Links to More Information from Me and Others
Friday, June 18, 2010
Sunday, March 29, 2009
How to Read this Blog
How to Read this Blog
To make it easier to access these materials for my project, I have organized the items in order. In other words, the usual order for blog posts would show the last item first. I have re-ordered the items in this blog to match the order in which you would see them in a binder.
Contents:
1. Individual Language Assessment for my Target Student
2. Report on Instructional Conversation with my Target Student
(in a Small Group with Other Students)
3. Justification for my Unit Plan (Cover Sheet)
4. Cognitive Challenge in my Unit Plan
5. Overall Unit Plan -- Writing Sentences
6. Lesson 1 Plan -- Writing Sentences
7. Lesson 2 Plan -- Writing Sentences
8. Lesson 3 Plan -- Writing Sentences
9. Lesson 4 Plan -- Writing Sentences
8. Rubric Used in this Unit
9. Individual Accommodation Plan
See attachments to go with these subjects at http://caveassessment.pbwiki.com/FrontPage
To see the blog for the previous class, go to http://cavetell.blogspot.com/
To make it easier to access these materials for my project, I have organized the items in order. In other words, the usual order for blog posts would show the last item first. I have re-ordered the items in this blog to match the order in which you would see them in a binder.
Contents:
1. Individual Language Assessment for my Target Student
2. Report on Instructional Conversation with my Target Student
(in a Small Group with Other Students)
3. Justification for my Unit Plan (Cover Sheet)
4. Cognitive Challenge in my Unit Plan
5. Overall Unit Plan -- Writing Sentences
6. Lesson 1 Plan -- Writing Sentences
7. Lesson 2 Plan -- Writing Sentences
8. Lesson 3 Plan -- Writing Sentences
9. Lesson 4 Plan -- Writing Sentences
8. Rubric Used in this Unit
9. Individual Accommodation Plan
See attachments to go with these subjects at http://caveassessment.pbwiki.com/FrontPage
To see the blog for the previous class, go to http://cavetell.blogspot.com/
Individual Language Assessment
Individual Language Assessment
Context and Justification: My seventh grade English students (including my focus student, K.C.) are reading the nonfiction book Ice Story with my student teacher. I decided to use excerpts from this book for the Individual Language Assessment and for the Instructional Conversation because it is fresh in the student’s mind, assessing the student with this book can support his success in learning as well as check it, and these exercises can lead to a product usable for him and for his classmates (authentic tasks).
Step 2: Determine reading level of materials.
The lexile level for this book is 1130. (See below for readability level according to Microsoft Word.) Though the readability level of the text is high, the text is supported with pictures and maps, and the reading is supported with various activities, explanations, reading aloud by the teacher, and group work (including reading together as a class and in small mixed-ability groups).
Readability Statistics from Microsoft Word:
Words: 248
Sentences per paragraph 4.7
Words per sentence 17.1
Characters per word 4.7
Passive sentences 7%
Flesch Reading Ease 60.7
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 9.0
Excerpt from
Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody. Ice Story Shackleton's Lost Expedition. New York: Clarion Books, 1999.
From Chapter Fifteen: Across Uncharted Mountains
Shackleton and his small crew rested on the shore of King Haakon Bay for several days. If he could have immediately gone on, Shackleton undoubtedly would have done so. He knew, however, that even he needed to rest and recover for several days before he would be strong enough to begin the trek over the mountains to the Stromness whaling station. Sometime later, Shackleton confided to Worsley that he had felt one more day in the boat would have killed them, so weak was their condition.
Their cave was small but well suited to their needs. They arranged their sleeping bags in a tight circle around the fire and spent the next few days leisurely, leaving the cave only to hunt for food or to investigate their surroundings. A stream provided fresh drinking water, and a local colony of albatross, a large seafaring bird, provided a supply of food. All they lacked was blubber to fuel their fire and stove. After three months on the ice, camping on the harsh beach on Elephant Island, and two weeks of wet and frozen conditions on the Caird, the cave was like a palace. The Caird’s sails were draped over the entrance like curtains, keeping everything inside warm and dry. It was impossible to relax completely, however, knowing their companions back on Elephant Island were enjoying no such luxurious conditions. [end of excerpt]
Other books read as a class in seventh grade:
The Outsiders 750L
The Giver 760L
Words By Heart 750L
Stand Tall 620L
The Book of Three 720L
The Call of the Wild 780 – 1120L
Step 3: Conduct the
Individual Language Assessment -- Content Area Language/Literacy
Student: K.C. Date: 3-12-09
(The passage we used included the excerpt above, but was longer. The students had already read several chapters from the book.)
Background knowledge:
Question 1: What can you tell me about the story we are reading about Shackleton?
K.C.: It is an adventure book. A movie would be a documentary about real people.
Question 2: Can you give me some examples of problems this group had already had?
K.C.: Their ship was frozen in the ice -- a shortage of food -- the cold
Question 4: How do you know about this topic?
K.C.: I'd heard a little before we read the book.
Question 5: Why is this topic important?
K.C.: It could be to teach about survival skills, but it doesn't pinpoint those things.
[Teacher note: As well as practicing reading skills -- especially skills for reading nonfiction (including using external text features and internal text structures), we were learning about leadership and about exploration.]
Pre-Reading Strategies: I had him look quickly through the passage. He skimmed the text and looked at an illustration/photo.
Question 6: What is this text going to be about?
K.C.: Elephant Island. They need to get food -- elephant seals -- getting off the island.
Question 7: How can you tell?
K.C.: I'd read part of the book already. I looked at the picture.
Question 8: What do the headings or chapter title tell you about the topic?
K.C.: They're on a remote island. Mountains are a problem.
Question 9: What do subheadings tell you?
This question was skipped since there are none.
Questions 10: What do the graphics/pictures tell you?
K.C.: They need to get food. [Teacher prompts: How did that island get its name?}
K.C.: It's named after elephant seals.
Step 4: Text Retelling
The student read silently.
Step 5: Oral Retelling
Subject Matter: Unaided: They were in the cave, short of food. I can't remember the name -- ______ and the captain went to explore and hunt -- They needed to hunt.
Prompted: The crew was hungry, but to get food they had to walk to the other side of the bay. [Teacher comment: Actually they needed to get to the other side of the bay in their boat.]
Unaided: They killed an elephant seal and played a trick. They were happy for the meat and blubber. They were walking to the other side of the bay.
Prompted: [What was washed up on the beach? ] Part of boats that had sunk. [Actually, they had lost their rudder, and fortunately, it washed up right where they were.]
Unaided: They felt better and stronger, but weak, so they went to hunt.
Step 6: Writing Sample
I asked K.C. to write about what he learned or remembers from reading and retelling the text passage.
Content Area Language/Literacy
Step 1: Prepare 2 copies of a 100- to 300- word typed, double-spaced passage from our textbook or typical reading material containing a main concept or idea from our studies.Context and Justification: My seventh grade English students (including my focus student, K.C.) are reading the nonfiction book Ice Story with my student teacher. I decided to use excerpts from this book for the Individual Language Assessment and for the Instructional Conversation because it is fresh in the student’s mind, assessing the student with this book can support his success in learning as well as check it, and these exercises can lead to a product usable for him and for his classmates (authentic tasks).
Step 2: Determine reading level of materials.
The lexile level for this book is 1130. (See below for readability level according to Microsoft Word.) Though the readability level of the text is high, the text is supported with pictures and maps, and the reading is supported with various activities, explanations, reading aloud by the teacher, and group work (including reading together as a class and in small mixed-ability groups).
Readability Statistics from Microsoft Word:
Words: 248
Sentences per paragraph 4.7
Words per sentence 17.1
Characters per word 4.7
Passive sentences 7%
Flesch Reading Ease 60.7
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 9.0
Excerpt from
Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody. Ice Story Shackleton's Lost Expedition. New York: Clarion Books, 1999.
From Chapter Fifteen: Across Uncharted Mountains
Shackleton and his small crew rested on the shore of King Haakon Bay for several days. If he could have immediately gone on, Shackleton undoubtedly would have done so. He knew, however, that even he needed to rest and recover for several days before he would be strong enough to begin the trek over the mountains to the Stromness whaling station. Sometime later, Shackleton confided to Worsley that he had felt one more day in the boat would have killed them, so weak was their condition.
Their cave was small but well suited to their needs. They arranged their sleeping bags in a tight circle around the fire and spent the next few days leisurely, leaving the cave only to hunt for food or to investigate their surroundings. A stream provided fresh drinking water, and a local colony of albatross, a large seafaring bird, provided a supply of food. All they lacked was blubber to fuel their fire and stove. After three months on the ice, camping on the harsh beach on Elephant Island, and two weeks of wet and frozen conditions on the Caird, the cave was like a palace. The Caird’s sails were draped over the entrance like curtains, keeping everything inside warm and dry. It was impossible to relax completely, however, knowing their companions back on Elephant Island were enjoying no such luxurious conditions. [end of excerpt]
Other books read as a class in seventh grade:
The Outsiders 750L
The Giver 760L
Words By Heart 750L
Stand Tall 620L
The Book of Three 720L
The Call of the Wild 780 – 1120L
Step 3: Conduct the
Individual Language Assessment -- Content Area Language/Literacy
Student: K.C. Date: 3-12-09
(The passage we used included the excerpt above, but was longer. The students had already read several chapters from the book.)
Background knowledge:
Question 1: What can you tell me about the story we are reading about Shackleton?
K.C.: It is an adventure book. A movie would be a documentary about real people.
Question 2: Can you give me some examples of problems this group had already had?
K.C.: Their ship was frozen in the ice -- a shortage of food -- the cold
Question 4: How do you know about this topic?
K.C.: I'd heard a little before we read the book.
Question 5: Why is this topic important?
K.C.: It could be to teach about survival skills, but it doesn't pinpoint those things.
[Teacher note: As well as practicing reading skills -- especially skills for reading nonfiction (including using external text features and internal text structures), we were learning about leadership and about exploration.]
Pre-Reading Strategies: I had him look quickly through the passage. He skimmed the text and looked at an illustration/photo.
Question 6: What is this text going to be about?
K.C.: Elephant Island. They need to get food -- elephant seals -- getting off the island.
Question 7: How can you tell?
K.C.: I'd read part of the book already. I looked at the picture.
Question 8: What do the headings or chapter title tell you about the topic?
K.C.: They're on a remote island. Mountains are a problem.
Question 9: What do subheadings tell you?
This question was skipped since there are none.
Questions 10: What do the graphics/pictures tell you?
K.C.: They need to get food. [Teacher prompts: How did that island get its name?}
K.C.: It's named after elephant seals.
Step 4: Text Retelling
The student read silently.
Step 5: Oral Retelling
Subject Matter: Unaided: They were in the cave, short of food. I can't remember the name -- ______ and the captain went to explore and hunt -- They needed to hunt.
Prompted: The crew was hungry, but to get food they had to walk to the other side of the bay. [Teacher comment: Actually they needed to get to the other side of the bay in their boat.]
Unaided: They killed an elephant seal and played a trick. They were happy for the meat and blubber. They were walking to the other side of the bay.
Prompted: [What was washed up on the beach? ] Part of boats that had sunk. [Actually, they had lost their rudder, and fortunately, it washed up right where they were.]
Unaided: They felt better and stronger, but weak, so they went to hunt.
Step 6: Writing Sample
I asked K.C. to write about what he learned or remembers from reading and retelling the text passage.
Student Information
Student Information
Date: 2/13/09
Name of Student: K.C.
Teacher completing profile: C. Dorsey
Family contact: mother or father xxx-xxx-xxxx older brother xxx-xxx-xxxx
School: American Fork Junior High
Home Telephone: xxx-xxx-xxxx
Bilingal Contact: older brother [We have two Spanish teachers at our school who help with parent calls.]
Telephone: xxx-xxx-xxxx
Best times to contact: evenings
Person who can assist with homework: older brother, teachers during Cave Time, after-school help
Language Proficiency: as of 11/24/08 he was determined to be an Intermediate Language Learner, according to a report by our school diversity specialist. [Though I hadn't seen that determination, my recent assessment -- see below-- of his level corresponded closely with hers.]
Information from his ILDP from 11/08
UAIPA Prof: I CRT Test: 3 UAIPA Scors: 58 Poss: 69
Test Scores Report from March, 2009
ESL Proficiency: I Listening: 100% Reading: 94% Speaking: 69% Writing: 78% Comprehension: 96% Total: 87% Scaled Score: 343
In November, 2008, it was determined that K.C.'s learning needs would be better served outside of our sheltered ESL program. I (as his language arts and reading teacher) was asked to set goals for language development for K.C.
These are the goals I selected:
Listening: I'll communicate the objectives and encourage K.C. to use academic language in class.
Speaking: I'll help him expand his vocabulary by identifying synonyms.
Reading: I'll explain relationships created by Tier 2 Word (in Read180) and provide reading materials at his independent reading level. He tested at 200L, but he does read better than that.
Writing: I'll encourage him to use more complex sentences (combining), and allow him to revise and resubmit written work.
School History
Pre-K/Head Start -- IEP CA LA UNIFIED language development excellent
Kindergarten American Fork -- Shelley Elementary Parent/teacher Concerns: LANGUAGE AND SPEECH DELAYS IN RECEPTIVE/EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE
RETAINING INFORMATION
Third Grade -- American Fork -- Shelley Elementary A's and B's He did better in math than in reading and writing -- Language NNNN comp and reading
Fourth Grade -- American Fork -- Shelley Elementary A's and B's
-- fine in self-help, fine motor skills
4th grade CRT's
math 4
science 4
la 3
oral 50
decode and spell new 63
Reading comp 88
writing 67
Fifth Grade -- American Fork -- Shelley Elementary
LA 2
80 Oral language development
70 phonics and spelling,
87 Vocabulary,
63 Comprension of narrative and informational
45 Writing (especially problems with elaborating and clarifying)
Math 2
Science 3
Sixth Grade Language Arts Scores: C, B, A.
Seventh Grade -- American Fork Junior High -- Term Grades
08-09 S1 7 ADVISORY 7TH 0.00 A A A
08-09 S2 7 ART 7 0.00 . . F
08-09 S1 7 CTE INTRO 0.50 C F D
08-09 S1 7 ENGLISH 7 0.25 D- F C
08-09 S1 7 FITNESS 7 M 0.50 B+ C+ .
08-09 S1 7 INT SCI 7TH 0.00 D- F .
08-09 S1 7 JR.CHOR M 0.50 D A .
08-09 S2 7 KEYBOARDIN 1 0.25 . . B-
08-09 S1 7 PRE-A ENRICH 0.00 A- B A
08-09 S1 7 PRE-ALGEBRA 0.25 F F C+
08-09 S1 7 READING SKIL 0.75 D- C D-
08-09 S2 7 UTAH HISTORY 0.25 . . D+
Seventh Grade SRI Testing:
Begin year: 215 L
Mid Year : 346L
March: 583L
Mother Spanish Spanish
Father Spanish Spanish
Sisters and Brothers Spanish/English Spanish/English
(He has one brother with whom he speaks English in the home. With the rest he speaks Spanish in the home.
Grandparents Spanish Spanish
Friends in the neighborhood Spanish/English Spanish/English
Friends at school Spanish/English Spanish/English
Spanish: He is more comfortable reading and writing in English.
When asked to compare his reading and writing abilities in Spanish with those in English, he said the if he had an assignment he'd get an A on in English, he'd get a C if he had to do it in Spanish.
English: He speaks quite fluently. His vocabulary is very developed in English, but he has problems writing. Most of his writing indicates a lack of understanding of sentence boundaries, but on a recent written assignment in language arts class for which he was required to spend a considerable amount of time revising, he did much better at creating complete, fairly correct setences.
Second Language Proficiency Descriptors: [Teacher]
Listening: K.C. falls between Intermediate -High and Advanced
Data comes from multiple interactions -- conversational, pre-reading strategies, oral retelling.
Speaking: Advanced -- problems with some grammatical structures
Data comes from multiple interactions -- conversational, pre-reading strategies, oral retelling.
Reading: K.C. falls between Intermediate -High and Advanced
Data comes from text reading, oral retelling, written summaries, other reading skills data
Writing: K.C. falls between Intermediate-Low and Intermediate-High
He produces moderately comprehensible text, and with much support and effort can produce more highly comprehensible text.
His command of vocabulary is high, but he has a very limited control of sentence boundaries, spelling, and mechanics which interferes greatly with meaning.
Data comes from several writing samples.
Date: 2/13/09
Name of Student: K.C.
Teacher completing profile: C. Dorsey
Family contact: mother or father xxx-xxx-xxxx older brother xxx-xxx-xxxx
School: American Fork Junior High
Home Telephone: xxx-xxx-xxxx
Bilingal Contact: older brother [We have two Spanish teachers at our school who help with parent calls.]
Telephone: xxx-xxx-xxxx
Best times to contact: evenings
Person who can assist with homework: older brother, teachers during Cave Time, after-school help
Language Proficiency: as of 11/24/08 he was determined to be an Intermediate Language Learner, according to a report by our school diversity specialist. [Though I hadn't seen that determination, my recent assessment -- see below-- of his level corresponded closely with hers.]
Information from his ILDP from 11/08
UAIPA Prof: I CRT Test: 3 UAIPA Scors: 58 Poss: 69
Test Scores Report from March, 2009
ESL Proficiency: I Listening: 100% Reading: 94% Speaking: 69% Writing: 78% Comprehension: 96% Total: 87% Scaled Score: 343
In November, 2008, it was determined that K.C.'s learning needs would be better served outside of our sheltered ESL program. I (as his language arts and reading teacher) was asked to set goals for language development for K.C.
These are the goals I selected:
Listening: I'll communicate the objectives and encourage K.C. to use academic language in class.
Speaking: I'll help him expand his vocabulary by identifying synonyms.
Reading: I'll explain relationships created by Tier 2 Word (in Read180) and provide reading materials at his independent reading level. He tested at 200L, but he does read better than that.
Writing: I'll encourage him to use more complex sentences (combining), and allow him to revise and resubmit written work.
School History
Pre-K/Head Start -- IEP CA LA UNIFIED language development excellent
Kindergarten American Fork -- Shelley Elementary Parent/teacher Concerns: LANGUAGE AND SPEECH DELAYS IN RECEPTIVE/EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE
RETAINING INFORMATION
Third Grade -- American Fork -- Shelley Elementary A's and B's He did better in math than in reading and writing -- Language NNNN comp and reading
Fourth Grade -- American Fork -- Shelley Elementary A's and B's
-- fine in self-help, fine motor skills
4th grade CRT's
math 4
science 4
la 3
oral 50
decode and spell new 63
Reading comp 88
writing 67
Fifth Grade -- American Fork -- Shelley Elementary
LA 2
80 Oral language development
70 phonics and spelling,
87 Vocabulary,
63 Comprension of narrative and informational
45 Writing (especially problems with elaborating and clarifying)
Math 2
Science 3
Sixth Grade Language Arts Scores: C, B, A.
Seventh Grade -- American Fork Junior High -- Term Grades
08-09 S2 7 ART 7 0.00 . . F
08-09 S1 7 CTE INTRO 0.50 C F D
08-09 S1 7 ENGLISH 7 0.25 D- F C
08-09 S1 7 FITNESS 7 M 0.50 B+ C+ .
08-09 S1 7 INT SCI 7TH 0.00 D- F .
08-09 S1 7 JR.CHOR M 0.50 D A .
08-09 S2 7 KEYBOARDIN 1 0.25 . . B-
08-09 S1 7 PRE-A ENRICH 0.00 A- B A
08-09 S1 7 PRE-ALGEBRA 0.25 F F C+
08-09 S1 7 READING SKIL 0.75 D- C D-
08-09 S2 7 UTAH HISTORY 0.25 . . D+
| Cumulative GPA (Weighted) | 1.2238 |
| Cumulative GPA (Simple) | 1.5750 |
| Cumulative % GPA (Weighted) | 58.5238 |
| Cumulative % GPA (Simple) | 62.4583 |
| Cumulative Class Rank | 540 of 578 |
| Cumulative Credit Hours | 3.25 |
| Q1 GPA | 1.0143 |
| Q2 GPA | 1.2000 |
| Q3 GPA | 1.4571 |
Seventh Grade SRI Testing:
Begin year: 215 L
Mid Year : 346L
March: 583L
Language Use Patterns
Language student uses with them Language they use with studentMother Spanish Spanish
Father Spanish Spanish
Sisters and Brothers Spanish/English Spanish/English
(He has one brother with whom he speaks English in the home. With the rest he speaks Spanish in the home.
Grandparents Spanish Spanish
Friends in the neighborhood Spanish/English Spanish/English
Friends at school Spanish/English Spanish/English
Reading/Writing Patterns and Abilities
Spanish: He is more comfortable reading and writing in English.
When asked to compare his reading and writing abilities in Spanish with those in English, he said the if he had an assignment he'd get an A on in English, he'd get a C if he had to do it in Spanish.
English: He speaks quite fluently. His vocabulary is very developed in English, but he has problems writing. Most of his writing indicates a lack of understanding of sentence boundaries, but on a recent written assignment in language arts class for which he was required to spend a considerable amount of time revising, he did much better at creating complete, fairly correct setences.
Second Language Proficiency Descriptors: [Teacher]
Listening: K.C. falls between Intermediate -High and Advanced
Data comes from multiple interactions -- conversational, pre-reading strategies, oral retelling.
Speaking: Advanced -- problems with some grammatical structures
Data comes from multiple interactions -- conversational, pre-reading strategies, oral retelling.
Reading: K.C. falls between Intermediate -High and Advanced
Data comes from text reading, oral retelling, written summaries, other reading skills data
Writing: K.C. falls between Intermediate-Low and Intermediate-High
He produces moderately comprehensible text, and with much support and effort can produce more highly comprehensible text.
His command of vocabulary is high, but he has a very limited control of sentence boundaries, spelling, and mechanics which interferes greatly with meaning.
Data comes from several writing samples.
Report on an Instructional Conversation
Report on Instructional Conversation
I selected my focus student and two other students from his class to be on a "committee" to prepare materials for preparing the class to read a chapter in our current class book – Ice Story: Shackleton’s Lost Expedition. I don’t always know which words and concepts will disrupt understanding for my seventh grade students, so having a small group of students help me prepare for the chapter is very helpful. Also, those students will be experts on that chapter.
Lexile Levels for my target student and for the book:
K.C. tests at lexile level 583 (about 3rd grade) as of March 2009.
Ice Story: Shackleton’s Lost Expedition: The text is 1130L which is about mid tenth grade, but it is heavily supported with pictures and maps, and is being scaffolded by the teacher.
K.C.'s reading level was determined using the Scholastic Reading Inventory, and I looked up the lexile level of the text at lexile.com.
During class, while the students were reading earlier chapters in small groups and preparing timelines of what had happened so far, we went to the computer lab, which wasn’t being used.
Learning Activity
Students and teacher will prepare a list of vocabulary and other things students need to know for reading chapter 14 of Ice Story: Shackleton’s Lost Expedition. We started out looking for vocabulary that might get in the way of students’ understanding. We discussed how you can figure out a word that’s unfamiliar.
Goals
• Prepare actual information for any teacher who would be teaching chapter 14 of Ice Story.
• Assess student awareness of vocabulary and awareness of strategies to figure out what unfamiliar words mean.
• As needed, teach students about strategies to figure out the meanings of unfamiliar words in a text.
Materials Needed
-- Copies of the book Ice Story: Shackleton’s Lost Expedition
-- A pencil or pen for each student
-- A handout-chart for each student, and one for the teacher, on which to record unfamiliar words and concepts, meanings, and how we knew or found out what the real meanings were
-- Dictionaries or access to an online dictionary
-- Tape recorder and blank tape if desired to record the conversation
What I Learned about K.C.’s Understanding
K.C. knows a lot of vocabulary. He had heard a couple of the unfamiliar words before, and was able to figure out meaning from the way he’d heard them used. He also understands how to look at the parts of a word to try to figure out its meaning. He was able to look up words from an online dictionary. He was willing to share in the small group what he knew and thought.
The students took turns reading aloud as we looked for unfamiliar words, so I was able to notice also how he read aloud. He doesn’t know how to pronounce “island” or “even,” and stumbled over the pronunciation of many words.
K.C. already knew some strategies for finding the meaning of unfamiliar words, and he was the one who at the end of our conversation volunteered a summary of strategies we’d used during the conversation.
What I Learned About Using Instructional Conversation
I learned how hard it is to keep myself from monopolizing the conversation – to instead find ways to draw out the students. The conversation was very valuable because of what I found out about the students, and because I felt the instruction I gave was more effective in a small group than it would have been whole-class. One student in the group has a higher reading level than the other two, so she knew more, but gave the others chances to talk. There were words that she also didn't know. I was able to ask some questions that got the students to think, to look at the words and the text to figure out meanings.
We used a chart titled "Vocabulary for Ice Story -- Chapter 14"
with three columns labeled --
Word and Page, Meaning, How you knew
Here is how these three students summarized --
What do the students need to know to read chapter 14?
1. What happened before – in the book –
2. What to do if they run into a word they don’t know –
a. look back
b. look ahead
c. look it up
d. talk about it
e. break it into parts
f. think about similar words or similar sounds
g. think about if and how you’ve heard it before
Justification for my Unit Plan (Cover Sheet)
Justification for my Unit Plan (Cover Sheet)
We're doing this unit in the first place because I've observed so many problems with sentences in student writing.
Because grammar studies can be so dry and (as students would put it), "boring," I wanted to use activities and assessments that would allow the students to work together, and would even be playful at times.
The Physical Self-Assessment (creating a continuum) gave me a chance to find out how the students perceive their own understanding of sentences and to listen for misconceptions as they discussed what they knew. It also gave me an opportunity to match up students who felt (and sounded) confident in their knowledge about sentences with those who lacked confidence. (Of course, I also applied what I already knew about the students' writing.) It caused students to think about what they knew, accessing background knowledge they already had, and recognizing some gaps in that knowledge. I would also like my students to realize that they can be part of a conversation about how we speak and write, and about how we can better communicate with each other.
The Slap Game provides students and teachers with another opportunity to assess what students know. Both the physical response and the slap game involve all students.
The first quiz we took again allowed students to respond concerning their own learning, what they had learned and still didn't understand, and to ask questions.
The second quiz, open-notes and after several activities, let us see who was getting the concepts of subjects and predicates and of dependent and independent clauses. The sentences used were designed for struggling readers, so shouldn't have caused any understanding problems. Because students were able to retake the quiz, it provided an opportunity for further learning. Extra practices were available in the class and on our class blog, and during CaveTime students could get extra help from the teacher.
Many of the activities provided me, as a teacher, with opportunities to both teach and assess. The "final" assessment (though not really final because we will spend more time learning about sentences) measured whether students were applying what they learned to writing an essay. It allowed choice and use of topics the students wanted to write about. It was practical because it "killed two birds with one stone" by piggybacking on a district writing test the students already had to take. Another assessment I could have the students do would involve writing a letter for a practical purpose, such as encouraging a needed change in our school or community or expressing thanks, or some other real-world reason.
I also continue to respond to other pieces of writing the students do, helping them create complete, effective sentences. One great place to do this is on our class wiki where students are creating their own wiki pages about the books they are reading. I am able to highlight errors in the student writing right on the page, and explain in comments what needs to be fixed, or ask questions to help the students revise their sentences.
We're doing this unit in the first place because I've observed so many problems with sentences in student writing.
Because grammar studies can be so dry and (as students would put it), "boring," I wanted to use activities and assessments that would allow the students to work together, and would even be playful at times.
The Physical Self-Assessment (creating a continuum) gave me a chance to find out how the students perceive their own understanding of sentences and to listen for misconceptions as they discussed what they knew. It also gave me an opportunity to match up students who felt (and sounded) confident in their knowledge about sentences with those who lacked confidence. (Of course, I also applied what I already knew about the students' writing.) It caused students to think about what they knew, accessing background knowledge they already had, and recognizing some gaps in that knowledge. I would also like my students to realize that they can be part of a conversation about how we speak and write, and about how we can better communicate with each other.
The Slap Game provides students and teachers with another opportunity to assess what students know. Both the physical response and the slap game involve all students.
The first quiz we took again allowed students to respond concerning their own learning, what they had learned and still didn't understand, and to ask questions.
The second quiz, open-notes and after several activities, let us see who was getting the concepts of subjects and predicates and of dependent and independent clauses. The sentences used were designed for struggling readers, so shouldn't have caused any understanding problems. Because students were able to retake the quiz, it provided an opportunity for further learning. Extra practices were available in the class and on our class blog, and during CaveTime students could get extra help from the teacher.
Many of the activities provided me, as a teacher, with opportunities to both teach and assess. The "final" assessment (though not really final because we will spend more time learning about sentences) measured whether students were applying what they learned to writing an essay. It allowed choice and use of topics the students wanted to write about. It was practical because it "killed two birds with one stone" by piggybacking on a district writing test the students already had to take. Another assessment I could have the students do would involve writing a letter for a practical purpose, such as encouraging a needed change in our school or community or expressing thanks, or some other real-world reason.
I also continue to respond to other pieces of writing the students do, helping them create complete, effective sentences. One great place to do this is on our class wiki where students are creating their own wiki pages about the books they are reading. I am able to highlight errors in the student writing right on the page, and explain in comments what needs to be fixed, or ask questions to help the students revise their sentences.
Cognitive Challenge in my Unit Plan
Cognitive Challenge in my Unit Plan
"They need to explore concepts, not just memorize them, engage in interesting and meaningful activities, not just drill-and-kill exercises." -- Annela Teemant
"If our students are going to understand, we have to slow down and uncover the curriculum." -- Jay McTighe
I am trying to frame activities that will cause my students to really think about how we put sentences together to communicate with each other. In this unit, students are presented background knowledge through interactive lecture/PowerPoint presentations. While listening and watching, they are asked to fill in the words and phrases left out of preprinted notes. They are also asked to respond and contribute, and complete brief practice exercises during this "lecture" portion of the classes.
Understanding is reinforced and assessed with various activities, quizzes, and games. They have opportunities to self-assess, and students have opportunities to teach other students.
The unit is couched in a spirit of playfulness. The students are being "sentenced" to work on sentences. They are assigned to "rehabilitate" problem "sentences" into complete, correct sentences that can then serve as upstanding citizens of the community of sentences.
"They need to explore concepts, not just memorize them, engage in interesting and meaningful activities, not just drill-and-kill exercises." -- Annela Teemant
"If our students are going to understand, we have to slow down and uncover the curriculum." -- Jay McTighe
I am trying to frame activities that will cause my students to really think about how we put sentences together to communicate with each other. In this unit, students are presented background knowledge through interactive lecture/PowerPoint presentations. While listening and watching, they are asked to fill in the words and phrases left out of preprinted notes. They are also asked to respond and contribute, and complete brief practice exercises during this "lecture" portion of the classes.
Understanding is reinforced and assessed with various activities, quizzes, and games. They have opportunities to self-assess, and students have opportunities to teach other students.
The unit is couched in a spirit of playfulness. The students are being "sentenced" to work on sentences. They are assigned to "rehabilitate" problem "sentences" into complete, correct sentences that can then serve as upstanding citizens of the community of sentences.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
