Finally, a Lesson on it's feet!

This post will take you through my journey teaching a lesson plan I've worked on over the course of two classes.

(If the format looks funny, it's because this is copied from a PowerPoint presentation.)

Satire unit: day 2

A study from plan to implementation

The plan

•Teach Satirical analysis through the use of video

•Step 1: Students answer the warm-up question in partners

•Step 2: Teacher models analysis of a short video

•Step 3: Students analyze 2 more short videos in groups

•Step 4: Students will share their findings with the class

In action – warm-up

•The idea: get students informally talking about satire and then share their thoughts with the class.

•The reality: students talked with each other, but did not want to share out their answers.

•The solution: I will call on each set of partners to share one of their ideas with the class.

On the projector:

Turn and talk to your partner to answer the following question:

What is satire?

In action – teacher model

•The idea: I model analysis for the students using the short video linked below

•The reality: After my model, even though it was precise and thorough, the students were not as prepared to analyze their own videos as I had hoped.

•The solution: Watch the video twice.  The first time, I have the students watch without any introduction.  I ask for their impressions and thoughts.  Then, we watch it again and I turn their impressions into analysis using the satirical devices they learned the day before.

In action – group work

•The Idea: have students begin to analyze works of satire in groups in order to help each other figure out the process.

•Reality: Having the students work in groups was a good call.  They were able to help scaffold each other toward mastery of the skills.

•Solution: This worked well.  But, next time I will be more intentional about how I create the groups of students – putting lower achieving students together with those who are higher achieving in order to maximize the learning potential in each group.

Video 1:

Video 2:

In action – class discussion

•The idea: Groups share their analysis with the rest of the class so that all students benefit from each other’s knowledge and work.

•Reality: Again, I had trouble getting groups to share out, similar to the situation in the warm-up.

•Solution: Similar to the warm-up, I will call on each group to share one device they found in one of the videos.  This way, every group contributes to the discussion and I will get an idea of how the students are progressing in their skill mastery.

In action - closure

•The idea: Prepare students for the next parts of the unit by previewing ideas, concepts, and expectations.

•Reality: I felt like giving the students information in this way was not as effective as it could have been.  By the time we got to the end of the lesson, it seemed that student’s brains’ could not compute any more information.

•Solution: build this preview into the rest of the lesson and use the discussion as an exit ticket.  Each group must share something in order to leave at the end of the period.

Reflect

Support for English Language Learners:

•After reflection, my lesson needs more support for ELL students

•I am going to add more visuals and pictures to the introduction powerpoint

•As previously stated, I will be more intentional with how I group students to support my ell students

•During group work, I will check in with groups containing ELL students and ask honestly how they are progressing with the concepts.

I feel like I’ve been staring at this lesson plan for years.  And the more I stare at it, the more it looks like a blurry combination of words that are meaningless.  But after teaching this lesson again, I remember how much I love it and how much fun I have teaching satire.  This lesson is such a great introduction to satire and now that I’ve been working with it for two classes I feel like it’s almost ready to be used in my classroom and in context of the larger unit that includes reading Huckleberry Finn.

In conclusion…

•Lesson plans are never really complete

•With as much as I’ve learned, I’m only just beginning to feel confident in my abilities

•I need to focus more on how to include scaffolds for ELL students

•I have to strive to include informal assessments at every stage of both my lessons and my units.

•I feel like I’m on my way!

The Link Between Assessments and Grades

I use standards based grading in my classes.  This means that anytime I assess students (tests, projects, essays, etc.), it is tied to standards.  For these assessments, they earn grades in between 2 and 4 categories depending on the number of standards I am assessing.  These assessments count for 90% of their grade, but they always have the opportunity to revise their work to improve their score.  It’s all about their ability to demonstrate their mastery of the standards. 

This means that assessments are directly tied to a large portion of their grades.

Authentic Assessment

To me, authentic assessment means that we as teachers must ensure that we are assessing students’ proficiencies based on specific objectives and goals that we have made our students aware of.  An assessment cannot be authentic if students did not know what they were working toward.  As long as students are aware of our expectations, we can assess them and use the results to form an accurate picture of both where the students are in their mastery of the skills and how effective our teaching of those skills was.

Turning that Unit into a Second Lesson Plan

Audience: 11th grade English Group Size: 30-35 students Time:  55 minutes Equipment: Projector, Laptop, poster sized Post-its, Markers Resources:  Satire PowerPoint Setting: Arrange chairs so that all learners will be able to the projector. Place markers near the large Post-its on the wall.

Objectives: The learners (student) will:              Analyze a picture for its’ satirical value              Create flashcards to study for the quiz and aid in device                  identification throughout the unit ·

Time	Concept to be Learned	What you (teacher) do or show	What learners (students) do	Self-monitoring (Hints for teacher) Making adjustments that could not have been predicted
8 min.	Pre-assessment	Project warm-up questions on the projector.	Students write for 5-8 minutes on the questions	Circulate the room.  Make sure students are writing their thoughts.
10 min.	Pre-assessment continued	Partner up students to discuss questions and write their thoughts on the large Post-its around the room.	Graffiti: Students discuss and share their answers on the Post-its around the room.	Circulate the room. Encourage students to write up their answers.
5 min.	Transition (refocus into whole group learning)	Teacher will sum up students thoughts and encourage short discussion.	Students will add to each other’s answers.	No mentioning of devices!  Only use the students’ words.
30 min.	Direct Instruction	Teacher will lecture on Satire and its accompanying devices.  They will use students’ answers from earlier as a means of explaining the devices.	Students create flashcards of devices with definitions and examples.	Keep moving around the room to check that students are completing flashcards.
2 min.	Closure, Unit Preview	Teacher gives students a road map for the rest of the week and for the larger application of satire in Huckleberry Finn.	Students will listen and ask questions if time allows.	Watch your time.  This closure is non-negotiable.

Turning a Lesson into a Unit

Worksheet Steps 1-10*	Step Activity
Grading Period Content Planning	Understanding Satire Satire and Mark Twain Historical Background/ Begin reading Review and Close Read Chapter 4 Compare/Contrast Movie and Book EQ: Does the movie serve the same satirical purpose as the book?  Support your answer with evidence from both. Analysis Paragraph on a Satirical Scene from the book (working toward later skits)  Read and pre-write Essay Analysis Essay EQ: How is Mark Twain’s use of satire in Huckleberry Finn reflective of his personal views?  Satire Skits
Unit/Week Organization	Understanding Satire Minor Content Areas: Satirical terminology, Model application of terminology, Group work application of terminology, Close read and analyze a short written work, Knowledge check
Scope & Sequence	Monday: Satirical Terminology (Introduce larger topic and define devices) Tuesday: Model Application of Terminology (Use a short video to understand an apply the devices) Wednesday: Group Work Application of Terminology (Students work in groups to find devices in two more short videos) Thursday: Close Read and Analyze a Short Written Work       (As a class, we will close read and analyze a short story written by Mark Twain) Friday: Knowledge Check (A quiz on satirical devices, their application, and analysis)
Content Area Standards	ELA Reading (Literature), Standard 6 Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in the text from what is really means (e.g. satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
Learner Outcome/Objective	Students will be able to identify and analyze the author’s point of view based on their use of a particular satirical style and devices. Students will be able to tell what the author really means based on the words they use, even if those words seem to mean the opposite of their surface meaning.
Pre-Assessment/Warm Up/Prior Learning Connection (Formative Assessment)	Students will be shown the following cartoon: They will write for 5 minutes answering the following questions:   1. What story is this picture telling?   2. Is it a happy or sad picture? How do you know?   3. Is this picture asking the viewer to change in any way?  If so, what change?  How do you know? They will then talk to a partner about their answers. Each pair will share one of their findings with the class. The teacher will use students’ answers as the jumping off point to start talking about satirical devices. As the teacher takes students through the PowerPoint of devices, she will connect those devices to real world tv shows, movies, and other media.  The goal being students recognize that satire is literally all around them and be able to determine the message behind this form of humor. By having students answer simple questions as a lead-in, the teacher gets an informal baseline of what the students already know about satire.  At that point, the teacher can use that knowledge in their explanation of the terminology. As with the study of rhetorical devices that the students will have done earlier in the year, the study of satire is more about being able to recognize is and analyze it than it is about the specific terminology.  Starting without terminology builds students’ confidence.
Teaching Strategy/Learning Activity	Monday – Graffiti.  As part of their sharing during the warm-up, students will write the answers they discussed with their partners on large sheets of paper around the room.  This way they all have a chance to share, but no one has the pressure of talking about an unfamiliar topic with the whole class.  The teacher can then easily refer back to these answers as they move through the lecture. Tuesday – Teacher Model.  As a class, we will watch a video and fill-in our analysis charts.  The students will then begin to work in small groups to analyze two more videos. Wednesday – Small Groups.  Students will finish work on the videos and we will begin analysis of a short story by Mark Twain.  This time, there will be no teacher model and the students will immediately set to working in groups. Thursday – Vocabulary Bingo.  Students will get Bingo sheets with satirical devices on them.  Teacher will give either a definition or an example and students will check-off the device.  This will help students assess their own knowledge and give them a quick guide as to what they should focus their study time on for the quiz. Friday – Quiz.  Students will demonstrate their learning over the course of the week on a short (no more than 30 question) quiz.  The teacher will use this assessment data to determine what, if anything, needs re-teaching before moving into the larger unit.
Ongoing Assessment/Check for Understanding	We will use group and class discussion to assess and guide student learning through the lesson and unit. The mini-unit culminates in a satire quiz where students will demonstrate their knowledge of satirical devices by providing examples of each and analyzing a final cartoon.
Post-Assessment/Closure	Students will take a quiz to determine their knowledge of satirical terms, their definitions, and how to use them to analyze instances of satire in media. Rubric for satire quiz: 4 3 2 1 Content Correctly defines 90% or more of the satirical terms Correctly defines 75% or more of the satirical terms Correctly defines 65% or more of the satirical terms Correctly defines 65% or fewer of the satirical terms Examples Provides accurate examples of 90% or more of the terms Provides accurate examples of 75% or more of the terms Provides passable examples of 65% or more of the terms Provides inaccurate or no examples of the terms Comprehension Accurately addresses 90% or more of the questions Accurately addresses 75% or more of the questions Accurately addresses 65% or more of the questions Accurately addresses 65% or fewer of the questions Analysis of Cartoon Accurately determines purpose and point of view Almost accurately determines purpose and point of view Attempts, but struggles to determine purpose and point of view Fails to determine purpose and point of view
Review/Grade/Reflect	After grading the students’ quizzes, I will assess where the students need more review in regard to devices and analysis.  With that information, I will review with the students before we move forward with reading Huckleberry Finn.