TUESDAYTUESD SUBJECT English Language Arts PERIOD

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SAT/SUN

Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday

Introduce lit Recall higher Ask students to Create groups
circle unit. level thinking share some based on
from previous questions they preference and
Ask what day created during
makes a good yesterdays
lit circle PowerPoint on reading time.
meeting run Blooms
successfully. taxonomy, Model as you
focus on top 3 read aloud
What have you tiers. good points for
done for lit evaluation,
circles in the Ask for analysis, and
past? students to synthesis
1

come up with a questions. Read

Survey for what few examples a few pages
groupmates of each. then have
they would like students read
to work with. Read 1/3 of rest of the next
Tell Tale Heart third of the
Introduce idea by Edgar Allen short story.
of using high Poe in small
level critical groups. Give time for
thinking Thinking about students to
Blooms. finish section of
the story,
Find a new collect created
group to questions.

Finish reading Finish Tell Tale

WEEK

Complete the part 1 if it was Heart as

HW

survey. not finished in homework over

class. the weekend

Homework Formative Students hand

real life informal in questions
application questioning they worked on
(informal when creating over the past
formal questions at two days.
assessment). the start of
class. This gives real
This gives the formative data
teacher an idea Walk around as on how
Assessment

of how often groups read students do

students use and discuss. with
critical questioning
thinking. It also Builds on before they are
shows if they previous asked to do this
understand assessment. as they read
what it is Now applies each week
critical thinking
to literature
and a real
story.

Tuesday 8 9 10 11 12/13
 Introduce idea Powerpoint on Assign first Class For the Love of
of theme setting. assignment discussion on Reading
Highlight that with a model. how this focus activity
Model setting can Students are to on these ideas (Goals, what
identifying the mean place research the can relate to was learned,
theme by (geographical), setting of The the novel. connections to
reading aloud people Outsiders. previous book,
The Flowers (socioeconomic Students will Students will be description of
by Alice Walker. /ethnic), time research soc vs asked to current
Noting details (historical greaser culture, complete a individual
of character date), or time period graphic reading book.
2

traits and weather (no activities, and organizer for

setting. need for neighborhood next Thursdays
parentheses life in the 50s Anchor Reading
Relate ideas on but might as in class for 20 meeting. time/work time
lost innocence well stay minutes, read a
from this book, consistent. chapter for 20 Students will be
ask students minutes, then given the rest
how they came Have students see if they find of the class
up with this pull out ideas any period to start
theme based on these 4 similarities/diffe their anchor
on the story. aspects of rences in what activity, read,
WEEK

Turn in station Research/Read/ Read/Anchor Read/Anchor

HW

None
activities Finish activity activity activity

Using The The research Class Reading log

Flowers aspect shows discussion will checks for out
students will the teacher clear up any of class
complete 4 their skills in questions reading,
simple stations, finding before interests, and
identifying how information beginning work. helps the
the 4 parts of instructor find
setting play a Finding future books to
role in the similarities recommend,
theme of loss between the spark
of innocence or research they discussion, and
other themes in do and the build
the story. chapter they relationships.
read will see if
This tells the they can apply
Assessment

instructor what the skills they

parts of setting learned using
students are the mentor text
having trouble to The
identifying, and Outsiders. This
which may be will tell the
review or too instructor the
easy. students are
ready to begin
working on
their anchor
activities.
 14 16 17 18 19/20
Introduce Idea PowerPoint Station day, Review stations For the love of
of Character showing a few identify reading
Traits. strategies to character traits Complete last
find character based on station Reading/work
Introduce idea types. Including reading time.
of Character character individually 20 Review what
Traits actions, minutes each was learned
character station. and introduce
Model dialogue and next anchor
identifying the narrator/though One station activity:
character traits ts told in the students will
and story. identify actions Choose one
characteristics based on character and
by reading Group meeting actions, identify 2-5
aloud The time for higher another on character traits
3

Youngest level thinking dialogue, and based on each

Marcher by questions. another based of the three
Cynthia on narrator ways we
Levinson Ask students to thoughts. practiced in the
find one Students will stations. Word
What character trait try to identify doc, video,
characteristics of Ponyboy as many for drawing with
might help us before leaving each as they description
identify loss of in chapter 1. can using textual
innocence in Collect as exit (differentiated evidence for all
the outsiders? slip, put individually) options.
examples on
board. Students will Anchor activity
only get to two group meeting
stations this 20 minutes or

Read through Read through Read/Anchor

WEEK

Read/Anchor Read/Anchor
HW

chapter 3 chapter activity/ finish

/Anchor activity 6/Anchor all station activity
activity activity/finish activities
Last guiding The exit slip Each station While roaming Reading log
question will will assess will give between checks for out
help students whether they individual data groups, the of class
apply the idea can look at one on how the instructor will reading,
of character individual student is be able to see interests, and
traits to character doing while how students helps the
viewing the specifically in collecting grasped the instructor find
book through the very character traits idea of setting future books to
the lens of beginning of using al 3 based on their recommend,
loss of the book. This strategies. anchor activity spark
innocence and will show for the day. This discussion, and
Assessment

what to look for students there will be build

when reading is no point in collected relationships.
the rest of the the book that physically, as
book. needs to be well as
reached before informally while
being able to listening/interje
be identified, cting in group
conversations.
 21 22 23 24 25 26/27
Check progress Final Literature Project work Last Anchor For the love of
on this weeks circle time Activity Reading
character trait questioning
anchor activity meeting Anchor activity Anchor activity Free
work time. self-assessment reading/work
4

Introduce final Group time.

Thematic reflection Anchor activity
Journey teacher
project. Questioning feedback
self-assessment survey

Read through Read through

chapter Chapter
WEEK

Anchor activity/ Anchor activity/

HW

9/Anchor 12/Anchor Final Project

Final project Final project
activity/ Final activity/ Final
project project

Last informal Group Anchor self-

check on reflection assessment
character trait Give sfeedback How did the
progress. on how student do with
Opportunity to students the
meet with each worked assignments.
student together, who These ideas are
individually to read, who did all being used
clear not. in the final
up/reteach any project so any
content learned Questioning concerns raised
so far. self-assessment here can be
checks to see addressed to
if the student reteach/
thinks they recover on
grew during Friday and
their group Monday before
meetings as a the project is
reader and as a due.
critic. Did the
ideas stick,
does there
need to be
more
instruction,
should it be a
point of
emphasis in our
next literature
analysis unit.

25283 28283 29293 30303 131313

 Last Project Project Tell me what Watch Movie Watch movie
work day Presentations/p you learned
roject due day. about theme. The end
5

Especially loss
of innocence.

Watch movie
WH
EEW

Final Project

Summative These
Does the questions give
student able to the instructor
combine all an idea of what
aspects of this to change
literature study about the unit,
unit into a was the book
creative relatable, and
representation did this way of
of their studying a book
understanding work?

Rationale

For my project I will be focusing on The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. This book is a

classic and is taught in many junior high/middle school classrooms across the

country. Middle schoolers are at an age developmentally where they identify with

peers more so than their parents. Because of this, they take risks and form their

own identity through life experiences, and especially their choices. As they grow,

they lose their innocence. Losing their innocence happens slowly, and I think this

concept of not being a kid anymore and losing innocence might not be fully grasped

by students. Using The Outsiders students will look at how studying setting and

character development create a better understanding of the theme Innocence

lost.

For this unit I am assuming I have a class of 24 students that are in the 8th grade

from a diverse area both ethnically and socioeconomically. Each student will have

access to the book in a physical copy, as well as a copy of adjusted difficulty and

ESL students have access to an audio copy.

Plan
 Students will be place in groups of 4. Each week, Students will have a different

activity to complete before meeting with their groups. Instead of having whole class

activities and presentations, groups will be split into two separate days. All groups

will meet both Tuesday and Thursday of each week. Tuesday will be a traditional lit

circle meeting for 15-20 minutes where students identify higher level thinking

questions they have about the book. This meeting will be used to clarify ideas that

may be confusing, ask questions about the plot, or pose analysis, evaluation, and

synthesis questions.

On Thursdays, students will have another 20 minutes to apply the concepts of

class activities to the idea of losing innocence shown in the novel The Outsiders. To

bring out this idea, students will first do an anchor activity about theme, and theme

identification. Once students have a better idea of what theme is, students will

focus for one week on the idea of setting and how the setting can play an important

role in a stories theme. Students will then have one whole week devoted to

character development, and how characteristics of characters that make them

round or flat can also be used to support the theme as well as identify others.

On Fridays, students will work on For the Love of Reading which acts as a

sort of reading goals and progress sheet. It is not graded, just gives the teacher a

way to connect with students, follow progress and engagement, as well as develop

a love for reading in students!

For their summative, students will create a representation of how they

developed their understanding of theme throughout the course of the novel study.

Students will do this by using quotes from the novel, research done in class from

previous anchor activities, as well as individual research done for this project.

Students will be reminded to supports the theme with their evidence shown in their
representation. Students sometimes try to have the theme support their ideas, but

the real goal is to have students support their claim with support for that idea not

the idea supporting the plot. Students are asked to use their understanding of

higher level thinking, setting, and character traits to support their theme journey.

This can be represented on a poster, virtually as a number of media types (flow

chart, imovie, board game, song, short story, comic, etc.) Students are encouraged

to work in groups of 2-3 on these, but working alone is an option. These groups are

not tied to their literature circle Tuesday/Thursday groups.

List of Supporting Text

The Flowers by Alice Walker This short story is a good way to set the tone for the

novel and the idea behind the theme of Loss of Innocence. These students may

not all be accustomed to books that are not full of happy endings and The Outsiders

is a very real portrayal of life. The figurative language in this story made me move it

from setting which it also could have done, to the idea of theme. The language did a

great job of setting the theme up for the sad part of the ending when Johnny passes

away. Because it is being used to introduce the idea behind the theme and theme

led right into setting, it can be used as a re-teaching model for students who are

struggling to grasp the concept.

The Outsiders (Movie) It is never a bad idea to compare the book to the movie.

Especially when the concept of the 50s is so far away from the current social norms

of 2017 society.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (Novel) This is what we are studying. It has been

studied for years and is used to create

PowerPoint I think this would be considered multimedia This is a simple way to

introduce ideas to the class in a simple way. Videos are readily available online to

reinforce topics, but PowerPoint gives the control to the teacher as far as exactly

what models to use, and how to word things to best prepare individual students. If

they still do not understand a concept such as setting, support videos can be

utilized as needed!

The Tell Tale Heart By Edgar Allen Poe. This text is great for using critical thinking

skills, and really any literature analysis skill as well. It is a great way to begin a unit

on this because it is like a poem, but about the length of an average to smaller

than average novel. This is perfect to dissect and get into the habit of thinking

critically before beginning the unit.

The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson Using a shorter and simpler book to

identify the concept of character traits is a great option. The text is simple, yet the

topic relates to a loss of innocence as well as has pictures to support struggling

readers identify what may be an indicator of a character trait.

Visualization of classroom
Key:
Orange = bookshelf
Blue = table/desk (the arrows indicate direction. No student faces away from the
board)
Green = couch / bean bags. (I like bean bags and have one as my chair because I
am the cool teacher)
White = The smartboard/projector/whiteboard
Black = the door.

I like the idea of never having students facing away from the board. I also like how
Metcalf has tables, couches and even rocking chairs for every student in addition to
their desks. This may not be at all realistic, but it would be my ideal class set up
with plenty of room to study, work as a team, or lounge and read all day. The lounge
areas are separated from the bookshelf so that students reading are not disturbed
by people browsing, and cooperative learning tables are separate from the silent
reading area. Everything is in view of the instructor.

Differentiation.

The way my thematic unit is set up, students can be grouped by many different

ways. Because students work individually, and use their prep to guide instruction,

students can be grouped with students of similar high-medium skill as well as low-

medium for better cooperative learning. All of the activities can also be used in a

way that they require less skill, or more skill in a lit and comp classroom.

The work also allows for students with an IEP to all be doing the same work, without

needing to read the same book. This means they can collaborate with new peers

during work time and in discussion, but work with their instructional teacher and

classmates together also.

The same goes for students who are ESL. These students have the flexibility to work

together in a group if they desire, so they can use each other as a resource during

discussion. However, they also could be intermixed into many different groups and
just like the students with special needs, they are all working on the same

assignments and can work together outside of my classroom.

The outsiders is a very popular novel and can be available in audiobook, a more

appropriate instructional level text, or online for students with a visual impairment.

Most of the activities are very open, giving students the opportunity to express their

ideas biweekly through discussion groups, every day in whole class discussion, as

well as in both written and creative media ways for their final as well as their anchor

activities.

Without knowing my specific class, it would be difficult to differentiate more

specifically. But with all of the formative data collected on average 2 times a day 4

days a week, the instructor should have a good idea of student progress,

participation and understanding on any subject. This gives the teacher a basis of

who may need to be pushed during the next activity or the final. It also provides

data on students who may need some re-teaching. Because Fridays are always

open, and work time is given almost every day, there are many opportunities to go

over concepts again in a one on one or small group instruction setting.

Lesson Plan for 8 / 7

Middle Level Lesson Plan (based on Danielson Framework)

Intern Name: Joseph Doner

Grade Level: 8th Grade Lit & Comp
School: Evans Junior High School
Lesson Date &
Time:
 Instructions: In the boxes below, include the relevant information concerning your
planned lesson.

Purpose/ Students now have the background needed to complete a Tuesday critical thinking meeting as well as some
practice with setting to begin their first anchor activity
Rationale

Objectives Students will be gain background information on the setting of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton through research on
the issues covered. After reading one chapter of the story, students will begin to make connections and decide
how realistic the story is compared to historical descriptions they find online.

Academic Research
Language

Standards Common Core State Standard ELA Literacy Reading Informational texts 8.9
Analyze a case in which two or more texts provide conflicting information on the same topic and identify
where the texts disagree on matters of fact or interpretation.

Assessment Formative:
s Research can be submitted on google classroom as a rough copy of notes and sources used, while end of
class discussion shows which groups dug deep into the history, and which did not make any connections
between the facts of history and the dramatization of the era in the novel.

Summative:
No summative assessment

Resources Teacher Resources:

Projector
All 24 copies of The Outsiders
Knowledge on the history of the 50s and its relation to the first
chapter of the outsiders to assist struggling students

Student Resources
Electronic Device
Internet
The Outsiders book.

Opening Recall 4 parts of setting from two yesterday

Engageme Remind students of good research practices including a list of good databases to use for primary sources and
peer reviewed article.
nt

Instruction Ask students to find 2-3 students to work with who are not on their lit circle/anchor activity groups. This way,
students in groups have a variety of backgrounds on the setting to support each other in both meeting types.
al
Give students 15-20 minutes to research soc vs greaser culture, time period activities,
Strategies and neighborhood life in the 50s. Be sure to note that these are all important issues in
(Procedur the novel and that understanding the setting of the book will help students understand
es) what is going on. Social norms have changed a lot over the years, but the theme has
not. The theme is what students will connect to that is why we study history and
literature together often!
Handout copies of the text to all students (differentiating leveled books).
Give students another 15-20 minutes to read chapter one of The Outsiders.
Students will then complete a venn diagram showing the similarities and differences
between real life 1950s and the setting of The Outsiders.
Closure Recap what points we talked about that reiterate the relevance
of this activity. Ask students if they were surprised by how
different the time seemed while researching. Then ask if they still
felt it was so different while reading. Was there any signs of the
setting already playing a role in the development of theme? Plot
development? Character development?
Finish activity for homework.

Modificatio Options for paper or online assignment

ns/ Students can think on their own during reading time, discuss in
Differentiat small groups during time given to talk as a group for research,
ion and finally talk as a whole class about differences and similarities
between research and text.
The book itself can be a lower level reader, it can be an
audiobook for ESL or IEP students, as well as a PDF for students
with a visual impairment or to be used as a source to be scanned
and read or submitted to a reader online.
Students can research at their own intellectual level using a
variety of sources including research sites such as ebscohost, or
as simple of media sources like a video. There is a ton of
information on the golden year of the 50s as well as specific
research into The Outsiders because of its relevance to so many
people.

August 9 Lesson Plan

Middle Level Lesson Plan (based on Danielson Framework)

Intern Name: Joseph Doner

Grade Level: 8th Grade Lit & Comp
School: Evans Junior High School
Lesson Date &
Time:

Instructions: In the boxes below, include the relevant information concerning your
planned lesson.

Purpose/ Students now have the background needed to complete a Tuesday critical thinking meeting as well as some
practice with setting to begin their first anchor activity
Rationale

Objectives Students will be gain background information on the setting of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton through research on
the issues covered. After reading one chapter of the story, students will begin to make connections and decide
how realistic the story is compared to historical descriptions they find online.

Academic Research
Language
Standards Common Core State Standard ELA Literacy Reading Informational texts 8.9
Analyze a case in which two or more texts provide conflicting information on the same topic and identify
where the texts disagree on matters of fact or interpretation.

Assessment Formative:
s Research can be submitted on google classroom as a rough copy of notes and sources used, while end of
class discussion shows which groups dug deep into the history, and which did not make any connections
between the facts of history and the dramatization of the era in the novel.

Summative:
No summative assessment

Resources Teacher Resources:

Projector
All 24 copies of The Outsiders
Knowledge on the history of the 50s and its relation to the first
chapter of the outsiders to assist struggling students

Student Resources
Electronic Device
Internet
The Outsiders book.

Opening Recall 4 parts of setting from two yesterday

Engageme Remind students of good research practices including a list of good databases to use for primary sources and
peer reviewed article.
nt

Instruction Ask students to find 2-3 students to work with who are not on their lit circle/anchor activity groups. This way,
students in groups have a variety of backgrounds on the setting to support each other in both meeting types.
al
Give students 15-20 minutes to research soc vs greaser culture, time period activities,
Strategies and neighborhood life in the 50s. Be sure to note that these are all important issues in
(Procedur the novel and that understanding the setting of the book will help students understand
es) what is going on. Social norms have changed a lot over the years, but the theme has
not. The theme is what students will connect to that is why we study history and
literature together often!
Handout copies of the text to all students (differentiating leveled books).
Give students another 15-20 minutes to read chapter one of The Outsiders.
Students will then complete a venn diagram showing the similarities and differences
between real life 1950s and the setting of The Outsiders.

Closure Recap what points we talked about that reiterate the relevance
of this activity. Ask students if they were surprised by how
different the time seemed while researching. Then ask if they still
felt it was so different while reading. Was there any signs of the
setting already playing a role in the development of theme? Plot
development? Character development?
Finish activity for homework.

Modificatio Options for paper or online assignment

ns/ Students can think on their own during reading time, discuss in
Differentiat small groups during time given to talk as a group for research,
ion and finally talk as a whole class about differences and similarities
between research and text.
 The book itself can be a lower level reader, it can be an
audiobook for ESL or IEP students, as well as a PDF for students
with a visual impairment or to be used as a source to be scanned
and read or submitted to a reader online.
Students can research at their own intellectual level using a
variety of sources including research sites such as ebscohost, or
as simple of media sources like a video. There is a ton of
information on the golden year of the 50s as well as specific
research into The Outsiders because of its relevance to so many
people.