Date:

Week Two, Day Two

 

Overview: Students will start the class with a bell work activity in their writing journals. After bell work, students will briefly listen to several traditional South African songs. While the songs are playing students will be asked to write down their responses and thoughts while the music is playing. A class discussion will take place briefly afterwards. After listening to the music, the students will begin independent work time and research for their short stories in the school computer lab. The students will be educated on the ProQuest system and required to research using that program.

 

Materials:

- Pens/pencils (in bottom right desk drawer)

- Writing journals (in far left cupboard)

- South African music CD (cupboard by the door)

- CD player (underneath overhead)

- Social studies text books (book case)

- Reference material (book case)

 

Objectives:

Learning Objectives:

- By the end of the day, students will be able to reflect on traditional South African music.

- By the end of the day, students will be able to navigate and understand the ProQuest database.

- By the end of the day, students will be able to gather information electronically to draft a fictional story.

 

Essential Question:

- Why is it important to be culturally aware and considerate towards countries and cultures different from your own?

 

Unit Question:

- Students will be able to identify and discuss the geographic context, issues, and significant individuals and events of the South African culture.

- Students will analyze casual factors that have shaped major events in South African history, such as Apartheid.

- Students will research and reflect in a free-write process, integrating research material.

 

EALRs:

Writing

2.2.1

2.3.1

3.1.1

3.2.3

 

History

4.2

4.3

 

NETS

1.         Creativity and Innovation

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:

         

a.         apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. Students will accomplish this by applying their existing knowledge of research methods to the new system of online research.

b.         create original works as a means of personal or group expression. Students will accomplish this by creating their own original piece of literature formed from their research, both concrete and online.

 

Grouping

Students will be grouped in their assigned seating arraignments for the bell work activities and for the remainder of the period. Students have been placed in small groups as their seating arrangement and will stay in these groups during the reflection period and also the independent work period.

 

Teaching Plan

Statement of Objectives:

- By the end of the day, students will be able to reflect on traditional South African music.

- By the end of the day, students will be able to use a variety of forms/genres in their writing.

- By the end of the day, students will be able to gather information to draft a fictional story.

 

Opening:

Bell Work: Journal Question: If you could describe America as a lyrical genre, what genre would you use and why? Name a song if you can think of one, but "The Star Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" don't count! Be creative!

 

Procedure:

Students will start the class with a bell work activity in their writing journals. This procedure will last 5-10 minutes. After bell work, students will briefly listen to several traditional South African songs. The songs will be played off a provided CD on the CD player located underneath the overhead projector. While the songs are playing students will be asked to write down their responses and thoughts while the music is playing. During this time, the teacher should walk around to ensure that students are not goofing around or doing other work, but instead are actually focusing on the music and writing down their thoughts. The music will play for 10-12 minutes.

After the songs have concluded, a class discussion will briefly take place. The teacher will ask the students to share what they wrote or reflect on what they thought about some of the songs. This procedure will include a period of direct instruction, while the teacher shares information with the students and the students are involved in the learning process as well. This procedure will take place for 5-7 minutes.

After discussion the music and responses to the songs, the students will begin independent work time and research for their short stories. For this period, students will be sent to the computer lab and be able to access the school computers to do their research. While the students have already been using textbooks and in-class materials, students will be using databases such as ProQuest to research materials. With the helps of the computer lab attendant, students will not only have finished research by the end of the class, but also will be able to effectively navigate through ProQuest.

 

 

Checking for Understanding:

In order to check for understanding, the teacher will ask clarifying questions during the class discussion following the South African music. The teacher will also walk around and be available for help during independent work time so that students can ask questions. The teacher should make him/herself available to students in order to check their understanding of the assignment.

 

Closure:

At the end of class, students will write in their journals what their favorite part of listening to South African was. Students will also write what they plan to accomplish over the next two days in class concerning their fiction pieces.

 

Assessment Strategy:

Formative:

 

Learning Log:

- At the end of class, students will write in their journals what their favorite part of listening to South African was. Students will also write what they plan to accomplish over the next two days in class concerning their fiction pieces.

 

Reflection:

 

- Learning Targets/Learning Experiences: The learning targets and experiences were met during this lesson plan by enforcing them with corresponding activities and allowing students to guide their own learning. Students were able to reflect on traditional South African music, use a variety of forms/genres in their writing by introducing fiction/narrative writing, and were able to gather information to draft a fictional story.

 

- Models/Methods/Activities Used: The methods and models used in this lesson were direct instruction, independent learning and reflection. The direct instruction method was used while the teacher discussed the South African songs and the students discussed their opinions. The independent learning method was used while the students worked on their fiction pieces to gather information with out help from their peers. The reflection model was used when the students completed their learning log assignment at the conclusion of class and also when they discussed their thoughts and feelings about the South African music.

 

- Classroom Management Considerations: While moving students from bell work to the listening to music activity, the teacher will give firm, direct instruction to ensure that students follow orders and do not lose focus. During the playing of the South African songs, the teacher will walk around the room and use the proximity technique whenever necessary.

 

- Differentiated Instruction Considerations: In order to meet the needs of all learners, the ELL student in the classroom will have an aid accompanying him during the class period that will translate and assist in the classroom activities. The resource student will be allowed to take his/her work to the resource room in order to receive extra assistance gathering information. His/her resource room teacher will also be given a copy of the assignment so that he/her can do research for the writing assignment in the resource room as well. Lastly, the gifted student will be allowed the option of extending the writing assignment to a longer, more elaborate length, if desired.

 

- Habits of Mind Reflection: The habits of mind were integrated in to this lesson by using three of the 12 intelligent behaviors. The first was gathering data through all sense, which the students did while listening to the South African music. The second used was ingenuity, originality, insightfulness and creativity, which was used while the students were discussing their feelings and also brainstorming ideas for the fictional writing pieces. The last was listening and understanding with empathy, which the students did while listening to the South African songs and then reflecting on them with empathy.

 

- Bloom's Taxonomy Domains and Levels: The affective domain of Bloom's Taxonomy was met during this lesson. First the student received the phenomena of the music, then they responded to the phenomena of the songs, then they valued the music by attaching their own values or ideas to what they heard, then the students organized the values and lastly they internalized the values.

 

- Five Authentic Learning Characteristics: This assignment connected to the first level of authentic learning, which was a higher level of thinking. Students were asked to listen to music and then look past just the sounds and apply a higher level of thinking to the songs.

 

- Gardner's Multiple Intelligences: This lesson applied to several of the multiple intelligences. The intrapersonal intelligence was addressed the bell work and end of class writing journal activities. The verbal/linguistic intelligences were addressed in the class discussion. The musical/rhythmic intelligence was addressed with the listening to music activity. Lastly, the logical/mathematic intelligence was addressed by the research the students performed for their fictional stories.