1. Western New England University
ED 617 – Infusing Content Areas with Art –
Secondary
Jim Warnock
Assignment 10.2: Lesson Plan
Implementation – Final Project
2. Lesson Implementation
Lesson introduction
Students were shown the spoken-word poem “Forest
Fires” performed by the author Sarah Kay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlter5esJ88
3. The What.
This lesson was constructed in week nine of this course – Assignment 9.2:
Creative Writing Unit of Study
This lesson incorporates creative writing concept. Students are not required
to write creatively.
The Learning Objectives for this lessons are
As a result of this lesson, students will understand that: Everyone deals
with stress as a result of grief.
As a result of this lesson, students will know that: How they prepare
themselves to deal with the stress that is a product of grief is an important
life skill to develop.
As a result of this lesson, students will be able to: Select an area in their
personal life that they feel they needs to be improved and that will help them
deal with the stress/grief that they may experience in the future.
4. The Who.
This lesson was implemented in a sophomore (grade
ten) Health class.
The class consisted of eighteen students – ten female
and eight male.
This class meets four times a week with a total of 235
instructional minutes.
5. The How .
The lesson was the first of a three lessons mini unit in
coping / preparing to cope with grief.
The lesson incorporated spoken-word poetry in
introducing the concept of grief with and preparing
oneself to cope with grief.
Students will complete the unit assessment at the end of
the mini unit by constructing a menu of behaviors,
techniques and strategies they can employ to prepare
themselves to cope with grief.
9. Closure – 5 minutes
“Take some time to complete the provided worksheet. I will be collecting it to look over
and then meet with each of you quickly over the next few classes. Remember to consider
why you feel you need to make the change in your behavior dictated by the goal you
selected. Keep it simple.”
Materials Needed for the lesson. Projector, Sarah Kay video, handouts
Modifications/Extensions (for students on IEP’s or language differences.) –
Accommodations and modifications made per students IEP or 504 plans
Attach handouts: SMART Goal work sheet (attached)
10. What lesson you chose
I chose a lesson that fit into the unit I am currently
teaching focusing on stress management behaviors,
techniques, and strategies student can use to cope with
stress.
This unit has a focus of helping student develop a better
understanding of how to proactively prepare to respond to
stress.
This particular mini three lesson unit is directly connected
to grief.
11. Why you chose this
lesson
I chose this lesson because I felt that there was a need
for my health students to begin to develop the ability to
think proactively but how they cope with stress and more
directly grief. It is often the case with all human beings,
but especially teenagers that they fail to prepare
themselves to handle the stress that comes with grief
proactively. The goal of this lesson was to introduce the
topic through the use of spoken word poetry.
12. How you prepared for this lesson
The is the first lesson of a three lesson mini unit that falls
within the larger ten lesson unit on stress. The mini unit
began on class four of the larger unit. Prior to the
teaching this lesson we had:
as a class defined stress
Identified causes and symptoms of stress
established the physiological, emotional, social
connections between stress, grief, and wellness
13. How you were feeling before
implementation of the lesson
I have not previously used this type of activity to introduce
a topic and or concept, therefore I was excited to see how
it went. As with teaching any lesson for the first time there
was a certain sense of trepidation in how I would manage
the flow of the lesson. There were the usual questions:
What questions to I have planned to asked?
What other questions might the students ask?
Where might there by slow points in the lesson?
14. How you explained the lesson to your
student(s)
This lesson and the lesson focus was easily explained
followed the listening of the poem “Forest Fires” by Sarah
Kay.
I simply asked the students who here can relate to Sarah
in some way? What might be some life experiences that
you may have experienced that are similar to Sarah’s?
What are some coping mechanisms do you feel someone
might need to deal with situation similar to Sarah’s?
15. Reflection of how the lesson went, how you are feeling
about the lesson after its implementation, and what
changes you might make in the future to improve this
lesson
This is an ongoing unit at is still in progress. I have
completed this particular lesson. And felt it went well. The
student were engaged while listening to the spoke-word
poetry. The questioning went well enough with student
volunteering possible experiences one may encounter
that caused grief. In my introduction of the unit I
explained in depth that students were not expected or
required to share personal experiences. This lesson
ended up requiring two class periods due tot second
learning activity and the SMART goal setting component
of the lesson.
16. How you assessed student
performance in this lesson
Students will not be assessed with the use of formative
assessment but will not be assessed with a summative
assessment until the end of the ten lesson unit. In the
assessment for this unit will require students to construct
mini unit by constructing a menu of behaviors, techniques
and strategies they can employ to prepare themselves to
cope with grief.
