Date: 10 March 2019 Teacher’s Name: Ms.

Emily Hay
Subject: English Language Arts Grade level: 11th
Unit: Interpreting Speeches Length of lesson: 45 minutes

Central Focus: This lesson segment will focus on how students analyze and interpret an
author’s view on racism and social issues discussed in informational texts of historical
significance. The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students the importance of public
speeches and addresses in drawing attention to social and political issues. Students will view
several speeches from the Civil Rights Movement and read contemporary speeches like
Obama’s Nobel Prize speech. Students will be able to identify social issues from the Civil Rights
Movement are still relevant in today’s society. The goal of this learning segment is for students
to think critically about what is explicitly said in the speech in order to draw their own
inferences about the ideas presented in the text.

Lesson Title: The Power of Speeches

For unit, _1_ out of _5_:

Essential Question(s): What is a speech? How do you think speeches played a significant role in
the Civil Rights Movement?

Learning Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves
matters uncertain.
a. Develop factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions for further exploration of the
topic(s).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of
a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist
No. 10).

Pre-Assessment: There will be several images of historical speeches from the past and the
present on the board. As students enter the classroom, the teacher will tell them to write down
one thought that comes to mind from seeing the images. The teacher will call on students to
share some of their responses. Some possible responses: I recognized Martin Luther King from
Social Studies; the crowds are large; the people mostly look serious. This activity will help
students to start thinking about what a speech is by seeing what it looks like. (3-5 minutes).

Learning Objectives: Assessments:

 Identify the characteristics of a speech  Whole-class discussion
 Determine the meaning of the term  Semantic Map Activity
speech  Partner Discussions
  Explain how speeches are a  Exit Slip
significant type of informational text.

Differentiation: Students will complete the semantic map with mixed-level partners.

Academic Language: Syntax: words, phrases, sentences. Discourse: analytical, interpretative,

oral communication between students. Specific Vocabulary: informational text, speech.
Language functions: Identify, determine, interpret, explain.

Procedure:
Anticipatory Set
The teacher will explain that for this unit’s theme of R. E. S. P. E. C. T, students will be
interpreting several speeches that address civil rights issues at different points in history. Social
and political speeches have been used to inform and persuade listeners/readers. The teacher
will tell students that this unit concerns the use of a speech as an informational text. By the end
of this unit students will be able to evaluate the present relevance and historical significance of
several of these informational texts. The teacher will ask students to write down this question
in their notebooks: what are characteristics of an informational text? The teacher will tell
students that they can answer this by jotting down words, phrases, or examples. This is a quick
journaling activity that will help students start thinking about specific vocabulary. This activity
will not get collected. Students will have already reviewed the subgenre, informational texts
during their literary nonfiction unit. (3-5 minutes).

Initial Phase
Direct Instruction
The teacher will tell students that they will be identifying what a speech is and how it works as
an informational text. Students will be given a blank page of computer paper. The teacher will
explain that students will be making a Semantic Map for the terms informational text and
speech. The semantic maps activity is a vocabulary strategy that will help students have a
better understanding of both terms. The teacher will tell students that they will complete a
semantic map for the term informational text as a class. The teacher will write the term
information text in the middle of the page and demonstrate how students will circle the term
and then draw branches off from the circle. The teacher will call on students to share the
words, phrases, and examples that they wrote down the characteristics of an informational
text. The teacher will use these student-based examples to create the semantic map while
students copy the teacher’s map onto their piece of paper. The teacher will remind students
that the goal of this map is to display the connections between the term, informational texts,
and its related concepts. The teacher will tell students that they are encouraged to draw icons
or small images to go along with the words or phrases they write down to help deepen their
understanding of the connections they are making. The teacher will then show students how to
use the concepts that they mapped to determine the meaning of the term. A possible definition
would be: informational texts are an example of literary nonfiction that is written to inform a
reader about a real-life topic (15 Minutes).
Middle Phase
Guided Practice
Students will pair up with their turn-and-talk partner to complete a Semantic Map Activity for
the term speech. Students will be told to use the blank side of the paper they just used to
create the semantic map prior. Students will be told to brainstorm what they think are
elements of a speech as well as other words to describe the term. Remind students that they
can write down characteristics, examples, or any related concepts. The teacher will remind
students to write this down in their notebook so they can refer to these words’ and phrases
while they construct a semantic map. If students are struggling to come up with words or
phrases, provide them with three elements of a speech for them to copy down: a speaker, a
message, an audience. After students have brain stormed for a few minutes, the teacher will
direct students to begin making their semantic maps. The teacher will remind students to
discuss the connections they made with their partners and decide which words/phrases should
be placed together with other concepts to show that they are related. The teacher will remind
students that it might be easier to go back and draw illustrations/icons for each related word or
concept after they have mapped the connections first. The teacher will observe student pairs as
they brainstorm and while they make the semantic maps. After most the students have
completed the map, the teacher will ask them to determine the meaning of the term, a speech,
based on the characteristics they identified. Students will write this on the bottom of the page,
below their semantic map the same way the teacher demonstrated for the first map. The
teacher will tell students to copy the definitions they created into their notebooks. (15
minutes).

Concluding Phase:
In the last 5 minutes of the class period, the teacher will collect students Semantic Map
Activity. The teacher will write the definition for a speech on the board for students to copy
underneath their own definitions in their notebooks. The teacher will read the definition aloud:
a formal address or talk delivered to an audience (Oxford English Dictionary). The teacher will
hand out Exit-Slips that are to be completed for homework. The Exit-Slip asks students to
explain how a speech can be used to impact a society or effect societal change? This question
will get students to begin thinking about how speeches played a significant role in supporting
the Civil Right Movement. Students will be reminded to review their definitions and their
brainstorms that they wrote down in their notebooks to help them complete the Exit-Slip.

Follow up: Students will complete the Exit-Slip for homework. This assignment assesses
students’ thinking about what they learned in class and develop further interpretative
questions about the material they will be engaging with for this unit.
Materials: Notebook, pencils, smartboard, blank printer paper, Exit-Slip

References and Resources:

Oxford English Dictionary