Running head: SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT

MacKenzie Lubratich

Signature Assignment

Mrs. Kennedy’s Lesson Plan

National University

ITL 608

May 1, 2018

Nadezhda Kulikova, Instructor

2nd Grade Literacy Learning Map By: Miss Lubratich for Mrs. Kennedy’s 2nd Grade Class

Planning Stage:Academic Standard: Text Types and Purposes: CCSS.ELA-Literacy. W.2.1

Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.

SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT Lubratich

TK12 Learners:2nd Grade

Learning Barriers (15 ELLs): Students with writing disabilities and ELLs will have extra support from the teacher. IEP students will be placed in appropriate groups and their writing goal will be slightly adjusted. Common misspelled words such as “because” will be written on the board.

Language Considerations: ELL students can refer to the pictographs and illustrations provided in The Woodpecker’s Gift.

o ELLs will be paired with bilingual speakers during group time. Students will receive discussion notes and instructions for the assignment to guide the writing process.

Aspirations/Strengths/Interests: Students will be given the freedom to write about their own opinions relating to, The Woodpecker’s gift, as long as they provide reason that supports their opinion. This will give the teacher a sense of what interests students and what their strengths are.

Academic Abilities: Students will turn in a rough draft and be given the opportunity to correct their work.

Attitudinal Factors: Positive actions will be reinforced with group points that will be tallied at the end of the week, the winning group will be able to choose from the prize box. Positive feedback will be used to compliment student writing.

Teacher Expectations of Students: Students should be able to work collaboratively to brainstorm their writings.

o Record how students interact and which students are the leaders of discussions and interactions to encourage a community of leaders.

o Using cooperative learning grouping strategy, The teacher will create groups that consist of one or two strong writers, an ELL, and a bilingual speaker (Slavin, 2015)

Cognitive Approach: This assignment will challenge students to focus on the information in The Woodpeckers Gift to understand their opinions the story. They will break down the information to build their opinion pieces.

o The teacher will note the success of this approach for future assignments. Social-Emotional: Create a positive learning environment, assist

student in making appropriate decisions, understand that students will have different perspectives and opinions regarding reading.

TargetAcademic Standard:Text Types and Purposes: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.1

Academic: Students will identify key points in the story The Woodpeckers Giftand understand how to develop an opinion piece. The writing goal is to have students understand how to structure a story by developing an introduction of two opinion sentences, a middle consisting of one supporting sentence stating their reason, a conclusion and the ability to use linking words (e.g. because, and , also)This should be done in 4-5 sentences.

Social/Behavioral: Students will work in groups of 3-4, that the teacher will create, in order to gain necessary skills for collaboration. The will practice brainstorm techniques and have access to multiple perspectives. Working in groups will minimize talking during the lesson time.

IEP: Students with accommodations will focus on developing the skills necessary to successfully structure a story with an introduction, a middle, and a conclusion.

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Socio-Emotional: Students will understand that their perspectives may differ from those of their classmates. The will support each other in developing the structure of their opinion pieces, even if their opinion stated and reasons found are different.

AIMAssessment Informal: The teacher will observe how students interact during group time.

o Students will also submit a rough draft, receive feedback from teacher, and have the opportunity to correct their writing before turning in the final draft.

o The teacher will assist students one-on-one if needed. Behavioral/ Social Skills: Take note of productive discussions and of how well

students are grasping content. Record how well groups are interacting with each other, for future projects.

Student Self-Assessment: Teacher will provide a rubric for students to follow while developing their opinion pieces. The rubric will allow student to monitor and evaluate their own progress. Students will proof-read their writing and assess what they need to improve.

Peer Assessment- Students will proof-read each other’s work. This will improve ELLs reading and writing.

Subject-Matter Assessment: The final assignment will be graded based the students’ ability to handwrite an introduction with two opinions, a middle consisting of their reason and a concluding sentence. IEP students will be graded focusing on structure of their opinion pieces as the main goal.

Instruction Now that students know how to decode the important ideas in a story (who, what, when, where, how, setting, main characters), they will write a summary/reflection and opinion of The Woodpecker’s Gift.

Through direct instruction the teacher will present students with ways to structure a story and provide specific examples of opinions from text and possible reasonsTeacher will also briefly review linking words and how they are used correctly in sentences.

Teacher will provide visual aids such as a PowerPoint during class lesson for ELLs.

Students will be placed into groups of 3-4 to brainstorm the story’s main ideas and important aspects. The teacher will be walking around to each group assisting if necessary.

Throughout the week, they will write opinion pieces on their own and then share their final drafts with their group the following week. The teacher will write words that students are having a difficult time spelling on the whiteboard.

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Management Optimize group work to encourage kids to focus during discussion time, and talk

during partner time. Each group will receive tally points on the white board and at the end of the week

the winning team will be able to choose an item in the prize box. The teacher will use attention getter strategies to gain class attention. The teacher

will say, “class, class” and the class will say, “yes, yes”. If there is still talking groups will get tallies taken away.

Students will be instructed to go to the “Cool Down Corner” if they are not behaving.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING

Multiple Means of Engagement Multiple Means of Representation Multiple Means of Expression

Class discussion explain directions and going over key ideas of story.

Work collaboratively to brainstorm in a small group.

One-on-one instruction during group work period

Feedback for improvements

Assessment from group work will help determine future groups

Students will proofread each other’s work

Class Discussion Small groups Verbal instruction Assignment is adjusted for

ELL students and students with IEPs

Students can use their text book during writing, and other resources at home or in the classroom.

Students can refer to the whiteboard to see the correct spelling of words they were struggling with.

PowerPoint presentation will be used for class discussion to display instructions and include examples from text.

Students will work as a group to brainstorm.

Students will work individually to write their opinion pieces.

The whiteboard will be used to display spelling words to students

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Summary of Feedback

Overall, Mrs. Kennedy seemed impressed with my lesson plan, but also provided many practical

suggestions. In order to strengthen my Target element, she suggested that I adjusted the writing

assignment to include two sentences as the introduction, one sentence as the reasoning for the

middle, and once concluding sentence. In addition, the students should use one linking word to

connect their opinions, since the inclusion of a linking word is required in the standard. Mrs.

Kennedy said her class will need to review linking words and may need assistance during their

writing. Since I mentioned spellcheck as an option for ELLs and students with writing

disabilities, she encouraged me to elaborate if the students will be writing or typing this

assignment. Mrs. Kennedy asked me to elaborate what my role as a teacher will be. She asked if

I will be assigning roles and leaders for group work and how I will reinforce good behavior.

Mr. Kennedy did admire my Management element, but gave suggestions for

improvement on the Assessment and Instruction elements. As previously mentioned, she

suggested that I guide them through the writing process. She also, suggested that students should

proofread each other’s work. As for instruction, she questioned whether I was assigning groups

and how many students will be in each group. She also said that the writing assignment will take

multiple days to complete. In order to strengthen my direct instruction, she said I should review

The Woodpecker’s Gift and cite specific examples from the story. Lastly, she suggested that I

write common misspelled words on the whiteboard, since there are many ELLs in the classroom.

I appreciated Mrs. Kennedy’s feedback and used all of it to improve my lesson plan.

My classmates also gave me suggestions of how I can improve my lesson plan.

Kimberly suggested that I have students peer review each other. Courtney suggested that I

provide the percentages of students that are meeting, exceeding, or falling below grade level

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standard. Although, I believe this would have made a great addition to my lesson plan, I do not

have that information. Also, Courtney was interested in knowing how I organized the groups I

assigned. She also suggested that I clearly state whether this is an open writing activity or has to

do with what the students are reading. Lastly, she questioned if every student can use a computer

for spell check, or if it was only for ELLs.

Reflection

As I spend more in classrooms, whether it be by substitute teaching or student teacher, I will

have a better and more realistic understanding of what is expected from students. Initially, my

Target was to have students provide an introduction stating their opinions, a body paragraph that

includes their reasoning, and a conclusion. However, based on Mrs. Kennedy’s feedback, I

shortened the length of the assignment to be four to five sentences, rather than having a complete

body paragraph. Being that there are 15 ELLs in Mrs. Kennedy’s class, I believe that this is more

realistic for her students. Since the standard stated that students should use linking words in their

sentences, I made it a requirement to include one linking word in the middle section of their

writings. In my Instruction element, I included that I will do a brief review of linking words.

During group work, I will help students with this process as they may have a difficult time

coming up with a linking word, structuring their sentence in a way that makes sense with the

linking word included, or even spelling their words. In addition, I made the decision to take out

spell check as an option to assist ELLs and students with writing disabilities. As a replacement

plan, I will write common misspelled words to the white board. If having a difficult time spelling

a word, it is safe to assume that others may be, as well. I made it clearer that students will be

handwriting this assignment, not typing it on a computer. In my assessment, I included Mrs.

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Kennedy’s suggestion of having students proof read each other’s work. I thought this was a great

idea and believe it could even help ELLs strengthen their reading and writing.

Regarding my role as a teacher, I will not be explicitly stating roles and leaders to the

class. However, each group will consist of one or two strong writers, an ELL, and a bilingual

speaker. My main goal was to have my strong writers assist my students who are at a lower

writing level. I also adjusted the concept that I want my students to understand. This suggestion

also helped to strengthen my Instruction element. I made it clear that I will assign students to

groups of three or four. I was specific in stating that I expect students to take what they have

understood to from the text to develop opinions regarding what they believe the concept is. I also

made it clear that this assignment will take multiple days to complete and students will be able to

share their final drafts with their groups the following week.

My classmates also gave me suggestions of how I can improve my lesson plan. Kimberly

suggested that I have students peer review each other. Courtney suggested that I provide

information stating percentages of students that are meeting, exceeding, or falling below grade

level standard. Although, I believe this would have made a great addition to my lesson plan, I do

not have that information. Also, Courtney was interested in knowing how I organized the groups

I assigned.

References

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2018). English language arts standards: Writing:

Grade 5. Retrieved from:  

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational psychology (11th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

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