CLASSROOM CASE STUDY

IMPROVING LESSON PLANNING

Terrell Green is an eighth-grade science teacher who has been teaching for two years. While he knows his content well, his lesson plans still lack organization. To spark intrigue and interest in his students, he likes hands-on and fun activities. Last year, Mr. Green’s students worked in teams to create pop rockets with effervescing antacid tablets. To increase student interest, he added incentives by rewarding the team whose rocket flew the highest. However, he did not bring enough effervescing antacid tablets for one class, putting them a day behind. Also, his lessons took longer than he expected, and his closing activities were rushed and poorly executed. His students began side conversations when they realized that Mr. Green was not going to have enough time to finish the lesson. Further, students were not required to submit lab reports and were graded only on class participation. This left students wondering about the main goals of the assignment and did not provide them with closure.

Mr. Green has revisited his lesson plans and is having trouble finding the problem. He has a good mental image of his lesson plans and briefly outlines his objectives and developmental activities on paper. He puts little consideration into the circumstances under which his students will perform activities, however. He is looking for some guidance.

FOCUS QUESTIONS

1. What factors contributed to the problems in the science lesson?

2. What specific suggestions do you have for Mr. Green to improve his lesson planning and to increase the effectiveness of the lessons?

3. How might Mr. Green put more emphasis and accountability on students’ assessment of their own learning?

During this recording, Professor Elvira Seidametova took the class through the modules and how many weeks we have in this course. Each module has an overview that provides essential information on assignments. All assignments that require a document must be submitted in Word. Not all jobs require documents, and attention to each lesson's directions is essential. Especially due dates. When asking a question about a project, students are to include the word “question” and the assignment name in the subject line. This is so the professor is prompted to view the correspondence as highly important. I think it is essential for the students to expect a response to questions within 24 to 48 hours. The professor also mentioned that if we need more time for an assignment or only have time to complete tasks one day a week, we must let her know; otherwise, this will affect our attendance and graded assignments. If we take the time to discuss this with her beforehand, she will work with us as she wants us all to be successful. Professor Elvira Seidametova stated that we must communicate with her if we have any issues or concerns, as she will not know unless we reach out to her. Any course-related emails will be in the inbox tab. The professor clarified how important it is to read all course materials in each module. The “Start Assignment” button is used when you are ready to turn an assignment in. Each franchise is set up the same way. However, the content is different. It is essential to pay close attention to the directions within the project as each one is not completed the same. Under the course summary, you will find all the assignments and when they are due. We also discussed the class project and teams and got a head start on working on the presentation.

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Lesson Plan Worksheet #2

Measurable Learning Targets

Directions: For each of the Learning Objectives below, do the following

a. Underline the audience.

b. Put the behavior in bold letters.

c. Circle the condition.

d. Highlight the degree of proficiency.

1. The student will print 6/8 of the upper and lowercase letters ‘i’ and ‘I’, ‘o’ and ‘O’, ‘d’ and ‘D’, ‘t’ and ‘T’.

2. The student will determine what operation to use to solve a one-step work problem.

3. After determining the main idea of a text, the student will identify 3 out of 4 supporting details.

4. After reading a grade level passage, the student will answer literal questions with 80% accuracy.

5. During a precipitation event (rain, sleet, snow), the student will collect and graph temperature readings with 95% accuracy.

6. The student will convert metric units of capacity from a larger unit to a smaller unit with 85% accuracy.

7. The student will design and create a device that increases the rate a substance melts.

8. Given properties of liquids and solids, the students will sort the properties into the correct category with 90% accuracy.

9. Students will be able to explain at least one reason how the discovery of gold treasures among the Aztec and Inca lead to more exploration in the Americas on the provided critical thinking worksheet

10. Based upon prior research, students will be able to develop a creative talk show stating at least 4 characteristic of one of the twelve Olympians.

Directions: For each of the Learning Objectives below, identify which piece is missing: Audience, Behavior, Condition, or Degree.

1. After the lesson, the students will be able to explain how the tilt of the Earth’s axis contributes to the changing seasons in a written paragraph.

2. After this lesson, the students will be able to determine discounts and markups as well as gratuity.

3. After completing this lesson, the student will have the ability to gather measurement data with 80% accuracy.

4. After completing this unit, students will write a research paper arguing either for or against the acts imposed by the British.

5. After completing this lesson, the students will be able to describe the distinctive characteristics and purposes of physical and political maps.

Translating Kudos into Learning Targets

Directions: Using the KUDOs you wrote on the first lesson plan worksheet, write a measurable learning/lesson target.

Standard 1:

Ohio Academic Standard:

KUDOs:

Learning/Lesson Target:

Standard 2:

Ohio Academic Standard:

KUDOs:

Learning/Lesson Target:

Standard 3:

Ohio Academic Standard:

KUDOs:

Learning/Lesson Target:

Standard 4:

Ohio Academic Standard:

KUDOs:

Learning/Lesson Target:

Standard 5:

Ohio Academic Standard:

KUDOs:

Learning/Lesson Target:

Directions: Choose 5 new academic standards from your chosen content area/grade level band and write KUDOs as well as learning targets for each of the new standards.

Standard 6:

Ohio Academic Standard:

KUDOs:

Learning/Lesson Target:

Standard 7:

Ohio Academic Standard:

KUDOs:

Learning/Lesson Target:

Standard 8:

Ohio Academic Standard:

KUDOs:

Learning/Lesson Target:

Standard 9:

Ohio Academic Standard:

KUDOs:

Learning/Lesson Target:

Standard 10:

Ohio Academic Standard:

KUDOs:

Learning/Lesson Target:

Theoretical Framework/Level of Cognitive Demand

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

A 7th grade teacher is beginning to plan a unit of lessons on the following Earth Science Standard:

7.ESS.5: The relative positions of Earth and the sun cause patterns we call seasons.  

Earth’s axis is tilted at an angle of 23.5°. This tilt along with Earth’s revolution around the sun, affects the amount of direct sunlight that the earth receives in a single day and throughout the year (global daylight hours). The average daily temperature is related to the amount of direct sunlight received (solar insolation).  

 

Throughout the unit students will be looking at data including the number of daylight hours in cities around the globe and solar insolation data (this data shows how much energy from the sun is reaching the Earth at different times in the year).

Directions: The teacher wrote the following learning targets. Identify the level of cognitive demand according to Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. Given yearly global daylight hours of cities around the globe, the student will order their location from the north to south pole and give correct justification for their order.

Bloom’s Level:

2. Given the number of daylight hours and high/low monthly temperature of 16 different cities, the student will sort 14/16 cities into the correct season.

Bloom’s Level:

3. Given daylight hours of 5 cities in the southern hemisphere and high/low temperatures, the student will determine the yearly seasons of both locations with 80% accuracy.

Bloom’s Level:

4. Given solar insolation data from a fictitious planet, the student will determine the yearly seasonal changes of the fictitious planets with 75% accuracy.

Bloom’s Level:

5. Given a list of explanations, the student will choose the correct explanation of why we experience seasonal changes on Earth.

Bloom’s Level:

Directions: Put a star, X, or checkmark next to the row you think is in the correct order from lower to higher level of cognitive demand. Note: These learning targets are not aligned to one standard.

Webb’s Depth of Knowledge

Directions: Identify the DOK Level of each of the following activities:

1. Write a diary/blog entry for a character or historical figure.

DOK Level:

2. Locate basic facts or explicit details within a text.

DOK Level:

3. Give examples/ nonexamples of a particular concept.

DOK Level:

4. Make inferences about explicit and implicit themes in a text.

DOK Level:

5. Organizing and conducting a community service project.

DOK Level:

6. Distinguish relevant-irrelevant information in a text.

DOK Level:

7. Solve a one-step problem.

DOK Level:

8. Make inferences or logical predictions from data.

DOK Level:

9. Synthesize information from multiple sources or texts in order to articulate an argument.

DOK Level:

10. Explain thinking when more than one response/solution is possible.

DOK Level:

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