Performance Task: Activist Assembly | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA 2019 G8:M4:U3:L12

Performance Task: Activist Assembly

In this Lesson

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • SL.8.1, SL.8.5, SL.8.6

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.

  • W.8.10, L.8.6

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can engage in a collaborative discussion with peers and community members about applying the lessons from internment. (SL.8.1)
  • I can integrate visual displays and adapt my speech during a collaborative discussion with my peers and community members. (SL.8.5)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Work Time A: Activist anchor chart (SL.8.5, W.8.10)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engage the Learner (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Activist Assembly - SL.8.1, SL.8.6 (25 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Activist Anchor Chart Chalk Talk - SL.8.1, SL.8.5 (10 minutes)

4. Homework

None for this lesson.

Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

  • SL.8.1 – Work Time A: Students engage in a collaborative discussion with peers and community members about applying the lessons from internment.
  • SL.8.5 – Work Time A: Students integrate visual displays in a collaborative discussion with peers and community members.
  • SL.8.6 – Work Time A: Students adapt their speech during a collaborative discussion with peers and community members.
  • SL.8.1 – Closing and Assessment A: Students engage in a silent collaborative discussion, a Chalk Talk, with peers and community members about applying the lessons from internment.
  • SL.8.5 – Closing and Assessment A: Students integrate their visual display into their anchor chart to clarify information and add interest.
  • In this lesson, students focus on working to contribute to a better world. They collaborate with one another and with members of the community to discuss meaningful ways to apply lessons of Japanese American internment in their communities.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • Students can make a visually appealing presentation of the information in their anchor chart, creating a visual, brochure, or poster which they can display in the community.

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • In previous lessons, students have focused on researching and presenting an organization in their community that embodies the lessons from Japanese American internment. In this lesson, students join with their peers and community members to discuss the organizations and the lessons they embody.

Support All Students

  • The subject matter in the forum discussions may include references to injustice, racism, or issues around poverty. Continue to monitor students to determine if there are issues surfacing as a result of the content of this lesson that need to be discussed as a whole group, in smaller groups, or individually. To support students in processing this content, ask: “What habit of character did you use as you discussed this content?” Students may need to draw on perseverance, empathy, and compassion as they read and discuss this content, being sensitive to their own and others’ reactions to the information presented.
  • Students may need additional support in navigating the focus group discussion. Consider providing individual copies of the Activist anchor chart to help students organize their thinking during the exchange. ▲

Assessment Guidance

  • Review students’ discussions to ensure they are effectively drawing on their notes, asking and answering relevant questions, acknowledging and building on others’ ideas, as well as justifying or qualifying their ideas. Also, note how students integrate their visuals to clarify information and add interest as well as how students adapt their speech to a formal discussion with peers and community members. Finally, review Activist anchor charts to ensure students have accurately represented the community organizations that embody the lessons from Japanese American internment.

In Advance

  • Plan how to arrange the classroom so students and invited community members can sit and discuss together. Each group will also need a desk or table on which they can capture their discussion notes in an anchor chart.
  • Review the Activist Assembly groups to ensure they consist of two triads and several community members. If representatives from the researched organizations are able to attend the assembly, they should be assigned to the same group as the students who researched about their organization.
  • Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts, including the Chalk Talk Directions and Norms (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Work Time A: Consider recording the Activist Assembly forum discussions to use as models in future years. Ensure students and community members give their consent to being recorded.
  • 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 8.I.A.1, 8.I.A.2, 8.I.A.3, and 8.I.A.4.

Important Points in the Lesson Itself

  • To support ELLs, this lesson celebrates the learning that students have done throughout the module as they participate in the Activist Assembly, joining together in focus groups to discuss how lessons from Japanese American internment are being applied today. Students are supported to generate ideas for applying lessons from Japanese American internment in their own communities using an activist's anchor chart to guide the discussion toward meaningful, actionable steps.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to make contributions to focus groups, as this may cause some students to feel self-conscious about their work and their English language proficiency levels. Remind students of habits of character to maintain an atmosphere of support and respect as students share and listen. At the end of the class, congratulate students on their hard work throughout Unit 3 and the entire module, and celebrate everyone's progress and successes.

Vocabulary

  • N/A

Materials from Previous Lessons

Teacher

Student

  • Performance Task: Model Activist anchor chart (one for display; from Module 4, Unit 3, Lessons 10-11, Closing and Assessment B)
  • Performance Task: Activist Organization note-catcher (example for teacher reference) (from Module 4, Unit 3, Lesson 6, Work Time B)
  • Work to Contribute to a Better World anchor chart (one for display; Module 1, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Work Time A)
  • Chalk Talk Directions and Norms (for display and posted around the room) (from Module 4, Unit 1, Lessons 7-8, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Activist anchor chart (student-generated; one per assembly group; from Module 4, Unit 3, Lessons 10-11, Closing and Assessment B)
  • Performance Task: Activist Organization note-catcher (one per student; from Module 4, Unit 3, Lesson 6, Work Time B)
  • Visual display (student-generated; from Module 4, Unit 3, Lesson 8, Work Time B)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • N/A
  • Marker (one per group)
  • Sticky notes (several per student and community member)

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.

Download the Performance Task

Opening

Opening

A. Engage the Learner (10 minutes)

  • As students enter, ask them to help arrange the classroom so that students and invited community members can sit and discuss together. Each group will also need a desk or table on which they can capture their discussion in an anchor chart.
  • Once the classroom is arranged, students can take their positions around the room:
    • Greeters can go to the door and ensure they are prepared to greet and direct community members to their assembly groups.
    • Emcees can stand in a place where all participants will be able to see them and ensure they are ready to formally welcome the community members and launch the Activist Assembly.
    • Facilitators can go to their designated assembly group spaces and ensure they are ready to lead discussions by asking questions and encouraging all members to participate.
    • Recorders can go to their designated assembly group spaces and ensure they have their Activist anchor chart and a marker to record notes from their discussion. As necessary, display the Performance Task: Model Activist anchor chart to guide their final preparations of their own chart.
    • Participants (all other group members) can go to their designated assembly group spaces and ensure they have their Performance Task: Activist Organization note-catcher and visual displays and are ready to incorporate them into their discussion. Refer to the Performance Task: Activist Organization note-catcher (example for teacher reference).
  • To ensure visitors know how to participate and to keep all students on task, post or ask emcees or other participants to post an agenda for the Activist Assembly:
      1. Welcome
      2. Lessons from Internment We Learned
      3. Research on Lessons and Organizations We Conducted
      4. Activist Assembly Discussions: How Lessons Are Embodied in Our Community and How People Can Get Involved
      5. Chalk Talk or Gallery Walk: Viewing and Writing Comments on Each Group's Activist Anchor Chart
  • Circulate to ensure all students are in position and preparing for the Activist Assembly. Once community members begin to arrive, guide students in their roles of greeters and emcees. As necessary, ensure each emcee has notes on his or her part of the presentation (welcome and lessons learned, research conducted, or purpose of Activist Assembly discussions). Remind students to reference the Work to Contribute to a Better World anchor chart as needed.
  • 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.

Work Time

Work Time

A. Activist Assembly - SL.8.1, SL.8.6 (25 minutes)

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

"I can engage in a collaborative discussion with peers and community members about applying the lessons from internment."

"I can integrate visual displays and adapt my speech during a collaborative discussion with my peers and community members."

  • When all community members have arrived and settled into their assembly groups, greeters can join their assembly groups. Then emcees can officially welcome community members and launch the Activist Assembly. As suggested in Lessons 10-11, emcees should explain that assembly groups will discuss the lessons from Japanese American internment, the organizations they researched, and how all can get involved and apply the lessons from internment. As necessary, post the guiding question (What are the most effective and meaningful ways to apply lessons from internment in our own community?) and the questions that facilitators generated in the previous lesson for all participants to access. Examples are listed below:
    • What lesson from internment does this organization embody? How does it embody this lesson?
    • Can you explain the work of the organization more? Can you explain the lesson from internment more?
    • Why does this organization's work seem so important?
    • What seem to be the biggest challenges for this organization's work?
    • What makes you think that?
    • What ideas do others have about this?
    • Can you explain your visual? How does it represent the work of the organization?
    • How can people get involved in the work of this organization?
  • Encourage community members to actively participate in the conversation by asking questions or sharing their experience with similar lessons like the lessons from internment.
  • Remind students to make their notes and visuals of their organizations available to community members as well.
  • Invite all to begin their discussions. Circulate to ensure the following:
    • Facilitators and other students are drawing on their Performance Task: Activist Organization note-catcher, asking and answering relevant questions, acknowledging and building on others' ideas, as well as justifying or qualifying their ideas.
    • Students are integrating their visuals to clarify information and add interest.
    • Students are adapting their speech to a formal discussion with peers and community members.
    • Recorders are taking notes on their activist anchor charts and accurately representing the discussions.
  • Several minutes before the end of the work time, ask groups to review their anchor charts to ensure they have all the notes they want.
  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingLevels of Support

A. Activist Anchor Chart Chalk Talk - SL.8.1, SL.8.5 (10 minutes)

  • Direct students to post their anchor charts, and distribute several sticky notes to each participant, including community members. Explain that all will participate in a Chalk Talk, which is a silent discussion during which participants post sticky notes with comments or questions about the anchor chart. The comments or questions should be specific and thoughtful. They should also build off of the ideas in the anchor chart as well as the other sticky notes comments or questions. Invite students to model substantive, thoughtful sticky notes before beginning the Chalk Talk.
  • As necessary, remind students that they participated in a Chalk Talk in Unit 1. Also post and review the Chalk Talk Directions and Norms if needed. Encourage each participant (including community members) to visit several of the anchor charts and post several sticky notes.
  • Release all to begin the Chalk Talk. During the Chalk Talk, circulate to read and gently point students to interesting comments. Remind students of the norms if needed.
  • Several minutes before the end of the lesson, ask the emcees to formally thank the community members, and invite all students to thank and say good-bye to their assembly group community members.
  • Invite students to reflect on the habits of character focus in this lesson, discussing what went well and what could be improved next time.

For Lighter Support

  • As Module 4 comes to a close, put student names into a container and have each student pull a random name. Ask each student to identify and publicly share one learning victory that they recognize in the peer whose name they randomly selected. This encourages a celebration of strengths.

For Heavier Support

  • During the Chalk Talk protocol, invite students to share what other participants said during the focus group to promote attentive listening, retelling, paraphrasing, and peer language modeling. Since students are accustomed to sharing out their own answer, explain why this is helpful, and provide them with frames and a model first: "(Name of participant) said __________." 

Homework

Homework
  • None for this lesson.

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