Name: Stephanie Weinkauf Grade: 8th / ELA

Topic: Nikola Tesla - The Greatest Inventor of All (4 Station Rotations)

1. CCSS STANDARDS
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.3

Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or
events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.4

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based
on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

2. OBJECTIVE(S):
Students will be able to master unit 5 vocabulary and recognize their synonyms.
Students will know how to properly use commas and semicolons in a sentence.
Students will know how to write a biography

3. LESSON SUMMARY:
I will start off with a bellringer. We will then read and annotate Nikola Tesla: The Greatest
Inventor of All Time as a class. Since this is the last section of Unit 5 we will be reviewing concepts that Commented [s1]: Use audio book
have been taught over the last month. To do this I will split the class up into 4 stations: vocabulary Formatted: Strikethrough
practice table, biography/autobiography writing table, conventions practice table, and Tesla experiment
table. We will have four, 25 minute long rotations and about 7-8 students in each group. Students will Commented [s2]: 20 minutes
have a checklist to carry to each station. They will be signed off at each station by myself or my co-
teacher when they have completed the assignment. Commented [s3]: Students will check them off as they
are completed, then turn in all assignments as a
4. RESOURCES: packet.

My Perspectives Book
Highlighter
Pen/Pencil
Vocabulary Game Cards: TABOO using unit 5 vocabulary
Timers
Bell
Plain Paper
Colored Pencils
Commas and Semicolons Practice Sheet
AAA Batteries
Copper Wire
Sand Paper
Small Magnets
Paper Clips
Station Checklist
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBF5LvNsIQ4
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2ZxvEoOvbY

5. PROCEDURES:
a. READINESS (ENGAGEMENT)
Bell Ringer- Students will come in, sit down, and answer the following questions on an extra
sheet of paper. - What is your full name, birthdate, and hometown. What are your hobbies? Name 2 big
events that have shaped you as a person. Name 2+ people that have influenced you in life. List 2+ major
successes in your life thus far. What are your future plans? (college, career, family, etc.) Commented [s4]: Birth, being born, growing up, etc
are not acceptable answers.
I will take attendance and prepare the stations while the bellringer is being completed.
b. FOCUS OF LESSON (EXPLORE, EXPLAIN, EXTEND)
(Explore: Read and Annotate- Whole Group)
Students will begin this section of the lesson by reading and annotating Nikola Tesla: The
Greatest Inventor of All Time. Each student will have their own copy to annotate as we read together. I
will call on people to read, pause every few paragraphs to discuss, and point out new vocabulary words. Commented [s5]: Audio book
We will briefly discuss biographies and what they include.
Formatted: Highlight
After we have read and annotated the story, I will show a quick video about Nikola Tesla.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2ZxvEoOvbY
- See Tesla coil video: Youtube- Tesla coil: AWOL Nation Formatted: List Paragraph, Bulleted + Level: 1 +
Aligned at: 0.25" + Indent at: 0.5"
(Explain: 4 Station Rotations)
Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman
I will then explain what we will be doing in each of the 4 stations I have set up: Commented [s6]: REMIND AFTER EACH ROTATION
Station 1: Vocabulary Formatted: Highlight

I have created a card game similar to Taboo to help the students review unit 5 vocabulary.

4 Students will divide up into 2 teams: Team A and Team B.

The cards are placed in the center and 1 person from Team A is the Clue-giver. This person chooses a
card and holds it away from his teammate so that they cannot see it.

Vocab cards have the vocabulary on the top of the card and the taboo words listed below the clue word.
Team B starts the timer and the Clue-givers then start by giving clues to try and get their team to say
the vocabulary word on the card without using one of the taboo words listed. If a taboo word is used
then Team B must sound a buzzer/bell which penalizes Team A and they have to put that card back in
the pile and choose a new vocab-card. Each time a teammate successfully guesses a vocab-word Team B
awards them a point on the score sheet. Play is continued until time runs out. Then it is Team Bs turn.

The team with the most points at the end of 25 minutes wins the round.

-Vocabulary quiz to come Remind them!

Station 2: Biographies

At this station students will be creating biographies. The students will sit down and hand their
bellringer to the person on their right. This person will be writing their biography using the
information presented in the bellringer and making up the rest. They will have 20 minutes to complete
the biography, then hand it and the bellringer back to its owner for them to read.
Station 3: Conventions Practice

At this station, students will complete their conventions practice by reading and editing silly
stories using commas and semicolons.

-Give word count and display criteria for each group.

(Extend: Tesla Coil Experiment)

Station 4: Tesla Fun Station

At this station we will be incorporating science and creating a simple Tesla Coil experiment.

-Explain (briefly) electromagnetic induction.

Students will work in pairs to follow instructions and attempt to recreate a simple electromagnetic
motor.

Background Information:
The power of the Tesla coil lies in a process called electromagnetic induction, a magnetic field that
creates an electric current. When electricity flows through a wound up coil of wire, it generates a
magnetic field. We are going to try and recreate this!

Step 1: Wind the extra long piece of copper wire around your thumb. Commented [s7]: Use single strand or 2-3 strand wire
Remove from thumb and tie off the end by wrapping it around the coiled wire 2-3 times.
Step 2: Take the smaller pieces of wire. Wrap the end of one piece three times around the coil, so
that it is secured to the coil, but still has about an inch of wire sticking out. Take the second piece
and attach it to the opposite side of the coil the same way you attached the first.
Step 3: Open up both paper clips so that they are S shaped.
Step 4:Tape 1 of the paperclips to the + side of the battery. Tape the other to the - side of the Commented [s8]: Offer AA and AAA batteries
battery.
Step 5: Place the magnet on the desk in front of you. Commented [s9]: Offer various magnet strengths
Step 6: Place the coiled wire on the paperclips by the smaller wires, so that the paper clip acts as
a hook to hold up the coil.
Step 7: Hold the battery, with the paperclips up so that the coil is hanging directly over the
magnet.
Step 8: Give the coil a gentle tap so that it spins. *Or move magnet back and forth under coil to
make it move

The coil should start spinning quickly like a motor, using the electrical current created by the magnet
and battery.

Sample video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBF5LvNsIQ4

-Collect ALL material after each rotation. Stop them 1 minute early to collect.

c. CLOSURE
Have students fill out an exit slip on the back of checklist answering the following questions:
What were your successes? What did you struggle with? What helped you succeed? Explain.
Remind students to write their names on checklists and turn them in to designated box. Commented [s10]: Including any handouts/paper used
6. ENRICHMENT
Station 1: Vocabulary
Students may challenge themselves by not using the vocabulary list to guess each card.
Students may create their own TABOO vocabulary cards with words from previous units
or the vocabulary wall.
Station 2: Biographies
Students may draw a portrait, or write a poem to go along with the biography they have
written/made. *Write obituary or make birth/death certificate.
Station 3: Conventions Practice
Students may come up with their own silly sentences for their friends to edit.
Station 4: Tesla Fun Station
Students may alter the experiment using larger or smaller coils, more than one battery,
etc.

7. ASSESSMENT
The checklists will be part of the assessment, as I will collect them at the end of class and they
will get points for what they have completed. *20 points/section + 20 for exit slip =100 total points
A rubric will be provided for the biographies and they will be graded on an individual basis.

RUBRIC FOR BIOGRAPHY:

CRITERIA 0 1 2 3

2 paragraphs + Not Less than 1 1 paragraph 2 or more

complete paragraph paragraphs

Answers all 8 Incomplete Answered 2+ Answers 4+ Answers all 8

questions questions questions questions

Formally written Nothing Informal / Mostly formal Formal and

in second person written First person / Second Second person
Person

Appropriate Nothing 10 + spelling / 5+ spelling / Less than 5

spelling/ Written punctuation punctuation spelling /
punctuation mistakes mistakes punctuation
mistakes

Total _____ / 15 points

 Station Rotations Checklist

Name:__________________________________ Date:_____________ Period: _______ .

STATION 1: Vocabulary (10 pts)

I was on (circle one): Team A Team B

Vocabulary Word List for Unit 5: (check off words you guessed correctly)
Engineer Decipher Prescient
Generator Invicinble Enable
Current Contraption Nievete
Deficiencies Newfangled Outcry
Triumph Ingenuity Foresight
Revolutionize Improvisation Controversy
Dismay Myopic Seminal

RECORD SCORE HERE:

Team A Team B

STATION 2: Biographies (10 pts)

I wrote a biography for _________________________.

STATION 3: Conventions Practice (10 pts)

____ Complete ____ Incomplete

STATION 4: Tesla Fun Station (10pts)

My partner was ____________________.

____ We got it to work!

____ We tried, but could not get it to work.