Brown Girl Dreaming

brown girl dreaming Unit
Lesson Plan 1
Preliminary Information
Name: Chloe Talbott Date: December 10th, 2018
Grade: 5th grade
Number of Students: 440 students Course/Subject: ELA
Class size: 18 students
Demographics of the class: Within this one classroom setting, there are a total of 18 students.
Thirteen students in the class are Black, three are Hispanic, and two are White. Most of the
students in this classroom come from a family who speaks English as their first language and the
language spoken at home. Three of the students who come from a Hispanic background speak
Spanish as their native language. Most of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch and
receive many of their basic needs from school.
Demographics and Related Neighborhood/Community Information:
Greendale Elementary School is located in the Northwest quadrant of their public school system,
and is a title 1 school. This elementary school would be considered an urban emergent school
because it experiences scarcity of resources and is located in a big city, but not too large to be a
size over a million. The population of the school is 34% White, 31% Black, 30% Hispanic, 2%
Asian, 2% two or more races with a total enrollment of 440 students. There is a high percentage
of colored students coming from many different cultural backgrounds, and a high percentage of
English language learners present in the classrooms. The majority of the students qualify for free
or reduced lunch, 75% of the students come from low-income families. Half of the school
population is female and half are male. Greendale is an extended time school, going from 8:00
am - 3:40 pm each day. Students are required to follow the dress code each day when they come
to school, which consists of solid colored pants and solid collared shirts.
Connections to State Standards
5.RL.RRTC.10 Read and comprehend stories and poems at the high end of the grades 4-5 text
complexity band independently and proficiently.
5.SL.CC.1 Prepare for collaborative discussions on 5th grade level topics and texts; engage
effectively with varied partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing one’s own ideas
clearly.
Connections to Common Core Standards
CCSS: RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, include
figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
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CCSS: W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Unit/Theme: Everyone has a story to tell.
Period/Time: Morning ELA block
Estimated Duration: 40 minutes
Where in the unit does this lesson occur? (Circle one)
Beginning of the unit
Middle of the unit
End of the unit
Structure(s) or grouping for the lesson (Circle any/all that apply)
Whole class
Small group
One-to-one
Other (specify)
Big Idea or Concept Being Taught: Understanding where we come from and how this affects
how we are seen in the world. Each of us have a story to tell about where we have come from
and who we are today because of this history. Through discussion, inquiry, and self-reflection
students will identify who they are as an individual and what we contribute to our communities.
The text will guide us through a memoir of poems about an African-American girl growing up in
a difficult part of American history.
Rationale/Context
Throughout the last few weeks the students have been studying people in our history who have
made a change in our world. All of the people we have studied have been people in history who
are adults making a powerful change in difficult times. These characters and people we are
reading about share a common trait, which is using their voice to be a change agent in our world.
We are starting a new book with the students to follow the continuation of studying people
making a difference during difficult times, we are going to read brown girl dreaming. This book
connects to the current social studies unit on the civil rights movement. Brown girl dreaming is a
memoir told from the perspective of a black girl in the 60s and 70s. The students will get a
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glimpse of what it was like during this time from a student their age, and what this girl faced in
her daily life. The book is told through a series of poems, which connects to the current writing
unit of poetry.
This current lesson is the first lesson in the unit to introduce the book, get the students to start
thinking about difficult topics that will be addressed in the book, and begin reading the book.
Through the assessment portion of the lesson plan, the students will begin to self-reflect on what
makes up their own identity and what their dreams are for the future for our narrative writing
assignment-culminating task.
Connections to Culturally Responsive/Relevant Pedagogy
Emancipating
Transformative
Student Goals
(Identify 1 or 2 goals for students; below your goals state how you will communicate the goals to
students.)
The students will be able to identify who they are and understand what their community adds to
our world. This goal will be met by students creating statements about where they were born?
What time, what day of the week, what month, what year? To whom you were born to? Who
lives in the community you were born in? What else was happening at the world during this
time? I will communicate these goals by explaining to the students that each person in our
classroom has a story to share. Explaining to the students, through our new novel we will hear an
author tell her story about where she comes from we will explore our own backgrounds. It is
important for the students to understand that sharing one's story and identity is a way to make a
change in our communities.
A second goal for student learning is the students will understand where their classmates are
from and how they contribute to our community. I will communicate this goal with the students
in describing how everyone has a voice and when we listen to other’s backgrounds we get a
glimpse of who they are. Everyone comes to the classroom with a different perspective and past
experiences, sharing these experiences brings us together in community rather than hate.
Understanding the cultures we surround ourselves with helps to see each person for who they are
not for stereotypes that often pervade our world. Through an in depth discussion about what is
taking place in our story, students will have the opportunity to discuss their thoughts and feelings
towards difficult topics that arise in the chapter.
Standards (Restate)
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5.RL.RRTC.10 Read and comprehend stories and poems at the high end of the grades 4-5 text
complexity band independently and proficiently.
clearly.
CCSS: RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, include
figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
CCSS: W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
(Pre/post) Assessment and Student Feedback
(How will you assess the extent to which students met your goals and how will you provide
students with feedback?)
The pre assessment will be done in the first few minutes of the lesson when the students come up
with “I am born” statements. The writing at the beginning of class will get them thinking about
who they are and what their community stands for in our world we live in. The pre assessment
will not be collected at the beginning of the lesson; instead it will be shared among the classroom
with peers and the teacher.
The post assessment will be collected the next school day after students have the opportunity to
discuss with someone at home about who they are. The students are given the opportunity during
the lesson to come up with three “I am born” statements about who they are as an individual and
as a collective community. After reading and an in depth discussion about the book brown girl
dreaming, the students will have the opportunity to revisit these statements to make changes
where they see necessary. The students will add one dream they have for themselves after a
discussion about what dreams mean to our lives. The post assessment will be used to guide
instruction for the rest of the unit in regards to students’ critical stance on who they are as a
person and in their community.
Student feedback is critical in this lesson because the students are putting their identities and
thoughts about difficult topics out in the open. The feedback during student and full class
discussion will be very positive feedback to make every student feel supported and important in
our classroom community. As students are sharing, the positive feedback will hopefully give
other students the confidence to share their ideas. The student feedback on the post assessment
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will be positive comments and constructive feedback questions asking the students to be more
detailed, descriptive, and more thoughtful.
Prior Knowledge and Conceptions
(What knowledge, skills and/or academic language must students already know to be successful
with this lesson?)
The prior knowledge that students need to be successful in the learning goals of this lesson is
knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement and poetry. The academic that is in the complex text is
domain specific vocabulary words, such as emancipated, enslaved, mirrored constellations, and
veins. These Tier Three vocabulary words would be taught prior to reading this book because the
students will have had previous knowledge of social studies and science. In the case of students
not having this schema, I would question the students if there are any words unfamiliar or ask
students to give a quick definition during the reading process. These vocabulary words are
crucial for student’s comprehension of the text so it is important that each student has the schema
to build on.
To be successful in this lesson, students need to have knowledge of poetry and how to read
poetry fluently. For students to have prior knowledge and ongoing knowledge about poetry, I
would like to teach this lesson in correspondence with a poetry-writing unit. This would help
students understand the text structure of the text allowing for students to focus on
comprehension. When students have schema to understand the text structure, they can allocate
more attention to their comprehension of the text.
Resources and Materials
Blank paper
brown girl dreaming books
PowerPoint
Launch
(How will you get the lesson started? What questions, texts, inquiry, modeling, or other
techniques will you use?)
Ask students to write three statements starting with:
“I was born”
Before the students begin to write use teacher modeling to give three examples of what these
statements should look like from the culture of the teacher. (I was born on a snowy March day at
Central Baptist hospital to two parents named Deidre and John. I was born into a family with one
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set of grandparents, a grandmother, and one sister. I was born into a community in Lexington,
Kentucky and into an era that was about to explode with technology.)
Prompt the students to write:
Where you were born? What time of day, day of the week, month of the year? Who you were
born to? Who was in your family when you were born? What community you were born into?
What else was happening in the world when you were born?
Teacher will share three statements of where they are from.
Allow the students time to share their responses with their classmates.
Make Connections to Culturally Responsive/Relevant Teaching
Emancipating
Transformative
Explore
(How will students engage with ideas/texts to develop understandings; what questions will you
ask; how will you promote question generation/discussion)
Look at cover of book:
What do you notice? What do you predict will happen? Discuss the cover of the book.
Show the cover of the book and tell the students what the awards on the front are from. Ask the
students what these awards show about the book we are about to start reading?
Show the students this video with the author talking about the book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2YJPGea94E
Read the first poem in the book. As we read think about what the author wants us to know about
the place in the world where she lives. The student purpose for reading is to listen to where our
character is from. What was she born into? Who is she? What is happening in our world when
she is born?
Turn and Talk Opportunities
Questions:
When does this take place? How do you know? What else is happening in America during this
time?
What does the author mean when she says the country is “caught between Black and White”?
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The author said she was born “as the South explodes”. The South did not literally explode in the
1960’s, so what do you think the author meant?
Let’s discuss this sentence: “Can grow up learning and voting and walking and riding wherever
we want.” Who is the we in this quote? In 1963, could African-Americans learn, vote, walk, and
ride wherever they wanted? Why do you think the author used “ands” instead of commas?
How do you think the setting of the story may impact the narrator’s childhood?
Closure
(How will you bring closure to the lesson?)
Discuss what dreams are using the quote below.

“Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.” -Langston
Hughes
What is Langston Hughes telling us?
Question the students to think about what dreams do for our lives and how they have an impact
on us.
Revisit you list of three statements starting with the phrase “I was born” to reflect if these are the
most powerful statements about where you come from and stand for who you are. Students are
prompted to make changes or add another statement where they see necessary. The students will
add on dream they have for themselves to the bottom on their list.
What Ifs
Be proactive: Consider what might not go as planned with the lesson; what will you do about it?
This lesson brings up difficult topics that students of color face in their everyday lives. With this
in mind, I would like to think about potential questions and comments students have about these
subjects. For example, if a student were to ask the question what is racism? I would like to stop
the class and instead of myself giving a detailed definition, rather ask the students what they
think racism is and how they see it in our world. By stopping the class and discussing these
powerful questions and comments, I would show the students that these topics have a place in
the classroom and are important to talk about. In hopes to give students the opportunity to share
some of their struggles and give them liberation to discuss their feelings in a safe environment.
Student Learning
The formative assessment at the end of the lesson will be collected the following day after the
students have a chance to take it home and speak to a grownup about their identity. In the
formative assessment, I will be looking for students who think critically about who they are and
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how this impacts how the world sees them. The statements about who they are should be
statements true to themselves and a critical stance about their identity.
The student learning will not just be demonstrated through the formative assessment at the end of
the lesson. Student learning will be demonstrated throughout the lesson through student
engagement in full class and peer discussions. Each student will be expected to interact with their
peers in a respectful and community like way, engage in discussion on topics, and participate in
full class discussion opportunities. By holding every student to the same expectations in the
classroom, I expect each student to walk away from this lesson having more of an awareness of
who we are as individuals and as a classroom community, how one’s story can impact the
community, and how dreams give our life a vision. To check for student learning during times of
student discussion, the teacher will be walking around with a clipboard with each student’s name
on it and noting comments and learning points. The clipboard that the teacher has to markdown
comments and student interactions will have each student’s name on it.
Connections to Culturally Responsive/Relevant Teaching
(What are explicit links to Culturally Responsive/Relevant Teaching?)
Teacher helps students make connections between their community, national, and global
identities.
Teacher sees teaching as “pulling knowledge out” instead of explicitly telling.
Homework/Next Steps
Students will be asked to share their “I am born” statements and a dream with someone at home
that evening. The students are asked to come to class with one more idea of a statement about
themselves or their community they live in. The goal for the students to share these with
someone at home is to gather more ideas about where these students come from in their family
history line.
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Lesson Plan 2
Grade: 5th grade
Twelve students in the class are Black, four are Hispanic, and two are White. Mot of the students
in this classroom come from a family who speaks English as their first language and the
language spoken at home. Four of the students who come from a Hispanic background speak
5.FL.PWR.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when decoding
isolated words and in connected text.
5.FL.WC.4 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when encoding words;
write legibly.
5.FL.F.5 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
5.FL.VA.7a Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies
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5.RL.KID.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a story, drama, or poem and explain how it is
conveyed through details in the text; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in

the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker
in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature,

including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band
independently and proficiently.
Estimated Duration: 1 hour
Middle of the unit
End of the unit
Whole class
Small group
One-to-one
Other (specify)
Big Idea or Concept Being Taught: Through reading the text with a peer and activating reading
skills, students have the opportunity to engage in a text more than they would in an ELA block.
Students will be paired with a peer to read the text orally, summarize, make predications, and
coach each other. The responsibility of act of learning is placed on the students, to learn with and
from each other. The expectations for students are extremely high in this classroom environment
for all students to succeed. Students have the an authentic high success reading experience with
their peer and a complex text.
Rationale/Context
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The rationale for this reading activity is to motivate students to participate in reading itself.
Students are given the time each and every day throughout this unit to read orally and work
collaboratively with a peer to make meaning of the text. Struggling readers in the classroom are
often times given limited opportunities to participate in valued reading activities. This reading
activity gives students below and above benchmark an opportunity to be successful with reading
and learn new information. When students collaborate in mixed groups, stories and cultures are
shared amongst one another to make create meaning and connections.
Comprehensive
Empowering
Encourage a community of learners (pg 69)
Teachers and student engage in a collective struggle against the status quo.
Student Goals
students.)
One student goal I have for using a peer reading activity with this book is for the students to
improve their reading abilities. This activity engages the students in the text using meaningful
reading strategies. As students reach higher elementary ages, the engagement and motivation for
reading declines in our classrooms. Inviting the students to read the book with peers and
converse about the text will hopefully bring engagement to the physical act of reading. The Peer
Assisted Learning Strategy in this unit will allow students the opportunity to engage in a text that
promotes high success reading opportunities for all students in the classroom. Through
engagement students are prompted to work on their decoding, fluency, and comprehension skills.
At the end of 5th grade, students are expected to read and comprehend a text fluently. This unit
will be scaffolding reading instruction to lead the students closer to independently monitoring
their reading.
A second student goal I have is for critical discussion through and about the text. Students will
be expected to understand the main idea, concept, and message of the text, and use text to backup
their explanation. Through peer reading, students have an authentic experience to discuss the text
with a peer and not always the teacher. In our classrooms, the text or the teacher are not the main
sources of knowledge in the classroom. When students have the opportunity to discuss the text
together they learn with one another and transform their existing knowledge to meet the new
knowledge.
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I will communicate these goals at the beginning of the lesson by explaining the expectations that
go along with peer reading. These goals will be explained by telling the students they are
expected to work together to read, comprehend, and discuss the text together. Through this
activity students will have the opportunity to share their ideas and rationals with each other.
Explicitly telling the students they need to be engaged with the text to be able to decode,
summarize, and think beyond the text. As an end result, the students will be able to make
connections to the text and their everyday lives.
Standards (Restate)
5.FL.PWR.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when decoding
isolated words and in connected text.
5.FL.WC.4 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when encoding words;
write legibly.
5.FL.F.5 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
5.FL.VA.7a Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature,

including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band
independently and proficiently.
The pre assessment in this lesson will be the student interactions and discussion findings after
researching their historical figure. The students will be asked to research a historical figure in our
text that the teacher assigns them. The students are asked to figure out who their person is, why
they are significant, and why their fist would be raised in the air like it is described in the text.
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After researching, the students will go around taking the role of their historical figure and sharing
their story with their peers. To assess this, the teacher will be an active participant in the
discussions making notes of student finding. At the end of the discussion round, the teacher will
call the students together. To assess student findings more, the teacher will ask groups to share
what they found when researching and to explain why the author chose the words they did to
describe their person’s fist during difficult times. While students are sharing their ideas, the
teacher will be making anecdotal notes for important comments students are making. The pre
assessment will be looking for clear descriptions about who these people are and an explanation
to why their fist looks the way is does during difficult times.
The assessment that will go along with the Peer Assisted Learning Strategy for reading will be in
several different forms to assess the whole child’s learning. During the reading activity, the
teacher will be walking around the classroom assessing the students focus, positive cooperation,
helping strategies, reader cooperation, coaching abilities, and reader responses. The teacher will
have individual score sheets for each student in the room with room on the sheet to make notes.
In a class of 18 students, it is difficult for the teacher to go around and make correct assessments
on each student. This will be an ongoing assessment tool for the unit.
The post assessment for each lesson will be collected at the end of each ELA block. The students
will be asked to write a quick write about their understanding, thinking, and feelings about our
using a prompt. These will be collected at the end of each lesson for a formative assessment tool.
The quick write medium will be a choice for the student depending on what they think the best
way to present their new learning is. The students will be expected to use a range of prompts
throughout the unit to think about our text.
The assessment in this PALS reading activity will be used to guide small group instruction for
class. The teacher is presented with a unique opportunity to use this ongoing formative
assessment to pull heterogeneous groups into a small group for explicit instruction on specific
reading strategies.
To give students feedback on how they are doing with the reading process and thinking about
and beyond the text, the teacher will give feedback on the quick write slips and hand these back
to each student the following day. It is critical for the students to get ongoing feedback during
this reading activity so they can improve their reading skills throughout the lesson. Formative
assessment and quick feedback will help the students to understand what needs more attention
and what they need to fix in their reading.
with this lesson?)
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This unit that is being taught will be towards the end of the school year. The reading activity
used in this lesson is a very advanced reading activity that asks a lot of the students and makes
them responsible for their own learning. The reading activity that Fuch’s Research Group
presents as a best practiced reading activity will be used in a classroom that has gone through
previous units and books that teach the students how to be success in this type of peer led reading
activity. Prior to this unit, students will have been explicitly taught what this reading activity
looks like, how to be a peer coach, and the behaviors that are expected of the students. The
activity of PALS will have previously been used in the classroom, so the students will know
exactly what to do in this learning activity.
brown girl dreaming book
Laptops or ipads
PALS teacher resource handouts and student cards
Quick write slips
Launch
To start the teacher will read the second poem in brown girl dreaming.
Divide the class up into groups. Each group with receive a person from the Civil Rights
Movement that is mentioned in our text (Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, James
Baldwin, and Ruby Bridges).
Each group will have about ten minutes to research using a laptop or ipad. Through their
research students will find out who their person is, why they are significant, and why their fist
would be raised in the air like it is described in the text.
After the ten minutes are over, each student will get a nametag and write their person on the
nametag.
Next, the students will walk around the classroom with their name tag on and take the role and
voice of that person during their time. The students will share their findings with the other
students in our class through conversation.
Through each conversation, the students are expected to understand the fist description of each
character in our text.
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The students will have about ten minutes to walk around and share their findings with the class.
The teacher will next bring the class together and discuss what they learned during this process.
Someone from each group will get to share about the person they researched.
Comprehensive
Real education is about extending students’ thinking and abilities.
When students are treated as competent they are likely to demonstrate competence.
Explore
The rest of the unit will be using a peer assisted learning strategy (PALS) to read the text and
dive into comprehension and discussion. PALS is a peer reading activity that is a researched best
teaching practice that engages students in oral reading and reading skills in groups of two. The
goal of this activity is increase the number of opportunities students has to read in the classroom.
It motivates students to read with accurate prosody, expression, and excitement when reading to
their peers in the classroom. The activities that go alongside reading are activities that all
students can be successful with. The teacher in the classroom is given ample opportunities to
target students who need more support to be successful in reading. Through the reading process,
students who are struggling readers are given more opportunities to participate in a valued
reading activity. The students work together to get through the text; therefore, promoting positive
social relationships in the classroom. The amount of high success reading is high and prompted
by high levels of fluent reading through repeated reading, teacher modeling, and self-monitoring.
The PALS reading activity looks like this:
Activity 1: Partner reading (10 minutes). The first reader will read for five minutes, while they
are reading the second reader will be monitoring their reading for accuracy and coaching them
with their fluency. After five minutes the roles of the students will switch, and the second reader
will read for five minutes, while the first reader is monitoring and coaching.
Activity 2: Retelling (4 minutes). The first reader prompts the second reader to tell what was
read in the first section of the story. The second reader then prompts the first reader to tell what
was read in the second section. The students are held accountable for what the other student read
in the sections, so they must be engaged and listening to their partner.
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Activity 3: Paragraph shrinking (10 minutes). The first reader reads one paragraph at a time and
then the second reader prompts the student to find the main idea. The first reader will state the
main idea of the paragraph. This activity will continue for five minutes and then the reading roles
will rotate and repeat.
Activity 4: Prediction relay (10 minutes). The second reader prompts the first reader to make a
prediction about what they are able to read. The first reader will make a prediction and read half
of the page. At the halfway page mark, the first reader will confirm or change their prediction
and continue reading. If they confirm their prediction to be true then they will make a new one. If
they alter their prediction they will continue to read as well. This will go on for five minutes and
then the roles will alternate and repeat.
At the beginning of each lesson, the students will be given a specific number of pages they need
to read for the day. This page number will provide expectations for how many pages the students
need to read and how focused they need to be. If the students are finished early, they will meet
with one other group to discuss the poems read for the day. The students will be asked not to
read ahead, so each group is successfully able to read the text at the same rate. Through the
interaction with another group, students should discuss what they read within the text and what
they discussed beyond the text. If students have lingering questions, they will be prompted to ask
them to another group when they finish their reading.
To keep the students engaged they will be awarded points for their hard work during this reading
activity. The teacher will walk around with a clipboard and mark points for students who are
actively engaged and working collaboratively with their partner. At the end of the week, students
will be rewarded for their points during the reading activities. These rewards would entail
activities such as lunch in the classroom, extra free time, or other rewards that can be rewarded
individually. The student’s scores will be wiped clean at the end of the week, allowing a fresh
start and opportunity for the students in the classroom each week.
The students will be paired up in the classroom through teacher-selected groups. High achieving
students will be paired with average achieving students, and average-achieving students will be
paired with low achieving students. The groups of students will be changed each week to provide
ample opportunities for the students to be paired with different students.
At the end of this lesson plan there is an example teacher resource that I would use alongside the
PALS reading activity to remind the students what they are supposed to be doing at all times.
This is a teacher resource that was shared with me matches the Fuchs Research Group’s outline
for Grades 2-6 Reading PALS activity. The resource includes student prompting cards, direction
cards, and reminders for expectations so the students have something tangible to check before
asking the teacher of what to do next.
This PALS reading activity will be used for the rest of the text. Through using PALS reading
activity students will have the opportunity to engage in reading strategies with a range of
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students in the classroom. Instead of the teacher orally reading the text and prompting student
questions, the learning in the classroom will be shifted to the student’s responsibility. All
students in the classroom will have the opportunity to be successful with their reading level and
discuss with peers.
All throughout the unit, the teacher will be monitoring student behavior and pulling small groups
to do mini lessons.
Closure
Each day to close the PALS reading activity, the teacher will pull the students back together as a
whole group.
The teacher will ask several groups to give one summary of all of the poems we read. The
students will be giving summaries for sections while reading, so this reading skill should be
improving as the unit goes on. As the students are voicing their summary, the teacher will be
writing the main events on the board to compare what each group got out of the reading for the
day.
The teacher will ask the students to ask any lingering questions they have about the book. If there
are lingering questions, the teacher will first ask the students to respond if they have ideas.
Through student ideas, the questions will be answered through a discussion.
The teacher will ask students to share one thing they learned from their peer, this could be able
their culture, an idea they had about the text, or a comment they made that stuck with them.
To close each reading day, the students will be asked to write a quick write about the text as a
whole up until the part we are on. The students will have the opportunity to pick what prompt
they want to use for their quick write. These prompts will be up on the screen for the students to
reference at the end of each lesson.
I’m thinking…
I’m wondering…
I’m noticing…
I’m seeing…
I’m feeling…
I’m understanding…
This quick write will be done independently at their desks. Since these quick writes are done
each day to end the PALS reading activities, the students will be challenged to write about all of
the prompts. The students may pick how they choose to answer these prompts. They may write
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their response at a formal essay, free verse poem, bulleted ideas, images in a sequence, or other
appropriate mediums.
The students will be given about 7-8 minutes to complete the quick writes. As they are finishing
up, they will be asked to find a peer they have not talked to for the day to share their writing.
They will share their writing and then listen to their peer share their writing. After they have
shared with one peer, they will turn their writing into the teacher.
What Ifs
The PALS reading activity is reading activity that really puts the learning responsibility on the
students. There are many problems that could arise during these activity times such as being off
task, not following along, and non collaborative peer interactions. To help promote on task
behavior the expectations will be stated firmly in the beginning of the lesson. The teacher will
explain to the students it is a a great opportunity for the students to get to read orally and work
with peers for this activity, and if there is too much off task behavior we will switch to a different
activity. If there are students who are off task during the reading activities, then the teacher will
ask them to complete these reading activities silent until they feel like they are able to read again
with a peer. To ensure students are actively participating in these reading activities the teacher
will be using a point system with notes for each individual student. These points will be
redeemed at the end of the week for rewards. Each week the students will have a fresh start to
have success in their reading activities. As students are reading with their peers, the teacher will
be actively monitoring students and looking for ways to give positive comments. It is key for this
reading activity to be successful, that the students understand the purpose of this reading activity
and understand how the expectations will help them be successful readers.
During reading, many difficult topics arise. If there is an important question or issue brought up
in peer or whole class instruction, the teacher will put a pause to the lesson and dive into this
topic using student voice. The teacher will not give definitions and only include their voice in the
topic, the students will be the main knowledge source.
Student Learning
Through the PALS reading activity students have an authentic experience of engaging with a
complex text with a peer. In most classrooms, the teacher leads the text and the students do not
have many opportunities to engage in the physical reading aspect. When students are able to read
orally, summarize, predict, and discuss the text with a student coach, they are given many
opportunities to improve their own reading skills. PALS most importantly give an opportunity to
all students no matter the reading level to be success with reading. Students who are struggling in
18
the classroom are given little opportunities to practice their reading skills with a partner and to
engage with a text. All students in the classroom are able to have high success reading
opportunities without lowering expectations for certain students. In discussion of the text,
students are able to use their voice in a supportive environment. Students learn with each other
and through other student’s stories and ideas.
At the end of each lesson, the students are pulled together to present their new knowledge for the
day and have the opportunity to ask any lingering questions they may have about the text.
Through this closure the teacher is able to check to make sure all students understand main ideas,
events, and concepts in the text.
Encourages students to learn collaboratively and expects them to teach each other and take
responsibility for each other.
Knowledge is continuously recreated, recycling and shared by teachers and students. It is not
static or unchanging.
Homework/Next Steps
The students will be asked each day to tell someone from another class, grade level, or someone
outside of school what they are reading about. Students will be challenged to tell someone else a
new thing they learned from our text and discussions in the classroom. The next day, the students
will have the opportunity to tell the class if they told someone else about our text and share what
their reaction was to our learning. By having students share each day, it will hopefully promote
other students in the class to engage in these next steps. Students will not be rewarded or
penalized for their “homework” challenge.
If this book was taught as a whole school read aloud, these next steps would be neat for students
to share their ideas with another student who is engaging in the same text
19
Lesson Plan 3
Grade: 5th grade
Twelve students in the class are Black, three are Hispanic, and two are White. Most of the
5.RL.CS.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative language with emphasis on similes and metaphors; analyze the impact of sound
devices on meaning and tone.
5.RL.KID.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or
drama, drawing on specific details in a text.
20
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in
a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences

how events are described.
Estimated Duration: 20 minutes
Middle of the unit
End of the unit
Whole class
Small group
One-to-one
Other (specify)
Big Idea or Concept Being Taught: Bilingualism in the classroom can contribute to
understanding.
Rationale/Context
Students in our classrooms come into our school as code switchers, but oftentimes this is not
presented in a positive way. The students in our classrooms who have the ability to speak two
different languages are often just asked to speak English in the classroom setting. When teachers
put down students native language, they are ultimately shaming students who know two
languages instead of celebrating them. I believe bilingualism to be a powerful tool in the
classroom that brings more knowledge to our learning. Using translation in the classroom is an
21
authentic teaching practice that incorporates various languages and comprehension tools. Since
our classrooms that so many brilliant students who can code switch from language to language, I
believe we should use their skills in learning. Just because our students are in environment that
ask them to speak English does not mean that is the only language that should be spoken.
Students who come from different cultural backgrounds sometimes do not have the schema or
background knowledge needed to understand what they are reading. Pulling students into small
groups to provide explicit instruction with schema and comprehension will help them to
understand what they are reading.
Validating
Teachers see excellence as a complex standard that may involve some postulates but takes
student diversity and individual differences into account.
Teaching views knowledge critically.
Student Goals
students.)
One goal I have for students in this small group instruction is to translate the text we are reading
into their native language to further comprehension. These students will use their native language
as a learning tool and strategy in the classroom. I want every student to walk away from this
lesson with the mindset that his or her native language is important and welcome into this
classroom environment. Students, who are able to speak multiple languages should be celebrated
by their teacher and classmates.
A second goal of mine is for the students to make connections from the text to their own cultural
backgrounds, if it is the same or different as our character in the text.
I will communicate these goals to the students by prompting the students to collaboratively work
together to translate sections of the text to their native language. During this small group
instruction, I will explain how languages have specific words that mean specifically something in
the context. I will tell the students when they are translating and collaborating on which words in
their native language best meet the English selected words, they are furthering their semantic
understanding of individual words and the text as a whole. Through this translation activity I will
ask students to make connections to emotions, thoughts, and events in the text that have
happened in their cultural history. This lesson will show students that I care about their cultural
history and how it gives them a voice in our communities.
22
Standards (Restate)
5.RL.CS.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative language with emphasis on similes and metaphors; analyze the impact of sound
devices on meaning and tone.
5.RL.KID.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or
drama, drawing on specific details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in
a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences

how events are described.
The pre assessment in this lesson will be the initial writing prompt to write the meaning of the
text selection in their own words after hearing the author read the selected text.
After translating the text selection into Spanish and discussing the translations with other native
Spanish speakers, students will have an opportunity to change their initial writing of what the
text selection means. Then after discussion about the student’s cultural history, the students will
write down one or two things they have a better understanding of. The translation sheet and
quick write about the meaning after student adjustment will be collected for the formative
assessment in the lesson.
The teacher will give students ongoing feedback about their ability to communicate and
collaboratively work with their partner, understand the text, and describe their cultural feedback.
It is important to give students feedback on their translation sheets and their writing about what
23
the meaning of the text selection. This feedback will focus on the quality of work, rather than the
quantity. The feedback will be positive connections and comments about how the students could
use their native language to further their understanding of our current text. The teacher will give
constructive next steps for students where they see necessary in their reading development.
with this lesson?)
To be successful in this lesson, students must know how to translate between the English
language and the Spanish language. Students come into our classrooms are translators for the
people in their community, so students naturally learn this skill when learning a second language.
Students must also have knowledge of their own cultural community. The skills of connecting
previously learned knowledge and new knowledge.
brown girl dreaming book
Teacher laptop
Translation handouts
Launch
This lesson will be taught about half way through the book to a small group of students.
Throughout the unit using the PALS activity, the teacher will have the opportunity to use
assessment to guide small group instruction.
On days that small groups are pulled, the groupings will be a bit mixed up since some students
will be pulled. The student’s partners who are pulled for small group instruction will be
partnered with someone else missing a partner. The students who are pulled for small group
instruction will then be partnered with someone from their group.
The goal for small group instruction is for every student to be pulled into a group once a week.
Thus enabling all students to be on the targeted page for the end of the week and for each student
to have explicit reading instruction into a skill they need further growth in. Small group
instruction once a week, allows for the teacher to really use formative assessment to guide the
instruction in the classroom and pinpoint targeted skills that some students are lacking.
24
Differentiated instruction for the small groups will help grow students in particular areas they
need more help in.
The group that I will be directly teaching in this lesson is the four students who speak Spanish as
their native language in the classroom.
The teacher will call these four students over to the table.
To start the lesson the teacher will show a video clip of the author reading a section of the text.
The text that the author is reading will be a section of the text that the students just read with
their peer the day or two before; therefore, they have had exposure to the section before this mini
lesson.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5P3Y06co54
After watching the video, the students will independently write down what they think this section
of the text means to them.
When they are finished writing what they think this section means, the students will share their
responses and discuss the section in English.
Validating
When teachers provide instructional “scaffolding,” students can move from what they know to
what they need to know.
Explore
The four students in the group will be divided into pairs to complete this activity.
The teacher will hand them a piece of paper that has the text from what the author read on the
video on half of the paper and blank lines corresponding on the other half of the paper.
“They look like regular people
visiting our neighbor Miss Bell,
foil-covered dishes held out in front of them
as they arrive
some in pairs,
some alone,
some just little kids
holding their mothers’ hands.
If you didn’t know, you’d think it was just
an evening gathering. Maybe church people
heading into Miss Bell’s house to talk
25
about God. But when Miss Bell pulls her blinds
closed, the people fill their dinner plates with food,
their glasses with sweet tea and gather
to talk about marching.
And even though Miss Bell works for a white lady
who said I will fire you in a minute if I ever see you
on that line!
Miss Bell knows that marching isn’t the only thing
she can do,
knows that people fighting need full bellies to think
and safe places to gather.
She knows the white lady isn’t the only one
who’s watching, listening, waiting,
to end this fight. So she keeps the marchers’
glasses filled, adds more corn bread
and potato salad to their plates,
stands in the kitchen ready to slice
lemon pound cake into generous pieces.
And in the morning, just before she pulls
her uniform from the closet, she prays,
God, please give me and those people marching
another day.
Amen.”
The teacher will explain that each group of students is going to translate half of this section of
the text into Spanish. The teacher will explain that when we translate words we have to think of
the meaning in the context we are using, not just the overall definition of the words. Reminding
the students that often times there is not a word for word translation, rather a phrase for phrase
translation.
The students will be prompted to work together to come up with a translation for the section and
a one-sentence summary in Spanish.
The teacher in this teaching situation does not have to be a bilingual teacher; a monolingual
teacher can facilitate this type of activity with appropriate prompting and questioning.
While the students are working the teacher should be rotating from group to group-questioning
students if they have found the right word or phrase that means the same thing in Spanish. To
facilitate student discussion, the teacher should be asking questions that are thought provoking
about the emotions and details in the text selection.
After each group is finished, the teacher will ask the students to share their translations with the
other group and explain how they agreed upon some of their words.
Ask the students to go back to their English summary of the text from the beginning of the
lesson, and ask the students if it is still what they believe the text to be about? Does it match their
Spanish summary of the text they made?
If some of the students say it does not match what they believe the tex to be about, give them
time to change their English or Spanish summary.
26
Closure
To close the lesson, I would like to include some explicit teaching about the schema the students
need to understand this text.
Using student voice and discussion to dive into the topic of making a change I would ask the
students:
When is a time in your life or family history you know of that some people were not treated as
equals?
What did these people do?
What did people around them do to support them?
What feelings and emotions are circulating around a community during hard times?
How can we connect this to our current text?
This discussion with the students would be open ended to see where the students found it most
meaningful direction to go in. The questions provided above would be a thought out structure of
where to go, probing questions for details, and then connecting these feelings and events back to
our text. During the student discussion, the teacher should lead with judgment about where the
conversation should go based on student responses. This type of planning allows for student
voice to be heard and then guide discussion.
To end this mini lesson, I would ask the students to write one or two things that they have a
better understand of through translating on their translation handout. This could be individual
words, character feelings and actions, or an overarching theme.
When the students are finished writing, the teacher will collect their work from the small group
instruction activity. The students will go right back into PALS reading activity.
What Ifs
During small group instruction, it is easy for the students who are not working in small groups to
get off task and think the teacher will not notice. To prevent this from happening the teacher
should directly remind the students that the point system for active engagement will be used
heavily. Small group instruction during the PALS reading activity will begin once the teacher
feels confident the students know the expectation for the activity.
27
Once again, in this lesson during the closure section heavy and difficult topics are brought up.
The teacher needs to be prepared for responses that students voice through discussion that might
need further discussion within the group or individually at a later time. If these topics need
further support and discussion the teacher should take the time to do so.
Student Learning
Through this small group instruction, students will learn how to translate sections of the text into
their native language. Students will learn that using translation as a tool in the classroom can
help their comprehension level of the text. The student learning will be shown in oral discussion
and written language. Bringing student’s native language and culture into the classroom will
promote student understandings and connections. Ultimately with the goal for bilingual students
to walk away from the lesson with a mindset that their native language is welcome in this
classroom and can be used as a learning tool.
Validating
Teachers see excellence as a complex standard that may involve some postulates but takes
student diversity and individual differences into account.
Teaching views knowledge critically.
Homework/ Next Steps
The students in this small group will be asked to share their translation with another member in
our classroom or outside our classroom. These students will be asked to read their translation in
the Spanish form comparing it to the English form.
28
Name: _________________
Translate
“They look like regular people
visiting our neighbor Miss Bell,
foil-covered dishes held out in front of them
as they arrive
some in pairs,
some alone,
some just little kids
holding their mothers’ hands.
If you didn’t know, you’d think it was just
an evening gathering. Maybe church people
heading into Miss Bell’s house to talk
about God. But when Miss Bell pulls her blinds
closed, the people fill their dinner plates with food,
their glasses with sweet tea and gather
to talk about marching.”
29
Translate Name: _________________
“And even though Miss Bell works for a white lady
who said I will fire you in a minute if I ever see you
on that line!
Miss Bell knows that marching isn’t the only thing
she can do,
knows that people fighting need full bellies to think
and safe places to gather.
She knows the white lady isn’t the only one
who’s watching, listening, waiting,
to end this fight. So she keeps the marchers’
glasses filled, adds more corn bread
and potato salad to their plates,
stands in the kitchen ready to slice
lemon pound cake into generous pieces.”
30
Lesson Plan 4
Grade: 5th grade
Twelve students in the class are Black, three are Hispanic, and two are White. Most of the
5.RL.CS.6 Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are
described.
5.RL.IKI.9 Compare and contrast stories in the same genre on their approaches to similar themes
and topics.
clearly.
31
5.SL.PKI.4 Report on a topic or text, or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using
appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas.
5.W.TTP.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and
information.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or

events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-

on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on
others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas

logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or
themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
Estimated Duration: 1 hour
Middle of the unit
End of the unit
Whole class
Small group
One-to-one
Other (specify)
32
Big Idea or Concept Being Taught: We all have the power to make a change in our
communities through our stories. I believe that there is good in each and every one of us. We
have the power to decide where our stories go and end.
Rationale/Context
To end this unit, which shows us dreams are possible and we can make a difference through our
stories, students will have the opportunity to share their story. The students will present their
writing about their own identity and how this affects the way they look at the world surrounding
us. After reading brown girl dreaming, students will think critically about their story and what
makes us who we are. Students will think critically about important themes and concepts in our
text to gain a better understanding of the text as a whole. This lesson is important for students to
share their learning and personal stories with their classmates.
Multidimensional
Student whose educational, economic, social, political, and cultural futures are most tenuous are
helped to become intellectual leaders in the classroom.
Students’ real life experiences are legitimized, as they become part of the official curriculum.
Student Goals
students.)
One of my student goals for this lesson is for all of the students to critically think about their
identity, influencers, and dreams for the future. Students will be presenting their stories to their
peers and have the opportunity to listen to their peers share. I will communicate this goal to the
students by explaining, as we saw in our text, everyone has a story to tell about who they are and
how they have come to be that person. We all can learn through each others stories and gain a
new perspective of what it means to overcome.
Another student goal for this lesson is for the students to walk away inspired to make a change in
our world. To think critically about the power they hold to make a change in our world. Through
the closure of this book unit, the teacher will facilitate a student discussion about how we can
make a change and make dreams come true for ourselves and the community we live in. I will
communicate this goal to my students by explaining that I believe in each and every one of them
and they all hold potential to be the change agent we need.
33
Standards (Restate)
5.RL.CS.6 Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are
described.
5.RL.IKI.9 Compare and contrast stories in the same genre on their approaches to similar themes
and topics.
clearly.
5.SL.PKI.4 Report on a topic or text, or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using
appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas.
5.W.TTP.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and
information.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or

events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-

on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on
others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas

logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or
themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
The assessment at the end of this lesson will be the summative assessment for the unit. The
students will be writing narratives in free verse that show their story. Students will incorporate
their knowledge of brown girl dreaming’s poetic structure and how the author shared her story
with us. The goal for the student to write a narrative of a moment or time in their life that affects
who they are today as a person. This moment or time can include family history, world history,
and other factors that influence who they are today. Incorporating their identity along with their
dreams for the future to share a story with their audience. The students will meet the learning
34
targets for this assignment by including their identity, events that shape who they are, and their
dreams for the future. Students should include people, places, and things that have inspired or
influenced who they are. The student responses will be graded using the six trait narrative
writing rubric
The teacher will provide students with feedback using conferences during the next few days.
These conferences will be one on one student conferences with the teacher to talk through their
writing with positive and constructive comments.
Students would also provide feedback for each other using two stars and a growth template. Each
student would say two things they liked, learned about, or connected to and then one area for
growth for each student. The students would have the opportunity to provide these anonymously
or with their name to their peers. Through this kind of feedback students would be able to tell
each other what they connected to through their story and what they liked.
with this lesson?)
To be successful in this lesson, students will need to have prior experience presenting in front of
an audience. The environment is very supportive for this type of skill because in 5th grade, all
students are still practicing this skill. Students must have an understanding of the text as a whole
and how to relate this message to specific quotes from the text.
Quotes on poster board
Student writing
Two stars and a growth
Dream poster board
Launch
Brown Girl Dreaming represents all our of lives no matter race, culture, or wealth. We all have a
voice to tell a story about who we are and how we have come to be.
Using the seven quotes below. The teacher will lead the students through a silent chalk talk
around the classroom. All of the quotes will be written on poster board and hung around the
35
room. Each student will get a marker and walk around the room silently. As they are walking
around the students will read each quote and add a comment about the quote on the poster board.
Every student will have the opportunity to write at least one comment on each quotation. If the
student agrees with another comment they can put a star or a check. If a student disagrees or
questions another student’s comment they may mark a question mark with an explanation of
their thinking.
“Maybe I’d never have believed that someone who looked like me could be in the pages of the
book”
“That someone who looked like me had a story.”
“When there are many worlds you can choose the one you walk into each day.”
“This moment, this here, this right now is my teacher saying, You’re a writer”
“Every fallen eyelash and first firefly of summer . . . The dream remains.”
“I believe that there is good in each of us no matter who we are or what we believe in.”
“I believe in one day and this little perfect moment called now”
The teacher will be actively participating in the chalk talk with a marker.
After about 10 minutes or so when students start to walk back to their seats the teacher will end
the silent chalk talk.
The students will be asked to grab a partner and take one more lap around the classroom
discussing the quotations with their partner. Pointing out the comments they made during the
chalk talk and what the quotations mean to them.
After each student has taken one more lap around the classroom, the teacher will ask the students
to be seated.
The teacher will go around the room discussing each quotation with the students. Asking
students to share powerful comments students added to the quotation. Or why they found that
quote to be meaningful.
The posters will be stay hanging on the walls for the students to continue looking at and thinking
about.
Multidimensional
36
Explore
This is the last lesson in the unit. Throughout the brown girl dreaming unit the students will have
been actively writing their own narrative memoir in free verse of a moment or time period that
affects who they are today during in the writing section of the school day. This writing unit
would have explicitly taught how to write in free verse and how this form of writing is a story.
Incorporating brown girl dream across curriculums challenges the students to take their reading
comprehension to text and make personal connections through writing. The overarching theme
of this unit is everyone had a story to tell, so it is only appropriate that students would have the
opportunity to share their stories to end out reading unit.
Each student will have the opportunity to share his or her story with the class.
To end the sharing experience, the teacher will share the free verse poem they wrote about their
own life.
After each student shares their story, the teacher will collect the student stories to be hung in the
hallway.
To think about all of the stories shared the teacher will ask the students to turn and talk to the
person next to them.
Turn and Talk:
What did you learn from a peer story today?
Who inspired you through their voice?
Who has a voice to share in our world?
After each turn and talk the teacher will ask a few students to share what they discussed in their
conversations.
Closure
To end the lesson, the teacher will project this quote onto the board.
“You decide what each world and each story and each ending will finally be.”
Ask the students to turn and talk:
37
What this quote means?
Who is the you in this quote?
What does the author mean by each ending will finally be?
How can we decide the story of our lives?
Ask the students to share their thoughts to each of these questions.
After the discussion, the teacher will put a poster board up on the board with the word dreams
circled in the middle. So if we get to choose what each world, story, and ending will be, what do
would we choose? We all have an important story to tell with an inspiring voice for change.
What would you fight for to make a change in our world? Each student will be asked to come up
to the board and write one dream they have for our classroom, school, community, or world we
live in.
The dream poster will stay hanging in the classroom!
What Ifs
Through student sharing, some students in the audience might not be respectful of their peers
when it is their chance to share. The expectations of what good audience members look like,
sound like, and participate like will be explicitly shared with the class before. If students are not
meeting these expectations, then they will first get a few reminders of what they should be doing.
Student Learning
Throughout this lesson, students first reflect on important quotes and themes from our book. The
students will have read and discussed the book in its entirety at this point, so they will have the
opportunity to reflect back on important quotes. The students will hear all of their peers’ stories
and then reflecting on how these stories affect each of their peers. Students will learn from their
peers and gain a respect for where everyone in the class comes from. Through sharing, students
voice their struggles and hardships to an audience of students who come from the same
community. The students have the opportunity to learn more about their peers and make personal
connections to students they might not have connected to before. Student learning will show for
each and every student. All the students in the classroom will be successful in presenting their
stories because this has been a major focus for students throughout the unit starting from day
one.
38
Multidimensional
Homework/Next Steps
Students will be challenged to share their story with someone outside of our classrooms and then
ask someone else to tell their story.
Dream poster
So if we get to choose what each world, story, and

ending will be, what do would we choose?
OUR
DREAMS
39
Two Stars and a Growth
Story Teller:
40
Name: _______________________________ Title: _________________________________ Date: ___________________________
Grade 5 Six Traits Rubric for Narrative Writing
Ideas Word Choice
6 The narrator tells about an experience using specific 6 The writer’s exceptional word choice captures the
details. The writing keeps the reader’s interest at all experience. Figurative language used well.
times. 5 Strong nouns, verbs, and well chosen adverbs and
5 The writer tells about an experience using many details. adjectives create vivid, clear pictures. Figurative
The writing keeps the reader’s interest most of the time. language is used.
4 The writer tells about an experience but more details 4 Adverbs/adjectives are used. Strong nouns / active verbs
are needed. would improve sensory images. Figurative language
3 The writer needs to develop the experience. Some attempted. Some repetition; try synonyms.
details do not relate to the story. 3 Strong nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are needed
2 The writer needs to focus on the experience. Details are to create sensory images. No figurative language.
needed. Much repetition.
1 The writer needs to tell about an experience and use 2 General and overused words do not create sensory
details. images.
1 The writer has not considered word choice.
Organization Sentence Fluency
6 The organization makes the essay easy to read. 4 The sentences are skillfully written with few or no
5 The beginning, middle, and ending work well. errors.
Transitions are used. 3 There are some sentence errors. More sentence variety
4 The essay’s beginning, middle, and an ending use is needed.
some transitions. 2 The response has many sentence problems. Sentence
3 The middle needs transitions and a paragraph for each variety is needed.
main point. 1 Sentence construction confuses the reader.
2 The beginning, middle and ending all run together.
Paragraphs are needed.
1 The lack of organization is confusing.
Voice Conventions
6 The writer’s voice sounds confident, knowledgeable, 4 The response has few or minor errors. Paper shows
and enthusiastic. evidence of proofreading.
5 The writer’s voice sounds informative and confident. 3 The response has some errors in punctuation, spelling or
It fits the audience. grammar. Proofreading is recommended.
4 The writer’s voice sounds well-informed most of the 2 The response has errors that may confuse the reader.
time and fits the audience. 1 The number of errors confuses the reader and makes the
3 The writer sometimes sounds unsure, and the voice essay hard to read.
needs to fit the audience better.
2 The writer sounds unsure. The voice needs to fit the
audience.
1 The writer needs to be aware of the audience.
Scoring Guide:
32: 100% 26: 88% 21: 78% 16: 68% 11 or below: Failing
31: 98 25: 86 20: 76 15: 66
30: 96 24: 84 19: 74 14: 64
29: 94 23: 82 18: 72 13: 62
28: 92 22: 80 17: 70 12: 60 41
27: 90

Brown Girl Dreaming

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Brown Girl Dreaming

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brown girl dreaming Unit

Name: Chloe Talbott Date: December 10th, 2018

Grade: 5th grade

Number of Students: 440 students Course/Subject: ELA

Class size: 18 students

Demographics and Related Neighborhood/Community Information:

Connections to State Standards

Connections to Common Core Standards

Unit/Theme: Everyone has a story to tell.

Period/Time: Morning ELA block

Estimated Duration: 40 minutes

Where in the unit does this lesson occur? (Circle one)

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End of the unit

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Connections to Culturally Responsive/Relevant Pedagogy

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Connections to Common Core Standards

(Pre/post) Assessment and Student Feedback

Prior Knowledge and Conceptions

Resources and Materials