Creating a Standard-Based Grammar and Writing Lesson in ELA Classroom

Section 1: Lesson Preparation
Teacher Candidate Name:


Grade Level:


Date:


Unit/Subject:


Instructional Plan Title:


Lesson Summary and Focus:

The text selected is Margret Atwood's short story "Bad News," in which the writer reveals the dilemma of the world's moral order using the metaphor of a bird. The story informs the reader how a person (bird) needs and enjoys bad news as long as it happens to someone else. This complex sentence structure and extensive literary devices will impart a deeper understanding of grammar and written text to the learner.

Classroom and Student Factors/Grouping:

This class is multiethnic, comprising Hispanic, African American, and White students. Most of the students are not English language learners, and they have an average reading performance level on the whole. Additionally, some of them do not have Internet access at home, and parental involvement is below average. These factors demand the formulation of a comprehensive, detailed, and focused planning of teaching the English lesson to address the needs of both below-average and gifted students alike.

National/State Learning Standards:

The American National Standards for teaching grammar and writing make reading a wide range of English text develop an in-depth understanding of different aspects of English grammar and vocabulary and forms of writing. Additionally, these standards stress the importance of establishing a connection between reading and writing by making it mandatory for a learner to write an informed account of the text taught in the classroom. The standards require students to understand the difference between different forms of writing. The teachers must develop an in-depth understanding of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure in students to help them write an impressive written text. These standards recommend using various strategies, including reading comprehension, explanation of the syntax, development of understanding of contextual meaning, and understanding of common literary devices to develop better writing capabilities in learners (Corestandards, 2010).
The selected text provides an intermediate level of reading comprehension, which is suitable for native and non-native learners to understand sentence structures, literary devices, and basic grammar rules as per the national standards. The teaching of this text will be used to assess students' writing and grammar skills based on the following performance indicators:
* Ability to write a text to support a claim based on coherent evidence and effective use of vocabulary and syntax
* Ability to use a variety of words, figurative language, and sentence structure to decorate the text
* Ability to understand various syntactical formations and grammatical units to write an error-free sentence

Specific Learning Target(s)/Objectives:

The aim of teaching this literary text to an ethnically and socially diverse group of students is to nurture the following language learning skills in them:
* To be able to understand the structure of complex sentences based on their understanding of grammar rules
* To be able to understand the text in ter...