Introductory Week

Lesson Plan 1
Week 1; Plan #1 of 3; [90 min.]
Plan type: Summary
Learning Objectives (KUD):
1. Students will know expectations for interacting with peers in the classroom context.
2. Students will be able to introduce themselves to their peers and teacher.
Methods of Assessment
Formative:
Observation: I will observe to see if students are able to introduce themselves during the
name game and other contexts. [2]
Exit Card: will discuss the home court rule and the benefits and what would be an
appropriate situation to use it. [1]
Procedures/Instructional Strategies
Beginning Room Arrangement: The desks will be arranged in 4 rows of 5 desks with
assigned seats for the first day based on alphabetical order. Students will be able to find
their names on name tents I will print. I will also greet students at the door as they walk
into the room.
1.

[5 mins] Opening to the lesson: Teacher Intro (as example)

Start by modeling how to introduce ourselves. I will give a few fun facts, tell about where
I got my degree, talk about how I like to learn, and my school and outside of school
interests. Each student will each have the chance to do the same as well. I will then
model the name game that were about to play as a class.

2. [20 min] Name Games

Students will introduce themselves through a name game where they will say their name
and something they like to do (a hobby), as well as make a motion that represents that
hobby. Everyone, myself included, will stand in a circle so they can see each others
faces and make eye contact when sharing their names. Someone will volunteer to begin
saying their name, their hobby, and performing their motion, and then the person to their
right will speak, saying Thats [name of student], this person likes to [hobby], and Im
[name of student], and I like to [hobby] with the motions. I will stand at the end of the
line or circle so that the burden of remembering everyones names is on me.
3. [10 min] Class Rules and Norms - and Home Court
Together, we will have small group discussions (by combining rows together into small
groups) about the classroom environment that students wish to create for themselves
this year. Students will be numbered off into five groups of four students each, and they
will be assigned a piece of butcher paper and some markers and asked to brainstorm
different rules that they would like to see. Students will be reminded to phrase their rules
positively: Write what you would like to see happening rather than what you do not want
to see.

3. [10 min] Large Group Discussion

After about ten minutes of discussion, the group will come back together as a whole
class, and a full class set of rules will be negotiated during the discussion. Before the full
class discussion, the teacher will introduce the home court rule as a means of modeling
the proper presentation of a rule to the class. By the end of this discussion, there should
be at least a working list of rules for the year, and students will have the night to ponder
them and think of revisions. The working list will be posted on the class blog for students
to reference if they need to think about
4. [15 minutes] Human Continuum
I will draw students attention to the side walls of the room. On one side is a piece of
paper labeled Strongly Agree and on the opposite side is a piece of paper labeled
Strongly Disagree. I will project on the board and say a few phrases (i.e. I like
broccoli.) and students will move around the room to position themselves in line with
their view (somewhere on the continuum between strongly agree and strongly disagree).
This will help me and other students get to know each other and find commonalities.
After each phrase, I will ask students to turn to someone next to them and explain their
chosen room positioning. The questions will range from the silly (broccoli) to the more
serious questions that anticipate the upcoming unit (I consider myself to be an artist).
5. [10 minutes] Classroom tour
I will take the students on a tour of classroom to see where everything is. We will explore
the classroom library as well learn where the homework bins are. We will point out
where to pick up missed work, the announcement bulletin board, the free speech wall,
as well as go over entering/exiting procedure.
6. [10 minutes] Course tour
I will give a brief overview of our curriculum so they know what were going to cover this
year. I will also briefly introduce the first concept we are covering with a hook and make
reference to our unit on Art as Activism.
.
7. [10 minutes] Pre-Course (And Pre-Unit) Survey (homework if not finished)
Students will be given a fun survey created in order to gauge both their interests and
readiness/reading/writing lives outside of the classroom to complete for their first
homework assignment. Some of the questions will also anticipate unit concepts:
including attitudes about art, prior knowledge of activism, and personal attitudes about
their ability to change the world.
After students turn these in on the next day of class, I will look at them and make notes.
The information on these surveys will also be used as the basis for creating the base
groups. On the survey, there will be a place for students to write 2 songs for the creation
of a class playlist.

Materials:
Name tents
Unit Promotion video
Butcher paper and markers
Signs for the human continuum game
Course syllabus
Survey

Lesson Plan 2
Week 1; Plan #2 of 3; [90 min.]
Plan type: Summary
Learning Objectives (KUD):
3. Students will know where and how to seek support.
4. Students will understand that the classroom is a safe space where everyone is able to
freely express themselves and make mistakes without judgement.
5. Students will be able to seek and give support to and from each other as well as other
sources.
Methods of Assessment
Formative
Journal Entry: Students will write a journal entry in which they will report their knowledge
of how to seek support in the classroom and reflect on their feelings on it. [3, 4]
Community Map: Students will fill out a community map about home court and its
importance. [1 previous lesson]
Observation of student discussions: I will go around and observe student discussions
about the objectives. [4,5]
Procedures/Instructional Strategies
Beginning Room Arrangement: Students will find their name tents on their desks,
arranged in their base groups, which I will have formed based on their responses to the
survey given on the first day. Rather than in rows, the class will be in five tables of four
students each.
1. [10 minutes] Base group introductions and team building
Students will find their names arranged in their base groups, and I will explain to
students that I read their surveys carefully and that I put them in these groups based on
their responses. I will not tell them exactly why each group was put together specifically
(because there might not be a particular basis), but I will encourage them to get to know
each other more and see what they have in common. Students will then have some time
to get to know their base groups. A couple of fun questions will be posted on the board
as an icebreaker (such as: what is your favorite movie?).
2. [10 min] Think of group names and Announce
Students will then be instructed to think of names for their base groups and then they will
report them back to the class.
3. [20 minutes] Review of class rules, home court.
After students have introduced themselves to their base groups and created team
names, we will engage in a more in-depth discussion of class rules and home court.
We will revisit the class rules that we created the previous day and will address any
questions or concerns. We will then find a place to permanently hang our class rules.
After this, we will talk about the idea of home court more in depth. With their base
groups, they will talk about the benefits of holding each other accountable with the

home court system. We will then talk about how each base group is a community
within the larger classroom community within the larger school community, so these
larger communities are held up by support from smaller communities. As they talk about
these things, students will together fill out a community map in which they define the
importance of home court in all layers of community.
4. [8 min] Explain Writers Notebook
I will explain the purpose of the writers notebook and how its a place to keep ideas and
drafts. I will explain it is a way to see your progress over the class and see your growth
of the writer.
5. [8 min] Model Heart Map
I will then model how to set it up with the table of contents and they will start on their
writing territories. I will write my writing territories along with them so they can see my
writing process as well. This will be a targeted heart map that will guide students to
writing about personal experiences that are connected to issues of social importance.
6. [20 min] Have Students Write Own Heart Maps
Students will have time to work on their own heart maps, which will specifically be
tailored to have them think about social issues that are important to them.
7. [10 minutes] Explicit discussion of sources of support teachers
In order to help students connect with their new base group members, students will
brainstorm ways they will get support in their base groups and then share out in a classwide discussion. I will supplement discussion by recording down what students write and
also suggesting sources of support that I specifically want students to take note of (base
groups, myself, other teachers, school counselors, etc.). We will finalize the list as a
class.
8. [5 min] Journal Entry
Students will complete a journal entry in which they list their feelings about sources of
support and their confidence in asking for help
9. Closure
Thank students and tell them that they will learn more about the upcoming unit the next
day.

Materials:
Name tents
Markers
Class rules materials from last class
Communication box
Writers notebook (model and student materials)

Lesson Plan 3
Week 1; Plan #3 of 3; [90 min.]
Plan type: Summary
Learning Objectives (KUD):
6. Students will understand that its important to be able to adapt when situations dont go
according to plan.
7. Students will be able to appropriately respond to changing routines and unexpected
outcomes.
Methods of Assessment
Formative
Observation of skits and skit discussion [6, 7]
Procedures/Instructional Strategies
Beginning Room Arrangement: Students will be sitting in their base groups.
1. [5 minutes] Unveil Class Playlist
I will introduce the class playlist, generated by the songs listed by students on the
surveys that they completed on the first day of class. Each day, as students enter the
room, a new song from the playlist will be playing during the transition time at the
beginning of the class period. These will proceed in random order, and the student will
have a chance to acknowledge that it was his or her song.
2. [5 minutes] Brief review of class rules and home court.
This will be a very brief overview, as they have been covered during the last two class
periods, but this is just to keep these norms fresh in students minds. We will
3. [15 min] Skit Preparation
In their base groups, students will work out a skit in response to different situations in
which they encounter unexpected outcomes. Students will be given
4. [15 min] Skit Performances
They will then perform the skits and the class will discuss why thats an appropriate
response. The skits will have predetermined situations and it will be up to the base
groups to come up with roles and the solution to the situation.
5. [15 minutes] Talk about how to respond to change appropriately
Students will suggest other situations where they need to know how to respond
appropriately to change and/or unexpected events, framed by the skits just performed by
the class. As a class, we will compile a list of these other scenarios.
6. [10 minutes] Unit Promotion and Anticipation
To anticipate the upcoming unit, I will show students the unit promotion video on the unit
on art and activism. After this, we will have a brief discussion and I will answer some
questions about the unit.

7. [25 minutes] Journal writing and mini conferences

Students will be instructed to write in their journals about what they hope they will learn
about art and activism in the upcoming unit and when they are finished, they may quietly
explore the class library. During this time, I will pull small groups of 4-5 students each for
their first mini-conferences, where I will explain the conventions of writing workshop and
writing conferences, and also get to know students.
8. Closure
Thank students and tell them that they should be excited to start with the unit the next
day.

Materials:
Class playlist
Class rules
Skit planning worksheet
Scenarios
Unit Promo