Note to Teachers
These lessons are modified from ones piloted in Cheryl Nelson’s general-education 10th grade English classes at Balboa High School in San Francisco. They are meant as a guide, not a script. After all, teachers know their own students and classrooms best. You may want to cut or lengthen these activities to fit your students and your/their interests. We’d love feedback about what you try, how you modify, and how students respond.
A note on the school and students
Balboa is a high school that has historically served a poor and immigrant population in San Francisco. The classes are 72 minutes long. These lesson plans have some built-in buffers for issues like attendance lapses and wide-ranging reading abilities.
How to use these plans
The three-day plan
This will work best if you want to have students make a personal connection with one person who endured Hurricane Katrina and analyze causes, effects and responses.
The one-week plan
If you have a little more time and want students to personalize their knowledge and develop more skills, take a week! These plans include structured outlines and rubrics for students to write their own persuasive letters.
Here’s what I’ve attached:
Day 1
A. Lesson plans (including homework the night before Day 1)
B. Talk to the Text Directions
C. Metacognitive Reflections (B and C are to help with the pre-homework)
D. Warm-up, Day 1 (you can copy this onto a transparency for the overhead)
E. 4 Corners signs
F. Expert group worksheet for students
G. Model for presentation chart paper (this is for you to create the presentation charts for students)
Day 2
A. Lesson plans
B. Warm-up, Day 2 (you can copy this onto a transparency for the overhead)
C. Presentation note-taker for students
D. Homework, Day 2
Day 3
A. Lesson plans
B. Warm-up, Day 3 (you can copy this onto a transparency for the overhead)
C. Jigsaw groups worksheet for students
D. Homework, Day 3 (persuasive letter prep, can be modified if you’re only doing three days of lessons)
Day 4
A. Lesson plans
B. Persuasive letter assignment
C. Persuasive writing rubric (based on CA 9/10 English/Language Arts standards)
D. Business letter format (you can copy this onto a transparency for the overhead)
E. Persuasive letter outline
Day 5
A. Lesson plans
B. Reader response sheet (for peer response to the letter)
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Readings we assigned Patricia Thompson (13 pages) Renee Martin (24.5 pages) Rhonda Sylvester (11 pages) Dan Bright (17.5 pages) Anthony Lecher (12 pages) Abdulrahman Zeitoun (22.5 pages) Father Vien The Nguyen (20.5 pages) |
Materials Necessary: · 4-corners signs (see attached) · chart paper for KWL · prepared chart paper for each Katrina storyteller (see attached model) · markers Helpful: · Post-it notes · big New Orleans map with locations of speakers (I blew up and highlighted the maps on pps 41 and 280 and they were very helpful) · computer/projector to show students images from Katrina’s aftermath, like: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/special/7/index.html (especially the August 30 gallery) http://www.nola.com/katrina/graphics/ or http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/katrina/ |
A Note on the Standards
These lessons, when including the extension writing activities, address the following California English/Language Arts and History-Social Science standards:
English/Language Arts (9th/10th grade)
Reading Comprehension
Structural Features of Informational Materials
2.3 Generate relevant questions about readings on issues that can be
researched.
2.4 Synthesize the content from several sources or works by a single author
dealing with a single issue; paraphrase the ideas and connect them to other
sources and related topics to demonstrate comprehension.
2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original
analysis, evaluation, and elaboration.
Expository Critique
2.8 Evaluate the credibility of an author's argument or defense of a claim by
critiquing the relationship between generalizations and evidence, the
comprehensiveness of evidence, and the way in which the author's intent affects
the structure and tone of the text (e.g., in professional journals, editorials,
political speeches, primary source material).
Literary Response and Analysis
Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
3.4 Determine characters' traits by what the characters say about themselves in
narration.
3.5 Compare works that express a universal theme and provide evidence to
support the ideas expressed in each work.
3.9 Explain how voice, persona, and the choice of a narrator affect
characterization and the tone, plot, and credibility of a text.
Writing
Organization and Focus
1.1 Establish a controlling impression or coherent thesis that conveys a clear
and distinctive perspective on the subject and maintain a consistent tone and
focus throughout the piece of writing.
1.2 Use precise language, action verbs, appropriate modifiers, and the active
rather than the passive voice.
Research and Technology
1.4 Develop the main ideas within the body of the composition through
supporting evidence (e.g., scenarios, commonly held beliefs, hypotheses,
definitions).
1.5 Synthesize information from multiple sources and identify complexities and
discrepancies in the information and the different perspectives found in each
medium.
Evaluation and Revision
1.9 Revise writing to improve the logic and coherence of the organization and
controlling perspective, the precision of word choice, and the tone by taking
into consideration the audience, purpose, and formality of the context.
2.4 Write persuasive compositions:
a. Structure ideas and arguments in a sustained and logical fashion.
c. Clarify and defend positions with precise and relevant evidence.
d. Address readers' concerns, counterclaims, biases, and expectations.
2.5 Write business letters:
a. Provide clear and purposeful information and address the intended audience
appropriately.
b. Use appropriate vocabulary, tone, and style to take into account the nature
of the relationship with, and the knowledge and interests of, the recipients.
c. Highlight central ideas or images.
d. Follow a conventional style with page formats, fonts, and spacing that
contribute to the documents' readability and impact.
Written and Oral English Language Conventions
Grammar and Mechanics of Writing
1.3 Demonstrate an understanding of proper English usage and control of
grammar, paragraph and sentence structure.
Manuscript
Form
1.4 Produce legible work that shows accurate spelling and correct use of the
conventions of punctuation and capitalization.
Listening and Speaking
Comprehension
1.1 Formulate judgments about the ideas under discussion and support those judgments
with convincing evidence.
(1.2 Compare and contrast the ways in which media genres (e.g., televised news,
news magazines, documentaries, online information) cover the same event.)
Analysis and Evaluation of Oral and Media Communications
1.11 Assess how language and delivery affect the mood and tone of the oral
communication and make an impact on the audience.
Speaking
2.2 Deliver expository presentations:
c. Make distinctions between the relative value and significance of specific
data, facts, and ideas.
d. Include visual aids by employing appropriate technology to organize and
display information on charts, maps, and graphs.
2.5 Deliver persuasive arguments (including evaluation and analysis of
problems and solutions and causes and effects):
a. Structure ideas and arguments in a coherent, logical fashion.
c. Clarify and defend positions with precise and relevant evidence, including
facts, expert opinions, quotations, expressions of commonly accepted beliefs,
and logical reasoning.
d. Anticipate and address the listener's concerns and counterarguments.
History-Social Science Content Standards
11.11 Students analyze the major social problems and domestic policy issues in contemporary American society.
Grade 12
12.2 Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured.
12.3 Students evaluate and take and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (i.e., the autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that are not part of government), their interdependence, and the meaning and importance of those values and principles for a free society.