Standard 9 – Evaluate and Use Effective Curriculum Design – Meta Reflection

Standard 9 – Evaluate and use effective curriculum design

Module 1- I can assess a current professional curriculum, noting its strengths and weaknesses, and predict how I might need to adapt that curriculum for my students.

WHY?  Teachers are given adopted curriculum when they are hired that they are expected to teach. No curriculum is perfect. Some are actually terrible. It is important to teach your students and not the curriculum. Don’t lock step each day through the curriculum without thought and attempts to modify for student need.

Module 2-I know the standards my students are supposed to meet and will aim my lessons to meet those standards.

WHY? The reality of high stakes testing is here. Every teacher wants their students to feel like they are coming in on the same playing field as every one else. If you don’t know where you are supposed to go, you will never get there.

Module 3-I can create and write daily learning targets that help my students know exactly what they will be learning in my class.

WHY? Research shows that posting a clear learning target and repeating that target several times during a lesson helps 30% more students obtain that learning target.

Many administrators look for the learning target in their walk-throughs and also ask students what the learning target is during classroom drop-ins.

Module 4-I can write and implement lessons where students are actively engaged in the learning.

WHY? Teachers who actively engage students in the learning process have way less behavior problems, and students who are happier and better meet their learning goals. The days of Sage on the Stage are over.

Module 5-I can think thoroughly through a daily lesson, differentiating for my learners, and at the end of my lessons I know where each student is in meeting the daily learning target.

WHY? Students are never one size fits all. Teachers need to meet students and meet their learning needs. Teachers, for their evaluations, will need to turn into their administrators lesson plans that show their attempts to meet individual student need.  Teachers should also plan the next day’s lesson on where there students were the day before. Knowing how to assess quickly for this information is imperative.

Module 6-I can reflect on my lessons and modify them based on suggestions I am given from others, and personal reflection and growth.

WHY? Good teachers collaborate, seek feedback, and are always growing in their practice.

Before starting on this course I was creating a curriculum for our school to fit the needs of our students. I had almost no experience writing curriculum and only experience writing lesson plans. I was struggling to ensure that the curriculum was solid and comprehensible. After reading Rigorous Curriculum Design by Larry Ainsworth (2010), I knew I was going to be able to get on the right track with this project.

I am now able to align my teaching to some standards, which wasn’t the easiest decision to make. I had to search and find early childhood education (ECE) benchmarks and then align these with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS, 2014) for English language use in Kindergarten to ensure that my students will be able to meet these targets. The ECE benchmarks I used came from the Department of Early Learning (DEL, 2012) and these I found very useful, and am familiar with them as an ECE educator. I know how to align the standards and how I can effectively use the CCSS to help my students be Kindergarten ready in the next year.

While I was writing my unit plan I did have some issues in the teaching methods I was using. Though I had researched the methods and knew that they were sound, they weren’t translating into an engaging and rigorous curriculum. It took a few revisions and some looking at the Ainsworth (2010) text to help me figure out how I could keep the original style but make the lessons more engaging and help the children work at higher levels.

The writing of this unit has helped me to understand how to plan out a unit and tie my entire curriculum back to the standards and big ideas that will help my students be prepared for success. It is not just enough for us to use rigorous curriculum but we must also “broaden our view of what we want out curricula to be and do” (Ainsworth, 2010). We have to use the most current standards and “new components” (Ainsworth, 2010) to reach all of our students and help them achieve the high standards that are being expected of from our children with the CCSS. As I continue to write my curriculum I have a foundation to stand upon that lets me know what I’m doing and go about it in a thoughtful and productive manner.

Having participated in this course has given me the foundation I need to help others and myself create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that fits the needs of the school and the children in that school. I hope to finish the unit and create more units as I go forward.

Ainsworth, L. (2010). Rigorous curriculum design: How to create curricular units of study that align standards, instruction, and assessment. Englewood, CO: Lead Learn Press.

Council of Chief State School Officers. (2014). English language proficiency standards. Retrieved from http://www.k12.wa.us/MigrantBilingual/pubdocs/ELP/WA-ELP-Standards-K12.pdf#K-Standards

Department of Early Learning. (2012). Washington state early learning and development guidelines birth through 3rd grade. Retrieved from http://www.del.wa.gov/publications/development/docs/guidelines.pdf

Standard 9 – Curriculum Design, One Lesson

Lesson 4 – The Beach

Unit Focus Standards Unit Meets
 The Beach – English Language Acquisition ·         Know and use several hundred words in home language. Use new words on own. (DEL)

–          Make accurate use of standard English to communicate in grade appropriate speech and writing. (CCS)

·         State own point of view, and likes and dislikes using words, gestures and/or pictures.(DEL)

–          Construct grade appropriate oral and written claims and support them with reasoning and evidence. (CCS)

–          Analyze and critique the arguments of others orally and in writing. (CCS)

·         Listen to others and respond in a group discussion for a short period. Remember what was said and gain information through listening.(DEL)

Participate in grade-appropriate oral and written exchanges of information, ideas, and analyses, responding to peer, audience, or reader comments and questions.(CCS)

Student Learning Target(s)
Know and use several words in target language.

Construct claims and support with ideas.

Guiding Questions/Big ideas
 Big Idea: Use English to talk to other students and teachers in sentences.

Essential Question: What do you like to do at the beach? Why did you go to the beach?

Big Idea: Use English to express ideas and opinions and explain thinking to peers and teachers. Use English to explain why they agree or disagree another’s idea.

Essential Question: What lives at the beach? Where on the beach does it live? Where else could it live?

Assessment Plan – formative or summative
Assessment will be formative and inform the following lessons. The teacher should record the lesson back and examine the language used and compare this to the rubric and note where each child is in regards to the learning targets. The teacher should do the same with the number of sentences used by each child.

The children will show their learning through the use of improved vocabulary or attempted vocabulary use and also start to construct ideas about the beach and the things that happen there. The children will show learning by supporting their ideas with information or ideas or theories.

Lesson Introduction
2 Minutes

This is a small group lesson; the number of children attending this lesson should not exceed six.

The teacher will show a new picture to the group. The teacher will ask what is happening in the picture. The teacher will caption the picture and label any new vocabulary the children offer. Glue the picture to the board.

Lesson Core  (what will the teacher do, what will the students do )
10 Minutes

The teacher will ask the children what they normally do at the beach. The teacher should model what kind of conversation is going to happen by saying “My grandmother goes to the beach, when she goes to the beach she wears her socks and takes them off before going in the sand.”The children will talk about different things they like to do at the beach or different things that have happened at the beach, even the small things together with a partner. All children will have conversations with a random partner and the teacher will rove and listen in to the conversations. The teacher will try to keep the conversations going through prompts and questions about what the children do at the beach. As the children talk the teacher should make a list of the activities the children talk about.

Lesson Conclusion
3 Minutes

Tell the children that they do lots of different things at the beach. Count the items on the list and have a child write the number under the list.

Differentiation Strategies  (for remediation and for extension)
During the lesson the teacher should provide sentence frames for scaffolding as needed to students who are struggling with the language. Children who are not struggling should be asked to give more details and thoughts about why these things happen at the beach and support these ideas with a few reasons.

Children who are not able to describe activities that they do at the beach can draw the activities and then post the pictures with a teacher assisted caption next to the board. This happens after the lesson during free art exploration, other children can make choices.

Children who need extension can draw an activity that they like to do at the beach and tell the teacher a story to transcribe onto the picture and post it next to the board. This happens after the lesson during free art exploration, other children can make choices.

Vocabulary Resources and Materials  needed
Dig

Cook

Build

Sand castle

Crab

Seaweed

Run

Wade

Swim

Cover

Shovel

Pail

Bucket

Umbrella

Sunscreen

A picture of a family engaged in a beach activity – burring someone, cooking, eating, etc.

Poster board from previous lessons

Sharpie

Glue stick

Lesson Reflection (place to take notes AFTER the lesson is taught)

Standard 9 – Curriculum Design, 10 Lessons

Picture Induced Vocabulary Building Model – The Beach

Patricia St. John

Seattle Pacific University

Cim Dew

July 7, 2015

This unit is pulled from the Picture Induced Vocabulary Building Model (PIVBM) curriculum used at our school, PTL Treehouse. The unit is The Beach and focuses on building vocabulary associated with family vacations, outings, the biology of the beach, flora and fauna and any other areas of conversation that may arise during the unit. This unit is intended for English Language Learners (ELL).

The Department of Early Learning (DEL) has several benchmarks that pertain to the development of language and this unit. These correlate to the Common Core Standards (CCS) for ELL. The CCS have been modified for pre-k as pre-k do not have writing skills that match the standards, and these are not developmentally appropriate, they have been crossed out.

  • Know and use several hundred words in home language. Use new words on own. (DEL)
  • Make accurate use of standard English to communicate in grade appropriate speech and writing. (CCS)
    • I can use different words to communicate
    • I can use new words I have learned
    • I can communicate in English

Big Idea: Use English to talk to other students and teachers in sentences.

Essential Question: What do you like to do at the beach? Why did you go to the beach?

  • State own point of view, and likes and dislikes using words, gestures and/or pictures.(DEL)
  • Construct grade appropriate oral and written claims and support them with reasoning and evidence. (CCS)
  • Analyze and critique the arguments of others orally and in writing. (CCS)
    • I can state my own point of view
    • I can draw to support my own thinking
    • I can tell why I think something
    • I can tell others if I agree with them
    • I can disagree with others

Big Idea: Use English to express ideas and opinions and explain thinking to peers and teachers. Use English to explain why they agree or disagree another’s idea.

Essential Question: What lives at the beach? Where on the beach does it live? Where else could it live?

  • Listen to others and respond in a group discussion for a short period. Remember what was said and gain information through listening.(DEL)
  • Participate in grade-appropriate oral and written exchanges of information, ideas, and analyses, responding to peer, audience, or reader comments and(CCS)
    • I can listen to my peers
    • I can respond to what my peers have said
    • I can answer questions that my peers ask me
    • I can incorporate another’s idea into my own

Big Idea: Listen to other’s ideas and talk about theories in a respectful manner. Answer questions about thinking and theories respectfully.

Essential Question: Do you agree with another student? Why? Do you disagree with another student? Why?

There will be no pre-assessment for this unit. Before commencing this unit look at the previous unit’s post assessment and the assessments of the children that have been done most recently. Using this information and observations from the classroom determine what level of language the children should be accomplishing at the end of the unit.

End of Unit Assessment

The format for this end of unit assessment will be performance based, children should not be told that they are being assessed, but rather an informal assessment should take place, and see if the children can individually or in small groups achieve the goals stated.

Learning target Advanced Goal Progressing
Know and use several words in target language.

What do you like to do at the beach? Why did you go to the beach?

All Goal criteria plus:

Tell a short story of three or more sentences about the beach.

List 15 – 20 items that are associated with the beach. Using picture board.

Use two, five word sentences to describe going to the beach.

Lists 14 or less items that are associated with the beach. Using picture board.

Use less than five words sentences, or less than two sentences to describe going to the beach.

Construct claims and support with ideas.

What lives at the beach? Where on the beach does it live? Where else could it live?

All Goal criteria plus: additional information or words and ideas. States theory in a 5 or more word sentence. Can support theory with 2 ideas. Uses less than 5 words to state theory, and one or less ideas to support theory.
Participate in grade-appropriate oral exchanges of information, and ideas, responding to peer, questions. All Goal criteria plus: add onto ideas or offer alternate theory with more than one sentence. Listens to and responds to another student with a five word sentence. Listens to other student but does not respond.

Daily Lesson Goals for the Beach Unit

  1. Students will identify all known vocabulary for the initial picture provided.

This will be taught in a group setting and children will point to and identify items they know in a picture. The teacher will label the items. If children are having trouble labeling items the teacher will model a few easy vocabulary items in the picture to get the ball rolling.

Students will participate either through independent choice or through teacher prompting. Children may talk together about what to call items, or label them on their own.

  1. Students will use sentences to describe a typical event.

This lesson will be taught through teacher prompting and encouraging discussion among the students. The teacher will model talking about a typical event with a different picture, and describe something that happens in the picture. The teacher will ask children questions about the picture, probing to find someone who will talk either through volunteering or direct teacher questioning.

Students will tell their own stories or add onto other stories and will talk together about experiences they have had with others.

  1. Students will use sentences to explain who is at a typical event.

The teacher will ask questions about things that the children talked about in the previous lesson, and try to get the children to expand upon their stories, or retell them. The teacher will question for more details or a general description and specifically who was at the event.

Students will practice through using the language to tell stories and to add onto one another stories. Students will listen and ask questions of the other students.

  1. Students will use sentences to describe activities they normally engage in.

The teacher will ask questions about activities that children do, as they relate to the picture. The children will talk about what they normally do. The teacher will question for similar experiences and attempt for the children to explain a new typical activity.

Students will practice through using the language to talk about the activities and hopefully related experiences. Students will listen and ask questions of the other students. Students will participate either through independent choice or through teacher prompting. Children may talk together about experiences they have had together.

  1. Students will use sentences to explain games that they play.

The teacher will ask questions about a game and try to get the children to explain the rules of games that they play in relation to the picture. If needed the teacher will explain the rules of a known game to the students to model what is expected.

Students will practice through using the language to talk about the rules and hopefully disagree about how different games are played. Students will listen and ask questions of the other students. Students will participate either through independent choice or through teacher prompting.

  1. Students will provide additional vocabulary in a group setting.

The teacher will question for deeper and more advanced vocabulary in reference to the picture. The teacher will model two or three words to show what is expected of the students. Through volunteering or direct questioning the students will point out higher vocabulary items or actions in the picture.

Students will practice through using the language and learn from listening to other students. They will interact and discuss what different items are called. The students will participate through independent choice or direct teacher questioning.

  1. Students will listen to other’s ideas about different topics

The teacher will try to start a discussion about something in the picture that the children disagree on by pointing out that different children have different ideas. The teacher will tell the children that someone else has a different idea and try to get the children to talk about their ideas and the other children to listen to what is being said.

The children will practice by listening to the teacher and the other student. They will talk about their listening with another student and also listen in a group setting. The students will participate either through listening to someone disagree or agree with them or to other students talking about agreements.

  1. Students will respond to other’s ideas about different topics

In relation to the previous lesson the teacher will bring up a disagreement and try to get the children to respond to the other children’s ideas. The teacher should model respectful disagreement or agreement and being polite about sharing ideas. The teacher will encourage the children not to just listen to the other students but to respond as well.

The children will practice by joining in the conversation with their own ideas and how they are different from the ideas being presented, or how they are similar. The children will practice through independent use of the language and also together through conversation.

  1. Students will incorporate other’s ideas into their own.

The teacher will model incorporating someone’s ideas into their own on a different topic with a different picture. The teacher will then bring up agreements and disagreements from previous discussions and try to get the children to incorporate the thinking of others into their ideas.

The children will practice through the combination of other’s ideas with their own. They will talk either independently with another student or the teacher but use the language on their own. The children will listen and participate through group interactions, adding onto other’s ideas as the conversation progresses.

  1. Students will place items on a physical map to show thinking.

The teacher will provide a map of the area of general discussion. The children will help label different areas on the map with teacher guidance. The teacher will then model, based on a previous discussion where something is (“We all agree that X is here, in the Y”). The teacher will then bring up different items that need to be placed on the map. The children will come to an agreement about where these things are on the map.

The children will practice by talking together about where things go on the map. The children will listen independently and talk without assistance. The children will talk together and come to an agreement through the common use of the language. The children will participate through conversation or direct teacher questioning.

  1. Students will use vocabulary in sentences to discuss the topic
  2. Students will incorporate new vocabulary into discussion
  3. Students will describe new ideas using known vocabulary
  4. Students will use physical media to express ideas
  5. Students will use sentences to describe physical media and ideas
  6. Students will ask questions of other students about physical media and ideas
  7. Students will answer questions about thinking and representations.
  8. Students will create hypotheses about the topic and use sentences to explain hypotheses
  9. Students will listen and ask questions about other’s hypotheses
  10. Students will engage in conversation with others about a known topic

References

Council of Chief State School Officers. (2014). English language proficiency standards. Retrieved from http://www.k12.wa.us/MigrantBilingual/pubdocs/ELP/WA-ELP-Standards-K12.pdf#K-Standards

Department of Early Learning. (2012). Washington state early learning and development guidelines birth through 3rd grade. Retrieved from http://www.del.wa.gov/publications/development/docs/guidelines.pdf

Standard 9 – Curriculum Design – 20 Learning Objectives

Picture Induced Vocabulary Building Model – The Beach

Patricia St. John

Seattle Pacific University

Cim Dew

July 7, 2015

This unit is pulled from the Picture Induced Vocabulary Building Model (PIVBM) curriculum used at our school, PTL Treehouse. The unit is The Beach and focuses on building vocabulary associated with family vacations, outings, the biology of the beach, flora and fauna and any other areas of conversation that may arise during the unit. This unit is intended for English Language Learners (ELL).

The Department of Early Learning (DEL) has several benchmarks that pertain to the development of language and this unit. These correlate to the Common Core Standards (CCS) for ELL. The CCS have been modified for pre-k as pre-k do not have writing skills that match the standards, and these are not developmentally appropriate, they have been crossed out.

  • Know and use several hundred words in home language. Use new words on own. (DEL)
  • Make accurate use of standard English to communicate in grade appropriate speech and writing. (CCS)
    • I can use different words to communicate
    • I can use new words I have learned
    • I can communicate in English

Big Idea: Use English to talk to other students and teachers in sentences.

Essential Question: What do you like to do at the beach? Why did you go to the beach?

  • State own point of view, and likes and dislikes using words, gestures and/or pictures.(DEL)
  • Construct grade appropriate oral and written claims and support them with reasoning and evidence. (CCS)
  • Analyze and critique the arguments of others orally and in writing. (CCS)
    • I can state my own point of view
    • I can draw to support my own thinking
    • I can tell why I think something
    • I can tell others if I agree with them
    • I can disagree with others

Big Idea: Use English to express ideas and opinions and explain thinking to peers and teachers. Use English to explain why they agree or disagree another’s idea.

Essential Question: What lives at the beach? Where on the beach does it live? Where else could it live?

  • Listen to others and respond in a group discussion for a short period. Remember what was said and gain information through listening.(DEL)
  • Participate in grade-appropriate oral and written exchanges of information, ideas, and analyses, responding to peer, audience, or reader comments and(CCS)
    • I can listen to my peers
    • I can respond to what my peers have said
    • I can answer questions that my peers ask me
    • I can incorporate another’s idea into my own

Big Idea: Listen to other’s ideas and talk about theories in a respectful manner. Answer questions about thinking and theories respectfully.

Essential Question: Do you agree with another student? Why? Do you disagree with another student? Why?

There will be no pre-assessment for this unit. Before commencing this unit look at the previous unit’s post assessment and the assessments of the children that have been done most recently. Using this information and observations from the classroom determine what level of language the children should be accomplishing at the end of the unit.

End of Unit Assessment

The format for this end of unit assessment will be performance based, children should not be told that they are being assessed, but rather an informal assessment should take place, and see if the children can individually or in small groups achieve the goals stated.

Learning target Advanced Goal Progressing
Know and use several words in target language.

What do you like to do at the beach? Why did you go to the beach?

All Goal criteria plus:

Tell a short story of three or more sentences about the beach.

List 15 – 20 items that are associated with the beach. Using picture board.

Use two, five word sentences to describe going to the beach.

Lists 14 or less items that are associated with the beach. Using picture board.

Use less than five words sentences, or less than two sentences to describe going to the beach.

Construct claims and support with ideas.

What lives at the beach? Where on the beach does it live? Where else could it live?

All Goal criteria plus: additional information or words and ideas. States theory in a 5 or more word sentence. Can support theory with 2 ideas. Uses less than 5 words to state theory, and one or less ideas to support theory.
Participate in grade-appropriate oral exchanges of information, and ideas, responding to peer, questions. All Goal criteria plus: add onto ideas or offer alternate theory with more than one sentence. Listens to and responds to another student with a five word sentence. Listens to other student but does not respond.

Daily Lesson Goals for The Beach Unit

  1. Speakers will identify basic items on the beach. Speakers will ‘open’ the board.
  2. Speakers will identify in sentences who they go to the beach with.
  3. Speakers will use sentences to tell why they go to the beach with different people.
  4. Speakers will describe in sentences what they do while at the beach.
  5. Speakers will talk about different games that can be played at the beach in sentences.
  6. Speakers identify different animals at the beach.
  7. Speakers will discuss where different animals at the beach live; students will listen and respond to other’s ideas about where the animals live.
  8. Speakers will place different animals onto a picture of the beach in relationship to where their ‘homes’ are. Students must listen and respond to one another to come to an agreement.
  9. Speakers will debate what lives in the ocean, rivers, lakes or the beach. Students will listen and respond to one another about where the animals live.
  10. Speakers will list animals that you can touch at the beach and animals you cannot touch at the beach.
  11. Speakers will use sentences to describe what they do with different animals they find on the beach.
  12. Speakers will listen and talk about why there is sand at the beach, where does sand come from?
  13. Speakers will use sentences to describe animals that live in the sand, what do their homes look like?
  14. Speakers will draw and explain the homes of animals that live in the sand.
  15. Speakers will listen to and ask questions about the drawings of their group members.
  16. Speakers will discuss in sentences if anything eats seaweed (seaweed soup) other than the children. Why or why not do those things eat seaweed?
  17. What do people eat at the beach? Have the children discuss in sentences what gets eaten at the beach. Have the children listen to others and share where they like to eat different foods.
  18. Discussion: What do the animals eat (if they don’t eat seaweed)? Where does this food come from?
  19. Speakers will identify things that live in the ocean and talk about ones that they have actually seen in real life.
  20. Speakers will ‘close’ the board by adding any information that needs to be written on the board and telling any stories that didn’t fit onto the ‘board’ during the sessions.

References

Council of Chief State School Officers. (2014). English language proficiency standards. Retrieved from http://www.k12.wa.us/MigrantBilingual/pubdocs/ELP/WA-ELP-Standards-K12.pdf#K-Standards

Department of Early Learning. (2012). Washington state early learning and development guidelines birth through 3rd grade. Retrieved from http://www.del.wa.gov/publications/development/docs/guidelines.pdf