Standard 4: Content Knowlege
4.1 The teacher bases instruction on accurate content using multiple representations of concepts and appropriate academic language
Primary Sources lesson
During my student teaching I taught several lessons on the Revolutionary war. Each and every one of my lessons during student teaching and my methods classes were all connected to the UEN core standards. By starting each lesson plan like this I am able to keep the lesson focused on the content. Here is one example from when I taught The Boston Massacre
State Core Standards:
Standard 2
Students will understand the chronology and significance of key events leading to self-government.
Objective 1
Describe how the movement toward revolution culminated in a Declaration of Independence.
In this lesson I focused on the Boston Massacre. At the begining of each lesson I review the vocabulary of previous lessons: The French and Indian War, The Stamp Act, and The Sugar Act. And go over each of these important events to help the m reach their schema. I then used a series of 9 different primary sources that held different accounts of what happened during the massacre. The students had to analyze these accounts and decide for themselves what really happened. These sources created multiple representations for the students analyze and deep their learning of the content. Some of the documents were written in Old English so at times I had to model through "Think Alouds" how I would go about critically analyzing the content
State Core Standards:
Standard 2
Students will understand the chronology and significance of key events leading to self-government.
Objective 1
Describe how the movement toward revolution culminated in a Declaration of Independence.
- Explain the role of events that led to declaring independence (e.g., French and Indian War, Stamp Act, Boston Tea Party).
- Analyze arguments both for and against declaring independence using primary sources from Loyalist and patriot perspectives.
In this lesson I focused on the Boston Massacre. At the begining of each lesson I review the vocabulary of previous lessons: The French and Indian War, The Stamp Act, and The Sugar Act. And go over each of these important events to help the m reach their schema. I then used a series of 9 different primary sources that held different accounts of what happened during the massacre. The students had to analyze these accounts and decide for themselves what really happened. These sources created multiple representations for the students analyze and deep their learning of the content. Some of the documents were written in Old English so at times I had to model through "Think Alouds" how I would go about critically analyzing the content
4.2. Supports students in learning and using academic language accurately and meaningfully.
The law of CONSERVATION of matter
During my Science Unit on Mass and Matter, I integrated vocabulary from the scientific method and required students to apply scientific terms throughout the lessons. In many of the lessons we discuss and implement the scientific method by first predicting and writing a hypothesis, then experimenting and observing, followed by recording our results and discussing the outcomes. In a lesson exploring the law of conservation of matter students had the opportunity to interact with and prove this law to be true. This lesson provides an example of a learning experience that I designed that requires learners to correctly use and meaningfully apply the language of the discipline. I prompted students to use language such as: I predict, I observe, and I conclude and apply scientific terms throughout the lesson. Students are required to use academic vocabulary specific to the topic such as: properties of matter, density, conservation, mass etc. Throughout my lessons and interactions with my students, I use academic vocabulary accurately and meaningfully.
Math VOcabulary
When teaching math, it is extremely important to use math terms accurately and the have the students practice using them as well. Whenever I am teaching math I have my students use vocabulary properly. If they don't I have them repeat it. For example when I ask them this type of problem: 25 /4 = 6.25. When I have them tell me the answer the must say, "six and twenty five hundreths" They must use the terms dividend, divisor and quotient. Whenever I am giving instruction I also make sure to use these terms and ask the students to see if they can catch me and correct me if I don't use them. Here is a lesson plan I used for a 2nd grade classroom where I implemented correct math vocabulary: Bean Flip Lesson