AUTHORS NAME: Jennifer Strawser

DATE: 11/24/14

SINGLE SUBJECT LESSON TEMPLATE

For info on how to complete this form, see http://lessoninstructions.weebly.com

1.

TITLE OF LESSON:
a. Exploring Theme in Cisneros Woman Hollering Creek
b. Unit 5: Finding Themes in Literature
c. 4th lesson in a 2-week unit on Woman Hollering Creek.

2.

CURRICULUM AREA & GRADE LEVEL

a. English 12 (ERWC for Seniors/12th grade)

3.

DATE OF LESSON/TIME NEEDED

a. Thursday, 10/30
b. Periods 2 (10:00-10:50) and 3 (10:57-11:47)
c. 50 minutes

4.

RESOURCES: Attach materials needed to implement the lesson - e.g., power point presentation, text, graphic organizer
a. Projector to show visual learners example of what the assignment will look like
b. 40 copies of Sandra Cisneros short story, Woman Hollering Creek
i. This resource demonstrates equitable and socially just teaching because it shows that themes such as love,
power, and domestic abuse are relevant across all cultures, and even across borders, as Woman Hollering
Creek shows when Cleofilas moves to a new town, only to find the same troubles. By using multicultural
literature, I can teach my students a respect for immigrants and the hardships they face, without
stereotyping. Using literature from another culture helps students to develop pride in their cultural and racial
background.
c. 40 copies of theme graphic organizer

5.

CA CONTENT STANDARD(S): Address the content area and/or common core standards
a. CCSS 11-12.2: Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the
course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an
objective summary of the text.

6.

CA ELD STANDARD(S): Address how this lesson helps develop language

a. ELD 11-12.11a Justifying/arguing (Bridging) Justify opinions or persuade others by making connections and
distinctions between ideas and texts and articulating efficient, detailed and relevant textual evidence or background
knowledge, using appropriate register.
i. This standard is appropriate for my class since most of my students scored a 3 or higher on the CELDT test.

7.

BIG IDEA ADDRESSED/ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Why this material is important to teach; how it fits in with the unit
a. Students will understand how the specific details of a text can carry a meaning (theme) that is relevant to life outside
of the text.

8.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: Open-ended, arguable questions that organize the purpose of learning
a. Can fiction be truer than reality?
b. How can fiction and reality interact with and influence each other?

9.

OBJECTIVE(S) OR LEARNING GOAL(S): Choose one: Cognitive, Affective, Psychomotor or Language Development
a. Cognitive After I model for students how to complete the graphic organizer for the theme, theyll be able to use the
organizer to determine two or more themes in Sandra Cisneros Woman Hollering Creek, and track the
development of these themes over the course of the text.
b. Language Development After students discover themes from Cisneros Woman Hollering Creek using their
graphic organizer, students will be able to write a letter from the perspective of one of the characters, arguing a
theme (ie staying true to ourselves as individuals is more important than to fulfill the expectations of tradition,
culture, or community) and supporting this theme with relevant textual evidence (I know that I must stay true to my
individual goals because when I married the man my family chose for me, I felt isolated, often walking in the orchards
for hours by myself evidence from plot of story)

10. ASSESSMENT(S): Choose one: Diagnostic - entry level, Formative - progress-monitoring or Summative evaluative

a.
b.

Formative informal student ability to determine two or more themes and track the development of those themes
over the course of the text will be assessed using the graphic organizer students complete in class.
Formative formal student ability to argue for a theme using relevant textual evidence and appropriate register will
be assessed with the letter students write from the characters perspective, in which the character urges a friend to
follow their advice (the theme), using content from the plot/experiences of the character (textual evidence) to support
their argument relating to the theme.

11. INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES: What the teacher does

1. Anticipatory Set (10 minutes)
The teacher will write the following quote on the board: Artists
use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you
believed it, you found something true about yourself. (A line of
dialogue from a character in V for Vendetta)

12. STUDENT ACTIVITIES: What the students do

1. Anticipatory Set
Students read the quote

The teacher will ask students to consider the statement while they
watch the following video clip from V for Vendetta:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDxTUFkTtxo

Students watch the video

The teacher will explain a game the students will play (Two
Truths and a Lie) reminding students to keep the quote and what
it might mean in mind as they play. In the game, students take
turns telling the class two statements that are true about
themselves and one statement that is not true. The class must
guess which statement is the lie. The goal is to fool the class.

Students listen to the instructions for the game and participate in

the game.

After students have played the game, the teacher asks them to
write in their notebooks what the quote means to them. Students
may reference the video, the game, or their personal
experiences/backgrounds, but they must reference the quote.
Teacher leads discussion relating to the idea that fiction can
reveal truths about reality, life, and ourselves, and explains that
when a fiction makes a comment on life outside the book (often
implicitly), this comment is called a theme.
The anticipatory set is important for this lesson because it
helps students to understand what exactly a theme is: a truth
(comment or question about something in real life) that is put
forth/argued/explored in a work of fiction (Content Standard:
CCSS 11-12.2). Understanding theme will help students when
if comes time to identify the theme based on the information
theyve complete in the graphic organizer.
The game students will play allows them to practice justifying
by making connections between ideas (which statement is
the lie) and texts (in this case, the student presenting the
three statements is the text because students will use what
they know about the student to decide which statement is
untrue) (ELD Standard: ELD 11-12.11a). This justification
warm-up will help students to write their letter at the end of
class.

Students complete the quick write in their journal.

Students participate in the discussion what the quote means
and whether or not they agree. Students listen to teachers
explanation of theme.

The anticipatory set shows equity for students by presenting

the information in a multifaceted way. It makes the
information about themes relevant in real life by connecting it
to the movie. Visual and auditory learners alike benefit from
the YouTube clip, while auditory, learn by doing, and
interpersonal learners benefit from the game students will
play. ELLs are given several opportunities to encounter the
language in multiple ways written on the board, acted out in
the YouTube clip, spoken in the YouTube clip, and through
discussion. All students are given a chance to gather their
thoughts before participating in class discussion via the
quick write, showing respect for student psychosocial and
emotional needs.

2. State Objective (3 minutes)

The objective will be written on the board below the quote. The
teacher will explain to students that theyll be learning to identify
theme in the short story theyve been reading, and to use plot
points in the story to defend the theme theyve identified. Teacher
explains that students will be using their graphic organizer as an
outline for writing a letter, in which a character urges another
character to follow their advice (the theme), which theyve learned
over the course of the storys plot (textual evidence for
plot/support for argument). Afterwards, the teacher will ask one
student to volunteer to paraphrase the objective for the class.

2. State Objective
Students will read the objective from the board and listen as the
teacher explains the objective and general assignment for the
students. One student will volunteer to paraphrase the objective
for the class.

The teacher will review important vocabulary words with the class,
reminding them to take notes as needed:

Students listen and take notes on the vocabulary terms that the
teacher reviews

The THEME is the universal truth or question the text

might be stating or offering. Its often an opinion about
the concept/topic.

RELEVANT TEXTUAL EVIDENCE is information that is

explicitly stated in the text this may be information
about characters or major events in the plot. This
information will be used in the next step to justify the
theme the student has identified.

Students JUSTIFY the theme theyve determined using

the relevant textual evidence theyve found in the reading
during the previous step.

Students use the textual evidence that justified their

theme to PERSUADE their reader in the letter they write.
Justifying is about backing up your argument its really
about convincing yourself. Persuading is about using that
evidence to persuade others that your belief is one they
should also hold.

As students write their letter, theyre asked to use

appropriate REGISTER to persuade their reader.
Appropriate register in this assignment means that
students will adapt the speech patterns, dialect, and
vocabulary of the character theyre writing as.

3. Input Modeling (17 minutes)

Teacher will project the theme graphic organizer for students, and
ask students to list topics (one word, usually a concept) presented
in the short story. For Woman Hollering Creek, which students
have read over the last 3 lessons, possible words might be abuse,
femininity/womanhood, love, power, family, etc. The teacher will
write these words into the first box in the graphic organizer. (2
minutes)
The teacher will ask the class to vote which one they want to start
with. When the class has chosen the teacher will indicate their
choice on the graphic organizer by circling the word in the first
box. The teacher will then ask students to spend a few minutes
looking through their copies of the short story to find places where
this topic is referenced either explicitly or implicitly. The teacher
will monitor while students look through their copies of the story. (5
minutes)
The teacher will call the class back to attention and ask students
what they found. The teacher will write the examples the students
provide on the graphic organizer in the middle boxes and will
explain that these places in the story where the topic is mentioned
represent evidence.(5 minutes)
The teacher will then ask students to determine a theme based on
the topic and evidence theyve found from the last two steps. (5
minutes)
Modeling how to fill out the graphic organizer is the clearest
way to provide students will step-by step instructions for
filling out their graphic organizer, which represents a
formative assessment for the lesson, and which will help
them in identifying their theme from the story (Content
Standard CCSS 11-12.2) and justifying the theme theyve
identified using textual evidence (ELD Standard 11-12.11a).

3. Input Modeling
Students will suggest topics.

Students will choose which topic they want to do together.

Students will look through the short story for evidence related to
the topic.

The students will tell the teacher what evidence they found in the
story.

Students will try to determine the theme based on the topic and
evidence theyve found. Students will make suggestions in the
whole group discussion.
By modeling this activity for students, Ill be providing
appropriate instruction for my auditory, visual, linguistic, and
learn by doing learners because theyll be able to see what
Im doing on the projector, hear my explanation of what Im
doing, and follow along as they respond to prompts. This is
beneficial for my ELLs because theyll be able to learn the
instructions and process, as well as practice their language
development, in all four of the arenas of language
development (speaking as they contribute to the class
discussion, listening, reading, and writing, as they copy
down notes from the modeling).

4. Check for Understanding (3 minutes)

The teacher will ask students to explain the instructions to their
partner. The teacher will inform students that she will randomly
call on students (using popsicle sticks) so this is their chance to
ensure they know the directions. After students have told their
partner the directions, the teacher will then ask the class, what is
step one in figuring out a theme? and pull a popsicle stick. The
teacher will ask until all of the steps have been covered.

4. Check for Understanding

Students will tell their partner the instructions. The student who is
called on will answer the instructions.

5. Guided Practice (10 minutes)

The teacher will break students into groups so that each of the
topics listed by the class in step 3 is assigned to a group (divide
the number of students (25) by the number of topics (ie 5?) (this
equals five, so there will be five students in each group), then
number the students 1-5 and assign each group their topic. Ask
students to find places in the text where this topic comes up. The
teacher will remind students to annotate their texts and to be
ready to share the evidence they find. Students will use the
evidence they find relating to the topic to decide on the theme in
their groups.

5. Guided Practice
Students will join groups and begin looking for evidence related to
their topic. Theyll work together to determine a theme about the
topic based on the evidence.

Students will again gain practice with identifying themes in

the text (Content Standard CCSS 11-12.2) and justifying their
theme using evidence from the story (ELD Standard 1112.11a).

Students who learn through interpersonal interaction and

linguistically will benefit greatly from the collaboration, as
well as ELLs who will be able to converse with other ELLs
and native speakers to help them develop their speaking
skills.

6. Independent Practice (9 minutes)

The teacher will instruct students to begin writing a letter as if they
were one of the characters in the story. In the letter, the
character will give a friend advice related to the topic (the theme)
and urge this friend to follow their advice by using personal
experiences (evidence from the story) to support their argument.
The teacher should remind students to use language in a way
their character would.

6. Independent Practice
Students will write the letter.

This assignment will help EL students and non-EL students

alike to develop their writing skills. The letter also provides
students with an opportunity to learn and practice social
skills (although written) as they practice urging a friend to
follow their advice. This letter builds on the graphic organizer
to allow students to elaborate on their evidence and claim
theyve included in the graphic organizer. The letter also
provides students an opportunity to take on another
character, using their register and speech patterns as they
write the letter.
7. Closure (3 minutes)
The teacher will ask students to volunteer (of use popsicle sticks)
to read the first sentence of their letter, in which they set up the
theme. The teacher will ask students to complete their letter at
home if they havent finished.

7. Closure
Students will read their opening sentences to the class and
complete their letters at home.

MULTICULTURAL RESOURCES:
Cisneros, S. (1991). Woman Hollering Creek. New York, NY: Random House.
A pdf version can be found at: http://www.iaisp.uj.edu.pl/documents/1479490/29437798/Cisneros-Woman-HC-_02_V._Popescu.pdf
This short story is about a Mexican woman who marries a rich man who is also from Mexico, and moves to his home in a border town in
America. Her ideas about love are influenced by telenovelas, novels, and other media, and she experiences a rude awakening when her
real-life relationship turns sour, bitter, and abusive. Shes rescued from her husband by a liberated American woman. Their contrast is
evidenced through the two womens very different views of a local creek, named after a Mexican folktale, La Llorona, The main character
wonders if the woman in the folk story cries in fear or in rage, while the woman who rescues her feels that she hollers like Tarzan.

Reyhner, J (2014). Multicultural education internet resource guide. Northern Arizona University. Retrieved from:
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/jar/Multi.html
This website provides links to a host of multicultural lesson plan ideas, resources, and suggestions for teachers to use in their classroom.
Sierra J. (1992). The oryx multicultural folktale series: Cinderella. Education.gov. Retrieved from:
http://www.education.ne.gov/forlg/elementary/cinderella.pdf
This website provides almost 20 Cinderella stories from different cultures, and highlights key details and differences from other stories at the
end of each one. After the stories, there are graphic organizers for helping students compare and contrast elements from the stories.

Rubric for Characters Persuasive Personal Letter

1

Use of
Appropriate
Register

Language
consists primarily
of street
language

Register is
scattered,
student moves in
and out of
street language
and academic
language.

Demonstrates
understanding of
assigned reading

Student does not

reference
reading.

Student
paraphrases or
cites reading
inaccurately or
inappropriately.
The student is
unable to
connect the
reading to his or
her ideas

3
(Bridging - ELLs)
Register is
consistent with
general
expectations of a
high school
student, mainly
that it is
academic and
somewhat formal

Student
accurately
paraphrases
reading and uses
reading
appropriately to
support ideas

4
(Native Speakers)
The student
demonstrates
understanding of
the character
whose identity
the student has
assumed by
using a register
that is consistent
with that
characters
dialect,
vocabulary, and
background.
Student uses
reading to
accurately and
appropriately
support ideas by
using authors
words to
substitute his or
her own words
when possible.

Theme Graphic Organizer:

Single Subject SDAIE / Multicultural Lesson Plan Rubric

Design
Component
& Criteria

Meets

Exceeds

Provides a title that is

related to the lesson
activity.

Provides a title that is related to the

lesson activity & addresses the unit it
belongs to and in what curriculum
area and grade.

Date of
Lesson & Time
Needed
5%

Provides the date or

time.

Provides date the lesson will be

taught and the time needed to teach
the lesson.

Rationale: Big
Ideas Enduring
Understanding
& Essential
Questions
10%

The big ideas - enduring

understandings and
essential questions area
aligned with the
standard, objective, and
assessment.

Standards,
Objectives &
Assessments
30%

The CA Content,
Common Core and ELD
Standards (with
appropriate proficiency
level based on
identified EL student
information) are
identified and each is
addressed in an
objective that contains a
condition, verb, and
criteria.

The big ideas - enduring

understandings provide a rationale
that makes sense of the content and
makes the content relevant to
students lives. The essential
questions are open-ended, arguable
and provide purpose for the learning.
The CA Content, Common Core and
ELD Standards (with appropriate
proficiency level based on
identified EL student information)
are identified and each is addressed
in an objective that contains a
condition, verb, and criteria. In
addition, each objective is labeled by
the type (cognitive, affective,
psychomotor or language), the
number of the standard it addresses
and the type of assessment is labeled
(diagnostic, formative or summative).

Instructional
Strategies
30%

Provides a list of
instructional strategies
the teacher will use in
lesson.
Provides strategies for
ELs to have access to
academic language
AND how vocabulary is
covered in the
lesson

Provides an anticipatory set, stated

objective, input - modeling, check for
understanding, guided practice,
independent practice and closure
activity for lesson with a written script
of what the teacher will say and do
including the times needed for each
step.
& describes how the academic
language AND vocabulary will be
taught and/or reviewed

Describes what the

students will do during
the anticipatory set,
stated objective, input
modeling, check for
understanding, guided
practice, independent
practice and closure
activities of the lesson.

Describes what the students will do

during the anticipatory set, stated
objective, input modeling, check for
understanding, guided practice,
independent practice and closure
activities of the lesson that are
student centered with multiple
opportunities for the instructor to
check for understanding and provides
times for each activity.
All instructional materials that are
needed to implement the lesson
listed and described.
& a 1-2 sentence brief description
of each multicultural resource is
provided AND at least one
resource is clearly incorporated
into the SDAIE lesson plan

Provides a title that is related to the

lesson activity, addresses the unit it
belongs to and in what curriculum grade
level & describes where it fits within a
unit plan, i.e. Third lesson in a 4-week
unit on Colonization.
Provides the day and time that the
lesson will be taught indicating the
period and the time needed, i.e. Sept.
2nd, period 3, 10:00-10:50, 50 minutes
The lesson not only describes the big
ideas - enduring understandings and
essential questions, but goes beyond
and rationalizes how the instructional
strategies and the student activities are
suited to meet the standard, objective
and assessment of the lesson.
The CA Content, Common Core and
ELD Standards (with appropriate
proficiency level based on identified
EL student information) are identified
and each is addressed in an objective
that contains a condition, verb, and
criteria. Each objective is labeled by the
type (cognitive, affective, psychomotor
or language), the number of the
standard it addresses and the type of
assessment is labeled (diagnostic,
formative or summative). In addition,
expectations are clearly communicated
to students with a rubric, a model or a
sample of student work.
The instructional strategies not only
provide a written script for what the
teacher will do and say in the
anticipatory set, stated objective, input modeling, check for understanding,
guided practice, independent practice
and closure, but scaffolds are provided
for English Language Learners and
students with special needs, i.e. graphic
organizers, flipped instruction
& provides description of how the
academic language AND vocabulary
connects to prior and future lessons
The student activities not only describe
what the students will do during the
anticipatory set, stated objective, input
modeling, check for understanding,
guided practice, independent practice
and closure activities, but describes the
criteria expectations that the students
will have to meet for each activity.

Title,
Curriculum
Area & Grade
Level
5%

Student
Activities
10%

Resources
10%

Approaching

All instructional materials

needed to implement the
lesson are listed.
An APA-formatted
reference is provided
for each of the three
multicultural resources
chosen that are

All materials that are needed for the

lesson are listed and provided, such as
power point, graphic organizer, sample
student work, assignment rubric, quiz...
& the lesson delineates how the
resources are used for equitable and
socially just teaching

SelfEvaluation
10% will be
deducted
if not included

appropriate for the

content area and
English learners
Provides a copy of the
rubric with the lesson
plan.

Provides a copy of the rubric with the

lesson plan that highlights or circles
the evaluated criteria for each lesson
component.

Provides a copy of the rubric with the

lesson plan that not only highlights or
circles the evaluated criteria for each
lesson component, but provides written
explanation for each area.