Carlos A. Lawrence
I have included three lesson plans that reflect each of my three sub-units.
Lesson One
Topic: Active Listening
Objective:
Students will demonstrate active listening skills through discussing interpreted information about the speaker of a song from listening to a song.
Prior Knowledge:
No prior knowledge is needed
Materials:
Overhead projector, transparency with Talib Kweli's "For Women," copies of "For Women" by Talib Kweli, highlighter, Compact Disc (CD) Player, and loose sleeve paper.
Procedure:
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1. Discuss with class that a persons voice expresses information about the speaker including age, race, and gender. Inform students that they will listen to a song to determine this information about the speaker.
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2. Distribute lose sleeve paper and have students divide the paper into fourths and label the sections "age", "race", "gender", and "why"
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3. Distribute copies of "For Women" by Talib Kweli and highlighters. Inform students that they will use highlighters to highlight parts of the song that gives them information to determine the speakers age, race, and gender.
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4. Have students in groups (no more than four students per group) take turns reading and listening to each other read the poem. Instruct students to highlight parts of the song that gives them information to determine the speakers age, race, and gender while listening to their group mates.
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5. Discuss with class what they "heard" while listening to the song being read by group mates.
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6. Project a transparency of the song "For Women" by Talib Kweli.
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7. Inform students that they are about to listen to the song "For Women" by Talib Kweli.
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8. Instruct students to use the charts they created to note examples that caused them to interpret the age, race, and gender of the artist. Play the song on a CD player.
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9. After students complete their charts of interpretations, have them list specific examples from the song that caused them to make each interpretation in the "why" column.
Follow-up Activity:
Students form small groups and share their interpretations and reasoning.
Assessment:
Informally assess, checking students' understanding through reading their responses and listening to their discussions.
Lesson Two
Topic: Editing
Objective:
Students will compare drafts of a speech to analyze revisions.
Prior Knowledge:
No prior knowledge is needed
Materials:
Two overhead projectors, transparency of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, copies of "I Have a Dream " speech, copies of Dr. King's address to the National Press Club in July 1962, transparency of Dr. King's address to the National Press Club in July 1962, highlighter, computer with internet access, digital overhead LCD projector.
Procedure:
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1. Discuss with class that people who give speeches edit and revise their speeches to better express their views.
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2. Distribute copies of "I Have a Dream" speech, by Dr. Martin Luther King.
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3. Play video of "I Have a Dream" speech using LCD projector and instruct students to read along.
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4. Instruct students to highlight the section of Dr. Kings finished speech that says "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
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5. Distribute copies of Dr. King's address to the National Press Club in July 1962 and highlighters.
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6. Project transparency of speeches and underline the section that students will highlight.
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7. Instruct students to compare the section that says "land where men no longer argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character." Inform students that Dr. King originally used this version but then revised it.
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8. Discuss with students the effect the revision had on that section of the speech.
Follow-up Activity:
Students write a short speech and read it to a partner who then suggests possible revisions and how those revisions will possibly affect the speech.
Assessment:
Informally assess, checking students' understanding through listening to their discussion with partners and their responses.
Lesson Three
Topic: Television Commercials
Objective:
Students will analyze commercials with the goal of differentiating between the voice of the characters and the voice of the creators with regard to how the message is being conveyed.
Prior Knowledge:
No prior knowledge is needed
Materials:
Television, Video Cassette Recorder (VCR), loose sleeve paper
Procedure:
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1. Play excerpts of television commercials to class.
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2. Have students write what message the characters in the commercial are trying to convey based on specific actions.
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3. Have students write what action the creator of the commercial is trying to persuade the viewer to take.
Follow-up Activity:
Have students discuss another possible way to convey the same message.
Assessment:
Informally assess, checking students' understanding through their responses.
