TE 407
MSU, Fall 2007
Caughlan/Juzwik
Lesson Plan Genre Study
Purposes
· To gain a flexible sense of the structure(s) of lesson plans
· To analyze the way a teacher’s beliefs shape lesson plans
Big Question: What are the characteristics of a good lesson plan?
Rationale
Formulas often oversimplify because they don’t allow for the specificity of particular students and contexts. Looking at several (different) examples can give you a more flexible sense of how something works in various situations. It’s like criss-crossing a landscape in order to get a sense of the terrain, rather than always taking the same path. By looking in depth at several different lessons plans, you will have a better sense of the possibilities for this genre.
Assignment
Part I. Exploring lesson plans.
Examine at least five lesson plans, drawing from the three websites below, the Shakespeare Set Free book, or your teaching lab. Choose three plans that seem strong (no more than one of these can be from class material, such as SSF or the lab lessons) but significantly different from each other. Paste these three lesson plans into a single document, and explain why you chose each one.
o ReadWriteThink.org - http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/
o Folger Library Lesson Plan Archive - http://www.folger.edu/eduLesPlan.cfm?cid=618
o Awesome Library (Lesson Plan Resource) - http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Library/Materials_Search/Lesson_Plans/Language_Arts.html
Part II. Analyzing the three lesson plans you have selected.
1. What structural similarities and differences do you notice across the plans? What could account for these? Please explain your answer with details from the plans.
2. After looking at these three, what elements do you think are most important to include in a lesson plan?
3. Analyze each plan for its underlying assumptions regarding:
· What content or skills are important to the English Language Arts curriculum?
· What does this plan treat as the purpose of teaching English (think back to the six points in the article, Why Teach English)?
4. How do you react to these underlying assumptions? Do you strongly agree or disagree with any? Explain.
Part III: Envisioning yourself teaching a plan
5. Pick one lesson plan that you find especially compelling and imagine a hypothetical middle or high school class. How would you revise the plan if you were going to teach it to this target audience?
6. As you envision yourself teaching this revised lesson plan, explain how you would make it align with your own beliefs (about teaching and learning) and with your own growing sense of identity as an English teacher. Why does your revised lesson feel like a good match for you as a teacher? [Note: it is fine if you did not make drastic revisions.]
Submit a finished piece that synthesizes your answers to the above questions. Turn in this assignment electronically, by posting to the course ANGEL site > Lessons>Lesson Plan Genre Study Discussion Forum. After you turn in your Lesson Plan Genre Study, write a short response to the Lesson Plan Genres Study posted below yours.
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