Discussion Strategies - Lesson Plans (2)

 

 

Introduction:

For this post I wanted to focus on two lesson plans, Reading Response Journals and Thunks. I had chosen the books, The Things They Carried and Animal Farm, to represent the two different strategies. The Reading Response Journal is a low-tech approach, but could easily be brought up to the 21st century standards by changing the blue book to a blog like this one. We could also add more options to how a student would be able to answer the prompts, such as with a picture, gif or meme. Please enjoy the lesson plans and feel free to take anything that may be useful to you.

Response Logs Lesson Plan

SUBJECT	TEACHER	GRADE	DATE
English	James Maccabe	9-10th	5/6/17

OVERVIEW

            Throughout the reading of The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the class will be responsible in answering prompts from their reading in a journal. The prompts will have strong connections to parts of the book they are reading at that moment while allowing for student choice in answering the prompts, and later on, developing prompts. The completion of the journals will become the basis of the class discussion.

	TEACHER GUIDE
Objective	·       To have students gain a better understanding of the different components of the book through various prompts, and to use that understanding to participate in classroom discussion.
Materials	·       Blue book journal ·       The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien ·       Journal Prompts
Activity	·       In the beginning, prompts will be created and handed out by the teacher. ·       As students become more familiar with expectations, prompts for the next reading response will be generated through classroom discussion. ·       The teacher will begin each class by allowing for open discussion on students’ responses on the prompts.
Assessment	·       Each student must participate in responding to their journal prompts. ·       Students must display accurate and relevant information. ·       Students must participate in classroom discussion of the prompts. ·       Extra credit will be given to students that create a prompt that the class will use. ·       Journals should be free of most spelling and grammatical errors.
Summary	·       The students will become more analytical readers. ·       The teacher will be able to help guide students who are having difficulties with close-reading through appropriate prompts. ·       The pedagogical approaches will focus on student-led learning, student-centered focus, student-to-student collaboration and teaching by guiding. ·       Prompts should be revisited every time, and adjusted as necessary because of the direction of the classroom’s interests.

Examples of prompts: ·       Why was what they carried so significant? Did it reflect who they were or affect them or both? ·       Why does Jimmy Cross blame himself for the death of Ted Lavender? Why are distractions sometimes bad and sometimes good? Examples? ·       How would you describe (insert character) to a friend who did not know of them? Notes:

·       This can easily be adapted for use with online blogs. ·       Classroom discussion should be tailored to what works best for the class dynamic. Is it teacher-directed call and answer or to form small groups or something else? ·       Were the students successful? ·       Were the students focused? ·       Is there improvement? ·       Did students participate in developing prompts? Creating Thunks Lesson Plan SUBJECT TEACHER GRADE DATE English James Maccabe 9-10th 4/20/17 OVERVIEW             Throughout the reading of Animal Farm by George Orwell, the class will have to produce thunks, “a beguiling question about everyday things that stops you in your tracks and helps you start to look at the world in a whole new light.” – Ian Gilbert. The students’ thunks will be posted on twitter with the hashtag #MaccabeLit. They will also need to respond to classmates thunks, a minimum of five classmates. The students will be able clarify their thinking of central and important ideas in the book while collaborating with classmates both inside and outside the classroom. TEACHER GUIDE Objective ·       To have students gain a better understanding of central and important ideas illustrated in the book and promote useful discussion in relation to proposed questions. Materials ·       Twitter account ·       Animal Farm by George Orwell ·       Web-enabled Devices ·       Definition and examples of thunks. Activity ·       At the end of the period, the students are given five minutes to produce a thunk on their Twitter feed with the appropriate hashtag. ·       Before the beginning of the next class, they must answer five other student Thunks using Twitter. ·       The teacher will begin each class by reading chosen student Thunks and some responses to begin discussion. Assessment ·       Each student must participate in producing Thunks and responding to classmates Thunks. ·       Students must display accurate and relevant Thunks that are reflective of the reading. ·       Students must participate in classroom discussion of Thunks. Summary ·       The student should show better understanding of Thunks and develop better Thunks as the class progresses through the unit. ·       The teacher will be able to help guide students who are having difficulties with developing appropriate Thunks. ·       The pedagogical approaches will focus on student-led learning, student-centered focus, student-to-student collaboration and using technology as a tool. ·       Objective should be revisited every time, as necessary, prior to the the students’ participation in creating Thunks at the end of the period. Examples of areas to focus: ·       Cyclical nature of the humans to pigs. ·       Focusing on individual characters, Old Major, Napoleon, Boxer, Moses, etc. and what they represent. ·       The various historical connections to the rise of the Soviet Union and the irony of the communist party. Notes: ·       Were the students successful? ·       Were the students focused? ·       Is there improvement? ·       Was there enough time to accomplish the task at the end of class?