Students learn in many different ways, according to Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, and I firmly support helping students reach their full potential through these intelligences. I also feel that a variety of activities and lessons benefit not only the students, but the teacher, as well, by adding a bit of “spice” to the average classroom.
I have included several lesson plans to demonstrate the variety of activities that are implemented in my classroom. The first lesson is for a Vo-Tech classroom. In this type of classroom, learners are very hands-on and typically want something that is applicable to their real life. The Ad Campaign Project is a great lesson for this type of classroom because students get the chance to design something in a kinesthetic fashion while applying the skills they learned in class. Focusing on the power of advertising, students worked with modern advertising to analyze it for the use of the Greek persuasion techniques of ethos, pathos, and logos to create a formal writing assignment. Students had also analyzed these persuasion techniques in speeches by Antony and Brutus in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Finally applying their analysis skills to their own product, they created a product to the two social classes/target audiences of ancient Rome to "sell" a product in their own Ad Campaign. A lesson plan, project description, and video are included to demonstrate the depth of this lesson.
The second lesson that I have included is based on another Shakespeare play, The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet.
The third example lesson is the major project given to students during their reading of Romeo & Juliet, the Body Biography project. Based on John Collins writing, students are assessed on their character analysis skills of an assigned character in the play, using direct and indirect characterization and symbolism to get “inside” the characters’ head with their group. A lesson plan, project description, and video of student exemplars are provided to demonstrate the depth of this week-long lesson.
Feedback given to students is also an essential part of instructional delivery. It is important that, as a teacher, I provide students with the information they need to improve, and to understand why they are receiving the grade that they did. I have also included a scan of a student speech rubric that was given back to provide explanation on the grade received and room for improvement throughout the speech unit. The final piece of feedback presented is written feedback given to students on their cross-curricular project graded by Ms. Heckman and myself. This feedback explains the strengths and weaknesses about each student in relation to the group, as well as their individual performance on the project. In this way, students are built up, while understanding where they can improve in the future.
Assessment is a major component of the classroom, and it is important as the classroom instructor to see what students are learning. A variety of assessment methods are provided in my classroom so that students can use multiple strengths to demonstrate their learning. The typical test is provided with an example from Romeo and Juliet, where students are assessed on their understanding of the plot, characters, setting, literary terms, and major concepts introduced during the unit. The second are sample mini-writing assignments that are given to students to learn the basic concept of writing a response similar to the short-answer responses on the PSSAs. These responses are submitted on Moodle and test students’ basic understanding of literary terms discussed during their reading of Romeo and Juliet, as well as analyzing why Shakespeare uses these terms in the first place. The next assessment was created this year with the use of student laptops to create a travel commercial after reading The Odyssey. Students demonstrate collaboration and persuasion skills to create their commercial and demonstrate knowledge of the key concepts of the epic poem. The Wordle Project asks students to delve into their vocabulary to find key terms to create a visual “word cloud” of the novel Monster. Finally, the Think Tac Toe project puts students in control and allows them to choose their strengths in their final assessment for the Fiction Unit.
Not only is the actual instruction and implementation important in the classroom, but seeing what students produce in the class is also important. I have included several exemplars of student work in my classroom in the various movies featured below to demonstrate what is considered a quality project on the various assignments. I have also included an exemplar for the Odyssey Commercial project, as well, demonstrating students' understanding of parody, iMovie, and collaboration skills. Exemplars are necessary to help students understand what is expected of them and what final product I am looking for.
Evidence of Instructional Delivery: 1) Lesson plans a. Ad Campaign Project lesson
Students learn in many different ways, according to Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, and I firmly support helping students reach their full potential through these intelligences. I also feel that a variety of activities and lessons benefit not only the students, but the teacher, as well, by adding a bit of “spice” to the average classroom.
I have included several lesson plans to demonstrate the variety of activities that are implemented in my classroom. The first lesson is for a Vo-Tech classroom. In this type of classroom, learners are very hands-on and typically want something that is applicable to their real life. The Ad Campaign Project is a great lesson for this type of classroom because students get the chance to design something in a kinesthetic fashion while applying the skills they learned in class. Focusing on the power of advertising, students worked with modern advertising to analyze it for the use of the Greek persuasion techniques of ethos, pathos, and logos to create a formal writing assignment. Students had also analyzed these persuasion techniques in speeches by Antony and Brutus in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Finally applying their analysis skills to their own product, they created a product to the two social classes/target audiences of ancient Rome to "sell" a product in their own Ad Campaign. A lesson plan, project description, and video are included to demonstrate the depth of this lesson.
The second lesson that I have included is based on another Shakespeare play, The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet.
The third example lesson is the major project given to students during their reading of Romeo & Juliet, the Body Biography project. Based on John Collins writing, students are assessed on their character analysis skills of an assigned character in the play, using direct and indirect characterization and symbolism to get “inside” the characters’ head with their group. A lesson plan, project description, and video of student exemplars are provided to demonstrate the depth of this week-long lesson.
Feedback given to students is also an essential part of instructional delivery. It is important that, as a teacher, I provide students with the information they need to improve, and to understand why they are receiving the grade that they did. I have also included a scan of a student speech rubric that was given back to provide explanation on the grade received and room for improvement throughout the speech unit. The final piece of feedback presented is written feedback given to students on their cross-curricular project graded by Ms. Heckman and myself. This feedback explains the strengths and weaknesses about each student in relation to the group, as well as their individual performance on the project. In this way, students are built up, while understanding where they can improve in the future.
Assessment is a major component of the classroom, and it is important as the classroom instructor to see what students are learning. A variety of assessment methods are provided in my classroom so that students can use multiple strengths to demonstrate their learning. The typical test is provided with an example from Romeo and Juliet, where students are assessed on their understanding of the plot, characters, setting, literary terms, and major concepts introduced during the unit. The second are sample mini-writing assignments that are given to students to learn the basic concept of writing a response similar to the short-answer responses on the PSSAs. These responses are submitted on Moodle and test students’ basic understanding of literary terms discussed during their reading of Romeo and Juliet, as well as analyzing why Shakespeare uses these terms in the first place. The next assessment was created this year with the use of student laptops to create a travel commercial after reading The Odyssey. Students demonstrate collaboration and persuasion skills to create their commercial and demonstrate knowledge of the key concepts of the epic poem. The Wordle Project asks students to delve into their vocabulary to find key terms to create a visual “word cloud” of the novel Monster. Finally, the Think Tac Toe project puts students in control and allows them to choose their strengths in their final assessment for the Fiction Unit.
Not only is the actual instruction and implementation important in the classroom, but seeing what students produce in the class is also important. I have included several exemplars of student work in my classroom in the various movies featured below to demonstrate what is considered a quality project on the various assignments. I have also included an exemplar for the Odyssey Commercial project, as well, demonstrating students' understanding of parody, iMovie, and collaboration skills. Exemplars are necessary to help students understand what is expected of them and what final product I am looking for.
Evidence of Instructional Delivery:
1) Lesson plans
a. Ad Campaign Project lesson
b. Capulet Ball lesson
c. Body Biography Project & Lesson
2) Feedback
a. Informative Speech Rubric Feedback
b. Ad Campaign Project Feedback
3) Assessments
a. Romeo & Juliet test
b. Romeo & Juliet Literary Response assignments
c. The Odyssey iMovie Project
d. Monster Wordle Project
e. Think Tac Toe Project – student choice
4) Other Student exemplars
1) The Odyssey iMovie Project video example Odyssey Commercial Exemplar