EE 355 Methods: Contemporary Teaching of Social Studies

Reading Lesson Plan Assignment Template: Using the edTPA Framework

(Adapted, with gratitude, from work by Deborah Layzell, Illinois State University)

Name: Ben Hiromura

Age/grade level this plan is for: Eighth Grade (Social Science and English/Language Arts)
Central Learning Focus and Planned Learning Outcomes
Central Focus

To determine the validity of text, students will investigate the importance of analyzing an authors point of
view, purpose, and the context in which he or she is writing.
Essential Question:
*What characteristics, ideas, and actions make a community leader successful?

CCSS Anchor
Standard(s)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

CCSS Grade k-8

ELA
NCSS Standards
Standard(s)

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).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and
audience have been addressed.
X. Civic Ideals & Practices
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ideals, principles,
and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic, so that the learner can:
g. examine the influence of public opinion on personal decision-making and government policy on
public issues;

Prior Academic
Knowledge

Anticipated
Issues

*Students should understand that word choice, story telling, metaphors, and assertions reveal author
point of view.
*Students should be able to identify human characteristics based on portrayals or stories.
*Students should know cause and effect in terms of how human actions effect the course of history.
*Students should be familiar with the writing processes of planning, revision, editing, and re-writing.
*Students may struggle with the various readings throughout the lesson, if comprehension skills are low.
-Sustained group work will combat misunderstanding through discussion.
*Students may find it hard to analyze their own POV.
-Peer support will help students reveal their own biases, purposes, and contexts for writing.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks

Launch
5-8 Minutes

Poetry Reading
What Teachers Make
by Taylor Mali
Discussion Questions
*What is the purpose of this poem?
*What are some biases or assumptions in this poem?
*How does the context of the story influence how it is being
told?
*What significance does perspective and opinion play in the
piece?

Instructional
Core Sequence
15-20 Minutes

Point Of View
A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs. Long
By Nikki Giovanni
Who is the Author?
Poet Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June
7, 1943. Although she grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, she and her
sister returned to Knoxville each summer to visit their
grandparents. Nikki graduated with honors in history from her
grandfather's alma mater, Fisk University. Since 1987, she has
been on the faculty at Virginia Tech, where she is a University
Distinguished Professor.
(http://nikki-giovanni.com/)
Purpose of Text (Main
Idea)
Stanza 8
But there was a world
Somewhere
Out there

*Authors history tells us

about where they came
from and how it affects
their writing.
*Main idea of this text is
that knowledge is a brave
pursuit and one should be
thankful for those who
help uncover that.

Mali. Taylor. What Teachers

Make. What Learning Leaves.
Newtown, CT: Hanover Press,
2002. Print.
(ISBN: 1-887012-17-6)
Possible Modificationhttp://www.ted.com/talks/taylor
_mali_what_teachers_make
Biases or Assumptions
Stanza Four
Mrs. Long always glad to see
you
The stereoscope always ready
to show you faraway
Places to dream about
*Love of reading
*Captivation with
stories/knowledge
Context
Stanza Six
Probably they said something
humiliating since southern
Whites like to humiliate
southern blacks
*Position of restriction
*Telling of authors character

And Mrs. Long opened that wardrobe

But no lions or witches scared me
I went through
Knowing there would be
Spring
Structured
Practice &
Application
30-35 Minutes

Giovanni, Nikki. A Poem for My

Librarian, Mrs. Long. Acolytes.
New York: William Morrow,
2007. (2007)

Own Point of View (15 Minutes)

1. Answer the following questions of the back of your narrative short story #2
a. Who is the Author? How does this information inform what he/she writes about?
b. What is the main purpose of the text?
c. What biases or assumptions does the author engage in?
d. What is the context for writing? How does this affect the story?
Agents of Change (15 Minutes)
1. Excerpt from I Have a Dream Speech
a. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup
of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the
high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative
protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must
rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
(1963)
2. Quotation from Malala Yousafzai
a. Why shall I wait for someone else? Why shall I be looking to the
government, to the army, that they would help us for them to help me.
Why dont I raise my voice? Why dont we speak up for our rights? (The
Daily Show, 2013)
3. Quotation from Virginia Woolf
a. Words do not live in dictionaries, they live in the mind. And how do they
live in the mind? Variously and strangely, much as human beings live,
ranging hither and dither falling in love, meeting together. It's true they
are much less bound by ceremony, convention, than we are. Royal words
meet with common words. English words marry French words, German
words. Indian words, Negro words ...
(Woolf, Virginia. Virginia Woolf Rare Audio Recordings, BBC.)
Whole Group Discussion

Closure
10-15 Minutes

Differentiation/
Planned
Additional
Support

*What characteristics do these people embody in their quotations that make for good
leadership?
*What do you prefer in a leader?
*What does a person NEED to be a leader?
Poetry Exercise
For 5-10 minutes, write a poem where every single line begins with the anaphora "It's like..." At
the end of the time, try to shape it even further into a poem that could be considered finished,
not just a list of 'likes' but something with an arc. (Burroway, 2007)
Explanation of Poetry Assignment
*Students will turn in three poems as a culminating portfolio of what we have learned in this
unit.
Students with IEPs or 504 plans (include ESL/bilingual; learning disability; physical disability):
*Students will be supplied with the poems outlined in the lesson, as necessary, and will be
projected on the screen in front while being read.
*Students will work in pairs to complete self-analysis of POV, as necessary, in order to better
facilitate sound understanding of the concept.
*Students will be given extra time to brainstorm ideas about the quotations from the agents of
change, as necessary.
Academic Language Demands

Describe and reflect upon the formal language of instruction plus the concepts youre teaching in this lesson.

Academic
Language Used
And

Meeting the
Language
Demands

Purpose- addressed as the main idea or main intent of the text, answers the question why did they
write this?
Bias- addressed as a possible favoritism or skewed opinion based on the context and author, use example
when introducing
Assumption- addressed as something that the author holds as true without explaining why, use example
when introducing
Context- addressed as the environment or situation that an author writes in, time period/social
pressures/conditions for writing
Perspective- addressed as the way in which a person sees the world (unique to them)
Opinion- addressed as something that is not fact-based, an evaluative judgment
Anaphora- used as a buzz word, importance on using the words its like over and over

Assessments
Assessm
ent Type

Formal
Informal
Formal

Assessmen
t
Descriptio
n
Own POV on
back of
Short Story
#2
Participation
(Overall)
Poetry
Exercise

Planned
Modifications to
Assessments
Students can audio
record answers to
questions.
Students will be given
pre-typed notes, as
necessary.
Students can record
their thinking process
for credit.

Evaluation Criteria
(What evidence of student learning related to the
learning objectives and central focus
does the assessment provide?)
*Answering all the questions given (content), full sentences
(format), logical arguments (grasp of concept and process),
self-reflection (depth)
*Quantity of participation (how much), quality of participation
(on task, body language, content of speech), asking questions,
taking notes
*Completion of Activity, Evidence of Thought Process, Quality
(only if given permission)

Resources
Burroway, J. (2007). Imaginative writing: The elements of craft. New York: Pearson/Longman.
Giovanni, Nikki. A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs. Long. Acolytes. New York: William Morrow, 2007. (2007)
Mali, T. (2012). What teachers make: In praise of the greatest job in the world. New York, N.Y: G.P. Putnam's
Sons.
Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Speech. (1963, January 1). Retrieved November 10, 2014, from
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
Virginia Woolf - Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.egs.edu/library/virginiawoolf/quotes/
Yolanda Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2014.

5 Inspiring Quotes From Nobel-Winner Malala Yousafzai. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2014, from
http://www.inc.com/zoe-henry/5-inspiring-quotes-from-nobel-winner-malala-yousafzai.html