DAY 6
Constructivist Lesson Plan:
Teacher Thinking…
How will I hook the
students to provide an entrée Ray Bradbury, the author of the novel we are studying, and his
into a deeper experience
with the content?
What kind of experience can
I create for students to have
an initial exploration with
the content?
I have to make sure I tell
them what they just did.
Also, what kind of
information must I provide
in a mini-lesson so that
students can illustrate
1
(Soares, 2011); (Soares, 2020)
MINI RESEARCH PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
Students and Teacher doing…
Lesson Plan Element: Enroll
The journal prompt for today presents students with quotes by
opinion on technology. Some of what Bradbury says about
technology may be a little shocking to the students, and these
statements will surely grab their attention.
With this freewriting exercise, students are given the opportunity
to think about these statements and work through their own
opinions regarding technology. Putting them in this mindset will
prime them to listen to the presentations today that are all about
the technologies in the novel and our current society, and the
positive and negative effects surrounding these inventions.
Experience
Students were given the chance for initial exploration of this
content last class when they conducted research on their
technological item and worked on creating a presentation that
demonstrates not only their knowledge on this subject, but also
their critical thinking about how this invention affected the
society in ​Fahrenheit 451 a​ nd/or our current society, ultimately
resulting in their own opinion on the positive or negative overall
effect of this item.1
With this project, I was able to create for students an environment
that encouraged them to seek facts from various sources and to
collaboratively work through said information, all to inform their
personal opinions on this technology.
Label
This project and its presentation do work beyond exposing
students to the content: using the presentation grading rubric to
help assign labels, this project also exercises students’ research
and synthesis skills, their ability to present information in an
effective and visually pleasing manner, their communication and
listening skills, and their ability to work collaboratively toward a
common goal.
understanding of the
concept I’m teaching?
Emergent Understandings:
How are we focused on
individualized meaning
making?
What ways might students
illustrate understanding of
the concept I’m trying to
teach? What kinds of
spaces can I create for
students to grapple with the
content?
How can I formatively
assess that students met the
learning targets while
getting them to capture their
thinking?
2
“Wolk (2009) stated that reading dystopian novels allows ‘students to question the world we have and envision a
better world we could have’ because these texts ‘offer unique opportunities to teach these habits of mind’ (p. 668)”
(Ames, 2013, p. 17).
I will make sure students understand all the skills they are honing
through this experience and how a project like this aligns with
one of the overarching goals I have set for this course: students
interacting in productive ways that lead to new understandings
and provide the potential for action outside the classroom.2
Demonstrate
Students will demonstrate their ability to draw connections
between the novel text and our current society via the study of
non-fiction texts through online research. Their presentations will
highlight key ideas about their technological item as well as the
conclusions they draw through critical thinking and synthesis of
the information they gather in regards to their item’s overall
impact on society.
Throughout this project, students will have been given multiple
spaces in which to grapple with the content:
→ One-on-one conversations that will take place during the
research process and the creation of their Google Slides
Presentation
→ Personal discovery as they take the information and make
sense of it on their own, resulting in their own opinion on the
technological item in question
→ Large group discussion that will take place after presentations
Review
I will be able to gauge my students’ understanding of the content
based on the information included and their confidence in
presenting this information visually on their slides and vocally
during their presentation.
I will also be able to gauge their proficiency in the areas of
collaboration and communication while monitoring during the
creation of their project and formally while filling out the grading
rubric while sitting as an audience member for their presentation
of the project to the class.
I will be looking to see if they have gone deeper than the basic
information on their item and to see if they have engaged with the
 information in a way that has led them to arrive at their own
opinion on the topic that is clearly articulated.

How can I wrap up the
lesson and celebrate their
learning?
Celebrate
I will celebrate my students’ learning by commending them on
their presentations today. I will also tell them that their projects
will be featured on our class website that is accessible to the rest
of the school and that my other classes as well as other English
classes in particular will be encouraged to peruse them.

I want my students to feel that the work they put in and the
arguments they worked to create will have relevance beyond this
presentation day and can have an impact beyond the grade they
will receive on the grading rubric they will get back. Their voices
can amount to more than a grade in the gradebook.3

Students will also reflect on the information and positions they

heard today through the completion of today’s exit ticket.

Notes:
Time and Space: ​94 min; Traditional set-up (desks arranged in tables)
Materials: ​Journal Prompt Ppt, Predictions & Inventions: Mini Research Project Grading
Rubric, Part 3 Annotations Handout
 
Logistics/Ops

Materials:​ Journal Prompt Ppt, Predictions & Inventions: Mini Research Project Grading
Rubric, Part 3 Annotations Handout
Space:​ Traditional set-up (desks arranged in tables)

Activity Time Description: What will I do? What will students do?
Review: How can I formatively assess that students met the
learning targets while getting them to capture their thinking?

Journal 10 min Prompt: Below are a collection of Bradbury quotes about

technology. Read them and then freewrite for five minutes using
these quotes as your inspiration. Remember, freewriting is a
writing strategy similar to brainstorming, but it is written in
sentence and paragraph form ​without stopping.​

3
This next step of sharing their presentations beyond their class speaks directly to one of my goals with this unit:
“Not only will the text being studied in this unit help students become informed citizens, but the methods used for
the engagement with the text should also support giving students an active citizen’s role” (Johnson, Element 5b, p.
3).
 Quotes:
● “I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.”
● “We have too many cellphones. We’ve got too many
internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We
have too many machines now.”
● “Science and technology should neve come at the
expense of human life.”
● “The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which
freezes a billion peopel to stone every night, staring
fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so
much and gave, afterall, so little.”

Debrief 15 min We will have a short full class discussion about some of the
Discussion conversations that were had on our discussion board from last
Board #2 week.
Were there any remarks made by someone that really stood out
to you? Why?
Any lingering questions about Part 2?
I will have chosen a couple posts and/or comment threads that I
will use to get the conversation going if the students do not offer
any suggestions on their own.

Present Mini 45 min ● Students will have shared their Google Slides
Research presentation prior to class, and I will already have the
Projects presentations pulled up as tabs on my computer.
● I will take volunteers for presenting, and beyond that, the
order will be chosen randomly.
● Each group will present their mini research project in 2-5
minutes each.
● We will wrap up presentations with a brief discussion
about technology and its role in ​Fahrenheit 451 ​and in
our current society.

Read novel 15 min I will read aloud while the students follow along.
Students should be working on their Part 3 Annotations
Assignment as they come across particularly effective uses of
literary devices.

Homework 1 min -Finish reading p. 107-130

-Continue filling out Part 3 Annotations Assignment

Exit Ticket 5 min Which invention, real or still fictional, did you find most
interesting during today’s presentations? Why? Would you want
to have this item in your life (if you don’t already) or would you
keep it in your life (if you already have it)? Why or why not?