EDUC676 Liberty University Ch 6 Planning Instruction Worksheet.pdf

Lesson Plan 1 Instructions

Using the provided template, construct a lesson plan addressing how to teach listening skills within your

content area. Make sure to address each area on the template in detail.

Grade level is 4 and the content are is Social studies.

Please follow the rubric.

Chapter 6 Planning Instruction—Appropriate and Interdisciplinary

Objectives

After reading and thinking about this chapter on planning IDI in middle schools, you should be able to

explain the importance of instructional planning;

identify the developmental characteristics of young adolescents that should be considered when

planning instruction;

explain the role that curriculum guides and state and national mandates, textbooks, and individual

teachers play in instructional planning;

define interdisciplinary teams and explain their importance;

discuss some of the problems of interdisciplinary teams that may impact on their ability to plan IDI;

explain the relationships that exist among interdisciplinary team members and other educators

throughout the school;

discuss the general process of instructional planning and the instructional pyramid of team involvement;

discuss the things to keep in mind during instructional planning; and

discuss the hidden curriculum and planning for diverse students and those at risk of failure.

Scenario—Karyn Rothmer’s Blog August 23

I can’t believe I’m blogging! This is part of a staff development project I’m in. It may seem strange, but

Dr. Manningly, our consultant, suggested that we blog about the process we’ll be going through this

year at Washington Peaks Middle School. He told us just to pretend we’re writing to friends, so here

goes. I’ve been a teacher at WP, as we refer to it, for 6 years now. Five of them have been on the

seventh-grade Osprey Team. Although we’ve been organized into interdisciplinary teams, we’ve never

really done any interdisciplinary instruction (IDI). Now there’s a push for us to integrate our instruction,

and the school district hired Dr. M. to help us out. When I first started teaching, I was frustrated because

nobody at WP was doing the kind of teaching that I had learned about in college. But now that I’ve been

a successful language arts teacher for 6 years, I’m not sure I want to change. After all, I have all my

lesson plans and I’ve worked hard to develop some really neat units. I’ve even involved the students in

planning and evaluation. They seem to enjoy what we do, and they score well on all the tests. I guess I

don’t see any need to change what we have. After all, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is my motto. Oh well,

I’ll at least listen to what Dr. M. says about IDI. August 25 Wow, I can’t believe that people are really

reading this edublog and responding. Some of you feel the same way I do, but most told me to keep an

open mind. Well, I’ll try, but it will be hard after today! It would take a saint to try to teach with a person

I’ll call “the dictator.” She might have been teaching for over 15 years, but she has no idea about what

goes on outside her subject. Furthermore, she’s not about to learn!!!! Saying that she has to teach to

her standards and that the rest of us could build something on those standards if we wanted to was not

a way to win friends. I may have to sit in these meetings, but I don’t have to let another person dictate

what I teach!!!!!!! August 30 Now I understand what my students mean when they complain about

having to keep a journal every day. With getting ready for the students to come back to school and

attending these IDI meetings, I haven’t been blogging very faithfully. Things are looking a little better. It

seems we all have been very defensive about giving up our autonomy in the classroom. Dr. M. has been

helping us build a team atmosphere of trust and respect, and he’s also trying to tie these new IDI

concepts to what we already know about teaching. Today, one of the math teachers spoke out for the

first time. Maybe we really are beginning to build that trust Dr. M. keeps mentioning. September 8

Today was my day to shadow a sixth-grade student. That meant I followed her from the time she came

to school until she went home and observed what she did. I can see what Dr. M. means when he said

our students need to see connections. “Verlene” has so much she has to remember that it’s no wonder

she seemed lost at times. She has a different assigned seat in each class and even a different way to put

the heading on the paper for each teacher. I also saw lots of curriculum ties that could have been made

but weren’t. For example, I wanted to tell Mr. Gilbertson about some good novels that would tie into his

social studies unit and Ms. Abi that she should consider combining her journal-writing activities with the

journal the students were keeping in science. But I remembered that I was just to be a shadow, not a

participant, and I kept quiet. “Verlene” was great and even liked the little thank-you present I gave her.

Overview

In Chapters 4 and 5 of this book, you read about the curriculum of the middle school. Now you are ready

to turn your attention to planning and implementing instruction. Entire books have been written about

these topics, and our intent is not to try to cover them in depth in two chapters. Rather, we assume that

you have had or will take a course on instructional strategies. In this chapter, we want you to look first

at the reasons for planning instruction and then at the factors that affect planning in middle schools,

including the developmental needs of young adolescents, curriculum standards and textbooks, and the

characteristics of individual teachers. Then we will turn your attention to IDI. Although we discussed

interdisciplinary team organization (ITO) in Chapter 5 as an organizational feature of middle schools, in

this chapter we want you to look at the planning that is sometimes done by those teams. As Karyn

Rothmer pointed out in this chapter’s opening scenario, serving as a member of an interdisciplinary

team does not necessarily mean engaging in IDI. However, we hope to show you the benefits of IDI for

both young adolescents and teachers.

Rationale for Detailed and Methodical Planning

A middle school teacher is responsible for designing authentic classroom instruction that allows

students to gain knowledge, engage in disciplined inquiry, develop attitudes, and learn skills they can

use outside of school. This instruction must allow young adolescents to explain, explore, analyze, reflect,

and apply learning. In addition, classroom learning should extend to advisory programs, exploratories,

and student–community service projects. In order for these things to occur, instruction must be

planned. It does not just happen. Planning provides continuity of instruction and efficient use of time. As

one teacher told us, “Planning eliminates the dead time in my classroom that becomes dread time.

There’s nothing worse in a class of seventh graders than having 15 minutes left and nothing to do.” In

addition to maintaining a realistic flow of instruction, planning helps educators keep in mind the needs

of their students, including their developmental needs, learning styles, ability levels (especially in

reading), special learning needs, and cognitive skills. It also helps educators adhere to local, state, and

national curricular guidelines and standards. On a more practical level, when teachers plan, they are

able to identify and schedule resources such as library materials, computer labs, or additional help

needed from other teachers and specialists. They can also identify possible links across disciplines. One

teacher we talked to had an interesting concept of planning. “My plan is my professional portrait. We

have to turn in our plans each week, so I use mine to show our assistant principal for instruction the

things that happen in my classroom. Then, during parent–teacher conferences, I can show the parents

what we’ve tried to accomplish and what I hope we can do for the rest of the term. I even let the

students see the outline of my plans. They call it our road map because it lets all of us see what we’ve

done and know where we’re going.”

Factors Affecting Middle School Instructional Planning

Development, Needs, and Interests When you are trying to plan instruction that will increase the

motivation and academic achievement of your students, you naturally must consider the tremendous

diversity of young adolescents as well as the level of parental encouragement that each student

receives. Although you read about the developmental characteristics of 10- to 15-year-olds in Chapter 2,

let us review a few things you must keep in mind in your quest to plan developmentally responsive

instruction. Young adolescents are diverse. As they begin to develop their individual identities, they may

question their physical changes, challenge adult authority, and try to establish their own place in the

communities in which they live. Cognitively, most of them arrive at middle school as concrete thinkers

and gradually gain the ability to engage in more abstract operations. Many become efficient problem

solvers with the ability to analyze and evaluate information. Making connections between their prior

knowledge and the new things that they are learning, young adolescents are developing their own

learning strategies. Moving away from egocentrism, they are also beginning to accept the views of

others and to evaluate their own views. Although teachers are often concerned with cognitive

development when planning instruction, you must also keep in mind physical and psychosocial

development. Physically, 10- to 15-year-olds want to move and be active. Psychosocially, they enjoy

collaboration and cooperation. As one teacher said, “They really like to walk and talk.” All these

developmental changes are happening at the same time that young adolescents are going to a new

school, making new friends, and adjusting to an entire team of new teachers instead of one familiar

classroom teacher. Educators expect them to organize their lives at the same time that the only life they

have ever known is vanishing or falling apart. How do these characteristics relate to instructional

planning? As you plan, you must keep in mind these developmental needs. For example, increased

reasoning skills, shortened listening attention spans, and increasingly important peer group

relationships call for inquiry-based instruction (Zwart & Falk-Ross, 2008) and small-group work. To help

determine the strengths of individual learners, you can administer diagnostic tests, check school records

(e.g., previous grades and teachers’ comments), interview each student, and request input from

parents. Learning and cultural inventories also provide information on students’ learning styles and

cultural traits (Brodhagen & Gorud, 2005). However, no matter how conscientious you may be, young

adolescents’ wide range of developmental and individual differences usually makes whole-class teaching

a very difficult task. You need to create a positive climate so that young adolescents have a sense of

belonging and feel emotionally secure. It is important to design instruction so that students can be

challenged, yet feel successful in what they do. Although you should involve the students in decision

making, it is your responsibility to provide structure and guidelines for the instructional process. You

should also help young adolescents feel free to take risks when investigating problems, because they

know that you and other adults in the school are there to help them, not ridicule them. They need a

place where they can make mistakes and not be crushed by them, a place where risk is accepted and it

is okay to ask questions. As we heard one middle school language arts teacher say at the beginning of a

book discussion, “It’s fine to disagree with me as long as you can support your answers with information

or passages from the novel we’re discussing. Don’t worry about trying to come up with the ‘right

answers.’ I want your ideas.”

Abilities and Achievement

Although many educators and advocacy groups have serious concerns about using achievement test

scores as the single defining measure of success or failure, most citizens believe that schools need to be

held to a higher standard of accountability (Mulhall, Flowers, & Mertens, 2002). Unfortunately, whether

due to lack of ability, lack of motivation, lack of appropriate testing instruments, or lack of compatibility

between students’ learning styles and teachers’ instructional styles (or a combination of these and other

factors), significant numbers of young adolescents appear to experience difficulties with academic

achievement as measured by achievement tests.

A number of individual, family, school, and community factors, many of which began earlier in life, have

an impact on middle school academic achievement. Parental involvement, which may decrease when a

young adolescent enters middle school, almost always conveys values, attitudes, and support for

education. During the middle school years, educational expectations are rapidly changing as young

adolescents begin to understand their abilities, options, and opportunities for the future. In addition,

literacy and academic efficacy, or the degree to which students have a strong sense that they can be

successful in meeting academic and school demands, influence academic achievement (Mulhall et al.,

2002).

What does this mean for you as a middle school teacher? You must include parents and families in your

effort to build on students’ strengths and areas of expertise. In addition, you must understand the need

for carefully planned instruction that emphasizes high expectations for all learners and accommodates a

wide array of abilities. However, you should realize that not all learners will meet the same

expectations. Finally, you should provide instruction that offers all students some degree of success in

their educational attempts.

Interest and Relevance

“I don’t understand why we do some of the things we do in school. Like the math we’re doing now. My

dad says he doesn’t know how to do it and he’s pretty successful. So why do I have to learn it? I’ll never

use it once I get out of school.” An eighth-grade student Although it is impossible to make all

educational experiences relevant to the needs, desires, and viewpoints of young adolescents, you

should try to show learners how educational experiences relate to their lives. For example, teachers can

show how young adolescents can use communication skills such as reading, listening, speaking, and

Theory into Practice 6–1 Teaching for Social and Economic Justice Young adolescents are often

interested in contemporary causes. Lucey and Laney (2009) investigated the use of art and music along

with social commentary and other expressions of social protest to teach concepts of social and

economic justice. Using the Discipline-based Arts Education model to organize the instruction, the

authors developed a detailed middle school lesson plan that encourages students to engage in the

“sharing, critiquing, and synthesizing of social ideas” (p. 262) and that fosters “innovative

interpretations, and engender[s] classroom connections” (p. 262). The entire lesson plan is contained in

the article. Source: Lucey, T. A., & Laney, J. D. (2009). This land was made for you and me: Teaching for

economic justice in upper elementary and middle school grades. Social Studies, 100(6), 260–272. writing

(as well as viewing and visually representing). Let them practice those skills with topics they enjoy or are

interested in. Mathematics teachers can explain how mathematics relates to everyday life, from

budgeting money to computing the percentage of discounts at sales. In social studies, teachers can have

students study justice, equality, and democratic ideals from both historical and contemporary

perspectives. Theory into Practice 6–1 shows how teachers can make the curriculum relevant and bring

sensitive social issues into the classroom.

Culture and Gender

Behind the official school curriculum is the hidden curriculum, or the “norms, values and social

expectations indirectly conveyed to students by the styles of teaching, unarticulated assumptions in

teaching materials and the organization characteristics of educational institutions” (Online Dictionary of

the Social Sciences, n.d.). “In schools that serve lower income, and racial and ethnic minority students,

the hidden curriculum is transmitted largely through the rule-oriented disciplinary code” (Langhout &

Mitchell, 2008, p. 595). The idea is to control students and make them conform to a standard code of

conduct. However, when students are not provided opportunities for self-expression in the classroom,

they become at risk for academic disengagement.

Thus, to plan effective middle school instruction, you must provide classroom management and

instructional approaches that recognize cultural and gender differences. In order to do that, you must

first learn about those cultural and gender characteristics and the perceptions of each group concerning

competition, group welfare, sharing, motivation, and success. Although we cannot provide detailed

information on all gender preferences as well as racial, ethnic, religious, social, and other cultural

groups, we can suggest, in Keeping Current with Technology 6–1, some Internet sites that you can visit

to find information about a variety of cultural groups and to learn about gender differences.

Keeping Current with Technology 6–1

Learning about the cultural groups and the gender differences of young adolescents is very important

for middle school educators. First, select a major cultural or gender group, such as African Americans or

Asian Americans. Then, visit some of the following Web sites and their links to prepare a short

description of that group. If possible, develop a list of at least five characteristics that you believe middle

school educators should keep in mind when working with individuals (students and parents) from that

cultural group.

American Association of University Women—Where the Girls Are—the Facts about Gender Equity in

Education

http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/

Brigham Young University—Information on specific cultural groups

http://education.byu.edu/diversity/culture.html

Center for Applied Linguistics—Information on language and culture

http://www.cal.org/

Center for Multilingual Multicultural Research, University of Southern California

http://www.usc.edu/dept/education/CMMR/

Council of Great City Schools, an organization of the nation’s largest urban public school systems

http://www.cgcs.org/

Management Sciences for Health—Provider’s Guide to Quality and Culture—cultural groups

http://erc.msh.org/mainpage.cfm? file=5.0.htm&module=provider& language=English&ggroup=&

mgroup=

Multicultural Pavilion, University of Virginia

http://www.edchange.org/ multicultural/

Multicultural Review, a quarterly journal for teachers at all grade levels

http://www.mcreview.com/

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory—multicultural education

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/presrvce/pe3lk1.htm

Women and Gender Research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse

http://www.nida.nih.gov/WHGD/WHGDHome.html

If you visit a few of these Internet sites or do any reading about cultural and gender diversity, you will

learn that not everyone responds the same way to things such as competition. For example, some

Native American learners may favor sharing and helping peers over competitive learning activities, and

some Puerto Rican students may not wish to excel or be set apart from the group as being different. In

terms of learning styles and preferences, some African American students prefer to respond to things in

terms of the whole picture rather than its parts and tend to approximate space, numbers, and time

rather than strive for accuracy. To work with gender differences, you need to provide learning

experiences such as peer tutoring and other small learning groups and to encourage open dialogue and

collaboration rather than competition (Manning & Baruth, 2009). However, even with considerable

research and writing on cultural differences, it is still important for middle school educators to consider

each student as an individual rather than to rely on generalizations.

District Curriculum Guides and State and National Mandates

We have talked about the developmental needs of young adolescents that should become the basis for

planning developmentally responsive instructional experiences. However, these developmental needs

are not the only forces that affect instruction. As you read in Chapter 4, there are national standards and

guidelines that identify topics and concepts that should be taught for each of the core curriculum

subjects as well as the related domains. Some states also have very specific curriculum documents, such

as the Standards of Learning developed by the Virginia State Department of Education. In the case of

Virginia, not only are these documents provided to guide instruction throughout the state, but students

are also tested on their knowledge of the designated content, and the results are used to determine the

accreditation of the individual schools. In addition to the national and state curriculum guidelines and

standards, individual school districts may develop their own curricula. Although these may reinforce the

state or national mandates, they may call for additional instruction in a number of areas. To make things

even more complicated, school districts vary on the leeway that they give individual teachers in teaching

the curricular content. We know of one school district in which the district social studies coordinator

dictates the pages in the district’s social studies curriculum guide that each teacher should be on each

week. This makes it difficult for the middle school social studies teachers to plan developmentally

responsive interdisciplinary instruction that reflects the interests, motivation, and ability levels of young

adolescents in a specific classroom.

Textbooks

Why worry about planning? Why not just use a textbook and the teacher’s guide? Some of the worst

experiences we have seen in middle school classrooms have been the result of a teacher’s not planning

ahead and trying blindly to follow a teacher’s guide without making the necessary adjustments for his or

her students and the school’s curriculum. Teachers who “plan” by sticking strictly to the teacher’s guide

are usually not providing developmentally responsive instruction, nor are they willing to make the

modifications and adjustments required by interdisciplinary instruction. Problems also arise when the

textbook does not match the state or local curriculum. Finally, textbooks often emphasize isolated facts

and decontextualized skills (Duerr, 2008) and can be dull, poorly organized, and unappealing to students

(Vacca & Vacca, 2005).

Individual Teachers

Individual teachers can influence middle school instructional planning. Depending on the background

and professional training of a middle school teacher, he or she can be more interested in a discipline-

specific approach to instruction than in either integrated instruction or teaching to the developmental

needs of young adolescents. There are also teachers who fail to use the instructional resources of the

total school and community and rely instead only on the resources in their individual classrooms. These

teachers and their students miss the benefits that school librarians and other resource teachers can

provide. Then too, there are some educators who do not use newer technologies. “I’m a good teacher

and I don’t have to use the school library or the Internet,” remarked one science teacher. She thought

she was boasting, whereas we could only think about the rich experiences that the young adolescents in

her classroom were missing.

Thankfully, for each of the negative teachers, there are many other excellent middle school teachers

who put the idea of developmentally responsive education for young adolescents first in their minds

when planning instruction. These are the educators who take advantage of staff-development

opportunities and are willing to risk trying new techniques of instruction and assessment. They are

willing to change and modify their instruction based on the learning styles of their students and feel

comfortable working within the interdisciplinary team organization pattern of a middle school. We hope

you will become this type of middle school teacher.

Interdisciplinary Team Organization

The organization of teachers into interdisciplinary teams is integral to the middle school concept and is

the most common type of middle school organization. Usually each team consists of one teacher from

each of the core curriculum disciplines, including language arts, science, math, and social studies. Some

teams also include special education teachers and teachers from the related domains. Because team

members know all the students in their team, they can ease the students’ transition to middle school,

reduce the feeling of isolation, and help create a more positive school climate that, in turn, fosters

learning (Mertens & Flowers, 2004). Team members also know what is being taught in each team

classroom and can support that instruction from the viewpoint of their discipline as they model best

teaching strategies. According to the NMSA (2010), teaming and IDI build relationships between

students and teachers, among students, between students and the content, and within the content

itself.

Benchmarks of Effective Teams

What do effective interdisciplinary teams look like? In effective, mature teams, members:

have compatible personalities (Applebee, Adler, & Flihan, 2007) and good interpersonal skills;

are willing to collaborate with other teachers to build community and cohesiveness (Wilson, 2007);\

are willing to make compromises and build for a long-term gain rather than a quick fix even though their

individual educational philosophies are different;

are confident, express job satisfaction, and are proud of their school;

nurture the relationships among team members and develop a team identity. Even when team

members do not mesh personally, mature teams can still function effectively;

are curriculum risk takers who are thoughtful in their planning, interactive in their discussions, rigorous

in their academic expectations, and clear in their communications. They endorse each other’s content

area in their teaching just as they do their own;

work with a school administration that supports ITO and that leads by example by laying the

groundwork, demonstrating credibility, and sharing the ITO vision with all stakeholders (Balli, 2007);

have a balance in teachers’ expertise, age, sex, and race; and

select team leaders with specific responsibilities and develop an established team decision-making

process (e.g., goals, grouping, scheduling, homework, and discipline).

Team Organization: Multiage Teams and Looping

Although most teams are organized by grade level, there are two other team structures that are used to

meet the cognitive and social needs of young adolescents. The first is multiage, developmental, or

nongraded teams. Although they consist of several teachers who share the same planning time and the

same students, multiage teams are made up of students from a number of grade levels (George, 2009).

Because students of different ages and abilities are taught together without being divided into grade

designations, teachers on multiage teams can use a number of collaborative small-group instructional

techniques such as peer learning, including teacher-led small groups (based on common student

learning needs, guided practice, and task-focused help), student-led shared-task groups (based on

supported practice, shared tasks, collaborative responses, and common student interests), and dyads or

partners (based on supported practice, mentoring, tutoring, and shared tasks [Hoffman, 2002]). In

multiage teams, the age range of students is commonly 3 or more years. Thus, a multiage team of 90

students might have 30 students from sixth grade, 30 from seventh grade, and 30 from eighth grade.

Students would stay on the same team for each of the 3 years they are in middle school, with new

students joining the team each year. Although it might be possible to organize multiage teams by the

developmental stages of the students, the complexity and multiple developmental characteristics of

young adolescents would make it difficult to assign students to a specific team for 3 years. Instead,

students are usually assigned to multiage teams on a random basis.

A second organizational concept is looping, or the practice of having a core group of students and

teachers remain together for several years. In this arrangement, sometimes referred to as family

grouping, multiyear teaching, or multiyear placement, teachers are “promoted” with their students for 2

or 3 years (George, 2009). McCowan and Sherman (2002) suggested that looping can contribute to

better performance in the middle grades and can increase student growth and development. With

“insights into each student’s interests and academic needs” (Baran, 2008, p. 191), teachers can motivate

students and provide a positive learning environment. When teachers remain with their students for

several years, they know and understand the academic needs of each student, build relationships with

families (Kasak & Uskali, 2005), personalize instruction and increase student productivity, and develop

strong rapport with parents. In addition, students know the teacher’s expectations and seem to be less

apprehensive about beginning a new school year.

According to Nichols and Nichols (2002), parents have different opinions about looping. Some, who

remember wanting to stay with a favorite teacher, support looping, whereas those who are glad they

did not have to stay with a teacher they disliked are less inclined to favor looping. Although there is a

chance of being with an undesirable teacher for more than 1 year, research indicates that the benefits

outweigh the risks (Nichols & Nichols, 2002).

The Role of Teams in Interdisciplinary Instructional Planning

With IDI (sometimes called interdisciplinary teaching, multidisciplinary instruction, interdisciplinary

thematic instruction, or integrated instruction), two or more teachers on a team collaborate to plan,

teach, and assess a group of students. In doing so, they use a number of instructional strategies and a

variety of student-grouping patterns. Maintaining their relationships with other members of the team

and developing successful relationships with teachers in the related domains, teams use IDI to provide

developmentally responsive educational experiences that allow students to make connections across

subjects. We will discuss implementing IDI further in Chapter 7.

But merely having a team organization does not guarantee that IDI will take place. Frequently, teams

play only an incidental role in planning instruction, with individual teachers making all of the decisions

for their specific disciplines. Some teachers find that it is difficult to give up their autonomy. Isolated in

their own classrooms, they were free to make their own plans. IDI asks teachers to give up some of that

independence for the openness and vulnerability of cooperation and IDI. Many teachers, such as “the

dictator” in this chapter’s opening scenario, find that difficult to do.

In addition, strong instructional teams may detract from the sense of community in the school and may

alienate other teachers. Problems may arise because everyone in a school belongs to a number of

groups that may have conflicting goals. For example, a social studies teacher might belong to her sixth-

grade Sharks interdisciplinary team, to the overall sixth-grade teachers’ group, to the group of all social

studies teachers in the middle school, and to the whole middle school faculty.

Figure 6-1 shows some of the relationships between two teams on one grade level in a middle school.

Remember, as you look at this drawing, that similar relationships exist among other teams in each grade

and throughout the school. Notice that we have included the related domains in this figure. Although

the teachers in the related domains are usually not core members of the grade-level instructional teams,

we believe that those teachers have a great deal to contribute to the instruction of young adolescents.

Too many times we have seen those teachers left out of instructional planning, and too many times we

have heard those teachers explain how they could have helped with an instructional unit if they had

only known about it.

Without careful coordination and open communication, various groups can place conflicting pressures

on individual team members. The key is to use all the resources of the school and community to develop

teams and relationships that will improve the educational experiences for young adolescents. The total

school culture must support the development of instructional teams (Main, 2010).

Interdisciplinary Instructional Planning

IDI is one of a number of instructional methods for middle school teachers, but not the only one. Indeed,

not even the most successful teams engage in IDI all the time. But IDI does offer rewards, especially for

young adolescents. With IDI, students can become involved in their learning and teachers can work

toward elimination of discipline lines. Students can become independent and confident, “learn how to

learn,” and develop lifelong learning skills.

The development of young adolescents prepares them for IDI. Their cognitive development allows them

to see relationships among content areas and understand principles that cross curricular lines. Their

psychosocial development gives them the ability to understand people and to look at situations from

various viewpoints. They can also confront questions and engage in experiences that are personally

meaningful to them. Successful curriculum integration and IDI allow young adolescents to see

wholeness rather than fragmentation.

Planning Instruction—An Overview

Before we examine the components of IDI in detail, we want to take a general look at the instructional

planning process. As you read earlier in this chapter, effective instruction needs to be planned.

Educators use factors such as curriculum mandates and national standards to determine what should be

covered in a year in a specific grade. This content is then broken down into units of study that may vary

in length and depth and that consist of a series of lessons based on the same topic or theme. Finally,

each unit is divided into weekly and/or daily plans. Both individual teachers and interdisciplinary teams

use variations on this basic process when planning instruction.

Figure 6-2 shows an instructional pyramid of team involvement in IDI. Remember, no team will function

at the same level all the time. Each teacher on a team may teach some units independently, whereas

pairs of teachers or even the entire team may combine for other units of instruction. The extent and

frequency of IDI will depend on the individual team.

Remaining Flexible When Planning

IDI planning begins with flexibility. Although we have worked with a number of teams, each team has

established its own way of developing an IDI unit of study. Generally, however, the team must decide on

the scope of the unit to be taught or on an indication of the topic(s) that will be included and how much

of each. Sometimes the team begins with a theme or several themes and then looks for ways to thread

the theme(s) throughout several disciplines. At other times, one teacher may present an idea for a unit,

and the other teachers may look for relationships and build on that basis. The process of writing,

discussing, and revising instructional plans as a team strengthens the interdisciplinary instruction.

There are a number of planning models that teachers use in designing instruction. Kasak and Uskali

(2005) note that many successful teachers are using a backward design model or “understanding by

design” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005), which begins with curriculum standards and student needs and

focuses on student learning outcomes in planning instruction and assessments. McTighe (2010)

maintains that “intentional use of backward design results in more clearly defined goals, more

appropriate assessments, and more purposeful teaching” (274). Whichever guide you decide to use, be

sure that it includes the items in Table 6-1.

No matter how the team arrives at its final plans for the IDI unit, it is important that the team members

agree on when the plans for the unit will be presented to the students. Premature announcements by

one teacher can result in frustration and can undermine the cohesion of the team. This “grandstanding”

may make one teacher look good, but it can destroy a team.

Involving Young Adolescents in Planning

Experience working in middle schools tells us that one of the best ways to motivate students is to

involve them in planning instruction. This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents (NMSA,

2010) notes that young adolescents need to learn to make informed decisions. What better place is

there for them to make these decisions than in the classroom? They can help determine the topics and

themes they would like to study, identify the composition of small groups, set size limits on groups,

determine and enforce class working rules, determine some of the guidelines for the content of class

projects and some of the evaluation criteria, identify resources to use, and help set a schedule for

assignments. “Students who are invited into a reflective dialogue about learning enhance their ability to

set demanding yet achievable personal and academic goals” (Stevenson & Bishop, 2005, p. 107).

Selecting Topics and/or Themes

Although units can be based on a topic, they can also be developed around one or more themes.

Whereas a topic approach is usually subject centered and may come directly from a curriculum guide of

a single discipline (i.e., weather, the Great Depression, or bridges), a theme may be either subject

centered or interdisciplinary. In contrast to topics, themes tend to be more dynamic and convey an

underlying meaning or identify a problem. A few of the popular topics and themes that we have

discovered are “Making a Difference in the Community,” “Surviving Against the Odds,” “It’s Easy Going

Green,” “Integrating Math and Landscaping,” and “Terra-cotta Soldiers of Ancient China.” Keeping

Current with Technology 6–2 points you toward sources of additional information about IDI in general as

well as toward sources that have practical examples of specific IDI units that you can examine and

evaluate.

Determining Goals and Objectives

Usually an IDI unit has global goals, as well as student-centered learning objectives, for the entire unit.

Clearly defined goals and objectives are essential to the success of IDI. Although the objectives can

describe the behaviors or learning outcomes that the students should exhibit by the end of the unit,

some teachers find it helpful to identify the specific objectives for each week or day of instruction. These

objectives should include each of the three instructional domains (cognitive or intellectual, affective or

psychosocial, and psychomotor or physical) and should be developmentally responsive for young

adolescents. The goals and objectives then become the basis for the criterion-referenced measurement,

which we describe in Chapter 8.

Keeping Current with Technology 6–2

For an overview of interdisciplinary learning, visit:

Interdisciplinary Learning in Your Classroom

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/ concept2class/interdisciplinary/index.html

Then, go to several lesson plan Web sites and do the following:

Select a unit of instruction from one of the Web sites that is designated for middle school students.

Does the unit meet the developmental needs of young adolescents?

Select an interdisciplinary unit from one of the Web sites. Use the checklist for IDI (Table 6-1) to

evaluate the unit. If there are items missing from the unit, modify the unit to include those items that

you believe are necessary to make this a good interdisciplinary unit.

Select a unit from one of the Web sites that is not truly interdisciplinary. Indicate how you would

modify or add to the unit to make it a good middle school interdisciplinary unit.

Lesson Plan Web Sites

Education World—interdisciplinary lessons

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/archives/inter.shtml

Educator’s Reference Desk—interdisciplinary lesson plans

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/ lessons.cgi/Interdisciplinary

Galveston Bay Curriculum for Middle School Students, Texas

http://www.rice.edu/armadillo/ Galveston/Curriculum/

Interdisciplinary Middle Years Multimedia Project, Manitoba, Canada

http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/ks4/tech/imym/index.html

Switcheroo Zoo

http://www.switchzoo.com/ livingplans.htm

The Gateway—Internet lesson plans, curriculum units, and other educational resources. Search for

integrated lessons.

http://www.thegateway.org/

Wetland: Past, Present, Future

http://www.ncrtec.org/tl/camp/ wetlands/wtlnds1.htm

Tying the Interdisciplinary Unit Together

There are a number of ways to tie an IDI together. Some educators suggest using language arts as a

thread that can move across the disciplines. Others begin with a focus on math, science, social studies,

or a combination of two of the disciplines. Remember, IDI can occur at various levels on the

interdisciplinary pyramid and can involve two or more teachers on the team. For example, the

description of a science fair project can become an English writing assignment, and an exploration of

green technology can include all of the core disciplines.

Planning Instructional Strategies for Young Adolescents

“Memorize, memorize, memorize. All Casey does is memorize lists of things. First the capitals, now

the elements. I thought middle schools were supposed to be different. But that’s the same kind of thing

I did in junior high school.”

The parent of an eighth-grade student

As we preach to our students, memorize is not a synonym for understand. Middle school teachers

should build on the natural curiosity of young adolescents and their exploratory nature and should try to

integrate real-life experiences into their instruction (Sevenson & Bishop, 2005). Developmentally

responsive instruction includes learning how to learn, think, and cooperate. It also includes collaborative

learning projects and hands-on activities that address many of the needs of 10- to 15-year-olds. That is

why many middle school classrooms are student centered or group centered and project oriented

(Kellough & Kellough, 2008).

Although IDI asks teachers on a team to share common curricular goals, the instructional methods that

they use to reach those goals do not have to be identical. What is important is that the instruction is

planned so that students make connections across the disciplines. The holistic approach found in IDI

helps students, especially those who are at risk of failure. This is true, in part, because the IDI unit

examines a theme from more than one perspective.

Allowing for Individual Differences

When planning instruction, you must take into consideration the developmental and cultural differences

of your students. For example, the society and cultural community in which they live influence young

adolescents. Sometimes the culture of the student and the culture of the school or the hidden

curriculum are radically different. However, culturally responsive teaching can lessen the resulting

tensions and dissonance. Also, with increasing numbers of new immigrants from non-English-speaking

countries, many middle schools struggle to educate language-minority students (Major, 2006). This calls

for the use of a wide variety of instructional styles to meet the needs of all learners.

Some student differences will result from the diversity of adolescent development. For example, in

Chapter 2, we mentioned Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences as a part of cognitive diversity. It is

important to identify these intelligences as strengths and use them as the basis for instruction.

As part of the developmental differences among your students, you will also find a wide range of

exceptionalities, such as students with learning disabilities, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder,

limited English proficiency, and emotional disturbances. Although a discussion of these exceptionalities

is beyond the scope of this book, we want you to realize that, at times, you will be responsible for

identifying specific exceptionalities. At other times, you will assist others in providing educational

experiences that address the exceptionalities, perhaps through the use of an individualized education

plan (IEP). When planning instruction, you will often need to plan appropriate educational experiences

for students with a number of exceptional conditions and behaviors. Diversity Perspectives 6–1 explores

partnerships between general and special education teachers.

Diversity Perspectives 6–1 Partnerships Between General and Special Education

Jones, Michael, Mandala, and Colachico (2008) stress the need for general and special educators to

“work in a coactive and coordinated fashion to jointly teach academically and behaviorally

heterogeneous groups of students in educationally integrated settings (i.e. the general classrooms)” (p.

204). “Each member of the team is aware of the content that is being taught and is able to support the

instruction that occurs from one another’s viewpoints” (p. 205). Together the teachers design the main

instructional plan and alternatives, modify materials to make the content more accessible to all learners,

and delineate the roles of each teacher. They ensure that there is a “close connection between the

accommodations made for [a] student’s success and the assessment procedures used to evaluate

progress” (p. 206).

Benefits from a general–special education collaboration include (a) improved education in the general

classroom with learning opportunities for all students, (b) shared responsibility for the planning and

delivery of instruction to both general and special education students, and (c) opportunities to “combine

subject area knowledge with special education techniques” (p. 207).

Source: Jones, M., Michael, C., Mandala, J., & Colachico, D. (2008). Collaborative teaching: Creating a

partnership between general and special education. International Journal of Learning, 15(7), 203–207.

Selecting Resources for IDI

One way to meet the diverse needs of young adolescents is to use a variety of instructional resources to

appeal to visual, verbal, and auditory learners and to appeal to the multiple intelligences of young

adolescents. These resources should also provide a multicultural and multidimensional look at the topics

or themes that you teach. Photographs, videos, recordings, computer software, books, magazines,

newspapers, prints, games, sculpture, and even live animals are just a few of the resources that you can

use in your instruction.

You should not, however, use resources just to use them. You must select resources carefully to be sure

that they enrich the unit, not detract from it. The librarian in your school is an excellent person to

consult to determine appropriate resources. Your librarian can help you locate materials within the

school library and point you to a number of sources that review instructional materials. Remember,

never select instructional materials on the basis of a publisher’s catalog. The materials you use must be

developmentally responsive for your students and must coincide with your instructional objectives.

Table 6-2 lists some evaluation criteria for instructional materials.

Resources can often become the basis for collaboration. In fact, the resources of the school library can

become the foundation of interdisciplinary teaching and bring diversity into instruction. For example, in

an interdisciplinary unit “Escape to Freedom,” language arts, social science, and fine arts teachers used a

variety of historical fiction books on a number of reading levels along with audio texts. Not only did

students learn history and study art and music, they also improved their reading, writing, listening, and

speaking skills (Zwart &

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General

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Yes

Objectives

the

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the

most

important

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the

information

accurate

and

up-to-date

for

the

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Curriculum

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the

information

well

organized

(with

index,

table of

contents,

etc.), with

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structure

following

that

the

discipline?

Overview

Curriculum

Definitions

the

depth

information

appropriate

for

the

students?

eaO

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the

material

developmentally responsive

for

young

adolescents?

Developmentally

Responsive

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School

Curriculum

Does

the

material

provide

multiple

ways

for

students

explore

the

content

and

communicate

ideas

and

solutions?

Curriculum

Standards

Does

the

material

involve

students

active

learning,

problem

solving,

and/or

inquiry?

Core

Curriculum

the

content

free

from

stereotypes,

with

a balanced

representation

people

multiple

settings,

Domains

occupations,

careers,

and

lifestyles?

101

Unpacking

the

Standards

the

content

free

from

cultural

and

gender

bias,

with

all

groups

presented

accurate

and

102

Closing

Remarks

respectful

manner?

102

Suggested

Readings

10.

Does

the

material

avoid

elitist

and

demeaning

references

and

language

(e.9.,

handicapped,

primitive

cultures)?

11.

Does

any

accompanying

material

show

how

adapt

the

content

students

with

differing

levels

ability?

12.

the

content

comparable

that

other

material

selected

for

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unit?

13.

Does

the

material

reflect

the

division

and/or

state

competencies

for

this

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direct

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What

critical

skills

are

involved

the

use

this

material?

Overview

Are

there

any

accompanying

teacher's

guides

other supporting

material?

How

useful

it?

Curriculum

Definitions

How

does

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all

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styles

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Unpacking

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Standards

Closing

Remarks

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Readings

Does

the

material promote

specific

social

cause

point

view?

Does

the

material

contain

proper

grammar,

spelling,

and

sentence

structure?

10.

What

kinds

student

assessment

materials

are

included

with

this

material?

Are

there

multiple

forms?

Cost

How

does

the

price

this

material

compare

that

similar

items?

Additional

Criteria

for

Instructional

Technology

‘Yes

Does

the

material

follow accepted

learning

theories?

Does

the

material

keep

students

engaged?

Does

the

material

motivate

students

continue

learn?

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Falk-Ross, 2008). Thus, in any instructional planning, we encourage you to collaborate with the school

librarian. Although this individual may not always be involved in the actual implementation of the

instruction, he or she is invaluable in helping you select materials and identify resources within your

school as well as within the community and, via the Internet, throughout the world.

Scheduling for IDI

Flexible organization structures such as block scheduling go hand-in-hand with IDI and provide a better

learning environment for young adolescents (Fisher & Fry, 2007). With flexible block schedules, teams

can maximize instructional opportunities, use time more efficiently, and change student groupings to

reflect students’ needs. When the individual team has control of large blocks of time, members can

allocate the time to fit their instructional plans. Whereas some teams make adjustments on a weekly

basis, others may modify the schedule daily.

By now you should have a general idea of the things that must be considered when planning instruction.

There is still more to learn about implementing instruction and assessing students in other chapters of

this book. However, before we leave the subject of overall instructional planning, we want to take a look

at how one seventh-grade team planned an IDI unit. In Case Study 6–1, we revisit Karyn Rothmer from

the opening scenario and her team a few years later.

Planning for Students at Risk of Failure

“I don’t know what to do with Ravenia. She’s in seventh grade but she can’t read.”

A middle school teacher

There is a great deal of concern about the performance of middle school students, especially those in

“high-poverty urban schools with student bodies primarily made up of minority students” (Balfanz,

Herzog, & MacIver, 2007, p. 223). Often low academic expectations; lack

Case Study 6–1 The Osprey Team Plans a Unit

A few years ago, the teachers at Washington Peaks Middle School had begun work on interdisciplinary

teaching. A consultant had even been hired by the central school administration to help with the effort.

Of all the teams, the seventh-grade Osprey Team had been most successful. That is not to say that

things had been easy for them. One teacher had felt uncomfortable giving up the autonomy of her own

classroom and had difficulty teaching with an interdisciplinary approach. As a result, she had asked for

and received a transfer to the senior high school. Her position as a science teacher had been filled by

Alysha McQueen, a new graduate, who was welcomed by Karyn Rothmer, language arts; Auggie

Anderson, math; and Sandy Labyak, social studies.

The Osprey Team members had worked hard to develop trust and mutual respect and had successfully

taught two or three units each year using an interdisciplinary approach. At other times, one or two of

the teachers cooperated in planning joint activities or coordinated some of their instruction. Overall,

they were pleased and thought that both they and their students had benefited from the units.

Now they were ready to plan another interdisciplinary unit. They began by brainstorming ideas for

possible themes and then asked their students during homeroom for ideas or issues they would like to

explore. Over and over the word survival kept popping up, so the team members began to examine the

existing curriculum, textbooks, and state guidelines to see if they could identify possible topics to tie into

survival or any of the other suggested issues. Their plan was to look for commonalities and ideas related

to survival that could be taught across the disciplines within their curricular framework. In addition,

when the team members met with others in their disciplines across the grade levels and during their

semiweekly team meeting with the school librarian and teachers of art, music, and physical education,

they mentioned the theme and asked for suggestions. Finally, they decided to name the unit “Surviving

Against the Odds” and to focus on the Holocaust.

Their next step was to identify individual teacher responsibilities for the unit. They came up with the

following chart:

With some idea of their general responsibilities, the Osprey Team developed individual and team goals

as well as objectives for the unit and came up with a scope and sequence timeline. After debating and

refining their goals, they identified possible student outcomes and assessment procedures. At this point,

the team decided to announce the theme to the students in each homeroom and get their input on the

projects and the assessment. Naturally, there were some lively discussions, and when the team met

again, they modified their original plans based on some of the suggestions. After finalizing the student

outcomes and the assessment, the team worked on developing specific lesson plans for the unit. Some

of the plans were developed by the whole group, whereas others were done by individual teachers and

then brought back to the group for discussion. As the plans were being finalized, the team also tried to

see how they could best arrange their block schedule to fit the instructional plans.

Finally, it was time to teach the unit. Throughout the teaching process, the Osprey Team continued to

meet with all the participating teachers and specialists to modify their plans as necessary and to make

adjustments in the block schedule. At the conclusion of the unit, the team held a final meeting with

everyone who had participated in the teaching or planning to discuss what happened, what they liked,

and what they would change the next time they taught the unit.

Questions for Consideration

Evaluate the plan devised by the Osprey Team. Have they considered all parts of the Checklist for

Interdisciplinary Units (Table 6-1)? If not, what should be included?

Consider this unit from the perspective of your discipline. What could you add to the unit? How could

this be done?

of academic, social, and emotional supports for all students; and unqualified middle school teachers are

cited as major reasons for middle school failure (NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, 2007). “If they fail

to develop the intellectual, emotional, and moral capacities they need to negotiate adolescence

successfully, middle-grade students can drift into self-destructive trajectories—risk-taking behaviors,

dropping out of school, or pathways to prison” (p. 4). How, then, can middle school educators work with

students who are at risk of failure?

As a middle school teacher, your planning must consider the young adolescents’ psychological, social,

and emotional needs. That means you need to plan instruction that will ensure success, build a positive

atmosphere, let students know you think they can succeed, encourage them, use positive comments,

and provide genuine praise. Build on your students’ skills in art, music, drama, sports, dance, and

technology, not just their academic skills. You should strive for a task-focused rather than an ability-

focused learning environment by emphasizing task mastery rather than how students compare with

their peers. Realize, too, that parental involvement can be a key to student success (Brown & Beckett,

2007).

Many educators argue against special programs for students at risk, citing teachers who have developed

programs that meet the needs of all students rather than creating special programs for specific groups

of students who might be labeled as different. In most cases, programs designed to meet the needs of

middle school students who are at risk of failing are also the best programs for all middle school

students. The difference is that although students at risk need the same things that other middle school

students need, they may also need individualized help with academic work and with building self-

esteem and achieving academic success. Collaborative planning and IDI can help, especially when

teachers coordinate projects and homework assignments, use examples from young adolescent

literature to focus on student problems and to discuss coping strategies, or base problem-solving

activities on historical situations.

Closing Remarks

The instruction of young adolescents in middle schools is too important to be haphazard. For instruction

to be developmentally responsive and effective, it must be systematically planned to meet the needs of

the learners and the demands of the school’s curriculum. Whether you are planning for your own

classroom or for IDI with other members of your middle school team, you need to keep in mind the

principles contained in this chapter. In Chapters 7 and 8, respectively, of this book, “Implementing

Instruction—Methods and Materials” and “Assessment of Learning—Methods and Issues,” we will build

on this foundation. Although you, as an educator, will benefit from good instructional planning, the

ultimate benefits will go to the young adolescents whom you teach.

Suggested Readings

ACT. (2009). The forgotten middle: Ensuring that all students are on target for college and career

readiness before high school. Education Digest, 74(9), 37–41. This article underlines the importance of

successful middle school experiences.

Childre, A., Sands, J. R., & Pope, S. T. (2009). Backward design. Teaching Exceptional Children, 41(5),

6–14. The authors discuss the use of backward design in planning.

Larsen, D. E., & Akmal, T. T. (2010). Help wanted: Enthusiastic middle-level teacher. Principal, 89(4),

62–63. The authors explore the characteristics of successful middle level teachers, including their

instructional planning skills.

Main, K. (2010). Jumping the hurdles: Establishing middle school teams. Pedagogies, 5(2), 118–129.

Small teaching teams are a critical issue for middle school reform.

Reed, D. K., & Groth, C. (2009). Academic teams promote cross-curricular applications that improve

learning outcomes. Middle School Journal, 40(3), 12–19. The authors discuss the use of team meeting

time to improve IDI planning.

Developing Your Portfolio Chapter 6: Planning Instruction

Appropriate and Interdisciplinary

The following are some activities that you might complete to add documentation to your professional

teaching portfolio.

NMSA Standard 4 Middle Level Teaching Fields: Middle level teacher candidates understand and use the

central concepts, tools of inquiry, standards, and structures in their chosen teaching fields, and they

create meaningful learning experiences that develop all young adolescents’ competence in subject

matter and skills.

Idea 1 Prepare a learning module that incorporates at least two content areas. It should be

multidisciplinary and encompass major areas within the content area. Then, explain your teaching and

assessment strategies, demonstrate that your instructional techniques are developmentally responsive,

and explain how technologies will improve or enhance your instruction. (Knowledge)

Idea 2 Write a brief position paper on the importance of staying current in your content area(s)

as well as in middle school education in general. In your paper, also mention your commitment to

integrating curricular content, developmentally responsive technologies, and effective instructional

skills. (Dispositions)

Idea 3 Include in your portfolio documentation of your teaching effectiveness: for example,

evaluations of cooperating teachers, administrators, and college supervisors. Make sure your

evaluations include evidence of your ability to use effective instruction, technology, and assessment;

your knowledge of the content area; and your commitment and ability to incorporate young

adolescents’ interests, ideas, and experiences. (Performances)

EDUC 676

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Name: Date:

Subject and Grade Level:

Topic:

STANDARDS

A. State’s Standard of Learning:

B. State’s Aligned Standards of Learning:

Objective:

Materials:

Technology Connection:

Character Education Principle:

Pre Assessment:

Procedures

a. Set:

b. Developmental Activities

1. Instruction:

a. ..

b. ..

c. ..

2. Guided Practice:

3. Independent Practice:

c. Closure:

Diversity / Differentiation for Exceptionalities

Description of Class:

 Learning Styles (modalities / multiple intelligences) -

 LEP -

 LD, ED, ADD, ID –

 Multicultural Connections –

Impact on Instructional Design:

Evaluation:

EDUC 625

LESSON PLAN GRADING RUBRIC

Criteria

Levels of Achievement

Content 70%

Advanced

Proficient

Developing

Not present

Subject/Grade

Level

3 points

Both subject and grade level are

identified and are placed in the

correct cells.

2 points

Both subject and grade level

are identified.

1 point

Subject and/or grade level

are identified.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Topic

5 points

Lesson plan topic is identified and is

placed in the correct cell.

4 points

Lesson plan topic is identified.

1 to 3 points

Lesson plan topic is not

clearly identified.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

State Standards

and/or

Common Core

Standards

5 points

State and/or Common Core Standards

and special education standards are

written out in their entirety (including

the standard’s number and title).

4 points

State and/or Common Core

Standards and special education

standards are written out in their

entirety.

1 to 3 points

State and/or Common Core

Standards and special

education standards are not

written out in their entirety.

0 points

Standards are not

present.

Objectives

5 points

Objective is written in the proper

condition, performance, criteria format.

Performance is written in a

measureable term.

4 points

Objective is written in the

proper condition, performance,

criteria format. Performance is

written; however measurable

terms are not included.

1 to 3 points

Objective and performance is

written in the proper

condition, criteria format.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Material List

4 points

A complete list of materials is given

that will allow the student to

successfully complete each aspect the

lesson.

3 points

An incomplete list of materials

is given that will allow the

student to successfully complete

only part of the lesson.

1 to 2 points

A limited list of materials is

given that will not allow the

student to successfully

complete the lesson.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Technology

Connection

5 points

A specific technology connection is

identified, including web address

and/or name of computer program to

be used.

4 points

A specific technology

connection is identified, but the

web address and/or name of

computer program is not

identified.

1 to 3 points

General technology

connections are identified,

but web addresses are not

identified.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Biblical

Support

5 points

Specific scriptures and reference are

provided that relate to the principle

4 points

Specific scriptures and

reference are provided that

1 to 3 points

Unrelated scriptures and

reference are provided. No

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

EDUC 625

being taught in the lesson. Descriptions

are given as to how the principle is

taught in the lesson.

relate to the principle being

taught in the lesson. Limited

descriptions are given as to how

the principle is taught in the

lesson.

descriptions are given as to

how the principle is taught in

the lesson.

completed.

Pre-Assessment

4 points

Pre-assessment tool is identified and is

appropriate for the assignment.

3 points

Pre-assessment tool is identified

but is not appropriate for the

assignment.

1 to 2 points

Pre-assessment tool not

identified.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Lesson

Introduction

4 points

Introduces the lesson and provides a

creative way to engage students in the

lesson.

3 points

Introduces the lesson and

provides a somewhat creative

way to engage students in the

lesson.

1 to 2 points

Introduces the lesson and

provides no way to engage

students in the lesson.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Skill Modeling

5 points

Detailed description of how the teacher

candidate plans to teach the skill. How

the skill will be modeled is fully

explained. All components of objective

are addressed.

4 points

Detailed description of how the

teacher candidate plans to teach

the skill. How the skill will be

modeled is mostly explained.

Most all components of

objective are addressed.

1 to 3 points

Vague description of how the

teacher candidate plans to

teach the skill. How the skill

will be modeled is loosely

explained. Some of the

components of objective are

addressed.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Guided Activity

4 points

A practice activity where the teacher

guides the class is provided. All

components of objective are addressed.

3 points

A practice activity where the

teacher guides the class is

provided. Most all components

of objective are addressed.

1 to 2 points

A practice activity where the

teacher guides the class is

provided. Some of the

components of objective are

addressed.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Independent

Activity

4 points

A practice activity where the teacher

allows students to work independently

is provided. All components of

objective are addressed.

3 points

A practice activity where the

teacher allows students to work

independently is provided. Most

all of the components of

objective are addressed.

1 to 2 points

A practice activity where the

teacher allows students to

work independently is

provided. Some of the

components of objective are

addressed.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Closure

4 points

Closure recaps all the main points of

3 points

Closure recaps most of the main

1 to 2 points

Closure recaps some of the

0 points

This section of the

EDUC 625

the lesson.

points of the lesson.

main points of the lesson

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Differentiation

4 points

Teacher candidate describes what

portions of the lesson is differentiated

for each subgroup.

3 points

Teacher candidate describes

what portions of the lesson is

differentiated for most of the

subgroup.

1 to 2 points

Teacher candidate describes

what portions of the lesson is

differentiated for some

subgroups.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Modifications

5 points

In-depth detail is given on how lesson

is modified for students with

exceptionalities.

4 points

Thorough detail is given on

how lesson is modified for

students with exceptionalities.

1 to 3 points

Sketchy detail is given on

how lesson is modified for

students with

exceptionalities.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Assessment

4 points

A tool to assess the objective is

provided. Expected mastery level is

thoroughly stated.

3 points

A tool to assess the objective is

provided. Expected mastery

level is adequately stated.

1 to 2 points

A tool to assess the objective

is provided. Expected

mastery level is loosely

stated.

0 points

This section of the

Lesson Plan is not

completed.

Structure 30%

Advanced

Proficient

Developing

Not present

Professional

Writing Skills

14 to 15 points

Lesson Plan uses correct grammar and

punctuation, spelling, and sentence

structure throughout

13 points

Lesson Plan contains between

1–3 errors in grammar and

punctuation, spelling, and

sentence structure throughout

1 to 12 points

Lesson Plan contains

between 4–5 errors in

grammar and punctuation,

spelling, and sentence

structure throughout.

0 points

Lesson Plan

contains at least 6

errors in grammar

and punctuation,

spelling, and

sentence structure

throughout.

Work Ethic

14 to 15 points

Candidate fully completes every area

of Lesson Template

13 points

Candidate completes most of

the areas of the Template fully

(1–2 areas vaguely completed).

1 to 12 points

Candidate completes some of

the areas of the Template

fully (3–4 areas vaguely

completed).

0 points

Student fails to

complete more than

4 areas of the

template completely.

EDUC 676

Name: Date:

Subject and Grade Level: Social Studies, grade 4

Topic: Christmas around the world

STANDARDS

State’s Standard of Learning: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.9 - Compare and contrast the most important

points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

State’s Aligned Standards of Learning: Visual arts and Language Arts.

Objective: Students will compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts

on the same topic. Students will demonstrate understanding of a text through creative interpretation

Materials:

A worksheet describing how Christmas is celebrated in 5 locations around the world

Construction paper

Art supplies such as paint or colored pencils

Technology Connection: Smartboard to illustrate Christmas celebrated in different parts of the world.

Students will identiy these regions. Also students will have the hoice to use IPad or Chromebook for further

research. Could also be an extention activity.

Character Education Principle: Effective character education requires an intentional proactive and

comprehensive approach that promotes the core values in all phases of school life

Pre Assessment: informal dicssuion about what is Christmas to them and how they celebrate it. Write some

keys points in their workbook.

Procedures

1) Explain to students that Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated all around the world. Some families

celebrate it with their church in a religious way, some families celebrate with their families without any relation

to religion, and some families do not celebrate at all.

2)Ask students if they celebrate Christmas at their house and ask them what they d

Modeling

 Project Worksheet 1, Christmas in the United States on the board for students to see.

 Call on a student to read about how Christmas is celebrated in the United States.

 On a world map, show students where Germany, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Australia are and

ask students what they know about these countries.

Developmental Activities

1. Students will watch a Youclip on how different parts of the world celebrate Christmas. They

should be taking notes during this time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da2Q2wQBiCA

EDUC 676

2. Instruction: Students will then play a jigsaw game where half the class will have the names of

the countries and half the class will have the ritual or picture associated with the country. It will

be the students reponsibility to match the picture with the country from what they learned from

the you tube clip.

Guided Practice: Display a compare and contrast worksheet on the smartboard while using an example such as

Mexico versus the United States. Teacher will discuss similarities and differences. Teacher will tell students to

listen carefully to all the details and how the teachers compares and contrast.

Independent Practice:

Refer to the first worksheet with the images of a typical United States Christmas Celebration and tell students

that they will complete a venn diagram on the country they were pvovided with, comparing to their home

country.

Follow-up Task: Have students choose, or assign students to draw a scene or symbol depicting the country’s

celebration of Christmas.

Closure:

Students will do a gallery walk seeing what other countries other students have compared.

Let students show their pictures to the class (If completed, from follow-up task)

Discuss the similarities and the differences of the way Christmas is celebrated around the world.

Diversity / Differentiation for Exceptionalities

Description of Class:

 Learning Styles (modalities / multiple intelligences) – Audioty, listening to others present. and Visual-seeing

others present and looking at the worksheet. Kinestetic learners can get up and present their findings.

 LEP -

 LD, ED, ADD, ID – (LD, ED, ID) Pairing of students, independently, choice is the students. Chunking

work. Small group instruction when desired. (ADD) providing body breaks or stand up seating, frequent

breaks when needed

 Multicultural Connections – Different ways to celebrate Christmas, looking at different cultures

around the world.

Impact on Instructional Design:

Evaluation:

Formative: Students will hand in their drawing and present their drawings to the class

EDUC 676

Informal assessment: Direct observation: Teacher will watch as students listen to their peers and record their

findings on how they presented and how they listend to others.

EDUC 676

Name: Date:

Subject and Grade Level: Social Studies, grade 4

Topic: Christmas around the world

STANDARDS

State’s Standard of Learning: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.9 - Compare and contrast the most important

points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

State’s Aligned Standards of Learning: Visual arts and Language Arts.

Objective: Students will compare and contrast the most important points and key details for two countries.

Students will demonstrate understanding of a text through creative interpretation.

Materials:

A worksheet on how Christmas is celebrated in countries all around the world

Paper

Paint or colored pencils

Technology Connection: Smartboard to illustrate Christmas celebrated in different parts of the world.

Students will identiy these regions. Also students will have the choice to use IPad or Chromebook for further

research. Could also be an extention activity.

Character Education Principle: Effective character education requires an intentional proactive and

comprehensive approach that promotes the core values in all phases of school life

Pre Assessment: informal dicssuion about what is Christmas to them and how they celebrate it. Write some

keys points in their workbook or journal

Procedures

1) Explain to students that Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated all around the world. Some families

celebrate it with their church in a religious way, some families celebrate with their families without any relation

to religion, and some families do not celebrate at all.

2) Think, pair and share: Ask students if they celebrate Christmas at their house and ask them what their

traditions are. Discuss with your shoulder partner.

Modeling

 Project Worksheet 1, Christmas in the United States on the board for students to see.

 Call on a student to read about how Christmas is celebrated in the United States. Students will listen

attentively.

 On a world map, show students where Germany, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Australia are and

ask students what they know about these countries.

Developmental Activities

1. Students will watch a Youclip on how different parts of the world celebrate Christmas. They

should be taking notes during this time.

EDUC 676

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da2Q2wQBiCA

2. Instruction: Students will then play a jigsaw game where half the class will have the names of

the countries and half the class will have the ritual or picture associated with the country. It will

be the students reponsibility to match the picture with the country from what they learned from

the you tube clip.

Guided Practice: Display a compare and contrast worksheet on the smartboard while using an example such as

Mexico versus the United States. Teacher will discuss similarities and differences. Teacher will tell students to

listen carefully to all the details and how the teachers compares and contrast.

Independent Practice:

Refer to the first worksheet with the images of a typical United States Christmas Celebration and tell students

that they will complete a venn diagram on the country they were pvovided with, comparing to their home

country.

Follow-up Task: Have students choose, or assign students to draw a scene or symbol depicting the country’s

celebration of Christmas.

Closure:

Students will do a gallery walk seeing what other countries other students have compared.

Let students show their pictures to the class (If completed, from follow-up task)

Discuss the similarities and the differences of the way Christmas is celebrated around the world.

Diversity / Differentiation for Exceptionalities

Description of Class:

 Learning Styles (modalities / multiple intelligences) – Audioty, listening to others present. and Visual-seeing

others present and looking at the worksheet. Kinestetic learners can get up and present their findings.

 LEP -

 LD, ED, ADD, ID – (LD, ED, ID) Pairing of students, independently, choice is the students. Chunking

work. Small group instruction when desired. (ADD) providing body breaks or stand up seating, frequent

breaks when needed

 Multicultural Connections – Different ways to celebrate Christmas, looking at different cultures

around the world.

Impact on Instructional Design:

Evaluation:

EDUC 676

Formative: Students will hand in their drawing and present their drawings to the class

Informal assessment: Direct observation: Teacher will watch as students listen to their peers and record their

findings on how they presented and how they listend to others.

EDUC 676

Name: Date:

Subject and Grade Level: Social Studies, grade 4

Topic: Christmas around the world

STANDARDS

State’s Standard of Learning: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.9 - Compare and contrast the most important

points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

State’s Aligned Standards of Learning: Visual arts and Language Arts.

Objective: Students will compare and contrast the most important points and key details for two countries.

Students will demonstrate understanding of a text through creative interpretation.

Materials:

A worksheet on how Christmas is celebrated in countries all around the world

Paper

Paint or colored pencils

Technology Connection: Smartboard to illustrate Christmas celebrated in different parts of the world.

Students will identiy these regions. Also students will have the choice to use IPad or Chromebook for further

research. Could also be an extention activity.

Character Education Principle: Effective character education requires an intentional proactive and

comprehensive approach that promotes the core values in all phases of school life.

Biblical Reference: Titus 2:7-8 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your

teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put

to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. (This will be taught through various acts of goodness presented

through various forms of worhsips during Christmas)

Pre Assessment: informal dicssuion about what is Christmas to them and how they celebrate it. Write some

keys points in their workbook or journal

Procedures

1) Explain to students that Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated all around the world. Some families

celebrate it with their church in a religious way, some families celebrate with their families without any relation

to religion, and some families do not celebrate at all.

2) Think, pair and share: Ask students if they celebrate Christmas at their house and ask them what their

traditions are. Discuss with your shoulder partner.

Modeling

 Project Worksheet 1, Christmas in the United States on the board for students to see.

 Call on a student to read about how Christmas is celebrated in the United States. Students will listen

attentively.

 On a world map, show students where Germany, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Australia are and

EDUC 676

ask students what they know about these countries.

Developmental Activities

1. Students will watch a Youclip on how different parts of the world celebrate Christmas. They

should be taking notes during this time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da2Q2wQBiCA

2. Instruction: Students will then play a jigsaw game where half the class will have the names of

the countries and half the class will have the ritual or picture associated with the country. It will

be the students reponsibility to match the picture with the country from what they learned from

the you tube clip.

Guided Practice: Display a compare and contrast worksheet on the smartboard while using an example such as

Mexico versus the United States. Teacher will discuss similarities and differences. Teacher will tell students to

listen carefully to all the details and how the teachers compares and contrast.

Independent Practice:

Refer to the first worksheet with the images of a typical United States Christmas Celebration and tell students

that they will complete a venn diagram on the country they were pvovided with, comparing to their home

country.

Follow-up Task: Have students choose, or assign students to draw a scene or symbol depicting the country’s

celebration of Christmas.

Closure:

Students will do a gallery walk seeing what other countries other students have compared.

Let students show their pictures to the class (If completed, from follow-up task)

Discuss the similarities and the differences of the way Christmas is celebrated around the world.

Diversity / Differentiation for Exceptionalities

Description of Class:

 Learning Styles (modalities / multiple intelligences) – Audioty, listening to others present. and Visual-seeing

others present and looking at the worksheet. Kinestetic learners can get up and present their findings.

 LEP -

 LD, ED, ADD, ID – (LD, ED, ID) Pairing of students, independently, choice is the students. Chunking

work. Small group instruction when desired. (ADD) providing body breaks or stand up seating, frequent

breaks when needed

 Multicultural Connections – Different ways to celebrate Christmas, looking at different cultures

around the world.

EDUC 676

Impact on Instructional Design:

Evaluation:

Formative: Students will hand in their drawing and present their drawings to the class

Informal assessment: Direct observation: Teacher will watch as students listen to their peers and record their

findings on how they presented and how they listend to others.

Students also viewed