Concept Based Unit Plan

The Power of Words -- Identifying Audience

Day 3 of 9, Week 1 of 3
Plan Type: Full Detail
Content Requirement Satisfied: Reading experience, vocabulary instruction

Essential Question:
1. Who is my audience?
2. How can words be powerful?
4. How can words energize their audience?

Objectives:
SWBAT
1. Understand that words are a powerful tool because of how they affect an audience.
(Cognitive)
C. Words can be powerful by energizing their audience.
D. Energizing words use images to lift up their audience.

2. Value bravery, kindness, and respect.

A. Be brave by writing down their ideas and expressing themselves.
B. Be brave by sharing their ideas with an audience. (Day 3, 9)
C. Be kind and respectful when others share their ideas with them. (Day 3, 9)

3. Write and reflect on the power of their words to influence a specific audience.
A. Identify the intended audience of a written work.
C. Create an illustration based on an energizing image.

SOLs:
7.1 The student will participate in and contribute to conversations, group discussions, and oral
presentations.
d) Use language and style appropriate to audience, topic, and purpose.
7.3 The student will understand the elements of media literacy.
e) Craft and publish audience-specific media messages.
CCSS:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.6
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English
when indicated or appropriate. (See grade 7 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific
expectations.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Assessments:
Formative:
- Illustrations
- The students will be creating illustrations of stanzas of Maya Angelous Still I
Rise in groups. My expectation is that the students will be able to create an
illustration that accurately reflects the content of Maya Angelous poem, while still
reflecting what they understand about inspiring images. (1C, 1D, 2A, 3C)
- Exit ticket
- The students will identify Maya Angelous audience on their post it note exit
ticket. I will sort these post its into two piles: gets it and doesnt get it. I will write
an affirmational note on those who did get it and have a short conversation or
review some material with those who did not, depending on the numbers of post
its in each pile. These post-its will also inform whether or not I suggest that a
student revises their inspirational image. (3A)

Diagnostic:
- Observation of presentation
- This is the big check in for the affective objectives. My expectation is that the
students have produced work (see Formative Assessment: Illustration) and are
bravely sharing it with the rest of their class, which means that they are willingly
talking to the class. I also expect that the students who are not presenting are
respectfully listening to their peers and treating them with kindness. If the
students need more scaffolding for these behaviors. I have left time during the
following class period for a classroom meeting. The students behavior will
determine the content of this meeting. (2A, 2B, 2C)
Material Needed
- Maya Angelous Still I Rise Handout
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YnnY9TFki0aK2r1gFGkWZJGgkMxukLfR0dm0C
T0LXnU/edit?usp=sharing)
- Still I Rise Stanza Reading Guide:
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1djbWR52Gg642uCOGb3wH6dXVva5xxUsOkoz2-
g_bByI/edit?usp=sharing)
- Teacher example of an illustrated stanza
(https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1f1blXPxIj_66LUBOqg9wbbGlvv_g62W0sIm09gitG
Rc/edit?usp=sharing)
- Google slides for this lesson:
(https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CTh7TXjC6JWRIt-ZXKDeRgRDUVd-A2EjHl9Q
_o_kWNg/edit?usp=sharing)
- Laptops for every student
- Projector and screen
- Other collage materials: printer paper, magazines, glue, scissors, markers, etc.
- Post it notes for exit ticket

Technology Usage
- The students will have the option of using Google Drawings to create their illustration of
their stanza. This is not mandatory, but it will allow some students to learn how to
operate the software and begin to learn how to create and edit images on a computer,
which is very much a 21st century skill.

- I will also use Google Slides to help record the students ideas in a place where they can
see them. These slides will later be uploaded to the class website.

Differentiation
Gabriella needs a little bit of extra help with vocabulary. Because of this Ive put her in a base
group with Aniya. Ive pulled Aniya aside and told her that because Im so impressed by her
skills I need her help answering questions in her base group. It helps that Aniya also speaks
Spanish. This way if Gabriella has questions about things she can ask Aniya for help. This also
gives Aniya an additional task and a defined role during group work, which will help her to focus
and stay on task.
Procedures
Beginning Room Arrangement: The desks are arranged into five tables of four desks apiece.
There are also soft reading spaces, such as the beanbag corner and two different couches, and
a kidney shaped conference table in the back of the room. When the students enter they know
to pick up handouts by the door, leave their bookbags and class materials at their homebase
seats, and sit anywhere they find comfortable and productive and read their independent book
for the fifteen minute reading caf. However, there is no reading caf today so I would instruct
them to make their way to their home base seats at the door.

Greet Students (5)

Okay team! Lets find our way back to our homebase seats.
The students would close their books and return to their homebase seats.

Discussion on Energy (5) (10)

- Thanks you guys!
- We do not have reading caf today because we have SO MUCH TO DO!
- So, we are going to jump right in by looking at our Essential Question for the day: How
can words give people energy? hmmmm why dont you turn and talk with your base
groups and share what you think?
- The students would turn and talk with their base groups about how they think that words
can give people energy. They will have two minutes for this turn and talk.
- During this time I will circulate and chat with the groups.
- After a minute is up I will ask the students to share one thing that they talked about. I will
record these responses on the Google slides page where the students can see them.

Maya Angelou Prereading and Reading (10) [20]

- Were going to be reading a poem today that I think gives me a lot of energy. Its called
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. Now, with a silent hand, have any of you heard of Maya
Angelou? This question is mostly just to assess whether or not my students have any
prior context for Maya Angelou, but I do not expect that they do. If they do, I will call on
that student and ask them what they know about her.
- Maya Angelou was an African-American poet who lived from 1928 to 2014. Ive put her
photo on the board so that you have an idea of what she looks like! She experiences a
lot of hardship in her life. Her family was poor and abusive, but she rose above her
circumstances and became one of the greatest writers in American history!
 - Today we are going to be reading a poem about how she rose above her past and the
hardships that life threw at her. Its called Still I Rise
- You should have picked up a copy of the poem on your way in. I am going to read the
poem aloud. While I am reading I want you to follow along with your eyeballs! That
means you read the words silently as I read them aloud. While I am reading I want you
to be thinking about the poem and any images it brings to your mind. Does everyone
have their copy of the poem out? Scanning the room to double check. Okay! Lets go!
- I would proceed to read the poem out loud with feeling.

Stanza Jigsaw and Illustration (40) [65]

- Following my reading of the poem I would transition to the next portion of the lesson by
passing out reading guides to each group. Each group will receive copies of the same
part of the reading guide. Each individual in each group will have their own copy of that
page of the reading guide.

Read the stanzas with a reading guide: vocabulary instruction (15)

- As I am passing out reading guides I will say:
- Now that youve heard the people outloud I am passing out copies of two stanzas to
each group. We are going to spend the next thirteen minutes or so reading over the
stanzas and and answering a few questions.
- I would make this slide visible with instructions for reading independently:
 - I will then explain this slide to the students.
- I want you to start out by reading the stanzas, the bolded part of the handout. After
youve read those than I want you to answer the questions on the right. When youve
answered those questions you can begin to visualize what you think the poem looks like
to you. When everyone in your base group has answered the questions than you can
discuss your answers with each other.
- I have the instructions up here on the board in case you forget anything. With a silent
hand, does anyone have any questions?
- I would give a good amount of wait time and I would answer any questions that the
students had about the independent reading.
- When the students were done asking questions I would have them get started reading.
- The students would have time to read independently, answer the questions
independently, begin to brainstorm their visualization, and talk to their base group about
their answers to the questions.
- During this time I would circulate and conference with students as they read, answered
the questions, and talked with one another.

Illustration workshop (20)

- As the students finish their reading guides I will give them instructions for the illustration
workshop.
- They will be creating two illustrations: one for each stanza, of what they think is
happening in the stanza. They are welcome to create it using either Google Drawings or
by cutting up pictures from magazines, but I am expecting that there will be an equal
division of labor and they are all responsible for the final product.
- I will model the illustration for them by showing them my illustration of the title:
 - During this time I will continue to circulate, help students with their illustrations, and
answer questions.

Presenting images to classmates (25) [85]

- When there are about thirty minutes left in class and (hopefully) all of the students are at
least mostly finished with their illustrations, I will have the class stop, clean up, and share
their collage with me, either over Google Drive or by handing me their collage.
- When the class is clean I will give the students two minutes to prepare to share their
illustration. I am looking for them to explain why they choose the images that they did
and what they think the stanza means.
- Each group will have about three minutes to share.
- I will be observing the students to gauge whether or not they are bravely speaking and
sharing their ideas with their peers and

- When we are done going over the different illustrations I will ask the students to turn and
talk about who they think Maya Angelous audience is.
- If we have time I will then have the students shout out.
- I am looking for them to identify that Maya Angelous audience could either be someone
who wants to see her fail (the You of the poem) or someone who needs the inspiration
of her example (which is what I find so energizing).

Closure: Exit Ticket (5) [90]

- When the students are done sharing their illustrations I will have them fill out their exit
ticket and turn it into me. When they have turned in their exit ticket than I will dismiss
them.