Lesson Plan 2.

0:
Goals:
Students will compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or
character and a historical account of the same period (CCS RL7.9).
Students will analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (CCS
RL 7.3).
Students will compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem, to its audio,
filmed, staged, or multimedia version (CCS RL 7.7).
Understandings:
Various mediums of a text allow us to examine others interpretations and
portrayals of the text.
Setting and history influence the way an author writes about a subject.
Setting influences character and plot.
Writing can be a response to historical and current events.
Essential Questions:
How do culture, setting, and historical background affect how authors write?
How does an author inform themselves on historical and current events from various
perspectives?
What is the value of fiction? What do others analyses of the text tell us?
Big Understandings:
Students will understand:
How historical contexts are represented in a text
That various mediums of a text have different visual, audial, and rhetorical
approaches to influence interpretations of a text
An authors personal experiences influence how they write about a topic
A readers personal experiences influence how they interpret the text
The role of historical documents or current events in how an author uses or
changes history in a text
Topical Understandings:
Students will understand:
The facets of plot or characters lives that reflect history or current events
The kinds of historical documents used to compare these facets
The kinds of current media that influence setting and characters
The relationship between setting and character development
How setting and description provide contextual clues and meaning
The various mediums text can be transformed into and their uses
Overall objectives:

Analyze various mediums of a text for interpretations and meaning

Write a short story influenced by historical/current events and personal experience
Reflect on how other mediums of a text can influence or add to the original text
Share with the class their written work through the medium of a reading
Interpret how pieces of a text coexist to form a distinct result

Unit Objectives
Research historical documents/events based on Dear America choice book
Engage with various mediums of an original text such as film, audio readings,
music, etc.
Discuss how other interpretations affected understanding of original text
Write bi-weekly reflections discussing their personal thoughts and connections to
their choice book, the texts we read in class, or both
Write a one-two page epilogue to your Dear America choice book influenced by
their historical research
Performance Tasks:
Students will complete a short story contextualized with historical/current events
and personal experiences
Students will present an excerpt of their short story to the class and provide copies
of a summary/excerpt ahead of time to the class (the day will be a sharing event
with juice and cookies to celebrate the reading of the excerpts)
Students will determine how they best want to present this other medium of the
text to the class (music, pictures on the board, just their voice)
Students will reflect on how they perceived the excerpt before and after the
reading
Other Evidence:
With the teacher, students will examine their public speaking skills and set
goals over the year that can be altered as necessary.
Students will share in groups their progress and brainstorm
Students will have meetings with the teacher to check on the writing process
Students will be given practice time in small groups to receive feedback
Learning Plan for the Day:
Background: This is a 55-minute 7th grade English class. English in the school is not
tracked. It has fourteen boys and eleven girls, and I hope this activity gets them thinking
about the ways different types of writing have contexts based on their background and
how text on a page can be altered or understood in a different medium like video or song.
Yesterday: Students read I, Too by Langston Hughes and as a class we discuss the
poetic structure and how the way it is written affects our understanding of it. We also
discuss the context of the poem and the racial issues Hughes is discussing that can affect

us today. Student volunteer in their small groups to read it aloud to group, both as a way
to feel out the words on their tongue but also to think about the words meaning. Students
are given lyrics to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy to read for homework.
First 5 minutes:
Students settle in and take out lyrics to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
The Magic of Music (10 minutes)
Have students write up on board thoughts on why they think people make music
If any students have things they want to say but dont want to say in front of
whole class or we cant get to them, they can either write it down in their journal
or meet with me during my meeting times during the week for an oral sharing
Talk about their responses and how lyrics matter, but exist in part with other
things like melody, when you listen to it, your personal connection to it. Mainly,
music can be a response to something: emotions, experiences, or life in a certain
way that people want to re-imagine themselves or share with others
Through thinking about modern music, bring up Christina Aguilera/Katy Perry
and how the Andrews Sisters paved the way for artists like them/their music
Thinking about the Lyrics (15 minutes)
Get a feel for what students thought about lyrics to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.
What did they like, what confused them, what thoughts do they have?
Pass out handout with notes/questions were going to think about when watching
video
Discuss some of the contextual background for song: the time period, the setting,
who The Andrews Sisters are and their role in WWII
Discuss how this song was considered one of the first jump blues songs, and how
the beginnings of that movement originated from black musicians
Check to see if there is anything students are unclear or unsure about
Looking at a New Medium (10 minutes)
PP slide details some of the questions I want students to think about while
watching the video
o How would you describe the melody of the song?
o What does the setting contribute to the message of the song?
o How does the tempo and rhythm communicate a message?
o How does the racial makeup of the video help us understand the narrative
of the time period they want to share?
Students will watch the video and afterwards as a class we will work to answer
the questions on the board. I will scaffold with examples from the song and focus
on the first and second question.
I will write on the board answers to the questions based on the class discussion.
Reflection (15-20 minutes)

Students will be divided up into groups of four and write a narrative about
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy based on the historical context, setting, and other
contexts of the song.
Students will each be assigned a role: brainstormer, researcher, writer, and
moderator.
o The brainstormer will write down everyones ideas and thoughts in bullet
points
o The researcher will look back at the notes/answers the board/the video or
song/any outside historical sources the group may need to create the
narrative
o The writer will compile the ideas into a story format
o The moderator will ensure everyones voice is being heard and valued in
the creation of the narrative
o Each student has a list of duties that they must check off as they complete
what they must do. I tell students this a way to keep themselves
accountable and on track in working with their group.
o I will be walking around and checking in on groups to check on
progress and see what guidance they may or may not need and if
students have any concerns or questions.
o At the end of class, I ask each student to reflect on their group
work and how successful they think it is going. The students have
shared what theyve done and what needs to be done in their
groups. I ask them to respond to four questions: What did your
peers accomplish today? What do they still need to do? Do you
have any concerns or questions about what your group needs to do
tomorrow? If so, share how you may try to talk about it with your
group tomorrow. I will collect these to glance over and return to
them the next day for reference.
This allows students not only to keep track of what is
happening with their group, but also ensure that they are
communicating during the group process and informally
assessing their peers so they can know how best to address
any issues and move forward positively to get their
narrative done.
o Groups:
Fung, Tim, Student A, Student B
Rachael, John, Student B, Student C
Kevin, Bill, Student D, Student E
Kelly, Student F, Student G, Student H
April, Rose, Student I
Shanna, Bobby, Student J
Student K, Student L, Student M

Tomorrow: Students will be finishing up their narratives and they will be workshopping
with another group based on clarity, clear connection to the video/song, and content.

From past experiences, I will remind them how to workshop and go around the class
listening in and providing guidance as needed. From there, students will edit the work
and decide how they want to present it to the class.