Reading, Writing, and Oral Communication – The competent teacher has foundation knowledge of reading, writing, and oral communication within the content area and recognizes and addresses student reading, writing, and oral communication needs to facilitate the acquisition of content knowledge.
RATIONALE
“Teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength” Maya Angelou. Diversity in books is very necessary and essential in order for readers to relate and connect to the literature. Diversity in literature can be very broad. It includes but is not limited to gender, age, special needs, social status, sexual preference and ethnic background. Diverse books intend to make readers feel empowerment, gain self-assured of their persona and give a sense of belonging and acceptance regardless of any labels given by society. Children should be able to enjoy reading but in order for this to take place a child must first be able to see themselves reproduced in a story. Children must be able to see their own story written within a book in order to connect, enjoy and feel understood. These are the reasons I decided to concentrate my unit lesson on the picture book We’re all Wonders. This particular book embraces diversity at its fullest and makes very well usage of vivid pictures and text. The pictures and the text integrate in harmony.
The main character in the story is August or as most call him, “Auggie”. Due to the numerous surgeries he needed and constantly being sick, he was home schooled. August’s mother then begins to think it is time for him to attend a school since he won’t be needing a surgery for a couple of years. August is not confident about this decision because of his facial abnormalities. He is aware of the consistent strange looks he gets from people all the time.
When August is enrolled in school, he faces many challenging situations. At times he feels like giving up but he finds the strength to keep going with the support of his family.
Standard Connection:
Standard 6 is as follows: Standard 6 - Reading, Writing, and Oral Communication – The competent teacher has foundational knowledge of reading, writing, and oral communication within the content area and recognizes and addresses student reading, writing, and oral communication needs to facilitate the acquisition of content knowledge.
Knowledge Indicators – The competent teacher:
6A) understands appropriate and varied instructional approaches used before, during, and after
reading, including those that develop word knowledge, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency,
and strategy use in the content areas;
6B) understands that the reading process involves the construction of meaning through the
interactions of the reader's background knowledge and experiences, the information in the text,
and the purpose of the reading situation;
6C) understands communication theory, language development, and the role of language in
learning;
6D) understands writing processes and their importance to content learning;
6E) knows and models standard conventions of written and oral communications;
6F) recognizes the relationships among reading, writing, and oral communication and understands
how to integrate these components to increase content learning;
6G) understands how to design, select, modify, and evaluate a wide range of materials for the
content areas and the reading needs of the student;
6H) understands how to use a variety of formal and informal assessments to recognize and address
the reading, writing, and oral communication needs of each student; and
6I) knows appropriate and varied instructional approaches, including those that develop word
knowledge, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and strategy use in the content areas.
Performance Indicators – The competent teacher:
6J) selects, modifies, and uses a wide range of printed, visual, or auditory materials, and online
resources appropriate to the content areas and the reading needs and levels of each student
(including ELLs, and struggling and advanced readers);
6K) uses assessment data, student work samples, and observations from continuous monitoring of student progress to plan and evaluate effective content area reading, writing, and oral
communication instruction;
6L) facilitates the use of appropriate word identification and vocabulary strategies to develop each student's understanding of content;
6M) teaches fluency strategies to facilitate comprehension of content;
6N) uses modeling, explanation, practice, and feedback to teach students to monitor and apply
comprehension strategies independently, appropriate to the content learning;
6O) teaches students to analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and summarize information in single texts
and across multiple texts, including electronic resources;
6P) teaches students to develop written text appropriate to the content areas that utilizes
organization (e.g., compare/contrast, problem/solution), focus, elaboration, word choice, and
standard conventions (e.g., punctuation, grammar);
6Q) integrates reading, writing, and oral communication to engage students in content learning;
6R) works with other teachers and support personnel to design, adjust, and modify instruction to
meet students’ reading, writing, and oral communication needs; and
6S) stimulates discussion in the content areas for varied instructional and conversational purposes
Self-Evaluation
In my picture book unit I incorporated various activities that harmonize with the objectives and teaching standards presented. I also used assessments to keep track of students progress. I included pre-reading, during reading, and after-reading activities to enhance the students' acquisition of material and to trigger critical thinking skills that would result in incorporating ideas learned into real life situations. I also made sure to properly model and made any accommodations needed for diverse learners.
Morning Meeting/Social Studies Lesson
Rationale: I created a morning meeting/ Social Studies Lesson Plan and considered prior student knowledge, diverse learners needs, I included formative and summative assessments. Engage , connect and launch approached.
Standard Connection: I recognized and addressed my students needs and differentiated accordingly as stated on Illinois Professional Teaching Standard four.
Self-Evaluation: Whole class discussion embraces a unique learning experience because children are able to recall, share and learn from their peers. It is important to establish guidelines as to how the class discussion will take effect. Proper turn taking during whole class discussion is crucial because not only the most vocal students will participate and benefit but also those students who might need extra time to reassure their response is correct before sharing. Moderate support must be given to the student in order for them to accomplish the objective that has been targeted. Support needs to be provided in order for the students to not become frustrated and learn productively.The activity begins independent or with the teachers support depending on the need and level of understanding of the two previous activities. The
The goal is for the activity to start with guidance and for that need of guidance to diminish as much as possible. I designed a lesson in which the whole child was taken into perspective.