Lesson Plan Title: Taking A Stand

Due Date: Friday February 16, 2018

Subject: ELA Grade: 11
Topic: Identifying Positionality in Regard to Historic and Criminal Justice Content
Essential Question: What are my opinions on the given criminal justice cases? Can I back them
up with educated evidence? What are my social justice views?

Materials:
- Tape
- A cleared room/classroom
- Photos of protests surrounding justice issues
- Statement Rubric

Stage 1- Desired Results – you may use student friendly language

What do they need to understand, know, and/or able to do?
Throughout this lesson students will need to listen to statements of various content and be expected to either
“agree” or “disagree”. In order to do this, students will need to have knowledge on social justice and develop
personal views. They will have to think critically about the statements, making a decision in conclusion. This
prior knowledge is expected to have been gained in the previous lessons in this unit. Students will need to
make a choice of what statement they will respond to, that resonated with them the most, and provide a
justification to the class.

Broad Areas of Learning:

Sense of Self, Community, and Place – This activity allows students to explore their independent position,
giving them the opportunity to develop self-awareness as well as their place in the community. By choosing a
definitive stance on an issue, students develop their place which will continue into their post-secondary
education and beyond.

Cross-Curricular Competencies:
 Think and learn contextually
 Think and learn critically
 Understand and value social, economic, and environmental interdependence and sustainability
 Explore and interpret the world using various literacies
 Express understanding and communicate meaning using various literacies
 Use moral reasoning processes
 Take social action
Outcome(s):
CR20.1 - View, listen to, read, comprehend, and respond to a variety of grade-appropriate First Nations, Métis, Saskatchewan,
Canadian, and international texts that address:

 identity (e.g., Relationships with Family and Others);

 social responsibility (e.g., Evolving Roles and Responsibilities); and
 social action (agency) (e.g., The Past and the Present).

CR20.3 - Listen to, comprehend, and develop coherent and plausible interpretations of grade-appropriate informational and literary
First Nations, Métis, Saskatchewan, Canadian, and international texts, including spoken instructions, and argumentative and
persuasive speeches.

CC20.3 - Speak to present ideas and information appropriately in informal (including discussions and collaborative work) and formal
(including an interview, a dramatic reading, and introducing and thanking a speaker) situations.

PGP Goals:
1.1The ability to maintain respectful, mutually supportive and equitable professional relationships with
learners, colleagues, families and communities
1.3A commitment to social justice and the capacity to nurture an inclusive and equitable environment for the
empowerment of all learners
2.3Knoweldge of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit culture and history (e.g. Treaties, Residential School, Scrip and
Worldview)
3.2The ability to use a wide variety of responsive instructional strategies and methodologies to accommodate
learning styles of individual learners and support their growth as social, intellectual, physical and spiritual
human beings

Stage 2- Assessment

Assessment FOR Learning (formative) Assess the students during the learning to help determine next steps.

- Asking questions throughout the activity to randomly chosen students asking them to briefly explain
their positionality to ensure they are not choosing a side based on their friend’s decisions
- Allowing the students to have short conversations with each other, debating the pros and cons of
their chosen sides. Listening to this will allow the teacher to see students justifying their positions and
seeing where they are at without direct interaction with the teacher
Assessment OF Learning (summative) Assess the students after learning to evaluate what they have learned.

Students will be given a mark out of 5 based on criteria laid out for them prior to the activity. Assessment of
learning will take place, judging the originality and thoughtfulness of their statements presented. The
statement can be between 3 and 5 sentences briefly explaining their choice and using elements of the unit
they have picked up on so far. Their statement will serve as an exit slip and challenge them to think about why
they had decided a position is right or wrong beyond surface, in-the-moment decisions.

Stage 3- Learning Plan

Motivational/Anticipatory Set (introducing topic while engaging the students)

I would begin this lesson by showing the students photos of citizens protesting decisions made by the justice
system and asking them why they think these people are unhappy. I would guide the discussion to the
conclusion that the reason for these protests is the differentiation in opinion and follow up by introducing
their activity and make the connection between my expectation for them and this motivational set; both
protestors (disagree) and judicial groups (agree) need to have educated, relevant reasoning for their
positions, this will be my student challenge.

Main Procedures/Strategies:

In this activity students will be read a statement and asked to make a decision based on their current
knowledge and opinions and stand on either the “agree” or “disagree” side of the classroom. They will then
be asked to justify their position with a statement and engage in a short conversation with their classmates
defending their position. Following this activity students will be given time to return to their seats and write
about one statement they found particularly interesting and produce an elaboration to present orally to the
class justifying their decision. (1-2 minutes or 3-5 sentences).

Adaptations/Differentiation:
Students who are unable to present their findings (speech impairment, hearing impairment, etc.) will be given
opportunity to hand in their findings or communicate them directly to the general education teacher.
Students who need assistance with writing or preparing their statement and/or justification can work with
others who are strong in these areas and are able to assist. Side-by-side learning can be utilized for this lesson
for the composition of the assignment for students who require collaboration to learn effectively.
 Closing of lesson:

The closing of this lesson will be the class presentations and handing in of their statements. Before class is
dismissed I will discuss main points and takeaways from the lesson as well as lingering questions. I will use this
information to compose the following lesson, addressing questions and topics that need to be further
explored based on student knowledge.

Rubric for Statement Presentation:

1 2 3 4 5

Does not provide a Statement is Statement is Statement is clearly Statement is clearly

statement justifying unclear and not somewhat clearly supported with supported with
position on given supported by ideas supported with good ideas and educated ideas and
issue or examples, no ideas. Student students provides student exceeds
reasoning given for provides reasoning that is expectations by
position on the satisfactory specific and shows giving examples
topic. reasoning. knowledge. and demonstrating
knowledge beyond
what was
discussed.

Example Photos to Be Shown:

 Lesson Reflection

This lesson is created in order to get students moving, get them aware and get them thinking. My goal

with this lesson was to create interest in the unit I am teaching and have students realize their own opinions on

important subject matter. I would incorporate this lesson fairly early in the unit for the simple reason that it is an

introductory activity and does not necessarily cover much content in regard to texts I am using or content the

students will need to know further along in the unit plan. The lesson utilizes many different learning strategies for

the students and also allows some choice. The students will be able to voice opinions or write their opinions,

ensuring that all students are heard in a context that suits them best as learners.

This lesson fits the context and goals of my larger unit for many reasons. The unit covers injustices and

inequality in relation to Canada’s justice system and focuses on Canada’s indigenous population. Students who are

unaware of the overrepresentation of our indigenous population in prisons will be briefly educated on that topic

through this lesson as an opener to the increased specificity that will occur later in the unit. This lesson will serve

as a motivational set for the unit, it will get students aware of what they do not know and get them thinking deeper

about issues they may be aware of already. Students being asked to take a side will be the first step of the activity,

but the overall all goal will be to have students follow this simple step by thinking about and expressing why they

have chosen a specific side. This will hopefully enlighten students on their own stand-points and get them

analyzing their thought processes. Through this activity I want my students to learn that they contain opinions

they did not know existed, and through this educating of themselves, I hope to engage them in the unit by use of

physical movement and expression of personal beliefs that are both related to the unit and relevant in their lives.

The only lesson that I believe may need to come before this is an introduction to the unit contents. An

introduction explaining the what books we will be reading, what their major assignments are and what the

relevance of the unit is to them. With this prior knowledge, students will be able to start applying the activity to

the larger picture and exploring how it will help them in their future assignments. After this lesson, the content of

the unit will begin. This will entail the reading of the main text, and exploring surrounding texts, articles and

videos that will supplement their education of Canada’s judicial system in regard to our Indigenous population.
 My final performance task for this unit is a current events project where students will research a crime

case related to indigenous injustice within the past ten years, choose a side and defend why or why not the case

was handled correctly. This lesson, as an introduction to the unit will prepare students to not only make a definite

decision about their stance on an issue, but also begin critically thinking about why they embody that position. By

instilling these skills in students early in the unit, they will be more comfortable and able to practice expanding

and analyzing their thoughts before the larger project is assigned. Building these skills using smaller projects is

essential to the development of the students and this lesson will allow them to explore their positions without

being graded heavily. The use of the response journals throughout the unit (explained in my assessment piece)

will also allow students to practice their positionality building up to the performance task.

The Taking A Stand lesson connects with outcomes from various components of the curriculum. Two

compose and create outcomes are met with the interpretation, listening to and responding to the statements read

during the lesson (CC20.1 and CC20.3). Students are expected to develop coherent responses to the FNIM content

in the creation of their justifications. They will explore identity, social responsibility and social action when

choosing a side to represent their opinions. This lesson also connects with outcome CC20.3 as students will speak

to present their newly developed reasons for their chosen position. This assignment will only cover the informal

component of this outcome but will fulfill the goal of students speaking newly learned information as they will

hopefully have learned new information about themselves, and new content information from the information

read during the activity. These three outcomes are met with the utilization of this lesson, I believe the students

will be engaged while fulfilling these outcomes and therefore, be excited about the lesson to follow and unit as a

whole.

This lesson, depending on the class structure, will need some classroom management. I would plan to be

present for the teaching of this lesson, but as not everything can be controlled there are some things I believe

would need to be ready for a substitute aside from just the physical lesson plan. Adaptations and differentiations

are present on the lesson plan and would cater to students who needed additional guidance or help. In addition to

this I would also attempt to provide the sub with information about the students who I thought may be passionate

about certain material or students I thought should be monitored closely because of compassionate reasons or
tendencies to be inappropriate. A substitute teacher would have no trouble following this lesson plan or the

assignment to follow, however sometimes lessons with high-activity rate such as this can be harder to control and

therefore, I would also provide tips regarding what strategies work best for me in the given classroom in order to

settle things down if such action needed to be taken.