Curriculum  /  ELA  /  6th Grade  /  Unit 11: Declaring Identity: Being Jazz (2020)  /  Lesson 24

Declaring Identity: Being Jazz (2020)

Lesson 24
icon/ela/white

ELA

Unit 11

6th Grade

Lesson 24 of 28

Objective

Engage in a Socratic Seminar with classmates, using previous feedback to set goals and reflect on performance in the seminar and paraphrasing the ideas of peers.

Readings and Materials

  • Book: Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings 

  • Socratic Seminar Guide 

Fishtank Plus

Unlock features to optimize your prep time, plan engaging lessons, and monitor student progress.

Key Questions

  • What challenges did Jazz face in her life? How did she respond to these challenges?

  • In what ways did Jazz’s family support her? How might Jazz’s life have been different without the support of her family?

  • What impact has Jazz had by simply being an out, open transgender person? Why has this had such a big impact?

  • In what ways is coming of age as a transgender person different from what other young people experience? In what ways is it the same?

  • What are some ways to provide support to transgender people, whether or not we personally know people who identify as trans?

Lesson Guidance

Pre-Seminar Teacher Prep:

  • Print out and post sentence starter posters.*
  • Determine groups/jobs and how you will communicate these to students.
  • Prepare teacher-tracker.*
  • Decide how students will be graded for the seminar and develop rubric you will use.*
  • Print out student packets, if using.*
  • Think through logistics: how will students move through the classroom? How will desks be arranged? How will you make sure students understand the expectations and logistics of the seminar?

Day of Seminar:

  • Set seminar ground rules with students or ask them to develop their own as a group.*
  • Provide students with the rubric you will be using to grade their participation (this can also be provided during the prep day). Ask students to explain the difference between exemplary, satisfactory, and unsatisfactory participation. 
  • Explain logistics and flow of the block: what groups students will be in, how to move around the room, what will happen at each stage of the seminar.
  • Begin the seminar.
  • Ask students to self-reflect after each round, or at the conclusion of the seminar.*

*Examples/guidance provided in the Socratic Seminar Guide in the materials section of this lesson.

Notes

  • Because students have experience with Socratic seminar from the previous module, students should look at the rubric they received (with teacher feedback) and set a goal for improvement in today’s seminar. Their self-reflection at the end of the seminar should include their thoughts about their progress toward these goals. 
  • In order to ensure that students are listening to one another, ask students to summarize what the person before them said before responding to that person. You may also ask students to pause periodically and summarize what ideas have been brought up in the discussion.

Common Core Standards

  • SL.6.1.b — Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
  • SL.6.1.d — Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through reflection and paraphrasing.

Next

Identity the features of a strong personal narrative and begin to craft own personal narrative.

Lesson 25
icon/arrow/right/large

Lesson Map

A7CB09C2-D12F-4F55-80DB-37298FF0A765

Request a Demo

See all of the features of Fishtank in action and begin the conversation about adoption.

Learn more about Fishtank Learning School Adoption.

Contact Information

School Information

What courses are you interested in?

ELA

Math

Are you interested in onboarding professional learning for your teachers and instructional leaders?

Yes

No

Any other information you would like to provide about your school?

We Handle Materials So You Can Focus on Students

We Handle Materials So You Can Focus on Students

We've got you covered with rigorous, relevant, and adaptable ELA lesson plans for free