Alexander the Great in Ancient Greece

Introduction:
John Muir Middle School is located in South Los Angeles, with major
intersecting streets of Vermont and Slauson Ave, right off the 110 freeway. The school is
in the inner city with the vast majority of students coming from a low-income level
household. The demographics of the school are 80.3% Hispanic and 19.2% African
American. The school is a Title I program and receives financial assistance to help the
students meet the state academic standards. The school provides free lunch for students
who qualify, which is the majority of the students. There is also a magnet program
incorporated within the school that collaborates during department meetings. The
proficiency levels of math and English Language Arts from the previous year are below
basic and are part of the school’s single plan to improve them.
I am currently teaching a 6th, 7th and 8th grade English Language Development
1, self-contained class. The only subject not being taught with me is physical education.
The demographics of the classroom is 100% Hispanics. All of the students are native
Spanish speakers and have been exposed to the English language for less than a year.
About six of the students have familiarity with native dialects like quiche. One student is
currently being referred for an Individualized Educational Program.
Students are grouped depending on their skills and mastery of the standard, when
working with the teacher. Even though, all students have been in the country for less than
a year, some students are able to transfer their Spanish literacy skills into the English
language. Therefore, Students have been assigned to three different groups. There is an
emergent, bridging and expanding group. Teacher works with the emergent group on a
daily basis, which are the students who have difficulty with the language and are not
meeting the language standards on various lessons. The bridging group meets with the
teacher every other day and is the group of students who can meet some of the standards
with less difficulty. The expanding group meets with the teacher at least once a week,
they are the small portion of the class who meet the ELD standards with little or
difficulty. During whole group instruction students groups are mixed. The students are
paired with different literacy backgrounds for support.
Academic Development
In order to help students achieve their full potential academically, the material
presented to the class is always scaffold to build background knowledge. Many of the
students have no prior knowledge of the content being presented, therefore is important to
build it before instruction. The engagement of the lesson is always a great opportunity to
introduce new vocabulary to students. The vocabulary is always introduced with a visual
and a sentence to put the vocabulary word into context. In order to help students learn the
new academic vocabulary students have to work with the vocabulary words as many
times as possible. The lessons are designed with sentence frames for students to use in
writing and speaking. The teacher always models the academic vocabulary and activities
during the instruction part of the lesson. She is also constantly checking for
understanding and having a lot of opportunities for students to check with each other
what is being instructed. If students are struggling, individual support is provided to
achieve academic development during the lesson.
Language Development
Planning for this class is focused on the ELD standard curriculum, where all
students are emergent in the English language. All students need to develop language
acquisition and expand in the four English language domains, which include reading,
writing, speaking and listening. Students were given the CELDT test at the beginning of
the 2017-2018 school year. All students scored 1 in all English domains. Students were
also tested by the teacher on their native language in order to obtain the student’s native
language proficiency. The majority of the students can read and write in their native
language, but not at grade level. However there is an exception of one student who
cannot read or write in his native language. Among peers, students communicate with
each other in their native language, with the teacher students use sentence frames
provided by the teacher to communicate in English. One strength that students have is
that they are all readers. Lessons need to focus on vocabulary development where
students engage in different activities to work on learning new vocabulary. Students also
need phonetic instruction because even though students are already readers there is no
transfer in some letter sounds. Lastly, another instruction that will benefit the students in
their speaking and listening is opportunities to use the language functions in authentic
communication activities.
Social Development
The social development of the students in the classroom appears to be at grade
level. The students know the classroom expectations and are able to follow them
accordingly. The students are also able to communicate respectfully within the classroom
setting. The majority of the students are comfortable sharing information with the whole
group, without feeling embarrassment of their language acquisition. However, there are
other students who do not feel comfortable and need extra support, when prompted to
share with the class. They are learning to work collaboratively with a partner and a group.
Students are also learning how to manage their own social emotions and their peers
through the Second Step Program. The program teaches students how to have empathy
for others and how to manage confrontational situations responsibly and is implemented
every Tuesday school wide.
Family and Community Contexts
The socio-economic and cultural context of the school is a low-income area.
According to the US census the crime rate of the community is high with an 8.8% of
violent crime rate per ten thousand people. The median household income is $31,236 and
about 86% of the students in the school are considered low income. The average
 household size ranges from three to five people in a single home. About only 3.7% of
residents 25 and older have a four-year degree, which is also low for the city of Los
Angeles and low for the county. As a class, only one student in the classroom has a
college graduate. The majority of the students in the classroom live in the United States
under political asylum. Many of students live with one parent and others live with a
relative because their parents had to stay behind in their country. The vast majority of the
students attend the after school program Boys and Girls Club because the
parent/guardian's work. Other students, mainly the boys stay to play soccer with their
peers.
The school requires teachers to teach the curriculum with fidelity. There is a year
pacing plan for every subject. The administrators in the school expect teachers to abide
by the pacing plan. Administration also requires teachers to submit a weekly lesson plan
that is detailed with objectives, standards and activities. There are specific requirements
that administrators look for in every classroom. For example, every classroom needs to
have posted the habits of mind posters, second step posters, school expectations posters,
and an outline of the agenda for every subject on a white board. The school also requires
to use CHAMPS as a behavior management strategy to be incorporated into the lesson.
Nevertheless, there is mandatory five-week progress monitoring assessment per grade
level. All of the factors mentioned affect my instruction at different levels.

History/Social Science Plan: Leader – Grade 6

Connections Connections

Big Idea/Concept:
Leader

Compelling Question: Rubrics:

What makes a leader great? SBAC ELA Informative
Writing 6-11
Essential Question/Inquiry Focus: Pre-Assessment:
Was Alexander the Great really a great leader? Formative Assessment:
Students will be formative
Key Questions: assessed through gallery
1. Who was Alexander the great? walk, charts and sharing out
2. How did Alexander build an empire? with the class when
3. How did culture change under Alexander's rule? prompted.
4. How did Alexander spread Greek influence in new cities he
founded? Summative Assessment:
Opinion writing using a
sentence frame.
History/Social Science Standards
6.4 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, Self Assessment:
religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Students will read the writing
Ancient Greece. piece to themselves and revises
for capitalization punctuation
7. Trace the rise of Alexander the Great and the spread of Greek and sentence structure.
culture eastward and into Egypt.

Peer Assessment:
Task Description: Students will revise each
The purpose of this unit is to help students develop 21st other’s paper for capitalization
century skills, which include collaboration, creativity, critical punctuation and sentence
thinking, and problem solving. Using these skills, students will structure.
analyze primary and secondary sources where they will read
various excerpts, literature and photographs about Alexander the Final Outcome:
Great. Using the primary and secondary sources, students will be Students will be able to use
able to analyze facts and opinions from different points of view. evidence from their primary
While at the same time, use the different sources to explore in and secondary sources to
depth the key concept of a “leader’ and determine whether construct an educated writing
Alexander was really a great leader. Students will engage in opinion.
different activities throughout the unit to answer the supporting
questions while learning about Alexander. Leading to the focused Thinking Tools:
inquiry question, where they will synthesize information using Charts and class discussions
graphic organizers and use their critical thinking skills to form
and informed opinion and to be able to answer the inquiry
question, Was Alexander the Great really great leader? And
perhaps the compelling question. Finally, students will
collaborate and engage in a community leadership role by solving
a minor problem within their community.
This is important because we want students to be
thinkers. Students should be able to use different sources in order
to synthesize information and create an informed opinion about a
certain topic. Students are the leaders of the future and our future
depends on them. Learning about Alexander the Great will
expand their knowledge about how leaders take action and can
overall affect the lives of other individuals.

SLO Student Learning Outcomes: (What will they be Key Words:

able to know and do,)
Students will be able to analyze information in write an informed Analyze
opinion. Write

Activating Background Knowledge:

Gallery Walk and Introducing Compelling Questions and
Focused Inquiry
Images of Alexander will be posted around the classroom.
(Appendix 1-4)
Students will participate in a “gallery walk” in groups of five.
This discussion technique allows students to be actively engaged
as they walk throughout the classroom. They work together in
small groups to share ideas. Students will use post its to label
what they see. Once all students had the opportunity to visit every
picture they will stand in front of first image the visit. The teacher
will prompt students to think about what the images have in
common. Students will have a small discussion and then share
their responses with the whole group.

Accommodations/Scaffolding: General Resources:

English Learners: 33 ipads, chrome books, videos,
Children with Special Needs: 0 projector,
Gifted and Talented: 0

Instructional Sequence Resources (at least one

primary source)

Engagement/Motivation
Then, teacher will ask students, ”What do you think about the
word “great”? Have students share with their group before
responding. Next, have students identify world leaders of today
that they consider to be great. Ask, what do you think might be
characteristics of a great leader?

Engagement/Motivation Objective:
Create a thinking map to around the
The teacher will then introduce the Compelling question, “ What compelling question.
makes a leader great?’ Students will work together to share ideas
and respond to the meaningful question. Teacher will record the
responses on a word web, using construction paper. After the
discussion, teacher will communicate the purpose of the lesson
and tell students they will be reading different sources about
Alexander to gain insight on his life as a leader. Furthermore,
explain to the students they will also be working on answering the
Focused Inquiry Question, “Was Alexander the Great really
great?”

Activity 1: Objective:
Students will create a sketch of the
story for comprehension.
Supporting question 1.: Who was Alexander the great?

Read the excerpt to students and pause after a few sentences.

Provide a white sheet of paper and tell students to create 8
squares by folding the paper. Students will create a Sketch to
stretch about the reading. At the end of the reading have them talk
with a partner. After students have been able to talk about their
sketch have them write a sentence under each. Lastly, have
students create a summary about the reading based on the sketch
Interactive Strategies-Think-Pair-Share- students will have the
opportunity to discuss and share what they learned from the with
a partner. English learners need this interaction for language
development.
Activity 2: Objective:
Inform students about the
Supporting question 2: How did Alexander build an geographical regions Alexander
empire? conquered.
Show Appendix 7 the map of Alexander's Empire. Using the
excerpt guide students through the map.
Interactive Strategies- Think-Pair-Share- students will have the
opportunity to discuss and share what they learned from the with
a partner. English learners need this interaction for language
development.

Activity 3: Mathematics Connection Objective:

Students will use the basic
mathematical procedure of the
Source ancient Greece: Scholastics Professional books The Pythagorean thereon to find the
Pythagorean Theorem missing measurement of a triangle.

The following exercises focus on the Greek mathematician

Pythagoras and the Pythagorean theorem. Is famous theory was
based on a kind of right triangle well known to ancient builders
and craftspeople. It was constantly used to build houses, temples,
and structures of all kinds.
Give students background about who was Pythagoras Appendix
8-10. Students will use the worksheets to perform basic
mathematical operations.

Mid Unit Motivation: Documentary about Alexander the Objective: Film will provide a vivid
image about he life of Alexander
Great

Activity 4: Supporting question 3: How did Alexander Objective:

spread Greek influence in new cities he founded?

Video Alexander the Great and the birth of Hellenism
After watching the video create a pictograph of how Alexander
spread Greek influences in new cities he founded. Have students
take a picture of the pictograph using their ipads and recount the
story to their partner. You can continue to have students do this
over several days. Invite students to present their retelling to the
classroom.

Activity 5: Objective:
Create a family home to school
connection where family members
Oral History- Family Interview can become in the student’s academic
life.
In order to make a home-school connection, students will
participate in a family interview. The interview will consist of
asking a family member of a leader they admire or know by
describing the characteristics of the individual. Prior to the
activity, the class will create interview questions with a partner.
Students will create a Google document to type the questions for
the interview; therefore everyone will have a chance to
participate. Teacher will help students decide what questions are
the most appropriate. If a student does not have a computer at
home a print out will be provided. Students will also be
encouraged to record the interviews to be shared with the class.
Students will then write a brief summary about the concept of
leader to introduce the topic to a family member.
The interview will be assigned over the weekend, so students can
have enough time to select a person to interview. Students will
then share their responses with the class. The students will
finalize the home connection by writing a thank you note to the
person they interview.

Other Possible Activities: Greek roots activity

Extension:
War Games
Students can work together in cooperative groups to design an
Alexander the Great board game. The game should teach or
review important biographical information about Alexander,
dates and battles, military strategies, related historical figures, and
geography.

Provide the basics—thin-tip markers or colored pencils, butcher

paper or poster board, and plenty of space to spread out. Invite
students to bring in small items that can function as playing
pieces. Use standard dice, or have students create spinners or
instruction cards that players use to move their playing pieces.
Encourage both original student artwork on the game boards and
reproductions of graphics from other sources.

Once each group of students figures out a goal for a game and the
physical format that the game will take, the students will need to
compose and print out a clear set of instructions. Then groups
should exchange their games and instructions and try out each
other's creations.

Commentary (Design of Instructional Sequence): How standards related to

instruction:

Writing Plan: (Opinion) – Grade 3

Connections Connections

Writing Prompt: Rubrics:

Was Alexander the Great really a great leader? Pre-Assessment:

(SLA) ELA/Literacy Common Core State Standards: Formative

ELD Standards: Assessment:
Reading Standards for Informational Text
Summative
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including Assessment:
figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.
Self Assessment:
Writing Standards
b Express attitude and opinions or temper statements with some basic modal expressions Peer Assessment:
(e.g., can, has to).
Thinking Tools:
ELD Listening and Speaking Standards
1. Exchanging information/ideas
Engage in conversational exchanges and express ideas on familiar topics by asking and
answering yes-no and wh- questions and responding using simple phrases.

5. Listening actively Demonstrate active listening in oral presentation activities by asking
and answering basic questions, with prompting and substantial support.
Students will engage in a conversion and answer questions to demonstrate understating.

Task Description:

Students will analyze 4 sources to describe whether Alexander was great or inadequate
leader. In order to answer the focus question, students will first examine the documents
independently to determine whether the source is a primary or secondary source.
Students will then read the excerpts of text to identify three reasons why Alexander the
Great deserves to be called the “great” and three reasons why he might not be called the
great. Next, students will sort evidence from the 4 sources into “yes great” and “not
great” categories. Then, students will identify one quote from each document that helps
answer the question, “Was Alexander the Great really a great leader?”. Finally, students
will use the evidence to support their opinions using sentence frames as to whether
Alexander the Great was really a great leader

SLO Student Learning Outcomes: Key Words:

(What will they be able to know and do,) Write
Students will know the difference between a primary and secondary source and be able to Primary sources
use the sources to write an opinion piece. Secondary sources
Opinion

Additional Information: Student will have previously learned

about the writing process and using evidence within an short writing. The lesson will be
shorter “mini lessons” as a refresher before students start their work each day. Students
will be using a sentence frame to write the opinion-writing piece.

Accommodations/Scaffolding: First, the writing prompt is scaffold so that students understand the General Resources:
elements of their writing and the order with which to write it. Second, students will be given time in class ipads
to complete a brainstorm in a collaborative setting. Each student must have their own work, however chrome books
students will be able to discuss with their peers. worksheets

English Learners: 33
Children with Special Needs:0
Gifted and Talented: 0

Instructional Sequence (Description of writing lessons) Resources

Lesson 1: Teacher will use the strategy See-Wonder-Think to analyze the art. Have Objective:
students analyze the art. Tell students to Think pair share and tell their partner what they This routine
encourages students t
see. Then, have students raise their hand quietly and tell you what they observed. Next, make careful
have students wonder about the things that they see. Tell students to write down one observations and
question about what they can observe. Ask students to turn to their partners and tell them thoughtful
their question. Have a student share their question. Lastly, have students think about interpretations. It
answers to the questions they asked, see if they can find an answer to their own question. helps stimulate
Try to figure out if there’s any evidence in the picture that might help them answer the curiosity and sets the
stage for inquiry.
question. Have students pick one question and answer as group. Have a group share their
thinking.

Source #1: Primary Source: The Alexander mosaic From the House of the Faun,
Pompeii, c. 80 B.C. National Archaeologic Museum, Naples, Italy (believed to be a
picture of the battle of Gangamela) (Appendix 5)

Lesson 1a:
Students will then write three reasons why Alexander the Great deserves to be called the
“great” and three reasons why he might not be called the great.

Possible responses:
He is a good leader because he is in war with his soldier.
He is a bad leader because he kills people.

Lesson 2: Objective:
Source #2 – For students to
Teacher will model a close reading strategy. Students will focus in significant details or patterns in order to determine purpose an
develop a good understanding of the excerpt. Teacher will discuss the text to underline sentences that state
when alexander appears to be a good leader and circle sentences that might state he was and inadequate notice features and
leader. Teacher will model how to write he citations on the corresponding boxes.
language used by the
author so that they ca
think thoughtfully an
Source #2:
“I could not have blamed you for being the first to lose heart if I, your commander, had methodically about
the details in the text
not shared in your exhausting marches and your perilous campaigns; it would have
been natural enough if you had done all the work merely for others to reap the reward. and why they were
used.
But it is not so. You and I, gentlemen, have shared the labor and shared the danger, and
the rewards are for us all. The conquered territory belongs to you; from your ranks the
governors of it are chosen; already the greater part of its treasure passes into your
hands, and when all Asia is overrun, then indeed I will go further than the mere
satisfaction of our ambitions”

Write three reasons why Alexander the Great Write three reasons why he might
deserves to be called the “great”. not be called the “great”.

Lesson 3: Objective:
Source #3– Teacher will model a close reading strategy. Students will focus in For students to
significant details or patterns in order to develop a good understanding of the excerpt. determine purpose an
Teacher will discuss the text to underline sentences that state when alexander appears to notice features and
be a good leader and circle sentences that might state he was and inadequate leader. language used by the
Teacher will model how to write he citations on the corresponding boxes. author so that they ca
think thoughtfully an
methodically about
Source #3
the details in the text
PLUTARCH Historian, Ancient Greece Excerpt from writings, A.D. 90, Translated and why they were
by John Dryden … used.
For when any of his friends were sick, he would often prescribe them their course of diet, and
medicines proper to their disease… He was naturally a great lover of all kinds of learning and reading;
…

… While Philip [Alexander’s father] went on his expedition against the Byzantines, he left Alexander,
then sixteen years old, [in charge] in Macedonia, … not to sit idol, [he] reduced the rebellious …, drove
out the barbarous inhabitants, and plant[ed] a colony of several nations …, [He] called the place after his
own name, Alexandropolis.

…When he came to Thebes, … the city … was sacked and razed. Alexander’s hope being that so severe
 an example might terrify the rest of Greece into obedience, … thirty thousand, were publicly sold for
slaves; and it is computed that upwards of six thousand were put to the sword.

Alexander, by founding more than seventy cities among the barbarian tribes, … suppressed their savage
and uncivilized customs … Those whom Alexander conquered were more fortunate than those who
escaped … [He desired to give] all the races in the world … one rule and one form of government,
making all mankind a single people. …

Write three reasons why Alexander the Great Write three reasons why he might
deserves to be called the “great”. not be called the “great”.

Lesson 4:
There will be a class discussion to synthesize the most use quotes into one graphic
organizer.

Source # Citation
Source # Citation
Source # Citation

Lesson 5
Responding to the Focused Inquiry Question:
Students will respond to the inquiry question using the following tool. Teacher will read
the worksheet with the class and model her thinking while writing her example.
Other Possible Lessons: Grammar review, in text- citations, primary secondary
sources

Commentary (Design of instructional sequence): How lessons are

based on needs of
students:
The lesson was
designed to meet
the needs of
students because
there were
organization frames
sentence frames
and pair sharing
experiences
throught the lesson

Writing Analyses:

Purpose Organization Evidence Lang/Voc. Conventions

1 1 1 1 1 0

2 1 1 1 1 0

3 1 1 1 1 0

4 1 1 1 1 1

5 NS NS NS NS NS

6 1 1 1 1 0
7 1 1 1 1 0

8 1 1 1 1 NS

9 1 1 1 1 1

10 1 1 1 1 1

• Purpose:

The student’s purpose was shortly stated in a manner of three to four words. Some of the

statement were, “ In my opinion Alexander was good leader” Students do not elaborate

on why the evidence is sufficient or what it means. For the most part students used

reasoning such as, “because he is a good leader” or “because he is greedy” Students have

a habit of not connecting ideas. For this reason, no student received a score of 4. Most

students in my class received a one.

• Organization:

Given the 10 student samples, the overall average of the organization score was 1

Points. In part because they were given a sentence frame and it will not be the same on

real testing. Students had a topic sentence to state their opinion, followed with a source

and citation, finalized with and reason.

• Evidence:

Given the 10 student samples, the overall average of the evidence score was 1 point.

This was the most difficult task for the students to complete. Although this task was

Scaffold throughout the social studies and writing lessons. Students should have been

able to go back their previous work.

• Lang/Vocabulary:

The students’ language and vocabulary in their opinion was very limited. Even though,

cognitively they are very developed and can present well-rounded opinions in their native

language, the students’ writing opinion in English is at Tier 1.

• Conventions
The students spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar help make a student's

were overall a 1. One of the strengths includes that all students started the paragraph with

a capital letter and ended with punctuation. However, on the weakness side, many of

them were missing punctuations at the end of a sentence, but continue with a capital for

the next sentence. There were also miss use of quotations and commas. For example one

student wrote, “ source “2,” you and I gentlemen have shared the labour.” The student

used the quotation marks on the number, instead of the quote.

Synthesis of Analysis:
The assessment gave me significant information about the students writing skills and how

they are prone to perform on SBAC. It informed me about individual strengths and

weaknesses, based on their conventions, purpose, organization, evidence and elaboration.

I learned that all my students have very limited writing skills and the SBAC is not

designed to assess their writing. A better form of assessment would have been the

CELDT opinion-writing rubric because it has a more measurable goal for

ELs. However, even though their writing skills are limited, it gave a sense of how their

writing can be improved. I regard them as writers and know that it takes time to develop

the skills in another language.

On the other hand, planning the lesson allowed introducing vocabulary using many

visuals to build a schema. Words were read and track for students and put into context.

During the implementation of the lesson, students were able to be successful because

different strategies and support cues were used to aid. I know, I was successful if the

students were engaged in the lesson and there was learning happening. I hoped for all my

students to meet the proficient criteria, but every individual is at different level of their

language development and is important to recognize it. Something I will do differently

next time will be supporting my students more during the sharing activity by providing

sentence frames in advance. Oral sentence frames given by the teacher are more difficult

to master because they actually need to see it ahead of time and have a process moment.

Last but not least, I have learned that modeling is a significant factor to be successful

in implementing a lesson with English learners. Even writing the name and date on paper

needs to be model, we cannot assume students have been instructed certain skills in their

native country. I will provide a sequence when modeling activities for the students by
using order words. Also lessons should be within their comprehension level. Learning a

new concept and skill at the same time it’s a great deal for English learners. Lessons on

expanding their vocabulary should be done on a daily basis and students should have

several opportunities to practice.

Next Steps:

Based on the students' writing samples, there are many areas that need improvement, but

I also have to take in consideration their limited language acquisition. Having this in

mind, a lesson that students will benefit from will be on conventions because it's an

important skill in writing. Even though, I repeat my self over and over again, about

having a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and ending it with a period, many

of the students are still omitting punctuation and capitalization. An activity for

conventions can include presenting students with writing samples to correct.

At this point the purpose and organization its very vague because they are using a

sentence frame, which provides the the majority of the organization for them. I believe

organization will have scored an NS for the majority of the students. Another challenge

for students doing the opinion writing was their anxiety about writing their ideas

correctly and writing the information in English. In order to get students comfortable

with the idea of just putting ideas on paper and not worrying about mistakes, I a may start

doing "quick writes." For "quick writes" I can give the students a topic and then tell them

to write as much as they can for five minutes. This will get them just to writing without
thinking too much about writing their ideas correctly and its also a great way to get them

engage in writing on an everyday basis.

Reflection:

Planning a unit for students who are at CELDT beginning level was challenging.

As I prepared for the unit, I thought about multiple ways of making the material

accessible for all learners in the classroom. Keeping in mind that their English language

acquisition is very limited. Most of my emphasis ways put on activities and strategies to

use for English Learners. I thought about the scaffold necessary on my behalf and how

much each individual will need my support. I also thought about the time, since many of

my students where being pulled out for ELPAC, RI and SBAC math testing. I knew that

by the time my students got back to they would be far behind.

Selecting the material was another factor, I made graphic organizer to meet the

need of the students and organize their writing. This was done to organize their evidence

and use it accordingly. I knew that for most of them it would be their first time writing an

opinion piece and citing their evidence to make an informed opinion. I thought about the

ways that it will be the most effective. Thankfully, I was taking TED 412 at the time. The

Professor had many graphic organizers that helped EL's be successful in writing opinion

pieces. I also decided to use the strategy by focusing on small excerpts of literature as the

primary and secondary source. At the bottom of each excerpt I will model with students

how to collect evidence that will help back up my opinion.

After the implementation of the lesson, I feel like there were a lot of challenges.

AS noted before, this was their first time writing an opinion piece with evidence. Two

big things I realized was, first that I did not allow enough time per activity, and two, the
assumption that some students had written opinion pieces before. I learned to never

assume and to add more time for activities, but due to the time constrains I was not able

to. Overall, I feel good about the lesson because my students walk a little bit taller that

day after leaving the class, knowing they had written piece of information with sources

and graphic organizers.