Direct Instruction Lesson Plan ​Revised

Teachers: Subject:
Courtney Wiatt
Elizabeth Weis English—The Power of Perseverance
Shelly Smith

Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3.D Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory
language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.

Objective (Explicit):
Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the word “perseverance” through the
creation of a short, reflective narrative that utilizes specific word choice and sensory language.

Evidence of Mastery (Measurable):

¨ Include a copy of the lesson assessment.
¨ Provide exemplar student responses with the level of detail you expect to see.
¨ Assign value to each portion of the response.

Mastery-​ Students will be able to construct a short personal narrative that portrays a time in their lives
where they persevered. Students will use sensory language and precise words to portray the scene
clearly for the reader.

Proficient-​ Students will be able to produce a personal narrative of a time when they persevered,
displaying basic knowledge demonstrating they understand the word “perseverance”. Students will
explain the setting and key events within their narrative.

Novice-​ Student is able to define the word “perseverance” and provide examples within a text.

Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex):

¨ How will you review past learning and make connections to previous lessons?
¨ What skills and content are needed to ultimately master this lesson objective?
¨ How is this objective relevant to students, their lives, and/or the real world?

​Student will be able to not only know but apply what perseverance means in the real world. When
reading texts, students will need basic analysis skills, but will be guided through the process of reading
an excerpt from a short poem and understanding how the word choice describes a tough situation and
how the speaker got through. Students will need to know basic conventions and sentence structures to
write the narrative, and will learn to use descriptive and figurative language to craft a moving piece of
writing connected to the theme of perseverance.

Key vocabulary: ​Perseverance, vivid imagery, precise Materials: ​Laptop or tablet with Internet
word choice access
Opening (state objectives, connect to previous learning, and make relevant to real life)
¨ How will you activate student interest?
¨ How will you connect to past learning?
¨ How will you present the objective in an engaging and student-friendly way?
¨ How will you communicate its​ importance​ and make the content relevant to your students?

Using Mentimenter, ask students what words and phrases made them think of perseverance. Give little
direction. Create a word cloud to show the results. Discuss common themes throughout, and then talk
about word choice.

Instructional Teacher Will: Student Will:

Input ¨ How will you ¨ What will students be doing to actively
model/explain/demonstrate all capture and process the new material?
knowledge/skills required of the ¨ How will students be engaged?
objective?
¨ What types of visuals will you use?
¨ How will you address
misunderstandings or common student
errors?
¨ How will you check for
understanding?
¨ How will you explain and model
behavioral expectations?
¨ Is there enough detail in this section
so that another person could teach it?

- Students recalled synonyms for

- Move into a presentation with
google slides and Nearpod on
the power of word choice.
First, explain the dictionary
definition of the word
perseverance. Then, show
synonyms for the word.
- Present a couple sentences
with synonyms of the same
word “fancy” in the sentence.
Ask the students which one
sounds better. Explain what it
means to have a denotation
and connotation of a word.
- Present sentences with the
synonyms for ​perseverance
we identified earlier and ask
students which was better
based on the denotation and
connotation discussed.
perseverance when I showed
them the definition. They
reflected on the word cloud.
- Students identified which
sentences were “better” based on
the synonym included in them.
- Students voted on Nearpod
which synonym for
“perseverance” fit better in the
sentence stem provided. The
answer was dedication. Most
students answered correctly.
- Students helped identify the five
senses and how they could
create interesting word choice in
a descriptive paragraph.
 - Finally, discuss a “word cloud
rainbow” with varying synonym
degrees in each color. Give an
example of a sentence with
descriptive imagery in it.

Co-Teaching Strategy
¨ Which co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?

Differentiation Strategy
¨ What accommodations/modifications will you include for specific students?
¨ Do you anticipate any students who will need an additional challenge?

Guided Teacher Will: Student Will:

Practice ¨ How will you ensure that all students
have multiple opportunities to practice
new content and skills?
¨ What types of questions can you ask
students as you are observing them
practice?
¨ How/when will you check for
understanding?
¨ How will you provide guidance to all
students as they practice?
¨ How will you explain and model
behavioral expectations?
¨ Is there enough detail in this section
so that another person could facilitate
this practice?
¨ How will students practice all
knowledge/skills required of the objective,
with your support, such that they continue
to internalize the sub-objectives?
¨ How will students be engaged?
¨ How will you elicit student-to-student
interaction?
¨ How are students practicing in ways
that align to independent practice?

- Hand the students each a - Students received a cupcake and

cupcake. Ask them to describe
the cupcake using five senses
and specific word choice on
the computer without telling
me what the object is.
Facilitate answers by calling
out ones I like and giving
suggestions. I talked more
about word choice.
- Show them examples of
people that persevered and
on a collaboration board through
Nearpod typed out their
descriptions without using the
word cupcake
- Students ‘liked’ words that others
posted and discussed which
words most effectively described
the cupcake
- Students identified famous
people who have persevered and
shared. Some explained why
 facilitate discussion by asking
people to say someone
famous that persevered and
then describe that person
Co-Teaching Strategy
¨ Which co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?
Differentiation Strategy
¨ What accommodations/modifications will you include for specific students?
¨ Do you anticipate any students who will need an additional challenge?
¨ How can you utilize grouping strategies?
Independent Teacher Will:
Practice ¨ How will you plan to coach and
correct during this practice?
¨ How will you provide opportunities
for remediation and extension?
¨ How will you clearly state and model
academic and behavioral
expectations?
¨ Did you provide enough detail so
that another person could facilitate the
practice?
- Post an example of descriptive
paragraph on Padlet for
students to view and ask if
they like the one with or
without descriptive imagery
better
- Prompt students to write 3-5
sentences on a Padlet about
a time they persevered. They
are to highlight the descriptive
imagery used which I stated.
Ask them to share and as they
are typing, read out sentences
I liked and I monitored for
understanding.
they picked the person. When
prompted, they described the
famous person and their actions
using descriptive terms.
Student Will:
¨ How will students independently
practice the knowledge and skills required
by the objective?
¨ How will students be engaged?
¨ How are students practicing in ways
that align to assessment?
¨ How are students using
self-assessment to guide their own
learning?
¨ How are you supporting students giving
feedback to one another?
- Students read the descriptive
paragraph on Padlet and shared
why they liked the more
descriptive one better.
- Students wrote 3-5 sentences
individually on Padlet about a
time he or she persevered and
highlighted the descriptive
language he or she used
- Students were encouraged to
favorite one another’s sentences
that they thought were descriptive
 Co-Teaching Strategy
¨ Which co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?

Differentiation Strategy
¨ What accommodations/modifications will you include for specific students?
¨ Do you anticipate any students who will need an additional challenge?

Closing/Student Reflection/Real-life connections:

¨ How will students summarize and state the significance of what they learned?
¨ Why will students be engaged?

As a class, we reviewed sentences posted on Padlet. I called on a few willing students to share their
sentences and told them why I liked the imagery used. I explained again the importance of
perseverance, and explained why word choice and specific/descriptive imagery is important to any
piece of writing.