Subject:
English Language Arts
Material Type:
Lesson Plan
Level:
High School
Grade:
12
Provider:
Pearson
Tags:
  • Character
  • Grade 12 ELA
  • Self-Portrait
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
    Language:
    English

    Summary Of Changes (Peer Review)

    Summary Of Changes (Peer Review)

    Overview

    How is this time in your students’ lives a moment of change? Students will work with a partner to reflect on changes they’ve experienced, people and places that are important to them, and key decisions that they’ve made. They’ll then write a summary of what they learned about their partner.

    Preparation

    • Read the lesson and student content.
    • Anticipate student difficulties and identify the differentiation options you will choose for working with your students.
    • Read the protocol carefully and decide how, if at all, you want to adapt it for your students.

    Journal Entry Review

    • Have students occasionally review their journal entries. This review will help them reflect about their core qualities and the stories they might want to share in their self-portraits.
    • SWD: Remind students the focus of the review is on the content of their writing, not editing and revising.

    Opening

    Take a few minutes to read through the journal entries you have written so far.

    • Mark the parts of your entries you feel could be the seeds of chapters in your self-portrait.

    Interview Reflection Activity

    • Review the activity with students. The purpose of this activity is to help students think more deeply about the changes that are occurring in their lives, both within themselves and in their external circumstances. Let students know that to answer the questions, they will delve deeply into their thoughts and memories. For some students, interviewing with a partner might help them with their reflections. Other students might have trouble sharing personal information or experiences with a classmate.
    • Use your judgment in deciding whether to require students to interview with a partner or be allowed to complete the activity individually. SWD: Consider pairing struggling students with more proficient readers. Discussions with the proficient reader may spark ideas for students with disabilities.
    • If you allow students to work individually, explain how they will have to modify the activity. If working individually, students will need to spend a little more time writing in response to each question and will need to summarize their own responses, considering whether they see any patterns or learned something new about themselves through the process.
    • Follow the protocol described in steps 1–4.
    • For the next five tasks, you will ask your students the Reflection Questions. For each question, do the following:
      • ✓ Allow 1 minute for both partners to reflect.
      • ✓ Allow 1 minute for partner 1 to respond and then 2 minutes for partner 2 to ask follow-up questions.
      • ✓ Have partners switch roles so that partner 2 responds and partner 1 asks follow-up questions.
    • Each Reflection Question should take 7 minutes total (1 minute for reflection, 3 minutes for each partner’s response and follow-up questions).
    • Feel free to adapt or add questions to suit the needs of students.
    • You may want to have a timer visible so students are aware of how much time they have for each step of the activity.
    • Instruct students to navigate to the next question when time is up.

    Work Time

    Work individually or with a partner to complete the Interview Reflection activity.

    • Take a few minutes to review the Interview Reflection activity instructions with your class. Ask any questions you have.

    Your teacher will guide you through a series of five interview questions, allowing time for each partner to respond. For each question, you will have 1 minute to say your answer, and 2 minutes for your partner to ask you follow-up questions.

    Remember to take thorough notes about your partner’s responses. After you and your partner have answered all five questions, you will each be responsible for presenting a summary of your findings.

    Interview Reflection Question 1

    • Read the question to students and guide them through the timed activity.
    • ELL: It is sometimes hard to understand when a person is reading in a language other than one’s own. Be sure your pace is adequate, and provide ample wait-time to allow students to process the information.
    • While students can choose a moment from anytime in their life, encourage them to think specifically about adolescence if possible.

    Work Time

    Listen as your teacher reads the following question. With your partner, follow steps 1–4 of the Interview Reflection activity and respond to the question. Remember to take notes on your partner’s response.

    • Think of a moment when you felt “in the zone”—when you felt that you were really getting done what you wanted to or were expressing yourself. This moment could be anything: an instance on a sports field or in a performance; a time when you were having a deep and meaningful conversation with a friend or family member that brought you closer to someone important to you; a time when you were learning a new skill; or a few hours you spent so deeply engrossed in a creative project that it felt like minutes.
    • Describe this moment: Where were you? What were you doing? What did it feel like, and why do you think you were able to get “in the zone”?

    Open Notebook

    Interview Reflection Question 2

    • Read the question to students and guide them through the timed activity.

    Work Time

    Listen as your teacher reads the following question. With your partner, follow steps 1–4 of the Interview Reflection activity and respond to the question. Remember to take notes on your partner’s response.

    • Think of a person in your life with whom you feel completely at ease and able to be yourself. Describe this person: What is his or her role in your life? What qualities of this person do you admire? What about this person allows you to feel so at ease with him or her? Finally, describe a recent interaction with this person that shows how the two of you relate to each other.

    Open Notebook

    Interview Reflection Question 3

    • Read the question to students and guide them through the timed activity.

    Work Time

    Listen as your teacher reads the following question. With your partner, follow steps 1–4 of the Interview Reflection activity and respond to the question. Remember to take notes on your partner’s response.

    • Think back to a recent decision you had to make that challenged you. Try to move beyond the “what phone to buy” or “what outfit to wear” variety of decision and more toward the kinds of decisions that help you define your values. What relationships will you pursue and prioritize? How do you respond when someone asks you to do something you feel uncomfortable with? With limited time in your days/weeks/year, what do you devote your time to?
    • Describe the circumstances that led to the decision, the thoughts that went through your head, the action you took, and the outcome. Do you think you made the right decision? Do you think you learned from the experience?

    Open Notebook

    Interview Reflection Question 4

    • Read the question to students and guide them through the timed activity.

    Work Time

    Listen as your teacher reads the following question. With your partner, follow steps 1–4 of the Interview Reflection activity and respond to the question. Remember to take notes on your partner’s response.

    • Describe a group you feel you belong to. This can be any group you identify strongly with: a family group, a religious group, a team, a culture or ethnicity, an online group that shares an interest of some kind, or anything else you think of. When did you start identifying with this group? What about it appealed to you? What core values do you share? Are there any other identifying characteristics (besides values) that peg you as a member of this group? How has this group’s role in your life changed in the past years, and how do you see it changing in the future?

    Open Notebook

    Interview Reflection Question 5

    • Read the question to students and guide them through the timed activity.
    • While students can choose a moment from any time in their life, encourage them to think specifically about adolescence if possible.

    Work Time

    Listen as your teacher reads the following question. With your partner, follow steps 1–4 of the Interview Reflection activity and respond to the question. Remember to take notes on your partner’s response.

    • What is the biggest change you have experienced in your life so far? This could be a change that is known only to you, that happened within yourself, or it could be a change that is obvious to everyone. The change could be one that you created or one over which you had no control.
    • Describe this moment: How did things change? What caused the change? How did you react? How are things different now? Overall, are you pleased with the change? Or do you wish things could have remained as they were?

    Open Notebook

    Summary of Your Partner

    • Read through the summary instructions with students and answer any questions they may have.
    • ELL: Since summarizing one’s learning entails such a high level of understanding of the topic and command of the language, allow ELLs additional time to come up with the summary and encourage them to work in pairs if necessary.
    • If students are allowed to work individually, tell those who are to look for new insights about themselves and write a summary of their findings.

    Work Time

    Go through your notes about your partner’s responses.

    • Write a summary of what you learned about your partner, describing character traits that stood out, the kinds of changes your partner is experiencing, and the key elements (people, places, events, passions, and so on) of your partner’s world right now.
    • Explain your summary to your partner, then share it with him or her.

    Open Notebook

    Your Summary

    • After students have written for about 5 minutes, if time allows, ask for a few volunteers to share their experience of this activity.

    Closing

    Consider the summary of yourself that your partner shared with you. Write a response to these questions.

    • Did your partner’s summary ring true to you? Did you recognize yourself and your circumstances?
    • What surprised you about what your partner heard in your stories and what new insights did you gain?

    Open Notebook

    Journal Entry 4

    • Try to respond to each student’s journal on a semi-regular basis, commenting on stories you find interesting and places they might be able to expand what they’re writing about even more.
    • Remind students that they will be unable to complete the next lesson if they have not completed the Through Others’ Eyes activity.

    Homework

    Complete a journal entry.

    • Choose one of the incidents that you mentioned during the Interview Reflection activity today. Tell the story in further detail. Then, brainstorm what supporting materials you might be able to include (photos, maps, interviews with people, video clips, audio, and so on) if you were to include this story in your self-portrait.

    Open Notebook

    If you have not yet finished the Through Others’ Eyes activity, complete it for the beginning of the next lesson.