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Direct instruction

Teacher(s): Justin Sand

Subject: English

Standard(s): Common Core, Arizona Career and College Ready Standards, ISTE Standards apply to this lesson

CCRS English Language Arts 9-10.W.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences
or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one
or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth
progression of experiences or events.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot
lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a
coherent whole.
d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of
the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved
over the course of the narrative. (end 9-10.W.3)
ISTE Student #1: Empowered Learner (1. a, b, c, d)
ISTE Student #2 Digital Citizen (2. a, b, c, d)
ISTE Student #6 Creative Communicator (6. a, b, c, d)
ISTE Student #7 Global Collaborator (7. a, b, c)
ISTE Teacher #1 Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity (1. a, c)
ISTE Teacher #2 Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments (2. a, b,
c)
ISTE Teacher #3 Model Digital age Work and Learning (3. a)
ISTE Teacher #4 Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility (4. a, b, c, d)
ISTE Teacher #5 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership (5. b, d)

Objectives (Explicit): Use Blooms verbiage and formula

Students will compose a personal narrative in which they tell a story from their life in a realistic
fiction format using fictionalized characters.
Students will create a short animated video segment in which they combine elements from their
respective narratives as a group to make one story.

Evidence of Mastery (Measurable): An actual product /Include an explanation of how you are going to grade/grading
tool? (rubric, checklist, etc.) Students will have created an individual narrative that I will grade based on overall effort,
creativity, and grammar/conventions. This will be an individual grade. They will also produce a story as a group that
will be portrayed in a GoAnimate video. I will be able to view and grade this video for creativity, cohesiveness, and see
if it contains a component (a segment, character, or idea) of each individual story from the students in that particular
group. This part of the assignment will be a team grade; everyone in the group will receive the same score unless I deem
otherwise due to student feedback/my observations of the group. An example of the grading rubric that I will use for the
video can be seen at the bottom of this lesson plan.

Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex): Content and Language objectives action verbs such as
write, list, highlight, etc.)

By the end of this unit, students will be able to translate a personal experience into a metaphorical
representation.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to construct videos with dialogue, audio, and characters
using the website GoAnimate.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to collaborate and share ideas in the building of a
creative story.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to compose a narrative complete with characters,
dialogue, and plot.

Key vocabulary: narrative, influential, metaphor, create,

collaboration, presentation

Materials/Technology Resources to be Used: Desks in

pods of four, laptops for writing essays (allow
students to use paper and pencil if they choose),
Google docs/Word, GoAnimate

Opening (state objectives, connect to previous learning, and make RELEVANT to real life) ENGAGE/ hook the
students: The desks in my classroom will be organized in groups of four facing each other. As students walk in the door,
I will be greeting them and letting them know of the prompt that will be on the board at the front of the room. It will
say: Share with your group about a moment in this past year that was very memorable. Once all students are in the
room and have had about five minutes to discuss, I will draw their attention to the front of the room where I will
announce to them that what they were just sharing in groups is part of the objective for the next unit: conveying a lifechanging personal story in the form of a creative narrative. In the previous unit, we will have read a personal narrative/
famous autobiographical account, and I will explain how this assignment relates to that reading in that it will now be the
students turn to compose a narrative. For their paper, the students will have to create fictional characters (people,
animals, etc.) to metaphorically tell the story.

Inst
ruct
ion
al
Inp
ut

Teacher Will: Show a demonstration: Now that the

students will have an inkling to what they will be
working on in the coming week, I will show the
students my GoAnimate video that will demonstrate to
them what the final product will look like. The twist,
that I will convey to them, is that they will be
combining parts of their respective stories with their
fellow group members to make one video story. After
explaining each objective or component to the
assignment, I will ask the class if they understand, and
to give me a thumbs up if they do and a thumbs
down if they do not. I will then give them a chance to
ask any questions they may have.

Student Will: Be specific: Following their discussion

regarding recent memorable moments in their lives,
the students will listen to me describe the objectives,
giving a thumbs up if they understand at each point
what that part of the assignment entails and a
thumbs down if they do not. They will then view
the example video and get another chance to ask any
questions about the assignment.

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation How will your instruction look different for those students who need
differentiation or accommodations during your instructional input/teaching? The idea is to spread out the

students in their assigned groups so that those who may need a little more help than others have some
more advanced peers in their desk pod that can help them out if necessary. To ensure that this does not
take the focus of the advanced students away from their work too much, I will be frequently checking
in with those students who need extra assistance and opening my time up during class to answering
any questions regarding the assignment.
Gui
ded
Pra
ctic
e

Teacher Will: Be specific: Guided practice for this

assignment will involve me walking around the class
observing how well the students are working together
(and making sure they are staying on task!), helping
resolve any issues, sitting in with different groups for
short periods of time (or as needed), and answering
questions. This is mostly a hands-on assignment with
more student interaction and less direct teacher
instruction so I will be more of a facilitator.

Student Will: Be specific: From that point on, the

students will get to brainstorm what story from their
life they would like to write about and how they
would like to turn it into a fictional account. Being in
groups, they can help each other evaluate ideas and
will also be able to peer review each others papers.
Then, when they are finished with the essays, they
will work together to combine aspects of their
respective stories into the GoAnimate video that will
eventually be shown (an explained) to the class.

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation/Check for Understandinghow are you going to know if EACH student
is ready to move onto independent practice? And how are you going to differentiate if they do not understand?
Because the independent practice portion of the assignment will be very similar and difficult to distinguish from
the guided practice, I will have to be constantly checking in with the students by sitting in various groups,
walking around, and answering questions. Those who are having a tough time understanding the assignment,
which could very well happen given the complexity of it, may need me to sit down with them for a period of
time and help them come up with a creative idea for, say, inventing a main character to parallel themselves in
the narrative. I will also let the students know that I am making myself available to meet up with at lunch if they
want more help/time coming up with ideas or want me to review what they have so far. I will also allow them to
email me what they have already finished if they decide they would like some feedback at that point in time.
Ind
epe
nde
nt
Pra
ctic
e

Teacher Will: Be specific: I will inform the students

about their role within the video process and then have
the students submit the videos to me for approval. I will
make sure that the videos are class appropriate, make
sense for the most part, and have a piece of each story
incorporated within it, and then notify the group
through email or in person that they are free to move
on. I will then review the students peer/self review
sheets and sit down with students who I need to talk
with regarding their contributions to the group after
class. If a video does not have components of one/some
students narratives from the group, I will email the
group and give them additional time to add those
missing parts.

Student Will: Be specific: Students will provide a

key part of their personal narrative (i.e. a character,
event, setting, etc.) to contribute to the GoAnimate
video. When the videos are completed, submitted to
me, and then finally approved, they will be shown to
the class and each student will have to explain their
respective part of the video to the rest of the class.
While the videos are being shown, the rest of the
class will fill out a worksheet making a personal
connection, a general comment, and asking a question
about the video. Following the completion of their
group presentation, the students will complete a
review sheet grading themselves and their fellow
group members on their respective contributions to
the group and give me some feedback on the unit.

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation How will your instruction look different for those students who need
differentiation or accommodations? : For those students who have difficulty with the assignment, I will

be more lenient on how metaphorical their stories end up being. When the groups are working on the
video, I will make a point to stop by each desk pod and ensure that all students ideas in that group are
being heard so that one student does not take over and ideas are being heard from everyone. One way
to do this would be to give the students a thinking map to brainstorm ways in which they could
combine aspects of their narratives.
Closing/Student Reflection/Real-life connections: What connections will students make to their real lives? What
essential questions will they reflect on in their closure of the lesson? : As the students are viewing the videos

produced by their classmates, they will have to make a connection between their own personal life and the
video they are watching. When each video finishes, I will allow time for three-to-five students to ask their
questions that they wrote down. After the final video, I will allow a period of about five minutes for general
class comments and discussion regarding the unit. I will propose a few questions such as What was your
favorite part of the assignment and why? or Which was more difficult, writing your narrative or combining
it with others in the video?

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VIDEO RUBRIC:

Category

Duration

Length of
Length of
presentation was
presentation was
between 4-5 minutes. between 3-4

Balance

Piece of all group

members\' stories is
present and
explained in the
video adaptation.

Length of
presentation was
between 2-3
minutes OR over 5 minutes.
minutes.

Presentation was
less than 2 minutes
long.

Piece of only a few

group members\'
stories is present and
explained in the
video adaptation,
OR a piece of each
members\' story is
present but not all
are explained.

Video consists
almost solely of one
group member\'s
story; little to no
explanation.

Piece of one or two

group members\'
stories is present in
the video adaptation;
not much
explanation.

Category

Cohesion

Video story
seamlessly weaves
parts of ALL group
members\' stories
into one cohesive
story that makes
sense.

Video story flows for

the most part with
only one or two parts
that may seem to be
slightly out of place.

Video story makes

sense only somewhat
and is difficult to
follow.

Video story is
fragmented and
nothing more than a
collection of random
parts from each
individual story
haphazardly put
together.

Grammar

Grammar and usage

were correct (for the
dialect chosen) and
contributed to
clarity, style and
character
development.

Grammar and usage

were typically
correct (for the
dialect chosen) and
errors did not
detract from the
story.

Grammar and usage

were typically
correct but errors
detracted from story.

Repeated errors in
grammar and usage
distracted greatly
from the story.

Animation

Animation create a
distinct atmosphere
or tone that matches
different parts of the
story. The images
may communicate
symbolism and/or
metaphors.

Animation create an
atmosphere or tone
that matches some
parts of the story.
The images may
communicate
symbolism and/or
metaphors.

An attempt was
made to use images
to create an
atmosphere/tone but
it needed more work.
Animation choice is
logical.

Little or no attempt
to use animation to
create an
appropriate
atmosphere/tone.

Presentation (subject A comprehensive

to individual grade) presentation is given
in which each group
member contributes.
The story is
explained
thoroughly including
explanation of
characters, setting,
dialogue, and plot.

Most of the group

members contribute
to the presentation.
Explanation given is
somewhat
comprehensive and
most parts are
addressed in detail.

One or two group

members do the bulk
of the presenting.
Explanation is
somewhat
fragmented and may
cover certain parts
of the story but not
others.

One group member

does basically all of
the presenting.
Explanation is
confusing and only
covers a few parts of
the story.

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