Banned Books 
Lesson Plan for English 9 
Prepared by Stan Spurgiesz 

LEARNING OBJECTIVE    

Students will be able to synthesize supporting evidence into an informative letter within 
70% of the posted rubric. 

AZ HIGH SCHOOL STATE STANDARD   

9.RI.1, 9.W.2 

ANTICIPATORY SET      

1. The teacher will remove all books from students and place them in a box. 

2. The teacher will announce that TUSD has voted to ban student-choice books. Students 
will now be forced to all read the same book as assigned by the district. 

3. The teacher will tell students the decision was made because the district doesn’t think 
they’re “mature enough” to choose their books. 

4. The teacher will let students express their reactions and transition into a group 
discussion. 

5. Group Discussion Prompts: 

A. How does this make you feel? 

B. What benefits are there to banning a book? 
C. What harm is caused by banning a book? 
D. Is age-appropriateness a valid reason? 

6. The teacher will maintain this scenario until the closure component to maintain the 
emotional response from students. 

 
 

INPUT        

1. The teacher will explain the lesson's focus on banned books. 

2. The teacher will explain to students that we're going to analyze an article about 
banned books with their groups, annotate the article for supporting evidence, and write 
informative letters to TUSD stating why they should/shouldn’t ban books. 

MODELING        

1. The teacher will model an example of AVID annotation to scaffold over knowledge 
from past assignments 

2. The teacher will model an informative letter and scaffold over formatting from 
previous assignments. 

3. The teacher will re-activate prior knowledge of the writing rubric and model how his 
example is aligned with it. 

CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING        

1. The teacher will ask students for a thumbs up, thumbs down, or sideways thumb to 
gauge their understanding. 

2. During the following components, the teacher will ask open ended questions to further 
confirm understanding. 

GUIDED PRACTICE              

1. In groups, students will analyze an article about banning books. 

2. Students will be strategically grouped by two pieces of criteria: 

a. Criteria A - Students will be grouped by reading level. There will be three 

versions of the article at three different lexile levels for appropriate rigor. 
b. Criteria B - Students will be grouped by reading preference: collaboratively out 

 
 loud or silently/independently. 

3. Students will number paragraphs, circle key terms, and underline evidence that they 
can use in their letters. 

4. The teacher will visit each group to ask open ended questions as a means of 
confirming understanding. 

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE              

1. Independently, students will address an informational letter to TUSD stating why they 
should/shouldn’t ban books.  

2. Students will open their letter by introducing the topic and their stance. 

3. Students will develop the idea with supporting paragraphs connected by transition 
words. 

4. Students will cite from the provided article to support their ideas. 

5. If time permits, student volunteers may share their letters with the class. 

CLOSURE        

1. Students will complete a one minute paper in their journals summarizing the evidence 
conveyed in their letter. 

2. The teacher will thank students for being so passionate and explain that this scenario 
is fictional for TUSD, but very real in schools around the country. 

DIFFERENTIATION        

1. Auditory students will be given the option to verbally create a speech for TUSD with 
the same criteria. 

2. Students will be strategically grouped to support their lexile level. Three versions of 
the text will be available at three tiered rigor levels. 

3. Students will be strategically grouped by two pieces of criteria: 

a. Criteria A - Students will be grouped by reading level. There will be three 

 
 versions of the article at three different lexile levels for appropriate rigor. 
b. Criteria B - Students will be grouped by reading preference: collaboratively out 
loud or silently/independently. 

4. Students who excel with formatting graphic organizers will be provided one.