Sample Lesson and Unit Plans

Sample Application Activity Sequence

Sample Inquiry Activity Sequence

Sample Analysis of Student Work

Sample Lesson Plans

Now, during my Internship at DeWitt Middle School, I am lead teaching classes and practicing the skills learned in TE 407/408 in the classroom. I design and implement lessons, practice differentiating and diversifying for students of all achievement levels, consider accommodations in planning and teaching daily, utilizing NGSS Standards to focus lessons on achieving specific learning target goals (see links above to visit Standards and NGSS official pages), and learning real classroom management techniques to further engage students in the material. Links to a sample activity sequence plan and coordinating PowerPoint are located to the left.

Supporting Inquiry and Application: Activity Sequences

Activity Sequences are portions of a single unit that are structured to instruct students on one or a few learning targets. Inquiry and Application are supported in these Activity Sequences partially based on the order of information as it is presented to the students. Types of Activity Sequences include: Application Activity Sequences (where content is supplied to students before it is applied) or Inquiry Application Sequences (during which overarching themes in content are built up through content application). A sample Application Activity Sequence is located in the doc to the left entitled accordingly. Likewise, a sample Inquiry Activity Sequence is located in another doc to the left entitled accordingly.

Analyzing and Revising Activity Sequences

As a subject, science breeds inquiry, seeking improvement until answers are found. Thus, as a science teacher in training, I am constantly getting feedback from my Mentor Teacher, my Field Instructor, and my professors. This feedback is recorded, applied, and learned from. Likewise, I accept the feedback students provide (through their assessments) and use it to consider what students know, where their understanding may be lacking, and what I can do better as an instructor. Attached to the left is a document that contains an example of my analyzing student work, feel free to give it a look!

Utilizing Activity Sequences to Identify and Leverage Content

I might be biased, but, to me, science is an easy topic to relate content to students' everyday lives. Every day, to reinforce this, my mentor and I select students to read through the Learning Targets and Success Criteria that will be applied to the content for that hour. Real world applications naturally link themselves into content in science, so this is done effortlessly. For example, studying Plant Biology, plants are observable organisms that surround all life on Earth- and students are naturally curious about how they are able to survive in various environments. I am also interning in a rural environment, so, our school being surrounded by corn means that studying corn seeds' germination/growth is fascinating to many of our students purely based on where they are growing up. The content in the Plant Project portion of our Cell and Cell Processes unit utilizes plant seeds that students may observe every day in the form of house plants or food, where students tie their natural curiosity about these organisms to studying the effect of various environmental factors (such as temperature, water concentration, etc) on the germination of their plants. Students also enjoy interacting with scientist mentors (experts in Plant Biology fields, from around the world) online to receive feedback on their projects, as utilizing technology as "social media" is of cultural significance to all Americans. For a link to the site where students went daily to "blog" with their mentor, and for information on the project itself, please follow the link to the right. A document is also posted to the right with additional examples within an activity sequence.

Sample Activity Sequence: Identifying and Leveraging Content

Orchestrating Scientific Discussion through Lessons

Orchestrating Scientific Discussion within Lessons

Scientific Discussions are an essential part of any science field, as scientists are constantly utilizing other scientists' views to expand their own understanding of content. Students are naturally curious, and discussing helps reinforce and deepen understanding of important concepts, so using this form of teaching is truly a win- win. Please see the document to the left for a sample lesson where this teaching tool was utilized.

Unit 1 Connection

Unit 2 connection

Unit Connections: Bridging the Gap Between Activity Sequences and Units

Thus far, 7th grade science class students have completed one unit and are undergoing the second. For "Unit Connections" (where unit goals are clarified and NGSS view of the unit are supplied), please see links to the left. While drafting the Unit 2 Connection (green highlighted text left), I began to value the student view of the unit, and included that as well- as centering the context for the content around students is imperative because students' understanding coming into the unit and throughout the unit are the foundation of teaching.

Curriculum Development Example: Water Cycle Unit Plan

This unit addresses the Water Cycle NGSS Standards for 7th Grade Science, utilizing 3 Dimensional Learning strategies and Inquiry- based instruction/assessments throughout the 4-5 week unit.This unit was originally formatted for traditional educational settings, but can easily be modified for online instruction as well. Please click the image to the left to view a Unit Outline for the Water Cycle. Full unit materials available upon request.

Photosynthesis Check for Understanding

Myth Chart Info

REAL GLT 2 for website.pdf

Assessing Student Understanding: Fun and Productive

Assessments are a necessary aspect of education , the purpose being to determine student understanding of content covered both while it is being taught (after portions of the content have been covered) and after a unit has been taught.

Formative Assessments: These may be conducted throughout a unit, and can take many forms; however, my mentor and I try a variety with students, one example of which can be found on the document to the left called "Myth Chart Info". This occurs after additional demos and activities have been completed, in order to gauge how much review will be needed before moving on in the content (onto the quiz). Another example is the Formative Assessment probe found (in red highlight) on pages 7 and 8 of the GLT 2 Report, attached left.
Summative Assessments: These are the classical dreaded assessments made easier using: competitive Quizlet Live sessions, stimulating online vocabulary games, learning target review via class discussion, and Quizzes that are less than 20 comprehensive questions per unit. Unit quizzes are the main Summative Assessment in my mentor's classroom. An example of a Summative Assessment is the "Photosynthesis Check for Understanding", which was a Google Form that gauged student understanding on the process of Photosynthesis, learned in the Secondary Knowledge Probe of the Plant and Oxygen Investigation. See links to the left for the Investigation as well as the Check for Understanding link (to a Google Doc version). An example of a Summative Assessment recently administered, the Cellular Respiration Check for Understanding, is included (in light grey highlight) on pages 10 and 13 of the GLT 2 report, attached left.

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