Example Rubric for Fictional Writing Project

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/07AAAM17.pdf

Freedom: Passover Lesson Plan

Domain: Presentation

Level: Foundation -Proficiency

Benchmark: Describe people, places, things and events. React to the content of something seen. Present an argument for or against a particular point of view.

Describe what you see in the picture. Describe a time that you felt freedom. Describe a time when you did not feel free and explain why? Is there such thing as freedom without responsibility?

Task 1) Benchmark: produce a short piece of coherent writing that conveys personal experiences. Express ideas and opinions about general topics and experiences using main and supporting ideas.

 Pick a person who you believe to be free. Describe who he or she is, what his or her responsibilities are and what makes him or her free?

Person:

Responsibilities:

Why is he free?

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/passover/kids-stories/the-story-of-moses.html

Task 2) The following is an interpretation of freedom by pop artist Jewel.

Listen to the following song and try to fill in the missing words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHbQjLc7GXc&feature=related

"Life Uncommon"

Don't worry mother, it'll be alright
And don't worry sister, say your prayers and sleep right
It'll be fine lover of mine
It'll be just                .
Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend you strength to that which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and               .
And you shall lead a live uncommon
I've heard you anguish
I've heard you hearts           out
We are tired, we are weary, but we aren't worn out
set down you chains, until only faith remains
Set down you                    .
And lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lent your strength to that
which you                  to be free from
Fill you lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon
There are plenty of people who pray for                .
But if praying were enough it would have come to be
Let your words enslave no one and the heavens will hush themselves
To hear out voices ring out clear
with sounds of freedom
sounds of                  .
Come on you unbelievers, move out of the way
there is a new            coming and we are armed with faith
To live, we must give
To live
And lend our voices only to sounds of                  .
No longer lend out strength to that which we wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead...
Lend out voices only to              of freedom
No longer lent out strength to that which we with to be free from
Fill you lives with            and bravery
And we shall lead a life                .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHbQjLc7GXc

Vocabulary: prayer/voices/sound/freedom/strength/bravery/uncommon/anguish/cry/weary/worn out/chains/faith/wish/ enslave/heaven/ring/clear/army/faith/lend

Task 3) Using the new vocabulary words from above, choose five words that you think best describe what freedom is.  Find a partner and between the two of you choose the five words both of you agree describe what freedom is best. Justify your answer to the class if chosen upon.

Task 4) Read the following exert of Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech. D o you agree with Dr. Martin Luther king’s dream of freedom? (more advanced levels)

Text:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!³

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEVU90fZvr4 Start at 1:50

Task 5) With your knowledge of the Passover story, what do you imagine freedom to be for the Jewish People? Do you believe that this is attainable? What responsibility must the Jewish people take on in order to live this dream?