This is my Discipline Specific Paper that I wrote for my Literacy in the Disciplines class. We were instructed to write about how people read differently across the disciplines and address it to a fictional high school that just opened. Because special education incorporates all of the academic disciplines, I have written about specific goals for reading in each of them. These goals are preceded by an explanation of what special education teachers should include in all of their lesson plans in order to help students learn to read across the disciplines.
IPTS Standard 2 states that "the competent teacher has in-depth understanding of content area knowledge that includes central concepts, methods of inquiry, structures of the disciplines, and content area literacy. The teacher creates meaningful learning experiences for each student based upon interactions among content area and pedagogical knowledge, and evidence-based practice". My Discipline Specific Paper meets Knowledge Indicator 2D, which is that "the competent teacher understands the relationship of knowledge within the disciplines to other content areas and to life applications") because it emphasizes the unique connections each academic discipline has with each other. There are countless amounts of ways in which teachers can incorporate two or more disciplines into one lesson, and since reading texts is a major component of all the disciplines, teachers should strive to include a wide range of texts for students to read in each subject, some standard and some unconventional. For example, a teacher could include a scientific text in a social studies lesson and ask his/her students to apply historical thinking skills to identify why it was significant to the time period being discussed, as well as pinpoint any possible corroboration. I include examples similar to this one all throughout my Discipline Specific Paper.
I had so much fun learning about all the different ways that each academic discipline connects to each other. As a Special Education major, I was required to write about all of the disciplines in my paper, as I will be teaching all subjects. I enjoyed applying my creativity skills to this paper as I thought about how I could make texts from one specific discipline a central component to how I teach another discipline. It challenged me at a few different points in time to really think about how I could do this, and even though it was difficult, this was one of my favorite aspects of this project. Writing my Discipline Specific Paper made me even more excited to apply my knowledge of how each discipline connects to each other in the classroom. I have a feeling that my students will be just as amazed by it as I am.
Commas, Commas, Commas Lesson Plan
This is a lesson plan that I wrote to teach my 5th grade students that I had at my Navajo Heights Elementary School placement. Around the time I decided to write this lesson plan, my students were preparing for their MAP Tests. One of the components of the MAP Tests is to write an essay, and based on my own observations and that of my colleagues', I decided to create a grammar review lesson that specifically focused on commas. The lesson begins with an inquiry-based question, which is "Why do you think commas were invented?". After listening to and writing my students' responses on the board, I played a video about the different types of instances where commas need to be placed in sentences. I then had my students practice inserting commas into different sentences, first in a guided practice activity and then in a more independent activity. I created a Google Slides presentation for this lesson, but it is not included on this page because some of the sentences contain my former students' names.
IPTS Standard 2 states that "the competent teacher has in-depth understanding of content area knowledge that includes central concepts, methods of inquiry, structures of the disciplines, and content area literacy. The teacher creates meaningful learning experiences for each student based upon interactions among content area and pedagogical knowledge, and evidence-based practice". My "Commas, Commas, Commas" lesson plan meets Performance Indicator 2K, which is that "the competent teacher engages students in the processes of critical thinking and inquiry and addresses standards of evidence of the disciplines". I utilized a technique that I learned in Chapter 5 of Classroom Confidential in this lesson that I really enjoyed, which was to ask "What else?" after every answer to the inquiry question I posed. I would then wait to see another student raise their hand, and then repeat the process after each answer. When I put this strategy into practice, I could tell that my students were thinking hard about what other purposes commas have in addition to separating words in a sentence, and that is exactly what I wanted them to do. Inquiry is essential to education, and by providing my students with the opportunity to engage in critical thinking during this lesson, they increased their knowledge of the many uses of commas, as well as learn about them from listening to their peers.
I originally did not intend to start this lesson off with an inquiry-based question, but as soon as I came up with one that I could ask my students, I had to do it. I believe that I am so drawn to inquiry-based lessons because I am always seeking to learn more about how students think, what they already know about a topic, and how I could help them to add to their existing knowledge about a topic. This lesson would not have been the same without having asked my students this question at the beginning of class. I considered leaving it out because there wouldn't be enough time with everything else I already had planned for this lesson, and I'm so glad I didn't. Through including my inquiry-based question in this lesson, I learned that a question as simple as "Why do you think commas were invented?" is worth asking to students. It will help them to discover the world more than you might initially think.