Instructional plan for teaching expository text to fifth graders

Designing Instructional Plans

Instructional Strategies

In the first 2 days the students will mainly be focusing on the Language Arts. They will be given directions to improve their reading and writing skills and will later on be marked on how far they have come. The students have been put into a 3rd grade class in an independent manner. There is an immediate need for these students to be able to understand and learn the course in various manners and to also revise it.

On the first day the students will mainly be guided through the reading process. They will be encouraged to read the content of their course and try and identify the main characters and the details supporting them in expository text.

Resources

Text books, writing paper, pencils, overhead projector, different colored pens.

Day two

On the second day the students will have to organize and focus their thoughts regarding the reading from day 1 as, on the second day they will have to come up with a topic sentence and write those thoughts down. The students will have to create one paragraph in which they will have to summarize the expository text using the main idea and three supporting details.

Resources

Overhead projector, writing paper, pens, crayons, pencils, markers.

Student Activities

Day one

A story will be read by the students and they will try to differentiate the main idea and the details supporting it in expository text.

Additional Assessment

Various different boxes will be given to the students which will contain plastic rectangles, hexagons, squares, triangles, octagons and pentagons. There are going to be various similar and dissimilar examples of every sort of polygon in the boxes. Students will be assigned various tasks of grouping these polygons according to their various properties such as; their number of sides, perpendicular sides, number of angles, equilateral sides, and parallel sides.

2a) When in the plan would you use this assessment?

I feel that the students will be able to do this assessment once they get comfortable with addition and subtraction. Therefore, it will be after a few days of the first assessment that I will introduce them to this one.

2b) What goals would be assessed by this assessment?

I believe that I will be able to assess around 3-4 learning goals with the help of this assessment as, the students will not only be able to use addition and subtraction in this assessment but they will also be able to identify and describe the shapes and differences between the various shapes and their properties.

2c) What type of assessment would it be?

This is mainly going to be performance based and formative assessment.

2d) What would be the purpose of the assessment?

The basic purpose of this assessment is going to be to carry on the progress monitoring of the students.

2e) How would you implement the assessment?

I plan on implementing this assessment in the form of a group activity where, each group will consist of 5 students.

2f) What feedback strategies would you use?

I have decided to get feedback in oral form and mostly on one-on-one basis.

2g) How would the results of the assessment inform mathematics instruction?

This assessment will help me in monitoring the progress of the students with regards to mathematics and I will see if there are a few or large number of students who are having difficulties in understanding the lessons and deal accordingly.

Part 3)

Explain how using the additional assessment as you described in question 2 improves the teacher's assessment plan and what specific information would be gained about what the students really know and understand about the content area, their misconceptions, and their progress toward achieving the learning goals

Knowing how the brain of a student works can greatly help a teacher in understanding the problems that he/she might face and how they can be solved. Therefore, by giving students actual shapes rather than having them look at their drawings on piece of paper allows the teachers to see how the students observe the objects and makes decisions regarding it such as its number of sides, number of angles etc.

Case Study 3: Adaptation of Subject-Specific Pedagogy for English Learners

B. Questions for Case Study 3

1) Identify two specific learning needs the student has as an English learner, based on the student description and the responses.

Guillermo is 10 years old. It was about 3 years ago that his family moved to the U.S. Guillermo speaks fluent Spanish but can't write it properly. His verbal and written English isn't perfect and his spoken English is 2 grades below. Therefore, oral and written English are two of Guillermo's specific learning needs. It was indicated through his CELDT results that his overall score lies in the early intermediate range and that he has been recognized to be an English learner.

2a) Identify one instructional strategy or student activity from the outline of plans that could be challenging for the student.

Speaking in front of the class can prove to be challenging for Guillermo as, his oral English isn't perfect.

2b) Explain why the strategy or activity you chose could be challenging to the student. Use your knowledge of English learners and your analysis of the student's learning needs in your explanation.

Speaking in front of the class can prove to be difficult for Guillermo as, I have noticed him to become shy and conscious when he has to speak in English in front of a large group. He also gets confused when his peers laugh at his mistakes. However, on occasions when I have talked to him one-on-one I have noticed a significant difference in his language and demeanor as, he makes less mistakes and is more confident. Therefore, I feel that he can improve his verbal skills by becoming more confident to speak in front of larger groups, hence, I have decided to encourage him more and more to speak up in the class and take part in the group discussions.

3a) Describe how you would adapt the strategy or activity you identified above to meet the learning needs of the student. Consider specific subject matter pedagogy when writing your description.

I will provide Guillermo with a list of the relevant science vocabulary words in English and Spanish so that he can understand them easily. I will encourage him to go through the list and try to memorize the words. I will try to partner Guillermo with one of his peers who can speak Spanish and English and encourage them to discuss their work in Spanish as well as in English as, using Spanish will help Guillermo in understanding the content properly while speaking in English will increase his confidence.

Lastly, I will motivate Guillermo to present his content in front of the class independently or with his partner, whichever way he feels more comfortable.

3b) Explain how your adaptation would be effective for the student in making progress toward the learning goals of the lesson.

I believe that the adaptation that I have used in the lesson plan for Guillermo will help him in grasping the lesson content much easily as, he will be able to understand and comprehend the content in a much better manner. These adaptations will also help Guillermo in building confidence to speak in front of others. His written English will also improve with these adaptations as, his understanding and comprehension will increase.

3c) Explain how your adaptation would be effective for the student in making progress toward English language development.

In my experience written English is something that the English learners struggle with the most. However, the written response that was provided by Guillermo to me clearly showed that the adaptations are helping him in learning English language. I feel that partnering Guillermo with someone from the class who can speak Spanish as well as English will further improve and strengthen his vocabulary. All these efforts will not only have a positive impact on Guillermo written language but verbal as well.

4a) Which progress monitoring assessment based on the lesson plan would you choose to monitor this student's progress toward achieving the learning goal(s)?

I will be making use of journal writing, class discussions, quizzes, oral presentations and written tests to see the learning level of this student.

4b) Give a rationale for your choice of progress monitoring assessment. Use knowledge of content in this unit, and this student's English language abilities in your rationale.

To a certain extent I will be making use of all the progress monitoring assessments which have been mentioned in the lesson plans. The reason for this is that I feel that by participating in every one of these assessments Guillermo will be able to strengthen his English language abilities. I will be using more scientific terms' quizzes to see his knowledge as; he will be provided with the scientific terms in both English and Spanish.

5) Based on what you learned about this student's English proficiency, what would be your next steps in planning to facilitate her English language development?

Guillermo has shown continuous improvement and growth in his written and oral English. I will further be providing him with support in order to help him in further improving his linguistic abilities. I will make sure that I keep on providing him with clear and direct instruction to avoid any misinterpretations.

Case Study 4: Adaptation of Subject-Specific Pedagogy for Students with Special Needs B. Questions for Case Study 4

1a) Identify one instructional strategy or student activity from the outline of plans that could be challenging for the student, considering the description of the student's learning disability.

One student activity that I feel will be very challenging for Guillermo is going to be the reading of the text numerous times because of his learning disability.

1b) Explain why the strategy or activity you chose could be challenging for the student, based on specific aspects of the student description.

Guillermo is in the 5th grade and is 11 years old. He suffers from ADHD and is being treated for it. It was in his first grade that he was diagnosed with ADHD and since then he is being given special sport. He has difficulty is paying attention to the oral and written class work.

1c) Describe how you would adapt the strategy or activity you identified to meet the needs of the student?

I will try to arrange group discussions and try to involve Guillermo in them. I will assign various tasks to the class and ask them to do those tasks in the form of cooperative group work which will encourage Guillermo to pay attention and take interest in the work that is being done by his peers and try to input his efforts as well. I will also be arranging individual class presentations and written work to monitor his progress. Furthermore, I will be providing him with oral as well as verbal feedback.

1d) Explain how your adaptation would be effective for the student in making progress toward achieving the learning goal(s) of this unit.

Since concept support is provided by my adaptations I believe that Guillermo will be able to benefit from them. Also, these adaptations will encourage him to take part in the group activities and make him confident, attentive and interested in the lessons.

2a) Identify one additional instructional strategy or student activity from the lesson plan that could be challenging for the student, considering the student's other learning needs.

It might be challenging for Guillermo to list the major characteristics of life during the period of Revolutionary War and then make a list of these characteristics along with the rest of the class

2b) Explain why the strategy or activity you chose could be challenging for the student, based on specific aspects of the student description.

Due to his ADHD he can have difficulties in working with others as; he has been noticed to have a dominating attitude.

2c) Describe how you would adapt the strategy or activity you identified to meet the needs of the student.

Before the lesson where the whole class has to work together to make a chart of the important characteristics of life during the period of Revolutionary War I will meet up with Guillermo and take him through the whole process. This will not only help him in paying closer attention to what has to be done in the class but will also give me an idea about how involved and focused he is.

2d) Explain how your adaptation would be effective for the student in making progress toward achieving the learning goal(s) of this unit.

There is a direct connection of the adaptations to the goals of the lesson as, they encourage and motivate Guillermo to take part in the class discussions. These adaptations are meant to improve and boost Guillermo's confidence and make him more attentive towards the class activities.

3a) What progress monitoring assessment would you choose to obtain evidence of the student's progress toward one or more learning goal(s)?

I will be making use of discussions, cooperative group work, presentations and written reflections in order to monitor his progress. Along with this, oral and verbal feedback will be given to Guillermo by me as well.

3b) Give a rationale for your choice of assessment. Use your knowledge of academic content in this unit, and this student's learning needs in your rationale.

The reason why I have decided to make use of class discussions, cooperative group work, presentations and written reflections in order to monitor his progress is because with the help of all these assessment mediums I feel that I will be able to clearly see how far he has come. Furthermore, I believe that providing Guillermo with written and verbal feedback will increase the chances of him understanding what I think about his work and the areas that he further needs to work on.