1. The Impact of Banned Books
Author: Melissa Kreider
Date created: 09/27/2016 6:24 PM EST ; Date modified: 09/28/2016 9:44 PM EST
Lesson # Lesson #1
Grade/Level Grade 9
Subject(s) Language Arts (English)
Date to be Taught September 29th, 2016
SECTION ONE: Identifying All Standards And Objectives
Objectives 1. Students will be able to anaylze their own thoughts and ideas by completing a scale activity using questions on
banned books and censorship.
2. Students will be able to interpret research by creating Powerpoint slides based on their research of a banned book.
3. Students will be able to recall elements of past reading by discussing and reviews the Article of the Week they read
and worked on the day before.
Standards
PA Pennsylvania Common Core Standards (2013)
Subject: English Language Arts Grade 6–12
Grade: Grades 9–10
Content Area: 1.4 Writing Students write for different purposes and audiences. Students write clear and focused text to
convey a welldefined perspective and appropriate content.
Domain:
Conducting Research
Standard:
CC.1.4.9–10.V Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self
generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple
sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
Content Area: 1.5 Speaking and Listening Students present appropriately in formal speaking situations, listen critically,
and respond intelligently as individuals or in group discussions.
Domain:
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Multimedia
Standard:
CC.1.5.9–10.F Make strategic use of digital media in presentations to add interest and enhance understanding of
findings, reasoning, and evidence.
SECTION TWO: Identifying Method(S) Of Assessment And Point Of Use Throughout Lesson
PreAssessment
Bell Ringer SAT Vocabulary
The students do a daily warm up sheet, and this day's focuses on SAT vocabulary prep because of the level
of the students in Accelerated English 9.
Brief Review of the Article of the Week on Banned Books
The day before, the students read an article about Ralph Ellison's book, Invisible Man, which was banned
and then repealed in North Carolina.
They will be asked to think about how banning a book works and what goes into deciding what makes a
book inappropriate.
Scale Activity
Students will be given a set of questions and will be asked to line up near the sign with their feelings on the
topic (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree).
Formative Assessment The students will be required to research a young adult novel that is on the most banned young adult novel list and
create a Google Slide based on an assigned banned book. The students will work in groups to research a banned book
that I will assigned to them. I have provided a starter link to help jumpstart their research. They will be asked to provide
a photo of the author, a photo of the book's cover, the target audience of the book, and a list of reasons why the book
was banned. They will then present this slide to the class and the teachers to see waht work they did.
Summative Assessment The students will engage in their discussion journals via Google Classroom on a quote about censorship/banned books.
The quote that was selected is "In this age of censorship, I mourn the loss of books that will never be written, I mourn
the voices that will be silencedwriters' voices, teachers' voices, students' voicesand all because of fear." Judy Blume.
They will be asked to think about the quote and answer the question "Do you think we are losing potential writers and
learners because of censorship? How do you suggest we improve this problem?" If they do not finish their discussion
journals in class, they will be asked to complete them for homework. The discussion post should be no less than 175
words, at least one reference to a book that was presented in class, and a well developed thesis statement.
SECTION THREE: Identifying The Learning Activities/Instructional Strategies And Details As To How The Lesson
Will Be Carried Out
Introduction (Hook)
Welcome the students to class for the day.
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2. Go over the Bell Ringer Warm Up Sheet (SAT Vocabulary)
Start by asking them what they thought of the Article of the Week, which was about banned books and censorship
in schools.
Expalin the scale activity
Transition them out to the hallway
Sequence of Instruction (Step
1, Step 2) 1. Review the article on banned books and censorship
Ask them their thoughts on what they read
Did they agree with Invisible Man being banned from the school?
What did the article teach you about the process of banning books?
2. Scale Activity
Go out to the hallway where notecards with "Strongly Disagree", "Disagree", "Neutral", "Agree", and
"Strongly Agree" on them in a row.
Statements:
Religion and politics should play a role in determining if a book gets banned.
Parents should decided if their children can or cannot read a book.
Banned books have no positive impact on culture.
Books with offensive content have no place in a classroom.
Reading a censored version of a book allows the author's ideas to come across the same as the non
censored version.
3. Discussion on Scale Activity
What did you learn from the activity?
Did the activity open your eyes to the different ways censorship plays into banning books?
4. Google Slides Research Activity
Introduce activity
Show and explain example that I created on The House on Mango Street
Assign book that they will be researching
Give time to research and create slide
5. Presentation of Slides
Students will present slides to the rest of the class
Closure/Wrap up Discussion Board After the completion and presentation of the slides, the students will engage in a discussion
journal via Google Classroom based on the quote "In this age of censorship, I mourn the loss of books taht will never be
written, I mourn the voices that will be silencedwriters' voices, teachers' voices, students' voicesand all because of
fear." Judy Blume. They will be asked to answer the questions "Do you think we are losing potential writers and
learners because of censorship? How do you suggest we improve this problem?" If they do not finish their discussion
journals in class, they will be asked to complete them for homework.
Transition Remind students that tomorrow is day six, so they will not be having class. If they did not finish the discussion journal,
they must do so by Monday.
Materials (Teacher and
Student)
Teacher:
Statements for scale activity (on notecard)
Scale notecards (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree written on them)
Notecard with name of the banned book that they will be researching
Chromebook
Google Classroom (Google Slides)
Students:
Chromebooks
Google Classroom (Google Slides)
Differentiated Instruction
(Planning, Teaching and/or
Assessment)
This lesson is designed for Acceleratted English 9 class (Honors/Advanced Students). This lesson could be adjusted for a
regular, academic class by adding more scaffolding and discussion to why they picked the opinions that they did during
the scale activity. Some sample questions include: "What was your definition of the catagories?", "How did the questions
make you think about banned books as a whole?", and "How do you think banned books affect the way learn?"
Use of Technology (Where
appropriate)
We will be using technology for the second part of the lesson by integrating using Google Classroom to make a
Powerpoint of banned books. The students will use the Chromebooks provided by the school to use Google Classroom to
create this project.
SECTION FOUR: Lesson Analysis
What went well?
Planning Reflection
Teaching Reflection
Student & Evidence
Improvements
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