Hello,

I'm actually a social studies teacher but having been through
the teachNOLA interview process I thought that I could offer
some insight. If memory serves, the lesson plan is only
supposed to be about 5 minutes long with a clear beginning,
middle and end.

Here are some sample topics that you might consider:

1. Copyright information--explain the importance of the
Copyright page, have students label a diagram explaining each
line of a Copyright and then practice independently by
answering questions that require the use of sample Copyrights.

2. Citing sources--explain the purpose of a bibliography and
teach your students how to cite a book or magazine in MLA
format. You could type up sample citations and then cut them
apart like puzzle pieces and have your students work
cooperatively to arrange the pieces into the proper order for
that type of citation.

3. Parts of a newspaper--teach students about the information
that can be found in different sections. Prepare a short
scavenger hunt that students will work together to complete
by using the proper newspaper section to locate the desired
information.

4. Using a dictionary--you would be amazed at how many of our
high school students don't really know how to read a
dictionary entry. They understand how to find words, but
most students do not understand the other information
contained in a dictionary entry.

5. Brainstorming--teach students how to use a concept web or
bubble map to brainstorm topics to write an essay.

6. Reading graphs, charts, tables, maps, diagrams, timelines,
etc. Choose one and build a mini-lesson on how to read that
type of information resource.

7. Any graphic organizer--choose a graphic organizer that you
are comfortable using and teach your students how to use that
graphic organizer.

All of the above topics are part of the using information
resources portion of the GEE, so they are extremely relevant
to what high school students should be learning right now and
they are also covered in the ELA GLEs. I recommend trying to
develop a lesson that incorporates several learning
modalities and moves up Bloom's Taxonomy.

Good luck at your interview. You might also want to check
out www.doe.state.la.us/ for more information about grade
level expectations (GLEs) for 9-12 grades and you can also
look at the Comprehensive Curriculum for ELA which has tons
of suggested activities for teaching each one of those GLEs.
An added benefit to using this information is that you can
talk about choosing a topic from the Louisiana Comprehensive
Curriculum in your one-on-one interview.

If you can, try to stay a few extra days and make
appointments to visit some schools in the area so that you
can get a feel for what type of school you would prefer to
work in (charter vs. RSD, middle school vs. high school).
This will also give you the opportunity to meet with
principals which can be helpful when it comes time for them
to fill their vacancies.

Good luck with your interview event!

For more ideas you could try

On 3/07/09, Maddy wrote:
> Hello out there!
> I will be interviewing with teachNOLA next month, and I
> was wondering if I could get any tips from anyone who has
> already gone through the process.
> Specifically, I am curious about the lesson plan portion
> of the interview. I am a high school English teacher, and
> will prepare a lesson to share...just wondering if anyone
> can point me in a direction. Any English teachers out
> there who could recommend a topic or structure that would
> go over well with the teachNOLA people?
> I'm excited about the interview, visiting NO,and the
> possibility of teaching there.
> Would greatly appreciate any advice.
> Thank you!
> Maddy

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