Concept Unit: Lesson Plan #2

Unit Working Title: This I Believe

Unit Big Idea (Concept/Theme): Status Quo
Unit Primary Skill focus: Questioning, personal essay
Week __1__ of 3; Plan #__2__ of 9; [90 mins.]
Plan type: _____Full-Detail ____Summary
Content Requirement Satisfied: N/A
Unit Learning Objectives:
SWBAT:
Cognitive:
1. Students will understand where the status quo comes from and how our
societal norms are impacted by
it.
b. Students will know that the status quo is influenced by:
i. Rules at school and at home.
2. Students will understand that asking questions can help us explore who we
are.
b. Students will understand that questioning laws and existing traditions can lead to
real change.
Affective and/or Non-Cognitive: None in this lesson.
Performance:
5. Students will be able to question the status quo.
b. Students will be able to consider current laws, political policies, and opinions
about the status quo
in America.
8. Students will be able to express the significance of diverse perspectives in
various communities.
c. Students will be able to reflect on one opinion of Americas political status quo
while considering
their own reactions to the post overall.
SOLs:

8.7 The student will write in a variety of forms, including narration,

exposition, persuasion, and informational.
h. Use computer technology to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish writing.

CCSs:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present
the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact
and collaborate with others.
Methods of Assessment:
Diagnostic

I will review blog comments

from the previous class and
provide whole class feedback
to ensure progress toward the
objectives (8)
Students will participate in a
human pendulum activity
where they will be asked to
agree or disagree with the
status quo in America on hot
button issues, (ex.
homosexuality, race, gender,
etc.) (1bii)
Students will participate in a
modified concept attainment
activity requiring students to
consider the difference
between current laws and
current political platform
policies. This will allow me to
assess what students already
know or dont know about law
and policies generally. I will
choose examples that are
thematically related. (1bii, 2b,
5b)

Formative

Summative

Students will complete blog

posts responding to the
Political Surprise Facebook
Post. They will need to state
whether they agree or
disagree, why or why not, and
also their general reactions to
the post. (1bii, 5b, 8c)
Students will complete blog
comments, participate in a
small group discussion, and
complete an Exit Ticket. I will
briefly review blog comments
again, but will provide more
support during small group
discussions. I will review Exit
Tickets to assess the different
perspectives of students when
completing group work. The
Exit Ticket will also allow me
to check in with each student
about how class norms are
going. (1bii, 2b, 5b, 8c)

Beginning Room Arrangement:

[Changes in this arrangement that become necessary later will be noted in the plan]
Students will begin class seated in their base groups. On one side of the room, a poster
labeled agree will be posted, on the opposite a poster labeled disagree.
Procedures/Instructional Strategies
[Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.]
1. [__10__ mins] Welcome/Blog Freedback:
At the beginning of class, I welcome students as they are entering and getting settled into
their seats for the day. I will remind them that they completed their first set of blog
comments for the unit at the end of last class and that I have some pointers and
reminders to offer. I believe that students will struggle the most with referencing specific
examples from their partners blog. I expect to see a few, I like what you said or Cool

post. I will explain that it is okay to say both of these things, but that they need to find a
couple of examples to support why the persons post is cool. Overall, I will complement
them on sharing the blogs and commenting in the right place and for the right person. I
will also let them know that some students were referencing at least one specific thing
form their partners post, but not everyone.
2. [__15__ mins] Human Pendulum w/ Class Discussion Warm-Up:
Human Pendulum (10 mins): Once students seem to have a better grip on the purpose and
what kinds of things they should be saying in their blog comments, we will begin a human
pendulum activity that requires students to pay attention to the opinions of their peers in
person. I will explain how the activity will work. I will read out a statement related to a hot
button political issue. For example, Gay rights should be legal. or Donald Trump will be
the best president. For each example, students will indicate whether or not they agree or
disagree with the statement. To do this, they will move to the agree or disagree side of
the room. This will help them begin to apply the concept of the status quo to relevant
issues in our nation.
Class Discussion to Debrief (5 mins): After the pendulum activity, the students will return
to their seats. I will lead them in a short debrief. We will consider the different perspectives
that have come out of this activity, making us realize that we are not all the same. We will
also see that not all of us agree with the status quo. This activity will simulate a sense of
questioning, getting students to think about what the status quo is in our nation, and
whether or not they actually align with it personally.
3. [__25__ mins] Modified Concept Attainment Activity:
Explanation of the activity (5 mins): Continuing with the political theme, the class will
complete a modified concept attainment activity. Normally, concept attainment includes
examples and non-examples of a particular concept, and the students are required to
determine how to define the concept based on what it is and what it is not. Instead of
explicit examples and non-examples, this concept attainment approach will include
examples of laws and political platforms of current candidates. While they will be
juggling two concepts technically, they will work together in their small groups to write
down characteristics of laws and characteristics of political platforms. This will reveal to
students the legal status quo in our nation and the ways that our presidential candidates
will strive to maintain or challenge that status quo. I will specifically choose laws that are
related to the popular political platforms.
Execute the activity (15 mins): I will tell the students that I will show them a series of
examples. I will tell them which examples are laws and which examples are political
platforms. I will tell them that they will need to work together in their base groups to
write down the characteristics of each on a handout, which will have a t-chart
distinguishing the two. We will move through the examples together.
Discuss & Emphasize Status Quo (5 mins): During the debrief discussion, I will ask
students specifically what they notice about the laws and our current status quo with
regard to the law. Then, I will ask them about the political platforms. Are the candidates
trying to maintain the status quo? Are they trying to challenge it? Do you think we should
maintain or challenge the status quo? In what ways? These questions will shape our
debrief to further process how the status quo plays out in our nations laws.
4. [__15__ mins] Blog Response to Political Surprise Facebook Post:

On the back of the T-chart from the concept attainment activity, there will be a brief
paragraph taken from a Facebook post describing our nations status quo. The post
challenges a lot of the things our nation claims to value and describes the status quo in a
much darker vein. Students will take 1-2 minutes to read this excerpt and respond to it in a
blog post. Their blog prompts will include:

Do you agree with this persons idea about the status quo in America? Why or why
not?
How do you feel about this post in general?

Students will have approximately 10 minutes to respond to these prompts in their blogs. I
will tell the students to reread their blog posts about Home Court if they finish writing
early. This will refresh our norms before providing peers with comments and participating
in a base group discussion.
5. [__10__ mins] Blog Comments:
Following the same procedures from last class, the students will read their blog partners
post and respond to it in the comments. I will refer back to our welcome discussion at the
start of class, reminding them to be sure to refer to specific ideas that their partners share.
Both the blog post and the comments will give students an opportunity to process their
thoughts about the challenging political issues we have been discussing throughout class
and to think critically about our nation. Because these issues can be sensitive, giving them
space to process personally, and to then read a peers thoughts before discussing will help
students carefully consider how to respond and respect their peers thoughts.
6. [__8__ mins] Small Group Discussions:
After students have had a chance to process their own thoughts and consider how to
respectfully respond to their peers ideas, they will have a chance to discuss this Facebook
post in their base groups. Having read at least one peers blog post, students will be able
to refer to both the Facebook post and the ideas that their partners have already shared.
This will give students several starting points for their discussions helping shape their
discussion of their feelings toward the status quo in America. I will remind students about
Home Court, and that they need to respect and support one another in sharing their
thoughts.
7. [__2__ mins] Exit Card:
Before the end of class, each group will fill out an Exit Card together to tell me what their
group talked about and how they feel the class is doing with Home Court so far in the unit.
I will collect these and review them.
Differentiated Instruction to accommodate one or more of my profiled students:
Sam He tends to work ahead of his peers, finishing early. During the blog time today, I
have given students specific directions about what they can do if they finish blogging
early. They can go back and reread one of their older blog posts that will be relevant to
class today.
Cody So far, I have adhered to a routine of blogging and commenting each class. This
will work well for Cody as it is a routinized activity in this unit. Further, giving him the
option to communicate with his peers via technology can be more helpful than verbal

communication due to his abnormal speech patterns. This also gives his peers a chance to
understand what he wants to say even when he struggles to literally say it.
Materials Needed:

Laptops or tablets
Agree and Disagree posters for pendulum
Powerpoint for Modified Concept Attainment
Scrap paper
Index cards for Exit Card