Graphic+Organizer

**Lesson Plan: Using Background Knowledge, pgs. 28-30**
A graphic organizer should be constructed as a tool for learning. This graphic organizer follows the lesson plan template on page 15 in CS4TRC. Read the additional information provided on this graphic organizer and use it to analyze the lesson plan you are deconstructing.


 * Important: **
 * 1) Each partner should use a **different color font** to indicate her/his contributions to this collaborative assignment. Do not use black!
 * 2) Where you see a **diamond-shaped** bullet (turned into a "v" by wikispaces), you will need to provide a response.
 * 3) “Yes” and “no” (or variations of these such as “none”) are incomplete answers and will earn **zero points**, except as noted on the checklist.


 * Planning **

· Reading Comprehension Strategy

v Which AASL indicators align with this reading comprehension strategy? Note both the number and the actual language of the indicator. The reading comprehension strategy is Using Background Knowledge. Indicator 1.1.1: Follow an inquiry-based process in seeking knowledge in curricular subjects, and make the real-world connection for using this process in own life. Indicator 1.1.2: Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning. (April added also.) Indicator 1.1.3: Develop and refine a range of questions to frame the search for new understanding. Indicator 1.1.5: Evaluate information found i selected sources on the basis of accuracy, validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context. Indicator 1.1.6: Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format in order to make inferences and gather meaning. (April added also.) Indicator 1.1.7: Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying misconceptions, main and supporting ideas, conflicting information, and point of view or bias. Indicator 1.2.1: Display initiative and engagement by posing questions and investigating the answers beyond the collection of superficial facts. Indicator 1.4.2: Use interaction with and feedback from the teachers and peers to guide own inquiry process. Indicator 1.4.4: Seek appropriate help when needed. Indicator 1.1.9: collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding. Indicator 2.1.2: Organize knowledge so that it is useful. (April added also.) Indicator 2.1.5: Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve problems. (April added also.) Indicator 2.1.6: Use the writing process, media and visual literacy, and technology skills to create products that express new understandings. (April added also.) Indicator 2.2.4: Demonstrate personal productivity by completing products to express learning. Indicator 2.3.1: connect understanding to the real world. Indicator 2.4.3: Recognize new knowledge and understanding. Indicator 3.1.1: Conclude an inquiry-based research process by sharing new understandings and reflecting on the learning. Indicator 3.1.2: Participate and collaborate as members of a social and intellectual network of learners. (April added also.) Indicator 3.1.3: Use writing and speaking skill to communicate new understandings effectively. (April added also.) Indicator 3.1.5: Connect learning to community issues. Indicator 3.2.2: Show social responsibility by participating actively with others in learning situations and by contributing questions and ideas during group discussions. Indicator 3.2.3: Demonstrate teamwork by working productively with others. Indicator 3.3.4: Create products that apply to authentic, real-world contexts. Indicator 3.4.2: Assess the quality and effectiveness of the learning product. Indicator 4.1.1: Read, view, and listen for pleasure and personal growth. (April added also.) Indicator 4.1.3: Respond to literature and creative expressions of ideas in various formats and genres. (April added also.) Indicator 4.1.5: Connect ideas to own interests and previous knowledge and experience. (April added also.) Indicator 4.1.8: Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning. (April added also.) Indicator 4.3.1: Participate in the social exchange of ideas, both electronically and in person. Indicator 4.3.2: Recognize that resources are created for a variety of purposes.

Some of these standards indicators are not closely aligned with the **reading comprehension strategy**. (Those that aren't can be indicated below.)

Although all of these standards indicators work to a greater or lesser extent, when you design your own lesson, you will want to select only three or four that you will actually **assess**.

· Reading Development Level The reading development level of this lesson is Emerging for grades K - 1.

Note: The levels indicated on the CS4TRC lesson plans correspond roughly as follows: Emerging: Grades K-1 Advancing: Grades 2-3 Advanced: Grades 4-6

However, these are approximations. Depending on the reading proficiency of the students with whom you work, these grades levels should be adjusted up or down. I have used some of the advanced lesson with 8th-grade students. LS 5443 students who are interested in serving at the high school level should choose an advanced lesson for this assignment.

· Instructional Strategies

Review these strategies on page 13 in CS4TRC.

v Which of these research-based instructional strategies have you used in your teaching? Name them. I have used all of these strategies in my teaching, both in the classroom and the library. Identifying similarities and differences can be used in all subject matters and students can use it to compare themselves to characters in a story, two types of plants in research in science, or solving two math problem using two different strategies. I have used summarizing and note taking with students reading a book and completing a project from the notes they took while reading. Students would use post-it notes to take notes because they could summarize what they were reading and place the post-it note on the page, so they could refer back to the text if they needed it. Nonlinguistic representations are tools that are used to stimulate the visual learner. Graphic organizers, like Venn diagrams and KWL charts, help students see what they are learning and communicate it in a way that is beneficial to them. Cooperative learning is a huge benefit to all learners. Students need to learn to work in groups for a variety of reasons, but in my opinion, the biggest reason is to learn to work with others and communicate with them. Cooperative grouping can be used in all subject matters. I have used it in math projects, research and retelling stories. Objectives are set for all assignments and feedback is vital for a students progress. Feedback should be postive and it can be written on the students assignment and verbally communicated. Rubrics are great ways to provide feedback to students. Questioning and cuing students is always used in teaching. Questioning students can be used in a variety of ways and it can be open ended or closed questions. Open ended questions help students think outside the box or at a higher level.

I work as a public children's librarian, but I have used some of these strategies during story times and other programs at the library :
 * Identifying similarities and differences
 * Nonlinguistic representations
 * Cooperative learning
 * Questions, cues, and advance organizers

v Which of these instructional strategies do you need to learn? Name them and describe them. Good self-assessment. It is interesting to note your overlap and your individual strengths and background knowledge related to the strategies. Questioning and notemaking and summarizing are particularly important for resource-based lessons (research/inquiry). It is important to develop a range of strategies for engaging students in these strategie
 * Summarizing and note taking: I have utilized summarizing to a degree with book discussion groups, but have not utilized notemaking or note taking as much.
 * Setting objectives and providing feedback: Since our projects at the library are not curriculum based, I have less experience in this area.

· Lesson Length

v What are your questions about the lesson length? You must have at least one. Actually, I don't have questions about it. This seems like the right amount of time to spend on a lesson like this, but here's one just for fun: Could it possibly go over the time allotted since we would ask students to reflect on their own experiences? With a large group of youngsters, this could go on for a VERY long time. :) For me, the session length is dependent on students' attention span and engagement and scheduling issues. In my libraries, a session equals a class period (50 minutes to an hour). Ideally, you would allow a bit more time just in case students were too engaged to stop! Scheduling is always tricky. Dividing students into smaller groups for reflection can work. As a school librarian, I often had the support of parent volunteers who could take small groups as needed.

I work in a multi-functioning library with a fixed flexible schedule. It is a flexible schedule in the sense that the teachers can change the times that they come, but it is fixed because each lesson is only 30 minutes. Is one 30-minute session long enough to cover the concepts and objectives of this lesson? I can see this lesson taking longer than 30 minutes because young children (early in the school year) have great difficulty sitting still and grasping some of the concepts and vocabulary in the story. If this lesson was being taught in my library, under the current structure, would the children be able to retain the information from week to week?
 * Note:** If you have worked within the constraints of a fixed schedule in which students come to the library just one time per week, there are many options for increasing the amount of time you spend with students. School librarians must think about the fact that NO other teachers in their buildings introduce and teach a concept on Tuesday morning at 10:00 and NEVER mention it again until the next Tuesday morning at 10:00. This is simply not an effective instructional practice. What are your strategies for getting out of the fixed schedule library box?

In a word, NO! 30-minute blocks is not good use of your expertise as an educator or an appropriate use of the library as a resource for student learning. Are they also checking out books and materials during that time? I have made some assumptions below about book checkout.

As you may have guessed, I am a proponent of totally flexible schedules. Here's why. Any time you have scheduled classes that means another teacher/class cannot work with you at the point of need (if it occurs during that time). With open access, students (even kinders) learn to return books when they have read them and get fresh books when they need/want them. This puts the responsibility on the learner to self-regulate (as she/he will do throughout life vis-a-vis literature and information needs). If you have worked in a fixed schedule with checkout offered only during scheduled times, you will most likely experience the phenomenon of many students not having their books to return on that day. What then? The bottom line: What is best for student learning? How can you and the library program make the greatest impact on **student achievement**?

· Purpose

v How is the purpose of the lesson connected—or not connected—to your idea of the type of instruction that “should” take place in the school library? The purpose of the library is to support and reinforce the classroom curriculum. I feel that any lesson purpose that can help the children and can give a different perspective on a concept can easily be taught in the library.

I agree with April, and since the lesson is literature-based, it connects with my idea of school library instruction.

If we think about reading and information seeking as interrelated processes, there is very little if anything that we do in schools that is not appropriate for a classroom-library collaborative lesson.

· Objectives

Review Bloom’s Taxonomy: []

v List at least one verb that is used to name what students will do for every objective in this lesson; list the corresponding level on Bloom’s. Use this chart.

Even in strategy lessons such as this one, we should seek a balance between what we label lower-order and higher-order thinking. How could we bump this lesson up the taxomony?
 * Example:**
 * Objective || Verb || Level on Bloom’s ||
 * Objective 1 || Classify || Comprehension ||
 * Objective 2 || Identify || Comprehension ||
 * Objective 2 || Record || Comprehension ||
 * Objective 3 || Use || Application ||
 * Objective 3 || Respond || Comprehension ||

· Resources, Materials, and Equipment Children’s Literature Websites Graphic Organizers Materials Equipment

v Which are the different formats or genres used to support learners? This lesson uses books that are appropriate for everybody at an elementary level. The two books suggested for the lesson could be used for any grade level student, but would probably work best for kindergarten or first grade. (The books are fictional picture books)

There are also more information picture books about going to school/kindergarten. (I'm thinking books with human characters.) These could enrich this lesson. (I'm also thinking about books about going to school in other countries, such as //Listening to the Wind// by Susan Roth about going to school in Pakistan.)

v Which technology tools are used? If technology is not used in this lesson, do you think there are appropriate tools to help students meet the lesson objectives? Name those tools and how you would use them. An overhead, data projector or interactive whiteboard are the technology tools that are used for this lesson. These technology tools help create a large visual enabling the children in both groups to see the diagrams that they have created.

· Collaboration

v How does this lesson maximize the benefits of two (or more) educators coteaching? Be specific. Through my years of teaching, I have learned that not all children learn the same or even interpret information presented the same way. Collaborating gives learners an opportunity to hear information in more than one way. For example, when the adult (teacher-librarian or classroom teacher) is reading the story aloud, they may use different questioning techniques to see how the characters are feeling, or how the students would feel if they were in the characters situation. I feel that children should also be given the opportunity to learn with someone else. Young children love to come to the library and like to have the opportunity to hear someone else read and teach them. Sometimes the classroom teacher needs a "break" from certain children and the teacher-librarian can have those children in her group and be able to work with the other children. It would also be an opportunity for the classroom teacher to differentiate the curriculum to either, enrich the lesson or target it for the children that are not at that same level. Collaboration allows the students to have more attention from the instructors since the group will be divided in half. It also gives children the opportunity to have a different face and voice on which to focus. Brava - and for including benefits to students and to educators. There are also planning benefits. Even with published lesson plans, prior planning - although shorter - is needed and the lesson is strengthened in the process. · Assessment

v Are there multiple methods/tools for assessing student outcomes? If there’s one, name it. If there are multiple, name them. The students are assessed using an Venn diagram. They create the diagram in their small group and then compare it with the other group, as well as their own personal feelings and experiences. A rubric is used to evaluate the students oral, artistic and written responses.

Rubrics are one way, but educators can also set expectations for the completion of a graphic organizer. Students can self-assess the completeness of their work (compared with their group Venn and other group's Venn) and reflect on whether or not it was easy or difficult for them to accomplish the learning tasks. These are all self-assessments. Even though the responses are open-ended, educators could/should discuss student responses to determine trends, possible misconceptions, and opportunities for further discussion/instruction.

v Are there opportunities for learners to self assess? (AASL Strand #4: Self-Assessment Strategies) What are they? Students self-assess using a rubric during the closure. I saw several self-assessment strategies throughout the AASL Strand #4. Indicator 1.4.2: Use interaction with and feedback from the teachers and peers to guide own inquiry process. Indicator 1.4.4: Seek appropriate help when it is needed. Indicator 2.4.3: Recognize new knowledge and understanding. Indicator 3.4.2: Assess the quality and effectiveness of the learning product.

Good.

· Standards Reading and/or writing Listening and speaking Other content areas Information literacy Educational technology

v What content-area standards are integrated into this lesson? List them. Use specific standards from state standards in Texas or the state you and your partner have negotiated. This lesson plan meets the Texas standards of English Language Arts & Reading of Listening/Speaking, Writing, and Reading (to a degree) for grades k-1. (1) Listening/speaking/purposes. The student listens attentively and engages actively in a variety of oral language experiences. The student is expected to: (A) determine the purpose(s) for listening such as to get information, to solve problems, and to enjoy and appreciate (K-3); (B) respond appropriately and courteously to directions and questions (K-3); (D) listen critically to interpret and evaluate (K-3); (E) listen responsively to stories and other texts read aloud, including selections from classic and contemporary works (K-3); and (2) Listening/speaking/culture. The student listens and speaks to gain knowledge of his/her own culture, the culture of others, and the common elements of cultures. The student is expected to: (A) connect experiences and ideas with those of others through speaking and listening (K-3); (3) Listening/speaking/audiences/oral grammar. The student speaks appropriately to different audiences for different purposes and occasions. The student is expected to: (A) choose and adapt spoken language appropriate to the audience, purpose, and occasion, including use of appropriate volume and rate (K-3); (B) use verbal and nonverbal communication in effective ways when making announcements, giving directions, or making introductions (K-3); (C) ask and answer relevant questions and make contributions in small or large group discussions (K-3); (4) Listening/speaking/communication. The student communicates clearly by putting thoughts and feelings into spoken words. The student is expected to: (B) use vocabulary to describe clearly ideas, feelings, and experiences (K-3); (8) Reading/vocabulary development. The student develops an extensive vocabulary. The student is expected to: (A) discuss meanings of words and develop vocabulary through meaningful/concrete experiences (K-2); (B) develop vocabulary by listening to and discussing both familiar and conceptually challenging selections read aloud (K-3); (9) Reading/comprehension. The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend selections read aloud. The student is expected to: (A) use prior knowledge to anticipate meaning and make sense of texts (K-3); (B) establish purposes for reading or listening such as to be informed, to follow directions, and to be entertained (K-3); and (C) retell or act out the order of important events in stories (K-3). (10) Reading/literary response. The student responds to various texts. The student is expected to: (A) listen to stories being read aloud (K-1); (B) participate actively (react, speculate, join in, read along) when predictable and patterned selections are read aloud (K-1); (C) respond through talk, movement, music, art, drama, and writing to a variety of stories and poems in ways that reflect understanding and interpretation (K-1); (11) Reading/text structures/literary concepts. The student recognizes characteristics of various types of texts. The student is expected to: (B) understand simple story structure (K-1); (16) Writing/inquiry/research. The student uses writing as a tool for learning and research. The student is expected to: (B) record or dictate his/her own knowledge of a topic in various ways such as by drawing pictures, making lists, and showing connections among ideas (K-3). These are the content-area standards that are integrated into this lesson for the state of Texas TEKS. This is the link for the Kindergarten TEKS for the state of Texas: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/teks/grade/Kindergarten.pdf Which of the TEKS does this lesson actually ASSESS?

Note: These lesson plans were published before AASL’s Standards for the 21st Century Learner were available.

v Which AASL indicators align with this lesson? Give both the number and the description for each. This is already asked and listed above. This question was addressed earlier in the graphic organizer. Heather and I agreed on some of the indicators and others were added.

Actually, this is a different question. The one above is asks which indicators are related to the reading comprehension strategy. These are other indicators related to the tasks and assessments in the lesson.


 * Implementation **

· Process Motivation

Motivation is also known as “anticipatory set” in the Madeline Hunter, EEI lesson plan design. Will this invitation to learn be effective in capturing students’ interest? Why or why not? I feel that this invitation will be effective because young children are always interested in sharing stories about themselves and this lesson is an ideal opportunity for them to share a story. I think the difficulty of this lesson will be having the children wait their turn to share. :-)

True - for "old" people, too. ;-)

v What are your ideas to increase student buy-in to this lesson? Give at least one. I feel students will buy into this lesson because they can relate to it. They have all experienced the first day of school or another situation where they have been nervous. Children love to tell stories about themselves and they like to compare themselves to characters in stories. I agree with April. It will be easy to get the children to buy-in to this lesson. A fun addition could be a role play (or two) between the educators, one taking the part of an excited or a reluctant child on the first day of school.

Student-friendly Objectives

v Are these objectives at the instructional level of the targeted students? Give an example. Yes. K-1 students should be able to classify ideas about the characters feelings and make text-to-self comparisons by responding orally, through art, or in writing. I agree that the objectives are on the student's instructional level, but I would definitely have to explain the terms, matrix and text-to-self.

v Are there terms in these objectives that may need to be taught to students? Give an example. The terms and concepts of a Venn diagram and a Category Matrix will need to be taught to the students. Matrix, text-to-self, and Venn diagram are terms that I would explain to the students prior to the lesson.

Good. Educators need to ensure that students know all the terms even in student-friendly objectives. (This can be especially important for ELLs and students with special needs.) Of course with repeated use through co-teaching and collaboration, students will comprehend more terms - especially because educators will use the terms in both the classroom and library settings.

Presentation

v Describe the modeling aspect of this lesson. The educators model collaboration, reading, writing (recording information), and inquiry skills. There are several aspects of this lesson that the teacher-librarian and the classroom teacher would need to model for the students. During the reading time, the teacher-librarian and classroom teacher would need to demonstrate the thinking aloud process and discuss the clues that are discovered. The type of notes that were taken and the recording of the feeling and experience could be modeled, as well.

v How are the benefits of two or more educators maximized in the presentation component? One educator can read the story and prompt the students with questions, while the other records ideas on the category web. I agree with Heather about the the teamwork component of the presentation, but I also feel that collaboration gives the students an opportunity to be exposed to more than one teaching style. Through collaboration, students are given the opportunity to have information presented in more than one way and that is beneficial in reaching all learners. The fact that one educator can remain focused on the students while the other is recording not only speeds up the lesson and increases opportunities for students to contribute their ideas, it also is a model for collaborative work.

To see the field test of this lesson: http://storytrail.com/Impact/Chapter_3/main1.htm

Student Participation Procedures or Student Practice Procedures

v Are the directions clear? Give an example. Yes, they are short and concise : Students may need to be taught the word "category." These instructions are simple step instructions that are easy for kindergarten and first graders to process and do. Yes, category is a key word in the similarities and differences instructional strategy. It will need to be taught and modeled and practiced many times for students to get it.
 * 1) Raise a hand to pause the reading.
 * 2) Name the category (feeling or experiences)
 * 3) Tell your idea.

Guided Practice

v How are the benefits of two or more educators maximized in the guided practice component? The class is divided into two groups to contribute and record students' ideas to the category web. Utilizing two educators in this process allows for more sharing time for the students because they are in smaller groups allowing more time to share and create the Venn Diagram. Student participation is sooooo important. Research does not consistently bear out the benefits of smaller class size, but anyone who has worked with a group of 15 students as compared with a group of 30 KNOWS the difference.

Closure

v Are students active in the closure component? What are students doing for closure? Students are active. They share their sentences and illustrations in half-group size, and self-assess using the rubric. Students are very involved in the closure of this lesson. By allowing them to share in small groups they are able to take ownership in the lesson and know that they contributed to their own learning as well as their classmates.

Reflection

v How is the reflection component related to the learning objectives? The reflection aligns with objective 3: Use prior knowledge to make text-to-self connections as they respond to literature orally, through art, or in writing. The reflection component allows the children to see what text-to-self (Objective 2) is because they have written the information and are connecting it to themselves and their own learning.

Yes, students (and educators) must reflect on their learning. This is a critical aspect of metacognition and learning how to learn, which is truly what we are teaching when we teach strategies.

· Extensions v What are your other ideas for extensions to this lesson? Describe at least one. Through this lesson being described, the students are comparing themselves to the characters in the story. A way to extend this lesson would be to utilize two stories to create a Venn diagram. In using two stories, this allows the children to listen and look at the stories and find the similarities and differences to create a Venn diagram and not have to use personal experiences.

This could be nicely extended with a poetry break using poems about school, with a related activity.

Making text-to-text connections is another step in activating and building background knowledge. Practicing that within the same genre and different genres would be effective learning experiences for students.

Brava! Never let a published lesson plan compromise your creativity. You and your collaborator will know the abilities and interests of your students and should adapt all lessons to the students in your care.


 * Remember: ** Extensions are further invitations to classroom-library collaboration. They are worth thinking about during the planning stage!
 * Project Due: November 13th at 9:00 p.m. – 30 Possible Points for the Graphic Organizer. **
 * Individual Reflection – 20 Possible Points – See the Assignment Sheet: A. 3.3 for details. **