Banned Book Lesson Plan

Media Specialist Name: Carrie Doker

Teacher Name: Katie Blum

Grade: 2

Library Context:
Fixed X Flexible Combination Individualized Instruction

X Stand-alone lesson Lesson in a unit Multiple lessons in a unit

Collaboration Continuum:
None Limited X Moderate Intensive

Content Topic: Banned Book Through Synthesizing Texts

Standards for the 21st-Century Learner:

1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning
3.3.5 Contribute to the exchange of ideas within and beyond the learning community
2.3.1 Connect understanding to the real world
2.4.3 Recognize new knowledge and understanding

Local or State Standards:

Speaking and Listening:
 2LA.E.31: ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify
comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue
 2LA.E.29: participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics
and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups
o 2LA.E.29.b: build on others’ talk in conversations by linking their comments to the
remarks of others
 2LA.E.30: recount or describe key ideas or details from written texts read aloud or information
presented orally or through other media
 2LA.E.33: create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to
stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings, with
guidance and support
Reading:
 2LA.A.9: read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2-3 text
complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range by the end
of grade 2
Writing:
 2LA.D.28: recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to
answer a question

Reading Comprehension Strategy: Synthesizing and Questioning

 Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying misconceptions, main
and supporting ideas, conflicting information, and point of view or bias. (1.1.7)

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  Continue an inquiry-based research process by applying critical-thinking skills (analysis,
synthesis, evaluation, organization) to information and knowledge in order to construct new
understandings, draw conclusions, and create new knowledge. (2.1.1)
 Use strategies to draw conclusions from information and apply knowledge to curricular areas,
real-world situations, and further investigations. (2.1.3)
 Develop and refine a range of questions to frame the search for new understanding. (1.1.3)
 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions. (1.1.4)
 Display initiative and engagement by posing questions and investigating the answers beyond the
collection of superficial facts. (1.2.1)

Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
 Describe what it means when a book is banned or challenged in a library.
 Understand the meaning of intellectual freedom and how it applies to everyone.
 Form their own opinion about banning the chapter book, Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook.

Overview of the Lesson: (Briefly describe the lesson here)

This lesson will focus on the meaning of a banned or challenged book by using examples of books they
have read from the school’s media center. The media specialist and classroom teacher will team teach
this lesson in the media center. The media specialist chose Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook for the second
grade students. Prior to beginning this lesson, the classroom teacher will have already read chapters 1-4
from the Junie B. Jones book. By the end of the lesson, the students will form their own opinion about
the chapter book they are reading and how they feel about banning books.

INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN:
Estimated lesson time: 60 minutes

Resources: (List the names of the resources next to each relevant type.)
 Online subscription database(s): N/A
 Web sites:
o ALA: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/childrensbooks
o Read, Write, Think: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/case-
reading-examining-challenged-410.html?tab=4
 Books: Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook by Barbara Park, Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey,
Bump in the Night by Harry Allard, If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss, Dogman by Dav Pilkey, Hop on
Pop by Dr. Seuss, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Kathryn Harper, and Halloween ABC by
Eve Merriam
 Nonprint: N/A
 Software and/or Apps: Flipgrid and Padlet Tools
 Technology: Laptops to respond to Flipgrid for assessment and Padlet for notemaking activity
 Other:

Instruction/Activities:
 Direct instruction
1. Prior to the lesson beginning, the media specialist will display a set of books (see list under
“Books” above) from the school’s library that have been banned from other school libraries in
the past. Click here for a list from ALA of frequently challenged books.
2. Media specialist opens the lesson with “I was thinking about the many books in our media center
and decided to look at this set of books here.” (Point to book display.) “Take a moment and look

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 at this display.” (Hold up books and name their title and author.) “What do you think all of these
books have in common?”
3. Media specialist tells students they have one minute to turn and talk with a neighbor about what
they think the books have in common. While they are talking, the media specialist listens to what
the students are saying and writes some of their responses on the board.
4. The media specialist revisits 3-5 of the responses from the board by saying, “Here are some of
the responses I heard you talking about with your friends.” (Name a few of them.)
5. The classroom teacher will then write the word “banned” on the board and tell the students this is
actually what these books have in common. Then she will ask, “Wow! What do you think
banned means?” Write student responses on the board under the word “banned.” Teacher will
compare the word banned to the word “challenged” and “controversial” for students to hear how
these words are connected. She might also give an example or ask 1-2 students to provide an
example of something that is banned. For example, adults are banned from playing on the
playground at Chick-Fil-A because they are too big. Dogs are banned from some public places or
in some cases, they are banned if they are not on a leash.
6. Media specialist will ask students, “Did you know that sometimes people try to ban books from a
library?” “Do you know of any books that could be challenged or banned from our school
library?” If they have books that could be banned, allow only 2-3 students to explain why they
should be banned. Tell students that books are often challenged in libraries for various reasons.
Project the list of banned children’s books for students to see. Do not read every title; simply
name a few.
7. Next, the teacher will ask students to think about a book they have recently started reading in
class. While showing Junie B. Jones to the students, ask, “How would you feel if you were not
allowed to read this book?” “Does anyone think this book would be banned or challenged?”
(Keep in mind students have already read chapters 1-4). “Now we are going to read chapter 5
from Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook. Ask students to not only continue to enjoy listening to the
story, but this time to also listen for reasons why or if this book could ever be banned from a
library. “As I read this book, I will stop and ask questions about a banned book because right
now you might be wondering like I am why someone would want to ban this book.” Teacher
begins reading the story. As teacher finishes reading page 35, the media specialist begins to
think-aloud to model for students.

 Modeling and guided practice

8. Media specialist thinks-aloud, “I just heard your teacher read, ‘Then I bended my head way back.
And I did some gargles. I can gargle very perfect. Except I can’t keep the water in my actual
mouth. It runned out the sides and dribbled on the floor.’ (p. 35).” “I heard something that might
make someone challenge this book. I heard some inappropriate use of verbs like bended and
runned. It should be bent and ran. I BENT my head way back and it RAN out the sides of my
mouth. This could be a reason someone would ban a book. Let’s write inappropriate use of verbs
as our textual evidence to ban this book. We are going to use Padlet to do notemaking – a way to
record our thoughts.” Media specialist opens Padlet to add the evidence to the board.

OR https://padlet.com/cdoker/yymeub0vrklh

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 9. The teacher thinks-aloud, “But wait, don’t you hear the funny parts of this book? It’s kinda cute
that she talks that way because little kids often pronounce words like that. I also heard that she
was on her way to her classroom and she had to stop at the water fountain because she might not
make it. That is funny! I think we should add those to our chart, too.” (Teacher adds to Padlet
board: ‘It has funny parts like stopping at water fountain because the classroom is so far away.’
And ‘Junie B. speaks using inappropriate grammar to add emphasis to child’s age.’) “Now, let’s
move on. We’ll read a little more.” Finish reading to page 39.
10. The media specialist thinks-aloud, “I just heard ‘Plus this makes sense. ‘Cause first I got my
mittens stolen. And then I couldn’t have the teddy backpack. And so keeping this pen is fair and
square.’ I also heard Junie B. Jones say that her finding the pen was finders keepers. This seems
dishonest to me. Someone may say the author is writing about how children are dishonest.” Let’s
add this to our chart.” (Media specialist adds ‘dishonest by stealing’ to the notemaking board on
Padlet.)
11. The teacher reads chapter 6 and then shares her think-aloud, “I heard Grampa Frank give a good
example of getting back his wallet when he left it at the mall. Someone returned it to his
mailbox. This is a great example why we should not ban this book because there is honesty
taught in this book. Let’s add this to our chart.” (Teacher adds to Padlet ‘Grampa’s honesty
story about someone returning his wallet’.) “This chart will help us with our next activity.”

 Independent practice
12. Teacher asks students to go to their eClass portal page to see the Padlet activity. Teacher says,
“Students, you will listen to chapter 7 from the story. As you’re listening you will identify a new
piece of information that we could use to add to our notemaking board. Instead of us typing our
responses, you will type your own response on Padlet. Let’s begin.”
13. Teacher begins reading chapter 7, while the students listen. Students will write their response on
Padlet.
14. Bring the students back together to finish the lesson. The media specialist says, “I was very
impressed with your responses to the Padlet activity.” (Name some of their responses.) “Did you
know that many books from the Junie B. Jones series have been banned because of some of the
reasons we named today, such as someone thought this book promoted disrespect, Junie was
mouthy or bratty, and she used rude language (i.e., dumb). Many books are often banned and that
takes away your freedom to choose the book you want because someone else said it was not
good for you. We call this individual freedom. As a reader, you can choose to read the books you
would like to read. As we end our lesson today, I want you to do a “Ticket out the Door” activity
on what you think about Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook.”

Assessment: (Ticket out the Door)

 Student Product
Students will create an opinion on Flipgrid regarding whether they think Junie B. Jones should be
banned from any library providing textual evidence (facts or examples from the text or Padlet activity)
to support their opinion. Teacher hypothetically asks students, “How would you feel if you were not
allowed to read this book?” Teacher says, “Let’s take some time today to think about what we learned
about banned books. Altogether, we’ve read 7 chapters from Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook. What do
you think about this book being banned? What evidence from the story could you use to support your
opinion. You will go to Flipgrid on your Google Classroom to video your opinion. You will also
respond to a friend’s post when you finish yours.” Teacher and media specialist assess the completed
Flipgrid looking to see if students provided an opinion and evidence from the book to their choice.

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 OR visit: https://flipgrid.com/369dbe38

 Process
Teacher and media specialist observe students as they work on their Fligrid and observe as they
provide an opinion to banning Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook in a library.

 Sharing and Reflecting

Students each choose one other peer’s response on Flipgrid and respond to his/her post.

 Student Self-questioning
 Did I use information I learned?
 Did I understand what I was asked to do?
 Did I listen carefully enough to find the information I need?
 Did I participate in the group learning activity?
 Did I appropriately respond to my peers?

Resources

ALA (2020).Retrieved March 25, 2020 from,

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/childrensbooks

Read, Write, Think (2020). Retrieved March 26, 2020 from, http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-
resources/lesson-plans/case-reading-examining-challenged-410.html?tab=4