Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Final Thematic Unit
Final Thematic Unit
Human Rights
Antonia Benetti, Juniper Kleinsmith, Jessa Magbanua, Alicia Taylor
December 4th, 2019
Teaching & Learning 322
Dr. Barbara Ward
Alicia
Juniper
Antonia
Jessa
Juniper & Jessa
Alicia & Antonia
Antonia & Jessa
Alicia & Juniper
All of us
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Table of Contents
Rationale …………………………………………………………………………………… 4
Standards …………………………………………………………………………………… 4
Learning Objectives ………………………………………………………………………... 7
Accommodations …………………………………………………………………………... 9
Goals ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 10
Books ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 11
Content Sequence …………………………………………………………………………... 12
Assessments ……………………………………………………………………………….... 14
Parent Letter ………………………………………………………………………………… 17
Alternate assignments ………………………………………………………………………. 18
Week 1 ……………………………………………………………………………………… 19
● Day 1 ……………………………………………………………………….. 19
● Day 2 ……………………………………………………………………….. 23
● Day 3 ……………………………………………………………………….. 27
● Day 4 (Lesson Plan)…..…………………………………………………….. 32
● Day 5 ……………………………………………………………………….. 53
Week 2 ……………………………………………………………………………………… 57
● Day 1 (Lesson Plan)..……………………………………………………….. 57
● Day 2 ……………………………………………………………………….. 76
● Day 3 ……………………………………………………………………….. 83
● Day 4 ……………………………………………………………………….. 86
● Day 5 ……………………………………………………………………….. 90
Week 3 ……………………………………………………………………………………… 92
● Day 1 ……………………………………………………………………….. 92
● Day 2 ……………………………………………………………………….. 96
● Day 3 (Lesson Plan)..……………………………………………………….. 100
● Day 4 ……………………………………………………………………….. 113
● Day 5 ……………………………………………………………………….. 117
References …………………………………………………………………………………. 120
Alicia’s Reflection …………………………………………………………………………. 122
Antonia’s Reflection ……………………………………………………………………….. 125
Jessa’s Reflection ……………………………………………………………………………127
Juniper’s Reflection ………………………………………………………………………… 129
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Unit Plan: Civil Rights vs. Human Rights Grade Level: 6th
Rationale: The Civil Rights Movement was a turning point in America’s recent history. The
Civil Rights Movement lasted from 1954 to 1968. During this time, African Americans were
fighting for their rights as citizens of the United States. The rights that were being fought for,
should have been basic human rights, but instead, America saw these rights as only belonging to
white people. Segregation was very prevalent, and the final goal was for all African Americans
to gain their rights as U.S citizens, and to have our nation finally be fully integrated. In this unit,
we wanted to explore three different activists from the given time period; we focused on Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X. All three activists made a monumental
impact with the final outcome of the movement. As teachers, it is important that we teach
students about historical events like these, because it has helped shaped the nation that we are
today. Slavery and segregated were a huge part of our nation’s history, and it should not be
ignored. Throughout this unit, students will be taking a deeper look into the different events that
took place, and how our society has changed over time. They will end the unit with a deep
reflection about what they have learned over the past three weeks, and their opinions on the
events that occurred. Allowing for deep reflection will invite students to look at their lives now,
and see how far our nation has come since the Civil Rights Movement.
Content Standards:
Reading:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details;
provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3
Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in
a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6
Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the
text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.9
Compare and contrast one author's presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir
written by and a biography on the same person).
Writing:
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey
experiences and events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.A
Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator and/or
characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.2.D
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1.C
Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that
contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1.D
Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate an understanding of multiple perspectives
through reflection and paraphrasing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.2
Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively,
orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
Social Studies:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate
summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary
specific to domains related to history/social studies
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6
Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language,
inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.8
Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
Art
Performance Standard (VA:Cr2.1.6)
a. Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making
works of art and design
Performance Standard (VA:Cr2.3.6)
a. Identify and interpret works of art or design that reveal how people live around the world and
what they value.
Performance Standard (VA:Cn11.1.6)
a. Analyze how art reflects changing times, traditions, resources, and cultural uses.
Media and Technology
1.d. Students are able to navigate a variety of technologies and transfer their knowledge and
skills to learn how to use new technologies.
2.a. Students manage their digital identities and reputations within school policy, including
demonstrating an understanding of how digital actions are never fully erasable.
3.a. Students demonstrate and practice the ability to effectively utilize research strategies to
locate appropriate digital resources in support of their learning.
3.b. Students practice and demonstrate the ability to evaluate resources for accuracy, perspective,
credibility and relevance.
3.c. Students locate and collect resources from a variety of sources and organize assets into
collections for a wide range of projects and purposes.
Music
Performance Standard (MU:Pr6.1.6)
a. Perform the music with technical accuracy to convey the creator’s intent.
Performance Standard (MU:Re7.1.6)
a. Select or choose music to listen to and explain the connections to specific interests or
experiences for a specific purpose.
Performance Standard (MU:Re7.2.6)
b. Identify the context of music from a variety of genres, cultures, and historical periods.
Language Standards:
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.3: Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing,
speaking, reading, or listening.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.4.A: Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or
paragraph; a word's position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or
phrase.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word
relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.6: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic
and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word
or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Learning Targets/Objectives:
Reading:
- SWBAT determine the theme and ideas of the text read in class through details then
provide a summary through projects, worksheets, and assignments (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.RL.6.2)
- SWBAT determine the meaning of words and phrases of the vocabulary words as they
are used in the class read aloud books (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.4)
- SWBAT analyze in detail how key events and individuals (MLK, Rosa Parks, Malcolm
X) are illustrated and introduced in a text through unit projects, class work, and activities
(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3)
- SWBAT determine the author’s point of view of the read aloud books and explain how it
is conveyed through projects and class work (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6)
- SWBAT compare and contrast two or more books written on the same activists (MLK,
Rosa Parks, Malcolm X) (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.9)
Writing
- SWBAT produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and
style are appropriate to the tasks and purpose of the activities throughout the unit
(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.4)
- SWBAT use content specific vocabulary and details to convey experiences and events of
the Civil Rights Movement (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.D)
- SWBAT organize an event sequence in chronological order during the movement
(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.A)
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- SWBAT use unit-specific vocabulary to explain a topic (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.W.6.2.D)
Social Studies
- SWBAT determine the central ideas or information of the sources provided in class such
as Youtube videos, readings, worksheets, Powerpoint presentations, and other materials
given in class. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2)
- SWBAT define given vocabulary words throughout the unit, as they are used in the texts
and materials, about the Civil Rights movement. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4)
- SWBAT identify the aspects of text that reveal an author’s point of view in the class read
aloud books throughout the unit. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6)
- SWBAT distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgement in the class read aloud
books throughout the unit. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.8)
Art
- SWBAT create an artistic response that reflects the civil rights movement (VA:Re7.1.6)
(VA:Cr2.1.6)
- SWBAT look at images from the civil rights movement and understand what they
represent (VA:Re7.1.6) and (VA:Cn11.1.6)
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- SWBAT practice and demonstrate the ability to evaluate resources about the Civil Rights
movement for accuracy, perspective, credibility, and relevance. (3.b.)
- SWBAT locate and collect resources from a variety of sources, such as class resources
and outside resources, for projects and classwork throughout the unit. (3.c.)
Music
- SWBAT accurately perform the given music to the teacher’s liking. (MU:Pr6.1.6)
- SWBAT connect the given songs and music to the Civil Rights Movement and explain
their relevance during the time period. (MU:Re7.1.6)
- SWBAT identify the time period of the music being played. (MU:Re7.2.6)
Language Objectives:
- SWBAT demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and
usage when writing and speaking in presentations, video projects, class discussions, and
small group discussions as well capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing in
classwork, projects, quizzes, and any other work over the course of the unit. (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.L.6.1) (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.2)
- SWBAT complete written work throughout the unit that demonstrates knowledge of
language and its conventions when reading, speaking, writing, and listening.
(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.3)
- SWBAT will complete classwork, projects, assignments, and all written work throughout
the unit that uses context as a clue to the meaning of a vocabulary word. (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.L.6.4.A)
- SWBAT complete vocabulary quizzes and readings in which students demonstrate that
they understand figurative language in word meaning. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.5)
- SWBAT acquire unit-specific and grade-appropriate vocabulary from the lessons of Rosa
Parks, MLK Jr., and Malcolm X. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.6)
Accommodations: It is very important to accommodate all students and their learning needs.
Throughout the unit, we have ensured that we have included different ways to present the
information, as well as different types of activities to go along with the lesson. For any lesson
that includes students writing in their either writing, reading, or history notebook, students who
have trouble with writing, can type their notes to put in their notebooks. Or, notes can be typed
up by the teacher ahead of time to give the students. Students can also do speech to text on the
chrome books if typing proves to be difficult. When powerpoint presentations are being given to
the class, the slides can also be printed out and given to the students who need extra time for
assignments. For our ELL students, when it comes time to do the timeline activities with a
partner, ELL students can be partnered with a student who is proficient in the English language.
The student who is proficient in English can easily help the ELL student with some English
terms and making sense of America’s history. In terms of any books that need to be read for
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assignments, or for the class read-aloud book, audio books can be found and given to students
who are hard of hearing. Audiobooks can also be available for students who were absent during a
day that the class read-aloud was read. During movies and videos, we will also turn on the
subtitles for students who are hard of hearing/ for our ELL students. We have also
accommodated for different types of learners in our class. For our visual learners, we have used a
lot of videos to show more about that time period, and the events that have occurred. For our
auditory learners, we will be having a lot of class discussions based off of videos and talking
through questions as a class, as well as powerpoint presentations. For our kinesthetic learners, we
have the reader’s theatre activities that students will be acting out during the whole week. For
our gifted students, we have included some assignments and activities that ask students to use
their deep and critical thinking skills to discuss the time period. Our lesson plans are more about
critical thinking and synthesizing the information being presented. For our students with IEPs or
504 plans, we will make the appropriate accommodation based off the individually discussed
plans. We want to make sure that each of our students have equal opportunities to learn in the
classroom.
Goals:
Teacher Goals:
The main goal of our unit is to be able to show the class a piece of our history that has shaped
our society today. We also wants students to be able to look back on the whole unit and reflect
on the events that took place from 1954 to 1968; the true impact of the movement needs to be
recognized by all our students. We want all our students to be able to reach all of the designated
goals by the end of the unit through all the activities and assignments planned. In our unit, we
have planned lessons that are easily accessible to students of all learning types with the correct
modifications and accommodations. We tried to make our lessons according to the UDL
principles as well. We did not want our students to feel like they are just sitting down filling out
a worksheet the entire time, without a purpose. Our lessons are fun, interactive, and allow our
students to think in new avenues that they might not have thought of before. By including a
diverse variety of assignments in the lesson, students are exposed to various means of learning,
gaining experience with the content, and connecting to the experiences and content within the
unit.
Student Goals:
By the end of the unit, students will have a better understanding of the Civil Rights Movement
through a series of activities and lessons. All the lessons included in the three week long unit
were designed to have students take a deeper look into the events that occurred during the given
time period. By the end of the unit, students will have a better understanding of Martin Luther
King Jr. is, Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X, as well as their impacts on the movement. Once the unit
has concluded, students will be asked to reflect back on the unit and see what they have learned
in the past 3 weeks. Students will be able to take all the different events that they learned about,
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to create a mixed timeline in chronological order. This will also serve as an opportunity to reflect
on everything that they learned about during the three weeks.
Books:
Rosa written by Nikki Giovanni and illustrated by Bryan Collier
● This book is a marvelous look into the day that Rosa Parks did not give up her seat on the
bus, and the movement that followed after her actions. The author gives a detailed
background of who Rosa Parks was before she single-handedly changed the direction of
the Civil Rights Movement. The illustrations in this book help to develop the words
written on the pages. The illustrations are watercolors.
Who was Rosa Parks? written by Yona Zeldis McDonough and illustrated by Nancy Harrison
and Stephen Marchesi
● Rosa Parks was known as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”. This book tells
the story of how Rosa got involved in the movement, and the impact she made.This book
is written in the form of a biography. Included in the book are black and white
illustrations.
A Dream of Freedom: the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968 by Diane McWhorter.
● This book provides a deeper look at the world during the Civil Rights Movement.
McWhorter focuses on monumental events that occurred during the time period of 1954
to 1968. The author divulges into the major events that happened during the movement,
starting with the Brown vs. Board of Education court case in 1954, and ending with the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. McWhorter has produced an
emotionally-charged and comprehensive account of defining moments in African
American history.
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. written by Doreen Rappaport and
illustrated by Bryan Collier
● This book is a stunning tribute to civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. It tells the
story of how King grew up in a “White Only” world and about his efforts as a civil rights
crusader, ending with his assassination. The story talks about how King heard “big
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words” when he was younger and how they influenced him to inspire others when he
grew up. This book is a great introduction to Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.
If A Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks by Faith Ringgold
● This book tells the story of how when Rosa Parks was a little girl, she would walk miles
to get to school and the white children would get to ride the bus to school. When Rosa
became an adult, she got to ride the bus, but it was segregated and she had to ride in the
back, and give up her seat when a white man wanted to sit, they had to get up and move.
This book also tells the story of what happened when Rosa refused to give her seat up
one day.
When Rosa Parks Went Fishing written by Rachel Ruiz and illustrated by Chiara Fedele
● Everyone knows the story of Rosa Parks, but not a lot of people know Rosa as a child.
This story follows Rosa Parks through her time in a one-roomed schoolhouse, fishing
down at the creek, wearing homemade clothes, and wondering what white water tastes
like. Readers will be inspired by the experiences that shaped the woman she became.
Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up To Become Malcolm X written by Ilyasah Shabazz and
illustrated by A.G. Ford
● Before Malcolm X became one of America’s most influential activists of the civil rights
movement, he was Malcolm Little. Malcolm Little was always seen as a natural born
leader, but when threatened with intolerance and tragedy, Malcolm’s faith was
threatened. He has to learn to become independent, strong, and hold onto his
individuality. This story is written by his daughter.
Content Sequence:
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-History Timeline -Continue
activity -Persuasive -Music class practicing
writing about speech
-Class read aloud MLK with -Class read aloud
graphic
organizer -Speech research
and worktime
- Rosa Parks - Intro to vocab - Rosa Parks - Vocab word - Vocab quiz
Youtube video collage spelling test
- Class read aloud - Class read aloud
- Starting class - Class read aloud - Class read aloud
growth poster - Reader’s Theatre - Book cover
work time - Reader’s Theatre - Rosa Parks Bio activity
- Intro to Reader’s work time poem
Theatre - Music class - Music class
- Music class - Music class
- Class read aloud - Reader’s Theatre - Finish timeline
- Music class check-in - Reader’s Theatre - Reader’s Theatre and discussion
script check-in check-in
- Add Rosa Parks - Intro to Reader’s - Reader’s theatre
to Timeline Theatre script - Final draft of - Reader’s Theatre video
script rehearsals and presentations
- Reader’s Theatre - Exit slip/journal filming
graphic organizer write - Exit slip/journal - Group
& notes write - Group reflection collaboration form
Day 11: Day 12: Day 13: Day 14: Day 15:
- Intro to Malcolm - Vocab quiz - Malcolm X and - Discussion of -Collage of civil
X MLK Youtube Civil Rights rights movement
- Class read aloud video movement
- Intro to vocab -Share artistic
- Research time - Video worksheet - Start final project response
- Malcolm X for timeline discussion of unit
video -Work time on
- Class read aloud - Letter reading - Intro to written reflection and
- Malcolm X discussion part of final timeline
Powerpoint - Music class project
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- Letter writing -Music class
- Music class - Finish Malcolm activity draft - Music class
X timeline -Finish timeline
- Intro to Malcolm - Music class - Timeline work and reflection
X timeline project - Malcolm X letter time
reading activity - Final draft letter -finish Malcolm X
- Class read aloud with questions to Malcolm X - Malcolm X movie
movie
- Exit slip - Start Malcolm X -Post assessment:
movie exit slip
Assessments:
Pre-Assessment: For our pre-unit assessment, we will be having student will out a KWL chart in
their history notebooks. This will be done the Friday before the start of the unit. The teacher will
be having students create a KWL chart to fill out before the unit begins to see what students
know and want to know during the unit. Students will not be filling out the “what I have learned”
section of the chart until the end of the unit post-assessment. The “what I have learned” section
will be done in the form of an exit ticket. The KWL chart will be looked at as a form of
participation, but will also guide the teacher through the units in terms of what the class already
knows, and what they want to learn during the unit. The teacher will take all things mentioned by
the students, into account when planning the lessons.
In terms of student voice, the final project of the unit is a reflection paper. This is where we will
be able to see what students have learned and their opinions on the whole unit. We also have a
small project where students will write about what they think freedom is, and what it looks like.
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Post-Assessment: For the post assessment of this unit, students will be asked to fill out an exit
slip. This exit slip reflects back to the pre-assessment where students would now fill out “what I
have learned” section. Students will also be asked to answer the questions; “What was your
favorite part about this unit? What was the biggest thing you took away from this unit? What is
one thing you want to learn more about?”. These questions will be given to the students in the
last 10 minutes on the last day of the unit.
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* Students who do not have parent permission to watch the Malcolm X movie will be given
the opportunity to complete an alternate activity. Students will be asked to create a book
containing at least 8 pages, that represents the life of Malcolm X. Students can choose what
kind of book they would like to create, whether they create a graphic novel, a picture book,
a book of poems, or a chapter book. Students may also use this time as work time for any
projects they need to complete, once they finish their book activity.*
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Sequence of Lessons:
Week 1, Day 1
Goal: The goal of the timeline lesson is to allow students to explore the different impacts that
Martin Luther King Jr. had during the Civil Rights Movement. This activity will help students to
put Martin Luther King Jr.’s life events and accomplishments in chronological order for
relevance.
Overview: This activity will be led by the teacher after watching a mini-bio video on Martin
Luther King Jr. Students will be given a blank timeline worksheet that they will fill out with a
partner. On the timeline, students are to include important life events of MLK regarding his
personal life and his activism with the Civil Rights Movement. Since this activity is taking place
on the first day of the unit, students will not have enough background knowledge on MLK to do
this activity without some help, so, students will have access to chromebooks for help. Once
worksheets have been passed out, the teacher will go over a couple of examples with the whole
class. The teacher will place the day of MLK Jr.’s birth and death on the timeline, and the day he
gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. These examples will give the students a good idea of
the type of events that are expected to be placed on the timeline. Students must have a mix of
both personal life events, and events regarding the work he did for the Civil Rights Movement.
Included with each event, students will have to write a sentence or two explaining the event they
are placing on the timeline. There will be a minimum requirement of 15 events to be placed on
the timeline. During the work time, the teacher will be walking around the class to check on
groups, and answer any questions that students may have. This activity is to be completed during
class, and will be collected by the teacher and recorded as a participation grade. This activity
helps students with being able to research Martin Luther King Jr., as well as creating a
chronological order of events of someone’s lifetime.
Materials:
● 24 copies of a timeline template
● Chromebooks (1 per person)
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Instructional Strategy: Students will be working with a partner to complete the timeline
activity. This will allow students to collaborate and decide which 15 events are considered
important in MLK Jr.’s life. Students will have access to a chromebook to complete this activity.
Each student in the pair will turn in their own paper for a participation grade.
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Assessment: Students will be given full participation points if they have turned in their timeline,
and have included the required 15 events on the timeline. If students do not have all 15 events on
the timeline, they will receive partial participation points for the activity.
Peter
Owen
Paisley
Taylor
Zain
Hailey
Sam
Alexa
Jillian
Robert
Sophia
Paxton
Avery
Jackson
Natalie
Kevin
Garrett
Harrison
Anaya
Ellie
Alex
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Emily
Chris
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(50 minutes) History: After watching the mini-bio video, students will be asked to create a
timeline of MLK’s life regarding his activism. Students will be working with a partner to fill out
important dates throughout his life/activism. Partners will be using chromebooks for research.
Once completed, students will turn in their timelines for a participation grade.
1:30 to 2:20
(50 minutes) Throughout the 3 week long unit, the teacher will be reading a chapter book aloud
to the class (A Dream of Freedom; The Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968 by Diana
McWhorter). Students will listen and take notes in their reading notebooks to help them with the
final project due during the last week of the unit.
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will do their classroom jobs and pack up for dismissal.
Week 1, Day 2
Goal: The goal of this lesson is to share with students the influence that MLK Jr. had on history
and the Civil Rights Movement. Students will be able to learn more about MLK Jr. and the
movement, and use their skills to persuade others to share their views about the most influential
part of MLK Jr.’s life.
Overview: Once students have watched a short video on Martin Luther King Jr., the teacher will
pass back their timelines from the previous day. Students will be asked to add any other
significant events to their timeline that they learned from the video. Once students have added to
their timelines, the will get with the same partner that they worked on the timeline with, to
complete the next activity. The activity will ask students to take the items that they placed onto
their timelines, and classify them into three categories: Academic Achievements & Awards, Key
Moment in the Civil Rights Movement, and Personal Life. Students will do this in their history
notebooks. The teacher will draw on the whiteboard, and example of how the graphic organizer
should be laid out in their notebooks. Once the class had copied the graphic organizer into their
notebooks, the teacher will go over a few examples with the class so they fully understand what
is being asked of them. The teacher will use an event discussed in the video, and place it in one
of the three categories on the organizer. After a few examples have been shown, the class will
have time to work with their partner at a reasonable noise level. Once each group has finished
classifying the life events, the teacher will call on a couple groups to share out what they
classified the events under and why. After sharing, the teacher will ask the class to each choose
an event out of any category, that they see as the most influential in the Civil Rights Movement.
Students will then be asked to independently write a small paragraph in their notebooks on why
they think that event is the most influential. Students will then turn in their paragraphs for a
grade, and graphic organizers for participation credit.
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Materials:
● Youtube Video https://www.channelone.com/blog_post/a-lesson-plan-for-martin-luther-
king-jr-day/
● History notebooks
● Timelines from day 1
● Whiteboard
3 2 1
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Content Student stayed Students writing Students writing
focused on the somewhat stays does not match the
prompt given. focused on the given prompt given.
prompt.
Peter
Owen
Paisley
Taylor
Zain
Hailey
Sam
Alexa
Jillian
Robert
Sophia
Paxton
Avery
Jackson
25
Natalie
Kevin
Garrett
Harrison
Anaya
Ellie
Alex
Emily
Chris
Instructional Strategy: Students will be working both independently and with their partner
from the previous day. Students will be working together to classify the events on their timeline
into 3 categories. Once students have classified MLK’s life events, they will be asked to
individually choose an event that they thought was most influential to the Civil Rights
Movement, and write a small paragraph explaining what the event is, and why they think it is
influential.
Assessment: Students will be assessed on their ability to complete the graphic organizer, and
their ability to back up their opinion with facts. If students complete the graphic organizer, they
will receive full credit for this part of the activity. The teacher will use a rubric to grade students
on their paragraphs, and their ability to back up their opinions with facts.
26
Moments in the Civil Rights Movement, and Personal Life. They may also add additional events
to the categories.
9:40 to 10:00
(20 min) Independently, students will decide which event out of the three categories was the
most influential to the Civil Rights movement, and write a short paragraph explaining why they
chose this event.
10:00 to 10:30
(30 min) Students will each share their paragraph with the class
10:30 to 11:00
(30 min) Class discussion about the choices each student made. Why they chose that event and
why it makes it the most influential over the other events.
11:00 to 11:35
(35 minutes) Lunch/Recess
11:35 to 12:30
(55 minutes) Students will be in choir and band class. They will be exploring the music of the
time period.
12:30 to 1:00
(30 minutes) Students will write down bring out their writer's notebook and write down the
vocabulary learned that that day. Words such as: Jim Crow Laws, Civil Rights Movement, and
March on Washington.
1:00 to 2:30
(90 minutes) Students will write a persuasive piece to convince others to believe their argument
as to the most influential thing that MLK Jr. has done.
Students will use their graphic organizer as well as any notes to plan their writing.
Week 1, Day 3
Goal: The goal of this activity is to introduce a small project to the class. Once the class has seen
a video of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, they will be asked to
create their own speech of what they think freedom is, and what it looks like. Once students have
written their speeches, they will present them in front of their peers and families at the end of the
week. This will work on students’ abilities to write and present a speech to an audience.
Overview: Students will begin the day by being read to by the teacher, a book called A Place to
Land by Bary Wittenstein. This book introduces the “I Have a Dream” speech to the students, as
well as tells the story behind the words that MLK spoke that day at the Washington Monument.
After reading the book, the teacher will show the students the video of MLK giving the speech.
While they are watching the video, students will be asked to take note of what makes the speech
so impactful, and why it is seen as such a moving speech that is remembered so greatly..
27
Following the video, students will participate in a class discussion about the speech and what
they noticed during the video. The teacher will then introduce the project to the class, which is to
write their own speeches about what freedom is to them and what it looks like. The teacher will
also go over what students will be graded on when they present their speeches at the end of the
week. Students will be graded on Once the project has been introduced, a mini lesson will be
presented to the class about how to write speeches the different aspects of what makes an
effective speech. Once students are given the presentation, they will be given time to start
writing their speech.
Materials:
● 24 copies of speech instructions
● Speech Rubric
● Document camera
28
Instructions:
Now that you have seen Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, it is
your turn to make your own speech about freedom. In this speech, I want you to write about
cover a few things. I want to know what freedom is, what it means to you, and what it looks like
in our world today. Down below is a checklist of things that I want you to include in your
speech. It should not exceed 5 minutes in length, and should be completely original. Meaning
that no lines should be copied from MLK’s speech. We will present these on Friday in front of
our peers and parents.
Checklist:
o What is freedom?
We will have time to work on our speeches during class today and Thursday. Speeches will be
given Friday morning. Everyone’s parents and families will be invited to come watch our
speeches. You are required to dress up in more professional attire for their speech. You will be
graded on your accuracy, originality, creativity, oral presentation, and your grammar and
spelling.
4 3 2 1
29
(20 points) speech was very well researched poorly researched prepare.
well researched with some with many Information
and accurate. All inaccuracies. inaccuracies. presented is
facts included mostly
were correct. inaccurate.
Originality Student did not Student used 1 Student used 2 Student used 3 or
use any lines line from another lines from more lines from
(15 points) from other speech. another speech. another speech.
speeches.
Everything was
written in their
own words.
30
Instructional Strategy: Students will be working on this assignment independently. Every
student has a different vision of what freedom is, and what it looks like. By working
independently, they will have the opportunity to express their thoughts and opinions to their
peers without potentially clashing views with their peers.
Assessment: Students will be assessed according to the rubric and checklist that has been created
specifically for their own version of MLK JR.’s speech. They will be assessed on their oral
presentation, accuracy of facts used, creativity, originality, and grammar/spelling. The speech
and presentation of the speech will be worth 80 points.
31
(30 minutes) Students will have time to research MLK’s “I Have A Dream” speech on the
computers.
1:30 to 2:20
(50 minutes) Students will have the opportunity to work on their own interpretation of MLK’s
speech.
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Clean-up and dismissal.
Week 1, Day 4
Overview
The information included in this document is to support faculty in teaching about and supporting
students with the T&L (and edTPA) Instructional Plan. While there are many variations of lesson
plans, this format meets departmental requirements and is aligned with the 2014 edTPA as well.
Background Information (When doing the actual edTPA, leave out identifiers)
Teacher Candidate:Jessa Magbanua, Juniper Kleinsmith, Alicia Taylor, and Antonia Benetti
Date: 11/17/19
Cooperating Teacher: Mrs. Lippay Grade: 6th
School District: Pullman School District School: Franklin Elementary School
University Supervisor: Lori White
Unit/Subject: Reading (Comprehension)
Instructional Plan Title/Focus: Inferencing
Additionally, explain where in a unit this lesson would be taught. What lesson topic
came prior to this one (yesterday) and what related lesson will come after this one
(tomorrow)?
The lesson will focus on the comprehension technique of inferencing and making predictions
while reading. Students will be working with the book, Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Martin
Luther King Jr.. They will be given a worksheet where they will be making inferences of the book
before, during, and after it’s done. At the same time, they will be looking for answers to their
predictions and perhaps even making new ones throughout the process. Students will use the
cover of the book to make inferences about the content and message of the book. These
32
predictions and inferences will include what characters that may be involved and when they
think the book took place. Students will also be asked to answer questions about what they
think it means to have “civil rights” to help go deeper into their predictions. Students will discuss
their predictions and thoughts to further practice inferencing orally both in small groups and with
the entire class.
Being able to make inferences and forming questions about a book is important, because it not
only helps them measure their comprehension but also help them understand when information
is not directly stated. It’s almost like a building block for higher-order of thinking. This will help
them in the real world, because it’s almost a natural thing to do but to do it well is a skill they will
have to practice. For example, if they were to have a job that required them to hire individuals.
It’s important for them to make inferences about who they’re planning on hiring through their
resumes. Inferencing can be done both orally and written, throughout this unit they will be
required to do both either with whole class discussions, small groups, and individually on
various activities. The book, Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr., will be used
to give them the opportunity to practice it on their own without our help. We will often bring back
this book as an example to remind them of their early stages of inferencing.
This lesson will be towards the beginning of the unit. Students should already have an idea
about what civil rights and a background of the events pertaining the civil rights movement.
Yesterday, students had a mini lesson of what inferencing was and were given several
sentences (EX: "My wife and I tried to pack light but we made sure not to forget our bathing
suits and sunblock. I wasn't sure if I would get seasick again so I made sure to pack some
medicine for upset stomachs.") just to practice how to inference.
Today, students will see the cover and the title of the book. Using what they see on the cover,
and the predictions that they have about the content of the story, they will fill out a worksheet
about various aspects of the book and what they know about Martin Luther King Jr. The teacher
will begin to read the book out loud to the class as students are prompted to answer the
questions that the teacher will ask at various points, and discuss their answers and predictions
as a class. After the book is finished, students will discuss at their table groups whether or not
their predictions were accurate, and how they made the predictions that they did. After students
have discussed their predictions, they will discuss what they learned from the book, how their
ideas about the topic have been formed or changed, and what they can do to uphold the words
and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.. Students will then share their thoughts aloud with the
class, after discussing in small table groups.
Tomorrow, the class will make a huge poster that will have “Before, During, and After”
inferences and then a section on how their view has changed from the beginning and end.
33
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed
through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from
personal opinions or judgments
· CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or
speaker in a text.
· CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.7
Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or
poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the
text, including contrasting what they "see" and "hear" when reading the
text to what they perceive when they listen or watch
3. Content Objectives (to be copied in Assessment Chart below) and alignment to State
Learning Standards:
1.
● SWBAT support their inferences and predictions from the text with direct quotes from the
text.
● SWBAT answer questions about the story using inferences and predictions to
determine the theme and message of the story.
● SWBAT understand the role that Martin Luther King Jr. had in the Civil Rights
movement and how that influenced his point of view.
● SWBAT understand how the presentation of the book and it’s cover (including
pictures, text, and cover art and pictures) shape the message of the story.
34
Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to
listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including
contrasting what they "see" and "hear" when reading the text to what they
perceive when they listen or watch.
Language Objectives:
1.
● SWBAT have discussions about their inferences and the results of their inferences in a
discussion with their table groups, as well as with the whole class.
Aligned standard:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others'
ideas and expressing their own clearly.
● SWBAT share their findings and summarize what they discussed in their table group
discussions to share what they found with the class, in a whole class discussion
35
● Students who have trouble understanding questions asked in class, teacher will touch
basis with them to give a more in-depth explanation.
Content
example:SWBAT
create an input-
output diagram, and
explain reasoning in
writing.
SWBAT answer Questions orally given during class discussions & (Figure 2.1)
questions about the (Formative)
story using Depending on how students answer the questions during class
inferences and discussion and on their exit slips will really help with knowing how in
predictions to depth their understanding is. During class discussions, the questions
determine the theme that are asked will help the students go deeper into their inferences
and message of the and perhaps get a well thought out answer that they come up with
story. on their own.
If I’m not getting the responses I’m hoping for, the questions I’m
asking will change to steer them in the right direction. Their exit slips
36
will also determine how I’ll go about the lesson the next day whether
it be a better explanation or maybe more examples.
g. Student Voice: Student voice is a term used to describe students expressing their
understanding of their own learning process. For your lesson, respond to the three
required components of student voice and identify how students will reflect and/or
communicate on their learning or progress toward meeting the goals. (Use the
following table.)
Student-based Description of how students will reflect on their
K-12 students evidence to be learning.
will be able collected
to: (things
produced by
students:
journals, exit
slips, self-
assessments,
work samples,
projects,
papers, etc.)
37
● Journal ● Students will show their understanding of
1. Writing the learning targets through completing the
Explain ● Exit Slips worksheet in which they will answer
student questions after making inferences. They
learning will complete an exit slip each day of the
targets and lesson and include the exit slip in their
what is journal for their reference as well as the
required to teacher’s. Over the course of the unit, they
meet them will be able to reference their exit slips and
(including their improvement in this area over the
why they course of the lesson.
are ● Students will reflect on how they believe
important they have met the learning targets on an
to learn). exit slip that rates their understanding of
inferencing and making predictions. They
will rate their understanding of answering
questions using the content, based on the
predictions and inferences that they made,
as well as any questions that they may
have had.
38
Book reflect on the resource that they used,
how to ● Past Exit Martin’s Big Words, and how it has helped
access Slips them to deepen their understanding of civil
resources ● Past rights and MLK Jr.’s impact on history.
and Journal · Students will be made aware of the
additional entries learning targets and goals prior to the
support ● Inference lesson. Students will understand that their
when Workshe main resource is the book, Martin’s Big
needed et Words. Students will be using information
(and from the book to further their knowledge of
how/why the history of MLK Jr. as well as develop
those inferencing skills.
resources
will help
them).
h. Grouping of Students for Instruction: Describe why, how, and where in the
lesson students will be divided into groups, if applicable (e.g., "why" could be to support
language learners, for reciprocal teaching, and/or to use jigsaw, and "how" might include
random, ability-based, interest, social purposes, etc.). Recognize that some lessons or
parts of a lesson may call for grouped work or individualized work or both.
● Students will be at their small table groups that contain no more than 4 students at each
table. Class work will be independent. Students will be asked to discuss their findings in
their table groups when prompted by the teacher. Students will also participate in whole
class discussions after finishing the small group discussions with their table groups.
1. Introduction: Teacher candidates identify how they are going to introduce the concept,
skill or task in a way that gains students’ attention and gets them involved (the lesson
“hook”).
Teacher: Good morning students! I’m going to do an action and with silent hands you’re
going to tell me what you think I’m doing.
**Teacher pretends to eat an ice cream cone and the ice cream falls down. Teacher
becomes sad.
Teacher: Turn to your neighbor and tell them what you think I was doing.
Students: **Tells each other their predictions**
Teacher: Okay, Suzy tell me what you and your partner thoughts on what I was doing.
Student: You were happy you were eating ice cream and it fell and became sad.
39
Teacher: Yes! Tell me what made you think that?
Student: Well you were fanning yourself like it was hot and then pretended to lick the
air and became cool so I predicted that you got ice cream. You then pretended to trip
and it looked like your ice cream fell and you made a sad face.
Teacher: Very good! Can someone tell me what that “predicting” process is called?
Student: Inferencing!
Teacher: YES! Yesterday we went over inferencing. With quiet hands, please tell me
what it means to infer through text?
Student: To make a prediction based on what you read?
Teacher: Right! It’s to form your own opinion on what you have read. Do you think you
can make an inference on pictures?
Student: Yes. Those ones are fun because we can make our own prediction on what’s
happening and there’s no right or wrong answer.
Teacher: Loved that answer! You definitely can make inferences on pictures.
2. Questions: Questions teacher candidate will ask during the lesson that drive thinking
and learning and engagement (5 or more questions) and in parentheses, indicate Bloom level
and/or question type to ensure that you are posing questions that push critical thinking and
engagement (e.g. Analysis/Divergent)
3. Learning Activities: Describe what the teacher will do and say and students will do
during the lesson. Write it as a procedural set of steps in the left column of table below. On the
right, refer to a supporting learning theory or principle driving that activity and/or your rationale
for doing what you are doing.
Prompts for right hand column—supporting theories/principles. In the right column, use
references from texts, research/peer reviewed journals, or other learning theories to
support your choice of activities. You might draw from your 301 and/or your methods
courses here.
o Connections between students’ own lives, experiences, cultures, interests and the
content.
o Active learning over passive learning (e.g. SCI Learning Experiences ladder—
simulation over verbal)
40
o Multiple means of representation for the K-12 students (UDL principle)
o How the teacher candidate will assess the learning of the students (from table
above)
41
1. Intro (Whole group discussion) Piaget- Scheme, schemes,
Teacher: Good morning students! I’m going to do an action schema
and with silent hands you’re going to tell me what you think à Basic Structures for
I’m doing. Organizing information;
**Teacher pretends to eat an ice cream cone and the ice concepts. Mental systems
cream falls down. Teacher becomes sad. or categories of perception
Teacher: Turn to your neighbor and tell them what you think and experiences.
I was doing. By asking questions, I’ll be
Students: **Tells each other their predictions** able to figure out their prior
Teacher: Okay, Suzy tell me what you and your partner knowledge and in the
thoughts on what I was doing. process help them build
Student: You were happy you were eating ice cream and it what they already know in
fell and became sad. order to help them later
Teacher: Yes! Tell me what made you think that? when they fill out their
Student: Well you were fanning yourself like it was hot and inference sheet as I read
then pretended to lick the air and became cool so I the book to them.
predicted that you got ice cream. You then pretended to trip
and it looked like your ice cream fell and you made a sad Ausabel & Mayer-
face. Advanced Organizers
Teacher: Very good! Can someone tell me what that à Statement of inclusive
“predicting” process is called? concepts to introduce and
Student: Inferencing! sum up material that
Teacher: YES! Yesterday we went over inferencing. With follows.
quiet hands, please tell me what it means to infer through The goal is to help them
text? realize the relationship
Student: To make a prediction based on what you read? between being able to
Teacher: Right! It’s to form your own opinion on what you inference text, a picture, to
have read. Do you think you can make an inference on real action. That they are
pictures? able to do it with anything.
Student: Yes. Those ones are fun because we can make
our own prediction on what’s happening and there’s no right Bandura- Observational
or wrong answer. Learning
Teacher: Loved that answer! You definitely can make à Learning by observation
inferences on pictures. and imitation of others—
vicarious learning
By acting out a scene, I
gave the kids the
opportunity to observe me
and make their own
inferences of what is going
on.
Vygotsky- Importance of
42
language
à Talking through a
problem, audibly,
internally, or with a
partner.
By giving my students the
opportunity to talk to each
other about their
inferences, it allows them
to practice using their
vocab, as well as, let’s the
practice how to infer orally.
43
2. Teacher: Since we practiced how to inference text and Vygotsky- Importance of
pictures yesterday, today we’re going to put that skill to the language
test. I’m going to read you guys a book called, Martin’s Big à Talking through a
Words: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr., but before I read problem, audibly,
it I’m going to have you all make your first inferences just internally, or with a
from the cover of the book. Use the worksheet that Cindy partner.
Who passed out on your desk to keep track of them. Don’t By giving my students the
forget to use evidence to back up your prediction. opportunity to talk to each
Teacher: Alrighty, as I read the book, continue to make other about their
inferences from the text and pictures that you’ll see in this inferences, it allows them
book. to practice using their
**Teacher starts to read book** vocab, as well as, let’s the
Possible questions that will be asked while reading: practice how to infer orally.
Teacher: Why do you think MLK’s mom would say “you are
as good as anyone?” Paivio- Dual Coding
Student: So that he doesn’t feel like he isn’t enough to go à Information is stored in
into the store. long term memory as
Teacher: Why do you think MLK felt bad seeing those either visual images or
signs? verbal units. Both.
Student: He probably felt different. I made sure for the
Teacher: Since you know how MLK feels seeing those students to reference the
signs, how do you think kids of color would react if they saw pictures to make an
those signs today? inference on both the
Student: Not good. I don’t see those signs being up in this cover and the pictures in
day of age. the book.
Teacher: How do you think it made people of color feel
seeing the WHITE ONLY signs?
Student: Like they aren’t welcomed.
Teacher: What do you think “Hate cannot drive out hate.
Only love can do that.”
Student: It means that only love can get rid of hate.
Teacher: What does MLK speech mean to you?
Student: It means I could be with my friends no matter who
they are.
**Teacher finishes reading the book**
Teacher: Okay, talk within your groups and discuss how
your inferences has changed from beginning to end of the
book. Talk about how you as a person changed after
hearing about MLK.
3.
4.
44
(Add rows as needed)
2. Closure: Closure is the signal to students that the lesson is now coming to an end. In
closure, teachers review the learning targets (what was taught) for the day and refocus on what
is important.
· You all did a great job today making inferences and predictions about this
very important book. We learned about Martin Luther King Jr. and all the hard
work that he did to fight for civil rights of African Americans in the United States.
Before we even started reading, we were talking about Martin Luther King Jr..
We talked about what we know about him, what we want to know, and what we
think the book will contain information about. If we can have discussions about
the book before we even start reading it, then we can learn even more about the
topic once we finally start reading it. The next time you read a book, try asking
yourself a question about the book. As you learned today, this will help you to
understand the big picture and message of the story, and can keep you focused
on the main ideas while you are reading. Tomorrow, we will be using our
inference sheet to make a class poster of our before, during, and after
predictions.
3. Independent Practice: Describe how students will extend their experiences with the
content and demonstrate understanding in a new and different context (perhaps even outside of
the classroom). Include possible family interaction(identify at least one way in which you might
involve students’ families in this instructional plan.)
● After the lesson, students will go home and ask their parents/guardians what they
remember about Martin Luther King Jr.. Their parents may have lived through a time
when Martin Luther King Jr. was alive, or they may have learned about him when they
were in school. Students will take notes on what their parents remember about Martin
Luther King Jr. and report back to the class the following day to continue conversation.
45
(Figure 1.2) Exit Slip #1
46
(Figure 1.3) Journal Entry
Journal Entry 10/5/2020
The exit slip (Figure 1.2) will be taped underneath the date.
“What did you learn about today’s lesson
(Figure 2.0) Inference Worksheet: Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr..
47
48
49
(Figure 2.1) Exit Slip #2
50
The exit slip (Figure 2.1) will be taped underneath the date.
“What did you learn about today’s lesson?”
Rappaport, D. (2001). Martin's Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. Hyperion Book.
51
Week 1, Day 5
Goal: The goal of today is for students to test their knowledge of the vocabulary words that have
been learned so far in the unit. Students will be taking a vocabulary test to see if they fully
understand some of the commonly used words during the Civil Rights Movement.
Overview: Students begin the day by taking a vocabulary quiz that includes all the important
vocabulary that they have learned thus far in the unit. Students will be asked to complete the quiz
independently and silently. On the quiz, there will be 10 words given; students must match the
words with the correct definition, then write an accurate sentence using the word. The quizzes
will be graded based on how many of the matching they got correctly, and if they were able to
create a sentence using the given vocabulary word.
Materials:
● Vocabulary quiz
52
MLK Vocabulary Test
Match the word to the definition. Write the number of the word next to the correct definition.
1. Civil Liberties
2. Civil Rights Movement
3. Martin Luther King Jr.
4. Jim Crow Laws
5. Racial Discrimination
6. Boycott
7. Integration
8. March on Washington
9. Desegregation
10. Segregation
____ a. A peaceful march of 250,000 people on Washington D.C to call for a passage of a civil
rights act. This is when MLK gave his “I Have a Dream Speech”.
____ b. System of racial segregation in the South, separted blacks from whites in all aspects of
public life.
____ c. The freedom of a citizen, the basic rights given to them.
____ d. African American activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the
Civil Rights Movement.
____ e. Discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race.
____ f. Separated people of different races as a form of discrimination
____ g. Withdrawing social relations in the form of a protest
____ h. Combining different races
____ i. Movement in the U.S in the 1950’s and 60’s, led by African Americans to give equal
rights to their citizens.
____ j. A process to end segregation in public areas based on race.
53
MLK Vocabulary Test
Match the word to the definition. Write the number of the word next to the correct definition.
1. Civil Liberties
2. Civil Rights Movement
3. Martin Luther King Jr.
4. Jim Crow Laws
5. Racial Discrimination
6. Boycott
7. Integration
8. March on Washington
9. Desegregation
10. Segregation
__8__ a. A peaceful march of 250,000 people on Washington D.C to call for a passage of a civil
rights act. This is when MLK gave his “I Have a Dream Speech”.
_4__ b. System of racial segregation in the South, separted blacks from whites in all aspects of
public life.
__1__ c. The freedom of a citizen, the basic rights given to them.
__3__ d. African American activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the
Civil Rights Movement.
__5__ e. Discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race.
__10__ f. Separated people of different races as a form of discrimination
__6__ g. Withdrawing social relations in the form of a protest
__7__ h. Combining different races
__2__ i. Movement in the U.S in the 1950’s and 60’s, led by African Americans to give equal
rights to their citizens.
__9__ j. A process to end segregation in public areas based on race.
Create a sentence for each of the words listed above. *SENTENCES TO BE GRADED*
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
54
Assessment: Students will be assessed on their vocabulary test by the amount of words that they
have matched to the definition correctly, as well as their ability to use the words in a sentence. .
The teachers can use this as evidence as to whether the students understand the vocabulary, and
if additional instruction is needed. Throughout the unit, students will be tested on the words over
and over again, as well as the new words added that week.
55
Week 2, Day 1
T&L Instructional Plan Template
(Updated 4/17/15)
(edTPA Aligned)
Overview
The information included in this document is to support faculty in teaching about and
supporting students with the T&L (and edTPA) Instructional Plan. While there are many
variations of lesson plans, this format meets departmental requirements and is aligned with
the 2014 edTPA as well.
Background Information (When doing the actual edTPA, leave out identifiers)
Teacher Candidate: Jessa Magbanua, Juniper Kleinsmith, Antonia Benetti, Alicia Taylor
Date: _9/17/19
Cooperating Teacher: Mrs. Lippay_ Grade:_6th_
School District: Pullman School District
School: Franklin Elementary _
University Supervisor: Dr. Barbara Ward
Unit/Subject: Reader’s Theatre
Instructional Plan Title/Focus: Organizer/Outline
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Being able to outline would help an individual be successful at organizing their thoughts and
ideas. It’s also a good tip on how to keep a well organized life. Self correction or the ability
to correct other people’s work is sometimes daunting to do. Learning how to draft correctly
will not only be helpful to the corrector, but also to the person whose work is being
corrected. Reader’s theatre is a great strategy that combines reading practice and
performing. The goal is to enhance students' reading skills and confidence by having them
practice reading with a purpose. This will help learn how to speak clearly and fluently.
This lesson would be during the 2nd week of the unit (Unit will last 3 weeks). Yesterday,
students had just finished Martin Luther King week and now have the background
knowledge of the civil rights. It sets up for today, which is the teacher giving an introduction
to Rosa Parks, as well as, an introduction of reader’s theatre. Their organizer was then
passed out and gone over. Tomorrow’s students will be given the opportunity to meet with
their group mates to finish their organizer before having a check in with the teacher to go
over what they have so far. This will transition into the introduction of their draft.
1. SWBAT…
1. SWBAT write a script that is connected to one of the Rosa Parks books, using similar
sensory details, and a writing style that is consistent with the book.
Aligned standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language
to convey experiences and events.
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Aligned standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.E
Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
SWBAT
Language Objectives:
1. SWBAT…
1. SWBAT create writing that contains standard English Conventions
Aligned standard(s):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage
when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.2
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.2.A
Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off
nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.
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teacher candidates allow for K-12 students to express their learning in different ways?
Will K-12 students be given some choice?
Content example:SWBAT
create an input-output
diagram, and explain
reasoning in writing.
SWBAT create Teacher will use the Rubric (Figure 3.2) to refer to when
conclusion/ending to the story assesing the students content knowledge of Rosa Parks.
that relates to Rosa Parks. This will let the teacher know if they need more
information or possibly more reources to help build a
more accurate script.
SWBAT create writing that (Formative) Figure 3.0 & Figure 3.2
contains standard English Student will be assessed on conventions during their final
Conventions Reader’s Theatre script by the teacher.
They will be using the same rubric to self assess their
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draft, as well as, using the teacher’s corrections to make
the necessary changes.
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Figure 3.2 (Content Rubric)
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Figure 3.3 (Participation List)
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*In the right column, describe whether the assessment you’ll collect is formative or
summative. Note: most assessment is considered formative when thinking about day-
to-day lessons. Summative is related to mastery. An exception might be having a
“formal” quiz mid-way in a unit to assure that students are on track with a certain degree
of proficiency. Should the quiz indicate students are not progressing, and adjustment of
timing in the instructional “unit” will be required.
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Student-based evidence Description of how students will
K-12 students will to be collected (things reflect on their learning.
be able to: produced by students:
journals, exit slips, self-
assessments, work
samples, projects,
papers, etc.)
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evidence includes student notes
and graphic organizers.
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The story of Rosa
Parks
1. Introduction: Teacher candidates identify how they are going to introduce the
concept, skill or task in a way that gains students’ attention and gets them involved
(the lesson “hook”).
What do we know about cars?
**Students answer
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- Exactly! Cars have many moving parts and if one is missing, it wont work.
- Can someone tell me what an outline is?
- What can it be used for writing?
- What important parts should be included in an outline?
**Students answer
- Right! Just like a car, an organizer/outline have different parts that are equally important for
an overall product to work and make sense. Earlier today, we watched a video of the
different parts of what goes into a reader’s theatre. Can someone tell me what they are?
**Students answer
- YES! Characters, plot, main idea, setting/background are all parts of what goes into a
reader’s theatre outline.
- Let’s break into our groups and start filling out your outline.
2. Questions: Questions teacher candidate will ask during the lesson that drive
thinking and learning and engagement (5 or more questions) and in parentheses,
indicate Bloom level and/or question type to ensure that you are posing questions
that push critical thinking and engagement (e.g. Analysis/Divergent)
3. Learning Activities: Describe what the teacher will do and say and students will
do during the lesson. Write it as a procedural set of steps in the left column of the
table below. On the right, refer to a supporting learning theory or principle driving
that activity and/or your rationale for doing what you are doing.
o Active learning over passive learning (e.g. SCI Learning Experiences ladder—
simulation over verbal)
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o Multiple means of representation for the K-12 students (UDL principle)
o How the teacher candidate will assess the learning of the students (from table
above)
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1. Intro (Whole group Piaget- Scheme, schemes, schema
discussion) By asking questions, I’ll be able to figure out
- What do we know about cars? their prior knowledge and in the process help
**Students answer them build what they already know in order to
- Exactly! Cars have many moving help them on their outline worksheet.
parts and if one is missing, it Ausabel & Mayer- Advanced Organizers
wont work. The goal is to help them realize the
- Can someone tell me what an relationship between the graphic organizer,
outline is? outline, draft, and eventually the final product
- What can it be used for writing? (Reader’s theatre).
- What important parts should be
included in an outline?
**Students answer
- Right! Just like a car, an
organizer/outline have different
parts that are equally important for
an overall product to work and
make sense. Earlier today, we
watched a video of the different
parts of what goes into a reader’s
theatre. Can someone tell me what
they are?
**Students answer
- YES! Characters, plot, main idea,
setting/background are all parts of
what goes into a reader’s theatre
outline.
- Let’s break into our groups and
start filling out your outline.
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also allows students to practice their
language by giving them the opportunity to
share their ideas and their decision behind
it.
2. Closure: Closure is the signal to students that the lesson is now coming to an end.
In closure, teachers review the learning targets (what was taught) for the day and
refocus on what is important.
“Okay, everyone let’s re-group and review what we have learned today.
Today we have learned about how to complete an outline based on a text that
we have read. Can I please get a volunteer to fill out this outline on the board
by naming the aspects of the outline?
Now, how can we use these graphic organizers in other writing projects?
Please turn to a neighbor and discuss the ways that outlines such as this one
can be used in future pieces of writing that you will do inside as well as
outside of this class”.
3. Independent Practice: Describe how students will extend their experiences with the
content and demonstrate understanding in a new and different context (perhaps
even outside of the classroom). Include possible family interaction(identify at least
one way in which you might involve students’ families in this instructional plan.)
1. Reader’s Theatre has a lot to do with role play and being able to tap yourself
into another character by reading off a script. A Possible interaction activity
that students can do with their families, is to practice their own scrpit infront of
them and involve family members to play other characters.
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Figure 2.0 (Draft)
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5. Acknowledgements: Acknowledge your sources
Rosa written by Nikki Giovanni and illustrated by Bryan Collier
Who was Rosa Parks? written by Yona Zeldis McDonough and illustrated by Nancy Harrison
and Stephen Marchesi
If A Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks by Faith Ringgold
When Rosa Parks Went Fishing written by Rachel Ruiz and illustrated by Chiara Fedele
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(35 minutes) Lunch/Recess
11:35 to 12:30
(55 minutes) Students will be in choir and band class.
12:35 to 1:05
(30 minutes) Looking back on MLK timeline and adding what we know about Rosa Parks.
1:05 to 1:55
(50 minutes) Reader’s Graphic Organizer and notes
→ Students will read their book together and figure out what scene they want
to do their reader’s theatre.
1:55 to 2:20
(20 minutes) Exit slips/Journal Write
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will do their classroom jobs and pack up for dismissal.
Week 2, Day 2
Goal: The goal for today is for students to go over new vocabulary words for the week that will
be around civil rights specifically towards Rosa Parks. They will be filling out a vocab study
sheet and then they will be given a vocab homework sheet where they will have the opportunity
to finish in class. Whatever they don’t have done will be taken home and will be due the next
day.
Overview: The teacher will begin the day with the class poster on what they know about Rosa
Parks, what questions they would like to know about her, and a section where they put the
answer. Afterwards the teacher will read aloud Rosa by Nikki Giovanni where the students will
take notes in their notebooks with details, comments, and questions from the book. This is a
good introduction to the vocabulary list. Teacher will pass out the study sheets and the vocab
homework. As a class, they will fill out the study sheet together and discuss the definitions. Later
in the day, they will have the opportunity to work on their homework individually.
Materials:
● Vocab Study sheet
● Vocab homework
● Spelling test (Will be done on notebook paper)
● Vocab quiz
● Document camera
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Vocab Study Sheet:
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Rosa Parks Vocabulary Homework
Match the word to the definition. Draw a line to the right definition.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
1. Civil Rights
2. Rosa Parks
3. Racial Discrimination
4. Discrimination
5. 13thAmendment
6. 15thAmendment
7. Freedom Riders
8. Montgomery Bus Boycott
____ a. A boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama buses held to protest racial segregation. Began
when Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white passenger.
____ b. Unfair treatment of a person or group based off prejudice
____ c. It protects the voting rights of African American men
____ d. civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger
____ e. People who rode the buses and sat in the wrong seat on purpose
____ f. Officially prohibited slavery in the U.S
____ g. discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race.
____ h. the rights of full legal, social, and economic quality extended to blacks in the 13thand
14thAmendment
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Create a sentence for each of the words listed above.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
1. Civil Rights
2. Rosa Parks
3. Racial Discrimination
4. Discrimination
5. 13thAmendment
6. 15thAmendment
7. Freedom Riders
8. Montgomery Bus Boycott
__8__ a. A boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama buses held to protest racial segregation.
Began when Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white passenger.
__4__ b. Unfair treatment of a person or group based off prejudice
__6__ c. It protects the voting rights of African American men
__2__ d. civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger
__7__ e. People who rode the buses and sat in the wrong seat on purpose
__5__ f. Officially prohibited slavery in the U.S
__3__ g. discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race.
__1__ h. the rights of full legal, social, and economic quality extended to blacks in the
13thand 14thAmendment
Create a sentence for each of the words listed above. SENTENCES WILL BE GRADED
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Instructional Strategy: Students will be filling out the vocab study sheet together as a class
where the teacher will say the word and put it up on the document camera. The teacher will ask
the students what they think the vocab word means and after a few guesses the teacher will give
them the actual definition to write down. The homework will be done individually.
Assessment: Students will be given a spelling test on Day 4 to test their ability to spell the
vocabulary words and on Day 5 students will be given a vocab quiz to test their comprehension.
The homework will be graded as comprehension as well as participation. When the homework is
collected, the teacher will be looking at comprehension and participation.
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(5 minutes) Students clean up and walk to lunch.
11:00 to 11:35
(35 minutes) Lunch/Recess
11:35 to 12:30
(55 minutes) Students will have choir and band
12:35 to 1:05
(30 minutes) Each group will be checking in with the teacher to check to see how they’re doing.
Teacher will do a participation checklist to make sure each student is represented and every
group has their organizer done.
1:05-1:55
(50 minutes) Reader’s Theatre Draft Script Introduction
1:55 to 2:20
(25 minutes) Exit slips/Journal write
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will do their classroom jobs and pack up for dismissal.
Week 2, Day 3
Goal: The goal for day 3 is for the students to create a collage with images and words from
magazines of what they think about Rosa Parks and what she stood for. This will be an indication
on their knowledge about Rosa Parks and what she has done that makes it significant to the civil
rights movement. This gives the students the opportunity to self reflect on their own feelings
about Rosa. If there is time, students will be able to share their collage with their peers.
Overview: The teacher will begin the day with the class poster on what they know about Rosa
Parks, what questions they would like to know about her, and a section where they put the
answer. Afterwards the teacher will read aloud Who was Rosa Parks by Yona McDonough where
the students will take notes in their notebooks with details, comments, and questions from the
book. This is a good introduction to the collage, because by then, students should already have a
good indication on who Rosa Parks was and what makes her so significant to the civil rights
movement. Teacher will show students an example of what a possible collage will look like and
give reasons for a few things on the paper. Afterwards, the teacher will let students go off and
make their collage. After a little while, students will have the opportunity to share what they
came up with. These collages will be hung around the classroom.
Materials:
● Tape
● Glue
● Magazines
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● Markers/colored pencils/crayons
● Scissors
Instructional Strategy: This will be done independently and will be introduced and discussed as
a group.
Assessment: Students will get automatic participation points for doing the assignment.
Participation
CLASS LIST: Did they complete collage?
Allison
Peter
Owen
Paisley
Taylor
Zain
Hailey
Sam
Alexa
Jillian
Robert
Sophia
Paxton
Avery
Jackson
Natalie
Kevin
Garrett
Harrison
Anaya
83
Ellie
Alex
Emily
Chris
84
(25 minutes) Exit slips/Journal Write
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will do their classroom jobs and pack up for dismissal.
Week 2, Day 4
Goal: The goal for day 4 is for the students to work on a Bio Poem about Rosa Parks. This will
be an indication on their knowledge about Rosa Parks. Students will be able to use their notes
from the books the teacher has read so far to help them on this poem. If they need extra help,
they’re able to use a chrome book to find out more information.
Overview: Teacher will introduce the bio poem, what it is, and how to fill it out. The teacher
will use themselves as an example to fill out the worksheet so that students will have a better
understanding. The students will have the opportunity to work on their bio poems about Rosa
Parks independently and then they can use the chrome books to type it out after they fill in the
worksheet. If there’s time, students can do one about themselves. Students will be able to share
their poems with the class.
Materials:
● Bio Poem worksheet
● Chrome books
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Instructional Strategy: The introduction of the poem will be a class discussion. Students will
work on their poems individually.
Assessment: Students will get participation points for doing the assignment.
Participation
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CLASS LIST: Did they complete the Bio Poem?
Allison
Peter
Owen
Paisley
Taylor
Zain
Hailey
Sam
Alexa
Jillian
Robert
Sophia
Paxton
Avery
Jackson
Natalie
Kevin
Garrett
Harrison
Anaya
Ellie
Alex
Emily
Chris
87
Other Daily Activities:
8:25 to 8:40
(15 min) Beginning of the day-- Students come into the class and put their stuff away. They will
sit in their assigned seats and listen to the morning announcements. Afterwards the teacher will
discuss the daily schedule.
8:40 to 9:05
(25 minutes) Teacher will read When Rosa Parks went fishing by Rachel Ruiz . As teacher is reading
this, students are writing in their journal details from the book that stood out to them.
9:05 to 9:15
(10 minutes) Fill out class poster
9:15 to 9:40
(25 minutes) Spelling test on vocab words
9:40 to 10:10
(30 minutes) One chapter will be read aloud from the class read aloud book.
10:10 to 10:55
(45 minutes) Bio Poem on Rosa Parks
Students will use the notes that they have been taking in their journal to fill out the Bio Poem
about Rosa Parks and then they will use that same template to make one for themselves. If there
is time, students will share with the class.
10:55 to 11:00
(5 minutes) Students clean up and walk to lunch.
11:00 to 11:35
(35 minutes) Lunch/Recess
11:35 to 12:30
(55 minutes) Students will have choir and band
12:30 to 12:45
(15 minutes) Each group will be doing their final check in with the teacher on their final draft.
Teacher will do a participation checklist to make sure each student is represented and every
group has their final done.
12:45 to 1:45
(60 minutes) Filming → Groups will be filming at this time. Those who aren’t
filming are rehearsing their reader’s theatre and waiting for their turn.
1:45 to 1:55
(10 minutes) Groups will get together for group reflection
1:55 to 2:20
(25 minutes) Exit slips/Journal Write
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will do their classroom jobs and pack up for dismissal.
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Week 2, Day 5
Goal: The goal for day 5 will be focused on the students making a book cover of their specific
books that they chose for their reader’s theatre. This would indicate the students comprehension
on their novels and their point of view on what they felt was most important to them. They
would also have to explain their reasons behind their choice, which helps the students practice
presenting and speaking in front of their peers. This will be beneficial when they film their
reader’s theatre.
Overview: Teacher will introduce what the activity is and show an example so the students will
have a better understanding of what is expected. Students will be able to sit with their reader’s
theatre group to talk about different scenes that stood out to them, but every student will have to
make their own book cover. After students are finished, they will present in front of the class, as
well as, compare their covers to their group mates to compare and contrast.
Materials:
● Construction paper
● Markers/crayons/colored pencils
● Paint
● Rosa Parks books
Instructional Strategy: Introduction will be a whole class discussion. When students break out
into their groups, they are able to have discussions on what they’re going to do their cover on,
but they have to do it on their own.
Assessment: Students will be given participation points for doing the project.
Peter
Owen
Paisley
Taylor
Zain
Hailey
89
Sam
Alexa
Jillian
Robert
Sophia
Paxton
Avery
Jackson
Natalie
Kevin
Garrett
Harrison
Anaya
Ellie
Alex
Emily
Chris
90
(25 minutes) Vocab Quiz
9:40 to 10:10
(30 minutes) One chapter will be read aloud from the class read aloud book.
10:10 to 10:55
(45 minutes) Book Cover
Students will have the opportunity to make their own interpretation on the book they chose for
their reader’s theatre.
10:55 to 11:00
(5 minutes) Students clean up and walk to lunch.
11:00 to 11:35
(35 minutes) Lunch/Recess
11:35 to 12:30
(55 minutes) Students will have choir and band
12:30 to 1:00
(30 minutes) Finish Timeline and Discussion
1:00 to 1:45
(45 minutes) Presentation of the Videos
Students will give 2 stars and a wish after every video. Each group will talk about why they
chose their specific scene and their thought process behind it.
1:45 to 1:55
(10 minutes) Groups will get together to do a group collaboration form.Teacher will be doing
participation points for this.
1:55 to 2:20
(25 minutes) Exit slips/Journal Write
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will do their classroom jobs and pack up for dismissal.
Week 3, Day 1
Goal: The goal of the first day of week 3 is to introduce Malcolm X and new vocabulary words
to the students. The students will start to become more familiar with terminology that represents
the time frame and the events during the civil rights movement. Students will also become more
familiar with the events by creating a timeline that focuses around Malcolm X’s life and
accomplishments.
Overview: The vocabulary words will be introduced to students after discussing who Malcolm
X is. The students will be given certain vocabulary words that represent civil rights movement.
They will then search for the definitions using different resources such as computers, textbooks,
readings, etc… Students will be writing the definitions in their journals. After the time is
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completed for this assignment, we will come back together as a class and define each of the
words so they have the correct meaning. After completing the new vocabulary definitions, we
will be learning more in-depth about Malcolm X by watching a short youtube clip and watching
a powerpoint with images and descriptions of events in Malcolm’s life.
Materials:
● Vocabulary List
Muslim: a follower of the religion of Islam
Black nationalism: political thought that seeks to promote, develop, and maintain a black race
identity for people of black ancestry
Ku Klux Klan: white supremacist hate group who main targeted African Americans
Mecca: Islam’s holiest city and birthplace of Muhammad
Revile: Spread negative information about
Galvanize: to get people excited, to make them want to act
Pilgrimage: a journey to a holy place
Nation of Islam: An African-American political and religious movement, founded in 1930
● Computers
● Youtube clip
(https://english.colostate.edu/news/black-history-month-malcolm-x/)
Powerpoint (https://www.channelone.com/blog_post/black-history-month-lesson-plan-
malcolm-x/)
● Discussion questions that will be talked about as a whole class
How were Malcolm X’s views similar to those of MLK and how did they differ?
How did Malcolm X’s view of race relations change when he traveled to Mecca? How did
people react to his changed views?
If Malcolm X were alive today, what political or social movements do you think he would be
involved with? What methods do you think he’d use to fight for his cause?
(https://www.channelone.com/blog_post/black-history-month-lesson-plan-malcolm-x/)
Instructional Strategy: For the vocabulary, students can work together in pairs to find the
definitions and then we will come back as a class to create a discussion about the different
definitions. For the powerpoint, students will be answering the discussion questions as a class.
Assessment:
Participation
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Allison
Peter
Owen
Paisley
Taylor
Zain
Hailey
Sam
Alexa
Jillian
Robert
Sophia
Paxton
Avery
Jackson
Natalie
Kevin
Garrett
Harrison
Anaya
Ellie
Alex
Emily
Chris
93
Day 1.
8:25 to 8:40
(15 min) Beginning of the day-- Students come into the class and put their stuff away. They will
sit in their assigned seats and listen to the morning announcements. Afterwards the teacher will
discuss the daily schedule.
8:40 to 9:05
(25 minutes) Introduce Malcolm X by showing pictures of him and asking students who they
think he is. Start a discussion about what the week will include such as reading about his
accomplishments and his impact he had on the civil rights movement.
9:05 to 9:40
(35 minutes) Introduce new vocabulary words and their meanings. Have the students write down
words and their meanings in notebook.
9:40 to 10:10
(30 minutes) Show students 4 minute video on Malcolm X. Have them think-pair-share about
what his accomplishments. Come back as a class and have a discussion.
https://english.colostate.edu/news/black-history-month-malcolm-x/
10:10 to 10:55
(45 minutes) Show students the powerpoint of Malcolm X
https://www.channelone.com/blog_post/black-history-month-lesson-plan-malcolm-x/
Start discussion on comparing and contrasting Malcom X to MLK.
10:55 to 11:00
(5 minutes) Students clean up and walk to lunch.
11:00 to 11:35
(35 minutes) Lunch/Recess
11:35 to 12:30
(55 minutes) Students will be in music class for 55 minutes. During music, students will
separate into band and choir classes, where they will learn to sing and play songs that were
popular during the Civil Rights Movement.
12:35 to 12:40
(5 minutes) Transition from music to regular classroom
12:40 to 1:30
(50 minutes) Introduce timeline project of Malcolm X life. Have students start researching.
1:30 to 2:20
(50 minutes) Throughout the 3 week long unit, the teacher will be reading a chapter book aloud
to the class (A Dream of Freedom; The Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968 by Diana
McWhorter). Students will listen and take notes in their reading notebooks to help them with the
final project due during the last week of the unit.
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will do their classroom jobs and pack up for dismissal.
Week 3, Day 2
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Goal: For day two of week three the students will complete a timeline of Malcolm X. The goal
of the timeline is for the students to explore major events of Malcolm X’s life. These events
should be ones that focus around Malcolm X and his impact on the civil rights movement.
Overview: This activity was introduced to students on Monday where they were given 50
minutes to research Malcolm X. Before researching, students would have a simple understanding
of who he is and some of his accomplishments from discussions and short video clips. This
activity is designed to have students dive deeper into his life and understand the sequence of
events that occurred during this time frame and how he influenced the civil rights movement.
Students will have multiple times throughout the day to work on this timeline for which they will
complete it with a partner, similar to the previous weeks timelines. After students take the
vocabulary quiz, they will be given 30 minutes to continue working on the timeline whether it be
continuing researching or starting to fill out the timeline. For this timeline, students must have a
mix of Malcolm X’s personal life and also his accomplishments. Students will learn more about
his personal life also during a read aloud of the book “Malcolm Little” by Illaysha Shabazz
which will be read aloud before the students continue their research. Similar to the previous
timelines, students will included with each event a sentence or two explaining the event they are
placing on the timeline. There will be a minimum requirement of 15 events to be placed on the
timeline. During the work time, the teacher will be walking around the class to check on groups,
and answer any questions that students may have.
Materials:
● 24 copies of a timeline template
● Chromebooks (1 per person)
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Instructional Strategy: Students will be working with a partner to complete the timeline
activity. This will allow students to collaborate and decide which 15 events are considered
important in Malcolm X’s life. Students will have access to a chromebook to complete this
activity. Each student in the pair will turn in their own paper for a participation grade.
Assessment:
Students will be given full participation points if they have turned in their timeline, and have
included the required 15 events on the timeline. If students do not have all 15 events on the
timeline, they will receive partial participation points for the activity.
Peter
Owen
Paisley
Taylor
Zain
Hailey
Sam
Alexa
Jillian
Robert
Sophia
Paxton
Avery
Jackson
Natalie
Kevin
Garrett
Harrison
97
Anaya
Ellie
Alex
Emily
Chris
98
Malcolm X. They will also fill out an exit slip that answers one question about what they
learned.
http://www.malcolm-x.org/docs/let_mart.htm
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will do their classroom jobs and pack up for dismissal.
Week 3, Day 3
T&L Instructional Plan Template
(Updated 4/17/15)
(edTPA Aligned)
Overview
The information included in this document is to support faculty in teaching about and
supporting students with the T&L (and edTPA) Instructional Plan. While there are many
variations of lesson plans, this format meets departmental requirements and is aligned with
the 2014 edTPA as well.
Background Information (When doing the actual edTPA, leave out identifiers)
Teacher Candidate: Alicia Taylor, Antonia Benetti, Jessa Magbanua, & Juniper Kleinsmith
Date: November 30, 2019
Cooperating Teacher: Grade: 6th
School District: Pullman School: Franklin Elementary School
University Supervisor:
Unit/Subject: Civil Rights or Human Rights
Instructional Plan Title/Focus: A Letter to Malcolm X
Additionally, explain where in a unit this lesson would be taught. What lesson topic
came prior to this one (yesterday) and what related lesson will come after this one
(tomorrow)?
- Students will be learning about Malcolm X, the impact he had on the Civil
Rights movement, and the influential and impactful actions that he took during
his lifetime. Students will be learning about him throughout the week, and
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developing an understanding of how and why he was influential. Students are
encouraged to ask questions, to be critical, and to develop beliefs and
opinions about what they are learning throughout the unit and the week. To
further encourage students to develop their own beliefs and opinions, not only
within this unit, but in life, and in other aspects of school, students will be
writing a letter to Malcolm X, as if they were living during his lifetime. The
letter will be written to respectfully thank Malcolm X for what he has done for
the Civil Rights movement. Students will then decide if they feel they agree
with Malcolm X’s philosophy, and if they agree with what Malcolm X is doing.
They will also offer suggestions, advice, and any other words that they would
have for Malcolm X during this time. The purpose of this activity is to
encourage students to create opinions about what they are learning. After
students write their letters, students will have the opportunity to read their
letters aloud to the class, and have a class discussion about how we form
opinions and perspectives. As teachers, we will be able to assess students’
understanding of Malcolm X’s influence on the Civil Rights movement.
Depending on the content of the letters that the class provides, the teachers
will be able to adjust lessons to fit areas of needed additional instruction.
● SWBAT use their knowledge, as well as classwork completed thus far to write a
formal letter to Malcolm X thanking him for his work in the civil rights movement.
Aligned standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.1.D
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● SWBAT create an argument to support their claim about their beliefs about the
actions of Malcolm X within a letter that contains relevant details and evidence from
the time period of Malcolm X.
Aligned standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.1
Aligned standard:
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.1.B
Language Objectives:
● SWBAT write a letter to Malcolm X that demonstrates appropriate use of standard
English conventions.
Aligned standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and
usage when writing or speaking.
Aligned standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.6
Aligned standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.2
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- Students will have watched a video about Malcolm X’s accomplishments,
have compared him and his accomplishments to those of MLK Jr., have read
a letter from Malcolm X during the time period, and have created a timeline of
his life and accomplishments. Students will have learned about what Malcolm
X did in his lifetime, why he believed and did the things that he did, and what
factors were influencing his actions and beliefs. Students will also have a
general understanding of the Civil Rights movement from 1954-1968 by this
time in the unit.
5. Planning forStudent Learning Needs(accommodations, student experiences, prior
learning and experiences):
- Students will have access to all of the worksheets, resources, and information
that we have received thus far in the unit. Students who need extra
assistance will be seated closer to the teacher so they can receive any
additional support that they will need. Students may use the Chrome Books
or their notebooks to write the letter, depending on their preference. Students
have acquired the skills and knowledge necessary to write a formal letter, and
organize their writing appropriately.
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contains relevant details and students will be required to do this in
evidence from the time period of other assignments across the unit as well
Malcolm X. as outside of the unit during the school
year.
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conventions, grammar, and learned, and whether
why they are important spelling. It is important that they feel the
to learn). by writing this letter students assignment was
will learn that their voices worthwhile. They may
and opinions are important also include any
and that their are ways that suggestions that they
they can voice their views have for the lesson, so
academically. as teachers we can
understand what can
be done better.
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portion of the unit.
h. Grouping of Students for Instruction: Describe why, how, and where in the
lesson students will be divided into groups, if applicable (e.g., "why" could be to
support language learners, for reciprocal teaching, and/or to use jigsaw, and "how"
might include random, ability-based, interest, social purposes, etc.). Recognize that
some lessons or parts of a lesson may call for grouped work or individualized work or
both.
- Students will be working individually at their desks for the entirety of this lesson.
Students who need additional writing support will sit near the front of the class, near
the teacher. Students will be assigned seats for each week. This will allow students
to have experience working with different students often, and to have the opportunity
to socialize with new people.
1. Introduction: Teacher candidates identify how they are going to introduce the
concept, skill or task in a way that gains students’ attention and gets them involved
(the lesson “hook”).
- “Hello students. So far in the unit we have learned a lot about Malcolm X and
the things that he did for our country and for civil rights during his lifetime. We
know that Malcolm X did a lot during his lifetime, and that he made a large
impact on the rights of African Americans in our country, but we all don’t have
to agree with everything that he did. Some of us will have differing opinions in
the unit about the way that he went about acting on his beliefs. In this unit,
and in life, it’s important that we recognize the impact and influence that these
figures had, while also developing our own beliefs and opinions about certain
aspects of the Civil Rights movement.
2. Questions: Questions teacher candidate will ask during the lesson that drive
thinking and learning and engagement (5 or more questions) and in parentheses,
indicate Bloom level and/or question type to ensure that you are posing questions
that push critical thinking and engagement (e.g. Analysis/Divergent)
- Using Bloom’s taxonomy we have created questions to prompt students to think about
specific things as they are beginning to write their letter. The questions will help to guide
their letters and the information that they include in the letter.
1. What would you argue is the most influential thing that Malcolm X did
in his lifetime?
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2. Tell Malcolm X what you believe to be the most impactful thing that
happened during his time period, and what you would have done in
reaction to it.
3. Apply your knowledge of the Civil Rights movement to explain why you
think that Malcolm X did the things that he did.
4. Discuss what you would do differently than Malcolm X. If you wouldn’t
do anything differently, explain why this is the case.
5. Recall a time you had a difficult decision to make. What did you have
to consider before you made the decision that you did? Consider what
played a role in the decisions that Malcolm X made.
3. Learning Activities: Describe what the teacher will do and say and students will
do during the lesson. Write it as a procedural set of steps in the left column of table
below. On the right, refer to a supporting learning theory or principle driving that
activity and/or your rationale for doing what you are doing.
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Prompts for right hand column—supporting theories/principles. In the right column,
use references from texts, research/peer reviewed journals, or other learning
theories to support your choice of activities. You might draw from your 301 and/or
your methods courses here.
o Active learning over passive learning (e.g. SCI Learning Experiences ladder—
simulation over verbal)
o How the teacher candidate will assess the learning of the students (from table
above)
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letter to Malcolm X that shares movement over the course of the
our opinions about the way he unit, and this week they have learned
went about his actions in the Civil specifically about Malcolm X.
Rights movement. Explain why Students decide how they want to
and how this activity is going to use the information and resources
be done. that they have collected.
4. Check to make sure that students This portion of the lesson is supported
are done with their writing, and by the constructivism learning theory
transition into read-aloud of letters because students are being asked to
and class discussion of the choices activate their prior knowledge of the
that each student made, and how subject of Malcolm X, which is all that
they feel about the Civil Rights they have learned thus far during the
movement as a whole, based on week. They then are developing their
the information that they have own ideas and views on the subject,
gained so far in this unit. as they pertain to Malcolm X and his
movement. By hearing the letters that
their classmates wrote, students will
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learn the ways that opinions and
beliefs manifest in other people, and
what influences what people believe.
2. Closure: Closure is the signal to students that the lesson is now coming to an end.
In closure, teachers review the learning targets (what was taught) for the day and
refocus on what is important.
- “Great job writing your letters today, and thank you so much for having the courage
to share your experiences and opinions in front of the class. We learned that there is
a constructive way to disagree or agree with the things that someone is doing, and I
saw that through hearing what you wrote today. We can use the skills of writing a
letter in so many other parts of our lives, when we face an issue that we are
passionate about.”
3. Independent Practice: Describe how students will extend their experiences with the
content and demonstrate understanding in a new and different context (perhaps
even outside of the classroom). Include possible family interaction(identify at least
one way in which you might involve students’ families in this instructional plan.)
- Students are encouraged to share their letters with their families. This will give
students the opportunity to discuss these topics with their families, as well as have a
civil discussion about any disagreements that they might have. Students are
encouraged to continue writing letters in any situation in which they feel the need to
share their opinion and their thoughts about something that they are passionate, or
something that is controversial.
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Letter writing rubric:
Rubric: https://web.troy.k12.oh.us/~boe/PDF/CI/Rubrics/Writing-6-F.pdf
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(45 minutes) Students start their draft of letter activity. The rough draft will thank him for what
he has done for the Civil Rights movement. Students will then decide if they feel they agree with
Malcolm X’s philosophy, and if they agree with what Malcolm X is doing. They will also offer
suggestions, advice, and any other words that they would have for Malcolm X during this time.
10:55 to 11:00
(5 minutes) Students clean up and walk to lunch.
11:00 to 11:35
(35 minutes) Lunch/Recess
11:35 to 12:30
(55 minutes) Students will be in music class for 55 minutes. During music, students will
separate into band and choir classes, where they will learn to sing and play songs that were
popular during the Civil Rights Movement.
12:35 to 12:40
(5 minutes) Transition from music class to regular class
12:40 to 1:30
(50 minutes) Students start their final draft of letter to Malcolm X
1:30 to 2:20
(50 minutes) Start Malcolm X movie
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will do their classroom jobs and pack up for dismissal.
Week 3, Day 4
Goal: The goal of this lesson is to test students on their comprehension of civil rights movement
from the past 3 weeks. We want the students to show their understanding of what lead to the civil
rights movement, what events took place during the movement, and how MLK, Rosa Parks and
Malcolm X had an impact on the movement. We want the students to show their understanding
of the time period and how each of the activists impacted the movement.
Overview: On day four of this week, students will start their final project. This project will
include a timeline that consists of 30 different events with 10 events being from each activist.
Students will then work on their reflection piece where they will look back at the list of things
they knew/wanted to know about from the time period and write a paper about what they
learned, and their opinions on the events that occurred during the movement. This part of the
project will be done individually.
Materials:
● 12 poster papers
● Directions for the reflection paper
● Rubric for the paper
● Rubric for poster
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Reflection Paper
Civil Rights Movement through MLK, Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X
This paper needs to be at least 2 pages long and written in APA format.
Instructional Strategy: The reflection paper will be done independently where students will be
working both in class and at home. They will be expected to have 2 pages completed by Friday
at the end of the day.
Use of Uses specific Uses relevant Uses examples Use incomplete No examples
textual and convincing examples from from the text to or vaguely from the text
evidence examples from the texts support most developed are used and
the texts studied to claims in your examples to claims made in
studied to support claims writing with only partially your own
support claims in your own some support claims writing are
in your own writing, connections with no unsupported
writing, making made between connections and irrelevant
making applicable texts made between to the topic at
insightful and connections texts. hand
applicable between texts
connections
between texts.
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Language Use language Use language Use basic but Use language Use language
Use that is precise that is fluent appropriate that is vague or that is
and engaging, and original language, with imprecise for unsuitable for
with notable with a sense of a basic sense of the audience or the audience
sense of voice voice voice, some purpose, with and purpose,
awareness of awareness of awareness of little sense of with little or no
audience and audience and audience and voice, and awareness of
purpose and purpose, and purpose and limited sentence
varied sentence the ability to some attempt awareness of structure.
structures. vary sentence to vary how to vary
structure. sentence sentence
structure structure
3 2 1
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Other Daily Activities:
8:25 to 8:40
(15 min) Beginning of the day-- Students come into the class and put their stuff away. They will
sit in their assigned seats and listen to the morning announcements. Afterwards the teacher will
discuss the daily schedule.
8:40 to 9:05
(25 minutes) Students get out all their work they have done for the past three weeks and with a
partner, discuss three of the most interesting/most important things they have learned about the
civil rights movement.
9:05 to 10:10
(65 minutes) Students will start the final project of the unit which is a timeline that consists of at
least 30 different events that occured between through all three activists lives. They will work in
pairs. The timeline should include pictures and 1 to 2 sentences that explain the event.
10:10 to 10:55
(45 minutes) Introduce the written piece of the final project. This activity will be a reflection
that will have students look back at the list of things they knew/wanted to know about the time
period, and write a reflective paper about what they learned, and their opinions on the events that
occurred during the movement. The reflection piece will be done individually.
10:55 to 11:00
(5 minutes) Students clean up and walk to lunch.
11:00 to 11:35
(35 minutes) Lunch/Recess
11:35 to 12:30
(55 minutes) Students will be in music class for 55 minutes. During music, students will
separate into band and choir classes, where they will learn to sing and play songs that were
popular during the Civil Rights Movement.
12:35 to 12:40
(5 minutes) Transition from music to regular classroom
12:40 to 1:30
(50 minutes) Students will continue to work on their timelines.
1:30 to 2:20
(50 minutes) Malcolm X movie
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will do their classroom jobs and pack up for dismissal
Week 3, Day 5
Goal: The goal for this lesson is for students to think artistically about the civil rights movement.
We want the students to think of words and images that represent the time frame and of what the
movement means to them.
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Overview: The students will create a collage that represents the civil rights movement. They
should show their understanding of the events and of activists of the civil rights movement by
finding words and images that represent the time frame. Students will work individually on this
project and will be completed in class. Once students finish their artistic response, then the
posters will be hung outside the classroom.
Materials:
● Magazines
● Poster paper
● tape/glue
Instructional Strategy:
For this project, the instructor will explain the directions to the class as a whole. The students
will then be able to pick from piles of old magazines to search for words and images that
represent the movement. The instructor will be walking around and observing the students to
make sure they are on task and progressively working.
Assessment:
For this project, students will be graded by their participation.
Peter
Owen
Paisley
Taylor
Zain
Hailey
Sam
Alexa
Jillian
Robert
Sophia
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Paxton
Avery
Jackson
Natalie
Kevin
Garrett
Harrison
Anaya
Ellie
Alex
Emily
Chris
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(55 minutes) Students will be in music class for 55 minutes. During music, students will
separate into band and choir classes, where they will learn to sing and play songs that were
popular during the Civil Rights Movement.
12:35 to 12:40
(5 minutes) Transition from music to regular class
12:40 to 1:30
(50 minutes) Time where students can finish their timeline and/or reflection
1:30 to 2:20
(50 minutes) Finish Malcolm X movie
2:20 to 2:30
(10 minutes) Students will complete their exit slip and do their classroom jobs and pack up for
dismissal
References:
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A Lesson Plan for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.channelone.com/blog_post/a-lesson-plan-for-martin-luther-king-jr-day/.
This website was used for a lesson plan for Martin Luther King Jr.
Biography. (2010, Jan. 8). Martin Luther King, Jr. – Minister & Civil Rights Activist |Mini Bio|
BIO. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ank52Zi_S0
This video will be used to introduce who Martin Luther King Jr. was to the class through a mini
bio.
CrashCourse. (2013, Nov. 21). Civil Rights and the 1950s: Crash Course US History #39.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S64zRnnn4Po&t=360s
This video will be used during week 1 to introduce the time period to the class.
CrashCourse. (2013, Dec. 6). The 1960s in America: Crash Course US History #40.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkXFb1sMa38
This video will be used during week 1 to introduce the time period to the class.
English Language Arts Standards " Reading: Literature " Grade 6. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/6/.
This website was used to find reading standards for 6th grade.
English Language Arts Standards " Speaking & Listening " Grade 6. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/SL/6/.
This website was used to find the standards for 6th graders regarding speaking and listening.
English Language Arts Standards " Writing " Grade 6. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/6/.
This website was used to find writing standards for 6th graders.
Malcolm X - Civil Rights Activist . (2012). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/9a3hT8f6Kkk
We chose this video but it a short, yet informational video about the life of Malcolm X, and
provides students with more information about Malcolm X.
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Malcolm X Official Trailer . (2014). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/sx4sEvhYeVE
We chose to show the movie, Malcolm X because it is an opportunity to watch Malcolm X’s
life during the Civil Rights movement. This is an educational opportunity yet is entertaining.
Troy City Schools. Friendly letter writing rubric [PDF File]. Retrieved from
https://web.troy.k12.oh.us/~boe/PDF/CI/Rubrics/Writing-6-F.pdf.
Reflections:
Alicia:
This thematic unit has cause we a lot of different emotions. I was stressed, anxious,
excited, happy, and feeling accomplished all at once. I knew from the beginning that this was
going to be a beneficial project, but I did not expect it to take so long. My group was pretty good
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about meeting together outside of class to work on things, as well as working individually over
Thanksgiving break. When had discussed previously about different topics to have as our central
theme, but we all felt that Civil Rights Movement would be an interesting one that would be easy
to come up with different lessons and activities. Once we figured out what our theme was going
to be, we started bouncing ideas off of each other about how we wanted to structure the unit
between the three weeks; we finally agreed on focusing on a different activist each week of the
unit. We wanted to pick activists that a lot of the students may have already heard of, and some
that students might not have heard of, or don’t know a lot about. We decided to choose two that
were popular and well-known (MLK and Rosa Parks), and one that would most likely be a new
introduction to the students (Malcolm X). I think the most fun part of this assignment was
coming up with different activities to fill the fifteen days. Once we got started, ideas kept
flowing and we ended up having a long list of different lesson ideas. I also enjoyed creating all
of my own worksheets and rubrics. I had some practice making rubrics in the assessment course
from Block I, but that was the extent. I enjoyed being able to get more practice in making rubrics
for different subjects, as well as making different types of worksheets on my own. Throughout
this entire process, we did have a couple trials and tribulations as well. We had a really hard time
with figuring out how we were going to format our unit plans. Most of the work that we did was
over Thanksgiving break, so we did a lot of communicating over text. There was a little bit of
miscommunication between all of us, but once we figured everything out, we all worked well
together. This project has taught me a lot about myself and my work ethic. I don’t think I have
ever stressed and consistently worked on a project this hard in my entire life.
The entire thematic unit is centered around a central theme. Our theme was the Civil
Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968. It is important for our students to have a deeper
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understanding of the content surrounding the movement has truly shaped our nation into the
society that we have today. Even though our world is still dealing with acts of hate against other
races, in my opinion, it is not as bad as it was during the 1950s and 60s. The Civil Rights
movement is important for students to know because it led to a greater social and economic
mobility for African Americans across the U.S. With the help of many activists, racial
discriminations and segregation were eventually outlawed, which produced many great
opportunities for not only African Americans, but women. With some subjects that students learn
in school, they easily forget the information they learned in school once the unit is over. We
wanted to produce a unit that allowed students to keep all their and be able to use it in the future,
not only in school, but in the real world. While creating this unit plan, it was a little harder than I
thought to make some sort of accommodations for our students and their learning needs. In our
special education class, we learned a lot about disabilities, but not necessarily a lot about
accommodating our students. But, after much discussion with my group members, we found
ways to structure our lessons so that every type of learner is accommodated. We wanted to have
different ways of presenting the information to the students; we included lot of videos (with
subtitles), speeches, reader’s theatre, powerpoint presentations, artistic responses, etc. If we have
any students who need accommodations or modifications, those can be done to align with their
504 plan or IEP. We wanted our unit to follow the UDL principle pretty close because we feel
In terms of making time to re-teach concepts, we have allowed for a lot of extra work
time throughout the day for students. During individual work time, students who are struggling,
will be pulled aside to work one-on-one with the teacher on understanding concepts. If more than
a handful of students are in need of help, that extra work time can be dedicated to going over a
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lesson one more time so students are gaining extra instruction on something they might be
confused about. Our main goal to try and ensure that we do not have to go back to re-teach
anything, is to be thorough in all of our explanations and presentations to the class. It would be
helpful to allow as much time as possible for questions from the class. If need be, our schedule
can easily be fixed to add in more instruction time for different lessons.
Something that I understand more about teaching now, than I did before the thematic unit
is that a lot of different components go into making a whole unit plan. When thinking about
lesson planning, you need to think about making accommodations for students, making sure the
assignments align with standards, alternate lesson plans if your plan A doesn’t work out, how
you want to grade the assignments, how you want to present the info to the class, if it is
considered appropriate, etc. Doing that for 15 days was a little exhausting not going to lie. There
are so many different components that go into making one lesson plan that is going to last maybe
45 minutes. But, this was really good practice for me for when I have my own classroom in the
near future. While this assignment certainly was hard, it was very beneficial for me. I can easily
use this unit plan in a future classroom. I want to teach upper elementary school so this lesson
Antonia:
Reflection
Thematic Unit
From this project I learned that the definition of literacy is a broad one that can be taken
in many directions and used for multiple purposes. When teaching literacy, teachers are able to
create an endless amount of ideas for lessons that engage and interest their students so they are
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able to learn at their best of their abilities. This project taught me that literacy can be used
throughout everyday despite the lesson or subject. For example we incorporate this unit to music
class where students will be singing and listening to music from the civil rights movement that
With a deep understanding of content knowledge then the better I will be at teaching. The
way I think of it is that the more I know than the more I can teach! A deep understanding of
content knowledge on a subject can change the difference in how much students learn. In order
for students to understand the lesson, then the teacher does also. The more we know on a topic
then the more we can help them deepen their own understanding. Going off of that, in order for
students to be able to learn, we have to create accommodations that allow them the full access of
a lesson that they deserve. Not all students learn the same and because of that, we created
accommodations that will help them succeed. Examples of this include typing instead of
handwriting, watching movies with subtitles for ELL students or students of hard of hearing,
listening to audio books, creating visuals such as PowerPoints and much more other
accommodations.
To ensure that I have the opportunity to reteach if need be, I created work time
throughout each day. These times are designed to give students time to complete activities but
they may also be used to go over any questions or concerns the students have. Having this time
in the schedule gives students reassurance that we will retouch on anything that might have been
One thing that I learned from this lesson is how thoughtful you have to be when creating
lessons and the amount of time you want to dedicate towards each lesson. Creating the daily
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schedule taught me how to find the right amount of time for different types of assignments. I
learned that we have to create time for students to not only learn a lesson but also to ask
questions and have time for other subjects. I also learned that teaching is a group effort. We can’t
do it alone and by using other resources, we can accomplish a lot more. I could use this unit as a
resource for teaching about the civil rights movement. We have a list of picture books that would
be great to use for grades other than 6th! I may also use this thematic unit as a guideline for
creating my own lesson plans. I know my future lesson plans will not be as in depth as this unit
Jessa:
This thematic unit journey I embarked on with my fellow classmates was not short in stress and
possibly some metal breakdowns. Mostly on my part, but wow was it educational. Figuring out a
theme for our thematic unit seemed to be difficult because we wanted to make sure we picked
something we felt like would give students a deeper understanding of not only themselves, but
for their peers. So we thought about basing our unit around black history month and naturally we
went for the civil rights movement. Having a deep understanding of content knowledge was
important, because it made the planning in terms of figuring out what activities would work best
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for each week easier. We still struggled, but having that background knowledge and reading
various of books in class on civil rights really helped us. I truly believe that our understanding on
our topic heavily contributes to helping our students bridge their knowledge on the concepts and
skills we’re introducing in our unit. I feel like as a teacher, I want to be able to teach my students
things that they can use in the real world and possibly allow them to reflect on the type of person
they want to be. I believe that I can only succeed in this, if I myself, understand what my goals
Through this process, I really challenged myself to think outside of the box and do activities that
I didn’t really see myself doing in my own classroom. I think that if this semester taught me
anything is that art and having different types of fun projects will get students motivated to learn.
I never really saw myself as someone who would only use one teaching strategies, but I do think
that I wasn’t so open to finding new strategies to use in my lessons. I think that’s what changed
the most about my understanding of coming up with this unit. I had so much fun looking at
different strategies from the strategies book, that I found myself changing them out depending on
what I wanted the flow of the week to be. I definitely learned how to tap into my inner Barb, by
figuring out different activities that would benefit everyone and could easily be modified for
those who need accommodations. I found that to be a challenge as well. I wanted to make sure
that the lessons I was planning on doing would challenges the students who were on all
spectrums of learning. For example, for the reader’s theatre, I felt that it would be challenging
even for the brightest of students to tap into a character they have never known. At the same
time, I made sure that the outline/organizer and the draft worksheet were easy to understand for
students who were ELL. I also made sure that I dedicated 30 minutes to have group check-ins
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that way I can easily check-in with the students who need it, as well as, time to do any
Doing the thematic unit definitely proved to be one of the most challenging things I had to do
this semester, but it was a good challenge. I definitely learned that there’s more that goes into a
unit than just a few worksheets and assessments. It’s well thought through and everything needs
to be placed with a purpose or else it won’t make sense. I didn’t understand this fully in Dustin’s
class, but now I do. I also didn’t realize how much goes into thinking about the parent’s role into
the lessons. We often talk about parents being present or active in the child’s education, but I
never really thought about the extent to it. I really enjoyed making the newsletter. That was
pretty fun, especially because I looked at it in a parent’s view. “What type of letter would I want
I definitely think I can use this thematic unit in my classroom on the future. My teammates and I
worked diligently to make this cohesive and teachable as possible. It would be so much fun
doing it in the classroom with some modifications to fit my classroom and the students in it.
Outside of this theme, I will definitely be taking away the structure and the ability to think on my
toes of what I would do if something were to come up. I like knowing that lessons and activities
are not set in stone and I got that the most making this lesson. It was a great experience. An
Juniper:
Completing the thematic unit has been a new and very interesting process for me. I have been
able to explore a lot of aspects of planning for teaching that I haven’t gotten the opportunity to
explore this deeply in any other class. Not only have I learned about the work and planning that
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it takes to create a thematic unit, but I have learned a lot about myself through the process.
Through this process, I have learned that I really care about teaching, and that this is something
that I am passionate about. Though this is hard, time consuming work, that may be frustrating at
times, it is worthwhile in ensuring that students are getting instruction that is effective,
meaningful, and interesting for students. My main goal as a teacher is to make sure that students
know that the work that they are doing is going to benefit them. We have purposefully included a
variety of different kinds of assignments that allow our students to experience different types of
activities, such as videos, timeline activities, artistic activities, oral presentations, and creative
responses. A triumph for me in this project has been my ability to organize my thoughts and
ideas about the lessons included in the unit thoroughly, and translate them into writing, ensuring
that all ideas connect. This has been a struggle for me in the past, to make sure that everything
connects correctly, and I feel that it was an area of success for me in this project, since I have
gotten so much practice doing so throughout the course of the semester. A struggle for me,
however, has been trying to make sure that no activities repeat themselves, and that all activities
are created to be worthwhile, and that they all have meaning and a place within the unit. This
was difficult for me since I have only ever planned lessons for days at a time, whereas this has
required us to plan for three weeks of instruction, so it requires more lessons, which in turn,
required that we input a wide variety of types of lessons, so students remain engaged.
I think that it is important that students have a deep understanding of content because if
students get meaningful and in-depth instruction about a specific area, they will be able to apply
it to other content areas, as they continue throughout their years in school. I also feel that
students diving deep into the content of the Civil Rights movement, will keep them engaged and
interested in learning more about the time-period, even after the unit has ended. A deep
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understanding of content knowledge is important to me, because I want to make sure that
students are going to get the most out of the instruction. Ensuring that I have done my best to
create lessons that go deeper than surface level, such as activities that include self-reflection,
artistic expressions, and meaningful class and small-group discussions, will allow students to get
By creating this thematic unit, I have learned that accommodations and learning needs go
deeper than just accommodating learning disabilities. Learning needs can range from students
have a learning disability, being below the grade level in a subject, or having a preferred learning
style, such as being a hands-on learner, an auditory learner, or a visual learner. Students learn in
different ways, and thrive in a variety of settings, and no student is the same. It’s very important
to address these differences whenever possible, and celebrate these differences through providing
diverse types of classwork that can accommodate and appeal to different learners. Students with
different learning needs can all meet the same goals, if they are presented with material that
supports their needs, and this is something that has become very evident to me throughout the
process of developing this thematic unit. Some of the things we have done to make learning
accessible to all students is creating different types of learning experiences for students. We have
minimized the amount of written work, such as essays, and instead, have included timeline
activities, presentations, and spoken discussions, as well as many other activities, so students can
be actively learning throughout the unit. We have also accommodated learning needs by creating
accommodations such as extra support from the teacher during writing activities, captions on
videos, and speech to text accommodations for writing and reading activities. We have included
these accommodations to allow all students to have the same learning opportunities and
experiences. Students have been given several periods of work time to finish up various projects
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throughout the unit. This is time that can also be used for re-teaching or to help struggling
students to get caught up on the material. During work time, small groups may need further
Before completing the lesson plan, I knew that planning instruction is a timely activity
that takes thought and care. By doing this activity, however, I learned just how careful you need
to be when planning activities. To make sure that students are getting the most out of the
instruction, it is important that all activities connect to each other, and that everything feels
worthwhile to students. This is why we tried our best to include activities that all students would
enjoy, and would be able to participate in. Putting so much thought into this project, and creating
a finished product, has been very rewarding. Knowing that this project could be used in a
classroom in the future was a large motivator in doing this work to the best of my ability, and
making sure that I included activities that I could actually see my students wanting to do.
Because I want to teach 3rdgrade, I would consider using this thematic unit in my classroom, after
making some modifications to it. I might consider using some of the activities such as timeline
activities as class work, instead of individual work. Some of the videos that we have included for
6thgrade students may not be appropriate for all 3rdgrade viewers, so modifications to the videos
shown during the unit would also have to be made. Aside from those modifications, this unit
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