Response to Informational Text-8th Grade

Writing for Understanding Instruction
Teacher Plan

Teacher: Kerry Burns-Collins Class: Writing for Understanding Date 7-22-11
Writing Genre: Response to Informational Text, Expository- one to three paragraphs

Topic / Subject / Text

Drug Addiction & Implications for Teens


CENTRAL IDEAS

Content: Adolescents will realize the implications of drug abuse and the particular risk of addiction on this population.
Reading: Students read and re-read an article in Scholastic Heads Up Real News About Drugs and Your Body, so they can gain understanding of drug use on the developing teen brain.
Writing: Organize their thoughts in a well written one to three paragraph (depending on their ability) expository essay (using the Otter Valley Union Middle School template(see appendix for format explanation & sample) to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of teens and drug abuse.


Focusing Question
Focus (answer to focusing question)
Why are teens more at risk for addiction than adults?
This will vary depending upon the articles students’ choose and are guided toward, and the details they include.



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)
Teacher does a Read-Aloud using the book, Riding the Tiger by Eve Bunting.
Pre-reading vocabulary sheet. Students get into pairs and look up addiction, adolescence, development, risk. Form four groups and each group gets assigned one of the four terms. Each group comes up with a scenario to act out the term they have been assigned and then perform. Audience has to guess the term.
Whole class guided reading of “Addiction is a Disease: Why the Teen Brain is Vulnerable” Heads Up Scholastic Real News.
Re-reading and highlighting text- parts that explain the limbic system and prefrontal cortex.
Partner share highlights
Students fill out a KWL chart. Half of the students will be assigned the prefrontal cortex information from the article for what they Know(or learned by reading the article). The other half will fill out all the information they garnered about the limbic system. Whole class will reconvene & share answers as teacher plugs info from students onto a large KWL chart paper on an easel. Students will then fill in the information needed on their KWL’s about the info they were not originally assigned. Then students will individually write under the W-what they wonder about this info/topic. [This will show different levels of understanding & teacher can use *different resources to address these different levels].* For example I might invite our school based drug & alcohol counselor in to give a presentation or direct students to the Scholastic-Heads Up web site.
Using a picture of the brain with the terms prefrontal cortex and limbic system students will summarize the points they’ve learned about from the KWL chart.



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)
Fill out graphic organizers on the text(the brain graphic organizer, KWL chart and an introductory paragraph template)
Show student models of middle school writing format
Show model of intro paragraph
Show model of three paragraph expository writing



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
1. Students will write a first draft introduction paragraph after viewing samples and filling out the middle school guide graphic organizer.
2. After conferencing with teacher on intro paragraph students will revise intro and write the next two paragraphs and be prepared for “Speed Revising/Editing.”
There will be ten stations (Focus, Organization, Structure, Sentence Variety & Word choice, Understanding, Liked, Needs Work, Para One-editing, Para Two-editing, Para Three-editing). Half the class has their first draft and is inside the circle the other half on the outside of the desks everyone starts at a station. The timer is set for 2-3 minutes, then when the timer goes off the students in the center move to their left and the students on the outside move to their right.
3. Students take these sheets and write next drafts using the constructive feedback they’ve received.
4. Students get with a partner and read the rubric together. Highlight aspect of the rubric as they check the points of criteria in the papers.
5. Take comments from partner and info gained from highlighting rubric and make last changes to bring to a final draft.


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

1. Write about what you know about drug addiction to tap into prior knowledge (personal experience, media, etc.)
2. While teacher does a Read-Aloud of Riding the Tiger picture book students jot down some of the tigers reactions & descriptions of the tiger. Also write down one thing you think the tiger symbolizes. Turn & share with a partner. Whole class discuss what they came up with.
3. Explicit instruction on what to write on file cards as teacher read Riding the Tiger.
4. Whole class read aloud “Drug Addiction is a Disease” & students highlight all aspects of the two terms, prefrontal cortex and limbic system.
5. Re-read with a partner and share highlights.
6. Students will complete graphic organizers of a brain, work on a KWL chart & middle school template for intro paragraph & and go over with teacher for accuracy.
7. Model the writing of the introduction paragraph. Ask students, does it answer the focusing question?
8. Students write their intro paragraphs using the OV Middle School guide to answering focusing questions. Level 1 demonstrates basic proficiency. Level 2 demonstrates proficiency and Level 3 demonstrates a high degree of proficiency.
9. Conference with teacher on intro paragraph.
10.. Students will take feedback and write next draft on intro and next two paragraphs. Some students will just write one paragraph based on their abilities.
11. Whole class participates in “Speed Revising/Editing”
12. Students take feedback from “Speed Revising/Editing” and write final drafts.
13. Students will hand in with the rubric attached on top, followed by the final draft , the Speed Revising/Editing sheet & all rough drafts & graphic organizers.
14. Students will complete & hand in the L part of KWL chart which will demonstrate their level of understanding on this unit.



Assessment: How are students doing? What are my next steps as a teacher?
Assess writing effectiveness using the RNESU Rubric for Grades 7-8
Assess understanding through class discussions & review of their answers to the reading of Riding the Tiger
Assess level of understanding with completion and accuracy of graphic organizers
Students will complete the L part of the KWL chart to demonstrate what they have learned from this article about the vulnerability of the teen brain and drug experimentation.




Next Steps: Gradual Release of Responsibility
Prepare a student model that may be used for next time.
Notes to Self:
Prepare a test drive using the article, “Deadly Mix” by Marisa Hoheb for less proficient readers.
Keep looking for an article about teen addiction and the affects of that is on an easier level for struggling readers & prepare test drive for this.
Collect student models/exemplars of KWL charts.




Ms. Burns-Collins July 22, 2011
Test Drive 8th Grade
Drug Addiction & Implications for Teens
Addiction can have a major impact on anyone’s life, but adolescents run an especially high risk for detrimental, long-term effects of drug and or alcohol abuse. Recent brain research indicates that teens are more susceptible for developing drug addiction and incurring more long term harm than adults because of the not yet developed prefrontal cortex and the highly developed limbic system. During this important period of growth between childhood and adulthood, teens are highly susceptible to engaging in risky behaviors that have unforeseen consequences, that can ultimately ruin their health.
Teens are more at risk for addiction than any other population because of brain development. One reason is that research now shows that the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that when fully developed helps people make good decisions that requires thinking ahead about consequences, is not fully formed until people are in their mid 20’s. Teenagers are at a disadvantage because they lack this basic decision making process about long term affects of their actions. Also, drug abuse can interfere with the normal development of the brain and cause long-lasting chemical changes that can be irreversible. Next, the limbic system which develops very early and is heightened during adolescence is responsible for feelings, emotions and motivation. The limbic system influences teens much more than adults. Drug abuse affects the limbic system in which brain cells respond to pleasurable experiences by using dopamine, which acts as a messenger between the brain cells. “Scientists recently discovered that drugs do more than change how the limbic system works. Taken during adolescence, drugs actually change how the brain develops.” (pp. 3,4 Drug Addiction Is a Disease Why the Teen Brain is Vulnerable www. Scholastic .com/Heads Up.)
Adolescents who abuse drugs get caught in a catch 22, their bodies tell them they need the drug just to feel normal and the limbic system affects their need or “drive” for the drug. Therefore, because teen’s brains are not fully developed, which affects their judgment capabilities and they are overly influenced by the limbic system, which puts their immediate wants and desires on the forefront, they face many risks when they experiment with drugs. Armed with this knowledge teens should think twice about trying risky behaviors, like drug and alcohol use.