L.A. Standard 3
All teachers should give constructive instruction and feedback to students in both written and oral contexts while being aware of diverse learners needs. Teachers should effectively provide a variety of instructional strategies, constructive feedback, criticism, and improvement strategies.
All teachers should give constructive instruction and feedback to students in both written and oral contexts while being aware of diverse learners needs. Teachers should effectively provide a variety of instructional strategies, constructive feedback, criticism, and improvement strategies.
*3B. The competent teacher understands how to use diverse instructional strategies and assessments that include an appropriate balance of lecture, discussion, activity, and written and oral work.
Artifacts: Book Shopping Lesson Plan, Book Shopping Checklist
This is a lesson plan I created for reluctant readers in an 11th grade English class, followed by the checklist used during the lesson, as well as a post-assessment survey I used to get feedback about the books I chose for the activity.
Artifacts: Book Shopping Lesson Plan, Book Shopping Checklist
This is a lesson plan I created for reluctant readers in an 11th grade English class, followed by the checklist used during the lesson, as well as a post-assessment survey I used to get feedback about the books I chose for the activity.
Reflection
The reason this lesson worked is because it included a variety of instructional strategies (e.g. direct and indirect instruction, group discussion, and experiential learning), so I think at least one aspect of the lesson struck a chord with every student in the class full of diverse learners. I wanted to steer away from too much direct instruction because I wanted them to participate by sharing how they choose whether or not they want to read a book.
Before they began the activity, I read a passage from Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan, which I chose for two reasons. One was because this lesson took place just before the 11th "anniversary" of 9/11, and the other was because I had just moved to NYC to begin my freshman year of college a few weeks before that day in 2001. I introduced the passage by saying that I almost dropped the book the first time I read it because it sounded like something I wrote in my own journal on that day. That seemed to grab their attention.
I think it's important that students make those text-to-real life connections, so I thought it would be helpful to share a personal anecdote so they would have yet another assessment tool as they looked through several books to decide whether they were a good fit: Can I relate to this book? Does that matter?
The survey assessment proved the lesson worked as well. The class was split half and half of students who said they liked to read and students who said they don't. However, not one student circled "0" when asked how many of the books presented sounded interesting. The survey I shared as an artifact was particularly touching, as the student had circled "No" when asked if he/she likes to read but circled "Yes, I checked out a book the librarian presented," in addition to suggesting a title I could add to my list when presenting to future classes.
The reason this lesson worked is because it included a variety of instructional strategies (e.g. direct and indirect instruction, group discussion, and experiential learning), so I think at least one aspect of the lesson struck a chord with every student in the class full of diverse learners. I wanted to steer away from too much direct instruction because I wanted them to participate by sharing how they choose whether or not they want to read a book.
Before they began the activity, I read a passage from Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan, which I chose for two reasons. One was because this lesson took place just before the 11th "anniversary" of 9/11, and the other was because I had just moved to NYC to begin my freshman year of college a few weeks before that day in 2001. I introduced the passage by saying that I almost dropped the book the first time I read it because it sounded like something I wrote in my own journal on that day. That seemed to grab their attention.
I think it's important that students make those text-to-real life connections, so I thought it would be helpful to share a personal anecdote so they would have yet another assessment tool as they looked through several books to decide whether they were a good fit: Can I relate to this book? Does that matter?
The survey assessment proved the lesson worked as well. The class was split half and half of students who said they liked to read and students who said they don't. However, not one student circled "0" when asked how many of the books presented sounded interesting. The survey I shared as an artifact was particularly touching, as the student had circled "No" when asked if he/she likes to read but circled "Yes, I checked out a book the librarian presented," in addition to suggesting a title I could add to my list when presenting to future classes.