CWT: Personal Narrative Writing Stations & Introduction to Dystopian Literature

Name: Christina YeJi Lee Grade: 8th grade

Unit: Narrative Writing and Dystopian Literature Time Allotted: 70 minutes
Lesson Topic: CWT: Personal Narrative Writing Stations & Introduction to Dystopian
Literature

Context for Learning:

Students have already written the hook and climax for their assigned Common Writing
Task: Personal Narrative. Students will be given 30 minutes of the class period to work on their
final drafts of the Personal Narrative, which will be due that evening through Google Classroom.
For students that have already completed the Personal Narrative, there will be self and peer
review stations. The purpose of the writing stations is to allot class time for students to work on
their Personal Narratives. There will be Chromebooks available to all students so that they can
work on their assignment on Google Classroom. Students have assigned seats; however, for
independent writing time, they are allowed to sit anywhere around the room (there are
comfortable chairs and cushions on the floor) as long as they stay on task.
After the writing workshop, the class will transition into an introductory lesson to
dystopian literature. The purpose of this lesson is to get students thinking about the
characteristics of dystopia. Students will most likely already be familiar with the dystopian genre
through novels and movies like The Hunger Games or The Divergent series. However, they may
not know all of the elements that compose the dystopian genre. Students will listen and read
along to the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut and then will have time to get
into groups to discuss the characteristics of dystopia together. Students will be sitting at their
assigned seats while the story is being read through a Youtube video on the Promethean board.
They will be writing down 3 characteristics of dystopia on an index card, which will be collected
as an exit card.

NCTE/IRA Standards:
5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process
elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and
punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss
print and non-print texts.
11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety
of literacy communities.

Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards:

W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

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RL1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from
it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the
text.
RL2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the
key supporting details and ideas.

Objectives:
Students will be able to complete and turn in their CWT: Personal Narrative by the end of class.
Students will turn in an exit card correctly identifying 3 characteristics of dystopian literature.

Materials: Chromebooks, Promethean board, Lesson PPT, handouts of “Harrison Bergeron” by

Kurt Vonnegut, Youtube video of “Harrison Bergeron” reading, handouts of fill-in-the-blank
dystopian characteristics (on green paper)

Proactive Behavior Management: On the Promethean board, there will be an “Entering the
Classroom” procedure where students are expected to come in silently, turn in their homework,
check their folders and take their English journals, and read quietly. Students have already
practiced the procedure at the beginning of the year and are used to the routine. There are a few
students that like to whisper among themselves, but they usually get back on task after nonverbal
or verbal reminders about the “Entering the Classroom” procedure. Students that continue to chat
are separated from each other. For any discussions, the teacher will first take volunteers to
answer questions. Students will be cued to raise their hand when the teacher raises their own
hand after asking a question. If there are no volunteers, students will be picked at random
(through a random number wheel generator) to answer questions to ensure that each student gets
a chance to speak and also to keep them focused on the ongoing discussion. The teacher will call
out sections of the classroom to pick up or put back Chromebooks. Any papers will be passed out
to the front row so students can pass them back.

Provisions for Student Groupings: Students are already familiar with their table groups (3 to 5
students per group). Usually for long group work time, students turn their desks around to create
tables; however, because today’s group discussion is brief, they will not turn their desks around.
Instead, they will be told to gather and work at their desks or at different locations around the
room. The locations will be provided to them before they get into groups to maximize discussion
time. Students that are distracting other groups will be asked to move to another part of the room.

Procedures:
Reading & Warm-Up (13 minutes):
1. Students will have 8 minutes of free reading time.

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 2. Once the 8 minute timer goes off, the warm-up activity will be on the Promethean board:
“In your journal, write a paragraph answering the following questions: What does your
perfect world look like? What would you change about THIS world to make it perfect?”
3. Students will have 5 minutes to work individually and write down their thoughts in their
English journal.
4. Teacher will inform students that the warm-up is related to their lesson after they
complete the writing stations.

Student Objectives & Homework (2 minutes):

1. On the Promethean board, the teacher will have the learning objectives for the day: By
the end of class today, you will finish drafting your CWT: Personal Narrative and learn
the elements of dystopian literature.
2. The teacher will go over the homework as well: Any worn story or Lemon Brown written
response revisions will be due on Wednesday, October 2nd, by 10 PM. The final draft of
the CWT: Personal Narrative is also due on Wednesday, October 2nd, by 10 PM.

Writing Stations (34 minutes):

1. The teacher will first explain the 3 different writing stations and how to utilize the Flip
Chart which is on the Promethean Board. The Flip Chart is a tool for teachers to know
which stations students are currently on and if they need any help. All students will
initially be placed in the “independent writing station”. There is a “Help!” column that
the student can move their name to, so the teacher is aware of who needs 1-on-1 help.
2. Students will get their Chromebooks in rows and after they settled down, they can move
their names into different stations as they complete them.
3. Independent writing stations: Students are working silently and independently on their
CWT: Personal Narrative.
4. Self review station: After students complete their drafts, they will move their names to
the “self review station” area on the Flip Chart. Students will view and complete the
instructions that are on Google Classroom.
5. Peer review stations: After students complete their self review, they will move their
names to the “peer review station” area on the Flip Chart. They will pair with other
students and they will peer review each other’s Personal Narrative. Students will view
and complete the instructions that are on Google Classroom. If there is only 1 student in
the peer review station, the teacher will review their Personal Narrative and give
suggestions for any revisions.
6. A 30 minute timer will be keeping the time. Once it goes off, students will put their
Chromebooks back into the Chromebook cart and will go back to their assigned seats.

Introduction to Dystopia (5 minutes)

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 1. The teacher will inform students that they will be reading dystopian literature for the
remainder of the quarter and then lead questions regarding dystopian literature.
a. The teacher will ask a few student volunteers to share their warm-up answers.
b. Have you ever read or watched a dystopian book or movie?
c. What is utopia? What is dystopia?
d. The definition of utopia and dystopia will be defined next class.

Whole Class Reading (14 minutes):

1. On the Promethean Board, there will be several questions that students will consider
before the reading. The teacher will read the questions aloud.
As we read, consider how these elements are presented in the text:

● What did you notice about the government?

● What did you notice about technology and nature?
● What did you notice about diversity?
● What did you notice about freedom?
2. The teacher will go over the directions for the annotations and exit card on the
Promethean board.
3. The teacher will pass out copies of “Harrison Bergeron” and index cards.
4. Students will read along to the Youtube reading of “Harrison Bergeron”.

Summary/Closure (2 minutes):
1. The teacher will review homework again.
2. Class bingo (if there is time).
3. Students will hand in exit card as they leave the classroom.

Assessment:
Formative assessment: Students will turn in their exit cards, correctly identifying at least 3
characteristics of dystopian literature. This will be a completion grade, as we have not taught the
class the definition or the characteristics of dystopia.

Summative assessment: The final draft of the CWT: Personal Narrative will be turned in by the
end of class. Students that still need work will be asked to come in during TAP or lunch.
The worksheet that the students worked on a group will be collected at the end of class.

Generalization/Extension Activity:
It is highly unlikely that students will finish all writing stations early or complete the group work
before the end of class.
However, any student that completes their work early will be silently free reading.

Review/Reinforcement (Homework):

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Any Worn Story or Lemon Brown written response revisions will be due on Wednesday,
October 2nd, by 10 PM.
The final draft of the CWT: Personal Narrative is also due on Wednesday, October 2nd, by 10
PM.

Adaptations:
1. During writing stations, the teacher will walk around and support any students that are
struggling with their writing.
2. The teacher will provide any TAP or lunch passes for students who may not have access
to a computer to complete their CWT: Personal Narrative at home.
3. There is assigned seating so that any disruptive students are at the front of the class, near
the instructor. Any students that have problems with each other have already been seated
far away from each other.
4. Students with IEPs or 504s will be supported accordingly to their plans.