Lesson Plan Format s7

G84—Practicum in Gifted Education Lesson Plan Format

Unit: Junior Great Books: “Turquoise Horse” Grade Level/Subject: 5th/reading

Teacher: Ginny Hutcheson Date: 10/10/11-10/18/11

Instructional Objectives or Learning Goals? Students will synthesize details of a short story to answer an interpretive question. Students will support their opinions using evidence from the text. Students will practice turn-taking and listening skills through a shared inquiry discussion. Students will evaluate their whole-class performance in a shared inquiry discussion. Students will edit and revise their writing. Students will explore symbolism in poetry and prose. Students will critique and evaluate their own writing, their peers’ writing, and a short story.

Materials? Junior Great Books—“Turquoise Horse” Worksheet: “Building your answer” Worksheet: Prewriting for creative writing Powerpoint: “Shared Inquiry Discussion” “Group Collaboration” rubric Paper/computer to write poems/stories

Grouping Strategies? Whole group (ten students) Individual Teacher conferences

Instructional Procedures? Prior to lesson:  Complete first and second reads of “Turquoise Horse” according to Junior Great Books protocol. Day 1: Shared Inquiry Discussion 1. Give students “Building Your Answer” worksheet. Explain that interpretive questions have no right or wrong answers. Give students the focus question: Why does Lisa still feel “the awesome shame of the betrayed secret” even after her father has told her she has done nothing wrong? 2. Have students write their answer to the focus question on the “Before the Discussion” section of the worksheet, using evidence from the text to support their answers. 3. Remind students of the rules for shared inquiry discussion. Show students “Group Collaboration” rubric so they can prepare to evaluate their performance. 4. Lead students in a shared inquiry discussion. Ask questions and facilitate student discussion to guide students’ thought processes. 5. Give students time to complete “Building Your Answer” worksheet. They should write their new answer to the question after the discussion. 6. Give students “Group Collaboration” rubric and ask students to evaluate their performance. Days 2, 3 (short classes—teacher gave quizzes for much of the class), & 4: 1. Discuss the concept of a “symbol.” Ask students for examples of symbols and what they represent. Remind students of the symbolism in “Turquoise Horse”—the horse represented Lisa’s aspiration to be a poet; symbolized her destiny. 2. Randomly assign students symbols. Each student gets one small silver charm as a symbol. Tell students they will make lanyards using that symbol. 3. Give students prewriting worksheet. Give instructions—they will be writing paragraphs or poems to describe how an object symbolizes something else (probably themselves). Ask for examples of ways that symbols could represent themselves. Students may choose to complete prewriting worksheet at home. 4. Next day: Students work individually on prewriting and rough drafts of poems. 5. Next day: Students finish drafts, revise/type poems, and work on lanyards. a. Conference with students individually before they type their final drafts. Review rough draft and provide feedback (quality of symbolism and quality of poetry). b. Help students with lanyards. 6. Collect prewriting and final, typed drafts. Day 5: 1. Copy students’ poems so each student has all the poems. 2. Students take turns reading their poem aloud. Other students give positive feedback and positively-worded criticism. a. Provide own feedback and suggestions. b. Moderate other students’ suggestions by making sure they are helpful and positive. c. Record students’ positive and negative feedback. 3. Encourage students to continue to revise their poems, incorporating the feedback, to make them better.

What you “looked for” to determine if students were achieving?  Shared inquiry discussion: o Monitor how frequently each student participates and the general quality of their comments (use check, check plus, check plus plus, etc.), especially whether they support their opinions with evidence from the text. o Assess “Building Your Answer” worksheet, especially whether answers reflected evidence from the text and whether “After the discussion” answer reflects the discussion. o Collect “Group Collaboration” worksheet and review students’ self-evaluations and my own evaluation of group discussion performance.  Poetry/prose: o Grade students on quality of symbolism: Does it represent something else? Does it do so deeply (representing something abstract) or surface-level? Students have not had prior instruction on poetry so poetic techniques should not be assessed. o Informally assess quality of students’ positive feedback and critiques. How did this lesson reflect effective curricular and instructional practices for gifted learners?  Higher-level thinking skills: synthesis, evaluation, abstract thought (symbolism)  Group collaboration  Focus on writing process—revising and making work better (talent development; no “finished” product).  Students can work at own pace reading and writing