Authors and Audience-Workshop Style

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Authors Addressing Audience:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

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Unit By Carl CiaramitaroUniversity of Michigan

School Of Education

Fall Semester 2011



Carl Ciaramitaro Authors Addressing Audience

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Table of Contents ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Acknowledgements :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 3

Overview ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 4

Overview Chart ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 9

Summative Assessment :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 11

Summative Assessment Rationale::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 14

Rubric :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 15

Rubric Rationale :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 16

Text Rationale ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 17

Unit Calendar :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 19

Gateway Lesson ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 32

Gateway Lesson Rationale :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 34

Lesson Sequence ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 35

Adjusting Teaching Plans Through Enactment ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 44

Work Cited :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 45

Appendix :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::




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Ack nowledgements ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I would like to take a brief moment to thank those that helped me along the

journey of my first unit plan. First and foremost, thank you to Danielle Lillge. It hasbeen a long process for all of us and without your constant support, guidance,

willingness to go the extra mile, we would have never have been able to grow as

much as we have. You have helped shape my life and my practice in incredible

ways, and I am ever appreciative of the incredible gift it has been to be instructed by

you. Thank you also to the English Cohort of Winter 2012. You all mean so much to

me and I am so proud of what we have accomplished together and cannot wait to

see the marvelous things you all accomplish outside the ivories of this campus.Finally, a special thank you to Mckenzie, Mike, Gahl, Kevin, Kassie, Kristi, and Lauren

for being their when the days looked darkest and reminding me that life always

moves forward.




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Overview ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Introduct ion::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

This unit focuses around the idea of addressing audiences with the essential

question, "how does an audience effect how people convey information"? My choice

of unit derives from a mix of influential classes, interests, and suggestions that,

through the editing process, have lead me to a goal that address my person teaching

philosophy and my own intended audience. By addressing the author/audience

relationships that exist in all texts, I hope to inspire students to be cognizant of

author authority in a text and inspire them to more readily question that authority;to critically think about the information they have been exposed and make

judgments of them based on their own rational. Additionally, by helping students to

examine their own writing styles and voices, students will be equipped with a

stronger ability to more critically examine their own writing after answering theessential question in this unit. I do hope you find this unit transparent andsomewhat enjoyable to read; each section was created with intent of being open,

honest, and strait forward to enable an easy and efficient interpretation of my ideas

and goals surrounding this idea. I welcome other perspectives and would be thrilled

to discuss any questions you may have while exploring this unit.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::School Context and Students:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I imagined this unit would be carried in my student teaching placement for

next semester. Pioneer Middle School in the Plymouth-Canton district is a larger

middle school where students are instilled with high expectations for achievement.Students are given many resources, including smart boards, district sets of IPads,

and an extensive, well-funded media center. A strong sense of community

permeates the school, which is exemplified in the dedicated attitude of the students,

and the passionate rigor of the staff; it is apparent even from a few observations that

this is an environment where students are valued and appreciated for their

contributions and teachers are, in turn, respected and admired. I am home-based in

Mrs. Fromm's 6th grade ELA classroom, a colorful, lively space with clusters of 5 or

6 desks and books and student work lining the walls. The 6th grade is taught in a

team teach style, and cross curricular content is emphasized in the classroom. Each

interior wall can be folded back at any time to combine classrooms with the other

four core curricular subjects, which adds to the community setting foundthroughout the halls.

My students are bright, respectful, and considerate to their teacher. Studentsreally enjoy reading and some have a hard time putting their extra-curricular books

aside after the beginning 10 minute reading time. Because of their obvious passion,

and because of the success I've observed of this format in other classrooms, I'vechosen to plan this unit around a workshop style format. As Milner, Milner, and

Mitchell outline on pages 45-46 in their book Bridging English,




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Workshop/Conference teaching is beneficial for classes of all learning levels in that

it provides each student with an individual pace and lexical difficulty, but links theclassroom with broad concepts applicable to all texts. Students are able to move at

their own pace with books that interest, and what's more students who have more

trouble reading are not disadvantaged by texts above their heads. It places the

classroom emphasis on how we read over what is read, and that differentiatedinstruction can to wonders for every student present. What is convenient about thisparticular space is that both the teacher and the library are well funded and the

students have a wealth of literature to choose from. Additionally, Mrs. Fromm

serves as a reading specialist and is a member of the Wayne County's Secondary

Literacy Leaders; her expertise in the concepts that go into reading effectively will

translate well in this particular format and I think lend to how receptive she will be

to allowing this unit at the end of the semester.

This unit fits well at the end of the semester in this classroom because right

before it the students are focusing on speakers. The transition from the person in

the story making claims and the actual author addressing the audience is perhaps

not the easiest jump, but one that, if highlighted well early, can help students todifferentiate between voices in texts more easily. I would argue that, while the jumpis difficult, making that connection right after a unit on speakers is the best time to

highlight those differences, especially with effective planning to segue from literary

speaker to voice. These students were described as 'above average' in work ethic

and ability to understand material, so while I recognize my unit is rigorous, I have

little doubt in my student's ability.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Goals and Object ives::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Based on Wiggins and Mctighe backwards planning model, I started with

goals I thought students need to address both the essential question and the

summative assessment, and planned each day to scaffold students to achieve thosegoals. I started with each overall goal in mind and thought about the prior

knowledge I knew my students had based on previous classes. While working to

spiral those skills in my lesson, I also had to build a bridge between where they

were starting and where I wanted them to end. I drew from many sources;

particularly Keene's and Zimmermann's "Mosaic of Thought" for ideas on

scaffolding reading skills, and Atwells "In the Middle: New Understandings About

Writing, Reading, and Learning" for ideas on writing. One of the benefits of

workshop formats is that once you have scaffolded each objective that students

need to reach an objective (in this case, some larger jumps were made because of

the level of the students, particularly between weeks 3 and 4), I was easily able to

construct a mini-lesson around each objective. Once a main objective isaccomplished, students will be prepared to address the essential question and the

summative assessment. Therefore, by backwards planning, determining each day's

assignment because a methodical process of asking, "what do my student's need to

know to accomplish this objective?" which can be applied to both the day-to-day

objectives (what activities do I need in order for my students to best understand




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and accomplish this objective) and your overall objectives (what do my students

need to know in order to achieve this higher level thinking in this area).

::::::::::::::::::Relat ionship Between Goals and Standards::::::::::::::::::::

My goals of 'Evaluate how well an author reaches that audience' and 'Analyzethe choices an author makes when writing a text.' both address core common

standards for reading literature and language while "Generate alternate ways forauthors to connect to readers in choice books" speaks more to my assessment of the

core common standards for writing and speaking, though each goal uses each type

of standard at some point in the unit. I choose to have two writing workshop days

and three reading workshop days a week because more of my overall goals were

focused on analyzing the reading. In order to scaffold more effectively however, I

tried to link days of writing and reading in sequences of lessons, which results in

groups of lessons working toward multiple goals. As it worked out the "Analyze"

goal, while being assessed in the summative assessment, also works to scaffold the

"Evaluation" goal. Most of how I thought of spiraling and scaffolding my units camefrom "Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards" by Wessling. Here is a

break down of how each objective relates to the CCSS.

Reading LiteratureTo identify a relationship exists between author and audience Identify important citation informationReaders Locate words to activate schema's about topics in a text

Apply prior knowledge to make a relevant connection to your choice book

analyze descriptive sections of text to visualize characteristics

provide evidence for their choice from their text

Readers Make Predictions by linking text, visualization, and prior knolwedge

Readers Identify ways audience can be categorizedReaders Identify audience based on word choice

Readers Analyze literary comparisons to determine audience

Readers Categorize traits of main character as they relate to young adult audiences

Readers Identify Audience

Read friend Review and ask how to change book so it gets point across betterReaders Compare different ways the same story addresses different audience

Evaluate comparisons between methods of connection

Readers Compare different ways that writing can address the same audience

Readers Analyze the choice author makes when writing a text for an audience

Evaluate how authors connect to audience

LanguageAssess word choice with prior knowledge and WR last class

Readers Analyze literary comparisons to determine audience

Recall Mechanical structures

Apply Mechanical structures to own writing (after all conferenced)

Writ ingWriters Lead readers to make the predictions they try to inspire




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Writers Evaluate word choice for a particular audience when writing

Writers Describe young adult audience

Writers Categorize traits described by types of audience

Writers explore their thoughts more deeply with "So What"

Writers create text with multiple audiences in mind

Writers apply workshop techniques to write one story for many audiences

Writers apply workshop techniques to write two different stories for the same audienceVary writing to connect more deeply with audience

Generate alternate ways for authors to connect to readers

Reflect on unit

Speak ingReaders Make Predictions by linking text, visualization, and prior knowledge

Compare predictions of choice text authors about audience to own predictions

Evaluate comparisons between methods of connectionGenerate alternate ways for authors to connect to readers

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Connect ing Unit Components:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The summative assessment of this unit was one of the foundations through

which the rest of the unit was constructed. As such, each separate part of the unit is

inherently related to the assessment; in this space I will explore those connections.

Gateway

The gateway was created as a way of introducing students to the idea that there was

a relationship between the audience and the author of the text. Previously in

instruction, students were taught about the speaker and his voice, but the authorwas often brushed over as the extension of the reader (in other words, they were

not distinguishable). With this lesson, I hope to show that there is, in fact, an author

making choices about what he rights, and that those choice are informed by who hebelieves is reading his text. This enables students to begin exploring audiences and

authors, which, through scaffolding, leads them to the summative assessment.

Unit Calendar/Lessons in SequenceAs detailed in the "Relationships Between Goals and Standard" section, the unit

calendar is the outline of a series of objectives that reaches the overall goals of the

unit. Those overall goals are the goals I deemed necessary to complete the

summative assessment, which means that the unit calendar is actually building

students abilities to be able to do the assessment proficiently.

Core Common Standards

The Summative Assessment may not address all the core common standards, but

each is necessary in the process of scaffolding students to be able to reach the final

assessment.




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:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Beliefs About Teaching Enacted:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It is my belief that, through education, an individual will receive the tools and

skills they need to construct their own success and prosperity. The act of learning is

a continual process that does not end with the completion of institution learning;

students should be prepared to enter a world of diverse situations and possess thecritical thinking skills, adaptability, and problem solving abilities necessary to thrive

and adjust to the multiple settings they will encounter. Students are the heart of ourwork; I believe it is our duty to assist in a student's process of self-discovery by

creating a secure and comfortable community that cultivates positive relationships

with others, where students feel supported in their development as learners.

I've constructed this classroom in a way that adheres to many of these beliefs. The

Workshop model, while superficially individual, often incorporates group and

classroom activities that help to build a stronger community among the students. In

addition to have the autonomy to pick their own books, students cannot compare to

each other, competition declines, and students are happier and more productive as a

result. My essential question and focus are, admittedly, difficult for a normal 6thgrade classroom. However, based on the positive insights I have heard about these

student, I believe they are up for the challenge of taking on my love of critically

thinking-of questioning and evaluating the world around them. This unit is a small

foot in the proverbial door of deeper thinking that I hope will inspire more

understanding of not only the text they interact with, but the context in which theyinteract with those texts.




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Overview Chart ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Unit Plan Overview (6t h Grade EL A students at Pioneer Middle

School)Unit Focus: Addressing Audience

Essent ial

Quest ion(s):

How does an audience effect how people convey

informat ion?

Lengt h: 5 week s

Object ives/Goals: S tudents will enact . . .

S tudents will be able to (do) . . .

Explore and begin to answer the essential question through

their final summative assessment.

Identify the audience an author is trying to reach.

Evaluate how well an author reaches that audience.Analyze the choices an author makes when writing a text.

Generate alternate ways for authors to connect to readers inchoice books

Assessments: Final summative assessment: Write a book review of your

choice text that examines author's addressing audience

CCSS:

An initial look

across ELA

threads

Reading Literature

RL.6.1-Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the

text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text

RL.6.2-Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it

is conveyed through particular details;

RL.6.4-Determine the meaning of words and phrases as theyare used in a text, including figurative and connotative

meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice onmeaning and tone.

RL.6.6-Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text

RL.6.9-Compare and contrast texts in different forms or

genres in terms of their approaches to similar themes and

topics

Writ ing

W.6.1-Write arguments to support claims with clear reasonsand relevant evidence .

a) Introduce claims and organize the reasons and evidence

clearly.

b) Support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence

using credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of

the topic of text




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c) Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships

among claim(s) and reasons.

W.6.4- Produce clear and coherent writing in which the

development, organization, and style are appropriate to task,

purpose, and audience

W.6.5-With some guidance and support from peers andadults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning,

revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

Speak ing and ListeningSL.6.1-Engage effectively in a range of collaborative

discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with

diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, buildingon others ideas and expressing their own clearly.

a) Come to discussions prepared, having read or studiedrequired material; explicitly draw on that preparation

by referring to evidence on the topic text, or issue toprobe and reflect on ideas under discussion

b) Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals

and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed

c) Pose and respond to specific questions with

elaboration and detail by making comments that

contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion

d) Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate

understanding of multiple perspective through

reflections and paraphrasing

LanguageL.6.2-Demonstrate command of conventions of standard

English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing

b) Spell correctlyL.6.5.-Demonstrate understanding of figurative language,

word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.a. Interpret figures of speech

*Literary Circles can be found in the appendix




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Summat ive Assessment ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Author to Audience: Our Right to Review

Over the past few weeks we've looked at different movies, and

books and explored how audience plays a role in the making of those

texts. For our final project, I want you to write a review for either a book

or movie that we looked at in class. In this review, you are going to pay

special attention to audience and explain how your author explores

your choice text well, and what he/she could do to address the audience

more effectively. These reviews are then going to be posted in the

hallway on a poster so that anyone interested in reading a young adult

books gets a chance to read about whether or not the author does agood job of reaching his/her intended audience. Additionally, we will be

posting just the reviews on a blog on the school website so that anyone

can search for a review of your book.

REMEMBER YOUR OWN AUDIENCE: Since these will be posted outside

our classroom, this means that our audience will be anyone in the

school. You will be writing a professional book review that will be seen

by your peers and their parents. Make sure you write in a professional

manner that is understandable by all audience members.

Your review should show how the author addresses his/her audience

and should include your evaluation of how effectively they do that.

Additionally, you should comment on how you think the author can

reach their audience more effectively.

On the following page, I've outlined the elements I'd like you to include

in your poster and provided an example. While you do not have to

follow the format of the poster exactly, each element should be

represented neatly on your final product.




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Book Title by Author's Name1

Rating: #2

Your Name and Class Period1

1. Make sure you include your choice book title and author, your name,

and your class period somewhere on your poster

2. The Rating is used to show much you enjoyed the book on a scalefrom 1 to 10. You may use comment on why you chose the rating you

did in your review

3. Make sure to include the book cover, or another graphic that

represents your book on the poster to draw people

Cover of Choice Book 3 Review of Choice Book 4




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4. Your review is the most important aspect. Here are some helpful

questions that you may need to answer and that will keep you on track.

First Paragraph

a) Who is my author's intended audience?b) How do you know this is the audience to whom the author is

writing?

c) Do you think the author does a good job of writing for

his/her audience? Why or why not?

Second Paragraph

d) How could the author change something to more

appropriately address the audience?

e). Why does the author say some things and not others? Why is

a character described one way but not another?

You will need to provide evidence and examples in the way the author

writes. Remember to refer back to your Reader's Responses for quotes

and how to cite.

As always, make sure to check over your spelling and punctuation

before posting anything on your poster.




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Summat ive Assessment Rat ionale ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

One reason I am a strong proponent for this unit is because of the audience

that will be seeing it. Since these posters will be hung outside in the hallway, it willbe as though the students are writing and creating for an actual audience

(regardless of whether people actually stop and look at them, the potential for that

is inspiring enough). This has the benefit of motivation students in many ways.

Because this school is so communally based, I would first argue that there are social

factors working to motivate students. Omrod describes how "Becoming part of a

cohesive, mutually supportive group" can cause eagerness to do work well and

enthusiastically (383). If this school is as driven by community as Mrs. Fromm hassaid, then I see this is being strong incentive to complete the assignment well.

Additional, Milner points out that authentic audiences lead to more successful

learning and achievement (12).

I also believe this assessment is appropriate for students of their level. It willnot be until next year that these students learn the 5 paragraph essay, and becauseof that I was not interested in seeing them write a conventional paper, rather, I think

that this assignment engages them in writing while not being too overwhelming for

what they are used to in class. Further, I ensure that students are familiar with

reviews early on in the unit to scaffold formatting for the assessment; so that once

they arrive here they know exactly what I will be expecting of them.

The rigor of this assignment asks a lot from students. Analysis, Evaluation,

and Generation are the three highest orders of Blooms taxonomy (Pickard), but I

believe that these students in particular are up to the challenge, and will have been

scaffolded very thoroughly before. What's more, the fact that students had been so

recently talking about speakers makes this the best time to provide a contrast between an author and a speaker-a concept that trips up many students in lateryears. By establishing this connection now, my hope is that this pro-activity will

make assignments and skills like questioning the author easier down the road.Lastly, I think this assignment and the lessons that lead up to it do more than

address audience and author relationships, I think they encourage students to think

more deeply about the text they are examining. If 4th graders can learn to criticallythink about their surroundings, then I believe 6th graders should have no trouble

doing the same, especially with an assignment written in an authentic way (Powellet al.). Critical thinking is an important part of the classroom, and this assessment

can work to motivate students to begin wrestling with those ideas that are so

enjoyable about English! They are touching many of their grade level standardswith this assignment, but it also takes them as step beyond what they are expected

to do in a very subtle way.




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Rubric ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Rubric: Author to AudiencePresent First Paragraph:

1. Students are able to identify a specific audience

2. Cite selections from the text that highlight his/her knowledge of

writer workshop skills

3. Evaluate the author's ability to connect to the audience.

Reaching towards

Expectations

Meeting Expectation Exceeding Expectation

Grade_________

Present Second Paragraph:

1. Students are able to suggest appropriate changes to the authorto more effectively address the audience

2. Explain how and author addresses the audience through

choices he makes when writing.

Reaching towards

Expectation

Meeting Expectation Exceeding Expectation

Grade__________




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Rubric Rat ionale ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Maja Wilson speaks very closely to my beliefs about rubrics in her article,

"Why I Wont Be Using Rubrics to Respond to Students Writing". I believe that I,especially with the workshop model, I will not need to give anything but feedback.

In my lesson I have, nearly every day, scheduled conferencing with my students.

One of the major purposes of these conferences are to help the student edit, build,

and responsibly revise the work that they are doing before the final assessment it

due. In that way, as Wilson says "Unmediated by the rubric, our response gives

students the power to think through what effect they want their words to have

rather than how their words measure up to the categories on a rubric. Thisapproach not only helps struggling writers to improve but also allows writers who

usually receive As to develop their writing" (Wilson, 64). All students are improved

by the conferences, while only the ones who have figured out the way I want them

to write will be getting A's otherwise. This assignment in particular, whereaudience is so scrutinized, should be written for those passing in the halls, thosemiddle school students who are interested in reading. I will have had enough

interactions with my students before the project is due to truly assess where they

are in the writing process, with out the aid of a rubric.




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Text Rat ional

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My textual planning was based around three literary circles found in

Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards (p. 27 for a diagram); the fulcrumtexts, or the texts with the most complexity and layers of meaning; the context texts,

the motivation driving, accessible texts that deals with the essential question in

overt ways; and the texture text, which illuminates some texts as appropriate or

easy to read. The following is an explanation of where my texts fit in these circles

and how they address the unit essentials.

Young Adult Independent Reading/Uglies: One of the beautiful things about thespace I am in is both the abundant access to books students have and the passion

that I see in many of the student's reading habits. Because of the space of the school

and the drive of the students, I thought student selected books would be

appropriate so that each student could read at his or her own lexical level while stillreceiving the same instruction. I chose YA literature as a way to introduce the ideathat English was not just for the classroom; that students could be applying these

ideas that we learn to all texts that they read, especially the ones they read for

entertainment, and discover new things about them in fun exciting ways. Students

become more engaged with texts they like, and end up enjoying ELA instruction

more because it become more relevant to their wants. As Omrod points out, "Often,

personal interest and knowledge perpetuate each other: Interest in a topic fuels a

quest to learn more about it, and the increased knowledge and skills gained, in turn,

promote greater interest" (Omrod, 375). However, I did limit that the students must

be reading YA texts and not historical or adult fiction. This was done because it

meant that regardless of the text, there would be some commonality in audience andthus how the author spoke to the audience. Since the summative assessment wasfocused on the fact that the students, as young adults, were experts at being young

adults and thus felt they had the authority (which puts them in a position, and givesthem the expectation of success per Omrod pg. 367) to comment on these authors

choice about how to address them. My choice of Uglies was because of the level and

the ease (I had marked it for several other similar units) it allowed for performing"Think Alouds", a strategy presented in Milner as "giving students an opportunity to

watch their teacher [an expert] model his or her thinking process" (Milner, 211).

Movies/Fairy Tales/Children's Book s: The movies and fairy tale are meant to

challenge readers to see the author audience relationship in more than just literarytexts. I was especially interested in exposing these texts to questioning after

reading Christensen's chapter "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us: Critiquing

Cartoons and Society. She points out that "Children's cartoons...and literature are

perhaps the most influential genre...the stereotypes and worldview embedded in the

stories become accepted knowledge" (Christensen, 40). While, my implied goal may

have been to open these texts up to critiques, they also served very well to help

articulate that different audiences can be addressed in similar ways, and that similar




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audiences can be addressed in different ways. By comparing those two genres,

students are set up to begin evaluating which way is more effective for oneaudience, one of the major goals of the unit.

Student Generate Texts: Because I wanted my students to be ready for their final

assessment, I wanted to give my students a chance to be authors themselves and seehow they could, as authors, alter they way they write for different audiences. Thesetexts were then used as revision tools to highlight the analysis and evaluation aspect

of writing and, in the case of their actual final review, give them a change to

conference with their peers for feedback (something that occurs often in other

units). These also served the place of many of our texture texts, in that, by switching

with neighbors, other students could accomplish a lesson that day while also giving

feed back on another students work. Milner outlines the benefits of Collaborative

Writing as having a strong effect on the substance of the student work (362);

something that the mini-lessons in this unit could address more fully.

I am also considering their final review student generate text, both because we

utilize it often near the end of the unit, and also because I will mainly beconferencing individually with mainly with that text or ideas for that text to support and individual and differentiated instruction that is fostered so well by the

workshop model. As Milner describes, "Differentation is a perspective on teaching

and learning that acknowledges the diversity of learners in any classroom and

accommodates those differences by offering a variety of curricular, instructional,

and assessment options" (Milner, 20). While I have the benefit of working in aclassroom with many students passionate about reading, I recognize that each

student is in a different place and that each will have different needs as the unit progresses. Through their review I hope to address those needs and help them

build a strong final assessment in the process.

Online Book /Movie Crit iques and Limrick : I chose the online book and movie

reviews because I wanted students to be familiar with that format before they were

assessed on it at the conclusion of the unit. Additionally, those reviews serve as

excellent tools to help us examine the relationship between audience and author in

different mediums, ones perhaps more relevant to the students interests. With the

limrick, my means were slightly more teacher focused. I wanted to show the

students that teachers are writers and creators in addition to teachers. I want to

seem more approachable as a teacher so that students feel they can talk to me about

a variety of subjects, not just their grades or the class.




Unit Calendar ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Unit Plan Review/Details

Grade Level: Addressing Audience (6th Grade)

Essential Question(s): How does an audience effect how people say things

Unit Length: 5 weeks

Class Period Length: 55 minutes

Final Summative Assessments: Write a book review of your choice text that examines author's addressing audience

Calendar Planning for Week 1

Monday

GATEWAY/INTO

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Goal(s)/Objective(s):

To define authorand audience

To identify a

relationship exists between author and

audience

To format choice book logs

differentiate

between Readers

and Writers

Responses

To reflect on

ways audience canaffect our writing

Readers Findevidence to support

ideas

Identify

important citation

information

Readers Locatewords to activate

schema's about

topics in a text

apply prior

knowledge to make

a relevant

connection to your choice book

Studentsdescriptive

identify tra

analyze d

sections of

visualize

characteris

provide

their choic

text

Thread/Standard(s):Reading

WritingSpeaking & Listening

Language

SL.6.1-Engage

effectively in a range of

collaborativediscussions (one-on-

one, in groups, and

teacher-led) with

diverse ...issues,

expressing their ideas

clearly

b) Follow rules for

RL.6.1. Cite textual

evidence to support

analysis of what thetext says explicitly as

well as inferences

drawn from the text


evidence to support

analysis of what thetext says explicitly as

well as inferences

drawn from the text

Working toward the

following in a later lesson:

RL.6.6-Explain how an

author develops the

point of view of the

narrator or speaker in a

text

Working tow

following in aRL.6.6-Explai

author devel

of view of the

speaker in a t

RL.6.1. Cite t

to support an




collegial discussions, set

specific goals

d) Review the key ideas

expressed and

demonstrate

understanding of

multiple perspective

through reflections and

paraphrasing

the text says

well as infere

from the text

Formative/

summative

assessment:

F ormative -Small group

response to towel

discussion

Conferencing

Exit Slip ± 3 ways

audience changed

how you conveyed

your point

F ormative -check marks for

understand in

dicussion

F ormative ± Guided Practice

and Individual

Conferencing

Exit Slip- 3citations with

prompts from

choice text

F ormative ± Discussion answers

for Guided practice

Individual

ConferencingGraphic Organizer

Summative

Reader Response-

Making relevant

connections with

text- 3 memories

F ormativeGuided Pr

Conferenc

Conferenc

Drawing

Summative

Evidence o

Activities: Interactive Sm.

Group Activity:

Exploring

differences

audience makes in

authorshipGuided Practice:

Differences in

presentations

Independent Work-Personal reflection

Mini-

Lesson/Guided

Practice:

Structuring logs

Independent Work:

Writing own logsfor last nights

reading

Report Out: 3

personal audiencechanges

Introduce:

Reading/WritingResponses

Exit Slip:

Structured RR/WR

mock response

Mini-Lesson/TA:

Selecting and

formatting citations

Guided Practice:

Selecting and

formatting citationsIndep Practice:

Reading using TA

T ext: ³Limrick´

T ext: "Uglies"

T ext: Choice text

Exit Slip: Three

citations

Connection:

Citations

Mini-Lesson/TA:

Relevant Prior

Knowledge

Guided Practice:Relevant Prior

Knowledge

Indep Practice:

Relevant Prior Knowledge

T ext: "Uglies"

T

ext: Choice textExit Slip: 3 prior

knowledge

connections

Connection

Knowledg

Mini-Less

Visualizat

Characters

Guided PrVisualizat

Indep. Dra

character/c

evidence

T ext: "Ugl

T ext: Choi

E

xit Slip/HDrawing a




Homework: 30 minutes readingchoice books

30 minutes readingchoice books


Finish 3 memoriesif not done in class30 minutes reading

choice books

Finish Dradone in cla30 minutes

choice boo




ideas under discussion

Formative/

summative

assessment:

F ormative -

Group/Individual

Conferences

Written scenarios

F ormative -

check marks for

understand in

discussion,

Conferencing

Summative: WR

F ormative ±

Guided Practice

and Individual

Conferencing

Exit Slip- Graphic

Organizer

F ormative ±

Debate rational

Summative

Evaluated new

words

F ormative

Guided Pr

Conferenc

Conferenc

Drawing

Summative

Identify A

text based

scaffolded provide ev

Activities: Mini-

Lesson/Guided

Practice:

PredictionsSpecfically, using

visualization and

prior knowledge

Group Work:

Applying prior

knowledge from book to drawing to

predict how

characters would

interact with others

at table.

Independent

Work/RR: write 5

Mini-

Lesson/Guided

Practice: Predicting

Peer AudienceResponse

Group Think-Pair-

Share Work:

Write your own

scenrio with

outcome youanticipate, swap

with partner, share

results with class

WR: Revisions for

each other, new

scene, old scene

Guided Practice:

Discussion on what

characterizes

people may bedefined (People may

be defined by their age,

gender, family status,

lifestyle, or interests for

grade purpose)

Mini-Lesson/TA:

Look at main

character and

discuss where fits,how that speaks to

audience.

Pair: describe each

other

Independence: Fill

Mini-Lesson/TA:

Choosing the best

word to help the

audienceGuided Practice:

Debate: best word

fit.

Independent:

Writing Response-

Look at words ingraphic organizers

and think of 3 new

words for each,

eval. which is best

for character?

T ext : Graphic

Organizers from

Connectio

class/prior

week 1

Mini-Lesso

How good

writing thi

linking WR

and prior k

to words u

describe to

audience.

Guided/GrPractice: L

descriptio

something

main char

are words




sentences on howyou predictcharacters would

interact. Share

with others to see if

same.

T ext " Uglies"

T ext Choice text

graphic organizer

of different ways

to be defined,

support with

evidence.

Into Summative

Assessment

Text "Uglies"

Text Choice text

last class for, peers?

Discuss at

Individual

Write-thin

elderly peknow, wou

know how

character

like you?

Text " Uglie

Text Choic

Homework: 30 minutes reading

choice books

30 minutes reading

choice books

30 minutes reading

choice books

One question about

summative

assessment

Finish 3 memories

if not done in class

30 minutes reading

choice books

Finish Dra

done in cla

30 minutes

choice boo




Calendar Planning for Week 3Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Goal(s)/Objective(s): Readers Analyze

literarycomparisons to

determine

audience

Writers Describe

young adultaudience

Categorize traits

described by types

of audience

Readers

Categorize traits of main character as

they relate to

young adult

audiences

Readers Identify

Audience

Writers explore

their thoughts moredeeply with "So

What"

create text with

multiple audiences

in mind

Read frie

and ask hochange bo

point acro


Writing

Speaking & Listening

Language

RL.6.4-Determine the

meaning of words and

phrases as they are

used in a text, including

figurative and

connotative meanings;

analyze the impact of a

specific word choice on

meaning and tone.

L.6.5.-Demonstrate

understanding of

figurative language,

word relationships, and

nuances in word

meanings.

a. Interpret figures of

speech

W.6.4- Produce clear

and coherent writing

in which the

development,

organization, and style

are appropriate to

task, purpose, andaudience

RL.6.1-Cite textual

evidence to support

analysis of what the

text says explicitly as

well as inferences

drawn from the text

RL.6.2-Determine a

theme or central idea of

a text and how it is

conveyed through

particular details;

W.6.5-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.

RL.6.4-Deter

meaning of w

phrases as th

a text, includ

and connotat

analyze the i

specific word

meaning and

W.6.5-With s

and support

adults, devel

strengthen w

needed by pl

revising, edit

or trying a ne




Formative/

summative

assessment:

F ormative -ConferencingSummative

Exit Slip -RR

attempted

F ormative -check marks for understand in

Jigsaw work and

final product

F ormative ± IndividualConferencing

Exit Slip/RR-

Summary of

evidence for

Audience

F ormative ± ConferencingIndividual-shout

out

Summative

WR-Reviews

F ormativeIndividual

Summative

Revisions

Activities: Review: Metaphor,

simile, analogy

Mini-Lesson/TA:

Examine what is being compared

and how thatrelates to audience

Guided Practice:

Selected metaphorsto address

audience.

Independent: Find

three in book.

RR/HW: Find

movie review withsimile, who is itreaching?

T ext : Movie

Reviews

Entry Do Now:

Evidence of Movie

Reivew audience

Mini-Lesson/TA:Recall Week 3 Day

3 categories anduse descriptive

words to parse into

different aspectsfor my movie.

Guided Practice:

Choose age, find

words that describe

that with group

Group Jigsaw:

Each group has a'trait' poster andwrites words of that trait: gallery

walk and final

discussion, use

movie reviewsfound.

T ext Movie review

Mini-

Lesson/Guided

Practice: In groups,

discuss all the wayswe can understand

audience thus far Model: Synthesize

those ways to

identify audienceModel:

summarizing

Independence:

Short paragraph

summing up why

you think audience

is who it is in themovie

T ext: "Uglies"

T ext: Choice text

Exit Slip/RR:

Summary

Connection:

Citations

Mini-Lesson/TA:

Questioning Textwith 'So What' to

make moremeaning

Guided Practice:

Swap Reviewswith a partner

group, try together

one with me, one

by selves

Shout Out: how

deeper?

Indep Practice/WR:Write you're ownreview of your

book with those

thoughts in mind,

then revise at home

and go deeper T ext: Bad Review

Mini-Less

Model wh

like to get

Review wiReview/Co

version of

Guided Pr

Student's rgroups wit

that was es

before unit

given abou

Individual

reviews ancorrection

T ext: Fixe

Review

T ext: Stud




Homework: 30 minutes reading 30 minutes readingchoice books



30 minuteschoice booContinue R

Calendar Planning for Week 4




Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday


Readers Compare

different ways the

same story

addresses different

audience

Evaluate

comparisons

between methods

of connection

Writers apply

workshop

techniques to write

one story for many

audiences

Readers Compare

different ways that

writing can address

the same audience

· Writers apply

workshop

techniques to write

two different

stories for the

same audience

Readers

choice auth

when writi

an audienc


Writing


Language

SL.6.1-Engage


collaborative

discussions (one-on-

one, in groups, and

teacher-led) withdiverse ...issues,


clearly

d) demonstrate

understanding of



paraphrasing

RL.6.9-Compare and

contrast texts in

different forms or

genres in terms of

their approaches to

similar themes and

topics


and coherent writing in

which the development,


are appropriate to task,

purpose, and audienceW.6.5-With some





planning, revising,



SL.6.1-Engage


collaborative

discussions (one-on-

one, in groups, and

teacher-led) withdiverse ...issues,


clearly

d) demonstrate

understanding of



paraphrasing

RL.6.9-Compare and

contrast texts in

different forms or

genres in terms of

their approaches to

similar themes and

topics






purpose, and audienceW.6.5-With some





planning, revising,



RL.6.4-Deter

meaning of w

phrases as th

a text, includ

and connotat

analyze the ispecific word

meaning and




Formative/

summative

assessment:

F ormative -Exit Slip/ RADiscussion

commentary

F ormative -ConferencingCareful listening

read creations

look at revisions

and reviews

F ormative ± Conferencingshout outs during

guided practice

Summative

Comparisons

F ormative ± Questions posed bystudents in groups,

Conferencing

Summative

Writer Response-

F ormativeGuided PrCreation o

organizatio

Activities: First watch

excerpts of

Cinderella anddiscuss audience

read Cindy Ellie

Mini Lesson/TA:How different, first

few pages Guided

Practice: How

different, next few

pages

Independence:

Brainstormdifference in

audience

Exit Slip:

Difference in

Audience

T ext: Cindy Ellie

T ext: Cinderella

Guided Practice:

Write a story, your

audience is your peers at your table,

the story is about a

trip you took recently.

Model: Switch

with friends, model

how friends should

switch audience

they tell story for to little kids.

Independent

Practice

Go over with partner differences,

why did you (WR)

choose the things

you did, what did

you change, write

down 5 things each

Guided Practice:

Analyze 3 movie

reviews for Cinderelle from

different sources

and determineaudience and why

Mini-Lesson:

Determining

Difference

Between how

addressed in

different ways.

Independent: Writewhat is different

for two of the 3

reviews

RA-Hand in

comparisons of

Reviews

Mini-Lesson/TA:

Channel the author,

think aloud aboutmimicking an

author

Guided Practice:"how would I

mimick from here,

what would I do?

Group work,

challenge

yourselves, ask each other

questions from sowhat and words to

say, what would he

do.Exit Slip/WR:

write in style of

your author on

paragraph

describing

character

assumptions

Mini-Less

Utilizing a

workshopsso far, I tel

I think abo

decompactcategorize

section usi

pretty"

Guided Pr

students he

identify

Group shois the audi

do we kno

Create a li

and organi

ways that w

revel audie

have in oth

come to a

conclusion

T ext "LookPretty..."


choice books

Difference inAudience

30 minutes reading

choice books

30 minutes reading

choice books

Finish comparisonsif not done in class

30 minutes reading

choice books

Finish Dra

done in cla

30 minuteschoice boo




Calendar Planning for Week 5Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday


Evaluate howauthors connect to

audience

Vary writing toconnect more

deeply with

audience

Generatealternate ways for

authors to connect

to readers

RecallMechanical

structures

Apply

Mechanical

structures to own

writing (after all

conferenced)

Reflect o

Thread/

Standard(s):Reading

Writing


Language

RL.6.2-Determine a

theme or central idea of

a text and how it is

conveyed through

particular details

RL.6.6-Explain how an

author develops the

point of view

RL. 6.10 By the end of

the year, read and

comprehend

literature, including

stories, dramas, and

poems, inthe grades 68 text

complexity band

proficiently,

with scaffolding as

needed at the high end

of therange.

SL.6.1-Engage


collaborative

discussions


expressed and

demonstrate

understanding of



paraphrasing

W.6.5-With some





planning, revising,




evidence to support

analysis of what the

text says explicitly as

well as inferences

drawn from the text

SL.6.1-Engage


collaborative

discussions


expressed and

demonstrate

understanding of



paraphrasing






purpose, and audience

W.6.5-With some





planning, revising,



L.6.2-Demonstrate

command of

conventions of standard

English capitalization,

punctuation, and

spelling when writingb) Spell correctly

W.6.4- Produ

coherent wri

the developm

organization,

appropriate




Formative/

summative

assessment:

F ormative -DiscussionConference

Exit Slip ± RA

F ormative -check marks for understand in

dicussion

F ormative ± Conferencing

Exit Slip- 3

changes, with

original

F ormative ± ConferenceGuided discussion

check around

F ormativeReflective

Summative

Summative

Assessmen

Activities: Model/GuidedPractice: I'm going

to read a passage

that connects

poorly from Uglies,

then ask kids if

they feel moved

and what they cansight to tell me

why or why not.

Individual:

Have student's find

the best or worst part of their choice

book. RA: Why do

you think this

doesn't work.

text Uglies

text Choice

Reading

Mini-

Lesson/Guided

Practice:

Take out your RA,

watch as I go

through mine to

help my author

better address myreader. Examine

tools you identified

in your rational for

RA.

Invitation to

independence: after brainstorming ideas

with your friends,

rewrite.

Mini-Lesson/TA:Just like in our

writing yesterday,

we're going to

brainstorm how we

can make what our

authors say more

appropriate for our review. Look at

Reviews. Me first

Guided Practice

Lets think about

ideas we brainstormed

Independence:

make 3 changes

that you think willenhance your paper

text choice reading

Connection:Citations

Mini-

Lesson/model:

Recall what we

know about

punctuation, this is

the last thing we dowhen we review.

I'll model how I

look for mistakes

in others papers.

Guided Practice:Lets do my

sentence together.

Independent: Work

in groups, rotate 3times.

text book reviews.

Mini-LessHere are th

think abou

reflect on a

Guided Pr

me to writ

next point

Independe

work on yo

reflection

Likes disli.


choice books

Finish RA

30 minutes reading

choice books

Revise Reviewcomponent for SA

Revise Higher

Order.

Lower-Order

things

Format Poster

Summative

Assessmen




32

Gateway Lesson ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Date:

Class Period(s): Week 1 Day 1

Student Learning Object ive(s):

y SWBAT Identify relationship between author and audience

y SWBAT define author and audience

Assessment:

Formative assessment-class discussion

Summative-exit slip

Resources:

Small Hand towel

post-it notes

Mini-Lesson/Teaching Plan:Intro/Connection (5)

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to see you again after our escapades with speakers; Ihope you enjoyed learning about our different writer techniques for nonfiction

texts. To get us started into this next unit, I want us to take a leap into what we'll be

learning and try an activity.

In your table clusters I'm going to hand out towels, for the first 7 min. I want you to

sell me this towel, what you say doesn't have to be true, but it does have to convince

me that this is the best towel ever and that I absolutely need this one over the othertowels in class. Once our time is up, you are each going to have 1 minute to sell me

the towel. Are you guys ready to start discussing? Go!

Activity (25)

(Students work in small groups for towel work, I'm listening for arguments that I

like or ones that serve other purposes as I walk around the room, also pass out a

post-it note facedown to each group and tell them not to look at it)

Alright students, let's come back together, I want to be convinced that you've findthe miracle towel, who wants to convince me first? (Make sure to get to all 5 groups)

(point out insightful or advanced persuasion techniques/points of interest)

Nice job convincing me students, but there are a lot of other people you're going to

have to convince. Don't turn it over yet, but I've given each group a person or groupof people they need to sell this towel to. You'll get the same amount of time, but this

time you'll have to sell this towel to the people on your post-it note. Ready? Go!




33

(names include grandma, 2nd grader classroom, President Obama, farmers, doctors,

peers)

(Same circling and listening, this time noticing ways audience changes how

presentations are going)

Alright students, eyes up hear please. I want you all to present your towel and thistime I want you to guess what it said on the other teams post-it note. Teams, make

sure you don't say the name on your post-it

Discussion (20)

You all did a fantastic job of selling your towels to your post-it note people (collect

towels).

Let's focus up here for a moment and talk about what you just did. I'm going to

throw some terms out there that you know, but as a reminder we're going to define

them again. First, let's do a brief review of our discussion rules, can someone help

me out (list rules)?Thanks for the reminder everyone, now can anyone tell me what an audience is?......Great and how about an author (write both on board)?...

(once definition, explain how author and speaker differ)

...Nice work, so recognizing that you all are were authors of your sales pitches and

you had different audience, I want you all to get into groups again for 5 minutes and

make a list of all the differences you noticed in the way a new audience affected howyou sold your towel. I want to share those differences after and see if we can't find

some commonalities. (5 minute discussions)

Alright every eye up front, what did we notice changed from the first time to the

second?

(at this point I'll lead a discussion on the differences they , I hope to point out things

like word choice, arguments used, tone of voice, etc. and write them on the board).

(5) Connection to unit, exit slip

As we can see from our discussion, our audience plays a huge role in how we say

and present our points we want to get across. In this next unit, we are going to

explore how audience changes how authors say things and eventually become

experts in finding out the best way to say things. Before you leave, I'd like you to

Take a half sheet of paper, write your name on top, write the name on your post-it,and describe 3 things you personally changed when you knew you were speaking to

a different person. (write instructions on board)

Collect exit slips




34

Gateway Lesson Rat ionale ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

While competition is not inherently a feature in Workshop based classrooms,

I think the friendly competition inspired by this activity makes it both engaging andeffective for introducing students to ideas about audience. By taking the role of

'salesman/saleswomen' for this lesson, students are interacting with each other and

more physically than they are normally allowed to in classroom settings. Omrod

details in the chapter on Motivation and Affect that "providing opportunities for

students to respond actively to the subject matter-perhaps by manipulating and

experiment with physical objects" is an excellent way to increase motivation

(Omrod, 376). This also, in a way, shows them how they will be able to apply what they learn before they begin. While not fully an authentic activity, this lesson is a

step closer to authenticity than most lessons performed in schools, but role playing

students are "engaged ...with essential and vital ideas and materials" (Milner, 12).

This lesson in exciting and engaging for students in a way that promotes bothapplication and motivation for the coming unit.

However, while fun for the students, this gateway still stays true to the unit

and advances the learning of the students toward the end goals and the summative

assessment. By including the objectives 'SWBAT Identify relationship between

author and audience' and 'SWBAT define author and audience', we introduce these

6th graders to the idea that there is a relationship between the author and the

audience, and that a better understanding of that relationship can be useful in a real

life setting. This lesson simultaneously reaches towards a deeper understand and

motivates students to take that leap into the exploration of author audience

relations.

What's more, the formative assessment, the discussion about the registerchange in the students allows me to get a handle on where students are concerningtheir ability to think beyond the text and to author purpose and exploration. Even if

I do not get to hear from every student, my exit slip will allow me to assess how thestudents ability to examine the language an author uses, or the purpose an author

has. I'll be able to use that assessment, and the formative one to inform the pace and

beginning of my instruction for this unit. The more informed I am of the knowledgemy students are bringing when they enter the unit, the more prepared I will be to

navigate how they learn and the pace at which I expect them to do so. This will be agood transition for this classroom in particular because, moving from none

workshop to workshop classroom, they will need to get used to exit slips and this

gives them a place to practice that protocol. Additionally, the teacher, also thedrama teach at the school, has had the students role play before, so they will be

familiar with the context and will be able to get to the meat of the lesson more

quickly.




35

Three Day Lesson Sequence ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Day 1Date:



y SWBAT Find evidence to support ideas

y SWBAT Identify important citation information

Assessment:

Formative assessment-conferencing

Summative-exit slip of citations

Resourc

es:Uglies selections

Choice books

My poem, pen, paperMini-Lesson/Teaching Plan:

Intro/Connection (5)

Hey there class! Great job on your reading and writing responses yesterday! Today

I want to talk about another formatting issue that is very important when we are

trying to justify how we reached a conclusion, and that is citing evidence. It is socritical to be able to tell people where your ideas come from not only in this class

and for this unit but for every English class you will have after this one. If you are

not able to back up where your information came from, you will not be able tosupport yourself if someone questions something you say, and people may stop

listening to what you have to say because they may not think you know what you

are talking about. Don't ever let your voice or your thoughts be dampened by

someone because you couldn't say where those thoughts came from.

Citing evidence is something I will be asking you to do frequently in your log,

reading response, and on future worksheets. Making sure you know how to do this

will make it clear exactly where you got your information from and helps to justifyyour answers if ever someone doesn't believe what you say.

Think Aloud (10)

Let's go through sentence by sentence and see if we can't draw this image, I'm goingto do it on the board, pointing out what I see from the book and what I'm getting

from my prior knowledge, but I want you to do it with your own colors at your own

seat, we'll take time after each sentence to draw out what we see.




36

I'm going to start by looking at a poem I wrote called a Limrick. You'll learn about

these in 7th grade classes, but for this think aloud all that's important is that we willbe using it to look for evidence. lets read it aloud...

We seven were starved for a meal

Not one speck of food did we stealso we lads all drew lotswith our guts tied in knots

now that hunger we six do not feel

...alright so the first think I know about citing evidence is that I need a main point to

narrow down what I want to cite. My teacher told me the objective for this one is to

cite evidence that was the most visual to me. So first I think about when I got the

best image of what was happening at the poem and that was in the 1st line

(underline). I feel like I can see the seven starved people wanting a meal. Well

that's perfect! I just answered my teacher's question, but now I have to prove to

him I know where the visualization occurred, so I first write the quotes (write first)using quotation marks like a good writer, then I write the line numbers (1) and Igive a short explanation of what I see.

So in review, I:

1. Identify the main point

2. Figured out when I solved or understood my main point 3.Wrote that section down in quotes and made sure to say where I had found it

Guided Practice (10)

Alright y'all now I think we could use some help when identifying these. Let's look

at my choice reading book, "Uglies" and see if we can't cite evidence in a novel too.I'm going to read a passage and we're going to go through the steps of trying to find

evidence for the main point: which is to find out how the speak feels about herself.

At least Peris hadn't seemed too angry. He'd said they'd be best friends again...even

after she had the operation? (24).

Alright so, let's go through the steps, what is our main point agian?

...

Right, and when did you notice you figured out what the answer was to that mainpoint?

(listen to answers) nice job why did you choose that one? You should use the onesyou noticed, I'm going to use when I first noticed, which was when they said "once

she was pretty. But the way he'd looked at her face...maybe that's why they

separated uglies from pretties" because I thought that meant that put herself withthe uglies cause she said she wasn't a pretty.




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Not that I know where it is I'm going to remember to cite it, what's the first thing I

write? (write on board) and what can I never forget (page number). And, like a goodwriter, what do I need to put around the quote? (quotation marks).

If student's don't seem to understand the structure, I'll do it again with another

quote

Invitation to Independence (5)

Alright y'all, not it's your turn. I want you to all start reading your choice books and

I want you, on a half sheet of paper, to write one quote about (list on board) what

the setting looks like, something that shows the personality of the main character of

the book, and cool thing you really liked in this chapter. Make sure to number these

1, 2, and 3 and give me a page number after you're done. I'm going to come around

and make sure you guys are all citing well and just pick your brains about what it

means to be a good citer.

Independent Practice/Conferencing (25)

Exit Slip-3 quotes handed in to me

Notes after teaching t he lesson:




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Day 2

Date:



y SWBAT locate words to activate schema's about topics in a text

y SWBAT apply prior knowledge to make a relevant connection to your choice

book

Assessment: Summative assessments-Reading Response: how do you make

responses in your own book?

Formative assessments- discussion answers on schema, conferencing

Resources:

Schema graphic organizer worksheet Uglies pg 5-7

choice booksvisuals for books

Exit Slip

Mini-Lesson/Teaching Plan:

Outline: Introduction/Connection (5)Alright students, now that we have talked about how to format your logs,

reading, and writing responses lets begin exploring your choice reading and

examining how the audience plays a role in the novel. We need to equip ourselves

with the tools to successfully read our book in a way that both allows us analyze thecharacters thoughts and actions and allows us to enjoy the book in new and exciting

ways. Great readers often bring their own experiences to the books they read,

making connections between prior knowledge and the books they are looking at.

Today, I'd like to look at how we decide what to bring to our novels from our own

lives in order to help us to make stronger connections with our book, to have more

fun while we read, and, frankly, to get though books you could care less about.

Authors know that their audience has some things in common, once we know

how to make connections with our reading in this way, we can go back and look at what our experiences have in common. Once we decided what our best experience

is for this book we are reading, we can more closely look at what audience theauthor is trying to reach.

Think-Aloud (15)

We draw on certain ideas we have about things to make meaning, but

sometimes it is difficult to decide what to think about when we read and what to




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draw 11 or 12 years of experiences to make meaning out of what we read. When I

look at a sentence, I look for the most important word or words in that sentence andthink about all the experiences and memories I have relating to that word or idea.

I'd like to read for you a few pages of what you read for homework last night and

take you through how I think applying my prior knowledge to bring all those

experiences relevant to what I'm reading up in my conscious thoughts.

Turn to pg. 6

"Getting there was going to...easy to hide."

Alright, so already I feel like there is some memory swimming in the back of my

head that wants to be connected to this part. The first thing I do when I feel I have a

relevant and meaningful connection between my prior knowledge and the text is

figure out the most important idea or word in the section. When I do this I go

straight for the nouns, because I know nouns are things and I can pull memories

way more easily if I start by thinking about a thing. In this section 'expeditions'

seems to be the big noun, so now I'm thinking of all the memories and experiencesI've had with expeditions...(fill into graphic organizer, write step on board)(list some memories, write on board in graphic organizer)

...however, while all these memories are about expeditions, not all these memories

are relevant to this section. In order to pair down all the memories I have about

expeditions, I look to the descriptors and verbs that I passed over before and use

them to narrow down my lens. I look at the word "dark" (Write it on board) andknow that I can cross off any expeditions I've had in the daytime (cross off

memories), I see the words waterfront and vegetation (write on board) and cancross off any expeditions I've had that haven't been near the water outside

(continue in this manner, continue to fill our graphic organizer, and write evaluation

step on board)...

...Great so, but using the words around the main idea in this passage, I was able to

choose the most relevant memory I had. (Write in graphic organizer, write on

board)

So what I've done is identified the main subject of a section of the book that I feel I

have some memories about, then looked at the surrounding text to figure out just

how to cut those memories down further to choose the one most relevant to that

topic

Guided Practice (10)Let's take a look at the next passage together

"But now Tally was headed...fun was the most frantic"Who can tell me what the first step is? (find the main idea, noun)

Can someone help me find the important nouns in this passage (floats and revelers,also islands and streets)




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That's a lot of different important nouns, I'm thinking of a lot of things but I'm still

having trouble narrowing all my experiences down based on those nouns, lets look at the context around the words and see if some of those nouns are more important

than others (after looking at texts, floats and revelers are most apparent)

Great, so I haven't discounted the other nouns, but I'm going to focus on floats andrevelers to narrow down my search through my memories (list things on board)Does anyone have memories they'd like to add?

Alright, now I'm going to look at the context again, and this time I'm going to use

those descriptors to help me think about an even more specific time when I've

experienced floats and revelers

(New Orleans, Mardi Gras ex)

Invitation to Individual Practice (5)

It seems like you all have a strong handle on this, before I invite you to work at your

own pace on connecting the text to your prior knowledge I want to remind you allthat this is something great readers do every time the read-tricks like these are what make it fun to read the books you like and easier to read the ones you don't. This is

also important to helping you set up good assumptions. Once you have connected

something in the text to something that you have a memory of, you start associating

things in that memory with the text that you're reading. For example, now that I'm

thinking about Mardi Gras in that second passage, I'm assuming that everyone onthe island is partying all the time, but since that was never said I don't actually know

if that is the case or not. My prior knowledge forces me to assume things that I can't fully support are true or not.

Now I'd like you guys to do start you homework reading for the next chapter, but asyou do, I want you to write down at least 3 memories that you can connect from

your life to the text. You shouldn't have to force these memories, but you may have

to think about whether or not they are the most relevant memory you have of what

you are reading. On a separate sheet of paper, I want you all to log your memories

and the passages that inspired them in a similar way we did it in class. First I want

the passage, then the main idea/noun in the passage that inspired the thought, some

adjectives that made you change it, and a brief description of your final thought. I'm

going to be collecting these for points so I expect you to be working diligently to get

a jump start on your homework, whatever you don't finish in class needs to be read

before tomorrow.

Individual Work-Conferencing throughout (20)

Collect sheets at end of classReader Response-3 memories





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Day 3Date:


Student Learning Object ive(s): y SWBAT use descriptive vocabulary to identify traits

y SWBAT analyze descriptive sections of text to visualize characters

y SWBAT provide evidence for their choices from the text

Assessment:

Summative- Drawn Picture of a Discription of a person

Formative- conferencing, Q and A during guided practice

Resources:

Construction Paper

Coloring pencils

Smart board projector with website http://illustmaker.abi-station.com/index_en.shtmlUglies

Mini-Lesson/Teaching Plan:

Introduction/Connection (5)

You all did a fantastic job yesterday activating your prior knowledge and connecting

relevant memories to your text; that ability will take you far in developingyourselves as great readers. However, prior knowledge is not always the best way

to find meaning and make a connection with the text. Today we are going to talk

about visualizing what you are reading in a way that makes the text more exciting

and helps you understand and get through more difficult passages. Just like it helps

us to imagine what a shape looks like in math, imagining different scenarios inbooks can help us to better understand what is going on within the pages.

Additionally, just like when we looked at our prior knowledge, we can think about

what the author's intent is for describing things the way he does and why he choose

to describe a character one way or another.

Intro Activity (15)

Let's begin by thinking of some traits that you might use to describe people,

Go to http://illustmaker.abi-station.com/index_en.shtml and have student's alter

and describe aspects of faces and bodies.

Mention different features and how they can be described (nose, big or small,

eyebrows, bushy or thin, forehead, high or low) and highlight ones that I know they

will be seeing in their reading for today




42

Now that we have a strong base of vocabulary and a good idea of the different traits

writers can use to describe...

Modeling (they have encountered visualization before, but I expect they will need

practice applying it in this context) (10)

I want to go through the book and read a section just like we did yesterday, but instead of pulling prior knowledge, I want to show you how good readers look at atext to help them visualize situation and details about a book. In Uglies we know

that appearances play an important role in the characters lives, so I want to

visualize different characters to help us get an idea of what the characters are

comparing themselves to.

Let's open to page 9, I'll read and explain my thinking as I do.

"Tally peered out from behind a curtain...awaiting her turn"

I'm going to create a picture of what this person looks like (pull out descriptors, i.e.big nose, frizzy hair etc.) in my head, and to show you guys what that picture is I'mgoing to draw it on the board the best that I can and next to it, I'm going to write the

description in the text that made me draw that the way I did.

Guided Practice (25)Alright, now it's your turn, I want you to look at this handout I have of page 39 of my

book, we are going to read together a bit to get a good idea of what's going on in thestory, then we're going to locate our descriptor words to create an image of different

pictures of the characters in the text.

Note: First, we'll read a bit together, then we will have a discussion about the plot of

the story at this point, how the characters are morphing themselves on a computer

program just like we were morphing ourselves with the website we used in class.

So now that we understand that these different descriptions are like different

pictures of what the characters want to look like, I want to see how you all are

visualizing these different morphs that the Tally and Shae are creating. Using the

paper and coloring supplies in front of you, I want us to all go through together and

create what we can from different morphs. Let's make sure we support each part

that you draw with evidence from the text.

(Go through and draw what descriptors found in the text, have students give

evidence for where they find the descriptors as they go)

Fantastic drawings y'all! Remember, what's important is that you know where

these things are coming from and how they look in your head, not necessarily howthey look on paper. But wait, it looks like the pictures are a little incomplete. Lets

go back to our drawings and take a few minutes to fill out the rest of what we see




43

these people looking like. Make sure you let ppl know that you made these parts of

your drawing, not the author

Invitation to Independent Work (5)

Nice work today guys! Now they you are all great visualizes, I want you to look at

your own readings and go back to look at how your character is described.Remember to record where you found that information and where you had to think it up in your imagination, just like we did in class. I look forward to seeing what

your characters look like in your book tomorrow when you hand them in!





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Adjust ing Teaching Plans Through Enactment ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I had the opportunity to practice with my lesson sequence for presenting this

unit, and I received some excellent feedback from my supervisors and my peersboth about positives and suggest adjustments. One problem that I had that I am

constantly aware of is the speed at which I speak is often too fast for proper

instruction. However, I've noticed that if I script heavily before I present a lesson, I

am able to pay more attention to how I present the lesson instead of what I present.

As such, when I adjusted my lesson sequence, I chose to script my lesson more

heavily (which has the added bonus of making it more transparent, and showing the

knowledge I gleaned from Rex and Shiller's work U sing Discourse Analysis toImprove Classroom Interaction) to hone my focus.

Having had little experience in middle school classrooms, I had specifically

asked for feedback about the appropriateness of the material and the way it was

being conveyed. I was informed that students would more easily understand what Iwas talking about if I included more visualize about my pre-scripted memories.When I teach this during my lesson unit, I plan on making sure to have print outs of

models of my memories so that my students will be able to more easily relate to my

experiences. There was also some confusion about my graphic organizer. While

most people said it was effective, I received some comment that going between

memories and relevant text was a little confusing: that it seemed like a back and

forth relationship more than the directional one I implied. I hope to change that

organizer to make it flow in a way that does not trip my students up; after all, the

organizer is suppose to make things more clear, and while it may do that, I believe

there is a better way to represent how I organize the way I think (perhaps a double

arrow there, one back and one forward).I did hear a lot of exciting things about my affect! I am looking forward to

more experience addressing middle school students because I was told unanimously

that I have a very appropriate presence for a middle school classroom. I do hope tohave more opportunity to prove them correct in the future.

When I teach this unit, this feedback has made me aware of some teacher

traits that I hope to avoid, and some that I hope to capitalize on. I will be verymindful of my speed of delivery, and of how I organize my thoughts. I am excited to

add more visualize to my lesson plans and cannot wait to see if my positive affect leads to positive responses to my teaching in the classroom.



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Work Cited ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Atwell, Nancie. I n the Middle: New Understandings about Writing, Reading, and Learning .Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1998. Print

English Language Arts Standards Grade 8." Common Core State Standard I nitiative. CommonCore State Standard Initiative, 2011. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.

Milner, Joseph O., Lucy F. Milner, and Joan F. Mitchell. Bridging English. 5th ed. Boston, MA:Allyn & Bacon, 2011.

Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis. E ducational Psychology: Developing Learners. Boston, MA: Pearson.2011.

Pickard, Mary J. "The New Bloom's Taxonomy: An Overview For Family and Consumer

Sciences." Journal of F amily and C onsumer Sci ence E ducat ion 25.1 (Spring/Summer

2007): 45-53. Print.

Rex, Lesley A., and Laura Schiller. Using Discourse Analysis t o Improv e C lassroom Interact ion.

New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Wessling, Sarah Brown, Danielle Lillge, and Crystal VanKooten. Supporting Students in a T ime

of Core Standards. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2011.

Wiggins, Grant and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Columbus, OH: Merrill Prentice

Hall. 1998.

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