Daily Lesson Plan

Graffiti Tables!
Brianna Johnson — 11/27 & 11/28

Student Learning Objective and Related Assessment

● Students will examine what makes a good discussion question, and demonstrate this
knowledge by creating their own and participating in a class discussion.
● Students will begin reading for deeper meaning in a text and demonstrate this
understanding through group work and a class discussion.

Standard
● 2.1.ai. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text

Materials/Resources
● Class copies of Of Mice and Men
● Chart paper
● Markers
● Chromebooks
● Notes from chapter one and two

Initiation
5 min (9:40-9:45)
● I will begin by introducing the EQ and “I Can” statement for the day.
○ “Today we will be looking for a deeper understanding of Steinbeck’s writing
through a group activity culminating in a class discussion. We will look at what
makes for a good discussion question, and you will create your own! In doing so,
we should be able to cite examples from the text to support our thinking. This
means you need to include page numbers in your work today!”

1
 ● Before we begin, students should make sure their chapter two questions are shared with
me.

Lesson Development
15 min (9:45-10:00)
● Before we dig into Of Mice and Men, we will review for the vocab quiz using Quizlet Live

Transition: Before we jump in to Of Mice and Men, I would like to go over something you are
probably familiar with, discussion questions, but may need some guidance on what makes for a
good one!

10 min (10:00-10:10)
● I will ask students for their opinions on what makes for a good discussion question
● I will go over my slides, students may follow along on the board or on their Chromebooks

25 min (10:10-10:35)
● I will introduce students to the idea of graffiti tables
○ Each student has a role, according to that role they should add to their groups
chart paper
■ Students should be sure to include page numbers!
○ A reminder about being respectful regarding language in the text

20 min (10:35-10:55)
● Students will circle up around the classroom
● We will begin by setting discussion norms
○ Students should raise their hand if they have something to add
○ Listen respectfully as others are speaking
○ Respond directly to the question being asked
○ Use specific examples from the text to answer questions!
● One group will volunteer to ask the first question

Closure
5 min (10:55-11:00)
● Students will respond on a sticky note to the exit ticket on the board
○ Something you learned during the discussion, something you hadn’t noticed
before, a question you still have

2
10 min (11:00-11:10)
● I will hand out essay grades
○ “Before I hand out grades, a couple things. First, thank you for sharing what for
many of you was a very personal experience. Please know that your grade is
not reflective of my opinions on your actions or beliefs at all, whatsoever, and
thank you again for sharing these with me.”
○ “A note on plagiarism. It is still considered cheating if you take work from one
class, and reuse it for another. This is enough to get you a zero on college
assignments and be written up for plagiarism.”
○ I will meet with students to talk to them about missing essays as well (printed
invitation to ELO and Student Success Center with explanation)
● Students should use this time to begin chapter 3

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction

● I will provide sentence starters on the board for discussion questions
● If appropriate, I may assign a student a certain role they may have more success with
● Graffiti Tables provides students with a hands on way of interacting with a text, benefitting
kinesthetic learners