Lesson Study
Thinking About Thinking
Humanities | Grade 7
This lesson is a part of an interdisciplinary project called Light of Life which explores the intersections of food, fire, and culture. For the Humanities portion of this project, students explored their identities through the lens of food. Students engaged with their understanding through writing with various forms: six-word memoirs, personal narratives, and culture profiles. For each writing product, students used the EmPOWER method to guide their creative process.
This lesson is 13th in a sequence of 14 total lessons. An ordered list of the sequence can be found here.
Metacognition is a vital component of deep understanding and learning. In entering reflective spaces, we create opportunities for our brains to process information so that it may become both accessible and applicable. This lesson was designed as an exercise in supporting students around metacognitive strategies (mindful listening) around writing. Students were asked to reflect on their writing within the categories of: organization, content, process, and mechanics.
Overview
Appreciative Listening
How can we design authentic classroom structures that promote an open reflection of student work and thinking?
Research Question
Theory of Action
If we have our students engage in regular reflection, then students will develop an increased capacity for using others’ perceptions of their work as a tool for guiding future application of learning, resulting in the anticipation of thinking to elevate their understanding of a concept.
Adapted from the National Coalition for Equity in Education by Victor Cary. On the purpose of Constructivist Listening Dyads:
To create a safe space to become better at listening and talking in depth. Constructivist Listening Dyads help us as we work through feelings, thoughts, and beliefs that sometimes produce anger or passivity, undermine confidence, or cause interference in relationships with students or colleagues.
For this lesson, we chose a dialogical form of reflection to support student thinking around their recent experiences as writers. Through conversation, we hoped that our students would be able to access each other's thinking and use that information to generate personal writing goals around four elements of writing: organization, content, process and mechanics.
Planning
Lesson Goals
For this cycle of Lesson Study, our research team met to address the following planning items:
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Hopes and Dreams For Students
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Identify Student Strengths and Funds of Knowledge
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Determine a Research Question and Theory of Action
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Choosing a Research Lesson Topic
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Explore the Content
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Determining Equity and Content Goals
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Data Collection Plan
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Mock Lesson
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Lesson Study Prebrief and Debrief
Accessing Student Strengths
FOCUS STUDENT #3
Brilliant! Talented illustrator who’s obsessed with Minecraft, the Dog Man book series, and zip-up hoodies (the ones that go ALLLLL the way up your head). He marches to his own drum and often breaks into (Minecraft) dances when he’s excited. While he can be sociable when a group is talking about/doing something of high personal interest, after school, I do notice him isolating himself to go watch YouTube videos with headphones on. He is also quite hilarious.
Brilliant! Gifted writer with a quiet, powerful presence. She is highly aware of herself and those around her, requesting to “not be grouped with her friends so can do her best work in class”. Focus Student #2 has the ability to deeply focus on tasks despite the chaos of a seventh-grade classroom. While she can express herself beautifully in writing, Focus Student #2 is less inclined to share her ideas aloud with others in a classroom setting.
FOCUS STUDENT #2
FOCUS STUDENT #1
Brilliant! Social butterfly who loves connecting with others. Focus Student #1 is one of my go-to kids when I need a hand in class. She has the gift of anticipating others’ needs and the kindness to take action to help. She is meticulous in her work and pushes herself to do her best. I do, however, notice that Student Number #1 has a tendency to use self-deprecating language and will sometimes hide her strengths when she is in certain social spaces
CONTENT GOAL: ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
Students are able to articulate growth-oriented next steps derived from analyzing others’ writing.
EQUITY GOAL
Each student participates, meets her/his own participation goals in speaking and listening.