STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Cheri Ecker

02/23/16

Date:

School:
Rocky Mtn. High School
Grade Level: 10 th grader Voyager
Area: World Lit.
Title: Room to Move: Sonnets
Lesson #: _1_ of _1_

Content

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

(Write Content Standards
directly from the standard)
2.a.iii. Listen actively in groups to accomplish a
goal
2.1.f. Analyze how literary components affect meaning
Understandings: (Big Ideas)
Students can: distinguish between a Petrarchan Sonnet (Italian) and a
Shakespearean Sonnet (English); identify the rhyme scheme of both sonnet
traditions; define iambic pentameter.
Students can: work in small groups effectively; analyze and interpret a sonnet.
Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of
instruction, select applicable questions from standard)
Why is being able to effectively function in a collaborative group a necessary skill?
Why does an author choose to use this type of writing to make a point?
Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets)
Every student will be able to: (Create your own lesson objectives from the
standard, follow the ABCD format, using student voice)
A:

A tenth-grade World Literature student

B: should be able to differentiate between a Shakespearean and a Petrarchan

Sonnet
should be able to define literary terms, such as the above and iambic
pentameter
should be able to label the rhyme scheme within the corresponding sonnet
should be able to analysis, interpret and make meaning from a text
should be able to look to the text for contextual clues as to a texts meaning
should be able to work in small groups and produce a cohesive activity
C: ...given a copy of a sonnet
given instructions regarding the creation of a rebus
given time to work with their groups sonnet
given colored pencils and paper
given enough time
D: ...nearly every time
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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

within 2 minutes for sonnet rhyme scheme/type
within 10 minutes for dramatic rendition
within 25 minutes for rebus
I can: distinguish between a Shakespearean (English) and a Petrarchan (Italian)
Sonnet; identify the corresponding rhyme schemes; and define iambic pentameter.
I can: work in a small group effectively; analysis and interpret a sonnet.
This means: I know what a sonnet is; I am able to identify the two traditional
sonnet forms; I understand the iambic rhyme scheme; and I can analyze and
interpret the same.
List of Assessments: (Write the number of the learning target associated with
each assessment)
2.a.iii. Dramatic representation of the sonnet (or parts of it)
2.1.f. Rebus of sonnet
Scansion of one line of iambic pentameter

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Planned Lesson Activities

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

Making Room for Sonnets: Making Space for Fun and Games in the
Sonnet Tradition

90 minutes
Hook: Weird Words and Interesting Phrases Guessing Game (5-8
minutes)
I will project a list of weird words from the sonnets we will be looking
at, unveiling them one at a time.
Students will make guesses about the words meaning.
There will be candy for all participants.

Direct Teaching: Shakespearean/Petrarchan Sonnet; rhyme schemes;

iambic pentameter; scansion. This will involve going over the form(s),
discussing the different rhyme schemes, talking about iambic
pentameterwith syllable marking through clapping and/or scanning a
sonnet (with modeling).
I will go over the definitions/forms/rhyme schemes via a short
interactive lecture.
We will count the syllables in the first two lines of both sonnets through

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

-modeling
-questioning strategies
-guided/unguided:
-whole-class practice
-group practice
-individual practice
-check for understanding
-other

clapping.
I will model scanning a sonnet.
(22 minutes)
Students will scan a line of iambic pentameter on their own or in
pairs. I will circulate to provide support (15 minutes)
I will give students a choice of either creating a rebus or an image
paraphrase of a sonnet (or lines of a sonnet).
Students will choose which activity they want to do.
I will put up example of the rebus for: I love you = I you, and will
explain to students how to go about doing their own rebus of one of our
sonnets. I will explain to students how to go about paraphrasing with
images.
Students will create their individual rebus or image paraphrase.
I will explain to students our group activity: performing a sonnet on
their very own Globe Theatre or their very own 16th-century
commercial.

Closure
Those actions or statements by a teacher
that are designed to bring a lesson
presentation to an appropriate conclusion.
Used to help students bring things
together in their own minds, to make
sense out of what has just been taught.
Any Questions? No. OK, lets move on is
not closure. Closure is used:

Students will choose their sonnet at random. All with the same sonnet
will work together to create a play or a commercial for their sonnet. The
only criterion being: everyone must play a part in their groups
production; the production must demonstrate an understanding of the
sonnets meaning, even if through parody (25).
By way of an exit ticket, students will jot down their favorite weird
word or phrase, with the appropriate scansion, OR something they
learned about the sonnet form that they did not know before our lesson
(5 minutes).

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

To cue students to the fact that

they have arrived at an important
point in the lesson or the end of a
lesson.
To help organize student learning
To help form a coherent picture and to
consolidate.
Differentiation
To modify: If the activity is too advanced
for a child, how will you modify it so that
they can be successful?
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a
child, how will you extend it to develop
their emerging skills?
Assessment
How will you know if students met the
learning targets? Write a description of
what you were looking for in each
assessment.

To modify: I will have bookmarks with the necessary definitions in

bulleted from.
The clapping syllable exercise is geared toward lower achieving
students (in an effort to make counting feet more accessible.
To extend: I will have students try their hand at writing a line, couplet,
or quatrain in iambic pentameter.
I will know students have meet the learning targets through their
having successfully scanned a line of iambic pentameter from their
sonnet.
I will know that students have successfully interpreted and analyzed
their sonnet through both their individual rebus and their group skit.
I will know that students have worked in their small groups successfully
by observing their interaction as they prepare and by watching the final
skit or commercial.
The final assessment will be in the form of a summative literary terms
test at the end of the unitI will not be administering this test.

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Post Lesson Reflection

1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize
assessment data to justify your level of achievement)
I may have learned as much, if not more, than my students did! Upon
reflection (which I did immediately, not just for this assignment), I
realized that I had too many objectives, learning targets, and student
outcomes in mind. Happily, the one that I really aimed for, the
outcome that I most hoped for, was realized. I wanted to make sonnets
fun and accessible to my students. I wanted them to think of sonnets
(and poetry in general) as available to them. All too often capital l
Literature seems inaccessible to students; it seems ancient and
pointless. What I really wanted to do was show students that they
possess what they need to make meaning from a sonnet; I wanted to
demystify the form; and I wanted to help them analyze a sonnet.
Based on a couple activities that I had my students do, this objective
was meet to a high degree! For instance, I had them form groups and
act out a few lines from a couple of sonnets. The results were amazing!
The students really got into the activity, and came up with some great
skits and drawings (which were narrated)they made meaning, they
analyzed, and they shared what they learned with the class. They had
fun analyzing sonnets! Another activity involved them annotating a
sonnet with pictures. Many of the students came up with powerful
images, such as a zipper for a mouth to depict someone who had been
silenced. Finally, by way of an exit ticket, I had my students write down
one thing they learned that they did not know before. One response in
particular stood out. A young boy remarked that he didnt know how
easy sonnets were, he further added that poetry is easier than he
thought. This same student told me during our lesson (when he had
me check his scansion) that he was surprised that he could understand
sonnets and poetry! That made the lesson successful.
On the other side of the spectrum, there was simply not enough time
in the one lesson to allow students to become comfortable with
scanning. Even though it appeared, as I walked around the room
checking on student progress and answering questions, that most of
the class was grasping the idea, I dont think they had enough time to
practiceideally, this is something that I would want to return to a few
times. The same goes for the rhyme schemes. Part of this requires
memorization and part practice marking, neither of which we had time
to do.

2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would

you make if you were to teach again?
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I would omit some of the learning targets and focus on one or two. I
would also remember to write the learning target on the white board. I
would also scan an entire sonnet with the students (a suggestion from
Ms. Jones), as opposed to only scanning few lines with them and then
having them try it on their own. Finally, I would stick to my plan of
grouping students through a drawing of sorts (which would create
random groups). After several students asked if they could pick their
own groups, I allowed them to do so, which had the unexpected and
undesirable outcome of a few students deciding to not participate.

3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice,

reteach content, etc.)
Since the first lesson laid some groundwork and served to open the
doors, so to speak, to the sonnet form, I would build on what I covered.
Recursive instruction aides in understanding so I would revisit the
sonnet in a subsequent lesson. As part of this lesson, I would scan a
sonnet with the class as a whole, but rather than just modeling it, I
would have the class involved. We would end up going over what it
means to scan a sonnet again, but in a way that built on their prior
knowledge (from the day before). I would allow students to share what
they remembered, ask questions, take guesses, offer corrections
(nicely), while I placed the marks in the decided upon places (and then
corrected them, as need be). This would both model scansion, give
students the opportunity to be involved, and allow me to assess the
degree to which they understood the prior days lesson. I would also
have each student compose a sonnet of their own. They could
compose either a Petrarchan or a Shakespearean sonnet. I would
scaffold/guide them by putting up the two rhyme schemes on the white
board, as well as by moving around the room in an effort to ensure that
everyone understands the task, etc. Ideally, I would want to devote
more than a day or two to sonnets in general and even a couple of
class periods to their own sonnets. Upon completion of their sonnets, I
would have them turn in a scanned copy and a clean copy of their
original work. This would allow me to assess their scanning and their
understanding of meter and rhyme scheme. I would also want to revisit
terms since they were to be on the unit test (this is something that Ms.
Jones did). We might even play some type of games in order to help
students memorize the terms.

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