Certification Area:

EC-6, 4-8th ELAR/SS

This lesson is intended to be used for grades 6-8th. The state standards are for 6th
grade.
Lesson Topic:
Current events for the week of 5/14/17-5/20/17
The Week in Rap highlights some of the biggest news stories each week, provides
context and asks students to dig deeper. Give your students the big picture with this
Friday release that covers stories in world news, national news, science, tech,
sports, entertainment and news related to students.
This will spark student interest not only because students really enjoy watching
flocabulary videos (especially the week in rap videos) but also because it puts news
into a form that is easy for them to digest and is fun to watch.
Link to news story:
https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/week-in-rap-may-19-2017/video/
Objectives:
1. Identify the main idea of a news story
-state standards: SS(21) B, D; ELAR(13) A
-BLOOMS TAXONOMY: (Levels 1, 2): REMEMBERING, UNDERSTANDING
2. Determine the order of information in a news story
-state standards: SS(21) B, E; ELAR(13) A
-BLOOMS TAXONOMY: (Levels 3, 4, 5) APPLYING, ANALYZING &
EVALUATING
3. Explain why they think a news story is written in the order it is
-state standards: SS(21) B, D, E; ELAR(13) A, C, D
-BLOOMS TAXONOMY: (levels 2, 3, 4, 5) UNDERSTANDING, APPLYING,
ANALYZING, & EVALUATING
4. Evaluate how bias changes the main idea of a news story.
-state standards: SS(21) D, E; ELAR(13) B, C, D
-BLOOMS TAXONOMY: (Levels 4, 5) ANALYZING & EVALUATING
STATE STANDARDS FOR 6th GRADE:
Social Studies:
(21) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and
use information acquired through established research methodologies from a
variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
(B) analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect
relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making
generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions;
(D) identify different points of view about an issue or current topic;
(E) identify the elements of frame of reference that influenced participants in an
event; and

ELAR:
(13) Reading/Media Literacy. Students use comprehension skills to analyze how
words, images, graphics, and sounds work together in various forms to impact
meaning. Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater depth in
increasingly more complex texts. Students are expected to:
(A) explain messages conveyed in various forms of media;
(B) recognize how various techniques influence viewers' emotions;
(C) critique persuasive techniques (e.g., testimonials, bandwagon appeal) used in
media messages; and
(D) analyze various digital media venues for levels of formality and informality.
Materials:
Student journals, pencils, inverted pyramid worksheets, computer, Flocabulary log
in, Flocabulary video week in rap, Flocabulary video main idea, lyric notes,
Newspaper/ news website, extras of all handouts, review, whiteboards, dry erase
markers (extensions),
Links: (Print those with a * next to them)
week in rap: https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/week-in-rap-may-19-2017/video/
main idea: https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/main-idea/
*lyric notes: http://assets.flocabulary.com/pdfs/units/week-in-rap-may-19-2017-lyric-
notes.pdf
*inverted pyramid handout: https://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/pdfs/analyze-
news.pdf
review: https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/week-in-rap-may-19-2017/quick-review/
Warm Up:
Answer this in your journals: What is your favorite story? Why is it your favorite?
Summarize your favorite story in 2-3 sentences.
To open the lesson, ask students to think of their favorite story. Ask students to look
over their answers, and focus on when they learned the important information. (Was
it spread evenly throughout, condensed in the middle, or revealed at the very end?)
ask them: Did you learn the most important pieces of information all at the
beginning, in the middle, in the end or was it spread out throughout the story?
Have them discuss it with their groups.
Formative assessment: The warm up uses questioning strategies in the form of a
discussion, and written in their journals.
Instructional strategies: questioning, journaling, discussion, reflective thinking,
summarizing, think, pair, share; modeling, guided practice, & discussions
Blooms Taxonomy questions:
1. Who can remind us what the main idea of a story is? -REMEMBERING
2. What are some facts given throughout the story? -REMEMBERING, ANALYZING
3. What was the main idea of the FBI director story we read in the Lyric notes? -
ANALYZING
4. Determine the point of view, bias, values, or intent of the news reporters in the
lyric notes on the FBI Director story. -ANALYZING
5. What influences do you believe the new measures passed by the House of
representatives will have on our lives? -EVALUATING.
6. North Carolina tried to pass a voting law requiring people to show certain types of
ID cards to help prevent illegal voting; since there is already a law that says states
cannot do this, propose an alternative that North Carolina could use to prevent
illegal voting. -CREATING/SYNTHESIZING.

LESSON:
- Watch this video:
https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/week-in-rap-may-19-2017/video/
- Read the lyric notes as a class
http://assets.flocabulary.com/pdfs/units/week-in-rap-may-19-2017-lyric-notes.pdf
- Ask students what the main idea of the story is. (Blooms Taxonomy:
application & Analysis).
- Once students have identified what the main idea is, ask them when it was
revealed to them (ie: at the beginning, middle or end of the article/story/video).
- You may want to use the Flocabulary Main Idea video to review.
https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/main-idea/
- Once students have identified the main idea, ask them to say where in the
article the main idea is.
- They'll likely notice that the main idea is near the beginning of the story. Tell
students that journalists do this on purpose.
- Ask students to think to themselves, then pair and turn to their shoulder
partner, and then to discuss (Share) why, in news stories, all the important parts are
at the beginning. (They may say: To get the reader's attention, because most people
don't finish the article...)
- Introduce the inverted pyramid using the worksheet:
https://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/pdfs/analyze-news.pdf
- Choose one lyric from the lyric notes and read through that section of the lyric
notes again as a class. Discuss the main idea of that story.
-As a class, work through the story to determine the key details, and fill them into
the inverted pyramid.
-Discuss any ways that the story differs from that style, and why.
-After you're done, have students choose another news story of interest from that
week (in the lyric notes, or in a copy of the newspaper). Have them either fill out
another copy of the inverted pyramid sheet, or draw it in their journals and fill it out
there. This is their individual practice, it also serves as a summative assessment.
- Introduce the homework assignment.
Closing:
Bring a newspaper into class, or access a news website. Invite students to browse
the newspaper and find a story of interest that you haven't yet discussed. Have
students identify the main idea and share with the class.
Do the quick review at https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/week-in-rap-may-19-
2017/quick-review/
Extensions:
As a class complete the read and respond activity using whiteboards and dry erase
markers for students to answer the questions
https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/week-in-rap-may-19-2017/read-and-respond/
The following day students will be given a mix of real, and fake news stories (some
of them will be their own stories that they turned in). They will identify the main
idea. Then they will determine the order of the information (inverted pyramid
review). Then they will determine the validity of the article (if it is fake or real).
Assessment Plan:
WARM UP:
Answer this in your journals:
What is your favorite story?
Why is it your favorite?
Summarize your favorite story in 2-3 sentences.
To open the lesson, ask students to think of their favorite story. Ask students to look
over their answers, and focus on when they learned the important information. (Was
it spread evenly throughout, condensed in the middle, or revealed at the very end?)
ask them: Did you learn the most important pieces of information all at the
beginning, in the middle, in the end or was it spread out throughout the story?
Have them discuss it with their groups.
Formative assessment: The warm up uses questioning strategies in the form of a
discussion, and written in their journals.
instructional strategies: journaling, discussion, reflective thinking, summarizing.
DURING LESSON:
-Think, Pair, Share Activity.
-throughout lesson ask varying levels of blooms taxonomy questions. (Focus on
highest levels).
-After you're done, have students choose another news story of interest from that
week (in the lyric notes, or in a copy of the newspaper). Have them either fill out
another copy of the inverted pyramid sheet, or draw it in their journals and fill it out
there. This is their individual practice, it also serves as a summative assessment.
HOMEWORK:
-They will need to complete their second Inverted pyramid worksheet over their
chosen news article/ current event if they did not finish it in class.
-They must also create/write a fake news story. Fake news is very prominent lately,
especially on social media. Students will create their own fake news story using
what they learned in class (with the inverted pyramid). They can either hand write
their article or type it and print it out. Their articles must follow the inverted
pyramid sequence, seem like they could be real news (aka must be believable), and
at least one page typed or 2 pages hand written. On a separate sheet of paper they
will write the main idea of their article, and the important points (this is an inverted
pyramid review).
The homework is the majority of the summative assessment.
The following day students will be given a mix of real, and fake news stories (some
of them will be their own stories that they turned in). They will identify the main
idea. Then they will determine the order of the information (inverted pyramid
review). Then they will determine the validity of the article (if it is fake or real).