Teacher: Austin Simpson

Date: 25 Apr. 2016

School: Thompson Valley High School

Grade: 10th

Title of Lesson: Parallelism Pre-Test and

Content Area: English Language Arts
Introduction
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Content (CDE) Standards addressed by this lesson:
3.3.a.
3.3.a.i.
Learning Target(s):
By the end of todays lesson
I will be able to explain what I do and do not understand about the grammatical
concept of parallelism.
Todays Journal Prompt: Free Response
Before enlightenmentchop wood, carry water. After enlightenmentchop
wood, carry water. Zen Buddhist Proverb.
Step-by-step minute procedure: (50 min classes, daily):
Journal prompt free response (5 min.)
Parallelism Pre-Test (5-10 min.)
Parallelism lecture (15 min.) Video here
Work on parallel structure worksheet. I do-we do-you do. (~20 min.)
Assessments:
Pre-test
Parallel Structure WS
Rationale, why this lesson matters to teach:
Parallelism is a major concept in the English language and mastery of it can
dramatically improve sentence fluency. The CDE standards for 10th grade state that
students need to be able to demonstrate command of standard English grammar and
usage when writing and speaking; and first among the grammatical elements that 10th
graders should focus on is parallelism (standards 3.3.a. and 3.3.a.i.).
Not only is parallelism a key focus in the 10th grade ELA standards, but in the
month that I have been at TVHS, it is clear that there is a need for further parallel
structure instruction. Student writing is riddled with verb tense switches and,
predominantly, with lists that are not parallel (e.g. trains and a bus are public
transportation rather than trains and buses are public transportation). Parallelism is an
easy grammatical element to lose track of, especially when trying to construct longer,
more complex sentences.