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ELA 2019 G7:M1:U1:L13

Generate Discussion Norms

In this Lesson

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • RL.7.2, SL.7.1, SL.7.1a, SL.7.1b, SL.7.1c

Supporting Standards: These are the standards that are incidental—no direct instruction in this lesson, but practice of these standards occurs as a result of addressing the focus standards.

  • RL.7.1, RL.7.10, L.7.6
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can identify how themes in A Long Walk to Water have developed in chapter 10. (RL.7.2)
  • I can generate norms for a productive discussion. (SL.7.1, SL.7.1a, SL.7.1b, SL.7.1c)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Opening A: Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 13 (SL.7.1)
  • Work Time A: Themes: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 (RL.7.1, RL.7.2)
  • Work Time C: Discussion Norms anchor chart (SL.7.1, SL.7.1a, SL.7.1b, SL.7.1c)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engage the Learner (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Read A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 - RL.7.1 (15 minutes)

B. Analyze Themes: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 - RL.7.2 (5 minutes)

C. Generate Discussion Norms - SL.7.1 (15 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Reflect on Habits of Character (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Text-Dependent Questions: Students complete Homework: Text-Dependent Questions: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10, answering questions related to the use of language to develop tone and theme.

B. Preread Anchor Text: Students should preread chapter 11 of A Long Walk to Water in preparation for studying the chapter in the next lesson.

Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

  • Repeated routines occur in the following:
    • SL.7.1 – Opening A: Entrance ticket activity prepares students to generate norms about how to participate in collaborative discussions by coming prepared, following rules, and asking and answering on-topic questions.
    • Opening A: Students review learning targets.
    • Work Time A: Students read the next chapter of the text, noting unfamiliar vocabulary and the gist of the chapter.
    • RL.7.2 – Work Time B: Students analyze the development of themes in chapter 10.
  • New skills are introduced in the following:
    • SL.7.1 – Work Time C: Students generate collaborative discussion norms based on reflections of their own previous text-based discussions and observations of a group discussion. The Discussion Norms anchor chart is generated and includes conversation cues.
    • Closing and Assessment A: Taking initiative is added to the Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart.
  • The Think-Pair-Share protocol is used in this lesson. Protocols are an important feature of our curriculum because they are one of the best ways we know to engage students in discussion, inquiry, critical thinking, and sophisticated communication. A protocol consists of agreed-upon, detailed guidelines for reading, recording, discussing, or reporting that ensure equal participation and accountability in learning.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • Ask groups that complete the reading and analysis more quickly in Work Times A and B to begin generating and noting ideas for extending discussion and to reflect on whether those ideas led to any revision of their answers. (SL.7.1)
  • Select student volunteers to participate in a model discussion.

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • Students have been refining their skills for analyzing the development of theme in the past several lessons. In the previous lesson, they completed a written portion of their End of Unit 1 Assessment in which they analyzed theme and wrote a summary. In this lesson, they encounter their End of Unit 1 text-based discussion prompt and generate the discussion norms that will help them complete that task successfully.

Support All Students

  • At this point, students should be reading the text independently. However, if some or all students need more support, read several pages aloud and then release students to read independently, in pairs, or in small groups. ▲
  • The subject matter in this chapter includes the violent death of a family member, hunger, and dehydration. Continue to monitor students to determine if there are issues surfacing as a result of the content of this chapter that need to be discussed as a whole group, in smaller groups, or individually.
  • Note there is a differentiated version of Themes: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 used in Work Time B in the supporting materials download. ▲

Assessment Guidance

  • In Work Time A, use the text-dependent question guide to monitor student progress. In Work Time C, keep track of student progress on the Discussion Norms anchor chart.

Down the Road

  • In the next lesson, students will continue reading A Long Walk to Water and prepare for the text-based discussion at the end of the unit.

In Advance

  • Preselect and prepare a small group to discuss in front of the class (see Closing and Assessment A).
  • Ensure there is a copy of Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 13 at each student's workspace.
  • Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout previous modules to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 7.1.A.1, 7.1.A.3, 7.I.B.5, and 7.I.B.6.

Important Points in the Lesson Itself

  • To support ELLs, this lesson provides opportunities for students to answer text-based questions about theme and to participate in and/or closely observe text-based discussion.
  • ELLs may find participating in and/or closely observing text-based discussion challenging if they have not been exposed to the language used in such discussions, and all communication from ELLs during discussion should be encouraged as successful risk taking.

Vocabulary

  • generate, norms, productive (A)

Key

(A): Academic Vocabulary

(DS): Domain-Specific Vocabulary

Materials from Previous Lessons

Teacher

Student

  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 4, Opening A)
  • Academic word wall (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 1, Opening A)
  • Text Guide: A Long Walk to Water (for teacher reference) (from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time A)
  • Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Opening B)
  • Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart (example for teacher reference) (from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Opening B)
  • Questions about A Long Walk to Water anchor chart (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time A) 
  • Questions about A Long Walk to Water anchor chart (example for teacher reference) (from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time A)
  • Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 5, Work Time A)
  • Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (example for teacher reference) (from Unit 1, Lesson 5, Work Time A)
  • Vocabulary log (one per student; from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Opening A)
  • A Long Walk to Water (text; one per student; from Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time C)
  • Online or print dictionaries (including ELL and home language dictionaries; one per small groups of students)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 13 (answers for teacher reference)
  • Themes: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 (example for teacher reference)
  • Chart paper
  • Discussion Norms anchor chart (example for teacher reference)
  • Discussion Norms anchor chart (one for display; co-created during Work Time C)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 13 (one per student)
  • Synopsis: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 (one per student)
  • Sticky notes (one of each gist color per student)
  • Themes: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 (one per student and one for display)
  • Themes: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 ▲
  • Homework: Text-Dependent Questions: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 (one per student; in unit download)

Assessment

Each unit in the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize students' understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

Opening

A. Engage the Learner (5 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: students respond to questions on Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 13. Students will review their responses to the entrance ticket in Work Time C.
  • Repeated routine: follow the same routine as with the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as in previous lessons.
  • With students, use the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart to deconstruct the words norms (models or standards to follow), generate (make or bring into being), and productive (capable of making something). Record words on the academic word wall with translations in home languages, where appropriate, and invite students to record words in their vocabulary logs.

Work Time

Work Time

A. Read A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 - RL.7.1 (15 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: follow the same process as with previous lessons for students to read chapter 10 of A Long Walk to Water, using the Text Guide: A Long Walk to Water as necessary. If students do not finish reading the chapter within the allotted time, use the Synopsis: A Long Walk to Water document to review the key details from chapter 10. Then have students identify the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary, reflect on their reading as they choose, and record the gist on sticky notes using the following resources as appropriate: vocabulary logs, Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart, and Questions about A Long Walk to Water anchor chart.
  • Gists: 
    • Nya: strangers say they will find water in between two trees
    • Salva: one day from camp, uncle will leave to fight, soldiers kill uncle

B. Analyze Themes: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 – RL.7.2 (5 minutes)

  • Review the appropriate learning targets relevant to the work to be completed in this section of the lesson:

“I can identify how themes in A Long Walk to Water have developed in chapter 10.”

  • Repeated routine: analyze the development of theme on Themes: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 and Themes: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 ▲ as necessary for students who need extra support. The differentiated note-catcher supports students’ analysis with sentence starters. ▲ Refer to Themes: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10 (example for teacher reference).
  • Repeated routine: invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning target.

C. Generate Discussion Norms – SL.7.1 (15 minutes)

  • Review the appropriate learning target relevant to the work to be completed in this section of the lesson:

“I can generate norms for a productive discussion.”

  • Inform students that they will now work on generating discussion norms as a class in order to help them prepare for the text-based discussion for the end of unit assessment. Introduce the prompt for the end of unit assessment:

“How do Salva and Nya overcome adversity? What themes might the author be developing through these characters?”

  • Tell students that they will observe a group of their peers discuss the following prompt:

“How has Salva’s uncle helped him survive so far? What does it mean to the story that he will no longer be with him?”

  • Ask the students observing the conversation to take special note of those times that their peers asked one another to explain their thinking more or to add on to what they were saying.
  • Ask the model group to conduct their text-based discussion for 5 minutes.
  • Ask students to partner up, and guide them through an intentional Think-Pair-Share, ensuring that each partner has time think, both get to say the question aloud to the other, and both have an allocated time to respond and then to discuss to build deeper understanding. ▲ Cold call students to share their responses with the whole group to the following question:

“What did this group do well when discussing their text-dependent questions? What should we be mindful of whenever we participate in group discussions? Why?” (Responses will vary.)

  • As students share, capture their responses on the Discussion Norms anchor chart. Refer to Discussion Norms anchor chart (example for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Invite students to return to the entrance tickets they completed and look over their responses to the activity they did as they entered class, responding to the questions:

“What are some words or phrases you can say to hear more about what your partner or group member is saying in a discussion? What are some words or phrases that stop the discussion?” (Possible response: Can you tell me more about that? Can you explain that? I don’t agree. That’s ridiculous. I don’t get it.)

  • Lead a whole class discussion of student responses, asking the following questions for further guidance: 

“How could the discussion you just observed have been improved? How can your own group discussions have been improved? Are there any norms we could add to make our collaborative discussions more effective?” (Responses will vary.)

  • Create a chart with two columns at the bottom of the Discussion Norms anchor chart, with “Cues” in one and “Responses” in the other. As students share, capture their responses on the Discussion Norms anchor chart.
  • Continue the discussion by asking students: 

“In your own discussions, or in the one you just observed, how did people encourage someone else to clarify when they didn’t understand?” (Responses will vary.)

“What questions can you ask when you don’t understand what someone is saying?” (Possible response: I don’t understand. Can you explain that? What did you mean when you said . . .?)

“How did you find out more about the ideas of others? What questions can you ask when you want to find out more?” (Possible response: Can you say more about that? Can you explain that?)

  • As students share, capture their responses in the “Cues” column at the bottom of the Discussion Norms anchor chart. Refer to the Discussion Norms anchor chart (example for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Ask students to consider:

“How can you respond when you are asked to clarify or to elaborate on an idea?” (Possible response: Sure, I meant . . . Yes, here’s an example . . .)

  • As students share, continue capturing their responses in the “Responses” column at the bottom of the Discussion Norms anchor chart.
  • Share with students any of the conversation cues listed on the example anchor chart that they have not yet arrived at as a group, and inform students that these conversation cues can be used to help one another expand and clarify responses, which will help all students talk and be understood, just as the examples they generated on their own.
  • Repeated routine: invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning target.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingLevels of Support

A. Reflect on Habits of Character (5 minutes)

  • Focus students on the Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart, especially on take initiative.
  • Read aloud the habit of character recorded:

"I take initiative. This means I see what needs to be done and take the lead on making responsible decisions."

  • Invite students to Turn and Talk to their partner. Then cold call students to share: 

"Using the anchor chart as a guide, what does take initiative mean?" (doing good things without being asked)

"What does taking initiative look like? What might you see when a person is taking initiative?" See Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (example for teacher reference).

"What does taking initiative sound like? What might you hear when a person is taking initiative?" See Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (example for teacher reference).

  • As students share, record their responses in the appropriate column on the Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart.
  • Tell students that they will take initiative during their end of unit discussions.

For Lighter Support

  • After providing students with directions on what to look for in the conversation, repeat, rephrase, or write out the directions as well. This repetition of directions for an unfamiliar task provides ELLs with more than one opportunity to understand new language for unfamiliar tasks.

For Heavier Support

  • During text-based discussions, encourage all communication from ELLs as successful risk taking, allowing them to grapple but rephrasing what they say if necessary. Remind them to rely on the language tools provided during this and previous lessons.

Homework

Homework

A. Text-Dependent Questions

  • Students complete Homework: Text-Dependent Questions: A Long Walk to Water, Chapter 10, answering questions related to the use of language to develop tone and theme.

B. Preread Anchor Text

  • Read Anchor Text: Students should preread chapter 11 of A Long Walk to Water in preparation for studying the chapter in the next lesson.

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