1. Describe your target area for guided
lead teaching.
I
will be teaching a multi-week unit about the fantasy genre to my students.
2. Approximately how much time per day
is allotted for your instruction in this area?
There is a 90 minute block reserved each day for Language
Arts- most of this time will be taken up
by my instruction.
3. Which Common Core State Standard(s)
will you work toward?
RL Grade 5,
Number 2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details
in the text, including
how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in
a poem reflects
upon a topic; summarize the text.
RL Grade 5, Number 9: Compare and
contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure
stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.
RF Grade 5, Number 4: Read with
sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
4. How will teaching in this target
area provide opportunities for students
to learn important content and/or skills that relate to their lives? In what ways does this learning include
learning literacy, learning about literacy, and/or learning through literacy?
The
fantasy genre is not one that fifth grade students have had a lot of experience
with. They are familiar
with many books that fall into the fantasy category (Harry Potter, Jumanji,
etc.) but likely have
not had much previous instruction on the topic. Expanding their genre knowledge
will help students
build a greater basis for their literacy learning in both reading and writing.
Discussing the skills
that fantasy writers use to create magical places and characters will boost
students’ imaginative
techniques and hopefully inspire their literacy learning.
5. What types of classroom talk take
place within this target area? To what extent is the talk teacher-led,
student-led, or focused on higher-level thinking? What norms for interaction
would you like to build within your classroom as you teach in this target area
(e.g., see ideas in Chapter 6 of Strategies
that Work, the Berne & Clark 2008 article, or draw from some of the
readings done in TE 402 on classroom talk)?
There
has been a fair amount of discussion about genre in language arts so far this
year. Students
are aware of the basic differences between fiction and nonfiction, as well as
the meanings
of classifications like horror, mystery, and realistic fiction. All of the
books in the classroom
library are labeled and organized according to genre (including fantasy
novels). The talk
about the different genres has been primarily teacher led, with my MT asking
students what types
of books they are familiar with. Students have been able to provide concrete
answers when asked
questions about genre differences. As we spend the unit working on fantasy and comprehension,
students will work both individually and with a partner or small group to build
on the
comprehension skills and have meaningful conversations about what they are
reading. I would
like to build a feeling of familiarity and comfort within group discussion
settings.
6. Which ‘core practice’ do you want to
work on developing/improving as you teach in this target area (refer to
document “Resources for Developing Core Practices”)? How will focusing on this
core practice contribute to your own
professional learning?
The core practice I would like to focus on my fantasy
unit on is comprehension. I have noticed that
many of my students are good readers and can read independently for long
periods of time without
much complaint, but sometimes struggle to recall what they read. Many of them
also tend to
seem distracted or zoned out during reading time in language arts, leading me
to believe that they
may not understand all of the material that is being discussed. Focusing on
comprehension will
help me learn how to monitor students during reading while also teaching them
to monitor themselves.
Additionally, I will learn how to carefully select texts that will (hopefully)
keep students
interested.
7. What resources within the community,
neighborhood, school district, school or classroom do you have to work with in
this target area?
The school has a literacy lab with sets of many varieties
of books. Several of these sets contain books
from the fantasy genre at various reading levels. Using these books, I will
create 5-6 book club
groups that will each read a different fantasy novel. We have taken inventories
of student interests
and gotten a feel for what types of subjects interest them and I will use this
information to
assign book groups, while also being mindful of reading levels.
8. What additional resources do you
need to obtain?
I
need to spend more time in the Lit Lab and get a better idea of what books are
available for book
clubs. I would also like to see what materials are available for genre studies-
charts, worksheets,
etc. that can be used at the beginning of the unit to introduce the idea of
fantasy.
9. How will you pre-assess your
students in your target area?
The students were previously given an inventory about
their interests. This was a good indicator of
what types of novels they might be interested in. At this point in the school
year, we also have a
good idea of each student’s reading level and the way they work with others.
Prior to assigning book
club groups, I will pay attention to the way the students respond to the
fantasy genre and the
previous knowledge they may or may not have. In addition, I would also like to
give some sort of
comprehension pre-assessment to find out their tendencies for comprehending
texts.
10. What else will you need to find out
about all students in your class to help you develop lesson plans for your
Guided Lead Teaching?
I will need to find out if any of my students have
previously read any of the books that I select for book
clubs. I would also like to know if they have any background knowledge that
relates to any of
the book topics.
11. What else do you need/want to learn
about the ‘core practice’ to support your planning and teaching?
Chapter 6 of Strategies
That Work was a good resource about the different methods and minilessons
that can be used to teach and monitor comprehension. However, I would like to explore
more ways that students can use to keep track of their own comprehension while
reading. I
want to use a variety of strategies while we are doing book clubs in class to
get a good feel for what
works well and what does not. I will also need to come up with a couple
comprehension minilessons
to teach at the very beginning of the unit.
12. What concerns, if any, do you have
about planning and teaching your unit?
The
main concern I have at this point is about setting up and running the book
clubs. I know that they
are a lot of work and I’m a little bit nervous that I won’t be able to keep up
with it. I have never
taken on a project quite this big in a school setting so I feel like it might
be hard to jump in to.
Emily Sponsler's Unit Plan Target Area
ReplyDelete1. Describe your target area for guided lead teaching.
I am going to work on description writing with my students.
2. Approximately how much time per day is allotted for your instruction in this area?
I have not discussed specifics with my mentor but I imagine 30-45 minutes.
3. Which Common Core State Standard(s) will you work toward? (Quoted from Reading Street)
- “Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.”
- “Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.”
4. How will teaching in this target area provide opportunities for students to learn important content and/or skills that relate to their lives? In what ways does this learning include learning literacy, learning about literacy, and/or learning through literacy?
Many of the students do not know how to add valuable descriptive details but instead just add words like “and on and on”. This lesson will show them how to add meaningful details and keep their sentences concise while still creating the image they want for the readers. It will help them to express meaning that relates to their life.
Being a good writer and being a good reader go hand in hand. Overall, writing shows that students are so well rounded in literacy that they can create their own sentences and paragraphs.
5.What types of classroom talk take place within this target area? To what extent is the talk teacher-led, student-led, or focused on higher-level thinking? What norms for interaction would you like to build within your classroom as you teach in this target area (e.g., see ideas in Chapter 6 of Strategies that Work, the Berne & Clark 2008 article, or draw from some of the readings done in TE 402 on classroom talk)?
For the beginning lessons, the classroom talk will be mostly teacher-led. I will slowly lead the students to handle themselves. I want most of the unit to be higher level thinking but when I am modeling, I will give them explicit instruction.
I would like students to be able to write in multiple subjects. Social studies is the other subject I am considering at the moment, since that can be a descriptive writing.
6. Which ‘core practice’ do you want to work on developing/improving as you teach in this target area (refer to document “Resources for Developing Core Practices”)? How will focusing on this core practice contribute to your own professional learning?
I do not where this document is. I will fill out this question when I find it.
7. What resources within the community, neighborhood, school district, school or classroom do you have to work with in this target area?
-My mentor teacher
-Other mentor teachers
-Parents
-Books from class
8. What additional resources do you need to obtain?
I am going to use the special ed assistant to help me with differentiated instruction for the 6 students who need it in my class.
9. How will you pre-assess your students in your target area?
I may have them write a paragraph about their morning and ask them to be as descriptive as possible.
10. What else will you need to find out about all students in your class to help you develop lesson plans for your Guided Lead Teaching?
I will need to figure out where they are at now. I am going to ask my mentor teacher for her critique on their previous papers.
11. What else do you need/want to learn about the ‘core practice’ to support your planning and teaching?
I do not where this document is. I will fill out this question when I find it.
12. What concerns, if any, do you have about planning and teaching your unit?
I am concerned about keeping classroom management high enough that the students can handle what I am asking them to do. Many of their tasks now are explicit and not high level thinking so this may be a struggle.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteYour unit plan sounds well on its way! To start of, I have questions for you about how you will implement these plans. Will the book clubs be during the 90 minutes in class? Setting up the book clubs sounds like a difficult task. I would suggest you have your mentor teacher help you as much as s/he can on this. The inventory sheets may also be helpful for how to set up your groups and see who will work best with one another. Are groups a familiar way of working for your students? I think that maybe you could have a lesson on how to work in groups before you start this unit because it may help the transition better.
In what ways will you measure their comprehension? Your following quote may help you answer this question: “Expanding their genre knowledge will help students build a greater basis for their literacy learning in both reading and writing. Discussing the skills that fantasy writers use to create magical places and characters will boost students’ imaginative techniques and hopefully inspire their literacy learning.” Assessing students on this knowledge can remind them of the importance of using these strategies in their own writing (if you do writing) and their comprehension of the text.