A. Engage the Learner - L.7.3a (5 minutes)

• Repeated routine: Students respond to questions on Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lesson 3.

• Once students have completed their entrance tickets, use a total participation technique to review their responses, reminding students that they recorded definitions for concisely, eliminating, precisely, redundancy, and wordiness on the academic word wall and in their vocabulary logs during Module 2, but they can do so again for review.

• Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as with the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as in previous lessons.

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS 

On the entrance ticket, challenge students to first grapple to try defining the vocabulary from the context of revision and using word parts. Then they can use a dictionary to confirm their guesses.

On the entrance ticket, encourage students to use ELL or translation dictionaries to define the words and work in pairs to share their understanding of the meanings. Doing so will ensure comprehension and allow for oral language practice.

A. Combine Narrative Leads - W.7.5 (20 minutes)

• Review the appropriate learning targets relevant to the work to be completed in this section of the lesson:

"I can work with my peers to strengthen the narrative lead of our documentary script."

"I can choose language that expresses ideas precisely and concisely, recognizing and eliminating wordiness and redundancy." 

• Tell students that they will now work in their triads to share and combine ideas from their narrative leads to produce one strong lead for their documentary script. Ask students to retrieve their copies of the narrative leads that they wrote in the previous lesson and their Narrative Writing checklist to help guide their decisions about how to combine their leads. Offer some strategies for using their drafts to create a strong narrative lead for the group's documentary. For example, they may want to use the storyline of one lead, some description from another lead, and some reflection from another lead. They may want to try to use the "best parts" that students shared with one another in the previous lesson. Or they may want to use one triad member's lead as the base and add ideas, descriptions, or reflections from the other two members' leads. Explain that they will each be writing another section of the documentary, so they will have other opportunities to contribute to the documentary as well.

• Focus students on the Work to Become Effective Learners and Work to Become Ethical People anchor charts, specifically: collaboration, respect, empathy, and compassion. Remind students that since they will be working together to create one lead out of their three leads, they must collaborate respectfully, keeping in mind the feelings of their triad-mates when sharing their written work.

• Invite students to join with their triad and begin sharing and combining their leads. Circulate to offer support, making suggestions on how to create the strongest lead from their three drafts. When students have finished, invite them to edit the collaborative draft, recognizing and eliminating wordiness and redundancy.

• Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS 

In Work Time A, challenge students to model revising for precision, concision, wordiness, or redundancy by sharing a before and after sentence, explaining why they made the changes. 

In Work Time A, students may still be reluctant to share their narrative leads with their triad. Encourage them to reread their leads and choose the best sentence or section that they feel comfortable sharing. Or, if time allows, work with students to edit a sentence or section to ensure they have a best sentence they feel comfortable sharing.

A. Work on Action Plan - W.7.7, W.7.8 (20 minutes)

• Inform students that they will now have the opportunity to work on their action plans, so they should retrieve their action plan journals and share with their triads any new research or actions taken. As necessary, remind students that the personal action plan, which they have been working on outside of class, is similar to and follows from their triad action plan. They will need to share what they have been researching and doing outside of class to make sure they combine everyone's experiences and ideas into one action plan for their script.

• Also, display and distribute the Documentary Script planner and review that each section corresponds to a section of the script. Students should take notes on the planner as they work together on this activity, ensuring that the action plan part of their script relates to the narrative lead as it did in the Model Documentary script. This is important to keep in mind as they discuss and conduct research for their action plan. Students may use their texts from Module 4 as well as a device to access the internet for their research.

• Use the Research Mini Lessons (for teacher reference) from Module 2 as necessary for those students who are researching an invention or new process for reducing plastic pollution. Students writing letters and conducting personal actions will also need to conduct research to make their letters and the information in their script more convincing. Also, remind students that it is worthwhile to research more about the impact even of these personal action plans. For instance, students can research examples of other people performing similar personal actions, as well as what the broader impact of their actions may be.

• Invite students who complete their research, who are taking personal actions (such as reducing plastic use overall, recycling more, or refusing to use certain kinds of plastic) to think about how these actions apply in the school setting. Suggest that they design a scavenger hunt or similar activity to encourage students to take action in school. Students can also begin drafting the personal action section of the script or continue work on their action plan journals to create more detailed plans about steps they can take outside of class.

• Circulate and provide support to students as needed, directing them to the appropriate research materials and sources.

• Invite students to reflect on the learning target and habits of character focus in this lesson, discussing what went well and what could be improved next time.

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS 

During Closing and Assessment A, encourage students to explain the steps of the research process that they used in Modules 1 and 2. Challenge them to use a self-assessment technique (such as Thumb-O-Meter) to determine which mini lessons they need to attend. 

As in the lighter support, during Closing and Assessment A, draw students into a small group and ask them to work together to explain the steps of the research process. Prompt and guide students as necessary. Then give brief review mini lessons on any steps that were unclear to students to ensure they understand and can successfully conduct all the steps of the research process.