Classroom Learning Plan Objectives

Currently, I’m teaching an eighth-grade reading and language arts class at Perry Heights
Middle School. My classroom, in the basement of the school by the playground, is a nice little
room to teach in. All together it could fit up to 20 student desks with my own desk in the corner
of the room. Along the walls of my classroom are littered with posters that I have collected over
the years. On the right corner of the room there is an Avengers: Age of Ultron poster. On the left
corner was a poster of the CW’s Flash. Closer to the back is a picture of Stan Lee and I from
years back during a comic book convention and along the sides of the room are inspirational and
funny posters that the students could either use as signs of inspiration or humor. The chalkboard
at the front of the room is most definitely going to have nicely written calligraphy written on it.
And in the back, I have extra supplies that can be found in a large box with shelves of books that
line up against walls.

My class is in the third week of school, so we’re only at the very beginning of the grading
period. I’m beginning the unit over teaching my students about learning outcomes. Or reading a
piece of literature and determining their own meaning behind the piece. So, the weeks unfolding
will include reading short stories. However, I will fill in different topics to teach which as well
include poetry, vocabulary memorization and practice, teach literary terms, focus and practice
occasionally ISTEP and test taking techniques, and then I will do the occasional grammar lesson
to help them freshen up their writing. They know about our focus on short stories and poems, but
they do not know about the upcoming assignments that I have planned for them or even the next
unit that’s going to be over a favorite novel of mine.

My major goal for the unit is simple. I want to first get to know who my students are,
understand where they stand academically, pick on learning and see whether it’s good or bad,
and lastly just bonding with them overall. However my academic goals include teaching them
how to interpret pieces of literature to the point they can do it on their own, read context clues
within the text and create their own assumptions from this, create discussion with others and
learn how to use it properly, begin to eventually start challenging them so that they can get a feel
for high school, and most importantly I want them to understand how to be diverse. Learn from
the background of others as well as their own, recognize those difference, and then come
together despite those barriers.

I’m excited for the new year. It’s an opportunity to meet a new set of students, bond with
them, get to know who they are and ways to guide them in the future, and future lessons that we
can all learn from one another.
 Classroom Calender

Monday

 Open the class with a Bellringer over Nouns (Concrete and Abstract Ones)

o 10 Minutes

 After that I will transition the classroom into the reading for today

o The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin.

o As a class we will read the story (10 - 15 Minutes)

 I’ll make sure that they take turns every paragraph of the story

o Lead a discussion about the central message of the The Ones Who Walk Away

from Omelas and what they think of the story (10 – 15 Minutes)

 Have them write it down at first

 Then discuss what they have written down to me and other classmates.

 From there, I will introduce to the class with the Traditional prompt to write about

o This will take (5 Minutes)

 Homework:

o I want them to write a draft for the traditional prompt that is due Wednesday.

o After that, I will take the time to pass out vocabulary sheets for them to have as

well.
 Tuesday

 Open the class with a Bellringer over Adjectives

o 10 Minutes

 After that I will pick up the vocabulary homework that I gave them from the previous

night

o 1 Minute

 Give them a quick and easy pop quiz over the material

o 5 Minutes

o Collect answers after the first few minutes

 With the class read The Friday That Changed Everything

o 10 – 15 Minutes

o Choose a student to start reading, then they get to pick who reads the next

paragraph after they finish their own

 After we read the story together as a class, pass out the Cause and Effect Worksheet to

look over in class

o I will give them the four causes, but during class time they will work on the

effects of those actions.

o After spending time on the worksheet, we will go over the answers at the very end

of class together.

o 15 Minutes

o Pick Up the Worksheets at the end of the activity

 Homework:

o Finish the draft that they have and turn it in tomorrow.

 Wednesday

 Open the class with a Bellringer over Past Tense Verbs

o 10 Minutes

 From there transition into the Traditional Assignment Drafts

o Bring students into a group of four

o Have student trade their papers and have them work on editing (15 Minutes)

o I will walk around the room, ask them questions if they need help on anything,

and provide any support that I possibly can.

o After they edited their partner’s papers, they will return the paper to the original

owner and look it over.

o From there they will spend the remaining class time working on a final draft for

the assignment

 Homework: Work on the final draft that is due on Friday.

 Thursday

 Open the Class with a Bellringer on Coordinating Conjunctions

o 10 Minutes

 After that transition into the weekly POETRY THURSDAY (10 Minutes)

o Will give the class a quick presentation over Langston Hughes

o Providing a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir0URpI9nKQ&t=153s

o Use this video so that they could read the poem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L-kKxePGqA&t=31s

 After I finish the poem presentation, I will proceed into the class reading of the day

o Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

o As a class we will read the story (10 - 15 Minutes)

 I’ll make sure that they take turns

 This time I’ll chose when the reader is allowed to stop then switch

it to the next person

o After reading the story, pass out the Character Map Worksheets, and have the

students work on the activity for the rest of the day.

 If they don’t finish the worksheet by the end of the day, they can finish it

for homework.

 Homework: Remind the class that the Final Draft is due tomorrow.
 Friday

 Open the class with a Bellringer over Active vs. Passive Voice

o (10 Minutes)

 After the Bellringer, have the students turn in their final Traditional Prompt essay

o Follow it up with a reflection of the experience (5 – 10 Minutes)

o Once the students finish reflection, collect those responses as well.

 Follow the Traditional reflection with the next big project; the Tall Tales assignment

 Lead a lesson on Tall Tale characters and explain their importance in literature

o 10 Minutes

 Then talk about the Tall Tales assignment

o Discuss the assignment in detail and answer any questions that the student may

have

o Show them the rubric and give them a brief idea of what’s to come next week.

o (10 Minutes)

 Watch a short film

o John Henry from Disney’s Short Film Collection (5 – 10 Min)

 Homework: None but I will encourage them to start looking over possible ideas for their

Tall Tales characters.

Text Rationales:

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin:

a. The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas believe this story is a perfect opportunity for a

in the classroom because it’s a story with clashing ideals. On one side of the story there

are people who walk away from the society so that they don’t feel the guilt of knowing

about the boy without doing anything. While another side discusses this same group, but

because they don’t help the boy and instead walk away

The Friday That Changed Everything by Anne Hart:

a. The Friday That Changed Everything is a story that can be used in the classroom because

it’s a story with themes of friendship and perseverance. Despite being bullied by the

boys, all of the girls stick together. With every prank and provocation, the bond of the

girls grows only stronger. And for middle schoolers, it’s a lesson that they’re going to

need later on in life.

Young Goodman Brown

a. Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne is another perfect story that could be

used for my classroom because it’s a story that plays on innocence. The innocence of a

man who thought he knew the people around him, his friends, his beloved; but it was

ultimately broken. Despite possibly all the events that happened that night being a dream,

Goodman Brown lost his own ‘innocence’. And it’s a conversation that I’m most

definitely interested in having with my students.

Learning Differentiation:

a. Struggling Students:

a. For struggling students there is a place on my main websites that has links to help

assist students. The links can be used to help better understand the topics that we

are learning in class as well as gives them additional practice on the portions of

the class that they are weaker in.

b. Advanced Students:

a. For advanced students, whenever writing down answers for discussion questions

will have more questions/to answer from and to think about. When it comes to

reading, they have an opportunity to read more reading assignments outside of

class. When it comes to writing exercises, they will have additional exercises with

higher difficulty questions. .

 Traditional Writing Assignment

Reading and Language Arts

8th Grade

Mr. Carrington

Fall 2018

Introduction: Those who walk away from Omelas leave because of the mistreatment of a single
child. The great Utopian city’s reason for their society being so peaceful as well as their greatest
and darkest secret. However, was that that the best course of action? Should they have tried to
fight the government or even helped the boy escape his fate? Or was leaving the city and running
to the wilds the correct answer?

Requirements:

A. State the main conflict.

B. Have a thesis to perfectly describe your issue.
C. Provide reasons that support your thesis. (3 Sources)
D. Provide evidence for each of your reasons (your own reasoning)
E. Provide a refutation to your argument in the paper.

Purpose:

1. The purpose of this assignment is for you to practice:

a. Putting together a thesis that conveys your feelings on the topic
b. Skills in introducing your claims within the paper
c. Have enough organization that creates relationships among all your claims,
counterclaims, reasons, and evidence
d. Developing these claims and providing proper evidence
e. Effective transitioning
f. Creating cohesion
g. Finishing everything with a concluding statement that supports the argument.

Assessments:

1. Attention Grabber
2. Thesis Statement
3. Evidence and Examples
 4. Transitions
5. Closing Paragraphs
6. Sentence Structures
7. Grammar/Spelling/Capitalization/Punctuation

Reflection:

On a rate of 1-10, how well did you do on the paper? What did you find interesting about writing

this paper? What was confusing? Did you have any difficulty writing about the counterargument

and refutation? – Write a paragraph about the following.

Format:

Your argumentative essay should’ve been written in MLA format. So that’s 12 pt. text in Times
New Roman
 Traditional Prompt Rubric

50 Points

Teacher Name: Mr. Carrington

Student Name: ________________________________________

A – A-(99-90), B – B-(89, 80), C – C-(79 – 70), D – D- (69 – 60), F – F-(59 – 50)

CATEGORY 4 - Above Standards 3 - Meets Standards 2 - Approaching Standards 1 - Below Standards Score
Attention The introductory The introductory The author has an The introductory
Grabber paragraph has a paragraph has a hook interesting introductory paragraph is not
strong hook or or attention grabber, paragraph but the interesting AND is
attention grabber that but it is weak, connection to the topic is not not relevant to the
is appropriate for the rambling or clear. topic.
audience. This could inappropriate for the
be a strong audience.
statement, a relevant
quotation, statistic, or
question addressed to
the reader.
Position The position The position A position statement is There is no position
Statement statement provides a statement provides a present, but does not make statement.
clear, strong clear statement of the author\'s position clear.
statement of the the author\'s position
author\'s position on on the topic.
the topic.
Focus or The thesis statement The thesis statement The thesis statement outlines The thesis statement
Thesis names the topic of names the topic of some or all of the main does not name the
Statement the essay and the essay. points to be discussed but topic AND does not
outlines the main does not name the topic. preview what will be
points to be discussed.
discussed.
Support for Includes 3 or more Includes 3 or more Includes 2 pieces of Includes 1 or fewer
Position pieces of evidence pieces of evidence evidence (facts, statistics, pieces of evidence
(facts, statistics, (facts, statistics, examples, real-life (facts, statistics,
examples, real-life examples, real-life experiences) that support the examples, real-life
experiences) that experiences) that position statement. experiences).
support the position support the position
statement. The writer statement.
anticipates the
 reader\'s concerns,
biases or arguments
and has provided at
least 1 counter-
argument.

Evidence and All of the evidence Most of the evidence At least one of the pieces of Evidence and
Examples and examples are and examples are evidence and examples is examples are NOT
specific, relevant and specific, relevant and relevant and has an relevant AND/OR
explanations are explanations are explanation that shows how are not explained.
given that show how given that show how that piece of evidence
each piece of each piece of supports the author\'s
evidence supports the evidence supports position.
author\'s position. the author\'s
position.
Closing The conclusion is The conclusion is The author\'s position is There is no
paragraph strong and leaves the recognizable. The restated within the closing conclusion - the
reader solidly author\'s position is paragraph, but not near the paper just ends.
understanding the restated within the beginning.
writer\'s position. first two sentences of
Effective restatement the closing
of the position paragraph.
statement begins the
closing paragraph.
Sources All sources used for All sources used for Most sources used for Many sources are
quotes, statistics and quotes, statistics and quotes, statistics and facts suspect (not
facts are credible and facts are credible and are credible and cited credible) AND/OR
cited correctly. most are cited correctly. are not cited
correctly. correctly.

Sentence All sentences are Most sentences are Most sentences are well Most sentences are
Structure well-constructed with well-constructed and constructed, but there is no not well-constructed
varied structure. there is some varied variation is structure. or varied.
sentence structure in
the essay.

Grammar & Author makes no Author makes 1-2 Author makes 3-4 errors in Author makes more
Spelling errors in grammar or errors in grammar or grammar or spelling that than 4 errors in
spelling that distract spelling that distract distract the reader from the grammar or spelling
the reader from the the reader from the content. that distract the
content. content. reader from the
content.
Capitalization Author makes no Author makes 1-2 Author makes a few errors Author makes
& errors in errors in in capitalization and/or several errors in
Punctuation capitalization or capitalization or punctuation that catch the capitalization and/or
punctuation, so the punctuation, but the reader\'s attention and punctuation that
essay is essay is still easy to interrupt the flow. catch the reader\'s
exceptionally easy to read. attention and
read. interrupt the flow.
 Narrative Project: Tall Tale Assignment

English and Literature Arts

8th Grade

Mr. Carrington

Spring 2018

Instructions: Tall Tales are stories of extraordinary heroes changing the world with their
extraordinary feats. Through these feats they inspire those who want to dream big, provide
lessons to the people of the future, and answers the questions of natural occurrences that happen
around them. While many tall tales don’t have a true author to gain credit for their tales, you
will. This assignment will require you to create your own Tall Tale character and a story that
revolves around them.

Requirements:

a. Character Creation
1. Choosing a name for your tall tale character.
2. Create a Character Sheet for your Character (Will be Provided below)
3. Create your character’s Backstory.

4. Determine what ability or abilities he/she will have that is larger than life. Your character
must have no more than 3 special abilities. (He can be a Chuck Norris, but not a super Chuck
Norris)

b. Writing
1. Choose how you will begin your story. Remember, these are tall tales from “long
ago”. (You might say, “You are about to hear a story about…”, or “Long ago in a
land not so far away…”, or “Let me tell you about…” or any other attention
grabber you can come up with!)

c. Peer Review
a. Work with your partners and peer review 1 story from one another partner. After
that give them pointers on what you like, don’t like, and even suggestions.
b. When formatting the actual peer review write it under these categories:
i. Aboutness
ii. Conflict
iii. Plot
iv. Character
v. Narrative/POV
 vi. Setting
vii. Scenes
viii. Tone/Diction/Style
ix. General Comments
d. Reflection
a. Lastly answer these questions about the reflection:
i. What were you most proud of in your story?
ii. What was the most difficult thing to do?
iii. What lessons did you learn from this?
iv. Did you mess up along the way, and what did you learn from that
mistake?
v. If you could possibly do this again, would you?

By the end of this assignment you will hand in:

1. All Drafts of Your Story

a. Character Sheet for the Folk Hero
b. Peer Reviews
c. The Final Draft
d. And a Reflection

2. Next, begin to describe your character by describing at least two exaggerations

about your character’s appearance or ability.
3. Finally, come up with a problem your character faces or has faced in the past and
tell how they used the exaggerated ability to solve it.

Evaluation:

1. Does your writing demonstrate appropriate word usage, sentence structure, spelling,
capitalization, and punctuation?
2. What parts in the story that I can clearly see ‘you’?
3. How original is your story?
4. How familiar are you with the current genre you’re writing about?

Reflection:
On a rate of 1-10, how well did you do on the paper? What did you find interesting about writing
this paper? What was confusing? Did you have any difficulty writing about the counterargument
and refutation? – Write a paragraph about the following.

Format:

Your argumentative essay should’ve been written in MLA format. So that’s 12 pt. text in Times
New Roman
 Tall Tales Creative Writing Assignment

50 Points

Teacher Name: Mr. Carrington

Student Name: ________________________________________

A – A-(99-90), B – B-(89, 80), C – C-(79 – 70), D – D- (69 – 60), F – F-(59 – 50)

4 - Above Stand 3 - Meets Stand 2 - Approaching Stan 1 - Below Stand

CATEGORY ards ards dards ards
Characters The main The main The main characters are It is hard to tell
characters are characters are named. The reader who the main
named and named and knows very little about characters are.
clearly described described. Most the characters.
in text as well as readers would
pictures. Most have some idea
readers could of what the
describe the characters looked
characters like.
accurately.
Problem/Conf It is very easy for It is fairly easy It is fairly easy for the It is not clear
lict the reader to for the reader to reader to understand what problem the
understand the understand the the problem the main main characters
problem the main problem the main characters face but it is face.
characters face characters face not clear why it is a
and why it is a and why it is a problem.
problem. problem.
Creativity The story The story The story contains a There is little
contains many contains a few few creative details evidence of
creative details creative details and/or descriptions, but creativity in the
and/or and/or they distract from the story. The author
descriptions that descriptions that story. The author has does not seem to
contribute to the contribute to the tried to use his have used much
reader\'s reader\'s imagination. imagination.
enjoyment. The enjoyment. The
author has really author has used
used his his imagination.
imagination.
Spelling and There are no There is one There are 2-3 spelling The final draft
Punctuation spelling or spelling or and punctuation errors has more than 3
punctuation punctuation error in the final draft. spelling and
errors in the final in the final draft. punctuation
draft. Character errors.
and place names
that the author
invented are
spelled
consistently
throughout.
Organization The story is very The story is The story is a little hard Ideas and scenes
well organized. pretty well to follow. The seem to be
One idea or scene organized. One transitions are randomly
follows another idea or scene sometimes not clear. arranged.
in a logical may seem out of
sequence with place. Clear
clear transitions. transitions are
used.
Neatness The final draft of The final draft of The final draft of the The final draft is
the story is the story is story is readable and not neat or
readable, clean, readable, neat some of the pages are attractive. It
neat and and attractive. It attractive. It looks like looks like the
attractive. It is may have one or parts of it might have student just
free of erasures two erasures, but been done in a hurry. wanted to get it
and crossed-out they are not done and didn\'t
words. It looks distracting. It care what it
like the author looks like the looked like.
took great pride author took some
in it. pride in it.
Writing Student devotes a Student devotes Student devotes some Student devotes
Process lot of time and sufficient time time and effort to the little time and
effort to the and effort to the writing process but was effort to the
writing process writing process not very thorough. writing process.
(prewriting, (prewriting, Does enough to get by. Doesn\'t seem to
drafting, drafting, care
reviewing, and reviewing, and
editing). Works editing). Works
hard to make the and gets the job
story wonderful. done.