Understanding by Design s5

Understanding By Design Lesson Plan

Title: Type Here

Subject Matter Emphasis and Level: 7th grade, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

Author: Lisa Mathiason

School District: White Lake

Email: [email protected]

Brief Description of the Lesson/Unit:

A part of a whole book unit in which my students will read for enjoyment, as well as compare and contrast their lives with that of the characters in the book and make and analyze historical connections to the characters and situations in the book.

Stage 1: Identify Desired Results

1. What enduring understandings (goals) are desired?

Indicator 3: Students are able to interpret and respond to diverse works from various cultures and time periods: AKA The Great Depression and Slavery

2. What essential questions will guide this part of the unit and focus teaching/learning?

How is life for Cassie and her family different from life for our families? How does the depression affect the events that happen to Cassie? Did it intensify the events? Increase the number of problems? What has the author said about relations between the races? About racism itself?

3. What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?

7.R.3.1 Students are able to connect historical and cultural influences in literary selections to construct meaning. 4. What prior learning, interests, misconceptions, and conceptual difficulties might be brought to this unit?

Racial preconceptions may be conflicted. The racial concepts may not be fully comprehended if vocabulary is not familiar or the reading level is above where they are.

Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence

1. What evidence will show that students understand?

Performance Tasks:

1. A journal entry after reading each selection including their reactions, and answers to questions such as:

Chapters 1-3: What questions do you have so far? What do you think of the Characters we’ve met so far?

Chapters 4-6: How have emotions such as anger and fear played into these chapters? How could Cassie have handled these emotions better? How would you have handled it?

Chapters 7-9: Why is Jeremy's Christmas visit unexpected? Why did Papa tell the children it is not wise to have much to do with white people? What must the children think of white people, although they have dealt with few of them? What questions do you have about the story so far? Are the Logans prejudiced? Are the children more or less prejudiced than their parents? What do you think will happen next? Chapters 10-12: Discuss the theme of racial conflict. Some of the common factors in racial conflict are: Fear (both races’ fear of each other) Distrust Not understanding one another's culture. Has the story ended? Did anyone win or lose? Do you see any reason for things to change, given what happened in the story? Who was right? Who was wrong? What has the author said about the relations between the races? What questions does the story raise in your mind? Would you recommend this book to a friend, Why or why not?

2. I will have the students spend some time (after reading the first couple chapters) in the computer lab and/or library researching the great depression. They will jot down 5 interesting facts they learned about the lifestyles and changes the great depression brought to it’s era, and have a group sharing time.

3. We will do a group Venn Diagram on the life of Cassie, versus the life of the white children, as well as the life of Cassie’s father versus a white man? 4. After finishing the novel, we will discuss how the story would have been told differently if it had been told from different perspectives. The students will write an essay on how 5 key events of the story would have been told to us differently if the story had been told from Jeremy’s perspective (that of a sympathetic white friend who was also a boy, as opposed to a black girl) and also from a racist white man’s perspective.

Other Evidence: Quizzes, Tests, Prompts, Work Samples (summarized):

Definitions of vocabulary words, Essays

Unprompted Evidence: (observations, dialogues, etc.)

Class and small group discussions will take place on family differences and quality of life differences, as well as how these affect the events and emotions in the story. These will be done prior to reading, during reading, and after the conclusion of the novel. The journal entries will reflect this also.

Student Self-Assessment

Reflections in and discussions of their journals with peers.

Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction

1. What sequence of teaching and learning experiences will equip students to develop and demonstrate the desired understandings?

I will take the book about 2 chapters at a time, taking approximately 2 weeks from pre-reading to post reading . This part of the unit will probably be the last 10-15 minutes of each 50-minute class period.

Major Learning Activities:

Reading, listening, discussing, writing, researching, sharing.

Materials & Resources (technology & print):

Computers with Internet, the book “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,” Journal (notebook), Paper, Pencil,

Management: See timeline and journal descriptions above.

Support Services and Special Teacher Notes:

This is just one aspect, and one standard used with this book. It would be one thing touched on almost everyday at the end of the period. Other things such as literary devices, elements of the story, vocab, other themes, etc. would be written in a different lesson plan.

Helpful website: http://www.aloha.net/~uncldon/rothmyc.htm

Extensions and Adaptation:

This unit could very easily be tied to a Social studies/History class on the depression, or a sociology type class studying race relations, societies, etc.