ELA TPE b

The candidate understands how to plan and deliver instruction of increasing complexity in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language to ensure that students meet or exceed the standards.

What is this?

I created this sequence of lessons about visual literacy for a 12th grade intervention ELA class during my placement at St. Helena High School. Each lesson includes standards; learning objectives; linked materials including slides, learning station instructions, and a reading packet; notes on students' prior knowledge and planned differentiation, assessments, and instructional steps. Each lesson builds on the previous ones, with the first introducing content, the second facilitating practiced group work, and the third sharing independent analysis.

Why did I choose it?

I chose this lesson sequence because it scaffolds content, adding difficulty and promoting greater independence through each lesson. In the first, students learn new terminology about visual literacy in graphic novel panels. In the second, they work together to analyze given panels in groups. In the third, they analyze their own independent reading books and share their thinking. The activities in these lessons lessons also include skill development in all four areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language.

What did I learn?

Creating these lessons taught me about gradual release of responsibility as I learned how to create a sequence of instruction which begins with the teacher sharing completely new concepts (in this case, through the lecture and reading in the first lesson), everyone practicing those concepts together (learning stations), and finally, each student being able to carry out the concepts on their own (book discussions). I also practiced using comprehension checks to measure understanding of new content, which I had not done as frequently before.