Cassandra Hanson

Authentic Lesson

EDPL 215

13 June 2008

Description: While reading the novel Ender’s Game in English 9, students will work in small groups of four and pose as one of the main characters—groups of 4 is a manageable number and students can choose any character to pose as. Students will create their own blog and be expected to write according to their character’s perspective and point of view. Upon completion of each chapter, students will be expected to have one blog entry. Over the weekend, students will be expected to take part in a blog discussion with their small group where they ask each other questions posing as their chosen character.

Finally, in class, we will have a large group debate where the groups of four can pose as their chosen characters. There will be multiple students representing the same characters but this will allow for interesting characterization and interpretation.

Instructional Goal:

  • Students will understand the concept of point of view.
  • Students will grasp the meaning of voice.
  • Students will use creative writing skills to mimic the expected feelings and thoughts of their chosen character.
  • Students will learn technological skills and will be comfortable with using blogs as a communicative tool.
  • Students will engage in small group dynamics and pose and answer questions to one another.

Materials Needed:

Students need individual access to a computer at school and at home (or at a library). Students need to have the AUP signed so that they may use the Internet for this activity.

Students need a novel Ender’s Game to read and study for this unit.

Description of Learners:

Special education students will receive extra time and the length of posts will be shortened according to IEP requests. Students with physical disabilities will be able to use the SpeakWrite program instead of having to type. Some students may need to learn Internet access from scratch; others may have a great of knowledge and skill.

Prior Learning:

Students will make connections from prior learning based on their experience with blogging and/or journal writing. Students’ prior skills with technology will be used. It will be important to scaffold new technology skills for some students so they do not become frustrated with using the blogging system and so this can become a life-long skill. Prior skills with organization and time management will also be used in this lesson as many of the entries will be posted outside of class time.

Instructional Procedures:

Day One: Introduce project, get into groups and set up blogs.

  • Randomly assign students into groups of 4 (or 5 if needed)
  • Have students choose their character in each group and complete a character web of each (to understand the personality traits of each character).
  • Set up blog in library at Blog.com or blogger.com
  • Show students how to choose backgrounds, download pictures, at graphics, how to create, edit and save a page.

Day Two:

  • Discuss voice, perspective, and point of view in class.
  • Return to library to write first post (we will do the first one together).
  • Suggest topics—reaction to a moment in the text from that topic.

Ongoing throughout the unit:

  • Students will be required to blog one post per week in their character’s point of view and voice by Wednesday of each week.
  • They must ask one meaningful question to another group member by Friday of each week.
  • They must respond to that group member’s question by Sunday night.
  • All blogs and questions must represent a perspective that sounds like their chosen persona.

Final Day:

Large group debate—4 students debate a topic while the rest of the class observes.

This will be a capstone project—the final of the unit (instead of a traditional test).

Standards Covered (according to the DPI):

Reading/Literature: A12.1, A12.2, A12.3

Writing: B12.1, B12.2, B12. 3

Language: D12.1, D12.2

Media/Technology: E12.1, E12.2, E12.3, E12.4, E12.5, E12.6

Assessment:

-Blogging with each other—based on the persona of the character chosen by each student. This will be a tool to assess learning because it will give insight to the level of understanding about characterization throughout the novel (in other words a good way to monitor engagement in reading). Secondly, this will work to demonstrate students’ understanding of developing persona and voice in their writing. Third, this will measure the writing level of the students—which are ongoing lessons throughout the year.

-Class Debate—students, in pairs, will take on two different characters to discuss issues from the text and will pose questions to each other and answer questions in their character’s persona (one class period—each pair has 2 minutes to answer a question). The debate topics may vary from issues in the novel, school concerns, societal worries, life questions, etc. Students may need to recall specific aspects from the novel in their debate and/or demonstrate voice of chosen character.

Rubric for Blogs:

Score / Point of View / Content / Design / Mechanics/
Grammar / Response to classmates:
4 / All blog entries mimic chosen character’s voice and reflect his/her point of view from the story. / All blog entries refer to specific events from the novel and logically refer to presumed feelings each character would have. / The page cover is designed, colorful, neat, and appears professional.
Chosen graphics can relate to the chosen character / All entries exhibit proper grammar and mechanics. / Questions posed and answered reflect the persona and voice of the chosen character. At least one question is asked per week.
3 / Most blog entries mimic the character’s voice and reflect his point of view from the story. / Most blog entries refer to specific events from the novel and logically refer to presumed feelings each character would have. / One of the following elements is missing: design, color, graphics, neat, and appears professional. / Some mechanical or grammatical errors exist on occasion, but do not affect the interpretation of the text. / Most questions posed and answered reflect the persona and voice of the chosen character.
One question is missing or one question is unanswered.
2 / Few blog entries mimic the character’s voice and reflect his point of view from the story. / Some blog entries refer to specific events from the novel and logically refer to presumed feelings the character would have. / Two of the following elements is missing: design, color, graphics, neat, and appears professional / Glaring mechanical errors exist—some do affect the interpretation of the text. / Some questions and answers reflect the persona and voice of the chosen characters. 2-3 questions or answers are missing.
1 / Journal entries are not written from the perspective of the character and do not reflect his point of view. / Journal entries do not relate to any events from the novel. / The page is partially designed, but not colorful or neat. / Entries do not appear to be proofread; a plethora of errors exist. / Few to no questions or answers reflect the persona of the character. Multiple questions and answers are missing.
0 / Not able to be scored / Not able to be scored / Not able to be scored / Not able to be scored. / Not able to be scored.

Student Evaluation Questions:

  1. What was the most difficult part in representing your character’s voice?
  2. What was the easiest part in representing your character’s voice?
  3. In which blog do you think you best represented your character and why? (refer to specific text you wrote).
  4. In which blog do you think was it the hardest for you to represent your character and why? What would you change in hindsight if you could go back?

9. Lesson Evaluation:

The effectiveness of this lesson/unit will be based on how students answer the following survey:

  1. Which activity in this unit did you prefer doing?
  1. What is your reaction to the blogging that we did for this unit?
  1. What was the most confusing or hardest part of the blogging process?
  1. If you could go back and redo something this unit, what would it be and why?
  1. If you could self assign a grade for this unit, what mark would you give yourself and why?

Rubric to Evaluate this Lesson Plan:

1. Description of Lesson is clear, accessible, and reflects the goals of authentic learning.

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2. Instructional Goals are age-level appropriate, reflect reasonable expectations, and are representative of the ideal of authentic learning.

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3. Materials Listed are accurate and accessible, none are missing for this particular unit.

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4. DPI Standards are listed and are indeed standards addressed by this lesson.

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5. The Description of Learners takes into account a diverse classroom and predicts modification needed for different learners. The language represents a flexible nature and the ability to change if the need arises in the classroom.

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6. The lesson takes into account prior learning and predicts how to help students connect to prior classroom experiences. This touches on not only content knowledge but learned skills as well.
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7. Instructional Procedures are clear, specific, and descriptive. The general assignments, procedures, and activities are presented in chronological order.

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8. At least 2 forms of assessment are defined. At least one form of assessment is, in depth, explained how it will be graded with a rubric.

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9. There is a source (besides the grades on the assignment) for the teacher to receive feedback on the effectiveness and success of the lesson.

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Total Score: ______/45