STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Date: March 31 st,

Teacher: Cheri Ecker

2016
School:
Rocky
Lit and Comp

Grade Level: 10th (Voyager)

Content Area: World

Title: Lets TalkshhThis is a Silent Discussion

Lesson #:1 of 1 (though this lesson is part of a larger unit that Ms.
Jones is teaching)

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

directly from the standard)

(Write Content Standards

2.1.2.b. Provide a response to text that expresses an insight (such as an

authors perspective or the nature of conflict) or use text-based information
to solve a problem not identified in the text (for example, use information
from a variety of sources to provide a response to text that expresses an
insight) [italics mine]
Understandings: (Big Ideas)
People are not immune to their environments; circumstances impact choices.
Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of
instruction, select applicable questions from standard)
Essential question from the standard:
How do readers organize their thoughts as they read?
My own essential questions:
How does a written response differ from an oral response?
What role does environment play in actions and outcomes?
Are perceptions and feelings stagnant or malleable?
Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets)
Every student will be able to: (Create your own lesson objectives from the
standard, follow the ABCD format, using student voice)
A: I [a tenth-grade Voyager] student can:
B: Discuss a text in writing, and explain their thinking regarding the textual
passage, prompt, or question under consideration
C: Given the necessary instruction and time,
D: at least twice within the twenty to thirty minutes allotted for the discussion
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This means:
I can make meaningful contributions to a silent or written discussion of a book
chapter, as well as responding to the comments of my peers.
List of Assessments: (Write the number of the learning target associated with
each assessment)
Students, as a group, will be assessed formatively through their written responses
to the discussion prompts (though these will be anonymous).
Individual students will be formatively assessed vis--vis their debriefing responses-for some students these will be in writing; students will be given the choice to either
reflect and respond to our silent discussion in writing or verbally.

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Planned Lesson Activities

Name and Purpose of Lesson
Should be a creative title for you and the
students to associate with the activity.
Think of the purpose as the mini-rationale
for what you are trying to accomplish
through this lesson.
Approx. Time and Materials
How long do you expect the activity to
last and what materials will you need?

Lets Talkshhthis is a Silent Discussion of Never Fall Down (chapter

8)

30-40 minutes total (including instructions, questions, activity, and

closure.
Teacher will provide several large sticky notes with prompts, marker or
colored pencils for responding, and a copy of the discussion prompts for
each student.
Students will need their copy of the text, access to discussion prompts,
and a marker or colored pencil (which teacher will supply)

Anticipatory Set
The hook to grab students attention.
These are actions and statements by the
teacher to relate the experiences of the
students to the objectives of the lesson,
To put students into a receptive frame of
mind.
To focus student attention on the
lesson.
To create an organizing framework
for the ideas, principles, or
information that is to follow
(advanced organizers)
An anticipatory set is used any time a
different activity or new concept is to be
introduced.
Procedures
(Include a play-by-play account of what

Shhhlets whisperin writing.

Who knows that a sure way to get someones attention is to whisper.
Well, today we are going to whisper in writing. We are going to have a
discussion of chapter eight of Never Fall Down, but we are going to do it
in writing.

Teacher will put up large sticky notes.

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students and teacher will do from the
minute they arrive to the minute they
leave your classroom. Indicate the length
of each segment of the lesson. List actual
minutes.)
Indicate whether each is:
-teacher input
-modeling
-questioning strategies
-guided/unguided:
-whole-class practice
-group practice
-individual practice
-check for understanding
-other

Teacher will instruct students about the nature of the activitywill

access prior knowledge regarding silent discussions by asking if anyone
knows what a silent discussion is (1 minute).
Students will respond (1-2 minutes).
Teacher will give instructions regarding how to proceed with the
discussion, will model the prompt/response/response format on the
white board (1-2 minutes).
Students will be given opportunity to ask questions (1-2 minutes).
Teacher will respond to any questions and provide clarification (1-2
minutes).
.
Teacher will provide printed versions of the questions/prompts as they
are written in cursive (differentiation) (5 minutes or so expected total
for instruction, etc, though I will allow for 10 in order to ensure that
students feel prepared).
Students will participate in silent discussion (20-30 minutestime will
be adjusted according to student response/involvement, etc.).
Students will debrief after silent discussion (10 minutes).
Entire activity, start to finish, 30 to 40 minutes.

Closure
Those actions or statements by a teacher
that are designed to bring a lesson
presentation to an appropriate conclusion.
Used to help students bring things
together in their own minds, to make
sense out of what has just been taught.
Any Questions? No. OK, lets move on is
not closure. Closure is used:
To cue students to the fact that

Debriefing
How was this discussion different from regular group discussions or
Socratic Seminars?
What did you like about this activity?
How did this way of discussing effect your responses?
What do you see as the benefits from such a discussion?

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they have arrived at an important
point in the lesson or the end of a
lesson.
To help organize student learning
To help form a coherent picture and to
consolidate.
Differentiation
To modify: If the activity is too advanced
for a child, how will you modify it so that
they can be successful?
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a
child, how will you extend it to develop
their emerging skills?
Assessment
How will you know if students met the
learning targets? Write a description of
what you were looking for in each
assessment.

Students will be allowed to respond in a few words (lower level) and

will have access to printed version of the prompt (all students will have
these)
Students will be allowed to make inferences (higher level);
Students will be allowed to make connections (moderate to higher
level)
I will know that students have met the learning target in two ways.
First, through their responses, as a class, to the discussion prompts.
Secondly, and more individually, I will know that they have met the
learning target through our debriefing activity. Students will either
share aloud or write down their response to the activityI will be
looking for some metacognitive thinking regarding how they benefited
from a discussion of this sort, or, what they disliked about the same.

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Post Lesson Reflection

1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize
assessment data to justify your level of achievement)
My lesson objectives were achieved to a large extent. I had envisioned
this lesson as one that would engage students and get them thinking
about the text they are reading as a classNever Fall Down. The
students not only seemed to enjoy both the silent discussion and the
found poem activity, they made some astute observations and, I felt,
their answers indicated that they understood the main point of the
chapter under consideration.
One area of the lesson that did not achieve what I had hoped it would
achieve had to do with getting the quieter students involvednot to
say that it didnt, it did. In fact, young girl who had suggested that I
think of ways to better include these very students (she is one of them)
after my last lesson told me that this lesson did just that! I also paid
attention and the quieter/less responsive students did, in fact,
participatewith one exception. One student who never speaks in
class, who sits in the back of the room, had to leave early because she
was not feeling well. Since I had designed this lesson with her (and the
other quiet/uninvolved students in mind, having her miss the activities
limited the success of the lesson.
Returning to successes, I do believe that my lesson objectives were
realized. I had chosen standard 2.1.2.b. Provide a response to a text
that expresses an insight (such as authors perspective or the nature of
conflict) or use text-based information to solve a problem not identified
in the text.
Both the silent discussion and the found poem demonstrated that
students responded with insight regarding the authors perspective
and the text itself.

2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would

you make if you were to teach again?
If I were to teach the lesson again, I would limit it in time to the twenty
or thirty minutes I had originally planned for. I think that the longer
time allowed students who had already responded to start talking (this
happened at the end of the silent discussionsomething that my
cooperating teacher noted). I would also add a different type of
debriefing after the silent discussion. Instead of having students share
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about the impact of the discussion itself, I would revisit the

questions/prompts that were on the silent discussion sheets. This
would ensure that students understood the key points, which a teacher
is normally able to ascertain via the discussion papers themselves, but
given the class (Voyager), I can see the value of revisiting the very
questions as an afterward, of sorts (my cooperating teacher mentioned
this, too).

3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice,

reteach content, etc.)
For my next lesson, I am not sure what I want to do; it will include
textual analysissomething that this lesson included, as well. I would
love to have students do something along the lines of Kelly Gallaghers
Why? (page 121 of Write Like This), or even How
Does_________Influence Peoples Behavior? (page 129 of Write Like
This). Both of the aforementioned activities will require analysis, asking
questions, and could include research. The ultimate goal would be to
get students to think critically about the various themes, concerns,
issues in the text they are reading, as well as to give them the inquiry
skills for future texts.

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