stay true to the aspects of memoir that we
discussed earlier today and last class. I am glad that you all also found it pretty easy to engage with the writing
since it is reflective of personal experience, not a writing about a book or a research paper.

Homework Assignment: (1 minute)

For homework, I want you to finish the first draft of your memoir. This will be due two class periods from now,
so next Tuesday. That gives you a whole week! Remember, it is a draft! I want you to put in effort, but I do not
expect any of your to present me with a completed and perfect paper. You have the option to turn this draft in or
not. However, please be mindful of the rubric which I gave you. (AppendixH). Thanks guys, go ahead and pack
up. Have a great day! (Collect Exit Tickets as students leave)

Attention to Individual Student Needs: Detail specific actions/materials you will use to differentiate your
instruction to meet various individuals learning needs in this lesson.

The activity is naturally differentiated in that it allows each student to work at their own pace over a set
amount of time. The gifted students who do well with creative writing have an opportunity to write as
much as they want. The students who struggle with writing have time and quiet to think about their
writing.
Assessment, overall, will be differentiated based on students readiness in writing. This is a diagnostic
writing assignment, so the instructor is not certain where each student is. They have the option on the
rubric to pick what they will improve on during the writing process. The instructor will help the students
identifywhat to put on their rubric during their conferences following their graded rough draft (second
rough draft). Their selection of what to put on their rubric will be based on instructor guidance that was
given as feedback on their rough drafts, as suggested by Gallagher. On their rough drafts, they will have
two major comments on places they need improvement. These will be the two focal points during
revising/editing of the paper.
 During the writing period, students who need help getting started may have access to Appendix F, a
mapping worksheet. This should assist them in organizing their thoughts and find a good starting point
for their paper. In addition, students who are feeling more confident about their writing assignment may
elect not to use the worksheet. As this is the first writing assignment of the school year, I will not have a
grasp on who may or may not need the worksheet so I will leave it up to the students to decide if they
need help.
ELLs were informed during conferences at the very start of the school year that within writing
assignments they are allowed to use words in their native language if they would like. They were
explicitly informed in the previous class that their brainstorming and rough drafts do not need to be in
English at all if it impedes their writing process. However, since they all are near the high-intermediate
range, their final drafts should be mostly in English for purposes of them practices writing in English and
so the teacher can grade them. Words in their first language are more than acceptable throughout this
fiction writing especially for stylistic purposes, just the final assignment as a whole cannot be in their
first language. Similarly, speakers of non-standard varieties of English are allowed to use non-standard
English choices throughout their work for stylistic reasons.
We have looked at AmeRican and Spanglish by Tato Laviera to explore how to incorporate bilingualism
into writing. For exploration of non-standard dialect, the class looked at an excerpt from Honey Boy by
Afaa Michael Weaver. The students had an opportunity on day two to discuss authorial language choice
at length. During conferencing, the instructor can ask students if they plan to implement either of these
techniques. After second drafts have been created and reviewed, the instructor can further assist
students incorporate these practices into their writing. If students have questions during draft writing
about utilizing either another language or dialect in their writing, the instructor can refer them to copies
of either text that the class was given on day 2.

Technology Use: Detail specific technology being used in the lesson with explanation for why it is being used.
A PowerPoint is used for the quick review, lesson, and homework assignment to help students have the
material in front of them. In addition, a Microsoft Word document will be projected while the instructor
is modeling draft writing in order to allow the students to be part of the experience.

How this lesson incorporates specific insights from course readings and/or class discussion:
The review portion of this lesson is reflective of Chapter 7 of Blasingame and Bushmen in that it uses an
exploratory approach to a memoir to investigate what makes good writing. The mini-lesson and
modeling are straight out of Gallagher, reflecting the idea that students should be shown that writing is
tricky for everyone, that first drafts are messy, and that drafts require lots of thinking (Gallagher 54).
This similarly reflects the activity we did in EDIS 4882 with a partner, where we talked out how to come
up with the first sentence of a memoir.
Materials Appendix:
Appendix A: Brainstorm Sheet

Start your brainstorm by putting your writing territory in the center star. Around it, write ideas you have
related to the territory.

*based on Kelly Gallaghers Topic Blast sheet

Appendix B: Excerpt from A Racoon of My Own by Lauren Slater

Houses never rest; I knew that, but the Trevors house was especially full of chatter. I could hear the mice, the mosquitoes,
the cats crying, and then sometimes from within the walls the sound of large mammals making their way; I heard as they
tumbled above me, their play so raucous that bits of my ceiling sifted down, and I heard as they walked right by my bed,
nothing between us but cracked plaster, paint, and paper. Raccoons, Annie said when I asked her. They live in the walls
here.

Every night they came, walking in the wall beside my bed. I started to scratch at that space, trying to widen a tiny puncture
already present. I found an X-acto knife and, after checking to see that my door was closed, I used its precise point to trace a
small porthole. Flexing my first finger, I gave the wall a push, surprised at how cleanly it all gave way, leaving a quarter-
sized hole, perfect for peering.

I turned out my light. I peered in. From far down the wall I heard the lumbering of a single coon. He came closer and closer
still, and then I could smell him, pungent and moist, and then I could hear him chuffing as he ambled even closer, my heart
picking up, and suddenly, for the first time, I felt like I lived here, like I was pinned to this place that was silent with sleep
except for me, still staring as his smell grew stronger. And then, quite suddenly it seemed, he came around some corner and I
was eye to eye with a beast.

The eye had a wet shine, with a dark ink drop of a pupil. The pupil seemed suspended in liquid. How goes it? I asked, and
then the animal suddenly vanished and I found myself staring at space. Every night now I waited at my porthole for
communion with the coon. And every night the animal and I did nothing but simply stare at one another. It seemed to fulfill
some need for both of us and then, abruptly, it was over. I would look away, look back, and the beast would be gone, or hed
blink several times in rapid succession before rambling off.

Leaning beside the wall I began to sculpt the hole larger, cutting crescents out of it until, one night, a pointed nose emerged
from my aperture, leathery but wet, two dark dots for nostrils and then a tiny tongue. Slowly, I offered my upturned palm and
the snout pushed further out, eagerly taking in my myriad scents, so many it seemed I had, because the snout just went on
sniffing, salt and sand and who knows what else lay in the layers of me. This went on for Im not sure how long, because
when I woke up the coon was gone and Id apparently slept slumped against the wall.

And so it was that night by night I made the hole larger and night by night the coon presented more of himself to me. Id say
the coon had maybe come a quarter of the way out of the wall when Annie discovered my project. Cleaning, she found the
busted plaster and when she looked closer she saw the treat tidbits Id started to use, aligned along the wooden beam running
just inside the wall. That night she and Cranston took me aside and with my bedroom door closed asked me what I was
doing. Because I had no fib I simply told them the truth, wondering if for this sort of behavior unrelated children were tossed
out. I told them the whole story, how I was courting a coon, my many midnight visits.

When I was finished a long silence. I could hear my heart. It was hammering high up. Cranston walked across the floor,
knelt by the bed, and examined my punched-out place. Annie stood, looking serious.

At last Cranston spoke. His back was to me as he fingered the rim of the hole. Boy or girl? he asked.

What? I said.

Your midnight meetings, he said. Is the raccoon a boy or a girl?

Boy, I said, suddenly sure.

Why do you think that? Annie asked, and I thought I saw the small flicker of a smile.

Its how he smells, I said, and then suddenly they were laughing.
Kids, Cranston called, opening my bedroom door. Kids! Come look at the coon hole Lauren has made.

All the kids came and I described for everyone going eye to eye with the beast, and even the boys were impressed. Ill tell
you what, Cranston said, looking at me.

What? I said.

Lets make this hole a little larger and tonight well pull him all the way out and make him ours.

https://aeon.co/essays/growing-up-is-hard-to-do-never-mind-the-teeth-and-claws
Appendix C: Teacher Brainstorm Sheet Example
Start your brainstorm by putting your writing territory in the center star. Around it, write ideas you have
related to the territory.

When I fell in the church parking lot

The time I tore my rotator cuff

When I left the bikes out

Riding a Bike and they got stolen

When I fell and got road rash

in 8th grade and everyone made fun
of me

When I biked down the highway to get to my doctors appointment

Appendix D: Teacher Rough Draft

Sentence 1: Please lift your right arm the Radiology tech said through the loud speaker.

Sentence 2: Reaching my left hand down, I grabbed my right wrist and pulled it up as high over my head
as I could.

Sentence 3: It hurt pretty bad.

Teacher should add on several more sentences following the input of the students and based around the
memoir characteristics reviewed by the group.
Appendix E: Draft Writing PowerPoint
Appendix F: Mapping Worksheet

Where does the plot begin?

Where does the plot climax?

Where does the plot end?

Which of these would you like to be at the beginning of the story? What order will you put them
in?

Who are the people places and

things in this story that the reader
needs to know about?

Who, where, and what will you introduce first?

Appendix G: Reflection

Name______________________
Exit Ticket

1. What is one part of the memoir drafting process you struggled with? Please give example from
your draft.

2. What is one part of the memoir drafting process you excelled at? Please give example from your
draft.
Appendix H

Exceeds the Standard Meets the Standard Does not Meet

Standard

Sentence Variation Student frequently uses Student uses a variety Student does not
a variety of sentence of sentence lengths and consistently use a
lengths and styles. styles variety of sentence
Sentence variety lengths and styles.
creates stylistic effect. Sentences are
repetitive in nature.
Sensory Language Student consistently Student sometimes Student tells the reader
shows the audience shows the audience instead of using
through use of sensory through use of sensory sensory language.
language. language. Minimal sensory
Student sometimes tells language is used.
the reader.
Dialogue Student consistently Student rarely uses Student does not use
uses dialogue realistic dialogue realistic dialogue
throughout the throughout the throughout their
memoir. memoir. memoir.
Dialogue contributes to Characters are built
character building and through direct
identity. description instead of
action.
Student Choice

Student Choice