SLO 3
The student applies and values user education principles in the teaching of information literacy.
In LIS 654 (The School Media Specialist and the Curriculum), the first lesson I designed using education principles was a 2nd grade ELA lesson about animal fables and trickster tales. The goal of this lesson was for students to be able to compare and contrast different animal fables and trickster tales from around the world, particularly Aesop fables and Anansi trickster tales. The lesson was tied to common core curriculum standards as well as AASL standards and was intended to be collaboratively taught with a second grade classroom teacher. This lesson was designed using an inquiry based, backward design model, two very important education principles for designing effective lesson plans to teach information literacy. Using the backward design model, I determined what I wanted the students to learn and then designing learning activities and assessment tools around that. What I discovered is that teaching information literacy is not enough; students need to be able to justify their comprehension through end products and assessments (rubrics, checklists, graphic organizers, etc.) to prove they have mastered an information literacy skill. I also learned that inquiry design requires differentiated learning approaches for different types of learners (visuals to enhance small group and pair work or video clips to reinforce concepts with auditory components). While I did not teach this lesson, I learned the basics of designing a lesson that incorporated 21st century skills, technology and instructional methods that would be appropriate for a 45-minute class period.
Artifact 1 - ELA lesson plan
Artifact 1 - ELA lesson plan
northcote_ela_plan.docx | |
File Size: | 67 kb |
File Type: | docx |
In LIS 693 (School Library practicum), I co-taught a two part lesson with a third grade teacher. During the first lesson, students got into pairs to research two different animals using public library online databases. Each pair completed a graphic organizer to compare various qualities about their two animals including size, habitats, special defense mechanisms and other qualities. During the second lesson, the students reviewed their graphic organizers to then answer the question if these two animals got into a fight, who would win? This essential question was framed around the popular children's nonfiction series Who Would Win? by Jerry Pallotta. Their teacher then reviewed with them the elements of opinion writing and each pair created a digital poster showcasing their opinion, a picture of the animal, three supporting reasons, and a conclusion. The posters were created using an app called Popplet, which I instructed them in using.
After reviewing both of my two 45 minute lessons, I was quite pleased by how the lessons went. I felt like the teacher and I both gave very clear instruction at the beginning of each lesson and we bounced off each other very well with our instructions. One of the biggest challenges for me, having never taught a lesson before, was pacing the lesson. About two weeks before I was supposed to do the lesson, I decided to split the lesson into two lessons, which proved to be a very wise decision.
If I was to do this lesson again, one of the biggest things I would do differently would have been for the teacher and I to have reviewed each pair’s graphic organizer after the first lesson and make notes on the organizer in areas where they needed to go back and fill in more research. At the beginning of the second lesson, I had the pairs discuss and jot down their answer to the essential question and three reasons to back up their opinion; however, this took way longer than I had planned (15 minutes instead of 5) as a lot of the pairs either couldn’t agree on which animal would win or didn’t have enough information filled out in their graphic organizer to come up with three strong reasons to support their opinion.
Prior to the lesson, I asked the teacher to pair the students who were more advanced researchers and independent workers with those students who needed extra guidance and motivation; this example of differentiated instruction really helped level out the playing field and allowed for more student achievement to be made had we not done this.
After viewing the video, one of the things I did well was make the learning process very dynamic for the students. I only spent a small amount of time standing at the front of the classroom giving instructions and gave plenty of time for independent practice and active learning as the teacher, librarian and I walked around the classroom assisting each student pair. I think between the three of us, at least one of us was able to connect with each student pair at some point during each lesson. A few students were more interested in just scrolling through the text or looking at the pictures than actually completing the graphic organizer. So those students I spent extra time with, which seemed to pay off. I do wish there had been more time to complete the inquiry process. We had plenty of time to connect, wonder, investigate, and construct, but hardly any time to express or reflect like I had planned. So this is something I would try to make more time for if I was to do this lesson again.
The teacher and I both had a positive experience collaborating and co-teaching together. I was actually pleasantly surprised how well this went considering we did the majority of our planning via Google docs and not face-to-face.
I think all of my assessment tools were effective ways for capturing student learning. The students had had practice comparing information in a T-chart graphic organizer before, so that kind of assessment tool was not too hard for them. However, the fact that the information that needed to be sought required higher level critical thinking as the graphic organizer progressed was probably why some pairs struggled to complete all of the organizer completely by the end of class. And the checklist for the second lesson was also something they were very familiar with and had no trouble completing; the checklist and my own personal assessment of the checklist revealed that the majority of the students achieved all learning objectives set for this goal; they very much understood the necessary elements in opinion writing, most students were very adept at using digital tools to express themselves and, with a little guidance, most student pairs could formulate three strong reasons supported by research that backed up their opinion. The completed Popplet posters were most impressive at illustrating that they were on their way to mastering these skills. Overall, I felt this lesson was most effective both in terms of achieving student learning for all learners and in terms of being a positive, successful collaboration experience between the teacher and myself.
After reviewing both of my two 45 minute lessons, I was quite pleased by how the lessons went. I felt like the teacher and I both gave very clear instruction at the beginning of each lesson and we bounced off each other very well with our instructions. One of the biggest challenges for me, having never taught a lesson before, was pacing the lesson. About two weeks before I was supposed to do the lesson, I decided to split the lesson into two lessons, which proved to be a very wise decision.
If I was to do this lesson again, one of the biggest things I would do differently would have been for the teacher and I to have reviewed each pair’s graphic organizer after the first lesson and make notes on the organizer in areas where they needed to go back and fill in more research. At the beginning of the second lesson, I had the pairs discuss and jot down their answer to the essential question and three reasons to back up their opinion; however, this took way longer than I had planned (15 minutes instead of 5) as a lot of the pairs either couldn’t agree on which animal would win or didn’t have enough information filled out in their graphic organizer to come up with three strong reasons to support their opinion.
Prior to the lesson, I asked the teacher to pair the students who were more advanced researchers and independent workers with those students who needed extra guidance and motivation; this example of differentiated instruction really helped level out the playing field and allowed for more student achievement to be made had we not done this.
After viewing the video, one of the things I did well was make the learning process very dynamic for the students. I only spent a small amount of time standing at the front of the classroom giving instructions and gave plenty of time for independent practice and active learning as the teacher, librarian and I walked around the classroom assisting each student pair. I think between the three of us, at least one of us was able to connect with each student pair at some point during each lesson. A few students were more interested in just scrolling through the text or looking at the pictures than actually completing the graphic organizer. So those students I spent extra time with, which seemed to pay off. I do wish there had been more time to complete the inquiry process. We had plenty of time to connect, wonder, investigate, and construct, but hardly any time to express or reflect like I had planned. So this is something I would try to make more time for if I was to do this lesson again.
The teacher and I both had a positive experience collaborating and co-teaching together. I was actually pleasantly surprised how well this went considering we did the majority of our planning via Google docs and not face-to-face.
I think all of my assessment tools were effective ways for capturing student learning. The students had had practice comparing information in a T-chart graphic organizer before, so that kind of assessment tool was not too hard for them. However, the fact that the information that needed to be sought required higher level critical thinking as the graphic organizer progressed was probably why some pairs struggled to complete all of the organizer completely by the end of class. And the checklist for the second lesson was also something they were very familiar with and had no trouble completing; the checklist and my own personal assessment of the checklist revealed that the majority of the students achieved all learning objectives set for this goal; they very much understood the necessary elements in opinion writing, most students were very adept at using digital tools to express themselves and, with a little guidance, most student pairs could formulate three strong reasons supported by research that backed up their opinion. The completed Popplet posters were most impressive at illustrating that they were on their way to mastering these skills. Overall, I felt this lesson was most effective both in terms of achieving student learning for all learners and in terms of being a positive, successful collaboration experience between the teacher and myself.
northcote_lesson_plan_revised.pdf | |
File Size: | 418 kb |
File Type: |
northcote_collaboration_planning_reflection.docx | |
File Size: | 17 kb |
File Type: | docx |
assessment_reflection_northcote.docx | |
File Size: | 17 kb |
File Type: | docx |
northcote_lesson_reflection_and_evaluation.docx | |
File Size: | 25 kb |
File Type: | docx |