writing sequence

8/14/2019 Writing Sequence

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Jen HarknessTE 408

Unit Plan

Part 1: Unit OverviewContextIt is a 9th grade English Composition and Literature class. It is in

a suburban school located in close proximity to a major university. Thefirst hour has 30 students, predominantly Caucasian, and is about halfmale and half female. Of these students, two are in special education(EI and OHI- ADHD). One of the students in special education rarelyuses his accommodations, whereas the other student frequently useshis accommodation of additional time. First hour is often behindsecond hour (the same class) because of late starts and weatherdelays.

Second hour is also a 9th

grade English Composition andLiterature class. In this class, however, there are only 24 students. Ofthese students, only 5 are girls. The females in this class rarely speakor participate in class discussion. There is also one student in the classwho has a tendency to dominate the conversation. The other studentshave adjusted and rely on this one student to carry the discussion.This often limits the number of students who participate in class. Inthis class, there are five students in special education (EI and OHI-ADHD).

Unit

This unit uses TKAM as an anchor text, though the students willwatch the film periodically throughout the unit. A discussion on theGreat Depression and its consequences introduced the unit. This wassupplemented with a packet giving pictures and brief descriptions ofpeople of different social classes at the time. Students listened toPresident Roosevelts inaugural speech and reflected on what thequote we have nothing to fear but fear itself. During the unit, thereare reading quizzes asking for factual information, and the finalassessment is an exam in a similar format to the reading quizzes.

Concepts/Themes

o The Great Depressiono Society reflected in literature

o Literature of geographic importance

o Race Relations

o Injustice and Inequality

o Gender Roles

o Generational Gaps/Interactions


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o Family Structures

o Social Class Interactions

Essential Questions:

How do people change? When are people more

willing to change beliefs? What effect does the location of a story have on the

actual story?

How can you decide if a narrator is reliable? Does itmatter?

RationaleThe text To Kill a Mockingbirdis rich in character development.

Students will be able to critically view other characters through theeyes of the protagonist while simultaneously analyzing all characterand situations through the view of a reader. This text also allows for

conversations about race and injustice. Students will see theimportance of setting to a story, but also see how a well-written storytranscends time. Students will be able to view their lives critically andengage in introspection to evaluate on how they treat others. UsingTKAM will also provide the students with more exposure to taking theperspective of others. This novel will challenge students to lookbeyond plot and delve into the psychological aspect of literature.These characterization techniques will transfer to other novels andclasses while implicitly helping students develop critical thinking andanalytical skills.

InventoryMany students in the class do extracurricular activities and have

expressed difficulty with completing a lot of work outside of class. Inaddition, there are students who have a resource teacher for variouslearning disabilities.

In general, the students are interested in topics that relate totheir lives. They often choose to illustrate if that is an option, and findmore entertainment in visual stimuli and vivid descriptions than meretext. The stories read in the past that have characters of the same ageand same time period are those they tend to enjoy the most; it is withthese characters that students show the most complex critical thinkingskills. Many students have complained that TKAM is a boring novelbecause nothing happens.

They have limited formal instruction with literature from this timeperiod and with this style of writing. In the required history classfreshmen take, they have briefly discussed the Great Depression, butnot in relation to literature. They know the facts behind the GreatDepression but have not expanded a great deal into how it affected the


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lives of people from different social classes.The past writing assignments for the class include a formal essay

(MLA format), a film analysis, timed writing, reflection, and attempts attaking alternative perspectives. In the previous unit using The Odysseyas an anchor text, the students experimented with writing from

differing perspectives. This process, as a whole, was not extremelysuccessful. Many students focused only on the plot and did not fullydevelop and expand upon the perspective they took. There is a largerange of writing abilities among the students of the class. About half ofthe students have a good understanding of basic sentence structureand formal grammar (this observation is made from reading previouswriting samples and reviewing the assessment ofThe Odyssey). Somestruggle with following directions while others are using moresophisticated sentence structures and deeper thoughts. This range isfrustrating to the students who simultaneously feel that the class ismoving too quickly and too slowly.

Goals/StandardsTKAM is a rich text that draws on many different themes that will

challenge students to critically view current society. It will also providea common text for the students of Okemos High School (it is part of theninth grade curriculum). This text exposes students to a different styleof writing with varying dialect in the speech of the characters and thenarrator. The chapters of TKAM function well as short stories and helpgive background for larger events in the novel. With so manycharacters, students have the opportunity to practice takingperspectives. Many students find this novel boring, but I will be able to

use this mindset to branch into perspectives. Using this novel to teachperspectives will make the events of the novel more interesting andrelatable to students. Hopefully, they will become invested in thecharacters and view a novel as more than mere events.

Michigan Standards Met: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, .3.3,3.4, 4.1

Assessment

There will be 4 reading quizzes focusing on characters and plot.

After the novel is completed, there is an exam on the book and

discussion information about the Great Depression. During discussion, students uptake will be assessed based on

how active they are with the discussion and how active they arewhen brainstorming ideas with a partner.

Students will take the perspective of Scout, apply the character

profile to a new situation, and support the prediction with textualinformation.


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Students will use characterization techniques to form a characterprediction as a group. These skills will then be assessed with ahandout due the following day where students will demonstratetheir understanding of the skill of taking an alternateperspective.

Students understanding of the events of the novel will beassessed through their ability to support their predictions madein the activities of the writing sequence.

LessonsDay 1: Intro to Perspectives

Review the material students have read up to this point (page

211)

Discuss quote by Atticus

Brainstorm, as a class, different traits Scout has

Homework: Scout Prediction sheet

Day 2: Reinforcement and Reminder of Perspectives

Write why Scout talks to Mr. Cunningham during the mob scene

Compare/Contrast the testimonies of Mayella Ewell and Tom

Robinson

Break into groups and take the perspective of a character

o Brainstorm traits, then make predictions about how and

why that character would act in a particular situation

Homework: Read to page 247 (due Thursday)Day 3: Application of Perspectives

Review how to support a prediction

Explicitly go over the directions for the Where Are They Now?activity

Students have the remainder of the hour to begin work on the

WANT? assignment

Homework: Complete the WANT? assignment by Friday andread to page 247 for Thursday

Activities

Students will create an object to represent a desire of a certain

social class and write a response to FDRs quote we have

nothing to fear but fear itself. Students will be given 3 cards with their names on each card.

When a student participates in a class discussion, he or she willgive the teacher a card. After three days, the student must haveparticipated at least 3 times. These cards are worth a total of 10points. If a student does not participate, he or she will losepoints.

Students develop the profile of Scout and form a prediction about


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her actions.

Students develop the profile of another character from the novel

and form a prediction about his/her actions.

Students will take the perspective of Jem, Scout, or Dill and make

predictions about where the character will be in 20 years. These

predictions must be supported with textual evidence. Reading time

Discussion about events that transpired in the novel (specifically

the Radley family and the testimonies during the trial)

Watching the film (aligned with reading assignments)

Reading quizzes

Final test

Discussion

Students will review the characters, most specifically the Radley

family, and their relation to each other. Students will create a profile for Scout (collaborative class effort)

Most classes will begin with a clarification of the reading from the

day before. This is done in a Q & A format. From here,discussion will occur.

If students do not have or do not share questions, the followingtopics will be explicitly covered (specifically for Chapters 16-21):

o Mob Mentality/Group Think

o The trial as a spectacle

o The Ewell home life

o Atticus as court-appointed lawyer

Why is this significant? Why didnt he tell Scout/Jemthis?

o The testimony of Heck Tate and Bob Ewell

o The parallel testimony of Mayella and Tom Robinson

o Do you think Tom raped Mayella?

Text

Novel: To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee

Speech: Sound bite of Franklin Roosevelts inaugural address

Film: To Kill a Mockingbirddirected by Robert Mulligan (1962)


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Part 2: Daily Lesson Plans (2)

Intro to Perspectives (Day 1)

GoalsTo begin this lesson, students will review a portion of the material

they have read. This begins by asking students to share the questionsthey wrote down as they read the trial scene. This will give studentsan understanding of one of the major scenes in the novel that connectsmany of the characters together while raising important questions thatreappear throughout the novel.

For this first lesson, the main goal is to build the skills needed forthe following days where students will practice taking the perspectiveof a character. In order to do so, students will first begin by seeing therelevance of this by understanding the quote from Atticus. Throughclass discussion, the students will see the connection between whatAtticus says and why it is important in order to understand another

person or characters point of view. This will be the lead intocharacterizing Scout. During class discussion, students will understandthe three components of taking a perspective (physicalcharacteristics/personality, past experiences and actions, and beliefs).They will brainstorm these various traits as a class and then applythem to their homework where they are asked to predict how Scout willact in a future scene of the book.

RationaleThe review of the text will be an opportunity for students to

receive clarification on confusing components. It will also lend itself to

a reinforcement of characterization when revisiting characters andtheir actions.

Students will be able to provide a deeper analysis of a piece ofliterature if they are able to understand characters. To learn how tothink in the perspective of a character, I will scaffold the process ofbasic characterization using a familiar text and familiar character. Thissequence will have students review the text to find details needed tohave a complete analysis and profile of a character. This improvescritical thinking skills and is a skill that will transfer to other charactersin other novels.

The handout is a form of assessment while providing students

with a chance to practice the process modeled in class. It reinforcesthe critical thinking skills by asking for rationale as well as applyingthese supports for the predictions.

Assessment

Students understanding of the concept of taking another

persons perspective will be shown through the discussion aboutthe quote (formative).


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Students understanding will be determined by their participationduring the modeling activity (formative).

The understanding of individual students will be determined after

the handout is completed (formative).

*Writing Sequence Summative Assessment: After the writing sequence, students willbe able to take the perspective of a character and demonstrate an ability to writefrom that point of view.

Objectives

Students will understand the following quote:

o You never really understand a person until you consider

things from his point of view [] until you climb into hisskin and walk around in it (39).

Students will relate the quote from Atticus to taking different

perspectives.

Students will develop the foundational skills needed for takingthe perspective of other characters.

Students will begin to breakdown the process of characterization

using more than plot.

Students will be able to identify physical and mentalcharacteristics, recall past actions, and identify beliefs of Scoutfrom To Kill a Mockingbird(TKAM).

Students will be able to use the three questions modeled and

apply it to the situation given as a writing assignment. Theprediction will be supported with rationale and examples fromthe text.

TasksActivity 1: Daily Note Time (read, review notes, etc)

Transition: Now we will review what has happened during the trial andclear up any confusing parts of the book.

Activity 2: Review of the reading, putting particular emphasis on thethoughts/motivations of characters; this will be done by takingquestions first from the students and then moving into a review on thesequence of events.

Activity 3: Students are asked to explain the quote You never reallyunderstand a person until you consider things from his point of view[] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it (39).

-If students are having trouble with that context, relate it to thesaying walk a mile in somebodys shoes-Questions to ask:


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-What is the context of this quote?-What does Atticus mean when he says this to Scout?

What is hetrying to get Scout to understand?-Do you think this is true?

Transition: Atticus believes that in order to take another personsperspective and understand how they feel or why they act in a certainway, you need to look at things from that persons point of view. Howcan we do this?

Activity 4: Model how to create a profile of a character (specificallyScout) using 3 big ideas/questions.

1- What are Scouts physical characteristics? What are hermental characteristics/how she reacts?

a. What assumptions can we make about Scout at this

point?2- What are experiences Scout has been thorough?

a. How do these experiences change our previousassumption?

3- What predictions can we make about how Scout will act in thefuture? Are there patterns with her actions? What will hermotivations be?

Activity 5: Students will be asked to predict how Scout will react in anew situation. They will use the handout provided and must use thethree big questions to support their prediction. This will be homework

due the following day, but students have the remainder of the hour towork on it.

Materials

To Kill A Mockingbirdby Harper Lee

Whiteboard

Dry erase markers

Excerpt from TKAM

Handout for taking Scouts perspective

To-Do List (task analysis for self) Explain perspective to students

o *Make sure they understand the concept of taking another

persons point of view

Write quote on the board

Explain the context of the quote

Have students explain the quote in the context of TKAM

Explain how to look create a profile for a character


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Using the profile, model how to create a perspective

o *Explain the steps to go through

Prepare excerpt

Prepare list of characteristics of Scout

Prepare questions for clarification component of lesson

Prepare handout for application of Scouts perspective

ReferencesNovel of Reference: To Kill a Mockingbirdwritten by Harper LeeLee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central Publishing,1960.

Reinforcement and Reminder of Perspectives (Day 2)

Goals

Students will continue to develop their skills with taking alternateperspectives. Before reinforcing these skills in a specific manner, as aclass, we will go over the remainder of the trial scene that was notcovered in the first day. From here, students will break into groups andwork on making predictions of other characters. Through this activity,students will transfer their skill of characterizing Scout to othercharacters and apply it to a new situation. They will write a paragraphand support their prediction with the information they brainstormed.This is a necessary skill that students will use independently on thethird day, but also one that will enhance their critical reading skills.

RationaleBeginning with a review of the text will help clear up anymisunderstandings or confusions the students came across. Thisreturn to the text helps students sort out the events of the novel andprovides an opportunity for reinforcement of critical thinking skills byasking for rationale behind the actions of characters. By focusing onthe actions of the characters, students will begin the progression ofmoving from plot into perspective. It will also prime them for theactivity later in the hour.

Working as a group on this new skill will give students a low-risksituation where they have the opportunity to develop a community of

learners with students acting as both teachers and students. Thiscooperative effort will also give students another opportunity to workin a group and develop teamwork skills. The activity will give me achance to talk to each group and give students more specific attention.I will be able to get a better feel for their comprehension on the topicby seeing how the group is approaching the task at hand.

Students will be challenged more with this task than that withScout because they do not have explicit access to the thoughts of the


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character. Because of this, working in groups will foster a learningenvironment and allow them to learn from each other. This will alsohelp students continue to progress toward independently formingperspectives of characters. The students are challenged in this activityto make and support a prediction for the character when he/she is put

in a current-day situation. This expansion on the idea of takingperspectives and making predictions will become a tool for the finalassessment of perspective taking the following day.

Discussing each characters situation and the groups predictionwill help students develop public speaking skills and oral thoughtorganization. Also, the class will then give opinions and supports fortheir feelings on the prediction of each group. This will help students,once again, practice perspective taking and prediction making.

Using the handout, students will fill in the profile that containsthe supporting facts for the prediction made. This reinforcesorganization, methodology, and analytical writing. Students will

support their predictions using the profile thereby practicing formal,well-supported writing.

Assessment

Students critical thinking skills and recall ability will be shown

through the review of the text.

Students abilities to work within a group will be assessed based

on the overall effectiveness of the group and the supportivenature presented.

Students understanding of the concept and process of taking the

perspective of a character will be evident in the handout they

complete (formative). Students ability to form supported predictions (formative).

Students public speaking skills and ability to translate written

ideas into a very informal oral presentation (formative).


Objectives

Students will recall events from the reading and respond to

critical thinking questions, specifically the parallel nature ofMayella and Toms testimony.

Students will understand the sequence of events in the novel.

Students will engage in more complex and involved application

of characterization skills learned the previous day.

Students will be able to explain the actions of characters based

on prior information and information provided in a specific scene.


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Students will work cooperatively in a group.

Students will apply the process of taking a perspective and

expand upon it by making a prediction about how a characterwould act in a new situation.

Students will effectively explain answers that resulted from the

group effort to the class (including supports).

TasksActivity 1: Instead of notes, students will write down why Scout talks toMr. Cunningham in the mob scene (focus on categories discussed theprevious day).

Transition: Since we did not have time to finish our discussionyesterday, were going to focus on the testimony of Mayella Ewell andTom Robinson. These testimonies have a parallel story, but there aresignificant differences in what they say. Were going to break into two

sides and each side will review one of the testimonies.

Activity 2: The discussion from the prior day will be continued to fullyreview the events of the most recent section of reading (specificallythe trial). This will focus on the testimonies of Mayella Ewell and TomRobinson. The different testimonies are put into a T-chart on the whiteboard to make the comparisons easier and visually distinct.

Transition: Now that we have more information on more characters ofthe book, we will use the skills practiced yesterday to formperspectives of characters other than Scout. Take out the handout you

completed as homework, as well as a writing utensil. We are going tobreak up into groups and use the format we worked on to develop theprofile and perspective of other characters in the novel as a group.Now I want you to count off by 5s, and remember your number.[Students count and are told the area for each number] Bring yourhandout, and once you are in your spot, put the desks in a circle.

Activity 3: Students, as a group, will form a profile and perspective fora character they draw out of a hat. They will record this information onthe back of the sheet they did for homework. Once students draw acharacter, they will be given a sheet with that characters specificsituation. This can be used as scratch paper because the form on theback of the Scout handout will be collected at the end of the hour.After the profile is created, they will predict how the character wouldreact in that particular situation and be prepared to share in front ofthe class.

Transition: Now that each group has the perspective completed for the


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character, well go around and share them with the class.

Activity 4: Students share their character profile, new situation, andprediction on how the character would react. As a class, they willdiscuss this character and decide if it is accurate.

Activity 5: Collect the writing from the beginning of the class and thecharacter prediction sheets. Make sure all Scout Predictions arecollected as well (homework from Day 1).

Materials

TKAM

Notes and questions on reading through Chapter 21

Whiteboard

Dry erase markers

Copies of different character situations

To-Do List (task analysis for self)

Read through Chapter 21

Bring TKAM to class

Have notes on specific events of the reading

Choose 5 characters for students to use

Create situations for each character

Create/have copies of the handout for each student

References

Novel of Reference: To Kill a Mockingbirdwritten by Harper LeeLee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central Publishing,1960.

Application of Perspectives (Day 3)

GoalsIn this lesson, students will recall all previous knowledge

acquired over the past two days and apply it to a character. This willevolve one more time because students are asked to make a predictionabout where this character will be in 20 years. This assignmentcombines the procedural knowledge gained as well as the skill ofsupporting a prediction. Although this assignment seems initially morefreeing, it will force the students to remain focused and constantlysupport each prediction.


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RationaleIn this activity, students are making predictions on how

characters would act in a new context (the future). This engagesstudents in critical thinking on several levels. Students must reviewthe novel to find existing facts about the character of their choice.

Then, students must use this knowledge to form predictions about acharacter. Though students are given the choice of whether or not thecharacter changes, they must support their beliefs with explanations.

Students must take the perspective of the chosen character inorder to fully anticipate how that character would act. This activity ofprediction allows students to take a reverse role and realize that thephysical characteristics and personality, experiences and past actions,and beliefs all combine to create a portrait of the character. Thisprovides them with the opportunity to learn an alternate way to viewperspective.

The brainstorming sheet guides the students in a new form of

prediction while linking the previous lessons. It is designed to helporganize and explain the components of the writing assignment in avisual manner. The illustration reinforces the creative element of theproject and utilizes the multiple intelligences that each studentpossesses. It appeals to diverse learners and allows for visualexpression within the assignment.

Assessment

Students understanding of taking another perspective will beevident through the use of textual evidence, the complexity ofthe prediction, and eventual completion of the final product

(summative). Students ability to compose a logical and supported prediction

will be shown through the final writing piece (summative).


Objectives

Students will follow directions closely and incorporate all facets

of the assignment description into the final product.

Students will practice brainstorming and organizing theirthoughts before writing.

Students will apply skills learned from the previous days of the

writing sequence.

Students will apply the characterization and prediction skills thatthey have practiced throughout the writing sequence on theirown to develop a prediction of the future of a character fromTKAM.


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Students will recall the three categories and find evidence foreach one.

Students will compose a written piece that is supported and

follows a logical organizational pattern.

Students will use prediction to evolve existing characters.

Students will engage with the assignment on a visual level viathe illustration component.

Students will engage in self-assessment as a tool for producing acompleted final product.

TasksActivity 1: Daily Note Time

Activity 2: Explain how the Scout Prediction handout was graded.Then, transition into how to support a prediction with specificinformation from the text.

Introduction: Now we will focus on making predictions about charactersbased on information we have gathered from the novel.

Activity 3: Students are given the Where Are They Now? handout andinstructions. Once all materials are passed out, the directions arestated and each component of the activity is explained. Students arereminded that each component is turned in with the final writing pieceand they are expected to complete the self-assessment rubric.Questions from the students are answered, making sure students areclear on the expectations and concepts of the activity. They have theremainder of the hour to work on the assignment. It becomeshomework due the following day.

Materials

To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee

Where Are They Now? handouts

o Directions/Assignment Description

o Brainstorming Sheet

o Rubric (self and teacher assessment)

o Plain Paper (for illustration)

Art supplies (crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc)

To-Do List

Create handouts

o Assignment Description

o Brainstorming Sheet

o Self-Assessment Rubric


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o Teacher Assessment Rubric

Gather art supplies

ReferencesNovel of Reference: To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central Publishing,1960.Part 3: Discussion1- Experience with planning the unit/daily lesson plans

Planning the lessons for the writing sequence was more difficultthat any lesson plans I have made before. I am planning the lessonswith Rachel Kenney because we have the same placement, but this is anew experience for me. In lab last semester, we did a team lesson, butthat was only for one day. This writing sequence is much moreinvolved and much more realistic. I found myself struggling with allthe different components. I had to look at the goals my mentor

teacher has for the unit and then figure out what goals we wanted forour writing sequence. We are creating our own sequence, but we haveto keep her goals in mind while doing so. This constantly forces us torevisit the goals to make sure we are synching our lesson with theultimate and overarching goals. It is also difficult because we have todo so many different levels of backward planning; this started to getconfusing because of all the goals we have to meet. We have goals forthe year and goals for the unit set by our mentor, but then we havegoals for our writing sequence as well as goals for each lesson andeach activity within the lesson. I found myself constantly referringback to our goal sheet to make sure we kept on track and were

planning toward our goals. Before, I thought a recursive process wasone where after changes have happened, you go back and alter theplans. This, however, showed me that there is a recursive natureembedded within planning. I had to refer back to the unit, then referback to the goal of the sequence, and make sure that my lesson waswithin this. Then I began to notice how my lessons were recursivewithin the writing sequence, which is again, recursive within the unit.

Though Rachel and I developed the idea for the lessons together,though we each created individual lesson plans. While writing mylesson plans, I found it much easier to write out the tasks that would bedone during the lesson before rationale, assessment, and objectives.

This was something I had experienced with lab, but it was magnifiedwhile working on this. I think this occurred because I found it difficultto say my rationale and assessment before I had completely developedthe activities. After I wrote out the lesson and what the students woulddo, it was much easier to go through and put in the rationale andassessment that I constantly kept in mind but was unable to articulateuntil I saw the lesson take shape.

The first lesson I planned changed multiple times before I


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actually taught it. I wanted to review the text and then model how totake perspectives, but I was worried about time. To solve this initialproblem, I planned to model perspective taking first, use leftover timeto review the events of the novel, and then have the students work onthe handout that would be homework. This order, however, was

unsettling because I ask students to shift mindsets too many timeswithin one lesson. Suddenly, I realized that it would be unrealistic toattempt to cover every aspect of their reading. With this, I picked outthe major events from the novel. Once these were chosen, I logicallydivided them into material to cover on day one and the rest to becovered on day two. Since I divided the material and had created astopping point, I was able to rearrange the lesson to make it morecohesive. The review would go first for 20 minutes or until allquestions were answered. Then I would be able to use the remainingclass hour to explain the skills and reasoning behind takingperspectives. This was a new experience for me because with all other

lessons planned, I never had to continue the lesson the following day.This is nice because I am able to determine how much time is spent onone component, and I am able to build my lesson in a flexible manner.Its a taste of things to come and because of it, Im seeing planning ina whole new light.

For the first time with planning, I also had to consider mystudents. To develop an effective lesson, I used my knowledge abouttheir interests, strengths, and weaknesses to inform my lesson. I knowI have athletes in the class who constantly find it a struggle tocomplete work outside of school due to games or practice. For thesestudents, completing work in class is beneficial because they have a

chance to practice. I also, however, have students in specialeducation. For these students, completing work in the class is stressfulbecause many need extra time to process the question, understandthe concept, and then translate their thoughts onto paper. For thesestudents, working at home is more beneficial because they haveadditional support. Ultimately, I decided to plan for time to completethe work in class and give the option of finishing the handout at home.These two options will hopefully be beneficial for both groups ofstudents (and I realize there are more than just athletes and specialeducation students in my class, but these two groups are the groupsthat have a history of struggling with completing assignments, so with

this in mind, I focused part of my planning with them in mind).I also used comments from the students and their previous work

to guide my lesson planning. Many students struggled with taking acharacters perspective in a previous assessment, so Rachel and Iwanted to focus on developing that skill. This happens to tie in wellwith the fact that many students are finding TKAM to be boring. Aftertalking to my mentor teacher, she told us that many dont engage withthe text because there isnt one major plot, but rather many sub-plots


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and in general, TKAM is respected for the character development andinteraction. The students are not considering this aspect of the novelbecause of their focus on plot, so I wanted to bring this other form ofanalysis to their attention. My hope with this is to help them evaluatea piece of literature on more than basic plot. To do this, however, they

need to be able to take different perspectives to understandmotivations and reasons for certain actions.One problem I had when creating the lesson was also my

extremely authentic audience. Working with my cohort in lab was agreat experience and a great medium for me to practice lesson plansand teaching. I didnt realize some hindrances until planning mylessons for the classes of my placement. When working with my peers,I knew they would understand the concepts and be cooperative withthe lesson. Now, however, I am working with actual 9th grade studentswho will behave like high school students. I have taught minor lessonsor given directions in my placement before, but these experiences

were usually modeled after my mentor. For these lessons, however, Iam forced to create it all on my own. I find myself questioning minoraspects of the lesson that I never questioned before. For example,when I break students into groups, would it be best to have themnumber off and give them the experience of working with new peopleor should I let them choose their own groups? Would it be moreproductive to have them work in familiar groups where perhaps therisk at trying something new is less or will it tempt them into notcompleting the assignment? After considering my options, I decided tohave the students number off. This got them moving early in themorning and gave them an opportunity to work with a different group

of peers.In general, I find unit and lesson planning to be extremely

beneficial. It helps me organize my thoughts and ideas while providingrationale behind my activities. Where I became frustrated was fillingout certain portions of the unit plan. My mentor teacher has taught fortwelve years, but she only plans weeks at a time. Though I believe shedoes very similar activities from year to year, she also adapts very wellto the needs of her students. This flexibility is extremely nice for usbecause we had a lot of freedom when planning our writing sequence,but it made completing the unit plan difficult. It is through myexperiences with her and my struggle with the unit plan that I began to

wonder how fixed a unit plan really is. I assume that it evolves basedon current events that could be used in the classroom and based onthe texts used, but certain aspects seem as though they would beevolving and changing from day to day and planning them so far inadvance before I even know my students seems a bit impractical; I willhave discussion ideas and questions for the discussions, but I also wantto cater to the learning needs and learning profiles of my students.Even with two classes, I see differences in how quickly they understand


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material and how willing they are to participate. These differencesmake it a struggle to keep similar classes in the same spot and forcesconstant revision. During or after a unit, do you modify the unit planbased on what happened or do you simply make a note of it and wait ayear to see how it goes the next time? I love planning a day, but for

some reason I feel that planning a unit is much more difficult. Inessence, they are the same thing, but I feel that there is moreflexibility and variance when planning a unit than when planning oneday.

My major issue when doing the unit plan was trying tounderstand what information went under which heading. Somesections were easily understood, but others seemed either redundant(such as composing) or complex (such as context). I found myselfquestioning how much information to put under other sections,discussion in particular, because I see that being one aspect of myclass that will change. I have my lesson goals, my unit goals, and my

year goals that I can direct my discussions toward, but at what pointdoes that make my discussion more like a lecture? Within my lessonplans, I include topics I wish to cover in discussion, and as I lookedthrough my unit plan, I saw that they connected to the themes andconcepts. At this point in time, I realized the function of having adiscussion section in a unit plan: it helps keep the planning processrecursive.

I never understood the benefit of a recursive process untilplanning. When making my plans, I find myself constantly lookingback at the goals to form my activities and assessmentsand Iabsolutely love it. The idea of recursive planning and teaching is so

fascinating to me because it makes sense. I love how it isnt stagnantand allows for change based on students and other situations. It willhelp students understand the lessons are not just something to occupytime, but rather that there is an ultimate purpose behind the activities.With that being said, the recursive nature of planning is so complexand hard for me to organize. I am a very linear person so the constantshifting from one idea to the previous idea to linking it to an idea froma week ago which leads into a lesson in a week is difficult for me tomanage. Even writing the plan was difficult because not only was Iconfused on certain parts, but I didnt know how to organize myquestions. With the recursive process, I would be working on one

aspect but then realize it linked to a new idea and concept of my plan Ihadnt originally considered. The ideas kept coming and I had no ideahow to organize my thoughts. Eventually, I started to write downindividual thoughts on a post-it note and stuck it on my notebook.After I filled in the unit and lesson plans, I organized the post-its in alogical sense and have used them to comment or add to different partsof this project. So far this has worked, but I feel that there may be abetter way to take notes on such a recursive process. I hope I figure


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out this new way before I run out of post-its...

A- How does what you planned account for the development ofprocedural knowledge in your students?

The focus of the writing sequence is to help students learn how

to take the perspective of others. This, in itself, is a procedure andlends itself well to teaching procedural knowledge. To help studentsdevelop this skill, the lesson is broken up in chunks that will givestudents multiple chances to experiment with this new and difficultconcept. The first day, I will model how one goes about taking theviewpoint of another. Through modeling, students will see andexperience this process. As an in-class and take-home activity,students are given a chance to engage with this process individually.The following day, they will work in groups and again work with takingthe perspective of another. They will practice how to take anotherperspective using the same format shown in the class the prior day.

Through class discussion, I will be able to gauge how well the class as awhole understands the initial steps to building a perspective, but I wantto know how individual students understand this complex concept. Toobtain this knowledge, I had my students use their note time at thebeginning of day 2 to explain, using the techniques learned theprevious day, why Scout acts in a particular way during the mob scene.This gave me information on individual students and helped me seewhere each student was at in this process. The third day is thecumulating day where all the skills acquired the previous days areused. The final writing assignment of this sequence is to predict wherea character will be in 20 years. Required components of this paper are

to fill out a brainstorm sheet where traits are written down, write downsupports for each prediction, and relate future traits to past traits. Allof these skills were discussed previously, but this is the first time theymust combine these skills with a new prediction. Everything I taughtthem throughout the writing sequence built upon itself to prepare themfor this more extensive writing. The sequence gradually builds to amore complex facet of perspective taking, but this can be donesuccessfully using the skills learned the first two days and applying thisknowledge to the assignment on day three.

B- How does what you planned connect to the overall plans for

the unit and vice versa?The overall plans and goals of the unit with TKAM and the Great

Depression is to help students understand differing perspectives,understand how life was during a different time in history, and how toanalyze a novel while reading it. My plans for the sequence focus ontaking different perspectives. This directly connects to the first goal ofthe unit. During the process of developing the skill of takingperspectives, students will also develop methods of characterization.


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In order to do so, they will have to recall from their reading specificfacts about a characters physical description, actions, and thoughts.This aligns with close readings and analysis. To connect to a differenttime in history, students will combine taking other charactersperspectives with making predictions. They will have the prior

knowledge of the Great Depression and through the profile of acharacter, they will predict how that character will act. To do soeffectively, they will have to take the perspective of that character.These processes all link together and mutually inform each aspect andeach goal of the unit.

C-What makes what youve planned dialogic? What are youlearning about the challenges of dialogic teaching? Howspecifically could you improve these plans in this regard?

The dialogic aspect of my plans occurs during the classdiscussion and review of the text. At this time, students will pose

questions, and I will try to have other classmates answer thesequestions. This will begin to foster an environment where studentsbegin to see each other as resources. Understanding that this may notwork due to time or lack of understanding in the whole class, I willprovide answers, but with these answers will come open-endedquestions. I will pose these questions to help students think aboutactions and give support for answers. Through these questions, I willbe able to move away from pseudoquestions and work towardauthentic uptake (as shown with support from the text) and dialogueamong classmates. Dialogue will also occur when groups present theircharacters (day 2) and their predictions. As long as these predictions

have support from the text and show engagement with the character,there is no correct answer. Dialogue also comes into play when otherstudents in the class have a chance to give their opinions on thepredictions and make some of their own.

Planning for a dialogic lesson is very difficult. I know I have toreview the information from the book because the students will betested on it. Some parts of these lessons are based in direct fact fromthe book, so I dont know if it is even possible to make that aspectdialogic. To proceed into a dialogic lesson, the students need to allunderstand the book to that point. It seems like the preparation for adialogic lesson cant be dialogic. I feel like I have two different

objectives to reach: having an understanding of events in TKAM andtaking perspectives. To understand the sequence of events, one mustuse the text. When using the text for this purpose, dialogue cannot beauthentic because there are not alternative answers. To compensatefor this aspect of the goals, I want to have students experiment withperspectives and support. The predictions are pure creativity, and allanswers will be accepted as long as they are based in fact.

I feel that I have a great opportunity to create a dialogic


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environment specifically with my third lesson because it is the finalcomponent of perspective taking. I feel as though I cant make my twolessons more dialogic because guided discussion/informal lecture isnecessary to convey the methodology behind forming a characterprofile and moving into taking that perspective. Once the students

have that foundation, I feel I can move into more creative, open-endeddiscussions because they will understand the need for drawing fromthe text to support opinions. To create a dialogic plan, I am thinkingabout having the students do a debate over some issue while takingthe perspective of a character. This will give them a chance to explorea new genre as well as engage dialogically with each other. Time maybe an issue, but I feel that arguing from one standpoint will help alesson be dialogic as well as one that aligns with the goal ofperspective taking.

Part 4: Other Comments and Teaching Reflections

I really enjoyed teaching this sequence. It was such a newexperience to be able to teach a lesson I created! Teaching my ownlessons also taught me a lot about the process of lesson planning. Iconstantly revised my plans based on what happened in class and howwell students seemed to understand the concept. I modified lessons tohelp students review important parts of the book. I also had to usetime to further clarify directions and how to support predictions withthe text once I saw where many students struggled.

In order to remember what main ideas I wanted to convey duringthe book review or the examples I created to explain perspectivetaking, I wrote out a skeleton of my lesson plans. This outline helped

me follow the plans I made while giving me a template I could writecomments on. This helped me with my reflections and also remindedme what parts had to be changed or modified depending on whathappened in class.

Working with Rachel was also a very valuable lesson in just howdifferent the same class can be depending on the students in it. Myclass was very engaged and well behaved for the most part, butRachels hour was disengaged, confrontational, and loud. This is thesame class, just different hours, but our prep for our individual classeswere different because our classes had different needs. Thisexperience showed me that each class will need its own prep and

lessons will be adjusted accordingly.

***Below are my reflections on teaching each lesson***Reflection: 2/23/09Writing Sequence: Day 1

After having their usual note time, students took a reading quiz.During their note time, they were reminded that this would be a goodtime to review for the reading quiz. Most students were diligent during


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this time, but a few were not using it to their advantage. I went overand talk to them about it; they were receptive to me coming over andeventually started to review.

Once all the quizzes were collected, I explained to them that Iwould be teaching them over the next three days how to write from the

perspective of a character and eventually how to predict, and supporta prediction. I felt that it was important that they understand why I amin the front of the room and why Amy isnt teaching at all. I was veryapprehensive at the beginning because I was not sure how thestudents would react to me teaching. Usually, when Rachel and Iteach, we first watch Amy model the discussion in first hour and thenwe do second hour. Because of this, second hour is much moreaccustomed to either Rachel or myself standing in the front andteaching. It was also weird to be doing these lessons by myselfbecause I had grown accustomed to teaching with Rachel up in thefront as well. As I began the lesson, however, I became much more

comfortable and enjoyed being the only person in the front becausenot only could I run the lesson in the way I saw best, but I was able topractice my teaching style instead of blending it with another. I knowthere is value in co-teaching, but I was so excited to teach as anindividual. It made me both nervous and excited for this experience.

I asked Amy to have students write down threeconcerns/questions when reading in order to prepare students fordiscussion, but with all the other events of the class on Friday, this wasnot given as homework. I felt that it was important to give studentstime to write down their questions before beginning the discussion, so Istarted with that: students were given about three minutes to write

down questions about the text. I walked around and it seemed thatmost were writing down something related to the book.

Incase students did not have questions (or more likely they didntwant to share/ask) I had discussion topics prepared. I was completelysurprised that I did not have to use the prompts at all. From themoment I asked students what part confused them, their hands wentinto the air. The questions were thoughtful and showed engagementwith the text. The most common point of confusion for students washow Tom could be found guilty after it was made obvious that he couldnot have attacked Mayella. Their questions showed me that theyunderstood the plot of the book, but were struggling with the themes

and larger issues of the novel. I was concerned that a student wouldask about the side-comment that implies Bob Ewell molests Mayella.As Murphys Law would have it, a student did mention that specificpassage. I was not sure how explicit Amy had been with them prior tothis, so I did not want to explain too much or too little about thisparticular part of the novel. When it was asked, I asked the class,instead, what they thought was meant by this comment. They allagreed that Bob probably took advantage of Mayella, but by turning


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the question on the students, I was able see how they read the scenewhile validating, once again, their opinions.

During the discussion, I also struggled because I did not knowwhat themes Amy had focused on with the class or what discussionsthey were having when Rachel and I were not in the classroom.

Because of this, there was a moment when Amy interjected to relate astudents question to a topic previously discussed. This helped megauge what direction they were taking with the novel, and it slowlybecame more evident as students asked questions and how theyresponded to each others questions. As one component of the review,I asked the class about mob mentality. I was very surprised when onestudent specifically mentioned group think. All of the studentsseemed to understand this concept as well as how it applied to thescene. After I taught my lesson, Amy told me that she had passed outan article on group think at the beginning of the mob scene anddiscussed it with the students. Although this explains their seemingly

automatic knowledge on the subject, it was good reinforcement andemphasizes the point.

During the discussion, a student asked about Dill. At this point,Lucas, who sits near the front, said in a very offensive tone of voicethat Dill was gay. Though Dill is based off of Truman Capote and he isgay, it was the manner in which this was said that struck me asoffensive. I knew who said the comment and decided to give thisstudent my disapproving teacher look. The student in front of himstarted to get worried and said that he wasnt the one who made thecomment because he was afraid of the repercussions of making such astatement. This confirmed my belief that the comment was said in an

appropriate way. Later in the hour, I approached the student to clarifywhy I gave him a disapproving look. He knew exactly what I wastalking about and agreed to not make such statements again. Oncethe subject was addressed, I felt much more comfortable because I hadshown that any form of hate speech was not tolerated.

After we discussed their concerns with the text, we moved on todeveloping their procedural knowledge of taking alternateperspectives. To begin, I had students write down physicalcharacteristics, personality traits, and past actions. At the end of their3-minute brainstorm, the class compiled a very impressive list. Fromtheir responses, I was able to show the connection among the

categories. Once I showed how the categories are interconnected, thestudents started to make the connections themselves when theyshared their findings. I was so neat to see them brainstorm all theseideas! I was very happy with how well they interacted with me andwith the text.

At the end of the hour, Heath approached me and asked ifHarper Lee was dead. When they began reading TKAM, he told us thatTCM was showing the film on Saturday night; his devotion of sorts to


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the text is evident in his participation during discussion as well asthese conversations outside of class. It is inspiring to see a studentbecome engrossed with a component of the class. His joy, I hope, willtransfer to other activities of the class, and maybe even to his peers.

Jennifer, however, is a student who is currently struggling. She

has major anxiety issues, but this time, these anxious and nervousfeelings are justified. For Monday, the students were told to read to211 and she is currently on page 11. Throughout the entire review,she looked confused and worried. I approached her at the end of classto talk to her about it; I told her I noticed she looked a little confused atwhich point she said she had no idea what was going on in the book.She admitted to being at page 11, so these feelings of anxiety arefounded. If you are 200 pages behind in reading, then you should feelworried. I suggested she use a note card when reading to help withthe small print, but then she mentioned that she kept forgetting tobring the book home with her. On top of that, she said she found a site

that gives chapter-by-chapter summaries of the book (I assume shewas referring to Spark Notes, although I didnt ask). My endsuggestions to her were to try and read a little bit extra night to tryand catch up while using the note card if the lines started to blendtogether. I am a little frustrated with the situation because I dontknow how to help a student who hasnt prepared the material? Howcan I alleviate any of the stress when it is induced, in essence, by thestudent? What is also so frustrating and confusing is that sheunderstands the concept of taking another persons perspective; sheconstantly asks if she is doing the process correctly, and each time,she has completed it and followed the steps of the process. She

constantly seeks affirmation of her abilities. Im worried that she willliterally make herself sick with worry over skills that she knows anddoes well.

One dumbfounding experience was watching Rachel teach herlesson. Her class was not engaged and did not ask questions. Sheproceeded through the lesson in the exact same manner I did, but thestudents were not responsive. She did the best she could with gettingthem to participate in class discussion, but she was forced to use theplanned discussion we created for this type of case. What confuses meso much is how different the two hours are, and it is the same class! Itwill be interesting to see how her class continues to act throughout the

sequence and to see if my class mentality or actions change.

Reflection: 2/24/09Writing Sequence: Day 2

When reflecting on the first day of the writing sequence, Racheland I realized that we had no way to see how individual students wereunderstanding the concept of taking alternate perspectives. To give usfeedback on this skill, we decided to have the students do something


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other than notes. At the beginning of the hour, students were asked towrite down why they felt Scout talked to Mr. Cunningham during themob scene. They were also told this would be their ticket out the door,therefore each student had to participate in this activity. In addition, itwas a good reminder of the procedural knowledge acquired the

previous day. This was an activity added after teaching Day 1, so itimmediately related to the recursive nature of teaching. Wheninstructing them to do the writing, I wondered if it would have beenmore beneficial to have them to do this activity at the end of classinstead. If I moved this activity to Day 1, then I would have material toreview that night in better preparation for class on Day 2. Instead, Iwould look at the Scout Prediction sheet as well as this impromptuanalysis of this skill.

After the note time, I began the part of the lesson where, as aclass, we compared Tom and Mayellas testimony. To mix up the class,I had students number off by twos and then go to the respective sides

of the room. They did so without much trouble, and reformed intopairs. When I explained the reasoning behind the comparison of thetestimonies, the students began working quickly. They were on taskfor most of this, and when I asked them to share, they covered alltopics I wanted them to notice. I did not worry about the size of thelists my class would create, but in the future, if I have a more difficultclass, I will need to say how many parts of the testimony I want themto write. This activity took longer than I anticipated, but a large part ofthat was because I asked them what was similar and different from thetestimony. Along with this, I had them explain why these differenceswere important. At first, students struggled with differences, but then

after a while they were asking questions that reflected critical thinkingskills and a deeper engagement with the text and the themes thanoriginally anticipated. I feel that the time spent on this part of thelesson was valuable and tied well to the overall themes of TKAM. It didcut into their group activity, but this discussion was going so well that Ididnt want to cut it short.

Breaking the students into larger groups went well, and I wasable to give the harder character (Ms. Maudie) to the group I felt wouldnot struggle as much with her. She has fewer scenes to draw from,and the situation we created for her is more difficult than the scenariofor Jem or Atticus, so I gave it to the groups I felt needed a challenge. I

emphasized supporting their predictions, but I did not explicitly statethe directions. This assignment was not homework, but I did wantthem to complete the summary portion and write a supportedprediction. The directions did mention it, but I did not read thedirections to the group. I merely outlined what they were to do as agroup. There was no penalty for not writing out the prediction, but itundermined part of the lesson and writing sequence.

Groups had about 20 minutes to work on creating a supported


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prediction for their character, and at this time, I walked around theclassroom and answered questions while monitoring the progress ofthe groups. I was just about to have each group share when aparticular group had a general question on the plot of the book. Ianswered this and quickly found myself running short on time. I had

all the groups share their predictions and how they supported them,but unfortunately I was not able to go as in depth with this as Ioriginally planned (I could have had groups present the following day,but after looking at their homework, I saw that my time needed to bespend emphasizing how to support a prediction).

I told them the homework and collected their prediction sheet aswell as their justification for Scouts actions (writing at the beginning ofthe class). Overall, the lesson went well, but upon reviewing theirhomework, I saw that in order to prepare them for the major endproject of the writing sequence, I would have to break down the stepsof making a prediction and explain every part of the assignment and

its directions if I wanted them followed. Their lack of support forpredictions was also evident in their beginning of class writing; I foundthis to be a valuable tool because I am able to quickly see how thestudents understand the concept and am able to adjust my lessonsaccordingly.

Reflection 2/25/09Writing Sequence: Day 3

When Rachel and I graded the Scout prediction sheet for ourrespective classes, some interesting trends formed. My class had moredifficulty, overall, with the assignment. Most of my students had lower

grades than Rachels class. My class, however, did have four studentsreceive full credit on the homework whereas Rachel didnt have anyperfect scores. This is a trend that has been consistent; on the finalexam, nobody in second hour got below a 70 whereas first hour had 6students score less than a 70. Also, my hour had more trouble with thePast Experiences and Actions than Rachels hour. Her students gavemore concrete answers and mine struggled with separating pastactions from beliefs or personality traits. This required moreexplanation on my part during first hour, which goes to show that evenif a class is labeled the same, every hour is different.

During the students note time, I called over several students.

These were students that had produced work I wanted to keep, so Iasked for their permission to copy it and black out their names. Mostof the students I called over constantly produce solid work, but onestudent does well, but not usually great. When I asked to keep hiswork, he looked at me and said, in a very perplexed voice, really? Hewas so surprised, and the simple complement of keeping a worksheethe did raised his confidence. During the class, he was more active,attentive, and was beaming confidence with his responses. Seeing his


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reaction and how it shifted his mood for the class is a great example ofhow much kind words can change a student. He produced good work,and I learned a little about what would help motivate him in the future.

After collecting the homework from the first day of my writingsequence, I noticed a major trend in where students lacked procedural

knowledge. Many had difficulties giving support that was tied to thetraits they listed. Because of this, I used time at the beginning of thehour to review how to support an argument by giving evidence fromthe text. To do so, I modeled what I was expecting from them. Once Ihad briefly gone over this, I began to explain the directions for theassignment due on Friday (originally Thursday- it was moved becauseit took longer than anticipated to explain the assignment). I did a briefexplanation, but did not hand back their homework. When I do passback the assignment, I plan on revisiting this concept and explaininghow their worksheets were graded.

Also looking at the assignment, I realized that not many students

followed directions. After seeing this, I adjusted my plans to go overthe major assignment in great detail. I wrote out how I would explainthis to my students to make sure every component was accounted for.This was more involved than I thought it would be, and I still hadquestions when they were given time to work, so it will be interestingto see how well they follow the directions on this project. At first I felt Iwas not giving the students enough credit and they would feel like Iwas belittling them by being so explicit, but seeing how manyquestions they still had, Im glad I took the time to go over it. Since itwas meant for homework, I didnt want them leaving the classroomwithout understanding the assignment. In anticipation of question, I

wrote the process on the board, reviewed each step, and had themexplain parts of the directions back to me. This helped me whenwalking around and explaining how to do it to other students because Iwas able to refer to the board during my explanation. I did notice apattern with students questions, so after answering the same questionthree times, I clarified the concept to the class. This is something thatIve seen my teachers do, and quite honestly, it was really weird. Irealized I started to imitate my past teachers and my mentor teachersubconsciously.

As mentioned above, I moved the due date of the assignment. Iintended for the students to have at least 20 minutes of class time to

work on it. After all the explanations and such, they were left with lessthan 15. Because of this, and the anxiety many were expressing overhaving to do this AND read, I asked if the due date could be moved toFriday. This had no bearing on when they would get the assignmentback because we would pick it up and then grade them for Monday, somoving the date back allows students more time to work on theassignment and gives them peace of mind. When I announced it, Ididnt mention that it was moved because of the shortage of time.


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Amy said they probably assumed so, but in the future, it would be wiseto explain why the due date was moved so they dont believe it willalways happen. Perhaps next time, it would be beneficial to have themcomplete the brainstorm sheet for homework. That way, they wouldhave the class to formulate their description and will have already

done most of the work in an environment without time constraints.One pattern I noticed when I went around the classroom was thatmany students were confused on the Past Experiences and Actionscomponent of the assignment. This is reflected in the homework theyhad to do as well. Seeing this, for future lessons, I would be moreexplicit with what I wanted in that particular section. Oh recursiveteaching

Heath continues to surprise me. His engagement with the text isbeyond that shown by any other student in the class. He knows theplot, the characters, and overall themes of the novel, and can apply hisknowledge to class discussion! For this project, he chose Dill. This is a

character we have talked the least about, so in my mind, Dill would bea challenge. Heath, however, had most of his brainstorming donebefore he left, and he had created a very creative, and well supported,prediction. He even said he was excited to complete this at home!

Jennifer, however, is quite contrary to Heath. When I talked toher today, she had not read at all. She admitted to making no furtherprogress in the novel. She was nervous and extremely anxious aboutthe day because I told her we would be working with the events of thenovel to form predictions. Her face became more nervous and the lookof anxiety only increased as I explained the assignment to the entireclass. After I passed out all the materials, she raised her hand, and I

went over to talk to her. She told me she would be unable to do theassignment because she didnt have enough of the book to draw from.This was a very difficult situation because this time, she is justified infeeling anxious. If you do not do the reading, then you will strugglewith the assignments that pertain to the reading. I told her to workwith what she knew and to read in attempts to gradually catch up. Sheeventually wrote down some information, and would constantly ask meif she was doing it correctly (and each time she was). At the end of thehour, after I announced that the assignment was moved to Friday, shecame up to me to talk about it. She began to cry and explain that shecouldnt do the assignment. She was extremely nervous and anxious

about how to do this after being told numerous times that she was infact completing the brainstorming correctly.

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