Lesson Plan - Tracy Szutkowski: MATC Portfolio



Lesson Plan

Standards

6th Grade ELA Core Content Standards (Michigan)

Reading Standards for Literature: Craft and Structure—6. Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or the speaker in a text

Reading Standards for Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas—9. Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems, historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of other approaches to similar themes and topics

ACTFL World Language Standards

Connections, Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures

Comparisons, Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studies and their own

Topic

Different points of view/perspective

Purpose

To highlight the fact that there are many versions of the same story; and each person or participant has his/her own interpretation. To compare/contrast different perspectives and how to determine what is accurate and what is inaccurate.

Question

Who should you believe when being told something? How can you verify the validity of a statement? There’s always more versions of the same story?

Lesson/Discussion

Introduce the guiding question to students. Review what they have heard about different versions of Cinderella. Talk about the Disney version and how it is the same or different from other versions. Review point of view/perspective.

Read the story Seriously, Cinderella is so Annoying to the students. Have students predict what is going to be the same or different about this story based ONLY on the title (not even the cover illustration). After reading, remind students of the guiding question and open the floor for conversation. Have students include other versions of Cinderella with which they are familiar in their conversation.

Overview

This lesson was taught to a group of four sixth grade girls, of differing reading and writing levels. Due to time limitations, these girls volunteered to come in during their lunch recess to help me with this task. They were all a little leery at first, but then seemed to become more comfortable and willing to participate in the discussion.

Reflection

I began by explaining that this lesson was going to be slightly different from any they had previously completed with me. I began by posing my questions to the students, and then sat back and observed how the students interacted. As my questions were written in a way that was meant to promote a dialogue and the enrich understanding, I did not have a lot to contribute in an effort to guide the discussion. As I sat among the students and listened, they would stare blankly at me looking for guidance. I then reminded them that I simply wanted to know what they thought, and that I was not looking for particular responses. I also let them know that because we were such a small group, they did not need to raise their hands to speak, but rather could navigate taking turns politely.

After a few more interactions with these girls making a comment or raising a new question, then staring at me to see if I would add anything, they learned that I truly just wanted to know what they were thinking. Eventually, the girls came to an agreement that we ultimately have no way of knowing the absolute truth, as there are always multiple sides to every story. As the conversation seemed to slow, I told them that I had a story I wanted to share with them. The story was called Seriously, Cinderella is so Annoying. I chose this book, as I am doing a multicultural unit study of Cinderella, and thought this was the perfect opportunity to introduce a newly discovered story, as told from the stepmother’s perspective.

As I was reading, the girls continued to engage in a dialogue about how this is just another opinion about how a particular event took place (think Cinderella). The girls then made many connections to other texts they have read, both for class and leisure, and then questioned the validity of information and opinions in textbooks.

Overall, I would say this discussion was a major success, after getting off to a slightly rocky start. It took these students much longer than I would have liked to realize that sharing ideas is an acceptable way of discussing and learning. As our discussion came to an end, the girls shared with me that they would love to have more conversations like this in school.

Advantages and Challenges

While I have been making a more conscious effort to include open-ended, discussion provoking questions in my teaching, I have quickly learned that many students do not know how to handle these types of questions. When I posed the question “Who should you believe when being told something” the students simply stared at me and then asked follow up questions along the lines of, “What do you mean? What are you looking for?” It was also a challenge for me to not constantly interject and share my thinking with students. However, the conversation that evolved as a I sat there and listened was truly astonishing. Students were able to make connections on their own that I did not know even existed, as I am not in their homeroom classes with them on a daily basis. As the conversation evolved, students were able to have many “aha!” moments, therefore extending their thinking and learning. Based on the readings for this week, I believe that it is “[t]hrough inquiry, students learn how to use heuristics—accepted problem-solving tools to construct understandings” (Whilhelm, 2007, p.10).

This discussion also reminded me that “[t]he goal of teaching and learning in understanding” and it was evident that meaningful learning was occurring throughout this lesson (Wilhelm, 2007, p.11). When the students began questioning how particular points of view are selected to be included or excluded from textbooks (particularly history books) they were extending this idea of perspective or points of view and using it to make sense of the world around them. Because these students were so interested and excited about the conversation of perspective, they were able to “…connect personally to the studied material and that they in turn connect the material to world concerns and current events” (Wilhelm, 2007, p.53).

Another challenge I faced was knowing how frequently I should interject during the conversation. When a student posed a question to me, I simply rephrased the question to the other students to see what they thought. As I only had 25-minutes for this discussion and lesson, time was another major challenge I faced. However, the students handled it extremely well and engaged in a more meaningful conversation than I ever could have anticipated with such limitations.

While I agree that using inquiry in teaching and learning is critical, I question the extent to which other educators in my building are using it in their daily instruction. From my teaching experiences in homerooms, I believe that students have very little experience with engaging in a dialogue with peers to construct meaning, and then extending that learning on a more individualized level. Based on the positive reactions from this discussion, I am going to be more reflective of my lessons and make a more conscious effort to include more inquiry-based learning and questions in my instruction. Sitting back and letting students lead the discussion was a scary and challenging experience, but it was also rewarding for me to hear and understand the level of thinking that takes place at this level.

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