Geneva College

Beaver Falls, PA

Lesson Plan

Name: Andrew Gedelian Date: Thursday, February 3/4, 2021

Subject: Honors English Grade Level: Grade 11

I. Topic
 This lesson will help students learn how to annotate a text to enhance their understanding of a reading.
II. PA or Common Core Standards
 CC.1.3.9-10.K - Read and comprehend literary fiction on grade level, reading independently and proficiently.
III. Learning Objectives: Objectives must be written using observable verbs
 After doing it in class, students will be able to annotate a text on their own.
IV. Materials
 Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau excerpt 1 (Provided in hard copy and on Google
Classroom)
 Highlighters.

V. Lesson Development
A. Introduction
Students will have the beginning of class to answer a question about Poe to fully close out the unit.
B. Lesson development (activities, procedures)
Day 1
 Students will be given the first section of Civil Disobedience and will be introduced to the idea of
annotating.
 I will explain how I want them to annotate the reading and do the first paragraph for them.
 We will then spend the rest of the period going around the room, reading and annotating the
piece.
 Ideally, in the time frame that we have, every student will have a chance to speak and read out
loud.
Day 2
 As the second day ended up being another virtual day, the second reading was simply posted,
and they had to have it completed by Monday.
 They had to go through the second reading and annotate the same way they did the first.
C. Evidence of differentiated instruction (content, process, product, or learning environment)
 Process: Annotation on paper and reading aloud helps the students engage with the text in two different ways.
D. Closure (summary)
 Whatever is not done in class will be finished for homework.

VI. Assessment/evaluation
The annotated reading will be collected for credit.
 Modifications or accommodations
No Accommodations Necessary.

VII. Self-evaluation
This lesson ended up happening online due to a virtual day. And I do believe I navigated it pretty well for the
students who did hop on to the call. They were able to ask me questions, but I will say the biggest drawback to a
lesson like this becoming a virtual lesson is that I couldn’t be as direct as I would normally be in the classroom. It is
harder to guide the students with annotation when I cannot see what they are doing on their readings. It did also
take away the option for print copies for the first few readings, and I do know there are students who greatly prefer
those. Virtual is a whole new landscape to cover for me, and I think in this particular setting, I navigated it pretty well.
It’s not flawless, but it worked for the circumstances.
This ended up being another virtual day, and I ended up simply giving them the handout to annotate on their
own. The number one reason for this is that I simply could not have control over the Google Meets for the class. So,
as opposed to going through the hassle of arranging everything for the meet, it seemed easier to just double up on
the readings for them. However, I do not think the easy option is the most beneficial. I think there could have been
quality time for the students had I gotten them online and on video. I think we could have had a great discussion on
the first reading, and my expectations for the readings could have been better explained and addressed had they
been online with me. It just ended up putting me back a day of discussion. And I think the greatest benefit of having
virtual learning as an option is that we can bypass the most negative effects of a snow day. We CAN be virtual, and I
think, especially for the purpose of what I wanted to do with this lesson, we SHOULD be virtual. The other main
reason I chose to not be virtual that day was simply the fact that so few of them will actually show up for virtual
learning. The other aspect of virtual learning to navigate is how to accommodate those people who simply don’t
show up. How do we get them credit? Should we get them credit? That all depends on the reasoning for their
absence. How do you make up for a discussion day that they missed? There are just so many logistics to iron out as
virtual learning becomes more prevalent.

Cooperating Teacher Approval ________________________________________ Date ___________________