lesson plan nicolette oliver oakland city teacher …nicoletteoliver.yolasite.com/resources/lesson...

Lesson Plan 1

RUNNING HEAD: Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan

Nicolette Oliver

Oakland City Teacher Corps

Interview Event: April 18, 2009

Lesson Plan 2

Abstract

This health education unit is comprised of eight 45-minute lessons for a total of six hours

of instruction. It was successfully implemented within a 5th

grade elementary classroom during

my student teaching with the Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS).

Lesson Plan 3

Table of Contents

Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 2

Context .......................................................................................................................................................... 5

Community ............................................................................................................................................... 5

District ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

School ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

Classroom ................................................................................................................................................. 7

Unit of instruction ..................................................................................................................................... 9

Instructional design ..................................................................................................................................... 11

Learning objectives ................................................................................................................................. 11

Differentiation ......................................................................................................................................... 14

Organization ............................................................................................................................................ 15

Instructional strategies ............................................................................................................................ 16

Technology ............................................................................................................................................. 17

Assessment .............................................................................................................................................. 18

Data analysis ............................................................................................................................................... 21

Whole class data analysis ........................................................................................................................ 21

Subgroups data analysis .......................................................................................................................... 22

Individual data analysis ........................................................................................................................... 22

Student ID3 ......................................................................................................................................... 22

Student ID15 ....................................................................................................................................... 23

Reflections on student learning ................................................................................................................... 24

Reference list .............................................................................................................................................. 27

Appendix A: Demographics ....................................................................................................................... 28

Appendix B: Lesson plan outline ................................................................................................................ 29

Appendix C: Sample lesson plan on communicable versus noncommunicable diseases ........................... 35

Objectives ............................................................................................................................................... 35

Information ............................................................................................................................................. 35

Shared practice: ....................................................................................................................................... 35

Lesson Plan 4

Guided practice: ...................................................................................................................................... 35

Independent practice: .............................................................................................................................. 35

Appendix D: Sample lesson plan on immunization to communicable disease ........................................... 36

Gain attention .......................................................................................................................................... 36

Inform learners of objectives .................................................................................................................. 36

Stimulate recall of prior learning ............................................................................................................ 36

Present content ........................................................................................................................................ 36

Provide learning guidance ....................................................................................................................... 37

Elicit performance ................................................................................................................................... 37

Provide feedback ..................................................................................................................................... 38

Assess performance ................................................................................................................................ 38

Appendix E: Post-assessment instructions .................................................................................................. 39

Appendix F: Pre-assessment and post-assessment rubric ........................................................................... 40

Appendix G: Data graphs ............................................................................................................................ 41

Appendix H: ID15 pre-assessment ............................................................................................................. 44

Appendix I: ID15 formative assessments ................................................................................................... 45

Appendix J: 1D15 post-assessment............................................................................................................. 47

Appendix K: ID3 pre-assessment ............................................................................................................... 48

Appendix L: ID3 formative assessments .................................................................................................... 49

Appendix M: ID3 post-assessment ............................................................................................................. 51

Lesson Plan 5

Context

Have you ever heard a teacher complain that much of students’ ability to learn is out of

their control? Such teachers must adapt to contextual factors that may affect the teaching-

learning process. However, contextual factors must first be acknowledged and identified before

teachers can leverage them for student success.

Environmental factors include many different areas, such as the community, district,

school and classroom. The next few paragraphs will explore the contextual factors present at

Humphreys American School (HAS) and how they affect the design of this instructional unit.

Community

HAS is located within United States Army Garrison (USAG) Humphreys. The immediate

community includes Army personnel and affiliated civilians. The political climate in our district

is very interesting. The population of USAG Humphreys is approximately 10,000 soldiers, but is

scheduled to increase to roughly 44,000 soldiers in the next few years. The reason it is expanding

is because many Koreans feel U.S. military presence in their capital city of Seoul is

“imperialistic”. While many Koreans still desire U.S. military presence in the country, the

Korean government has asked that the majority of soldiers at USAG-Yongsan in Seoul be

relocated south to USAG Humphreys.

Surrounding USAG Humphreys is the rural town of Anjeong-ri. Anjeong-ri is located

within Pyeongtaek City, which is famous for its flat countryside and rice production. Thus,

many local residents are agricultural workers. However, the presence of American troops and

civilians has attracted many small businesses into the area, and this sector of the economy is

expected to grow as more soldiers are transferred to USAG Humphreys.

Lesson Plan 6

District

HAS is administered by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA), whose

annual budget is approved and provided by Congress. DODEA is comprised of schools serving

U.S. military dependents at home and abroad. Schools in the U.S. are referred to as Domestic

Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS). Schools outside the U.S. are referred

to as Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS). DoDDS is further broken into global

regions and country districts. HAS is under the jurisdiction of the DoDDS-Pacific region, which

is based out of Okinawa, Japan. Finally, HAS is positioned within the DoDDS-Korea school

district.

Military dependents are notoriously transient, and to combat the additional toils this

characteristic may inflict, DODEA has standardized grade level standards so that if a military

parent is transferred in the middle of the school year, the student should be able to join their new

classroom during the same general content being presented in their original school. In addition,

many of the major learning goals set by DODEA are consistent across different grade levels. For

example, using graphic tools is a learning standard for many different grade levels within the

DODEA system. So, many students have already been introduced to Venn diagrams in past

grades. This same tool can continue to be used in higher grades for instruction or assessment to

help students analyze more complex subjects.

School

HAS serves a wide age range of students, from Sure Start participants to grade 8. This is

a new development since last year, when HAS was called Humphreys American Elementary

School (HAES) and only served students up to grade 6. With the expansion of the military base,

it became a burden to bus grades 7 and 8 to the nearby Osan Air Force base to attend school.

Lesson Plan 7

Now, classes up to grade 5 are taught as elementary and grades 6 through 8 are taught as middle

school.

School facilities and resources are becoming overstretched in this fast-growing

environment. Last year, this school serviced around 100 students. This year, over 300 students

attend HAS sharing the same amount of space. The only reason HAS is not divided into separate

elementary and middle schools is that they share a common lunch room. Furthermore, HAS

suffered a paper shortage for over a month this year due to the increasing number of students.

Each DODEA school must participate in Continuous School Improvement (CSI). During

my student teaching with HAS, I participated in its CSI plan by serving on its Profile Committee,

and utilizing its prescribed interventions to improve student skills in mathematics and nonfiction

reading comprehension. The prescribed intervention to improve nonfiction reading

comprehension includes various graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams, and sequence

charts.

Classroom

Relevant classroom factors include the physical makeup of the classroom, student

characteristics, and outside forces such as parent involvement. My classroom at HAS was Ms.

Angela Shoff’s grade 5 elementary classroom. The classroom included approximately 20

students. An exact number is not provided because the number of students fluctuates according

to the deployment schedule of our students’ parents. For example, in the first month of this

school year, two students moved to different countries, and three new students joined our

classroom.

Our classroom is designed as an approximately 1200-square-foot rectangle. The front of

the classroom is comprised of sliding white boards, maps, an overhead projector and presentation

Lesson Plan 8

screen. One side of the classroom is occupied by two large windows and the air

conditioner/heating unit. The other side of the classroom houses many cupboards, drawers, and

bookshelves. The back of the room includes Ms. Shoff’s desk, four computer stations, one

printer, and a supplementary white board. The middle of the classroom is comprised of student

desks arranged into groups of 4-5, and larger tables for cooperative learning activities.

Regarding the racial/ethnic makeup of my students, Whites are not the majority. They are

approximately 24% of the class. Majority of the class is comprised of Asians at 38%. Blacks

make up another 28%. There are no Hispanics in our classroom, but the Pacific Islanders and

Other categories each represent 5% of our classroom. Many of the Asian students are of Korean

descent. For more details, please see Appendix A: Demographics.

Almost all students in the classroom speak English. There is one student with extremely

limited English language skills. She is pulled out of the regular classroom for 60 minutes each

day for ELL tutoring sessions. Some of the other Korean American students are bilingual, and

while their language skills are beyond the need for individual ELL tutoring sessions, they often

struggle with expressing new concepts.

There are also some students in our classroom that are enrolled in the Gifted Education

program. These are students who have demonstrated above grade level academic performance,

and mature interpersonal characteristics. These students are also pulled out of the regular

classroom for 60 minutes each day for more challenging coursework.

Other students that are pulled out of the regular classroom include one student with an

IEP that recommends regular sessions with a speech pathologist, and students who participate in

the Read 180 program. Read 180 is designed to help students with low reading skills to reach

grade level standards for reading comprehension.

Lesson Plan 9

A major difference among my students is their general skill level. Only some students

have been identified as Gifted, but there are other extremely bright students in the class who

work hard and consistently surpass the rest of the class academically. On the other hand, there

are consistently low-performing students who struggle in more than one classroom subject and

need more practice in basic skills before they can reach grade level expectations. The rest of the

class is generally ready to learn and achieve grade level standards.

Some of this may be due to students’ developmental/skill levels, but parent involvement

is another important factor to student performance in the classroom. Most students at HAS have

at least one very involved parent who regularly reads our classroom’s weekly newsletter,

monitors student assignments online via GradeSpeed, and attends school functions such as Open

House or Parent-Teacher Conferences. Unfortunately, not all students have a parent that is

involved in their schoolwork, and it shows in their lack of completed homework assignments,

missing projects, and low test scores. In two cases this year, parent involvement has influenced

the student’s basic ability to participate in the classroom by not having the proper prescription

glasses for their student.

Unit of instruction

This instructional unit addresses many of these contextual factors. For example, students

were urged to research a communicable disease that is present either on the military base or in

the greater Korean community. The required immunizations list was shared with students so

they could relate these communicable diseases to their shared experience of getting a health

check-up before enrolling at HAS.

Furthermore, to meet the CSI goals for nonfiction reading comprehension, all groups will

be expected to use graphic organizers throughout the unit. Venn diagrams will be required

Lesson Plan 10

during pre-assessment, formative assessments, and post-assessment. Sequence charts will be

required during in-class activities as well as formative assessments.

To encourage parent involvement in the unit, education standard information will be

distributed to parents via weekly newsletters, and homework assignments will directly relate to

their final project. Parents at our school expect the connections between homework,

projects/exams and standards to be very clear, and it is the teacher’s responsibility to

communicate these connections to parents. In addition to the weekly newsletter, which was

distributed via hardcopy and e-mail, the classroom website posted information about the project

on a regular basis. This way, parents could be reminded of assignment due dates and check

grades on submitted student work throughout the unit.

Student skill levels informed my instructional design and urged me to differentiate the

unit according to skill level. This includes English language, reading comprehension and

giftedness skills levels. I divided students into three groups according to their pre-assessment

scores: Gifted/High Performance (HP); Average Performance (AP); and ELL/Read 180/Low

Performance (LP). The HP group will be challenged to express the unit’s information through a

creative brochure that includes a graphic organizer. The AP group will be expected to use a

balanced mixture of written expression and graphic organizer use. The LP group will express

information almost entirely through graphic organizers and illustrations in order to focus on new

vocabulary and the main ideas of the unit topic. I spoke with the ELL Specialist at our school

and he approved that such graphic organizer work and illustrations are appropriate for the ELL

student’s English language skill level.

Ample classroom time will be given for students to complete their final project, including

research and production in the computer lab. Due to the strained school facility resources,

Lesson Plan 11

computer lab time was reserved well in advance to ensure all students have access to the Internet

and Microsoft Office software to complete their programs, if necessary. For students in the LP

group, art materials such as poster board and markers were made available.

Instructional design

Learning objectives

The learning goals for my unit of instruction are:

• HESK1: Students will access valid health information about a specific communicable

disease

• HESK3: Students will analyze the influences of communicable diseases

• HESK5: Students will advocate for health regarding a specific communicable disease

These goals come from the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) grade 5

curriculum standards in health education (2006). They have been amended to focus on the unit

topic of communicable diseases.

These goals are appropriate for student cognitive development because at age 10,

students are able to demonstrate some high order thinking skills, such as analyzing, comparing

and contrasting, sequencing events, and making inferences. They are aware of larger concepts

beyond their own needs and wants so that they are developmentally ready to learn advocacy

skills on behalf of not only themselves, but the larger community and the environment as well.

These goals are appropriate regarding student prerequisite knowledge and skills because they

have demonstrated similar skills in other curriculum areas. For example, students have accessed

valid information in the context of other disciplines, but now we are applying this skill to health

education. Students have practiced analytical skills during literature /language arts and will now

apply these skills to health education as well.

Lesson Plan 12

These goals are appropriate for meeting additional student needs, such as those of our

Gifted Education, Read 180 and ESL students. Assessment products will be differentiated for

different skill levels, including additional challenge for Gifted Education students, and increased

support for Read 180 and ESL students.

I have identified the following objectives to guide student activity toward achievement of

the learning goals:

• HESK1a: Given access to the Internet, students will access two reputable websites to

research a communicable disease.

o Type: performance (skill)

o Taxonomy: cognitive (application)

• HESK3a: Given the categories of “communicable diseases” and “noncommunicable

disease”, students will successfully categorize at least four specific diseases.


o Taxonomy: cognitive (synthesis)

• HESK3b: Given a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast communicable

disease and noncommunicable disease by correctly identifying one similarity and two

differences, plus four specific examples of diseases.


o Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)

• HESK3c: Given a communicable disease, students will dramatize one of its symptoms


o Taxonomy: psychomotor (guided response)

Lesson Plan 13

• HESK3d: Given an environment, students will identify two possible areas of

contamination by communicable diseases.

o Type: reasoning


• HESK3e: Given a cause and effect diagram, students will illustrate how a person gains

immunity to a communicable disease with 80% accuracy.



• HESK3f: Given a bar graph of vaccinations and disease incidence over time, students

will give a plausible explanation of the impact of immunization on the community.

o Type: reasoning

o Taxonomy: cognitive (evaluation)

• HESK5a: Given a communicable disease, students will advocate its prevention by

creating an informational communication with 80% accuracy.

o Type: affective (attitude)

o Taxonomy: affective (responding to phenomena)

• HESK5b: Given a communicable disease, students will illustrate its impact on the

environment by providing two examples.

o Type: knowledge (cognitive)


• HESK5c: Given a communicable disease, students will illustrate its impact on the

community by providing two examples.

Lesson Plan 14



• HESK5d: Given a communicable disease, students will identify two prevention

strategies.



• HESK5e: Given a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast two prevention

strategies for a communicable disease by identifying one similarity and two differences.



Differentiation

This section will describe how I will design my original unit of instruction related to unit

goals, student characteristics and needs, and the specific learning context.

I administered a pre-assessment to determine students’ prior knowledge and skills

regarding communicable diseases. After analyzing students’ performance, I divided the class into

three groups based on prior knowledge levels. These groups will guide my instruction, and I will

modify assessment products according to the needs of each group.

There were some students who have already mastered the learning goals of the unit,

measured as 80% of possible points. Some of these students are enrolled in our school’s gifted

education program, and require more challenge in our classroom. I refer to these five students as

the gifted/high performance group (HP).

Other students had a working knowledge of communicable diseases, but scored in the 60-

70% range. I refer to these seven students as the average performance group (AP). While these

Lesson Plan 15

scores would be considered as academically “passing” the unit, these students need additional

knowledge in order to master the learning goals and objectives for this unit by demonstrating

80% accuracy.

I refer to the last group of students as the ELL/Read 180/Low Performance (LP) group. It

includes the eight students who are enrolled in our school’s ELL program, Read 180 program,

and those whose prior knowledge of communicable diseases would earn a failing grade for the

unit’s learning goals and objectives. These students need to learn the basic concepts of

communicable diseases.

Organization

For an overview of each lesson’s topic and related objectives, see Appendix B: Lesson

plan outline. I included the lesson on communicable versus noncommunicable diseases as

prerequisite information to mastering objective HESK3. On the pre-assessment, many students

did not correctly identify a communicable disease. Many listed a noncommunicable disease.

Some failed to identify a disease at all. In order to complete their summative assessments and

meet the learning goal, it is vital for students to understand the definition and concept of a

communicable disease. Thus, this is sequenced as the first lesson taught during the unit. A

sample lesson plan for this topic is provided in Appendix C.

The next two lessons gave more in-depth information on the symptoms and causes on

communicable diseases. Students learned how symptoms are the body’s means of fighting

pathogens. Students also learned about different types of pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses,

protozoa and fungi.

Immunity to communicable disease was another vital lesson in this unit of instruction. It

relates to my instructional goals by showcasing an important prevention strategy for many

Lesson Plan 16

communicable diseases. It is influenced by the pre-assessment information, because no students

identified immunization as a prevention strategy on their pre-assessment. It is sequenced after

students learn about pathogens so that students know what vaccines and immunization are used

against. A sample lesson plan on this topic is provided in Appendix D.

Another lesson I included in this unit of instruction is on researching a specific

communicable disease. Students were asked to select a communicable disease that can be found

in Korea, and research information to be included in their summative assessment. A research

worksheet was provided to guide students during their time in the computer lab.

I felt it was important for students to study communicable diseases outside the common

cold or influenza, because majority of the students who were able to identify a communicable

disease on the pre-assessment named the common cold. Furthermore, the classroom textbook

focused intensively on the cold or influenza. I wanted to give students a broader understanding of

what communicable diseases are, especially those that they have been specifically immunized

against.

This lesson is sequenced towards the end of the unit so that students have a base of

knowledge about what communicable diseases are, how they spread, and their impact on the

community and environment before students are asked to apply this information to a specific

disease. This application of knowledge encourages students to use critical thinking and problem

solving skills.

Instructional strategies

I used multiple learning strategies during this lesson. I used the inquiry strategy by asking

students to connect the textbook content with their own experiences. For example, I asked

Lesson Plan 17

students if they have ever had a communicable disease, such as a cold or the flu, and if they have

ever received vaccine shots.

I used collaboration by asking students to work in table groups to create a list of

examples of communicable and noncommunicable diseases. I further asked these table groups to

discuss why people use the phrase “catch a cold” to describe the spread of this communicable

disease. In addition, I allowed students to discuss with their table groups the relationship between

disease incidence and immunization as described below.

I encouraged student use of critical thinking and problem solving by presenting them a

bar graph representing immunization and disease incidence over time for a specific

communicable disease. Students were asked to analyze the relationship between immunization

and the spread of the disease. I assessed students’ formative learning of this lesson’s content

according to their answer to this critical thinking activity. I assessed student learning after this

lesson by asking students to complete a cause and effect diagram to explain how a person can

gain immunity from a communicable disease. Feedback to students came in the form of

immediate verbal cues during the lesson, and graded work at the end of the lesson.

Technology

Different types of technology were used by the students during this unit. All students

used computers to find Internet resources on their specific communicable disease. I referred

students to appropriate websites such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. I

assessed students’ formative learning according to their ability to navigate the Internet and

access multiple websites with valid health information.

Contextual factors that were under my control included the amount of in-class time that

students could use for research, the quality of the websites students used in their research, and

Lesson Plan 18

what type of information students sought during their research. I believe that keeping these

contextual factors under my control versus allowing students to do research at home from any

websites they choose increased the quality of student work and contributed to student success. I

provided immediate feedback to students, such as reinforcing that they found valid information

on that website, or redirecting them if I saw them visiting an inappropriate website. After the

lesson, I asked to view students’ research worksheet to ensure that they found all the necessary

information to complete their summative assessment project for the entire unit of instruction.

Students in the HP group also used Microsoft Office software to create brochures.

As the teacher, I used the overhead projector in class on a regular basis to model

information for students. For example, I modeled correct usage of a Venn diagram on the

overhead projector. Visual aids were also presented via photocopied transparencies on the

overhead projector.

Assessment

I designed an original assessment plan to monitor student progress toward learning the

goals for my standards-based instructional unit. This required creating pre- and post-assessment

instruments, scoring rubrics/keys, and an assessment plan table.

I used multiple assessment approaches and forms that are aligned to my learning goal.

They measured student learning before, during and after instruction. To begin, a pre-assessment

was given to students to assess their prior knowledge and skills on the topic of communicable

diseases. This pre-assessment addressed learning goal HESK5 for my unit of instruction. It

included short answer prompts and completion of a graphic organizer. Sample pre-assessments

are shown in Appendices H and K. The pre- and post-assessment grading rubric is shown in

Appendix F.

Lesson Plan 19

I utilized a diverse range of formative assessments. Some assessments were completed

in-class, while others were assigned as homework. Some were paper-and-pencil assessments.

Many included graphic organizers. Others utilized students’ dramatic skills. They alternated skill

levels to cover the range of abilities for LP, AP and HP groups. At the end of each lesson in the

textbook, I assessed student comprehension via lesson summary and review questions from the

textbook as individual seatwork. These were important pieces of supporting evidence of whether

students were learning/retaining information as it was presented to the class. ELL students were

never required to write more than basic vocabulary words. They always had the option to draw a

picture to express the required information. Sample formative assessments are attached that

addresses the following objectives:

• HESK3b: Given a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast communicable

disease and noncommunicable disease by correctly identifying one similarity and two

differences, plus four specific examples of diseases.



• HESK3d: Given an environment, students will identify two possible areas of


o Type: reasoning


It is important to collect such supporting evidence of student learning during the

formative stages so that future lessons are building on a good foundation of knowledge. If a

student doesn’t understand the difference between a communicable and noncommunicable

disease, they will not be able to discuss communicable disease prevention with accuracy.

Lesson Plan 20

Final projects, as summative assessments, were differentiated according to each group’s

needs and readiness to learn about the topic. See Appendix E for specific instructions. These

post-assessments directly aligned to stated learning goals and objectives. The final project fulfills

the following learning goal, as did the pre-assessment:

• HESK5: Students will advocate for health regarding a specific communicable disease.

The final project/summative assessment used the same grading rubric as the pre-

assessment in order to measure student learning authentically. It was the product that was

differentiated for the different groups in order to assess student learning appropriately. For

example, AP students completed the exact same exam sheet as the pre-assessment. LP students

represented their answers in visual form using illustrations and graphic organizers. This adapted

to ELL needs so that they could focus on key vocabulary and expressing main concept, while at

the same time authentically measured student learning. HP students were challenged to create an

informational brochure. This summative assessment addresses the following objectives:

• HESK6a: Given a communicable disease, students will advocate its prevention by

creating an informational communication with 80% accuracy.

o Type: affective (attitude)

o Taxonomy: affective (responding to phenomena)

• HESK6b: Given a communicable disease, students will illustrate its impact on the




• HESK6c: Given a communicable disease, students will illustrate its impact on the


Lesson Plan 21



• HESK6d: Given a communicable disease, students will identify two prevention

strategies.



• HESK6e: Given a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast two prevention

strategies for a communicable disease by identifying one similarity and two

differences.



The goal of my unit of instruction was for all students to achieve mastery of the learning

goal and stated objectives. Mastery is defined as a percentage score of 80% or higher on the

summative assessment. This corresponds to a raw score of 8 on the pre-/post-assessment rubric.

Data analysis

Whole class data analysis

At the beginning of the instructional unit, my students had limited prior knowledge of

communicable diseases, their impact on the community or environment, and strategies to prevent

communicable diseases. In fact, nearly 1/3 of the class could not name a communicable disease

in the pre-assessment. Those students who could name a communicable disease recognized that

it impacted the community, but less than half the class recognized how such disease impact the

environment. Less than half of the class could cite, compare or contrast prevention strategies.

Lesson Plan 22

Overall, the class averaged 52.86% on the post-assessment, which does not indicate mastery of

the learning goals.

Students demonstrated their learning via the post-assessments. Whereas nine students,

over 40% of the class, failed the pre-assessment, no students failed the post-assessment by

receiving a score of 50% or lower. Fifteen students, or over 70% of the class, achieved mastery

of the learning goals by earning a score of 80% or higher. Of those mastery students, six students

earned perfect scores. The class average increased from 52.86% to 84.29%, a gain of 31.43%.

Subgroups data analysis

The individual students in the LP group demonstrated the most learning progress. This

group made the most progress in identifying prevention strategies. Their scores on this rubric

item improved nearly 80%. This data shows that students will little or no prior knowledge of

communicable disease were successful in learning about the effects of disease and prevention

strategies. None of these students passed the pre-assessment, but all of them passed the post-

assessment. Five, over half the students in the group, achieved mastery of the learning goals. In

fact, four of the nine students earned “A” grades, and two of those students scored 100%.

Individual data analysis

Student ID3

Student ID3 is a non-native English speaker. She is enrolled in our school’s English as a

Second Language (ESL) program and has very limited English language skills. In collaboration

with our school’s ESL specialist, I allowed her to complete most assignments via visually

representations versus written explanations. Thus, I allowed her to complete her pre-assessment

via drawing pictures, and I differentiated the LP group’s post-assessment format to focus on

illustrations and graphic representations.

Lesson Plan 23

On the pre-assessment, ID3 identified a noncommunicable disease instead of a

communicable disease. She did not identify its affects on the community and environment.

While she identified prevention strategies for the disease, she did not compare and contrast the

methods via a Venn diagram. She scored 30%.

During the formative assessments, I personally worked with ID3 to ensure that she

understood the questions, and where to find the needed information in the textbook. Much of the

formative assessments focused on her English vocabulary of health terms such as “immunity”,

“pathogens” and “white blood cells”. Once the vocabulary was clearly explained to her, she was

able to successfully complete the formative assessments in written English versus drawing

pictures.

On the post-assessment, ID3 combined hand-drawn illustrations with written English.

She identified a communicable disease and successfully compared and contrasted prevention

strategies via a Venn diagram in written English. To analyze impacts on the community and

environment, she drew pictures. She demonstrated two examples of how the disease impacts the

community, but only one example of how it impacts the environment. Thus, her final score on

the post-assessment was 90%, demonstrating her mastery of the learning goals. This indicates

learning progress of 60%. It is important to understand the learning of ID3 because it shows that

I can differentiate my assessments and work individually to meet the needs of ESL students who

struggle with the content of the regular classroom.

Student ID15

ID15 is a very bright student, and is enrolled in the school’s Gifted Education program.

However, she did not demonstrate mastery of all the learning goals in her pre-assessment. She

successfully identified communicable diseases plus one impact on the community, and

Lesson Plan 24

adequately completed a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting two prevention strategies.

However, she did not have prior knowledge of its impact on the environment. Her overall score

on the pre-assessment was 70%.

ID15 completed formative assessments, including one that focused on the impacts on the

environment. She scored three of three points on that formative assessment by identifying

different ways that communicable diseases can impact the environment. She was able to apply

this information to a specific communicable disease on her post-assessment. On her post-

assessment, ID15 not only demonstrated mastery of all the learning goals, but answered each

rubric item correctly for a perfect score of 100%. This demonstrates learning progress of 30%.

It is important to understand the learning of ID15 because it shows that I can also meet the needs

of Gifted Education students that need to be challenged to learn more in-depth information about

topics they already have a working knowledge about.

Reflections on student learning

If you identify success at the percentage increase from pre- to post-assessment, my

students were most successful in identifying prevention strategies. On the pre-assessment, only

eight students, less than half of the class, successfully identified two prevention strategies for a

communicable disease. The class average on this rubric item was 47.62%. On the post-

assessment, nineteen of twenty-one students, or over ninety percent of the class, successfully

identified two prevention strategies. The class average on this rubric item increased to 92.86%.

This demonstrates a class average learning progress of 45.24%. I believe this success is

due to many factors. One factor is that I clearly defined prevention during instruction. I noticed

that students often listed treatments for communicable diseases on their pre-assessment and

during shared instruction, so I stressed the difference between treatment and prevention to give

Lesson Plan 25

students a clear concept of what prevention is and is not. One shared instruction activity

completed during whole class instruction was the construction of a Venn diagram comparing and

contrasting prevention and treatment.

Another factor is that I gave students ample access to information during class. We spent

three sessions in the computer lab, researching specific communicable diseases on the Internet.

Students were given a list of guiding questions which asked students how the disease spreads, to

locate two prevention strategies, and how those two prevention strategies are alike and different.

I gave students a list of suggested websites so that they could access valid health information

from reputable websites.

If you define success as mastery of a learning goal by demonstrating 80% on the post-

assessment, my students were least successful in identifying impacts of their specific

communicable disease on the environment. Students did increase the class average percentage

score from 47.62% on the pre-assessment to 71.43% on the post-assessment, demonstrating

learning progress of 23.81%. However, it remained to be the lowest-scoring rubric item on the

post-assessment. At less than 80%, the class average of 71.43% does not showcase that the class

as a whole mastered this learning goal. I believe there was one main factor that led to student

lack of success in this rubric item. Impacts on the environment were difficult to identify from the

online resources provided to the class. Some websites used high-level technical vocabulary that

students could not decipher. However, most websites failed to directly address this subtopic.

Thus, students could not simply find, record, and reiterate an answer.

Additionally, this learning goal required critical thinking skills. To successfully

accomplish this learning goal, students needed to synthesize different type of information to

discover on their own how a specific communicable disease impacts the environment. I gave

Lesson Plan 26

students pieces to the puzzle, such as asking them to research how a specific communicable

disease spreads from person to person. I gave students examples of how communicable diseases

can impact different components of the environment, such as solids, liquids, gases, and living

things. I even gave them a homework assignment as a formative assessment on how the common

cold affected the classroom environment. However, students were expected to combine all this

knowledge and make inferences about the communicable disease they researched. There was not

a lesson devoted to teaching students the skill of making inferences, so many students were

unsuccessful.

A contextual factor that I had control over was the websites that students visited during

in-class research. In the future, I could find websites that clearly and directly address the learning

goals. I could also change my instruction by devoting a whole lesson to critical thinking skills,

such as making inferences.

Two professional learning goals that emerged from this experience are how to teach

students critical thinking skills and improving the informational tools provided to students. To

improve my teaching of critical thinking skills, I will refer to professional journals and the

guidance of my host teacher. To improve the informational tools provided to students, such as

websites used for in-class research, I will locate online resources developed specifically for

students so that high-level, technical vocabulary does not discourage students from finding the

necessary information. To do this, I will need to further research the reading comprehension

level of my students.

Lesson Plan 27

Reference list

Clark, Donald. (May 6, 2007). Learning domains or Bloom's taxonomy.

Retrieved September 23, 2008, from the Big Dog and Little Dog's Bowl of Biscuits!

Website:

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html.

Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA). (2006). Health education: grade 5.

Retrieved September 23, 2008, from the DODEA Website:

http://www.dodea.edu/curriculum/docs/he/stn_health_grd_5.pdf.

Lesson Plan 28

Appendix A: Demographics

Lesson Plan 29

Appendix B: Lesson plan outline

Lesson

number

Lesson topic Learning goal(s) Objective(s)

1 Pre-assessment HESK3:

Students will

analyze the

influences of

communicable

diseases

HESK5a: Given a communicable disease,

students will advocate its prevention by

creating an informational communication

with 80% accuracy.

Type: affective (attitude)

Taxonomy: affective (responding to

phenomena)

HESK5b: Given a communicable disease,

students will illustrate its impact on the


Type: knowledge (cognitive)

Taxonomy: cognitive (application)

HESK5c: Given a communicable

disease, students will illustrate its

impact on the community by providing

two examples.


Lesson Plan 30


HESK5d: Given a communicable

disease, students will identify two

prevention strategies.



HESK5e: Given a Venn diagram,

students will compare and contrast two

prevention strategies for a

communicable disease by identifying

one similarity and two differences.

Type: performance (skill)

Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)

2 Communicable

versus

noncommunicable

disease

HESK3:

Students will

analyze the

influences of

communicable

diseases

HESK3a: Given the categories of

“communicable diseases” and

“noncommunicable disease”, students will

successfully categorize at least four

specific diseases.


Taxonomy: cognitive (synthesis)

Lesson Plan 31

HESK3b: Given a Venn diagram, students

will compare and contrast communicable

disease and noncommunicable disease by

correctly identifying one similarity and

two differences, plus four specific

examples of diseases.



3 Symptoms of

communicable

diseases

HESK3:

Students will

analyze the

influences of

communicable

diseases

HESK3c: Given a communicable disease,

students will dramatize one of its

symptoms


Taxonomy: psychomotor (guided

response)

4 Pathogens spread

communicable

diseases

HESK3:

Students will

analyze the

influences of

communicable

diseases

HESK3d: Given an environment, students

will identify two possible areas of


Type: reasoning


5 Immunity to HESK3: HESK3e: Given a graphic organizer,

Lesson Plan 32

communicable

diseases

Students will

analyze the

influences of

communicable

diseases

students will illustrate how a person gains

immunity to a communicable disease with

80% accuracy.



HESK3f: Given a bar graph of

vaccinations and disease incidence over

time, students will give a plausible

explanation of the impact of immunization

on the community.

Type: reasoning

Taxonomy: cognitive (evaluation)

Lesson Plan 33

6-7 Research of a

specific

communicable

disease

HESK1:

Students will

access valid

health

information

about a

specific

communicable

HESK1a: Given access to the Internet,

students will access two reputable

websites to research a communicable

disease.



8 Post-assessment

HESK5:

Students will

advocate for

health

regarding a

specific

communicable

disease

HESK5a: Given a communicable disease,

students will advocate its prevention by

creating an informational communication

with 80% accuracy.

Type: affective (attitude)

Taxonomy: affective (responding to

phenomena)

HESK5b: Given a communicable disease,





Lesson Plan 34

HESK5c: Given a communicable disease,





HESK5d: Given a communicable disease,

students will identify two prevention

strategies.



HESK5e: Given a Venn diagram, students

will compare and contrast two prevention

strategies for a communicable disease by

identifying one similarity and two

differences.



Lesson Plan 35

Appendix C: Sample lesson plan on communicable versus noncommunicable diseases

Objectives

• HESK3a - Within collaborative groups, students will successfully categorize four

diseases as either communicable or noncommunicable.

• HESK3b - Given a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast communicable and

noncommunicable diseases by identifying at least one similarity and two differences.

Information

Students will read aloud from the health textbook. The teacher will use the inquiry method to

check for student understanding of vocabulary such as disease, communicable disease and

noncommunicable disease. The teacher will use the inquiry method to guide students in making

text-to-self connections.

Shared practice:

The teacher will draw a Venn diagram on the overhead projector, and ask student volunteers to

help compare the definitions of communicable versus noncommunicable disease.

Guided practice:

Students will work in collaborative groups of 4-5 students to brainstorm different diseases. They

will then categorize these diseases into communicable or noncommunicable disease categories.

The teacher will compile a class list on the board from student-generated answers.

Independent practice:

As a homework assignment, students will be given a blank Venn diagram graphic organizer.

They will use it to compare and contrast communicable versus noncommunicable disease. They

will include definitions and at least two specific examples.

Lesson Plan 36

Appendix D: Sample lesson plan on immunization to communicable disease

Gain attention

Show students a flyer about the upcoming influenza vaccine event with their school

nurse. Ask them how this school event relates to what they are studying in this health unit.

Inform learners of objectives

Clarify that in today’s lesson, they will learn how vaccines, such as the flu shot, help their

bodies gain immunity to communicable diseases and protect people in their community of

getting and spreading the flu. In addition, include these objectives on the weekly newsletter sent

home via e-mail or hardcopy to parents:

• HESK3e: Given a graphic organizer, students will demonstrate understanding of how the

body gains immunity to communicable diseases with 80% accuracy.

• HESK3f: Given a graph illustrating disease incidence and immunization over time,

students will make an inference about vaccines and immunization’s impact on the

community.

Stimulate recall of prior learning

Ask the class to come reach consensus on the following tasks:

• classify influenza as either a communicable or noncommunicable disease

• identify common symptoms of influenza

• determine what type of pathogen causes influenza

Present content

Students will read aloud from the required health textbook. The teacher will use the

inquiry method to guide students in making text-to-self connections. Questions such as “Do you

plan to sign up for the flu shot with the school nurse?” and “Do you remember getting some

Lesson Plan 37

shots before you came to school in Korea? Do you remember what those shots were for?” may

be asked. Then, the teacher will present the following graph to illustrate the correlation between

disease incidence and immunization over time:

Source:"Summary of Notifyable Diseases--United States, 1992" in Morbidity and Mortality

Weekly Report,41(55):46, September 1993, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia.

Provide learning guidance

The teacher will use the inquiry method to check for student understanding of the graph

above. The teacher will prompt students to verbalize the correlation between immunization and

disease incidence and make inferences regarding immunizations’ impact on the community. An

example response would be “After people started getting the vaccine, there were less people with

polio. This made it less common for polio to spread throughout the community.”

Elicit performance

Students will work in collaborative groups of 4-5 students to complete a sequence

graphic organizer. Students will be given the sequence graphic organizer worksheet. Students

Lesson Plan 38

will also be given small pieces of paper with the steps of gaining immunity pre-printed on them.

Students will work collaboratively and use the information in their textbook to place the steps of

gaining immunity into the correct sequence.

Provide feedback

The teacher will rotate around the room to provide feedback to collaborative groups. If

students’ work is out of sequence, the teacher can point out the first point of deviation or inform

the group how many steps are in error. The activity is considered complete when all

collaborative groups have reached the correct sequence.

Assess performance

As a homework assignment, students will be given a blank sequence graphic organizer

worksheet without pre-printed steps of gaining immunity. Students will need to identify the steps

of gaining immunity and correctly sequence the steps with 80% accuracy.

Lesson Plan 39

Appendix E: Post-assessment instructions

Lesson Plan 40

Appendix F: Pre-assessment and post-assessment rubric

Lesson Plan 41

Appendix G: Data graphs

Lesson Plan 42

Lesson Plan 43

Lesson Plan 44

Appendix H: ID15 pre-assessment

Lesson Plan 45

Appendix I: ID15 formative assessments

Lesson Plan 46

Lesson Plan 47

Appendix J: 1D15 post-assessment

Lesson Plan 48

Appendix K: ID3 pre-assessment

Lesson Plan 49

Appendix L: ID3 formative assessments

Lesson Plan 50

Lesson Plan 51

Appendix M: ID3 post-assessment

lesson plan nicolette oliver oakland city teacher …nicoletteoliver.yolasite.com/resources/lesson...

Documents