Candidate Name: Evan Hawkins Grade Level and Course: 11th Grade English

Grade level 11th Grade English Language Arts

/subject
Context Today (a Friday), we will be doing a typical eye opener starting a new
description project, exploring topics being discussed and read about in the current class
text, “The Other Wes Moore,” by author Wes Moore. Reflecting on the
topics of poverty and opportunity, the students will be taking a personal
view into the lives of people that live without educational opportunities and
below the poverty line by researching low-level jobs and their incomes, and
they will have to decide if they could survive on salaries from said jobs.
Because the days leading up to this lesson were spent reading the book,
both my mentor teacher and I thought it would be a great idea to have
students start a project that coincides with the text to make sure students
understand the gravity of the topics discussed in Moore’s book.
Standards met WHST.11-12.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to
answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem;
narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple
sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under
investigation (This standard aligns with the research project)
SL.11-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners
on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly and persuasively (This standard aligns with the
eye opener discussion after the eye opener has been finished)
RL.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text,
including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. (This
standard goes along with the first question in the eye opener)
Concept The main concepts explored and learned in the lesson are reflection
addressed and research. The students will have to reflect and recall information
from the book and relate to it as well. The research will teach the
students how to look up job information as well as relate to the
characters in the book, growing a sense of empathy and helping
them gain knowledge on the way that poverty affects people in their
own community.
Objectives The students will be able to:
● Research jobs and qualifications (Measurable through the project)
● Reflect and recall information from the book, “The Other Wes
Moore” (Measureable through the eye opener)
● The students will be able to participate and share their own opinions
and experiences in the discussion. (Measureable through
participation in the discussion)
Academic Reflection
language Research
Learning Students will first do their daily eye opener questions to kick start their
strategies brains and get them thinking about situations in the book and in life in their
Candidate Name: Evan Hawkins Grade Level and Course: 11th Grade English

own communities. The mentor teacher and I will then talk about the
students’ answers from the eye openers and talk about the opportunity gap
and poverty. From that, we will continue the discussion of the opportunity
gap and poverty and will switch over to the research project on laptops,
with the students keeping in mind what they have just discussed in the
classroom discussion from the eye opener.
Materials needed ● Writing Utensils (student provided)
● Laptops, located in the computer cart in the back of the room
(school provided)
● Project Paper, located in the bins on the desk clumps (teacher
provided and also available on Schoology)
● Eye opener journals (student provided)
Instructional Engagement/Introduction/Hook
Sequence ● Students will begin the class by engaging in the daily eye opener
questions for the first 10 minutes of class. The eye opener is 2
questions. The first question is from the book: “Why was Mary not
able to go to school? How did this affect her life and raising her son,
Wes?” The second question is a personal question about either the
student’s personal life and what they see around them: “Do you
think education can help people who live in poverty? Explain your
answer and give examples.” This eye opener will get the students
thinking about the book and the reality of poverty. They have to use
their own knowledge about the book and knowledge they have from
either their own or someone else’s experiences in life.
Instructional sequence:
Segment 1: (10 minutes)
● Students will enter the room following procedure, greeting the
teachers, grabbing their journals from the class bins, and sitting
down quietly promptly getting to work. They will read the
projection on the white board and will do their eye openers within
the time they have been given.
Transition: The students, once the time given to work on the eye
openers is up, will close their journals and will remain quiet until
the teacher starts asking questions for the discussion based on the
eye openers. The teacher will say, “Alright, pencils down, close
your journals and get ready to discuss what you wrote down.”
Segment 2: (10 minutes)
 The teacher will ask students to answer the first question, also
reminding students of the classroom procedure which includes
raising one’s hand and being respectful and quiet when someone
answers the question and or gives their opinion. The teacher will
give any of the students the opportunity to answer the question or
give their opinion on the topic. When it comes to the second
question, the students will give their opinions of the question as well
as an example from their life, if they choose to do so. The teacher
will wait till every student that wishes to speak does so, and then
will share their opinion and experiences. This allows the class to
Candidate Name: Evan Hawkins Grade Level and Course: 11th Grade English

hear about the world through an individual that has seen and
experienced the world more to explain their side, as well as give
explanations as to why they think that. This will help students gain a
fresher perspective and they again will be given the opportunity to
ask questions and share.
Transition: Once all students had the opportunity to share, the
teacher will ask a student to collect all eye opener journals and then
will ask students to clear their desks and to grab the papers for the
project from the bins. (note: they also have the papers online, but
the physical copy is so they can write notes if needed)
Segment 3: (25 minutes)
 Once all journals are in the bin and the papers have been pulled out
the bin and are in the students’ hands, the teacher will then begin to
explain the project to the students. The directions are on the papers,
but since some students have a history of not reading the directions,
the teacher will explain the directions, telling students they need to
find and research three jobs that they could get out of high school
without a college degree. This helps show the students the hardships
of surviving on a minimum wage job or a wage close to minimum.
While the project has 4 parts to it, the students will be work only on
part one in this lesson. The teachers will circulate the room and will
help students look for jobs. The students will record the information
and job information they find on the Google doc online, and some
will take notes on the hard copy. The students will quietly research
and ask for help if needed, and they are allowed to listen to music
through headphones if they choose to. When, and if, they finish they
may close their laptops and sit quietly until they need to put up their
laptop.
Transition: Once there is 5 minutes left in the class, the students will be
told by the teacher to save their progress on Google docs and to sign out
of their computer and to put it away, also plugging it into the right port.
Closure
● Once the students have put their laptops away and have sat down,
the teacher will remind them of the work they need to do that is due
next week. The teacher will give a couple minutes to let students ask
questions about the project or anything else they have done or need
to do for class. The teacher will then tell the students to clean up
their areas, and once the bell rings, they will be dismissed by the
teacher and will be told to push in their chairs.
Accommodations ● Some students already have laptops they use regularly in class,
and given to them because of their IEP or 504, and they will not need to
Modifications grab a laptop from the cart in the back of the room.
● Some students who have IEPs or 504’s will be given the opportunity
to receive help from the teacher during the research segment of the
class, but other than that, there are no other modifications or
accommodations needed.
Candidate Name: Evan Hawkins Grade Level and Course: 11th Grade English

Assessments of Formative assessments:

learning ● The eye openers will help the teachers to get an idea of how students
are comprehending the book and how they relate to the topics that
are discussed within the text. The eye openers will be graded for 15
points. The project, not being due for a couple weeks, will be
assessed when the deadline comes, but the teacher will give
participation credit to those who worked without creating any
disruptions or those who focused well on the assignment.
Summative assessments:
● There are no summative assessments in this lesson.
Analyzing I think that this lesson is strong in the sense that the students get to hear
teaching different perspectives about poverty and the value of education. I think the
opportunity to reflect on the book and the way they can relate it to their
lives is very important. This helps them understand the book better and
asking the eye opener about the book is a bridge that creates a tie between
the characters in Moore’s book and their own circumstances and
experiences they have seen in their live or in their community. I also think
this project is strong because it is an interactive manner in which the
students will gain a better perspective about the world. In my opinion, the
discussion is engaging and the questions are not hard to answer, but require
some prior knowledge and some personal thought on the students’ end.
A weakness may be the freedom given to students in the project, because
looking back at that lesson, many students got distracted and or caused
disruptions.