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.

This picture book unit assignment was created in the summer of my senior year at Trinity. This lesson was assigned through an Elementary Literacy class. In the mentioned assignment, we were asked to assemble and construct a picture book unit. I had chosen, “Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez”. The unit contains a picture book evaluation, unit plan calendar, comprehension questions, a lesson plan, and an edTPA context for learning and planning commentary, accompanied by pre, during, and post-reading activities that coincide with the picture book unit. In this unit, I strive to teach the students about the importance of social justice and introduce them to civil rights leaders.

When constructing and designing this picture book unit for and at the 3rd-grade level, I kept in mind at all times the wide range of learners and diversity of students I could have within my classroom at any given time. This also includes but is not limited to: Students with a variety of reading levels and various learning styles that make up any classroom. I focused on the importance of this when designing and choosing the activities and assessments. I wanted to reach all the students with a variety of materials and various assessments to tap into their strengths. This level of differentiation allowed me to directly align the picture book unit with IPTS standards because I acknowledged, from the infancy of planning, this unit that there will be a variety of reading, writing, and oral communication levels amongst students in the classroom and that I will need to accommodate the various needs so students can access and learn the material and master the objectives.

This assignment allowed ample opportunities for learning and reflection. Filling out a Basal reading assessment was one area that provided opportunities for learning and reflection to take place. Thinking about the many aspects that go into choosing and planning literacy instruction and the materials and resources you can use to teach the material. I also learned that using the platform of teaching Social Justice is one that is necessary for today’s classroom. Structuring the lesson as a well-thought-out and diverse topic that may affect or has affected the students who are learning the material was something that I carefully planned by using state standards for literacy and social justice.

Click here to view my Unit plan for "Harvesting Hope"

My Digital Story on Gardening