Week 6 - Final Paper and ePortfolioFinal Paper and ePortfolioYou will create an ePortfolio that includes redesigned activities from prior coursework in your program (MAED or MASEPreview the document)

Redesigned Instructional Plan: Learning and Innovation Skills and Student Assessment

Kieandra Curry

EDU 696 Capstone 2: Culminating Project

Instructor: Kathleen Pierce-Friedman

12/10/18

Redesigned Instructional Plan: Learning and Innovation Skills and Student Assessment

Lesson Date and Time: May 9, 2018 No. of Students: 30

Room Number: Miscellaneous Information: None

Teacher: Kieandra Curry

Lesson Objective: At the end of this lesson, students should be able to find words and identify their synonyms from the online dictionary/thesaurus to clarify the meaning and usage of words. This will improve the students’ conversation and writing skills.

Anticipatory set: The teacher will write the word “small” on the white/black board and ask students to explain what it means. Ask the pupils if they know other words which have the same meaning as “small.”

Input: The lesson will be taught within a classroom equipped with computers or tablets. Using the online thesaurus, the teacher will demonstrate to students how to look up words and their synonyms fast. For each word identified, the teacher will read a list of its synonyms. All the instructions needed for the lesson will be given through verbal and written communication. The chalk board, smart board, and thesaurus will be the most important tools for the lesson.

Model: Using one of the Microsoft office applications such as Excel or Word, the teacher will prepare a document comprising of two columns. One column will be labelled “plain words” and the other “fancy words”. Using the online dictionary, the teacher will search for the work “neat.” This word will the written on the “plain word” column. Several synonyms of the word “neat” will then be written in the “fancy word” column.

Guided practice: On the board, the teacher will write a sentence with a number of overused words. The students will be instructed to look for the overused in the online dictionary. The teacher will supervise the students and monitor their progress. If need be, the students will be guided through the exercise. They will then be asked to add words which they think can be used in place of the overused ones.

Checking for understanding: Ask the students to describe the process that they used to arrive at the list of synonyms. Prompt them to explain which new word they found most interesting. From the list, students will be asked to point out the words they have never seen or heard in the past. They will then be asked to look up its meaning and construct a sentence using the word. Clarify to students that the word chosen as a synonym should make sense in that context. They should understand that choosing words randomly and replacing them with an overused word simply because it is a synonym can lead to an error. Further, the pupils will be asked to repeat the process used to search words on the online dictionary.

Independent practice: The exercise will be an ongoing process and will continue for a few weeks. Every week, students will be asked to work in groups of five to keep a journal where they record five new words (one word per student) and compile a list of corresponding synonyms. The students will be encouraged to use the online dictionary and follow the process learned during the class. They will also be asked to use audio component available next to a word they are searching to know the correct pronunciation of the word.

Closure: Students will be asked to describe what a synonym is. They will then be asked to explain the tool that helps discover synonyms and the process used. The students will also be asked to figure out other ways through which the tool (online dictionary) can be used.

Redesign - Alignment and Mastery

I redesigned the lesson above by embedding assessments throughout the lesson. To achieve this, I included assignments, activities, and exercises which will be done as part of the class. These embedded (or formative) assessments would provide data regarding the learning outcome of the lesson (learning synonyms) (Becker-Klein, Peterman, & Stylinski, 2016). As it can be seen in the redesign above, the lesson plan include alignment between specific skills, CCSS, and objectives and includes criteria for mastery (Decristan et al, 2015). This alignment will further be explained in the Summary – Modification section below.

Redesign - Learning and Innovation Skills

According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, among other things, students must be able to learn essential skills such as communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving which are needed in today’s world (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009). In the redesigned lesson, I have embedded assessments throughout the lesson to make sure that students have learned and benefitted in this regard. One of the assessment components evaluates if the students have mastered the skill of using computers while searching words in the online dictionary, using audio components of the dictionary to learn pronunciation, and making use of technology and media. The students are also assessed if they have learned collaboration and teamwork skills which are important in today’s world. The creativity of the students is assessed by testing their ability to look for new words, search for their synonyms, and matching them.

Summary – Introduction

This lesson has been modified to meet the assessment requirements for alignment and mastery as well as learning and innovation skills. I have included embedded assessments throughout the instructional plan in such a way that these two important aspects of 21st century learning are achieved. Unlike the original one, this redesigned lesson plan has an aspect of assessing the students to determine if they have understood what has been taught. Throughout the lesson, the students’ understanding regarding the use of technology, their creativity, and collaborating with peers to complete assigned tasks.

Summary – Conclusion

Learning in the 21st century requires that students are prepared in a way that they can easily succeed in the modern technological landscape that is continuously changing. In order to achieve these requirements, students should be assessed at given intervals during the lesson to determine if they have understood what they have been taught. The reasoning behind this is to ensure that students get maximum benefit from the lesson.

Summary – Modification

As mentioned above, the key modification made on the instructional plan is embedding assessments throughout the duration of the lesson. in order to achieve this, I incorporated an aspect of assessment in the “checking for understanding” section of the lesson plan. Here, the students are asked to describe the process that they used to arrive at the list of synonyms. This particular assessment seeks to evaluate the student’s understanding regarding the use of technology. The students’ interaction with technology during the lesson is one of my program learning outcome for this lesson, and this aspect of assessment helped achieve this objective. At various points during the lesson, the students’ understanding of the lesson’s content is assessed. For example, during guided practice, students are asked to mention words which they think would replace overused words in a sentence written on the board. Under checking for understanding, students are asked to identify new words, search for their synonyms, and construct sentences using the words. At the end of the lesson, the students are asked to describe what a synonym is. The students’ creativity while using technology is assessed when they are asked to describe other ways through which the online dictionary can be used.

Summary – Evaluation

The redesigned lesson plan promotes learning by assessing students’ understanding throughout the lesson. Particularly, my activity aligns with formative assessment, where the understanding of the learners is assessed in the course of learning. For this reason, I have incorporated assessments where, in addition to testing if the students understood the synonyms they learned and how to use them in a sentence, their skills on using the online dictionary are also assessed. According to the Partnership for the 21st Century Skills, formative assessment should be part any learning assessment strategy (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2007). In addition to ensuring that students understand every bit of the lesson, the assessment activities will also help the instructor to gather date that will be used to gauge their understanding at the end of the course.

Summary – Reflection

The main challenge that I encountered during the redesigning process was deciding the point at which to place an assessment during the lesson. This challenge was addressed by making the decision that every assessment is done after 15 minutes of learning. It was also a challenge trying to fit the assessments into the lesson plan’s timeframe, given that assessments consume time. This challenge was overcame by setting aside 10 minutes for learning and spending the next five minutes assessing students’ understanding of that part of the lesson.

Becker-Klein, R., Peterman, K., & Stylinski, C. (2016). Embedded Assessment as an Essential Method for Understanding Public Engagement in Citizen Science. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 1(1).

Decristan, J., Klieme, E., Kunter, M., Hochweber, J., Büttner, G., Fauth, B., … Hardy, I. (2015). Embedded Formative Assessment and Classroom Process Quality: How Do They Interact in Promoting Science Understanding? American Educational Research Journal, 52(6), 1133–1159. 

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009, December ). P21 Framework Definitions . Retrieved from Partnership for 21st Century Skills: http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/P21_Framework_Definitions.pdf

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2007). 21st Century Skills Assessment . Retrieved from Partnership for 21st Century Skills: http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/21st_Century_Skills_Assessment_e-paper.pdf