Learning Together
Standard 4: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for All Students
4.1 Using knowledge of students' academic readiness, language proficiency, cultural
background, and individual development to plan instruction
In our final unit, our essential question was “Whose stories are and are not told?” and we looked at the Chicano Movement. We knew that this was a subject students had learned in their Social Science class and we wanted to build upon that knowledge before we watched the movie Walkout. Students had prior knowledge about some of the labor and some of the social movements that took place during that movement. We used this knowledge to plan a lesson where students had to write an objective summary about an article summarizing the different elements of the Chicano Movement. This lesson targeted the Reading Informational texts and Writing standards. This lesson also incorporated our students cultural identity as several of our students identify as Chicano/Chicana. After this assignment, students watched Walkout about the East LA protest against treatment of Chicano/Chicana students at the end of the 1960s. This was a movie and story that a number of students related to and enjoyed watching. Overall, we planned this lesson and this unit to deal with issues that students felt connected to and were interested in learning. Students were able to identify with the characters and issues that we learned about. Incorporating the diverse stories and providing a platform for students feel like their voices were heard.
4.2 Establishing and articulating goals for student learning/4.3 Developing and sequencing long-term and short-term instructional plans to support student
learning
After our first two CeESESS paragraphs, I noticed that students were making a number of the same mistakes in both paragraphs despite the feedback I was providing on their individual work. I decided to address this issue and establish our long-term learning goals for our writing standards. Since we would continue writing CeESESS paragraphs throughout the rest of the year, I wanted students to understand our goals and provide them with the support they needed to achieve those goals. Using these assessment results, we designed a lesson plan to include the goals and address the common mistakes we saw in our classes. The presentation included some PearDeck activities and other partner activities to keep students engaged. We included student work as examples in the presentation to show students the various levels and ways to correctly write the paragraphs. We made sure to not use student examples of incorrect formatting so they do not get embarrassed or make any specific student feel uncomfortable. This lesson also supports EL and other learners who need additional support with their writing as well as provided additional support for students who have not had experience writing during the pandemic. While this was a short-term lesson, it provided the long-term support that students needed.
4.4 Planning instruction that incorporates appropriate strategies to meet the learning needs of all students / 4.5 Adapting instructional plans and curricular materials to meet the assessed learning needs of all students
In our preparation for analyzing poetry from the Harlem Renaissance and A Raisin in the Sun, we had students complete a Harlem Renaissance Choice Board. We wanted to provide students with an interactive and fun way to learn more about the cultural, economic, social, and political events that took place. Students activated their prior knowledge of analyzing poetry's figurative language, determining themes, and research to complete these activities. I wanted this assignment to fully integrate technology into all of its activities because several students were out due to quarantine. We designed the instructional plans and curricular materials to include activities based on Webb's Depth of Knowledge. This allowed for differentiation within my class and ensured that the lesson was accessible and engaging for students. Students had a lot of fun learning about the Harlem Renaissance and enjoyed the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge through art, music, and poetry.