Alignment Lesson Presentation for (topic) Language Arts/Sustainability

Strategies used: Strategic Thinking, Systems Thinking, Futures Thinking, Values Thinking
Teacher: Casey Corriere
Grade: 7th
Standard:
English Language Arts - 7. W.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events
using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and wellstructured event sequences.

Science Concept 3 PO 5. Formulate a conclusion based on data analysis.

Objective (Explicit and Student-Friendly):

Explicit: Students will compose a 1-2 page well developed personal narrative which forms a
conclusion based on their own data analysis after playing the game of life.
Student Friendly: Today you will form a conclusion about poverty using the data analysis from the
game of life and write a 1-2 page personal narrative about your experience.

Model:
The teacher will start the class by referring the students to look at the whiteboard. Up on the board
the teacher will write some of the results from the previous days lesson.
*Day Four exit ticket was to write how much money the students had left.
The teacher will select random sticky notes and write the amount of money on the board keeping the
students name anonymous. The teacher will then ask the students to take a few minutes to think
amount the bills they had to pay yesterday. Would they be able to pay their bills with one of the
amounts on the board? If so which one? The teacher will then present the students with the four
types of thinking and their definitions; Values, Strategic, Futures, and Systems thinking. The teacher
will model the expected response by picking a dollar amount and choosing a way of thinking. The
teacher will then give an explanation as to how that way of thinking will help to prevent them from
losing all their money. The students will then be asked to discuss how the four ways of thinking might
help them finish their game of life strong.
The students will then be allowed to play two more rounds of the game of life. This will take
approximately 30 minutes.

Guided:
The students will finish their last two rounds of the game of life. They will calculate how much money
they have left or how much money they are short. The students will then find a partner to share their
end results with. Once the students have shared their results with their partner they will work
together to brainstorm how their decisions in the game affected the outcome.
If the student had money left how they could use the money to ensure they are planning for future

expenses using strategic or futures thinking. If the student didnt have money left what could they
have taken from their life to help bring their account positive using strategic or values thinking.
The teacher will be walking from pair to pair listening to the students discussions and offering help to
students who need it. The teacher will talk through the four types of thinking with each pair of
students.
The teacher will give the students scrap paper so as they work with their partner they can complete
the pre-writing for their personal narrative.

Independent/Assessment:
The teacher will present the students with the writing prompt for their personal narrative.
Prompt: What amount of money do you think a person needs to have in order to be socially accepted
as someone not in poverty?

The students will use what they learned in class as well as the data analysis of their game of life to
answer this question. Students will be required to write at least 1-2 pages and include the type of
values thinking they incorporated into their game of life. The student will also be required to give
examples of how their game of life was successful or unsuccessful. Students should conclude their
paper with a personal statement and solution as to how they will plan rather than just survive.

Differentiation:
The students will have to use two of the four ways of thinking in order to complete the assignment.
Students will be able to refer to the posters hanging around the rooms which define and give
examples of each way of thinking.