Our accumulative project for this class was actually designing a lesson plan that could be presented in the classroom where we did our field work. This was a neat opportunity to get feedback from the teacher and practice implementing everything that we learned in this class. Our teacher we observed gave us feedback that allowed us to adjust our lessons based on that communication in order to improve our lessons. Here is the lesson that I created with the revisions and reflection about my collaboration with Denise, the teacher I was working with:
Signature Assignment:
Revised Lesson Plan
Introduction:
This lesson plan was created as a follow up to the lesson that I previously observed during my field observation. The class I observed was a third/fourth grade, Mild to Moderate Special Day Class (SDC). The students’ lesson that I observed was a discussion about Abraham Lincoln and how he abolished slavery. They read a book titled Abe Lincoln’s Hat. After they read this story, they discussed the meaning of the word “abolish” and how it meant to “get rid of.” The goal for the students was to understand the meaning of the word. They followed this up with an activity where they studied Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation speech. They defined “emancipation” and “proclamation.” After writing any of these words down, they did a wrap up activity where they drew a picture, illustrating Lincoln giving his speech. The follow up lesson that I am creating will be a character study of the main character involved in the story that we read previously (Abe Lincoln’s Hat) as well as the speech that he gave as president. We will be comparing Young Abe to Older Abe to see how he solved the problem of his disorganization and how the things he saw as a young man impacted him later in life.
Lesson Plan
Learners:
In this classroom there are a total of eleven students with mild to moderate disabilities. Eight of the students have a primary qualifying eligibility of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Two of the students have a qualifying eligibility of Specific Learning Disability (SLD). Additionally, one student has an Emotional Disability (ED). One of the students with ASD has a secondary qualifying eligibility of a visual impairment while several of the other students have a secondary qualifying eligibility of a speech/language impairment. There are nine boys in the class and two girls.
Focus Student #1:
RA
- ASD
- Visual Impairment
- He uses a slant board for writing.
- He has an iPad with an App that takes a picture of the document that allows him to enlarge the image and see more clearly.
- He has a modified curser on his Chromebook as well so he can track it easier.
Focus Student #2:
AB
- ED
- She can have emotional outbursts.
- She needs help expressing her viewpoints appropriately in class.
- She has her seat separate from the other students so that she can have her space and maintain appropriate behaviors.
Teacher:
Because my students have learning disabilities, it is important to model for them when we are doing any sort of activity. It is also vital that directions are repeated clearly for specific students and any questions are addressed and clarified in order to hold students’ attention. Graphic Organizers are also essential for clearly illustrating the material that is being presented to the students.
Target:
Standards: This lesson follows the California Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts for third grade.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY 3.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g. their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.9
Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g. in books from a series).
Goal: The goal of this lesson is to help the students understand what a character is and how they change over time.
Objectives: When applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to this lesson, students will be mainly accessing the lower levels of thinking, including remembering, understanding, and applying. The students will define what a character is in a story. Additionally, they will be listing as well as describing characteristics of Abraham Lincoln as the main character in the material that was covered in the previous class. They will apply what they learned from the previous story by organizing traits of Abraham Lincoln as a child versus an adult. This will allow the students to briefly access the higher levels of thinking as they are evaluating what part of Lincoln’s life a trait belonged to by comparing his older self to his younger self.
Assessment:
The assessment for this lesson is going to be an informal assessment. The teacher will ask check questions throughout the lesson to determine if the students are understanding and remembering what a character is in a story. The students will also work independently to draw character traits from the hat and be able to put them in the proper place of whether it described Lincoln as a young child or as an adult.
Instruction:
Materials:
- Book – Abe Lincoln’s Hat
- Interactive Flat Panel (IFP) for the image of Abraham Lincoln giving Emancipation proclamation
- Whiteboard
- Pencils
- Worksheet – “What is a Character?”
- A hat
- Index cards with characteristics written on them
- Three familiar books – Cinderella, Charlotte’s Web, and The Mouse and the Motorcycle
- Elmo Document Camera
Introduction/Review (10 mins)
The students will be place in cooperative groups of two or three, selected by the teacher, at the beginning of the lesson. This will give them opportunities to work with their partners and have discussions together. The teacher will remind the students about the lesson that was taught the previous day. The book, Abe Lincoln’s Hat will be shown to the students. The teacher will ask the students what they remember about the story and go over any key points. The teacher will remind the students about Abraham Lincoln as a child and how he was disorganized and had to learn to solve that problem with his hat. The image of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation speech will also be shown to students. They will discuss how the things that he saw as a child (the slaves being chained on the boat) affected him and resulted in him writing the emancipation proclamation and abolishing slavery.
New Material
What is a character?: (5 mins)
Tell the students that we are going to talk about what characters are in a story. Show the students three books that they are familiar with or would have read previously in class Cinderella, Charlotte’s Web, and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. These are all books we have read in class. Ask the students briefly what they remember about them. Ask the students, “Who was this story about?”
Tell the students that characters are “the people or animals that a story is about.” Have the students turn to each other and repeat the definition of a character. On their worksheet, the top section asks, “What is a character?” The students will fill in the sentence frame that follows stating, “A character is the ____________ or ____________ that a ____________ is about.”
What’s in the Hat?: (30 20 mins)
Tell students that we are going to look at Abraham Lincoln as a young person as well as an adult. Show them that their worksheet has two boxes. One side of the paper says “Younger Abe” and the other side says “Adult Abe.” Tell the students that we are going to look at some character traits and decide if they are describing Abe as a child or as an adult.
Teacher will have a hat that contains index cards with character traits. The teacher will pull two traits, one at a time, out of the hat and place on the visual on the board of whether it describes him as a child or adult. Teacher will then write the character trait in the appropriate box on the worksheet using the Elmo Document Camera.
Teacher will select an equity stick to have a random student come to the hat and choose a character trait. The student will read the trait out loud to the class with teacher’s help if needed and place it on the correct side of the visual on the board. Students will then write the character trait on the worksheet while the students write it with her.
After two three to four traits have been pulled together, two or three five more students will then choose a trait from the hat and read it independently and decide which side of the board that trait belongs on. The number of students who select traits will be determined by their eagerness and desire to continue with the activity. The teacher should be monitoring for disinterested behavior. Teacher will assess students to see if the traits are placed in the correct box and make any corrections as needed. Students will then independently fill in those traits on their boxes.
A brief example of possible traits:
Young Abe |
Adult Abe |
“Disorganized”
“Did not go to school”
“Always losing papers”
“Saw slave chained on a ship”
“Read books a lot” |
“Wore a hat to keep his papers”
“Organized”
“Lawyer”
“President”
“Worked to end slavery.” |
Closing (5 mins)
Teacher asks the students “What is a character? Which character did we learn about today?”
Focus Student #1: RA would need to use the slant board when he is writing. He also has preferred seating close to the IFP to see the worksheet and images. He needs to have the worksheet enlarged on the document camera to be able to see the material.
Focus Student #2: AB needs to be seated near a student who will not engage in arguments with her if they disagree. When discussing Abraham Lincoln’s feelings, she needs to be reminded what feelings are. Example: “Feelings are what our mind thinks on the inside.”
Management:
The attention of the students will be gained by the teacher starting the class by saying “I am ready to teach you.” Students respond with “I am ready to learn.” Teacher will use the equity sticks to draw names of students who will be called up to select character traits from the hat. Students who are paying attention will earn stars on their star chart. The teacher will regain the students’ attention by using attention grasping phrases such as, “one, two, three, eyes on me” and “show me that you’re listening.” Verbal praise will be used throughout the lesson. Non-verbal cues, such as high fives or thumbs up will be used as well.
UDL Considerations (Meyer, Rose, & Gordon, 2014)
Engagement: Realia is used with an actual hat to pull the character traits out of. The use of familiar stories to the students will grab their attention. The equity sticks increase excitement and participation because they enjoy coming to the board.
Focus Student #1: RA uses the slant board, IFP, and the document camera in order to remain engaged throughout the lesson.
Focus Student #2: She can work well with a partner who is patient and understanding if she becomes upset. This is especially relevant because she can easily become agitated by her name not being selected with the equity sticks. The teacher can engage her in conversation throughout to assess whether or not she may need a break due to becoming upset.
Representation: Large visual on the board and individual graphic organizers are given to the students to help visually organize the character traits. The information on the IFP and the books also help to present the information.
Expression: Students tell the teacher as well as their neighbor the definition of a character. They are reading the traits out loud as they are drawing them out of the hat. Restating the information at the closing will reinforce the definition of a character.
Reflection
After reviewing my lesson, it was helpful to talk to Denise more about her class and how well her students stay engaged (or do not). This factor really plays a huge part in the way she runs her classroom. It was wise of her to suggest cutting down the amount of time that the lesson would be for the kids. This would allow the students to remain engaged and not become side-tracked by the fact that they are bored or wanting to move on. Denise and I discussed how keeping these things in mind also helps to ensure that the goals and objectives for the lesson are truly met. Otherwise, we would just end up with some frustrated students who would not remember what the function of the lesson was. I also liked her suggestion of starting off the class with creating cooperative groups. This can help to peak the students’ interesting from the start and ensure that they are successfully completing the work. This can be achieved by the students having a partner whom they can turn to and work with throughout the lesson.