Riley Williams

EDT 346A
December 12, 2017
Key Assessment: Directed Reading and Social Justice
Essential Question:
 The essential question that my unit focuses on is “Are men and women treated the same
in society/ held to the same standard?”. The goal of this unit is to bring awareness to
social justice issues happening in today’s society and a popular topic, that is getting a lot
of focus in the media right now, is gender biases. The vast majority of my students are
African American girls, making this an interesting topic to discuss with my classes. They
will be able to bring their experiences into the lesson to help answer the essential
question, whether men and women are held to the same standard in society. I, also, felt
this was an appropriate issue to cover in my class because many students are trying to
figure out who they are as an individual at this age. I have many strong willed females
and male students and am wanting to open up their minds to this idea and see how their
experiences play into the essential question. By teaching my students gender roles and
biases, I can help them become a more aware citizen and allow them to contribute and
become a productive member of society. I chose 3 different poems to focus on
throughout each of my lesson plans. These poems being attention to the gender roles and
standards put in place by society. Each of these poems will tie back to the essential
question, “are men and women treated the same in society/ held to the same standards?”.
Needs Assessment:
 The students in my class all have yet to pass the AIR test for language arts. Based on this
information, my students are not the strongest readers and have trouble comprehending
what they are reading. They are very strong at visualizing texts but lack the ability to
clarify their understanding in what they are reading. My students struggle with finding
the motivation to read. By creating a unit that focuses on issues they can relate to and find
interest in, I am hoping to motivate their want to read. For these lessons I plan to focus
the objectives around having students focus on author’s craft and making connections. I
believe by focusing on these two cognitive reading strategies students will be able to dig
deeper into the pieces of work we will be analyzing. They will be able to see the bigger
picture of each text and relate to them on a personal level.
Rationale for Reading Instruction:
 The main cognitive reading strategies that will be focused on will be analyzing author’s
craft and making connections. By having students relate directly to a piece of work, one
is able to motivate students to read. As Wilhelm states, “If we don’t access what students
are already interested in, and already know and can do, then we have no resources
available to us to use for helping them to learn anything new,” (Wilhelm 71). By
modeling how to make connections within a text, students will be able to engage in the
text personally and relate to it. As mentioned in Wilhelm, “…all engaged readers
participated in and visualized texts…they brought their own lives to the reading;
projected themselves into the textual world…” (Wilhelm 112). As this quote suggests,
students will engage their interest in reading and offer for discussions on how these
poems relate to their lives directly. Next students will be shown and practice how to
analyze author’s craft. This cognitive reading strategy will also allow students to dive
deeper into each text. By seeing the author’s craft students will see why things are
 included for certain reasons, such as wording, symbols, and images. Seeing how this craft
is utilized throughout each poem will have students see the author’s stance towards the
essential question. Throughout each of these lessons, think-alouds will be modeled for
students to understand the cognitive reading processes trying to be taught. These think-
alouds allow students to, “see what (they) do and don’t do as they read, which helps the
teacher assess students…” (Wilhelm 35). By incorporating think-alouds throughout each
lesson, the teacher is able to effectively model the skill trying to be taught. They are also
able to assess students and differentiate instruction based on their Zone of Proximal
Development.
Text Selection:
 The first text my lesson will cover will be the poem “Woman Work” by Maya Angelou.
This poem takes the stance of a woman and the struggles she goes through. It specifically
focuses on all the duties she has to fulfill as a woman in the society she lives in. The
poem portrays the everyday duties and chores that woman go through each day. Students
will focus on author’s craft during this poem, specifically paying attention to the format
of the poem, symbolism, and word choice and how these connect to the essential
question. The next poem I am focusing on is “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy. This poem,
also, focuses on the struggles women face in society. Specifically, this poem focuses on
the beauty standards that women are held to in society. I will use the cognitive reading
strategy of analyzing author’s craft to further analyze this poem. By modeling how to
pick out symbols in this poem, students will begin to understand the beauty standards that
women are held to by seeing the symbolism to Barbie. Lastly, students will read the
poem, “Our Roles” by StrangeMind. This poem focuses on the struggles both men and
women face in society because of their gender. It portrays the standards that each gender
is held to and what that entails. For this poem I plan on having students make
connections. Since this poem relates to both men and women, all of the students will be
able to personally connect to the poem. By relating to the poem on a personal level,
students will be able to see the deeper meaning and connect to the essential question.
Three Lesson Plans:

Lesson 1:
 Essential Question:
o Are men and women treated the same in society/ held to the same standard?
 Learning Objectives:
o Students will demonstrate specific cognitive reading strategies, making
connections and analyzing author’s craft, in order to recognize gender stereotypes
in society.
 CCSS Standards Addressed:
o CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text,
including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact
of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a
sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
o CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
 Opener/ Essential Question:
o Watch trailer clip of the Disney movie, Zootopia. This will get students thinking
about the Essential Question.
 https://youtu.be/jWM0ct-OLsM
o Students will participate in a Chalk-Talk about the EQ: “Are men and women
held to a different standard in society?”. This will allow students to begin thinking
about the similar themes in each poem and relate to them on a personal level.
 Instructional Strategies/ Learning Tasks:
o Students will each be given receive a copy of the poem, “Woman Work” by Maya
Angelou.
 https://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/maya-angelou/woman-work/
o Tell students we will be focusing on the author’s craft and to mark the structure of
stanzas that seem to be important to the structure and theme of the poem.
o Model this skill for the first 4 lines of the poem.
 Highlighting words such as “children to tend”, “clothes to mend”, “floor
to mop” and mention that these phrases rhyme, making them seem very
repetitive.
o Have students break into groups of 3 and finish marking the poem for important
factors that affect the structure of the poem.
o Once finished, have class come back together and have each group discuss how
they applied the strategy to analyze the poem’s structure.
 Give guided feedback on students’ findings.
 Ask students to think about why the structure of the poem changes after
Angelou lists the woman’s duties.
 Have a class discussion on why the poem switches structure when nature
is brought up.
 Accommodations for Special Learners:
o Visual Learners: Students will be able to watch the Disney, Zootopia, trailer to
connect to the Essential Question presented. Students who need a visual aid will
also be given the “Woman Work” poem with images describing what is
happening in the poem.
o Auditory Learners: Students will be able to hear the text read aloud and also
modeled aloud for students to listen and follow along.
o English Language Learners: Use scaffolding by incorporating the movie trailer
before the lesson that helps portray the Essential Question of gender roles. The
Chalk-Talk focusing on men and women being held to different standards in
society will also scaffold the lesson. Students will also be able to see the process
of analyzing author’s craft through a think-aloud model.
 Formative Assessments:
o Students will be informally assessed by having students practice finding author’s
craft on their own within the poem. The teacher will walk around while students
are in their groups and see students highlighting important rhyme schemes, stanza
breaks, etc.
 Extension:
 o Students will be asked to write a one-pager over their belief about gender roles in
society. They will be asked to incorporate how the author’s craft of the “Woman
Work” poem helped shaped the idea of women gender roles in society.

Lesson 2:

 Essential Question: Are men and women treated the same in society/ held to the same
standard?
 Learning Objectives:
o Students will demonstrate specific cognitive reading strategies, making
connections and analyzing author’s craft, in order to recognize gender stereotypes
in society.
 CCSS Standards Addressed:
o CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text,
including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact
of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a
sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
o CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
 Opener/ Essential Question:
o Student will participate in a class brainstorm. The teacher will split the board into
two parts, labeling one side “Girl” and the other “Boy”. Students will then shout
out words/ characteristics they associate with each gender.
o The class will then participate in a 5-minute class discussion focusing on how the
EQ ties into these gender based characteristics listed on the board.
 Instructional Strategies/ Learning Tasks:
o Students will be given a copy of “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy.
 https://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/marge-piercy/barbie-doll/
o Model a think-aloud with students to show how to make connections within the
poem, either from previous works, such as the video or poem used in the previous
lesson, or personal experiences.
 Do this for the first stanza of the poem as a model for the class.
 Example: “presented dolls…and miniature GE stoves and irons” is a
connection I can make because I played with dolls when I was a little girl.
Little girls are, also, usually expected to play with dolls.
 Put a box around these words and draw a picture or use words to remind
you of the connection.
o Have students work on making connections throughout the rest of the poem
individually using the skill that was just modeled.
o Have the class come back together and ask for a volunteer to share their
connections they found.
o Engage in a class discussion about how the “Woman Work” poem and the
“Barbie Doll” poem have similar themes shown throughout them.
 Tie back to EQ and the standards men and women are held to in society.
 Accommodations for Special Learners:
o Visual Learners: Students who need a visual aid will be asked to draw their
connections using the think-aloud strategy instead of writing it.
o Auditory Learners: Students will be able to hear the text read aloud and also
modeled aloud for students to listen and follow along.
o English Language Learners: Use scaffolding by having a Chalk-Talk focusing on
words that are associated with male and female genders. Students will also be able
to see the process of analyzing author’s craft through a think-aloud model.
 Formative Assessments:
o Students will be formally assessed by having the teacher collect each of their
poems to view their annotations and thinking process of making connections. If
their thought process is clearly evident and are making connections to outside
sources such as other texts or personal experiences, they will prove their mastery
of the skill.
 Extension:
o Students will be asked to write a reflective one-page piece: narrative, poem,
drawing, etc. that describes their own experience with gender roles in society.
They will be asked to either describe why they connect to the characters in each
of the poems or why they differ from them and why.

Lesson 3:

 Essential Question: Are men and women treated the same in society/ held to the same
standard?
 Learning Objectives:
o Students will demonstrate specific cognitive reading strategies, making
connections and analyzing author’s craft, in order to recognize gender stereotypes
in society.
 CCSS Standards Addressed:
o CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text,
including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact
of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a
sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
o CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
 Opener/ Essential Question:
o Discuss how the previous two lessons have focused on the struggles women face
in society and their role they play.
o Have a class discussion about what struggles men face in society and the role they
are typically supposed to play.
 Instructional Strategies/ Learning Tasks:
o Give students back their previous 2 poems “Woman Work” and “Barbie Doll” as
well as the new poem, “Our Roles” by StrangeMind.
 https://www.booksie.com/posting/strangemind/our-roles-280404
 o On the doc cam, have students and the teacher create a “What Do We Notice?”
chart.
 This will serve as a chart where students can make visual connections
between each of the poems and personal connections.
o Next, model reading the poem, “Our Roles”, annotating it for connections
between this poem and the previous 2 poems or personal connections.
 Model only the first 5 lines.
o Have students individually finish annotating the poem for connections they make
to it.
o Have the class come back together and get out their “What Do We Notice?”
charts.
o Discuss as a class the students’ findings/connections from their independent read.
Add these connections to the chart for students to see similarities and differences
between the poems.
 Focus on the structure and author’s craft of each poem as well and
compare how this effects the theme of each piece.
o Connect the poems back to the EQ and discuss gender roles as seen in these
pieces of literature.
 Accommodations for Special Learners:
o Visual Learners: Students who need a visual aid will be able to organize their
thoughts and see connections by utilizing the “What Do We Notice?” chart.
o Auditory Learners: Students will be able to hear the text read aloud and also
modeled aloud for students to listen and follow along.
o English Language Learners: Use scaffolding by mentioning the previous two
lessons and discussing the overarching themes of the poems. Scaffolding is being
used when having the discussion about a man’s role in society by having ELL’s
think back to the Zootopia trailer.
 Formative Assessments:
o Teacher will collect each of the students’ “What Do We Notice?” charts. By
collecting the charts, the teacher can see if they have a clear understanding about
making connections and analyzing author’s craft, based on what they wrote in
their chart. If their thought process shows clear comprehension and connection to
the poems, mastery will be achieved.
 Extension:
o Have students individually create poems of their own experiences with gender
roles in society. Have them try to mimic the author’s craft used in the previous 3
poems focused on throughout the lessons, conveying to them how author’s craft
can shape a poem. Their poems will show how well they are able to connect to the
previous 3 poems and how well they understand author’s craft and the effect it has
on a piece of work.
Summative Assessment
Students will be asked to write a 3 paragraph essay which analyzes the Essential Question (EQ):
“Are men and women treated the same in society/ held to the same standard?”. They will be
required to use evidence from each of the three poems, using their “What Do We Notice?” chart
as a resource. By reading students’ essays and their connections made, the teacher will be able to
recognize students’ mastery of analyzing author’s craft and making connections.