STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Mary Collins

Date: 02/05/15

School: Lesher Middle School

Grade Level: 7

Content Area:

Title: PB&J Mystery

Lesson #:_1_ of _1_

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

1.
2.

Language Arts

(Write Content Standards directly from the standard)

Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence. (CCSS: W.7.1)
Introduce claim(s), acknowledge alternate or opposing claims*, and organize the reasons and evidence
logically. (CCSS: W.7.1a)

*Strikethrough standard only addressed as a means of differentiation.

Understandings: (Big Ideas)
Proving claims effectively Organization Collaboration
Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of instruction, select applicable
questions from standard)
Who ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich?
Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets)
Every student will be able to: (Create your own lesson objectives from the standard, follow the ABCD format, using
student voice)
1.

Given a claim and evidence, my group can formulate convincing reasons why our evidence supports our
claims.

2.

Given color-coded sentence strips, my group can write an organized stop-light style paragraph that argues
our claim.

I can:
1.

I can formulate convincing reasons why our evidence supports our claim.

2.

I can contribute sentences to an organized stop-light style paragraph that argues our claim.

This means:
Our group will produce an organized stop-light style paragraph on sentence strips that includes a topic sentence, at
least two sentences about evidence, at least two sentences about reasoning, and a concluding sentence that all
argue our claim.
List of Assessments: (Write the number of the learning target associated with each assessment)
1.

Informal Formative: I will casually look over each students handout to see that they have highlighted two
pieces of evidence and recorded their groups reasoning.

2.

Informal Summative: At the end of class, one student from each group will read their completed
paragraphs out loud to the class. Ms. Ramirez and I will verbally discuss the strengths and weakness of
each paragraph. Then, we will decide which paragraph was most convincing.

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Planned Lesson Activities

Name and Purpose of Lesson
Should be a creative title for you and the students to
associate with the activity. Think of the purpose as
the mini-rationale for what you are trying to
accomplish through this lesson.
Approx. Time and Materials
How long do you expect the activity to last and what
materials will you need?
Anticipatory Set
The hook to grab students attention. These are
actions and statements by the teacher to relate the
experiences of the students to the objectives of the
lesson, To put students into a receptive frame of
mind.
To focus student attention on the lesson.
To create an organizing framework for the
ideas, principles, or information that is to
follow (advanced organizers)
An anticipatory set is used any time a different
activity or new concept is to be introduced.
Procedures
(Include a play-by-play account of what students and
teacher will do from the minute they arrive to the
minute they leave your classroom. Indicate the
length of each segment of the lesson. List actual
minutes.)
Indicate whether each is:
-teacher input
-modeling
-questioning strategies
-guided/unguided:
-whole-class practice

The PB&J Mystery

Students will practice supporting claims with evidence and reasoning in paragraph form.
[They have been working on this skill. The group sentence-strip approach allows them to
practice in a new setting with helpful guidance.]
Time: 40 min
Materials: 12 Handouts, 12 Highlighters, 4 Green Sentence Strips, 8 Yellow Sentence
Strips, 8 Red Sentence Strips
Set the stage - I need your help. On Monday night I made the BEST peanut butter and
jelly sandwich for lunch on Tuesday, but when I opened my fridge the next morning, it
was gone! I know the culprit had to be one of my two roommates, Britany or Ally. I have
collected all of the evidence, and now it is up to you all to prove who ate my sandwich in
a well-organized paragraph with evidence and reasoning. The boys will be trying to prove
that BRITANY did it. The girls will be trying that ALLY did it. So boys, who did it? And girls,
who did it? Great! Lets tackle this case step by step.

(Passing Period) Teacher: Move desks into two groups of six Label groups with signs
boys and girls Have handouts on front table Pull up directions on Smartboard
Students: Follow directions on Smartboard to grab a handout, sit down, and scan the
handout [Other]
(Announcements, 5 m) Teacher: Direct students to the directions on Smartboard
Answer any questions Listen to announcements
Students: Follow directions on Smartboard Listen to announcements [Other]
(Anticipatory set, 1 m) Teacher: Set the stage Encourage student engagement
Students: Listen Engage when asked to respond [Teacher input]
(Directions part 1, 1 m) Teacher: Go over directions on Smartboard to choose two
convincing pieces of evidence and record reasoning with your group Answer questions
Students: Listen to directions Ask an questions [Teacher input]

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

-group practice
-individual practice
-check for understanding
-other

Closure
Those actions or statements by a teacher that are
designed to bring a lesson presentation to an
appropriate conclusion. Used to help students bring
things together in their own minds, to make sense
out of what has just been taught. Any Questions?
No. OK, lets move on is not closure. Closure is used:
To cue students to the fact that they have
arrived at an important point in the lesson or
the end of a lesson.
To help organize student learning
To help form a coherent picture and to consolidate.

(Work time part 1, 10 m) Teacher: Sit in with groups Keep students on task Answer
any questions Informal formative assessment
Students: Read evidence Pick two best pieces with group, highlight those pieces
Discuss reasoning Record reasoning on handout Ask any questions if needed
[Unguided group practice]
(Directions part 2, 1 m) Teacher: Go over directions on the Smartboard about writing a
collaborative paragraph Show and handout color-coded sentence strips Answer any
questions
Students: Listen to directions Ask questions [Teacher input/modeling]
(Work time part 2, 15 m) Teacher: Check in with students Guide students Keep
students on task Answer questions Instruct quick working students to create
additional evidence and reasoning sentences
Students: Work together to write a paragraph on sentence strips with claim, evidence,
and reasoning Organize paragraph in correct order on the back table Create
additional evidence and reasoning pairs if time allows [Unguided group practice]
(Wrap up, 5 m) Teacher: Select volunteers to read their groups paragraph Provide
verbal feedback on each paragraph Informal summative assessment Select most
convincing argument to solve the mystery
Students: Volunteers read paragraphs Other students listen All students listen to
verbal feedback Everyone celebrate their hard work [Teacher input]
(Closure, 2 m) Teacher: Overviews key points
Students: Listen [Teacher input]
Key points:
You need evidence and reasoning to convince people your claim is correct.
Stop-light paragraphs can be used to organize your arguments effectively.
Some arguments are more convincing than others because of (list reason(s)
why the winning group won)
Ultimately, you all helped solve this mystery through teamwork.
Thank you for your work today.

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Differentiation
To modify: If the activity is too advanced for a child,
how will you modify it so that they can be successful?
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a child, how
will you extend it to develop their emerging skills?
Assessment
How will you know if students met the learning
targets? Write a description of what you were
looking for in each assessment.

To modify: I can provide sentence strips with sentence starters such as First, Ally and
This shows she ate the sandwich because to struggling students.
To extend: I can have advanced students create sentences that acknowledge and refute
evidence supporting the opposite claim.
1. Informal Formative: I will casually look over each students handout to see that they
have highlighted two pieces of evidence and recorded their groups reasoning. I will
specifically check that their reasoning is written in a complete, coherent sentence.
2. Informal Summative: At the end of class, one student from each group will read their
completed paragraphs out loud to the class. Ms. Ramirez and I will verbally discuss
the strengths and weakness of each paragraph. Then, we will decide which
paragraph was most convincing informally based upon organization, quantity of
support, and quality of support. The goal is satisfactory in all categories.
Excellent

Satisfactory

Minimal

Organization

Paragraph follows
the stop-light
formula and
includes
appropriate
transition words.

Paragraph follows
the stop-light
formula, but does
not include
appropriate
transition words.

Paragraph does not

follow the stoplight formula or
include appropriate
transition words.

Quantity

Paragraph
addresses more
than two pieces of
evidence with
reasoning.

Paragraph
addresses two
pieces of evidence
with reasoning.

Paragraph
addresses less than
two pieces of
evidence with
reasoning.

Quality

Reasoning
describes why the
evidence supports
the claim in fully
coherent
sentences.

Reasoning
describes why the
evidence supports
the claim, but is
not conveyed with
perfect grammar.

Reasoning is
incoherent and
does not describe
why the evidence
supports the claim.

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Post Lesson Reflection

1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize assessment data to justify
your level of achievement)
a. All students highlighted two pieces of evidence and recorded reasoning, but
some students did not record their reasoning in a coherent sentence. The main
goal was achieved, but a minority of students did not demonstrate their
technical sentence writing skills.
b. The girls had excellent organization, because of transitions, while the boys had
satisfactory organization. Both groups created paragraphs that had satisfactory
quality. The girls had satisfactory quantity while the boys had excellent
quantity, producing three evidence and reasoning pairs. The entire class met
the goal of satisfactory in every category. Each group demonstrated different
strengths and weaknesses, but no group was below par.

2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would you make if you were to
teach again?
a. I would have each student create a sentence for evidence and sentence for
reasoning to be assessed individually. This holds each student personally
accountable for participating and would allow me to asses work on an
individual basis.
b. I might create a similar lesson that is entirely individual to follow this lesson.
Students can ease into the process as a group and then practice the skills on
their own.
c. I would make time for students to assess each others work on a rubric so that
they themselves can evaluate what makes a convincing argument.
d. I did not include questioning strategies in this lesson. I could integrate
questioning strategies by asking students how people convince them of things.
Do organization, quantity of evidence, and eloquence matter?

3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice, reteach content, etc.)
a. I would work on continued practice where students argue a claim individually,
peer edit, and revise their work. This way, students can work on the more
technical skills because they have demonstrated understanding of the main
ideas. Eventually, this could lead into a longer essay.

Colorado State University College of Applied Human Sciences

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