Cross-Disciplinary Content Standards-Based Lesson

Topic: Animal Adaption*
Grade 4; English Language Development & Science

Content Area Standards:
California English Language Arts
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.9
Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

English Language Development
SL.4.1, 6; L.4.1,3,6
Exchange information and ideas with others through oral collaborative discussions on a range of social and academic topics

W.4.1-10; L.4.1-3,6

Writing literary and informational texts to present, describe, and explain ideas and information, using appropriate technology

California Science Content 
LS.3.a-b
3. Living organisms depend on one another and on their environment for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know ecosystems can be characterized by living and nonliving components.
b. Students know that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, and some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

Learning Outcomes:

• Students will relate characteristics and behavior of animals to their environment
• Students will determine the behavior and body structure that have specific growth and survival functions
• Students will evaluate living and nonliving things that affect animals in their environment

Materials:
Pre-activity: photos of various animals and environments
Bird adaptation activity: paper plates, pliers, tweezers, chopsticks, spoons, clothespins, bird seeds, pasta, rice, cereal
Copies of chart worksheet for adaptation activity
Class set of Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Animal adaptation research: 5"x7" index cards with copies of rubric to assess index cards, access to Internet/computerlab

Pre-Assessment:
Students will be shown various photos of animals and environments on the white board or SmartBoard. They will match the animals to the environment accordingly and discuss with their partners why they made their conclusions.

Activities:
Bird Adaptation Activity
Students will be organized into heterogeneous groups of four. Before their experiment, students will discuss among themselves, and brainstorm and draw the different shapes of beaks while the teacher poses the question "Why are there different shapes of beaks?". For the experiment, students will fill out their chart table with the tools, materials, and their observations as they use the different tools to pick up the foods. Findings will be shared and discussed with the whole class; open-ended questions will be independently completed at the end of the experiment, below the chart table.

Stone Fox Text Reference
Using the chapter book, students will go back and make connections between the bird adaptions and the Samoyed dogs that are mentioned in the story. Students will be instructed to use the text as reference to identify and describe at least three adaptations of the dogs.

Collaborative Animal Adaptation Research
Students will be assigned in pairs and will be given an animal to research. On an index card and using appropriate technology resources, partners will record the animal behavior and structural characteristics in relation to its habitat. Their findings will be shared in a short presentation of about 3-5 minutes with a drawing or diagram.

Vocabulary: environment, adaptations, body structure, survival, behavior, habitat

Post Assessment:

• Teacher will use open-ended questions to check for student understanding of animal adaptation.
• Teacher will use teacher-made rubric to assess research content of animal behavior and structural characteristics.
• Teacher will verify student understanding of animal adaption through citation of text passages from Stone Fox.

Teaching Reflection:
In collaborating with other teachers and colleagues, there may be different approaches to introduce the lesson or different questions to pose for the students. From another perspective, activities can be altered to address other learning styles that weren't considered before.

Source:
*http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/2852?ref=search

Learning Activities for 21st Century Communication Skills

Using the Internet for Current Events: "Dear Mr. President..."**
Grade 6-8
Prompt:

• Rationale: As 21st Century communication skills include "mediated and digital communication, interpersonal, written and oral communication*", 
• Standards: 
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.2 Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• Learning Outcome:
• Students will be able to gather and analyze multiple sources from the Internet.
• Students will be able to use multiple sources as their supporting evidence to express their knowledge and opinions on a certain event.
• Students will be able to write a business/professional letter, appropriate in content to the audience and containing all correct parts of a letter (heading, body, signature, etc.).
• Vocabulary:
• May vary based on current events (inauguration, policy, regulation, law, protection, citizens, civilians, etc.)
• Collaboration: Students will go through a revision process where at least two classmates will read the letters and offer suggestions for each other to further develop their writing skills.
• Audience: Teacher and president
• Learning Presentation: A letter & a visual (a three-panel poster or a short PowerPoint presentation of 3-5 slides)
• Teacher Reflection: Teacher will assess on students'

Reading Multiple Sources to Analyze Historical Events: Rosa Parks***
Grade 8-12
Prompt:

• Rationale:
• Standards: 
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations widths diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection and research.
• Learning Outcome:
• Students will be able to make their own interpretations of a historical events based on multiple sources (primary and secondary).
• Students will be able to write an argument, using multiple sources as supporting evidence, to argue for or against standard history textbooks.
• Students will be able to collaborate with peers, listening respectfully to others and acknowledging all viewpoints of the topic.
• Vocabulary: activist, analysis, causation, movement, civil rights, primary source, secondary source, interpretation
• Collaboration: Students will be given the opportunity to work in groups and gather evidence for both sides of the argument: reasons for and against standard history textbooks. Students will share their own interpretations of the sources to each other and provide references to support their interpretations.
• Audience: Teacher and classmates
• Learning Presentation: A persuasive essay & class debate
• Teacher Reflection: Teacher will assess on students' 

Source:
*http://www.p21.org/our-work/4cs-research-series/communication
**http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/01-1/lp2291.shtml
***http://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/lesson-plan-reviews/19430

Cognitive Rigor Matrix & Project-Based Lesson Plan

Topic: Time Travelers*
Grade 7 World History

Project Prompt: As "time travelers", you will investigate social issues of different times throughout history to determine those that would be relevant and potentially interesting to today's youth.

Students will be divided into groups of four members, hetergeneously grouped by ability.

Content Standards & Objectives:
RLA.O.7.1.6, RLA.O.7.2.1, RLA.O.7.2.9, RLA.O.7.3.6, 21C.O.5-8.1.LS1, 21C.O.5-8.2.TT2, 21C.O.5-8.3.LS1

• Students will be able use appropriate resources to investigate, gather, paraphrase and summarize relevant information.
• Students will relate themes from text to themselves and real-world connections.
• Students will collaborate with peers to create and present a media product.

Materials:
Printed and non-printed informational resources
Assignment handouts and rubrics
Student notebooks/journals
Class-set laptops or computers; computer lab

Levels of Thinking and Questioning:
DOK Level 1- Recall of Information
Students will begin the project by deciding on the time period that they are interested in researching. They will identify or describe features of places or people, key figures. Some questions they will consider as they gather information:

1. Where does this time period geographically take place in?
2. Who were the key figures during this time period?

DOK Level 2- Basic Reasoning
Students will dive deeper into their chosen time period by considering questions such as:

1. Identify and summarize major events, solutions, conflicts and problems during this time period.
2. Describe the cause-effect of particular events during this time period.

DOK Level 3- Complex Reasoning
As students have gathered enough information and notes, they will start to:

1. Explain and connect ideas using supporting evidence from different sources.
2. Analyze the similarities and differences between major events, issues and/or conflicts of their researched time period and of the modern day.

DOK Level 4- Extended Reasoning
Once students have finalized their research and begin to organize their findings into a media product for presentation, in their presentation, they will analyze and explain using supporting evidence and inferences to why they chose their time period and why it would be relevant and potentially interesting for today's youth.

Source:
*http://wveis.k12.wv.us/teach21/public/project/Guide.cfm?upid=3599&tsele1=1&tsele2=107

Examining Depth and Rigor in Student Learning

Webb's Depth of Knowledge & Bloom's Revised Taxonomy
Webb's Depth of Knowledge consists of four levels that categorizes tasks according to the complexity of thinking required to meet the objective. These four levels can act as a guide for teachers to create an in-depth and rich learning environment for students to receive high-level learning:

• Level 1: Recall & Reproduction
• Tasks that does not require cognitive effort beyond copying, computing, defining, and recognizing.
• Level 2: Skills & Concept
• Tasks requiring more than one mental step such as comparing, organizing, summarizing, predicting, and estimating.
• Level 3: Strategic Thinking/Reasoning
• Tasks requiring multiple responses with justification such as solving non-routine problems, designing an experiment, or analyzing characteristics of a genre.
• Level 4: Extended Thinking
• Tasks that require the most cognitive effort such as synthesize information from multiple sources, transfer knowledge from one domain to solve problems in another, designing a survey and interpreting results, analyze multiple texts to extract themes, or writing an original short story.

Similarly, Bloom's Revised Taxonomy consists of six levels of skills and abilities in increasing demand that guides in clarifying objectives of student learning. These levels help teacher plan and deliver instruction appropriately, implement valid assessment tasks and strategies, and ensure that instruction and assessment are aligned with the objectives:

• Remember: recognizing, recalling
• Understand: interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, explaining
• Apply: executing, implementing
• Analyze: differentiating, organizing, attributing
• Evaluate: checking, critiquing
• Create: generating, planning, producing

Application of Webb's DOK to Teaching Practices
Teaching to Webb's Depth of Knowledge to engage students in richer discussions, learning experiences, and rigorous tasks can positively impact their learning in all content areas.

Tiered Vocabulary Activity Lesson Plan

Topic: "The Allure of Gold"*
Physical Science, World History
Grade 6

Content Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.4
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.4a
Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word's position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.6
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

Vocabulary Words:
Tier 2 (High Frequency.Multi-Meaning)-
divert, lure, property, condense, extract, displace

Tier 3 (Subject Related)-
pharaoh, tarnish, corrode, acid, conductive, malleable, atomic

Learning Activities:
Guided/Collaborative Practice
Using Context Clues & Graphic Organizer
Students will work together in pairs and identify terms within the passage that are unfamiliar to them, highlighting the words as they read along. Students will discuss with each other and use context clues to determine the meaning of the identified words. Students will use a three-column chart graphic organizer to analyze and reflect on the new words found in the reading passage. Each column will be labeled: "What I Think This Word Means", "What This Word Means", "Why Is This Word Important". Under the first column, students will use context clues and their own background knowledge to write their own definitions. Then using a dictionary and writing under the second column of the chart, students will determine the definition of their highlighted words. For the last column, students will be encouraged to think about the importance of the word--such as, why the author uses that particular word, or how it supports the main theme or topic of the passage.

Independent Practice
Using the same vocabulary terms from the lesson's reading passage, students incorporate them in a other ways to further improve their vocabulary understanding and development.

• "This word is important to me because..." Students will write sentences using the vocabulary terms to make personal connections with the new words. For example: "After I left my bike outside in the right overnight, I noticed that its bold canary-yellow paint had tarnished. This word is important to me because I love bright colors and I care about my bike so taking care of its color and condition is something I make an effort in."
• Tell a story.  Students will write one of the following: 1) a short story, or 2) a comic strip/visual story. They will demonstrate understanding of the new vocabulary terms and practice using the words through story-telling.

*Source:

http://www.readworks.org/passages/allure-gold

MAT671 Applied Best Strategies in Classroom Instruction

Reflection on Teaching Diverse Learners

Not only has diversity become a norm within the classroom among our students, we should expect that diversity will continue to grow. As each student enters the classroom with unique cultural and linguistic backgrounds and personal experiences, it is important to regard them respectfully as individuals and address their individual learning needs. To best teach diverse learners, I believe best practices in the classroom should include:

Differentiated Instruction
A new topic, lesson, or unit should always be introduced with clarity so that students understand the purpose and learning goals of it. As there are different types learners (visual, kinesthetic, audio, etc.), content materials should be varied in form to achieve optimal student learning and mastery of objectives/goals. Students come with so many different perspectives and experiences of their own, building meaningful connection based on their personal experiences will help them process the new information/material better.

Feedback and Student Accountability
Teacher feedback is also crucial for student learning; to address the diverse learning needs, feedback should be specific to the students' capabilities and learning style.  Because not all students learn at the same pace, they should be given opportunities to be active in their learning process. Through reflection and self-checkpoints, students can be held accountable for their own learning progress by monitoring their own projects and work, and to better understand their learning strengths and areas of improvement.

Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning can be a very effective strategy in developing students' critical thinking skills, making connection to the real world, and providing meaningful purpose to what they are learning. Through projects and group work, students will face decision-making as well as accountability amongst themselves. In collaboration, students can gain more awareness of their individual talents and have the chance to make significant contributions.

Teaching Resource for Digital Citizenship

http://carolhvy.wixsite.com/youmeinthedigitalage

Audience: Middle School Students
Purpose: To help build essential knowledge base of Digital Citizenship