Lauren Ferguson

Expository Essay STEM Newspaper Tower

9th Grade Honors and Academic English

Lesson Plan Three 49 minute periods

Expository Essay STEM Newspaper Tower
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to:
-Work collaboratively to build a newspaper tower.
-Trace the process of building and rebuilding their newspaper tower through a 5
paragraph procedural essay.
-Write a Collins Level 3 essay with detail and focus.
PA Common Core Standards

Collaborative Group Work

CC.1.5.910.A
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions on grade-level topics, texts,
and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Writing
CC.1.4.1112.B
Write with a sharp, distinct focus identifying topic, task and
audience.

CC.1.4.910.D
Organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; use
appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text; include formatting when useful
to aiding comprehension; provide a concluding statement or section.

CC.1.4.910.E
Write with an awareness of the stylistic aspects of composition.
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms of the discipline
in which they are writing.

Conceptual Focus
Students will work collaboratively on a STEM activity which requires them to build a
freestanding tower out of two sheets of newspaper. This activity requires them to
listen to the ideas of others, problem solve, assess performance, and reflect on
previous outcomes. Students will then use this experience to fuel an expository
essay focusing on the plan, process, and outcome of the newspaper activity.
Materials

Four sheets of newspaper per group

A measuring tape
Graphic organizers for writing
Lap tops or iPads
Grouping
Students are in previously assigned groups of four.
Day 1
Motivating Activity (five minutes)
In your groups, brainstorm the steps of a good plan. Share out.
During Lesson (forty minutes)
Students will be provided with newspaper and 15 minutes to build a tower
(prototype). Students will then have five minutes to analyze their process, assign a
scribe to complete a graphic organizer, and be provided 20 minutes to rebuild their
tower, competing to see who has the tallest and most stable tower.
Closing (four minutes)
The group with the tallest tower will be recognized and clean up will occur.
Day 2
Motivating Activity (five minutes)
Collins Level 1 Writing Prompt In four lines, reflect on your building process
yesterday.
During Lesson (forty minutes)
All students will be provided with a graphic organizer to trace the process of
building and rebuilding their newspaper tower. The group will discuss their plan,
their process, and their outcome in a cooperative discussion. Students will then
individually complete their pre-writing graphic organizer.
Closing (four minutes)
Now that students have reflected on the building process of their newspaper towers,
students will rate their groups performance on a scale of one to five by a show of
fingers. One being a poor performance and five being a stellar performance.
Day 3
Motivating Activity (five minutes)
The class will be presented with the focused correction area rubric for their timed
essay. Students will be given the opportunity to ask questions they feel need to be
addressed before they begin.
During Lesson (forty four minutes)
Students will have one period to write a Collins Level 3 essay discussing the plan,
process, and outcome of their newspaper tower. Students may write using Microsoft
Office 365 or handwrite.
Paragraph 1: Introduction and Materials
Paragraph 2-4: Body-Plan, process, and outcome
Paragraph 5: Conclusion-Reflection and critical thinking
Closing (four minutes) Students will assess their performance with a 5 to 1
finger rating.