1. Contenta. What SOL are we addressing?

i. English 1.6cb. Under that SOL, what is the exact student learning outcome we hope to achieve.

i. At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to use common beginning digraphs to decode and spell monosyllabic words.

c. What are some common misconceptions about this content?i. The English language is too complicated and has too many rules or

exceptions to them, which can make it difficult for students to comprehend.

1. i.e. some words don’t have specific rules so the explanation for “why” is simply “just because.”

d. What prior knowledge should students have?i. Be able to identify letters of the alphabet by name and soundsii. Be able to combine letters to sound out words

e. What are other problems in teaching and learning his content?i. Especially in Richmond, there is an extremely low literacy rate and high

ESL population. ii. A lot of the schools in Richmond also lack a lot of resources and funding

which can make it harder on teachers to convey such complicated material.

2. Pedagogya. What teaching activities will you use?

i. We will use worksheets that the children will use pictures to match the digraph.

b. What types of activities will students do?i. Students can work together with their table partners or groups to

complete the digraph worksheets. c. How can you represent the content in different ways?

i. The students can read several different books that represent digraphs and we will discuss as a whole class the digraphs they found.

ii. The teacher can use the white/smartboard to write various sentences with missing words that contain digraphs for the students to “fill in the blank”. These will be simple sentences with a word bank so the students are able to easily guess the missing word. “The mouse ate a piece of (blank). -Sheep, cheese, thorn, whale.”

d. How will you assess student learning?i. During guided reading time, students will be able to read a short story

containing digraphs one-on-one with the teacher. There will only be one or two digraphs that the story repeats multiple times, so the student can easily recognize them. The teacher will ask the student to point out the digraphs they notice and keep track to assess the student's learning.

3. Technologya. What tools will be used in the teaching and learning activities?

i. SMART Board - TPACK Lessonii. Worksheetsiii. Word/letter separator iv. Audio playback/video

4. Pedagogy & Content (PCK)a. What teaching approaches fit your content?

i. Game-based learningii. Expeditionary learningiii. Direct instruction

b. How do you arrange elements of the content to facilitate learning?Step 1: Begin with direct whole or small group instructionStep 2: Introduce the SmartBoard activity to reinforce content from direct instruction but allow it to be student-drivenStep 3: Use book activity as a soft or informal assessment Step 4: Worksheets can be presented as a more formal assessment

c. How will you represent and formulate the content to make it comprehensible to others?

i. Digraphs can increase in complexity as well as location (beginning/end) within a word can vary.

d. How will you address misconceptions that make the content hard to learn?i. There aren’t many misconceptions surrounding this content, but it can be

difficult because some letters have multiple sounds which when combined can create multiple phonemes.

e. How will you use students prior knowledge?i. Prior knowledge of letter sounds will allow for a faster progression of

content because you don’t have to spend time learning those, but rather maybe reviewing at most.

f. What kind of analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations, and demonstrations can you provide?

i. A useful trick that has been employed with phonics has been word/letter separators. It’s simply a piece of paper with a cutout block that allows students to isolate pieces of a word or sentence.

5. Technology & Pedagogy (TPK)a. How does your choice of technology support your pedagogy?

i. Using the smartboard helps takes the pedagogy to another level. Students are able to be more hands-on and can see digraphs in a different way that isn’t reading or writing - like through playing a game.

b. Does your choice of technology allow teaching activities that are not possible without it?

i. No, the activities used with the smartboard are able to be used in other ways if the smartboard wasn’t available.

1. It does however allow for the content to be presented in a way that wouldn’t be possible without the SmartBoard. It allows students to interact with the material differently.

6. Technology & Content (TCK)a. How is the technology related to the content?

i. The technology is related to the content by ensuring that the subject matter is communicated in multiple different ways, so that students are engaged throughout the whole lesson and not just the instruction or pedagogical portion.

b. How does your choice of technology change the content, display it differently, or change the way students “see” it?

i. Using the SmartBoard allows children to see digraphs in a fun way. It’s not as structured as the teacher doing direct instruction, or leading a lesson using worksheets, and they have the ability to get out of their seats and interact with one another. Students may be able to “see” it better in a less structured setting than reading a story during guided reading or working on the worksheets.

c. Is this type of technology often used in this content area?i. Yes. SmartBoard games are great activities to incorporate into a lesson

about digraphs. 7. TPACK

a. How do all the pieces fit together?i. All of the pieces of this lesson fit together, because we are using the

student’s prior knowledge, presenting new material in ways the students learn best, utilizing specific tools and technology that relate to the lesson and can further content knowledge, so we are able to measure student’s progress.

ii. We will begin with direct instruction and go into game-based learning (pedagogy) while using the SmartBoard (technology) and asses student’s knowledge with guided reading groups and digraph worksheets (content). Each part of our lesson weaves together, so we can be purposeful in our teaching and demonstration.

Worksheets on the following pages: