Writing for Understanding Instruction

 Teacher Plan

 

Teacher_Kelly Welsh Ellis__Class:  20^th C World History – High School juniors and seniors

 Date: 06/30/09  Writing genre:  Persuasive essay

 

 

 

Topic /  Subject / Text

CENTRAL IDEAS     Content: In the struggle for civil rights for African Americans, MLK advocated a nonviolent response to unjust laws.  Nonviolence is a strategy that involves far more than the absence of violence;  it involves a choice on the part of the individual to confront unjust authority directly, and often provocatively, and may expose the individual to risk of arrest, incarceration, or injury.  MLK’s invocation of nonviolent resistance was part of a rich tradition with roots in Christianity and the teachings of Gandhi.   Reading: teacher selected editorials, photographs, Public Statement by Eight Birmingham Clergymen (1963); MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (1963)   Writing: After several short writing assignments, students will write a contemporaneous newspaper editorial in which they report on MLK’s incarceration, describe nonviolent resistance and other options available to MLK  , and take a position as to what Birmingham’s clergy and elected officials ought to do about the laws and practices MLK challenged as unjust

 

 

Focusing Question	Focus (answer to focusing question)
What options do you as an individual citizen have in the face of state action that you believe to be unjust?	The individual citizen can acquiesce, and most people do.  The majority of Birmingham’s clergy urged MLK to do the same. The individual might instead attempt to influence others to act, or might him/herself act, directly and violently, or directly and nonviolently. MLK chose nonviolent direct action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building Content Knowledge, Understanding of Writer’s Craft

• vocabulary   • guided reading   • text mapping   • paraphrasing   • summarizing   • visualizing/   • imaging   • dramatizing   • oral processing / guided   conversation / think-pair-    share   • experience   • debating   • taking notes (graphic   organizers, T-charts, 2 column    notes, etc.)   • craft lessons (intro, transitions, conclusions, etc)

Context:  the struggle for civil rights for African Americans in the 20th century, to be taught through 1) guided class discussion and note taking   2) video (“Eye on the Prize,” or PBS ) and class notes   Vocabulary review: terms such as ‘civil rights’, ‘direct action,’  segregation, negotiation, and potentially new vocabulary:  clarion, gospel, lamentably, cognizant, etc.   Visualizing:  students will examine photographs of Martin Luther King (mug shot and incarcerated) and do a Quick Write   Guided reading:  each student reads aloud and paraphrases a paragraph (redo letter from B. Jail with columns for questions, paraphrasing, student check in)   Summarizing:  students will select 5 paragraphs, and using only those sections, draft a Wikipedia entry for the Letter.    Model/Graphic organizing:  Students read 3-4 editorials from different sources selected by teacher, and graphic organizer provided with which students identify and describe FOCUS, STRUCTURE, DETAIL and VOICE, followed by Class discussion   Oral Processing/think-pair-share: in small groups students will share their Wikipedia entries and as a class we will review the real Wikipedia entry on Letter from a Birmingham Jail and compare work   Writing:  Students will write and share hook sentences.   Students will draft editorials.   Peer Editing:  Students will share their articles with Peer Editor(s) and with teacher, after which they will REVISE and work toward FINAL DRAFT

 

Structures                                         How will students know how to organize their ideas                                                    and construct the piece of writing?
• graphic organizers • teacher-written models  • teacher-and-student    written models  • various types of templates   or frames (ex: Painted Essay)	Teacher model based on ‘Painted Essay’ (By the end of the course, when this lesson will be presented, students will hopefully be thinking in terms of painted essay) Editorials from NYT, several local papers Wikipedia entry

 

 

Writing  / Revising                      How will students draft / revise so that their final writing is clearly focused,                      organized, and developed to show understanding of the central ideas?
•  group write, fully or in      part  • write section at a time  • write full piece    independently  • revise /share full group  • revise /share partners  • proofreading in partners  • proofread w/tubaloos	- after Wikipedia entry write, students will:   - independently write an editorial   - proofread with partner   review teacher comments   -revise/share with small group

 

 

 

Lesson Sequence What steps will I follow so that students are able to  effectively show their understanding in writing?

See section above for steps and sequence.

 

 

Assessment: How are students doing? What are my next steps as a teacher?

Ask students to consider an injustice they confront in their own lives, and to articulate their range of choices.  If interest and time permits, we might write letters to leaders/editors about topics of general concern.