ELA.E

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SUMMARY

KEY INFORMATION

Students will deliver a prepared presentation, in which they will analyze how the struggles and challenges of a “Real World Warrior” compare to Melba’s in Warriors Don’t Cry. Students will develop criteria for what makes someone a “Real World Warrior,” interview someone who meets that criteria, analyze how their warrior overcame obstacles and challenges as well as the impact s/he had on his/her respective community, identify a theme song for their warrior and explain why it is the perfect song for them, create visual aids for their presentations, and then present their work to their classmates and/or their communities. By examining exemplar work and sharing their own work with their peers, students will come to an understanding that high-quality presentations will deeply dive into the lives of their warriors and draw profound connections between their warriors’ lives and Melba Patillo’s. Students will be able to publish their completed work on their English blogs.

GRADE
7

TOPIC
Unit 1

LESSONS
Download Download Download

DURATION
6-9 Days

INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL
Close Study

AUTHOR(S)
Melanie Archie

RESOURCES

The lessons Download lessons

for this Cornerstone require the resources listed below. More information regarding the use of each of the resources can be located in the Cornerstone lesson plans.

SUPPLIES & TECHNOLOGY

Materials Overview
The following materials are intended to guide students through the two writing pieces and presentation creation that they will need to accomplish over the course of the Cornerstone. Think carefully about the pacing of this activity as you plan your course schedule. Students will need time to perform their interviews. The suggested pacing guide for Unit 2, as suggested in the Unit Guide for this unit, suggests that you do the first few lesson before winter break and the final lessons after winter break. This provides time for students to do their warrior interviews over the long break.
Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4
Lesson Plan Download Lesson Plan	Lesson Plan Download Lesson Plan	Lesson Plan Download Lesson Plan	Lesson Plan
Student Handout Download Student Handout	Student Handout Download Student Handout	Student Handout Download Student Handout	Student Handout
Lesson Presentation Download Lesson Presentation	Lesson Presentation Download Lesson Presentation
Gallery Walk Signs Download Gallery Walk Signs	Student Interview Guide Download Student Interview Guide
Day 5	Day 6/7	Day 8/9
Lesson Plan Download Lesson Plan	Lesson Plan	Lesson Plan Download Lesson Plan
Student Handout Download Student Handout	Student Handout	Student Handout Download Student Handout
Teacher Materials Download Teacher Materials		Peer Feedback Form Download Peer Feedback Form

CURRICULUM INTEGRATION

Cornerstones are relevant, rigorous, and aligned to national learning standards. Use the tabs below to learn more about aligning to standards, embedding the Cornerstone in your unit of study, and preparing to teach the Cornerstones.

STANDARDS

KEY STANDARDS

R.I. 7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
R.I. 7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
R.I 7.3: Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).
S.L 7.2: Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text or issue under study.
S.L. 7.4: Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, detail, and examples; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
S.L 7.5: Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND EXTENSIONS

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

To be successful in this cornerstone, students should be familiar with the concept of an interview. Students should also be familiar with at least one of the following: PowerPoint or a similar visual presentation resource (Prezi, etc), comic strip layout, playlist/soundtrack format, etc. Prior to the cornerstone, students should know why Melba is considered to be a “warrior” and be able to give textual evidence to support their reasoning. They also should be familiar with the theme of perseverance in order to compare their warrior to Melba.

PLACEMENT

BEFORE

Prior to beginning the cornerstone, students should have finished the anchor text Warriors Don’t Cry. Students should also have knowledge of character analysis and comparing and contrasting. This cornerstone gives students the opportunity to build on those skills by making the connection between Melba from the novel and their Real World Warrior.

DURING

Analyze the personal experiences of a "real world warrior" from the community, including the obstacles s/he encountered and how s/he responded and persevered.
Interview chosen person to be able to describe these obstacles in depth.
Connect their research and chosen person to Beals from the unit text Warriors Don’t Cry
Identify a third text – audio/song – to connect to the "real world warrior" and Melba.
Create a presentation to share the findings of their research and comparison.

*Please note that this Cornerstone will take approximately 9 class periods, spread out over a few weeks to allow time for students to interview their chosen warrior, identify a song and analyze it, and work on their project. The first two days of this Cornerstone should occur before winter break, and teachers should urge students to use their winter breaks to conduct their interviews.

AFTER

Students will present their project, either to classmates or the community. Schools can host a ‘real world warrior’ evening and invite the community members students interviewed to speak and take part.

PLANNING

A key concept of this cornerstone is being able to analyze information to present it in a multimedia project. Students are using their own definition of the word warrior and building on the idea of it. From there, students should be able to apply their concept of warrior and find a real world example of one. This helps students apply their knowledge of what they learn in class to the real world. One misconception in this cornerstone is the meaning of the word warrior. The meaning of this word can be taken different ways. It is important for students to understand that a warrior doesn’t have to be someone who overcomes their obstacles always through physical force. It can be someone who chooses to fight with their mind to overcome their situations and persevere. When students choose who they will interview, it is very important that they keep that in mind. Another key concept is analyzing interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text. Students should be able to make a connection between characters and events and analyze them. For example, in Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba was part of the Little Rock Nine and was part of the desegregation of schools. Students should be able to to see how this event in her life helped her become a warrior. One misconception of this concept is students may think that a warrior has to come from the Civil Rights Movement. They should understand that a “warrior” is someone who has persevered over obstacles and continued to fight for what they believed is right.

INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH

Students will create their own definition of the word warrior and use a Frayer Model to gain a deeper perspective of the word to be able to identify one in their community. Using the Frayer Model, they will look at four different perspectives of the word: definition, real world example, traits, and sentence. This will help students own their meaning of the word to be able to apply it when they are choosing their own “warrior.” Students will also analyze the song, “Glory.” This will help students make connections between a character and events. It will also help those who choose to do the soundtrack/playlist. Students will learn how to conduct an interview in the third lesson. This gives teachers a chance to build to the product of the cornerstone. One key strategy that is key to this student collaboration. This allows students to pair with other students to gain different perspectives that will students understand the material on a deeper level.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

LESSON PACING

Below is a recommended pacing for this Cornerstone and the objective for each lesson. More information regarding each lesson can be located in the Cornerstone lesson plans.

LESSON	OBJECTIVE
Lesson 1	Focus of DAY 1 Lesson: Criteria and Definition of Real World Warrior, Introduction of Cornerstone Student Outcome: Warrior Criteria Objective: SWBAT develop criteria to define what makes a person a warrior based on their analysis of Melba Patillo Beals from Warriors Don’t Cry and identify a lesson in perseverance learned from Melba. SWBAT use this criteria and definition to evaluate famous examples of warriors and brainstorm a real world warrior from their community from which they could learn a lesson in perseverance.
Lesson 2	Focus of DAY 2 Lesson: Defining an Effective Interview and Practicing Student Outcome: List of interview questions and guidelines Objective: SWBAT define elements of an effective interview by analyzing examples and non-examples, and practice engaging in a strong interview with a classmate. SWBAT create a list of interview questions that they will use to conduct interviews with their "real world warriors."
Lesson 3	Focus of DAY 3 Lesson: Analyzing the information from an interview Student Outcome: Synthesis paragraph and mini presentations Objective: SWBAT synthesize the information they learned in their real world warrior interviews and write one paragraph synthesizing the most information. SWBAT present the most important information they learned in their interviews to a small group of peers.
Lesson 4	Focus of Day 4 Lesson: Choosing a theme song Student Outcome: Song analysis paragraph Objectives: SWBAT analyze a song for the ways that its lyrics and composition reflect the characteristics/life of a real world warrior.
Lesson 5	Focus of DAY 5 Lesson: Compare/contrast Student Outcome: Compare/contrast paragraph Objective: SWBAT compare and contrast their real world warrior to Melba Patillo Beals in a meaningful way that extends beyond the obvious similarities between the two.
Lesson 6/7	Focus of DAY 6 Lesson: Getting started on digital presentations Student Outcome: Digital presentations Objective: SWBAT learn the basics of creating a digital presentation that includes relevant audio, video, text, and images. SWBAT create a digital presentation that presents information in a focused and coherent manner.
Lesson 8/9	Focus of DAY 8 Lesson: Presentation day Student Outcome: Peer feedback Objective: SWBAT deliver digital presentations to the class using appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.

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