Lesson Demonstration

Lesson title: How Size Shapes Us

Content area/grade/SES: ELA/Grade 8/School District of Philadelphia
Objectives
o SWBAT
Recognize the correlation between body size and self-esteem.
Form an acceptance for all body sizes and promote positivity.
Standards
o CCSS.ELA.RL.6.8
Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the
audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create
such effects as suspense or horror.
Procedures
o Activating prior knowledge
When students walk into the classroom I will ask them to answer the
following journal prompt in their notebooks for the next two minutes:
Describe a time when you did not feel comfortable in your own skin. What
caused you to feel this way? Once the two minutes have passed, I will
share the following personal experience in response to the journal prompt:
I used to shop at Old Navy where my pants were a size twelve and I was a
large in womens shirts. One day I went into American Eagle because it
was nearby. I tried on a pair of pants that were a size twelve and a shirt
that was a large. Both of them were so tight that I wasnt able to slide
them up or over my body. I was so ashamed of myself in that moment
because I thought that I had gained even more weight. I went home and
ran straight upstairs to the scale in fear that I gained weight again.. It
turned out that I hadnt gained any more weight, which I was relieved
about, but I became confused as to why the American Eagle clothes didnt
fit properly. After thinking about it for a little while it hit me. Certain
stores, such as American Eagle, expect their customers to be smaller and
thus create their clothing accordingly; however, Old Navy is more
accepting of larger body figures and tailor their clothing accordingly. This
all happened before I lost thirty-five pounds. I am currently a size twelve
in American Eagle and a size eight in Old Navy. After I share this with
students I will call on a few of them to share their stories if they are
willing.
o Introduce new material
To start of this section of the lesson I will hand out a guided worksheet for
students to fill out. I will inform students that the way in which they
perceive themselves is known as body image. Body image is caused from
various different sources, and I will ask students to predict what some of
those sources are. I will be looking for answers including family, friends,
social media, television, celebrities, etc. From this point I will go ahead

and define self-esteem to be the worth that an individual holds towards

themselves. I will also explain that if someone has a negative body image
of themselves they will oftentimes have low self-esteem. A low selfesteem is particularly seen in those who are overweight or obese. I will
then inform students that those who are classified as obese are excessively
overweight and hold a great deal of body fat. At this time I will display a
picture of myself when I was obese, and explain to students that I had a
very low self-esteem and a negative body image of myself. In order to
improve the body image and self-esteem of those individuals who are
either overweight or obese I will advise students to build the confidence of
others and look beyond their size.
o Guided practice
Mirror messages are one way to boost the confidence of individuals who
do not think highly of themselves. They are notes that students are able to
post on mirrors throughout the school in order to boost the self-esteem of
others surrounding them. I will display a slide that has a collection of them
on it so students are able to grasp the concept. I will then ask students to
create a few on their own that we will go and post on mirrors around the
school. Students will be given five minutes to leave the classroom to go do
that and I will expect them to be back in their seats after the five minutes
are up.
o Independent practice
When students arrive back in their seats there will be a worksheet lying on
their desk with four different people on it. Students will be instructed to
say at least one positive about each person. After they are finished with
that, I will ask students to respond to the following prompt on the back of
their worksheets: How can we eliminate the act of judging others based on
their physical appearance as oppose to their personality? I will instruct
students that they will have approximately fifteen to twenty minutes to
complete this task and then I will be collecting it.
o Closure
I will introduce students to the text that we will be focusing on for the rest
of the unit titled, Future Perfect. I will display the cover of the book as
well as the big idea on the PowerPoint slide. At this point I will provide
students with a brief synopsis of what the book is about.
Assessment
o I will formatively assess what students know and understand based upon the
responses that they provide during the independent practice. Through this
practice, students will recognize the negative stigma associated with obesity via
their own thoughts; however, I am forcing them to combat that stigma with a
positive remark. In addition, by asking students to write about how we can
eliminate judgement I will be connecting with both the big idea of the unit as well
as the second objective of this lesson.

Materials
o Journals
o Pens/pencils
o Post-It notes
o Guided notes worksheet
o Worksheet (Independent Practice)
Integration of Technology
o I will be utilizing Microsoft PowerPoint throughout this lesson.
Differentiation
o There are certainly various tweaks that can be made throughout this lesson in
order to accommodate to the needs of all students. With that being said, when
students are asked to respond to a journal prompt, I would not expect students
with disabilities or ELL students to write as much as their peers. In addition, for
guided practice I can fill in the entire worksheet for some students as oppose to
them filling in the blanks. I could also add a few pictures to the worksheet and put
a (+) sign or a (-) sign in order to indicate which individuals would typically
possess a higher or a lower self-esteem.