Lesson Plan Sample Residential Curriculum Institute January 2007 For both the successful and guaranteed implementation of a strategy, lesson plans need to be developed for each strategy listed. The following sections must be included in each lesson plan: Learning Objectives – this is what each student will learn as a result of the strategy. Connection to the learning goal – a statement that says how this lesson plan connects to a learning goal of the curriculum. Overview or statement of purpose – statement of the learning which should occur as a result of the activity. Basic instructions/procedures – preparation, setting, coaching needed prior, basic instructions and listing of resources necessary for the strategy. Assessment – formal assessment must be done for all cornerstone strategies, all other strategies should either be assessed as part of an ongoing formal assessment or can be done on an individual strategy informal basis. As often as possible, assessment should be embedded in the lesson plan as an educational tool. Trained, experienced staff will also bring new ideas and implementation methods which should not be overlooked. Lesson plans must explicitly state where there is room for student staff creativity in delivery of the lesson plan and where variation from the lesson plan is not an option. Where I’m From Lesson Plan - University of Delaware Learning Outcome: Each student will recognize and understand that social identity shape worldviews. Learning Goal: Students will explore and identify their social identities Lesson Duration: 45 minutes Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to safely introduce to students the notion that one’s background and experience can influence who we are today, our thoughts and attitudes. This lesson will open an opportunity for students to reflect on their families, communities, and life experiences and connect it to themselves and others in a creative, fun and non-threatening manner. Objectives: 1- Students will reflect on different components and memories of their past that they can identify with. 2- Students will integrate critical thinking with creative poetry to connect and identify the influences that shape who they are today. 3- Students will explore social group membership identity.
Activities: Phase 1: o The facilitator will introduce the exercise by sharing with the participants that everyone has a story that they can identify with that has shaped some part of who they are today. Facilitators will also acknowledge the differences that we all share in our stories that make us unique although we share many similarities. o The facilitators will begin the exercise by passing out a short poem “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon and reading it clearly to the group. The facilitator can be creative and have volunteers read out loud every other line. Phase 2: o Participants will have an opportunity to create a short poem similar to Lyon’s. Facilitators will help residents create a list that match the ones in Lyon’s poem and share them out loud to the group. o For five minute, allow the participants to reflect on their backgrounds, social identities, and life experiences and think of memories that corresponds with the categories. o The categories are as follows: - Items found around their home: bobby pins, stacks of newspapers, grandma’s teeth, discount coupons for a Mercedes. (They don’t have to tell the truth.) - Items found in their yard: broken rakes, dog bones, hoses coiled like green snakes. - Items found in their neighborhood: the corner grocery, Mr. Jones’s beat up Mustang, the cherry blossom tree. - Name of Relatives: especially ones that link them to the past: Uncle George and Aunt Aida, little bobby and Agnes, Pedrito and Tita, Lee. - Sayings: “If I told you once…” “Never say never.” - Names of foods and dishes that recall family gatherings: ludefisk or tamales or black eyed peas. - Names of places they keep their childhood memories: Diaries, boxes, underwear drawers, inside the family’s religious book. (Lee, E., Menkart, D., Okazawa-Rey, M. (2002). Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education And Staff Development. Washington, DC; Teaching For Change. P396.) Phase 3: o Once they have their list together, for ten minutes have the participants connect their memories with the phrase “I am from…” similar to Lyons poems. It should contain no more than 8 lines and no less than 5. Participants should really think of the memories that live within them and that reminds them of their family, community, or identity. The poem should end with a line or two that ties their present to their past. Refer back to the last lines of Lyon’s poem for examples. o Facilitators will share their own poem to role model the activity. o Each participant will have an opportunity to share their “Where I’m From” poem as a notion of respect to their background and experiences. Connection to the complex: o Facilitators will open dialogue with residents by asking volunteers to share with the group an item on his poem that shapes who they are today. o Continue to address how many of our life experiences and our social identities play a major factor on who we are today and the experiences that we have had in the past. o Emphasize that this exercise briefly explored the many different identities that existed just within this group. There are many more identities represented on our campus and it is important that we find out more about the people too.