Teacher: Cameron Parsons Date:10-19-20

School: 10th grade High School class Grade Level: 10th Content Area:
English- Writing
Title: Intentionality in the World Lesson #: 1 of 20

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson: (Write Content Standards directly from the
standard)
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to
make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or
listening. (CCSS: L.9-10.3)

Understandings: (Big Ideas)

Students will be able to identify intentional choices made by authors in order to grasp their own
meanings of why the author did something.
Students will be able to create their own arguments, making intentional choices along the way
Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of instruction,
select applicable questions from standard)
Is everything an author does intentional?
Should every aspect of something you create be intentional?
Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets)
Every student will be able to: (Create your own lesson objectives from the standard, follow the
ABCD format, using student voice)
I can: determine what choices an author/artist made when creating a text by looking at an image
and explaining three different choices they made and what those choices mean to me.
This means: In a discussion and with a group I can begin to identify what choices are being
made by authors or artists are making and what those choices might mean to me or others
List of Assessments: (Write the number of the learning target associated with each assessment)

Name and Purpose of Lesson
Should be a creative title for you and the
students to associate with the activity. Think of
the purpose as the mini-rationale for what you
are trying to accomplish through this lesson.
Approx. Time and Materials
How long do you expect the activity to last and
what materials will you need?
Anticipatory Set
The “hook” to grab students’ attention. These
are actions and statements by the teacher to
relate the experiences of the students to the
objectives of the lesson, To put students into a
receptive frame of mind.
• To focus student attention on the lesson.
• To create an organizing framework for
the ideas, principles, or information that
is to follow (advanced organizers)
An anticipatory set is used any time a different
activity or new concept is to be introduced.
Procedures
(Include a play-by-play account of what
students and teacher will do from the minute
they arrive to the minute they leave your
classroom. Indicate the length of each segment
of the lesson. List actual minutes.)
Indicate whether each is:
-teacher input
-modeling
-questioning strategies
-guided/unguided:
Planned Lesson Activities
Intentionality in the world.
Purpose: Creating something doesn’t just happen. The choices people make are
intentional and while everything might not have deeper meaning, there is often
something more to be seen when looking at a text.
Materials needed: Something to write with (pencil/paper, computer, tablet, etc.)
Total Time: 90 minutes)
Students will come in to a number of different texts on board, movie posters,
book covers, PSAs, political ads, etc. There will also be a question that students
will need to answer to begin with class. What does intentionality mean to you?
With the dictionary definition of intentionality below it.
Teacher Actions Student Actions
-Class enters to question on board and
all the images to look at. Students will -Class enters to question on board and
write on what intentionality means to all the images to look at. Students will
them. Teacher takes attendance (10 write on what intentionality means to
minutes) them. Students write in
notebooks/journals/computer (10
-Come together as class to discuss minutes)
what intentionality means to them,
teacher calls on students or cold calls
 -whole-class practice depending on class participation (5
-group practice minutes)
-individual practice
-check for understanding -Begin mini lesson on intentionality,
-other defining, showing examples, and doing
a quick model of how I find
intentionality in a text.
Teacher leads mini-lesson and models
intentionality (15 minutes)
-Break into groups of 3 or 4, choosing
one of the images from the front (Book
cover, movie poster, PSA) and begin
looking at it and trying to think what
elements of it have meaning and what
that meaning might be. Teacher walks
around to groups and prompts
discussion. Students also have
questions up front to help them decide
what something might mean. (25
minutes)
-Come together as class, groups share
out their image and their findings.
Other groups are encouraged to give
input that they see in the image as well.
Agreeing or disagreeing with what the
original group found. Teacher prompts
further discussion, and facilitates the
overall discussion (25 minutes)
-Closure/exit ticket: Read “The Zebra
Storyteller” by Spencer Holst (365
-Students share their thoughts, while
listening to other students’ ideas (5
minutes)
-Students listen to mini lesson and take
notes on what it means (15 minutes)
-Students look at their chosen image
and begin discussing as a group what
they see, what it means, and why that
choice might have been made. If they
finish early or are struggling to find
meaning, they are encouraged to
choose a different text to look at. (25
minutes)
-Groups share out to whole class,
sharing image, their findings, and why
they think what they think. Other
students listen or join in discussion by
sharing what they think as well. Every
group will share. Close out with what
was difficult for them and what was
easy (25 minutes)
-Students read short story and respond
to posted questions on board for exit
ticket. Pre-assessment of sorts to see
what students take away from an
extremely short story. (10 minutes)
 words) Cite one sentence, why you
chose the sentence, what it means to
you, and why you think the author
added it. When finished turn in exit
slip. (10 minutes)

Closure
Those actions or statements by a teacher that Closure of lesson comes as exit slip to see what students can do as individuals
are designed to bring a lesson presentation to and what they can take away from a short story. This moves away from images
an appropriate conclusion. Used to help and into words to see how students handle a change of mediums.
students bring things together in their own
minds, to make sense out of what has just been
taught. “Any Questions? No. OK, let’s move
on” is not closure. Closure is used:
• To cue students to the fact that they have
arrived at an important point in the
lesson or the end of a lesson.
• To help organize student learning
To help form a coherent picture and to
consolidate.
Differentiation Choosing what image to look at
To modify: If the activity is too advanced for a Choosing group members
child, how will you modify it so that they can be
successful?
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a child,
how will you extend it to develop their emerging
skills?
Assessment Exit slip will tell if students have an idea of how to pick apart a text
How will you know if students met the learning Casual check in by walking around while students are doing group work
targets? Write a description of what you were Seeing how discussion goes will be another form of check
looking for in each assessment.
 Daily Lesson Plan Format

Name: Rhetoric and Oral Presentations

Date(s) or Days of Lesson: 2 of 20

Student Learning Objective(s)/Target(s) and Related Assessment(s):

Student Learning Objective: I can explain what rhetoric is using relevant vocabulary and why
knowing what rhetoric is will give me more control when creating argumentative types of media.

Language Objective: Students will write a short paragraph using at least two relevant vocabulary
words that summarize the speech they looked at during class.

Standard(s): Objectives and assessments must align with the Standards.

Correctly spell frequently used words and consult reference materials (for example: dictionaries,
both print and digital, spell check, and/or trusted peers and/or adults) to determine the spelling of
less frequent vocabulary. (adapted from CCSS: L.9-10.2c).

Materials/Resources:

FDR Pearl Harbor Address Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=ufoUtoQLGQY&feature=emb_lo
go

Transcript

http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/tmirhdee.html

Worksheet below

Learning Activities:

Initiation:
 Initiation: Start with a video of a speech that exhibits strong rhetorical elements. Have
students listen to the speech and just takes notes on what they notice.

Three or four students share out what they noticed about the speech. Tone, language
used, body language, anything noteworthy to them. (15 minutes)

FDR Pearl Harbor Address Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=ufoUtoQLGQY&feature=emb_lo
go

Transcript

http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/tmirhdee.html

Lesson Development:

Look at the speech as just the transcript and begin to look at notable rhetorical elements. I will be
modeling this to the whole class (10 minutes)

Partner with a classmate, go to this

websitehttps://www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html

and pick a speech that you will be looking at just as I did earlier.

Handout at bottom of document to help guide students thoughts and give them some place to
record what they are thinking (30 minutes)

Come together as a class, share your speeches that you looked at with your partner, and begin to
link on the board what speeches commonly do using a graphic organizer. Look at tone (somber,
energetic, inciting), who they are addressing (individuals, whole groups, enemies, friends), what
is the reason they are giving the speech (activism, declaration of war, call to action) (25 minutes)

Closure:

Using the speech you used for the activity earlier, summarize the speech in a paragraph. This will
be used as an exit ticket and evidence of your engagement with the speech you chose. (10
minutes)

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Differentiate instruction for Learners. Below,

pick one modification and one extension. You will fill in one box per row.
 Content Process Product Environment

Modifications: Students are The way in Students are

able to choose which able to choose
their speech students their own
organize their partner for the
thoughts can activity
be done in any
way, the
worksheet is
simply a guide

Extensions: Connect the

speech you
looked at to
modern times.
What would
the speech be
saying
differently,
who would be
saying it, etc.
This is
included on
the worksheet
as an
extension
Speech you chose: (Orator
and speech title)

Speech you chose: (Orator

and speech title)

What words/phrases does

the orator use and what are
those words/phrases doing?

Who is the orator

addressing? (A nation as a
whole, a group of people
within a nation, etc.)

What is the topic of the

speech and why are they
speaking on it? What
authority do they have to
speak on the subject?

Extension Activity:

How would that speech be

received today if the same
scenario was present? Who
would be giving the
speech? (i.e. if it was a
presidential speech the
current president would be
giving the speech, activist
would be a current activist)
 Daily Lesson Plan Format

Name: Pathos and Rhetorical Appeals

Date(s) or Days of Lesson: 3 of 20

Student Learning Objective(s)/Target(s) and Related Assessment(s):

I will know how to use appeals of emotion and how to identify when they are being used in arguments I
am reading.

I can include specific words to evoke emotion from my audience. (for both paragraph and poster)

ABCD:

I will create either a poster or paragraph in which I evoke the emotion of my audience using intentional
language or images.

Standard(s):

Determine purpose for writing and use rhetorical appeals (i.e., ethos, pathos, logos) to address audience
expectations and needs.

Materials/Resources:

Students will need either paper and some drawing utensils or their computer in order to create the
formative assessment for today.

These are the links for the videos we will watch at the start of class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9d2PpP7tQ&ab_channel=Hollatronix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzEM7fkWqS8&ab_channel=MediocreFilms

Learning Activities:

Initiation:

Play ASPCA commercial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9d2PpP7tQ&ab_channel=Hollatronix

Top 10 Funniest Super Bowl Ads 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzEM7fkWqS8&ab_channel=MediocreFilms
Using these two videos, of which I will shorten because no one needs to see 2 minutes of sad animals or
10 minutes of commercials, students will see some ways in which emotion can be evoked, on two ends
of the emotional spectrum.

We will then enter into a discussion on what the ads have us feeling and WHY. What imagery, what
sounds, what language do these commercials use to evoke certain emotions in an audience? (20
Minutes)

Lesson Development:

Students will move directly into quiet work time in which they will think on a time they used emotion to
get something. Ex. Acting sad in front of a parent to get something, guilting a friend, etc. (10 minutes)

We will then break into groups based on what emotion they wrote about in their short writing activity. If
there are not enough groups or the variety is not different enough, we will instead move to a full class
discussion and talk about why whatever emotion was most popular was used the most. This will become
a discussion on which emotions are used most often in media and what students think are the most
effective emotions. (25 minutes)

I will then move to introducing the appeals of rhetoric and talk about the appeal we have been working
on up to this point, pathos or emotional appeals. This will be a short mini lesson on just pathos, why it is
used, when it is used, and how to use it effectively and without going overboard. (10 minutes)

For the rest of the class, students will work on a paragraph or poster in which they evoke emotion in one
way or another. These posters will be developed in the following day to include the other rhetorical
appeals, but for today it is just pathos. This is a rather open-ended activity because I want to see what
students will do with it. They can make an argument, they can try and just elicit excitement for an
activity or event, or they can do something activism related. The important part is that they connect to
their audience and the emotions that they might be feeling after reading the students text. (25 minutes)

Closure: This is part of a three-day lesson on the appeals used in rhetoric and each day will build on the
last. These is no direct closure for this lesson.

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Differentiate instruction for Learners. Below, pick one
modification and one extension. You will fill in one box per row.

Content Process Product Environment

Modifications: Students have Students can This is a solo

choice over choose project, but
what their between a students can
content area is poster or work near or
paragraph with other
 students if they
are remaining
on task

Extensions: The choice The process

aspect allows here is more
students who open-ended,
want to offering
challenge students with
themselves the creative
option of solutions the
choosing a opportunity to
topic that they show that they
may be less can embrace
familiar with or activities in
something that unique ways
they want to
challenge their
own views with
 Daily Lesson Plan Format

Name: Ethos in Argument

Date(s) or Days of Lesson: 4 of 20

Student Learning Objective(s)/Target(s) and Related Assessment(s):

I will know how to research effectively as well as find quality research that can support my argument.

ABCD:

I will cite two credible sources to include on my poster that show I am using experts in my research.

Standard(s):

Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative sources, using advanced searches effectively;
assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the
text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for
citation. (adapted from CCSS: W.9-10.8)

Materials/Resources:

Poster from previous class as well as whatever artistic materials they may want to use or incorporate
into poster

Activity on credible sources PowerPoint https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wdxHpkqFvf-

syrDagkUMmgrOO_Z9u2KWOGxdrEvnVjM/edit?usp=sharing

Learning Activities:

Initiation:

Students will come in to an activity on the board in which they will have 5 URLs and they must rank
them from most credible to least credible and justify why they believe what they believe. (10 minutes)

Lesson Development:

Students will be shown a URL or Article Title on the board and then they will move to one side of the
room or the other, based on how credible they think the information presented is. I will call on students
to justify what their thoughts are, ideally getting someone from each side to advocate for why they
believe what they believe. This will be done using the PowerPoint (25 minutes)

We will move into a short mini lesson on how to find verifiable sources, what the importance of this is,
and why we need multiple sources to back up a claim or idea. (15 minutes)
Students will then break into work time on their posters. For the first 20 minutes, students will work
quietly while they find some sources to include in their poster/paragraph. I will walk around during this
time to help students find sources, help them verify the credibility, and to just give a general check up
on how this poster/paragraph is working. (15 minutes)

For the next 15 minutes, students can work with partners or in small groups, as long as they are staying
on track. This is collaborative time to bounce ideas off of classmates or to help brainstorm ideas to
include. (15 minutes)

Closure: This is part of a three-day lesson on the appeals used in rhetoric and each day will build on the
last.

For today’s closure, students will show one of the sources they are including on their poster and explain
what makes it a credible source. This will be used as an exit ticket. (10 minutes)

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Differentiate instruction for Learners. Below, pick one
modification and one extension. You will fill in one box per row.

Content Process Product Environment

Modifications: Students have Students can This is a solo

choice over choose project, but
what their between a students can
content area is poster or work near or
paragraph with other
students if they
are remaining
on task

Extensions: Students can The process

choose to here is more
research using open-ended,
a scholarly offering
article instead students with
of a standard creative
news article. solutions the
This allows opportunity to
them to dive show that they
deeper into can embrace
research activities in
unique ways
 Daily Lesson Plan Format

Name: Logical appeals

Date(s) or Days of Lesson: 5 of 20

Student Learning Objective(s)/Target(s) and Related Assessment(s):

I can demonstrate my knowledge of appeals by incorporating all of them into a paragraph or poster.

I can use logical appeals in a way that strengthens my argument and doesn't mislead my audience.

I can create a sentence that includes an appeal to logic that is grammatically correct.

ABCD:

I will finish my poster or paragraph and include at least one of each type of appeal, explaining where
each appeal is and why it is that type of appeal in a short explanation paragraph.

Standard(s):

Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative sources, using advanced searches effectively;
assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the
text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for
citation. (adapted from CCSS: W.9-10.8)

Materials/Resources:

Students will need their posters and whatever design materials they are using.

No additional materials are needed for today.

Learning Activities:

Initiation:

Students will walk and there will be a number of “startling or mind-blowing” statistics on the board.
Students will choose a statistic and write about why that statistic strikes them as interesting, startling, or
otherwise noteworthy. (10 minutes)

Lesson Development:

We will immediately get into a full class discussion on the statistics on the board and why they are
noteworthy.
Discussion questions: What makes a statistic notable? What happens when you see too many statistics
on a poster or in writing? Why do we use stats or facts to get an argument across? How can stats/facts
be abused or misused? How can we use statistics in arguments?

This discussion will be mainly led by students, but I will give input or direction when needed, as well as
clarifying whatever questions might be present if needed. (25 minutes)

Students will then get into small groups, finding a group that is making either a poster or paragraph for
the three-day mini project, making sure they pair with the same product. Students will begin researching
some stats/facts they can include in their poster and how they might incorporate them into the poster.
(25 minutes)

The final 30 minutes of class will have students sharing out their posters or paragraphs by creating two
circles and rotating one side of the circle so that the class sees at least half of the other. This is meant to
be an informal presentation and the final project is not a summative assessment, but is a type of pre-
assessment for what I might need to address in the coming days or prior to the final assessment. (25-30
minutes)

Closure: Students will turn in their poster/paragraph before leaving class. I will give a final 5-minute
closure on appeals and what their purpose is. This is not meant to be a conclusion as there will be more
to address moving forward, but this was a three-day introduction to them as a device. (5 minutes)

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Differentiate instruction for Learners. Below, pick one
modification and one extension. You will fill in one box per row.

Content Process Product Environment

Modifications: Students have There is a Students can

choice over what choice over move around
their content for what product the room to
their the student work with
poster/paragraph chooses, other students
is paragraph or and get an idea
poster of what they
need to add to
their poster or
how to adapt it

Extensions: Students have

the opportunity
to include or
flex their
creative
muscles by
adding more
than one of
each appeal
 Daily Lesson Plan Format

Name: Reading a story

Date(s) or Days of Lesson: 6 of 20

Student Learning Objective(s)/Target(s) and Related Assessment(s):

I will be able to explain why I would want to write, but also be able to understand that people write and
tell stories for many different reasons.

ABCD:

I can find at least one reason why people would want to write after having a discussion in the class.

Standard(s):

By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the
high end of the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently. (CCSS: RL.9-10.10)

Materials/Resources:

This day will have students picking a book of their choice that will be their choice book for reading. They
will have time to go to the library or to look through the class bookshelf to find a book they would like to
read.

Learning Activities:

Initiation:

Students will come into a prompt on the board:

Why do people write? Why do I write? Why do I read? What is literature? Do all pieces of text contain
an argument?

The prompt will serve as the beginning of a discussion. This gives students the opportunity to write
about what they are going to talk about prior to discussing it. (15 minutes)

Lesson Development:

We will immediately break into a discussion on why we read and write stories. The prompts above will
be the main discussion questions, the main point of the discussion will be to get everyone to recognize
that they have a reason to read and write. Be it for school, pleasure, knowledge, relaxation, or
something else. (20 minutes)

After going through this discussion, I will ask students to share something they have read recently, and
we will discuss what the author’s purpose of that piece of writing was. If students do not want to share,
we will look at texts we have read previously and decipher what the purpose of that text might be. (20
minutes)

At this point, I will show a couple images. We will then discuss whether the images shown are
arguments or whether they have a different purpose. (20 minutes)

Closure: To prepare for day 7, I will give students a quick summary of To Kill a Mockingbird and prepare
them with a PDF version of chapter 19 which they will be reading in preparation for day 7. Whatever
time is left will be given to students to either start choice reading or find a book for choice reading. (15
minutes)

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Differentiate instruction for Learners. Below, pick one
modification and one extension. You will fill in one box per row.

Content Process Product Environment

Modifications: Students can The choice

choose what reading will
they would like eventually
to read result in a book
talk, how
students
choose to share
their book is up
to them

Extensions: Students can Students can

choose what move around
type of reading the class for
they want to their choice
do. It does not reading
need to be a
traditional
book, it can be
anything that
gets them
reading, but
they must be
aware that they
need to share
what they have
read or have
been reading.
 Daily Lesson Plan Format

Name: Perspectives and Obligations

Date(s) or Days of Lesson: 7 of 20

Student Learning Objective(s)/Target(s) and Related Assessment(s):

I can read an excerpt from a book and identify a theme in that small section.

I can define words in a text that I may be unfamiliar with using context clues from that text.

ABCD:

I will connect what I read in To Kill a Mockingbird to my life or events I have seen happening in the
world. I will do this by comparing and contrasting at least three elements of what I read with the event.

Standard(s):

Analyze the influence of literary and/or historical context on a text and evaluate the contribution to
society made by works of literature that deal with similar topics and themes.

Materials/Resources:

For this lesson, students will need the excerpt from TKAM. The excerpt is chapter 19 from the book
which I will provide via a PDF.

Students will need a device capable of searching current events, computer, tablet, phone. Etc.

Learning Activities:

Initiation:

Students will come in and either synthesize what they read for homework (chapter 19) or catch up on
the reading for the chapter. Some questions to prompt the students: Do you think you should write
about a culture/race/etc. that is different from yours? What is the impact of having Tom Robinson talk
in a dialect that is closer to what a Black man may have spoken during the time? What reflections do you
see in this scene that could be present in today’s society? (20 minutes)

Lesson Development:

To begin the class, we will start with students breaking into groups to discuss the chapter they read and
what they wrote at the start of class. To account for students who may not have read, they will be
placed into groups that have students that did read so that they are better able to start to understand
the chapter. I will walk around during this time prompting and gathering what students thought of the
chapter. (20 minutes)
We will come together as a class and try to deduce what the theme of this chapter is and what are
thoughts are. This is largely focused on the treatment of Tom in court by both attorneys and what Tom
says, and doesn’t say, while talking to them. (10 minutes)

Based on the themes we just discussed, students will work with a partner to find a modern event that
could share a similar theme. The main focus here is finding something where a BIPOC is treated
differently because of who they are. Students will be tasked with finding a situation that is similar and
then deciding whether there are things that are different or what might end up happening to Tom, if
they have not already read the whole book of TKAM (25 minutes)

Closure: To prepare for day 8, I will give a summary of The Hate U Give as it will be our next book that
we will take an excerpt from. In addition to this, I will introduce the idea of Code Switching and ask
students to come in with a language that they code switch between. Examples could be between
family/friends, a hobby in which they have to use specific jargon, a sport that requires a knowledge of
terms, etc. (15 minutes)

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Differentiate instruction for Learners. Below, pick one
modification and one extension. You will fill in one box per row.

Content Process Product Environment

Modifications: Students get to Students have Students can Students who

choose what a little bit of choose their did not read or
kind of time at the modern event did not
connections start of class to that they are complete the
they find and read if they looking at reading are
what event were unable to paired with
they are read the night groups that
connecting it to before have read so
they have more
support

Extensions: Students can

connect to
both a well-
known event
and something
that they have
maybe
experienced in
their life.
 Daily Lesson Plan Format

Name: The Hate U Give

Date(s) or Days of Lesson: 8 of 20

Student Learning Objective(s)/Target(s) and Related Assessment(s):

I can tell the difference between someone telling only part of a story and between a full story getting
told.

I can write a paragraph that identifies multiple variables in a scenario.

ABCD:

I will write a paragraph after reading the excerpt from THUG that identifies multiple variables of what is
happening and how they might be spun to tell a different story.

Standard(s):

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text. (CCSS: RL.9-10.1)

Materials/Resources:

I will provide for students a PDF of THUG chapter 2.

Students will also need something to write with in order to write their paragraph.

Learning Activities:

Initiation:

I will start with a clean Tupac song and this clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCEf557fNYg&feature=emb_title

Students will then have 15 minutes to read the chapter excerpt from THUG (20 minutes)

Lesson Development:

As a class, we will go over what happens in this chapter. Because it is only the second chapter of the
book, I will not give too much context beyond what students have read. We will identify what variables
are present in this scene and how they might impact a telling of this story by the media. We will then
look at a similar current event and see how different media outlets spin the story. The point of this is to
give students an idea of what might happen in the book and how to predict what will happen. (30
minutes)
Each student will have to write a paragraph after our class discussion on how the media might spin the
events that happened in the book. The point of this is to get different students writing different
perspectives that we will then look at to see how they can change. (25 minutes)

Closure: For the rest of the time, I will either ask for volunteers to share what they wrote, or cold call
(depending on class participation) and we will talk about how our perspectives can influence how we
see an event. (15 minutes)

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Differentiate instruction for Learners. Below, pick one
modification and one extension. You will fill in one box per row.

Content Process Product Environment

Modifications: The students There is Students will

have time at scaffolding in write an
the start of the form of us individual
class to read looking at paragraph, but
the very short current events can sit
chapter, so together so anywhere and
everyone will students have talk as long as
come in with some they are
the same groundwork productive
knowledge

Extensions: Students have

the option of
writing a more
complex
paragraph or
develop this
type of thing
into their final
summative
 Daily Lesson Plan Format

Name: Exploring Perspective

Date(s) or Days of Lesson: 9 of 20

Student Learning Objective(s)/Target(s) and Related Assessment(s):

I can understand the multiple sides of a complex issue.

I will write a sentence identifying some of my biases.

ABCD:

After discussing different perspectives, I will write a sentence or two identifying what some of my biases
may be.

Standard(s):

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information
clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. (CCSS: W.9-
10.2)

Materials/Resources:

Something to write with

Bias Activity with resources (Down below)

Learning Activities:

Initiation:

Start with an activity, should there be a federal minimum wage. Students will have 5 minutes to develop
their thoughts, then we will go to a side of the room depending on what we think. Students are
encouraged to stand somewhere on the spectrum rather than totally on agree or disagree. We will then
have a discussion on what our thoughts are (15 minutes)

Lesson Development:

Students will go back to their seats and I will give a short explanation for what we are doing and why.
We all have biases, our perspectives change the way we see issues, and no issue is actually black and
white, despite what it sometimes seems like. (10 minutes)

Students will then separate into two groups and some number of sub-groups (ideally 2-4 students per
sub-group). We will then have each group read an article from the activity below and answer the
questions. The purpose of this activity is to have students see more examples of how media can
influence a narrative and how certain word choice can invoke feelings in a reader (35 Minutes)

Students will come back together and state some of the biases they see in their article. We will talk
together about how bias may be avoided or altered to be more impartial. We will also talk about why
people show bias when writing. (15 minutes)

Closure: Students will write a couple of sentences on what their own biases are. This is meant to get
students thinking introspectively about what they need to be careful of when writing.

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Differentiate instruction for Learners. Below, pick one
modification and one extension. You will fill in one box per row.

Content Process Product Environment

Modifications: Students have The final Students get to

partners to product is on a choose their
help them think worksheet, so groups
through the students have
articles guided
questions to
think of what
needs to be
written

Extensions: Figuring out

what a bias
means to a
student largely
comes from
their own
previous
knowledge, so
students with
more
knowledge are
able to give
more direction
to their group
Article 1

Massive protests broke out across the United States late Wednesday following a grand
jury's decision not to charge Louisville police officers for the March killing of 26-year-old
Breonna Taylor, a verdict that Taylor's family and civil rights organizations decried as
"outrageous" and "anything but justice."

In Louisville, Denver, New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and other cities, thousands of
demonstrators took to the streets in an outpouring of grief and anger after the grand jury
examining Taylor's case indicted one former detective on three counts of "wanton
endangerment" for recklessly firing shots into the young woman's apartment building—a
decision that lets the two officers who shot Taylor six times off the hook. The three officers fired
a total of 32 shots in Taylor's apartment, according to investigators.

"The whole damn system is guilty as hell," demonstrators in Milwaukee chanted as they marched
down Interstate 94, temporarily blocking traffic. Police responded to the highway demonstration
with tear gas.

Tawanna Gordon, Taylor's cousin, told the local Louisville Courier Journal that while she was
not surprised by the grand jury's verdict, she is "mad as hell because nothing's changing."

"Today's decision was an additional injustice on our family and this country," said Gordon.
"Until Americans start getting mad enough and speaking out and forcing legislators to change
the laws for all races, nothing is going to change."

As protests kicked off around the nation Wednesday, President Donald Trump dodged a
reporter's question about whether he believes the grand jury's decision was just and took the
opportunity to praise himself.

"My message is that I love the Black community and I've done more for the Black community
than any other president, and I say with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln, and I mean
that," the president said.

Trump later tweeted support for two police officers who were shot and wounded during
demonstrations in Louisville late Wednesday.

Carl Takei, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Criminal Law Reform Project, said in
a statement Wednesday that the grand jury's "decision further highlights what was already
obvious: To change these systems that routinely perpetuate egregious acts of violence against
Black lives, elected officials must listen to the cries of those communities and make sweeping
changes—including divestment from these broken institutions and reinvesting in non-police
alternatives—so that Black people no longer fear being murdered in their own home."

"Today's charging decision," said Takei, "is the manifestation of what the millions of people who
have taken to the streets to protest police violence already know: Modern policing and our
criminal legal system are rotten to the core."
h ps://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/24/whole-damn-system-guilty-hell-protests-e rupt-na
onwide-a er-no-officers-charged
Article 2

Yet again.

We have a nationwide Fake News syndicate who blow stories out of proportion and shamelessly
distort facts to incite civil unrest and racial disharmony. A Black person dies at the hands of a
police officer, whether White or Black, and the media narrative promptly becomes a lamentation
over “systemic racism.” The streets fill with peaceful protesters. Soon, they are shoved aside by
agitators, inciters, anarchists, and some paid provocateurs. Fires are set. Businesses are burned
down. Homes are destroyed. Lives are ruined. In the background, the chants are heard: “No
Justice, No Peace.”In time a grand jury is convened. The rules of a grand jury are not like those
of a regular courtroom. Only the prosecutor is allowed to put on a case. No defense attorney is
allowed in the room. One witness after another is brought in and grilled by the prosecutor in
front of the jury. There is no judge to protect the witness from being abused. The witness has
nowhere to turn for legal assistance. The prosecutor pummels him or her with tough questions,
sometimes insults and nasty remarks. The only brakes that prevent even worse abuse is that the
experienced prosecutor knows the limits, that if he or she gets too vicious then the grand jury
may shift its sympathies to the battered witness. So the prosecutor plays the grand jury, using
tricks of the trade, ploys and psychological maneuvers that never would be allowed in open
court. But, again, there is no judge in the room to rein in the prosecutor. As day after day ensues,
the prosecutor becomes increasingly chummy with the members of the grand jury. This is why it
is said that any competent prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict even a ham sandwich.

And yet, despite all the media-stirred public frenzy about “systemic racism,” grand juries and
fact-finders in open courtrooms continue to come back with verdicts that completely defy the
Fake News narratives. The Fake News convinced many that George Zimmerman was a White
supremacist who murdered a sweet, clean-cut teen boy, a darling with a hoodie in Florida. NBC
news doctored a recording that Zimmerman had phoned into the police, omitting key words to
make his innocent and desperate call seem like a racist one. But in the end, George Zimmerman
was charged with a crime and then was acquitted for standing his ground when, as a
Neighborhood Watch volunteer, he had acted in good faith and was in peril of getting pummeled
to death himself by Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman even turned out to be Hispanic.

The media stirred a frenzy in Ferguson. Poor innocent Michael Brown had raised his arms to the
skies, pleading to the bloodthirsty cop facing him, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” But the murderous
policeman shot him to death in cold blood anyway. Soon enough, after Ferguson was burned
down, a grand jury was convened. The conviction was a certainty, easier than a ham sandwich.
The only obstacle was that witnesses came in to testify, and facts were presented. It turned out
that Michael Brown was not a darling sweetie pie but a thug who had held up a convenience
store. In his encounter with officer Darren Wilson, Michael Brown did not raise his arms and
say, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.” Rather, he wrestled the policeman for his gun. The officer
understood that, if Brown managed to gain control of that pistol, he would murder the cop. The
officer secured his weapon, and Brown was shot to death. The grand jury refused to indict.

Freddie Gray in Baltimore was another. The Fake News propounded the narrative that a
murderous gang of Baltimore cops had murdered Gray in a police van. Baltimore burned. Men
and women lost their life savings as the storefront businesses into which they had invested
everything to support their families went up in smoke. Their hopes, their dreams, their decades of
goodwill in the community — all up in smoke. The policemen were put on trial, tried before a
Black judge. With the narrative the Fake News had propagated, and a Black judge staring down
from his bench at each of the accused, they all were goners. And yet each and every officer was
found not guilty. Every single one.

This has been the repeated result of the Fake News syndicate’s efforts to stir hatred within our
society. While the Democrats scream of “systemic racism,” and while their leftist mobs in the
streets yell, “No Justice, No Peace!” they encounter their worst nightmare: justice.

And now Breonna Taylor. The Fake News had us all stirred and ready for three death sentences
to emerge from the fact-finding. Three cops, all intent on systemically racially killing Black
people at whim. Only the facts got in the way once again. To be sure, the whole thing was a
massive human tragedy. The Louisville police thought they had a bead on drugs to be found, so
they got that “no-knock warrant.” Three cops were assigned to execute the warrant and carry out
the drug bust. They entered — maybe without knocking, although there is at least one witness
who testifies that the cops did announce themselves upon entering. Kenneth Walker, Breonna
Taylor’s boyfriend, was there, had a legally registered gun, and did what many others in that
situation might have done: he fired on the home intruders. Did he know they were cops? Maybe,
but very probably not. It is totally believable that any owner of a legal firearm innocently would
shoot his gun at intruders. Even if he saw them in uniform, even if they said they were police,
they were not expected. People expect the cops to knock first and to show a warrant. One cannot
blame Walker, the boyfriend, for shooting the invaders. One of his bullets penetrated an artery in
an officer’s thigh. Yet, just as the boyfriend cannot be blamed for what he did, the cops cannot
be blamed for shooting back. It was just a horrible, horrible botch-up. So they shot back and
ended up killing Breonna Taylor, an innocent bystander in her own home. She was struck by six
bullets, including the fatal one that officer Myles Cosgrove discharged. And that was what the
grand jury learned, outside the ambit of the Fake News media.

The cops executed their warrant and never found any drugs. The boyfriend shot at men invading
the premises without their manifesting clear reason to be breaking in. The cops shot back at a
guy shooting at them. Horrible. Tragic. But not at all racial. It was just a horrible, horrible thing.
The grand jury did not indict anyone for Breonna Taylor’s shooting, but the City of Louisville
agreed to pay her family $12 million and to adopt new police reforms so that this awful tragedy
never recurs. As a sidebar to it all, the grand jury learned that one of the cops, Brett Hankison,
apparently may have started firing wildly, even into a nearby apartment, perhaps demonstrating
reckless indifference to surrounding human lives. Therefore, the jury indicted him on three
counts of “wanton endangerment,” a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison and
a $10,000 fine if convicted. But the grand jury rejected any claim of murder or lesser-intent
homicide arising from Breonna Taylor’s tragic death.

It was not a moment of “systemic racism” — because it never is. There is no systemic racism in
this country. If there were, we would not have had a Black president — an incompetent at that —
for eight recent years. We would not now have a Black woman, descending from parents born in
Jamaica and India, running on a major party’s ticket for vice president. Which country in Europe
has had Black heads of government, Black UN representatives, Black foreign ministers, Black
national security advisers as we have — England? France? Italy? Germany? Spain? Russia?
Does anyone hold any office or position in China other than people who are ethnically Chinese?

We are a good people. When Americans elected Obama in 2008, we put an end to the stain of
slavery and closed that shameful chapter in American history. But Obama reopened it. He and
the Democrats brazenly played the “race card” for political benefit and in ruthless pursuit of
power. They began a decade of “gaslighting” Americans into thinking that, well, maybe we are
systemically racist. In 2016 Hillary Clinton raised the lie to an art form by lumping a litany of
“isms” into one basketful of false charges: “They’re racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic,
Islamophobic — you name it.”

Balderdash. It is a Big Lie. We are not any of the above. And now this Breonna Taylor grand
jury, primed and ready to indict even a ham sandwich, could find no grounds, once presented
with facts, to support the Fake News narrative that attempted to stir racial hatred among us by
concocting the lie that this horrible human tragedy was something different from what it was —
a horrible human tragedy. Now they will proceed to search the land and scour the countryside for
their next opportunity to incite hatred among us so that, in the words of CNN’s Don Lemon,
“We’re gonna have to blow up the entire system.”

Put away your matches, Don. It’ll have to wait till next time.

h ps://spectator.org/breonna-taylor-grand-jury
 Identifying Biases in News Articles

Questions to think about while reading:

1. Does this author show an obvious bias?

2. What phrases or words does the author use that show bias?

3. What evidence (examples) does the author provide after making a claim?

4. How could this article be written to avoid such bias?

5. Is it okay to have bias when writing an informational piece? (What about an opinion
piece? What about a critical analysis?)
 Daily Lesson Plan Format

Name: Comparing Issues

Date(s) or Days of Lesson: 10 of 20

Student Learning Objective(s)/Target(s) and Related Assessment(s):

I can compare how perceptions over similar issues have changed over time and say why that is
important.

I will define a number of vocab words and use 2 of them in context.

Words: Activism, Racism, Bias, Stereotype, Perspective, Empathy

ABCD:

I will compare TKAM and THUG using a chart to show how books have represented

issues over time

Standard(s):

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information
clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. (CCSS: W.9-
10.2)

Materials/Resources:

PDFs from previous days on books

Writing materials

Learning Activities

Initiation:

To begin the day, students will choose one of the excerpts from the previous days and begin
summarizing the issues that are in that excerpt. Half of the class will choose one text and the other will
choose the other text. The goal is to begin to define all of the various elements of the chosen text. (10
minutes)

Lesson Development:

After students have gotten their summary completed, they will pair with another student to begin
creating a compare and contrast graphic organizer. The goal here is for the students to see how similar
issues have happened over time, how the issues are represented, who is writing about the issues, etc.
Students will look not only at content, but context of the content. I will go around the room and direct
groups that may be struggling. (25 minutes)

We will come together and create a class graphic organizer and discuss these texts more in depth. (15
minutes)

We will then move on to the vocab words and come up with class definitions for the words. (10 minutes)

Students will then create their own definitions and create sentences that can use the sentence in
context. They can do this solo or with a pair. (15 minutes)

Closure: To wrap up, students will begin brainstorming an issue in which they want to do their final
project on. As an exit ticket, students need to submit the topic and why it is important to them. (15
minutes)

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Differentiate instruction for Learners. Below, pick one
modification and one extension. You will fill in one box per row.

Content Process Product Environment

Modifications: I will be actively The graphic organizer Students get to

working with students create can be choose their
pairs during the anything they want to groups
process represent the
similarities/differences

Extensions: Students can

extend the
content to a
different text
they have read
in order to
represent
another
perspective