Communication Lesson Idea

The following lesson idea was created for 4^th grade students but would be easily adaptable to other grade levels.  The lesson introduces new vocabulary words through activities based on enhancing the students’ communication skills.

Rationale: 

The purpose of this lesson is for students to prove their understanding of new vocabulary words by applying the words in relevant and meaningful ways.  Students will be involved in collaborative speaking activities that will keep them engaged, interested, and motivated to learn.

Learning Outcome:

Students will be able to use six new vocabulary words correctly in context.  Students will be effectively communicate, discuss and collaborate with their peers to complete the learning activities.

Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1.B
Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.

Vocabulary Words:

carefree

frantic

plead

release

tragic

vast

Collaboration:

Students will work with their shoulder partner to complete a word map for each of the vocabulary words. They will write each word, what they think the definition is, the dictionary definition, a sentence using the word, and draw a picture. This activity will give students the understanding of what the words mean prior to beginning the main learning activity.  Students will have access to computers to look up the dictionary definitions on an online dictionary.

The students will then work in groups of 4 to create their own Reader’s Theater script.  They will write a short play incorporating all six vocabulary words.  Each student will need to have lines in the play and will need to contribute ideas in the group script.  Students will be working together and communicating with each other to come up with their script.  The groups will rehearse their lines with each other before the class presentation.  At the end of the lesson, all of the groups will take turns performing their scripts in front of the class.  Students will have the choice to perform their plays live in front of the class or to video themselves acting and then show the video in class. 

Audience:

The audience for this lesson is the teacher and the rest of the class.  The teacher will be monitoring student work during peer and group collaboration.  Students will present their dramatic plays to their classmates and teacher at the end of the lesson.

Learning Presentation:

The learning strategies used in this lesson are partner collaboration and Reader’s Theater.  Students will work with their partners to complete graphic organizers which will be a helpful visual aid for some students, including English Language Learners.  Students will then work with small groups to create their own Reader’s Theater script.  This will require students to speak and listen to each other in order to collaboratively come up with a short script to present to their classmates.  All of the speaking and listening opportunities will enhance the students’ communication skills.

Teaching Reflection:

This lesson will be a hands-on way for students to gain knowledge of new vocabulary words while practicing their speaking and listening skills.  The activities will give the students multiple opportunities to hear their vocabulary words used in different ways and the repetition will help solidify the meaning of the words.  Because the students will be involved in a speaking and doing activity, they are more likely to remember what they learned.  Students will be communicating throughout the lesson and will need to effectively speak and listen during discussions in order to complete the activity.  Reader’s Theater is an engaging and fun way for students to practice speaking, reading, and fluency and this lesson gives the students the opportunity to create their own scripts which will make the learning more meaningful to them.  I think this would be an effective lesson and it is one that I will implement in my classroom this year.

 

Motivation

It is important for me to realize that my experiences in my own education may influence the way I teach today.  Although many of my elementary and high school teachers played a role in inspiring me to teach, there are moments of my education that stand out when I reflect on my schooling. A motivating experience for me was in fifth grade.  I had one of my few male teachers that year and he designed many creative, hands on learning experiences for us.  One in particular became one of my favorite school projects. We were tasked with creating a town, making a brochure to entice people to visit our town, and presenting our town to the class.  Two things stand out in my mind about this experience and I believe they are why I remember this many years later: I had freedom in the project and I was positively reinforced often.  I made many choices during this task from what the town looked like, what was in the town, how I made my brochure, and how I presented it to the class.  My teacher was very motivating the entire school year.  I remember him being an encourager who gave high fives daily.  During this project, he would ask questions about what I was doing and sometimes he would have advice or suggestions, but he always gave positive feedback.

On the other hand, an experience I remember that made me feel deflated was during my 4^th grade year.  I had to give a speech in front of my class and since I was a shy student, this task alone was threatening to me.  I didn’t feel prepared for my speech at all which added to my fear.  The expectations of the assignment were not clear to me and I wanted more time to prepare.  I asked my teacher for more time, but she did not allow it.  The way I remember her response (which may or may not be completely accurate, but this is how I felt) was she was short and firm.  She was a strict teacher and sometimes her tone of voice was off putting to me, so this response did not surprise me but it made me even more nervous to give my speech.  When I gave my speech, she did not smile at me at all; instead she stood with her arms crossed in the back of the room.  I did not get a good grade on my speech and there was not one positive remark on my grade sheet.  I felt like I never wanted to give a speech again after that experience.  It wasn’t until the following year that my confidence began to grow and I became more comfortable speaking in front of the class or even asking a question in class.

As I reflect on these experiences now, they can help me become a better teacher.  My fifth grade teacher effectively gave positive feedback. This is something I vividly remember to this day and would like to emulate in my classroom.  His entire demeanor was positive; he was always smiling and gave lots of high fives and thumbs up.  Because he was so positive and encouraging, his classroom was a safe place for me to learn.  Mistakes were not a big deal; when I made a mistake, I was encouraged to try again.  I strive to create this type of learning atmosphere for my students and I know that my demeanor plays a large role in accomplishing this. 

It is so important that students have motivation or they will not learn. In order to keep my students motivated, I will avoid being too stern with them.  I believe in having structure in the classroom, but I also want my students to feel heard and understood.  I will also avoid giving assignments without clear expectations.  Students should always know exactly what is expected of them and what their learning goal is before being a learning activity.  Lastly, I will not give students a grade without positive feedback.  I remember feeling completely defeated when I saw the grade sheet from my speech and I never want one of my students to feel that way. I will make sure to always have positive feedback to give along with ways they can improve.  

Depth of Knowledge

I recently became familiar with Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK).  At the heart of DOK is the premise of how deeply a student needs to know the content in order to be successful.  Dr. Norman Webb developed four levels in his framework.  The levels measure the students’ depth of knowledge and push our students to higher level thinking.  Level 1 is Recall, Level 2 is Skill or Conceptual Understanding, Level 3 is Strategic Reasoning, and Level 4 is Extended Reasoning.  Level 1 objectives are simple, while Level 4 objectives are complex.  The questions we ask our students that align with these levels enable us to gauge how deeply our students have learned the content.  By creating tasks or learning activities that are at a level 3 or 4 level we are pushing our students to have a deeper knowledge and understanding by allowing them to reason.  DOK questions can be used in assessing learning or on formative and summative tests.

The Depth of Knowledge framework is different from Bloom’s Taxonomy, which focuses on the students’ thinking.  Bloom developed the taxonomy, or system of classification, in 1948.  The categories then were: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.  Bloom’s Taxonomy was revised in 2001 and the categories now are: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create.  The learning sequence begins at Remember. Content is simple at this level and would increasingly build as the learning moves from one level to the next.  Content at the Create level is more complex.  Each category places a critical piece in the learning process.  Bloom’s Taxonomy is best used for planning instruction and can be used as a basis for lesson planning.

I am excited to implement the Depth of Knowledge framework into my teaching.  I think my students will have a deeper understanding of what they are learning and we will have more meaningful class discussions.  Although I realize that this will be an adjustment for my students as they are not accustomed to the type of learning activities and questioning that aligns with the framework, so I will have to implement the framework incrementally and provide modeling.  I plan to create an anchor chart with my students that can serve as a guide for what learning looks like at each level.  Students will be able to take any task they are working on and know which DOK level they are practicing.  I would also like to challenge my students to think of some questions that would align with each depth of knowledge level.  These are questions that I will purposefully integrate into my teaching and assessments and I will encourage my students to ask each other during their group or partner learning tasks. 

     

      

My main focus in incorporating Depth of Knowledge will be making sure I am purposeful in the way I introduce it to my students, integrate it into lessons, and consistently use it throughout the school year.  By the middle and end of the school year my students will be used to thinking at a higher level, which will lead to deeper and more meaningful discussions.  Instead of a discussion on the meaning of force in science, students will be able to discuss how it affects objects; questions will move into why and how, rather than what.  This is exciting! In addition to the anchor charts in my classroom, I plan to have DOK level questions built into my lesson plans so I am able to have a reference and a reminder to utilize these questions.  Additionally, I often use exit tickets with my students. I would like to integrate DOK questions into my exit tickets.

Another thing I really wanted to implement next year (my first year in my own classroom as I co-taught last year) is more Project Based Learning (PBL).  In PBL, students are given a problem or challenge and they must research and collaborate to eventually arrive at their solution.  There is not one right answer or one assigned project; rather the students gather information that may lead them all in different directions as it is open-ended.  This is an example of higher level thinking, or extended thinking in Webb’s DOK, as the task enables students to come up with a plan, analyze, evaluate, and explain concepts, and synthesize information. 

It is important to remember that the levels of Depth of Knowledge, unlike Bloom’s Taxonomy, are not sequential.  We do not have to go in order through the levels.  Students can be given a level 3 task and during the task they may do some level 1 or 2 activities. The important thing is getting students to think more deeply on a regular basis.  Focusing on DOK and higher level thinking is a powerful way to engage students in learning that is self-centered. 

 

My Mission

My mission is to be a positive influence on those around me. I want to encourage my children and my students to always try their best and never give up. I want to create a safe and engaging learning atmosphere in which my students feel cared for and successful. I want to be a life-long learner and always improve myself. I will rely on my faith to be my guide as I strive to make a difference in children's lives.

My Learning & Teaching Personality

I recently took a couple of online tests based on my learning and teaching styles. My results were beneficial in knowing how my personality style may affect my teaching.

The results of my learning style test are as follows:

What sticks out to me in these results is how much I favor visual over verbal learning. I realize that I am more of a visual person, but was surprised at how far over on the scale I rated.  This is helpful for me to realize as a teacher because I may inadvertently provide many visuals in my teaching without enough linguistic representation.  I need to be aware of this so I have a balance of linguistic and non-linguistic representations so I can benefit all learners.  While visual representations are useful for many students, not all students will learn best this way.  I need to include verbal teaching as well to be most effective. 

The results of my teaching style test are below:

My two highest categories are personal model and facilitator.  Personal model teachers act as role models and demonstrate skills first and then guide students to apply the skills.  They teach to various learning styles and encourage student participation. Facilitator teachers focus on activities and student-centered learning.  I would agree that both of these styles fit my teaching personality.  I often include collaborative activities and frequently look for ways that students can perform hands-on learning and make discoveries on their own.  I love when my students are engaged in their learning!  I also incorporate various learning modalities, am always aware of necessary modifications, and differentiate often for students. 

Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners

One of the most important things for teachers to do is meet the needs of diverse learners in their classroom.  As we all know, every child is different and we cannot expect all children to learn the same way.  Some students may be visual learners and others may be auditory or kinesthetic learners.  It is imperative that teachers provide for the needs of every student by providing differentiation through modifications and accommodations of each lesson.  All students have unique needs that must be taken into consideration in order for them to show growth and be successful.  In addition to providing differentiation, teachers must provide a safe learning environment in which all students can thrive.  

Some of the ways I meet the needs of diverse learners in my class include: modeling, demonstrations, visual aids, graphic organizers, repetition, collaborative activities, hands-on learning, manipulatives, and making accommodations and modifications based on individual student needs. My classroom is designed to be a safe learning environment. Mistakes are encouraged as they are part of the learning process and every child is accepted for who they are. I give my students positive reinforcement and encouragement as often as possible. 

I firmly believe that every child can learn and I strive to make sure each of my students knows I believe in them!