A Justice for All!

 Lesson 3! - Agnes B. Hennessy Elementary School

We started off this lesson by going over the visual agenda for the day with them. We explained to them that today we would be reading a nonfiction book, which is different from the previous books we've read. After going over our agenda, we started off with our icebreaker activity called Role Model Charades. Since the book we were reading, A Justice for All, is about the first black female Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, we figured starting with role models was very fitting. We had the students act out a role model of theirs and the rest of us had to try and guess who they were. One student chose the singer Taylor Swift, and the other chose famous soccer player Christiano Ronaldo. After the kids took their turns, they asked us if we could go up and show our role models. My co-teacher also picked the singer Taylor swift, and I chose my Mémère. After we shared ours, we started settling down to begin our lesson for the day. 

We started going over the vocabulary words for the day and going over what nonfiction books are. The vocabulary words we had were justice, Constitution, ancestors, dreams, and equality. With each vocabulary word, we give the students the definition and a sentence using that word. At the end, we ask if they need any clarification or are still confused on any words. These vocabulary words were definitely harder for the students than previous ones were. For our upcoming lessons, we plan on making cards for the students with the vocabulary words on them. This way they have the vocabulary words at an easier access. We made an anchor chart about what nonfiction means, what is in nonfiction books like the glossary, table of contents, etc., and what nonfiction stories can be about. This chart seemed to be very helpful for the students, as one of them seemed to have a hard time grasping fiction vs nonfiction. 


After going over our vocabulary, we started reading our book, A Justice for All. The author of this book was actually Ketanji Brown Jackson herself. As we were reading, we made sure to ask the students questions to not only promote their comprehension but also keep them engaged. We could tell that while the students still did a great job listening, they had a harder time staying focused on the book. I think they were a little less engaged than previous lessons because the story was more informative and less entertainment. Unfortunately, I was not feeling very well during this lesson, so my co-teacher took lead of most of the talking for our activities.


After our reading, we had them do a QAR (Question, Answer, Response) in their journals. The questions we had them answer were 
  • How did Ketanji Brown Jackson make history? 
  • Why was Jackson told she could not fulfill her dreams? 
  • Did Jackson succeed in fulfilling her dreams? Why/Why not? 
  • What message is Jackson trying to convey to readers? 
We wanted to make sentence strips for the lesson but unfortunately, we were not able to. To make up for this, we wrote in sentence starters in their journals. These sentence starters were to show them that when you want to properly answer a written question, you have to restate the question first in the response. When I set up their journals, I chose the color pens I used intentionally based off colors I noticed the students liked. One student noticed this and said, "I really like that you did my journal with blue and pink which are colors I like, and you did his with colors he likes!" This was a small yet intentional move to make, and it made me feel good that the students noticed and enjoyed that. As they answered these questions, we encouraged them multiple times to refer back to the text to find their answers. Each of us teachers sat with one student to make sure the students have some one-on-one support from us. We did the same thing during our last lesson, so for this one we each switched students so we could have a chance to work with both of them personally. My student did a really good job at referring back to the text independently, and only needed help finding the specific page the event had taken place. 

At this point, we had a brain break planned for the students as we noticed from previous lessons that they seemed least engaged right after doing an in-depth thinking and writing activity. In the book it showed some images of Statues in various political buildings, so we decided for our brain break that we were going to play Statues. The kids were really excited for this, as they said this is something they play in their own classroom sometimes. There can be sometimes different ways the game is played, so we explained the rules as to how we were going to play first. The teachers acted as "security guards." When the security guards were turned around, the "statues" behind them could move however they want. Once the security guards turn around, the statues must freeze in place, so they do not get caught. One thing we made very clear is that we had to stay within our own learning space though, because there are lots of other lessons going on around us and we do not want to disturb them. They made lots of funny poses and even hid under the table for some poses. At one point, I noticed a student had climbed on a chair for her pose, which was not safe. In character, I went over to her and moved her off the chair and said, "Well, let me move this statue so she doesn't get hurt." She thought it was very funny and giggled. We gave them the option to either have all the turns be them playing as statues and us as security cards, or we could take turns with our roles. They asked us to take turns, so we did 4 rounds of each. After this, we had them sit back down and set ready for the next part of our lesson. 



For this section, we had them tell us about their dreams. We asked the students to fill out a list of questions based off what their dream is when they get older. The questions we asked were: 
  • What is your dream when you grow up? 
  • Why are you drawn to this dream? 
  • How will you reach your dream? (at least 3 steps) 
  • Who will help you along the way? 
  • Where might you find challenges in your journey
  • When there are challenges, how will you overcome them?  
  • How will you positively make an impact on our world and others?
We showed them a teacher model of what we were expecting first and then had them complete their own. For this part, my co-teacher and I both took a kid one-on-one to help them with the support they needed. We noticed that we were moving pretty quick, so we let the students draw themselves depicted as their dream. After they we're done, we all came back together so they could share their dream with everyone. The kids really enjoyed being able to talk about their futures and were extremely excited to share with us! It was so interesting seeing what they wanted to be when they grew up. One student couldn't decide and even picked 4 things she wanted to be. Once we were done, we played another game of statues as our ending activity because the kids still seemed very riled up, and we did not want them to return to their teacher with this much hyper-energy still. Overall, the lesson went well, and the students were able to picture themselves in the literature we chose which was awesome. 

Our SLO's for this activity were: 

Tier 1

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to respond to QAR strategies  with differentiated core support by completing an interactive QAR journal entry chart together and a “My Dream Future” activity independently or with a peer with 95% accuracy. 

Tier 2

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to respond to QAR strategies with targeted support by completing an interactive QAR journal entry chart and a “My Dream Future” activity with personalized one-on-one support from the teacher with 85-90% accuracy. 

Tier 3

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to respond to QAR strategies with intensive support by completing an interactive QAR journal entry chart and a “My Dream Future” activity with concentrated one-on-one support from the teacher with 80% accuracy. 

I would say that our students met the objective and this can be shown through their completion of the activities. Both students completed with 95% accuracy.

From this lesson, I learned how meaningful it can be to connect classroom learning to real-world figures and topics that students can relate to. Using A Justice for All as our text gave students an opportunity to learn about an inspiring historical figure while reflecting on their own dreams and role models. I learned that even when a text is more informational and less story-based, engagement can still be fostered through discussion, movement, and personal connections. Additionally, I learned how small, intentional gestures, like using each student’s favorite colors in their journals, can help build strong relationships and show students that their individuality is noticed and valued.  I also learned that it is important to plan for more than you expect. Our lesson ran quite quick once we were in classroom, and I think having at least one more activity would have been beneficial. Lastly, my professor noted that one of our anchor charts had too much writing on it, which can be hard for students to process. Next time, I will be more intentional with the writing I choose and how I display it so that the students can comprehend it easier. 

This lesson helped me grow as a teacher by showing me that fostering connection and representation in the classroom is just as important as delivering academic content. I realized how much I value helping students see themselves and their potential in the stories we share. Teaching about Ketanji Brown Jackson made me reflect on the kind of educator I aspire to be, one who encourages students to dream big, believe in their abilities, and see education as a tool for empowerment. It also strengthened my understanding of what it means to be responsive and empathetic; even though I wasn’t feeling my best that day, I still found ways to be present, positive, and supportive, which reinforced the importance of professionalism and consistency. This experience helped me define my identity as a teacher who prioritizes inclusivity, relationship building, and a balance between structure and flexibility.


Going forward, this lesson will influence how I plan and teach by reminding me to design lessons that make strong connections between academic skills and students’ personal lives. I will continue incorporating activities that mix critical thinking with creativity, such as having students reflect on their own experiences or goals in connection to the text. I also plan to provide more visual and hands-on supports for complex concepts, especially when introducing nonfiction vocabulary or informational texts. This experience taught me the importance of pacing and recognizing when to slow down or extend time for deeper discussion or support. In the future, I’ll make sure to anticipate moments where students might lose focus and plan engaging brain breaks that keep energy positive but contained. Finally, I’ll continue using small intentional details, like personalized materials and choice-based activities, to strengthen student motivation. This will help me create a classroom environment where every learner feels seen, valued, and capable of success.


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