University of Idaho Lesson Plan

Name: Samantha Salazar

Date:12/3/15

Subject: 7th Grade English

Topic: The Impact of Sentence Lengths:

A Mini-Lesson of a Fiction Writing Unit

The big idea(s) or essential question(s)

Does writing have rhythm?
How can writers convey tone to their readers?
How do short and long sentences impact tone?
State of Idaho and/or common core standards addressed:
College and Career Readiness Standards for Writing:
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view
and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence
that unfolds naturally and logically.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to
develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey
sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory
language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization,
and style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing,
rewriting, or trying a new approach
Objectives (what the students will be able to do as a result of the lesson)
The students will be able to have varied sentences and be more conscious of
when they are using too many run-on sentences (a problem that the teacher is
trying to address through this fiction unit).
Diversity goals: (where relevant)
o Not relevant to this lesson

TSWBAT

Students will be able to identify where in their stories there

needs to be action and where it needs to slow down.

TSWBAT

Students will be able to shorten and lengthen sentences as

needed to convey their desired tone to an audience.

Materials and/or technology
YouTube Videos: What Does the Fox Say? by Ylvis and At Last by Etta James,
projector and projector slides, computerized/physical copies of their short story
rough drafts.

Activities/procedures (include anticipated time for each)

Introduction/activator
I tell the students that we are learning about sentence lengths, but backtrack to
the more interesting topic of music. I will play the two songs and ask them to
listen to the rhythms of each one and have them tell me how each one made
them feel (2 minutes). I will relate the rhythms and instruments of music to
sentence lengths by stating that sentence lengths are the rhythms of writing. It
is the tempo and tone of our writing. I give an example of a first draft and go
through the process of how to make sentences longer or shorter while at the
same time explaining that making a sentence shorter makes the tone more
urgent and fast paced while making a sentence longer slows down the action
and allows for more detail (5 minutes).
Class activities (what you/students will do)

Class activities (why you will do them)

Show YouTube videos

Give examples of rhythm to relate it to

writing

Give personal examples of writing

Shows students that adults have to

draft too, and that I am working with
them rather than just giving them work
and doing my own thing

Assess understanding by asking for

examples from their drafts

Kids at this age dont want to admit

whether they understand or not, but
some kids will participate if they think
they already have a good example to
share.

Closure/reminders
I ask them to rework two sentences in their rough drafts: one short sentence
and one long sentence where change needs to be made. I then excuse them to
the library to work. Here they finished the task I had given them and continued
drafting, calling on my mentors help as well as mine when they needed help
with ideas or general grammar.
Assessment (how you will know students met the objectives - include rubrics)
No rubrics. The assessment I had was to ask them for examples of short and
long sentences from their own rough drafts. Their answers showed me that they
understood the concept. Their work on their drafts in the library also showed
understanding of the concepts shown to them.
Accommodations/differentiation
N/A for this lesson

Reflection/evaluation (after lesson is taught)

I taught for two class periods, so I was able to give the lesson twice, reflect, and
improve the second time. The first time I gave the lesson, I was with a class I
didnt work with as often, so I wasnt nearly as comfortable, plus it was my very
first lesson so I was already nervous. I skipped one of the aspects of the longer
sentences (the part where its used to slow down the action), and I wasnt
adequate with assessment. Once I finished talking, I simply asked if the class
understood or if they had any questions. They just kind of shrugged their
shoulders or gave a thumbs up, which wasnt the response I was hoping for. My
practicum teacher gave me a better evaluation method to use for the next class.
I still made an impact with the lesson though. Students were asking for my
help, and in particular, one student who has been silent throughout the
semester has been asking for my help lately. He reads and writes below grade
level, and this makes him shy and unmotivated to work. He usually just sits in
silence and falls behind, but today, he asked for my help and we talked some
ideas through. By the time the bell rang he ran up to me and nearly pulled me
out of my seat in order to show me how much he had written. I told him I would
come back on Tuesday to help him finish up that part of the paper, even though
technically today was my last day to record hours. The teacher told me that she
has never seen him so excited about anything in her class and that he really
connected with me, which is what teaching is all about. I felt really good about
that. I felt like a real teacher in that moment.
The next lesson went a lot better than the first. I was more comfortable with the
lesson and with the class in general. I made more jokes, I didnt skip any of the
material, and instead of asking if they had any questions about the lesson, I
asked if they would give me examples of short sentences and long sentences
from their drafts. This was a great idea from my practicum teacher, and the
students responded more positively to it. In fact, they clapped at the end of my

lesson. Why dont you clap for me? my teacher whined. A girl in the back
laughed, Duh, you do this every day!
I learned so much this semester, especially about how much I truly want to
teach. I feel more confident in my abilities to plan and explain material to
students. If I can explain English to younger children, I can teach secondary. I
also think I would try teaching 7th grade, which is funny because I had originally
never fathomed teaching in middle school. The main thing I need to still work on
besides confidence and shaking my nerves is proper assessment. In textbooks,
assessments are explained mostly as standardized testing and the arguments
surrounding it, but today I got a whole new perspective on what assessment
means. There are many different ways to make sure that my students
understand what Im teaching, and I strive to learn more so I dont put my
students in an awkward position like I did with my first lesson today.