Erin Morrisey

Lesson Topic: Summary Techniques || Grade level: 11th || Length of lesson: 60 minutes

Stage 1 – Desired Results

Content Standard(s):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11-
CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
IDOE.11-12.RL.3.2
Analyze a work of literature in which the reader must distinguish between what is directly stated and what is
intended (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement) in order to understand the point of view.
Understanding (s)/goals Essential Question(s):
Students will understand: How do I summarize and comprehend what I read?
 How and why the “Don’t Look Back”
technique works
 How and why to annotate a text
Student objectives (outcomes):
Students will be able to:
 Summarize a poem (a piece of literature we haven’t yet examined) using the “Don’t Look Back”
technique
o In order to perform the DLB technique, student must also understand how to properly annotate
 Provide feedback for Ms. Morrisey’s growth and development as a teacher
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Performance Task(s): Other Evidence:
 Annotate a poem  Student reads aloud
 Draft a written summary of a poem  Summarize a poem aloud
 Evaluate Ms. Morrisey
Stage 3 – Learning Plan
Learning Activities:
Time Teacher Will Be: Students Will Be: Rationale: Theory/ Theorist:
5-10 Ask questions about/ Answering questions Build base understanding. Get Fisher & Frey (pg. 9)
minutes model/ teach annotation of annotation student thinking about the indicates that
techniques. Provide a experience. process/ reasons for annotating annotating leads to
visual aid (one of my text. comprehension
books for school) as an during reading.
example of work. Invite
student to question why Piaget believed
and how I annotated the strongly in visual
way I did? aids.

Vygotsky: More
Knowledgeable other
(example
annotations)
5 minutes Read “A Poison Tree” by William Blake  I hope my student will be Vygotsky: Reciprocal
student and teacher should go back and forth in more comfortable with reading teaching
reading stanzas. As I read, student will be aloud this week. I also hope to
annotating. As student reads, I will annotate. continue modelling quality Piaget’s Formal
read-aloud strategies Operational Stage =
(inflection, tone, pauses) abstract thinking =
poetry with
symbolism is an
appropriate literary
choice
 Erin Morrisey
5 minutes Discuss student’s Ask any questions My goal is to help my student Malaguzzi: teaching
annotations/ my own she might have about grow and learn, not to feel lost guided by
annotations the meaning of the or confused. When she’s faced questioning
poem with confusion, I want my
student to know that I desire to
help her reach understanding.
5-10 Ask student to flip over her annotated poem and Assess my student’s ability to Bloom’s Taxonomy:
minutes summarize (out loud) what it’s about (“Don’t summarize (without any direct Remember and
Look Back” technique)– Discuss any possible warning)—I do this in the Understand
sticking points/ ask questions which lead to hopes of accurately assessing
main points when student appears stuck. her. I allow the student to Montessori: active
summarize both orally and in observer (provide
writing so she has the minimal guidance)
5 minutes After this oral summation, have the student opportunity to exercise Howard Gardner:
silently write down specific details/ images/ multiple intelligences. Multiple Intelligences
messages she remembers, then write a (very
short) paragraph using these details – this is the Bloom’s Taxonomy:
summary paragraph. Remember and
Understand
10 minutes Discuss both processes of summarization (use Gauge if student has an Malaguzzi: teaching
discussion questions below) affinity for one type of guided by
assessment (oral or written). questioning
10 minutes Provide evaluation Assess Ms. Morrisey I want to understand specific N/A
form (below); give using evaluation form ways my student identifies
student privacy as she below that I can improve upon.
fills out the sheet (walk
around, fill up water
bottle, etc.)

Reflection: What did I learn through teaching this lesson? What do I want to remember the next time I teach this
lesson? How will assessment data from today’s lesson impact tomorrow’s teaching? Reflect on your student’s
growth over your past four lessons.

What I Need to Improve: I should have planned more instruction on what annotation is—my student had never
heard this term before (something I wasn’t anticipating). I realized that I enter our meeting planning to scaffold,
not to build a base. I want to get more comfortable with this base-building. I was caught off guard when my
student asked me to expand upon what annotating means, even though that was the bulk of our entire lesson. This
new understanding was confirmed when I looked at my student’s evaluation: she gave me a “3” (out of 5) for the
category “teacher seems to know a lot about what we discuss.” From our first meeting, my student has seemed
open and truthful, so I trusted her evaluation of me.

What My Student Needs to Improve: I got excited after our third lesson together, because I thought I had finally
identified an area my student needed help with (comprehension/ summarizing literature). However, after today’s
lesson, I’m less confident in my identification of this “problem area.” She was able to accurately summarize the
poem after a brief discussion of her annotations and the meaning of the poem.

Where I Saw My Student Improve: During each meeting, I struggled to understand how I could best serve my
student. I’m not sure I saw her improve in a specific area because I didn’t know where she started. Although I
think I created reasonably entertaining lessons for my student, I don’t think I taught her any new content or
techniques she might be able to utilize in the real world. I introduced my student to a few new ideas: how to
annotate text, the existence of a compelling author (Stephen King), and the wide variety of advertisement types in
the world. I think we also built good rapport throughout our few meetings.

What I Would Focus on Next: When my student and I walked to the restroom (a policy enacted by the school),
she discussed her frustration with voting, because tomorrow is Election Day. Even though this student is too
young to vote, she complained about how little weight her vote carries and declared she would never vote because
of this. I would like to do a brief history lesson examining the right and privilege we have to vote.
 Erin Morrisey

The Poison Tree BY WILLIAM BLAKE

I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow. Key Points
 The speaker indicates that anger grows quickly when it’s
And I water’d it in fears, kept inside oneself.
Night & morning with my tears:  Ways anger can grow:
And I sunned it with smiles, o Dwelling on fears
And with soft deceitful wiles. o Passive aggressiveness (pretending “everything’s
fine” and smiling, even when angry)
And it grew both day and night.  Someone will always figure out you’re angry with them
Till it bore an apple bright. o Your anger will grow so strong that it becomes
And my foe beheld it shine, overwhelming, even “poisonous” to the person
And he knew that it was mine. you’re angry with
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veil’d the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Annotation Warm-Up
 I noticed last week that you did a good job identifying figurative language!
 What do you already know/ understand about annotating texts? Walk me through how you usually annotate a text.
o How do you know what to circle/ underline? What do you usually write in the margins?
 Questions to ask when annotating?
o Who, what, when, where, why, how?
 Do you think it’s important to annotate a text? Do you find it useful to annotate?

Discuss Processes of Summarization

 Which method of summarization did you find easier to do?  clarifying question
o Did you do anything differently when summarizing out loud and writing a summary?
 What are some other ways you might have been able to summarize this poem?  probing question
 How do you usually decide what is important information?  probing question
 How can I help you better understand this process

See the following page for teacher evaluation

Erin Morrisey