Unit Learning Goal

Students will understand the term “good work” as defined by excellence, ethics, and engagement. 

Lesson Goal

Students will understand the purpose of The Good Project Lesson Plans and will begin to practice self-reflection through thinking routines.

Assessment

Students discussion and questions will serve as a demonstration of understanding regarding why The Good Project Lesson Plans are being taught to them. The exit ticket can be evaluated to determine whether students have remaining questions or confusion.

portfolio documentation

  • Good Work Portfolio Checklist

  • Introductory Class Exit Ticket

Resources

Total TIME

45 minutes

Instructions

1. Opening: Why are we learning about “good work?” [10 minutes]

  • Share the handout (or present on the class projection screen) “An Introduction to The Good Project Lesson Plans” with students.

  • Read through the handout together as a class, making sure to give students a chance to ask questions along the way.

  • Feel free to adapt this lesson to fit your class—the schedule, expectations, and norms are your own.

2. Practice a thinking routine: Think, Pair, Share [10 minutes]

  • Split the class into pairs of 2.

  • Explain to students that they will be working in pairs for the next 5 minutes to answer the following questions:

    • What is self-reflection?

    • Why is self-reflection important?

  • Explain to students that after the activity you will be calling on individuals to explain their partner’s thinking, as opposed to sharing their own thoughts.

  • Take 5 minutes, as a class, to come together and share out. Remember to ask students to share their partner’s thinking, not their own ideas.

3. Portfolio and Rubrics [10 minutes]

  • Explain to students what The Good Work Portfolio will be used for:

    • The Good Work Portfolio is a place to collect your classwork, homework, and other items that demonstrate your thinking, and to hold it all in one place. You and your teacher will review your portfolio at the end of each unit, to assess how your work and thinking is evolving.

    • The Good Work portfolio can be hardcopy (e.g., a folder, binder or notebook) or electronic (e.g., a Google drive or SharePoint folder), or any form that is convenient for the educator and students.

  • Share with students the list below of what should be included in The Good Work Portfolio. 

    1.   All journal entries and other written reflections.

    2.   All completed worksheets.

    3.   All completed homework assignments.

    4.   Notes from class activities.

    5.   A metacognitive artifact in which students look at their portfolio at the conclusion of the program and reflect on their personal learning journey (e.g., written reflection, concept map, video, etc.).

    6.   Any other material that a student may feel is tied to or is a representation of their understanding of “good work” (e.g., images, objects, etc.).

  • Next, share with students the Good Work “Portfolio Checklist”. This checklist includes all activities expected to be collected in the portfolio. Each student should save their checklist in the same folder as their completed assignments so that they can reference the list and make note of any missing assignments.

  • Finally, share with students the rubrics for each of the 4 units. Explain to students that they should keep these rubrics in their Good Work Portfolios, and that they will be referencing them during the end of unit self-reflections.

4. Set classroom expectations and norms [10 minutes]

  • "We used a PowerPoint presentation to engage students in the focused discussion. This is the very first conversation, so to get their attention we thought it would be good to have a visual learning tool."

  • “I am in a Heritage Speaker Spanish class in which the students are learning English and comfortable in Spanish… I am allowing my students to communicate (read, write, discuss, report) in both languages. “

  • “I made a visual for my class, each pupil has one, so the pupils can tell me how they are doing without having to put their hand up. Some of our pupils were reluctant to get help before I introduced this. It works for all years.”

  • Share with students your expectations of them. This can be a list you’ve already created that is projected on a screen for the class or one you write out on the board in real time. Some ideas include:

    • Your expectations of their participation (e.g., engaging in class discussions).

    • Respectful talk (there will be opportunities for those with differing opinions to engage with one another, how will differences be handled?)

    • Any expectations logistics such as attendance, tardiness, staying on task, completing assignments, etc.

  • As part of a class discussion, invite students to add to this list.

  • Before the next class, summarize this list and share it back with students so that they can ask any clarifying questions.

5. Closing – Get the gist with the thinking routine Sentence-Phrase-Word [5 minutes]

  • Explain to students that they will be doing another thinking routine: Sentence-Phrase-Word.

  • Ask students to fill out the “Introductory Class Exit Ticket”.

  • Collect the handout to assess their understanding of the class.

  • Return this handout to students at the start of the next class so that they can add it to their Good Work Portfolios.

This lesson is based on the introductory lesson created by Katerine Hurtatiz Espinosa, an educator at Saint George’s School in Bogota, Colombia. The Good Project thanks Katerine for sharing her work with our project.