Context: This tiered lesson plan is designed for use in week two of the unit plan. At this point, students know that they are responsible for ultimately organizing and managing a school fundraiser. In small groups, they have brainstormed and agreed upon an idea for their fundraiser. They have also been instructed that before the fundraiser can be implemented, they must propose their idea to the principal and to students and parents. The teacher has explained that in order to effectively persuade each group, the students will need to have a good grasp of the concepts of purpose, audience, and tone. The following tiered lesson is intended to facilitate student learning of the dynamics of these concepts. Students have been tiered based on the results of a diagnostic test in which students were asked to write about the audience, purpose, and tone of a nonfiction text.
Tier One: These students are unfamiliar with the definitions of the terms purpose, audience, and tone as they relate to a text. Therefore, the goal of this task is to familiarize students with the terms and get them ready to apply their knowledge. At the completion of this activity, students should be able to identify audience, purpose, and tone in a work of nonfiction. Students will follow the steps below to complete the task.
- Work in small groups to review the teacher-provided flashcards featuring simple, easy-to-understand definitions of audience, purpose, and tone.
- Paraphrase these definitions and share your response with your group members.
- Review the teacher-prepared handouts listing examples of audiences, purposes, and words used to describe tone. Discuss how these elements relate to one another.
- Choose one of the nonfiction texts provided. On a separate sheet of paper, identify the audience, purpose, and tone of the piece. Use the flashcards and handouts if and when you need to.
Tier Two: These students are familiar with the concepts of audience, purpose, and tone as they relate to texts. However, they have little knowledge of how these concepts interact within a text. Therefore, the goal of this task is to allow students to experiment with how the concepts of audience, purpose, and tone are related. At the completion of the activity, students should be able to determine what kind of tone is appopriate for a text by considering their purpose and audience. Students will follow the steps below to complete the task:
- Observe the piles of puzzle pieces labeled with different audiences, purposes, and tones. Work in pairs to complete the puzzles by matching the correct tone to its audience and purpose.
- After you have completed each puzzle, choose one and use the audience, purpose, and tone to compose a short text. For example, if your puzzle features an audience of parents, a purpose of persuading, and a tone of respect, you may wish to write a short script in which you respectfully persuade your parents to allow you to go to a movie with a friend. This is to be done individually.
- When each student has finished writing, share your texts with each other and discuss how the tone is appropriate for the audience and purpose and how the script might be different if another tone were used.
Tier Three: These students already have an understanding of the meanings of audience, purpose, and tone and how they interrelate within a text. If given the tasks provided in tier one or tier two, these students may feel bored and unengaged. This task is designed to prompt students to use their current knowledge to explore more advanced aspects of audience, purpose, and tone. Students will follow the steps outlined below.
1. Choose one of the nonfiction texts provided. Read the text, making note of audience, purpose, and tone.
2. Experiment with the dynamics of the concepts of audience, purpose, and tone by changing the tone of the piece and observing the effects on audience and purpose.
3. Using the results of your experiment, write a short evaluation of the tone used in the original text.
Reflection: I will evaluate the success of the lesson by observing how students react to each task. I hope to see them engaged and active throughout the activity. I will assess their undertanding of audience, purpose, and tone by reading their written responses.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
8:40:46 PM
I am currently working on my Master's degree in Education. I was recently asked to identify a power standard and create a context/scenario that would allow my students to master this power standard in an engaging way. Below is my response to this challenge. I welcome any advice, comments, and ideas before I implement this plan in my classroom. Thanks for reading!
Lesson Plan: Students Organize and Manage a School Fundraiser
Grade level and subject area: 10th grade English
Power standard: E.W.27: Students will write for a variety of purposes, audiences, and occasions both formal and informal.
Knowledge/skills targeted: knowledge of Standard American English, formal composition guidelines, and definitions and interrelation of audience and purpose
Scenario/context: Students will propose, organize, and carry out a school fundraiser.
Tasks:
1. Students will write a formal proposal to the school principal describing their fundraising concept. This will target the skills of using Standard American English and formal composition skills. Students must have a good understanding of audience and purpose in order to present their ideas in an effective and persuasive way.
2. Students will write a formal letter to parents informing them of the purpose and details of the fundraiser. Students will also write an informal letter to their fellow classmates in an attempt to elicit support for the fundraiser. Composing these two letters will require students to think about and apply the dynamics of audience and purpose as well as practice their formal and informal writing skills.
3. After completion of the fundraiser, students will compose an analytical essay describing the effectiveness of the fundraising campaign and evaluating their strategies. Again, this will provide students the opportunity to practice using Standard American English and applying the fundamentals of formal writing, this time for a different audience and purpose.
Complementary standards:
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Recognize fallacies of logic in written, oral, and visual presentations.
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Apply the principles of standard English by adjusting vocabulary and style to suit the occasion.
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Produce thoughtful compositions through improved use of phases in the writing process.
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Write to clarify and to organize thoughts and ideas.
Reflection:
In the DVD: Designing Curriculum and Instruction: View Program Six, "Essential Knowledge.” and the DVD: Designing Curriculum and Instruction: View Program Seven, "Learning Experiences.", I learned about how to identify types of knowledge and break down a power standard in order to identify the essential knowledge that a student needs in order to meet a certain standard. Having identified that essential knowledge, I was able to create a single context or scenario that allowed students to demonstrate this knowledge.
In the article, "What do all Engaging Scenarios Have in Common," I learned that in order to truly engage students, I needed to create a way for them to apply the standard to a real world situation. Having recently organized a fundraiser for a school club, I began to think about all of the writing that goes into planning and executing such a campaign. I know from experience that as soon as you mention fundraisers to students, they have many ideas to share, so I thought this might be an interesting experience for them. I also think that this particular scenario will allow them to connect English standards to math and economic standards as they begin to speculate sales, target market, supply/demand, potential profit, etc.
Melissa Maypole
Graduate Student at Walden University