Running head: LESSON PLAN

LESSON PLAN
Assessing Students Needs and Learning
Veronica Sandoval
National University

In partial fulfillment for the requirements for TED 635

William Pine
January 20, 2012

UNIQUE STUDENT NEEDS

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Abstract

Teachers have a passion for teaching and learning. When planning a lesson a teacher
needs to consider and reflect on the skills and knowledge the students will need to bring to
the unit to be successful in learning new material. (Eby et. al., 2013 pg. 87) They also
need to find ways to improve their own teaching, bringing the best teaching tools,
strategies and assessments to promote mastery of the content. For this assignment a lesson
in history and social studies was design to teach in a sixth grade class along with a
reflection of the teaching outcome. This lesson was presented to a sixth grade
class taking in consideration students needs and abilities using a close reading strategy to
intensively analyze a reading passage to come up to terms with what it says, how it is
stated, and what it means. Furthermore looking closer to a text will help students become
stronger writers being able to communicate their ideas and opinions.

TEACHER AND STUDENT INTERACTIONS

Lesson Plan

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11255 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037-1011 Phone (858) 642-8320 Fax (858) 642-8724 www.nu.edu

Lesson Plan Design

Subject: History and Social Science and English Language Arts Grade: 6th Lesson Topic:
Key Ideas and details
Candidates Name: Veronica Sandoval
Site Supervisor: Janell E. Schoby

NU Supervisor: William Pine

Date: August 20, 2015

1. Introduction: (Identify Grade Level K12 Academic Content Standard(s),
rationale, focus learner, create bridges from past learning, behavior expectations)
In the Historical and Social Sciences Analysis and Rationale: In order to successfully
ELA Content Standards for California Public
meet the required History, Social
Schools in sixth grade:
Science and ELA California State
6.1.1. Describe the hunter-gatherer societies,
Standard. Students in a 6th grade
including the development of tools and the use of
class will read aloud using a close
fire.
reading strategy. The purpose is that
RIT 2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text
when reading some words or letters
and how it is conveyed through particular details;
are left out from the text in a way
provide a summary of the text distinct from
that requires the readers to use
personal opinions or judgments.
certain reading strategies, or to look
for specific cues in the reading
Purpose: Students will broaden their
selection. So the student may decide
understanding of Early humans way of life by
what the passage says exactly and
citing key ideas of a text this will help them with
to make logical inferences and
our understanding of this weeks reading selection. mentioning specific textual
evidence when writing to support
Prior Learning: At this point, the students have
conclusions taken from the text.
completed reading a selection called Early
Humans Way of Life in their classroom. So they
are familiar with the early hunter-gatherer
societies, including the development of tools and
the use of fire.
Focus Learner/Behavioral Expectations:
Almost every students in the class is active, social
and highly motivated to read. These traits are great
to have everyone involved in the lesson. However,
if not reminded of rules and expectations it may

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also cause behavior problems. So Mrs. Schoby will

remind the students of the rules of participation
and class expectation. Every students is expected
to work well during read alouds and pair share
group activities. This will give students the
opportunity to share their own ideas. The teacher
may also established the groups for pair-share
activity.
2. Learner Outcome(s)/Objective(s): (What will students learn from this lesson?
How will you measure mastery of the outcome?)
Purpose:
-

Students will circle and define meaning of

unknown words; underline key ideas of
text and writing notes in the margin of the
text; discuss with a partner the central idea
of each paragraph.
The student will describe the world of
hunter-gatherer society in a 200 hundred
word essay.

Rationale:
This lesson provides opportunities
for all students to practice new
learning strategies by offering
intensive analysis of a text in order
to come to terms with what it says,
while promoting comprehension
awareness through close reading.
The whole class including ELL will
have an opportunity to identify
meaning of new words using cues
and content clues.

Mastery: Mastery will be measured through

student involvement and participation during close
reading activity. Pair share group participation,
and completion of a summary at the end of the
lesson.

3. Pre-assessment Activity: (Determine students abilities to achieve the learner

outcome and prescribe instruction accordingly. Consider: linguistic background,
academic language abilities, content knowledge, cultural and health considerations,
interests and aspirations, physical development, social development, emotional
development. )
1. Linguistic Background:
In this 6th grade class, there are four ELL students
enrolled in this class. Generally the primary home
languages are English and Spanish.
2. Academic Language Abilities and Skills:
According to Mrs. Schoby 5% of the students are

Rationale:
Students have been previously
reading about early humans way of
life so they have knowledge in this
topic. They should be able to follow
this lesson very well.
For the EL students, the teacher will

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reading at below grade level. 75% are reading at
grade level and 20% of the students are reading
above grade level.
3. Content Knowledge:
Students are expected to perform well in this
lesson as it is supported by prior experience in the
basic concepts of rainforest and classroom
expectations.
4. Physical, Social, Emotional:
Students are very active and social; 50% are of the
students are involved in after school programs.
5. Socioeconomic Considerations:
Students are from a lower-middle class
socioeconomic background. All students qualify
for a free lunch program. Many parents are
unemployed or working in low level service jobs.
6. Cultural Considerations:
Students engage in few activities outside of school
and many are engaged in extended daycare at
school. They are diverse in ethnicity, Asian 10%,
Hispanic35%, African American 10%, and
Caucasian 21%.
7. Health Considerations & Attendance:
At this time there are no known health concerns or
students with physical disabilities and there is a
very good attendance by all students.
8. Interests, Motivations, & Extra Curricular:
Developmentally appropriate interests. High
motivation to read.
Teacher will go over classroom expectations. The
teacher will also go over purpose of the close
reading strategy
Teacher will read aloud The Amazon Rainforest,
after students first read.

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sit them closed to her to ensure
comprehension and will also have
large cards that have vocabulary
with illustrations in bold print. For
example, environment, artifacts,
and archeologist.
Students will watch a short video
clip on hunter gatherer society
characteristics to introduce the
lesson to the students.

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4. Differentiation, Adaptation & Accommodation Strategies: (Based on the preassessments, modify Learning Activities based on learner characteristics to meet the
needs of ELL & special needs students, highly achieving students and low achieving
students)

TEACHER AND STUDENT INTERACTIONS

Modifications for all ELL:
- Use visuals to show actions and words
- Provide definitions to new words with
translations in both languages, English and their
native language beforehand.
- Using context clues to help student understand
the meaning.
Modifications for High Achieving Students:
-

Provide challenging work either in writing

or using technology during independent
work time.
Provide challenging work either in writing
or using technology during independent
work time.
High achieving students may also assist the
teacher in helping struggling students
during cooperative group activities.
Student participation during class sharing
may model answering or providing ideas

Modifications for Low Achieving Students:

- Low achieving students may benefit when
they are pair with students with higher
readiness levels.
Modifications for Learning Disabled Students:
- Student modifications will be made
according to the needs specified on the
Individualized Education Program (IEP)
- To meet the needs of this students, the
teacher may use repetition to assist them in
learning and identifying a concept. In
addition to seating the students strategically
according to their learning abilities.

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Rationale:
For ELL students using illustrations
or drawings are a great tool, so in a
visual approach they have better
understanding of new words
/actions. Using graphic organizers
are also a great tool for ELL, being
able to see the information in an
organized way will help them
understand a concept.
In addition, a modified summary
assignment will be made so student
will insert missing words to
complete the assignment.
When high achieving students are
paired with struggling students they
are able to help and guide them with
the assignment. Modeling can give
low achieving students examples of
what a well done product should
look like and orally, how questions
or ideas should be answer and
shared.
Low achieving students perform
better when the work load is
reduced in order to make a job
achievable.

5. Resources: (Identify materials needed for this lesson accounting for varying
degrees of skill level)
Pre-assessment Activity:

Rationale:
It is necessary to have a variety of

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Read aloud
The World of Hunters and Gathers.
Students in groups will have a pre-assessment
activity, they will create a brainstorm on early
hunter-gather societies.
Quick write:
Students may respond and complete a sentence
frame:
Early hunter-gathered societies are.
Students will watch a short video clip on hunter
gatherer society characteristics, students will write
any important information they find in the video
on sticky notes. These sticky notes will be added to
their brainstorm quick write.

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teaching material to support
students learning. One way to
achieve this is by the use of
technology to meet the demands of
the 21st century. Giving the
students the opportunity to learn
through different modalities, such
as showing educational videos.
Visuals are very important to
reinforce understanding not only for
the whole class but also for ELL.
A quick write will be done to assess
prior knoledge and to check for
understanding.

Explicit
Computer
Smartboard
White paper
The World of Hunters and Gathers passage
Color pencils
Video clip
6. Learning Activities: Explicit Teacher Instruction - (Explain, model, demonstrate,
check for understanding)
Teacher will first introduce the learning objective
so students may know what they will learn, and to
understand what is expected of them.
The teacher will read aloud using a close reading
strategy on the World of Hunter and Gathers. She
will model how to access the text to gather
information to complete sentence frames. Making
relevant connections as needed.
Each student will have the reading passage and
will read along with the teacher.
The teacher will pass out to each students a
questionnaire guide where the students will
complete sentence frames. This will be done with
guidance of the teacher and students participation.
Check for Understanding:

Rationale:
With teachers support and guidance,
students can have the opportunity to
master the learning skill.
Modeling is important for students
to hear and see what, and how a
learning activity should be done as
it helps them understand the
process.
During whole group instruction
peer grouping is a great way to
differentiate instruction. By
grouping students at different levels
of language proficiency they can
learn from each other. ELLs profit
from think and read alouds in both,
understanding the content and
practicing the English language

TEACHER AND STUDENT INTERACTIONS

Informal assessment:
Observations: walk around classroom and listen to
students during group/partner discussions, and
completion of sentence frames. Paying attention to
students ideas and body language of the students
during discussions

7. Learning Activities: Guided Practice/ Collaborative Practice (Check for

understanding and provide feedback and re-teaching)
After students reading independently the first time.

Rationale:

On a second read the teacher will read the World

of Hunter and Gathers reading passage using the
close reading strategy and DOK questioning to
help focus the reading. They will read aloud with
the teachers guidance. The purpose of the Close
reading is for students to underline the topic
sentence in each paragraph in red color. Circle 3-5
words in each paragraph (unknown words).
Underline key ideas and write them down along
the margin. After the second read the teacher will
discuss vocabulary using context clues to identify
meaning.
The teacher will pass out the questionnaire with
sentence frames to complete as a whole group
retrieving the information to help the completion
of the frame students will discuss with a partner
and then share their answer with the class.

Students need to have opportunities

to practice, in order to make sense
and fully understand the content.
This is important so teachers
through observation can assess the
level of readiness of her students. In
a differentiated classroom practice
takes place through planned
activities planned that move the
student from their existing level to
the next one.

8. Independent Practice: (Provide practice that supports the learning outcome.

Note: Independent activities are assigned assuming that students understand the
concept well enough to work on their own.)
Independent practice will be to create a graphic
organizer. Student will describe the hunter-gatherer
societies.
They will use a white paper which they will fold
into two columns (T chart). Each Colum will
describe the characteristics of the hunters and the
other one the characteristic of the gatherer society.

Rationale:
Once a lesson has been presented
students need many opportunities to
practice, understand and reinforce
their learning. For those who the
subject content is not so clear yet,

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Check for Understanding:

Students understating will be checked upon before
moving to the next step, and feedback will be
given where needed. Peer feedback, as well as
teacher feedback will be used.

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group guided assistance is a great
approach so the teacher can directly
help and assess students
development.

9. Assessment and Evaluation: (Describe how you will assess and/or evaluate the
students learning. Describe differentiating assessment strategies you will use for
ELL, special needs students, highly achieving students and low achieving students.)
Formative Assessment
Teacher observation during whole and peer pairing
groups. As well as an informal evaluation on a
summary done as homework using their graphic
organizer as a writing tool. All students will
benefit from the use of the graphic organizer to
guide their writing about the hunter-gatherer
societies.

Rationale:
As we know assessment is always
ongoing and serves many purposes.
This assessment can help a teacher
identify the areas that need to be retaught or to adjust instruction. It
also gives the teacher a clear
understanding of what concepts the
student has mastered so that she can
plan for future instruction.

10. Closure: (Describe how students will reflect on what they have learned.)
Rationale:
Students will reconvene as a whole group. The
students will get to discuss what they have learned
in this lesson. They will talk about the reading
selection, answering questions such as what they
taught was interesting about the hunter-gatherer
societies. In addition to their thoughts about the
close reading strategy. How this strategy helps you
better understand the lesson?

It is essential that students learn to

reflect on their own learning.
Increasing the level of concern
about what they learn. In addition is
important to acknowledge students
efforts to learn, this will build up
their positive feeling towards
learning.

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11. Lesson Reflection/Assessment: (Collect student learning data to determine: What

went well? What needs to be changed? Were learning outcomes met? What
activities will you add, change, modify in the future? What can be done to follow up
on the learning from this lesson? Who needs additional help? Who needs
enrichment or higher level work?)
It has been a great experience to work with Mrs. Schoby, a sixth grade teacher at David
Reese Elementary. She was very kind and helpful giving me advice and recommendations
on how to prepare this lesson plan and how to present it to her students. Mrs. Schoby has
been working with this class for about a week, since they barely started a new school year.
She recommended to create a lesson around a reading selection they had barely started
working on. In addition to using a close reading strategy which was a new concept for me.
I did research on this strategy and I believe it was well adapted for this lesson. Mrs.
Schoby allowed me to present the lesson to the class. She would only get involved to call
on some students attention or to clarify a concept. Besides following up on other teachers
lesson plans as a substitute, this was my first time teaching a lesson plan that I have
planned to teach on my own.
Before presenting the lesson to the class Mrs. Schoby provided me with a general idea of
students overall behavior. She also pointed to a couple of ELL students that needed extra
help clarifying concepts or repeating directions. She also introduce me to some of the
strategies she uses to get students attention, which I also use to maintain the same
classroom management. It was to count backwards form 5-1. I had to use this strategy a
couple of times during the lesson.
During the lesson I was a little nervous knowing that Mrs. Schoby was observing me. I
introduce the lesson objectives and model how we were going to do the close reading. I

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started the read aloud (close reading) with no problem so the reading went smoothly. I was
glad to have practiced the reading before presenting it to the class, and selecting the words
to leave out for students to read. Students were attentively to the reading. We read the text
one more time, this time to identify unknown vocabulary and to underline the topic
sentence in each paragraph. The students were all on task participating as I asked
volunteers to identify the topic sentence and supporting details. Using the smartboard
making sure struggling students and ELL could see how and what we were doing. During
the modeling part and read aloud, I used DOK questioning to help focus the reading. Then
I revealed a sentence frame and guided students in retrieving the appropriate information
to help in the completion of the form. I would call on ELL students to check for
understating. ELL seemed to understand and follow along, visuals of vocabulary made it
easy for them to understand the reading selection.
One thing I could have done was to visit the class before I taught the lesson, so I could
have a better feeling about each student, how they interact with each other, with the
teacher and learn the rules of behavior management. There were a couple of students who
were off task and the teacher had to call their attention and stand by them so they would
attend to the lesson. The learning outcomes were met. Students followed direction and
were actively participating. All students completed the reading guide worksheet and
graphic organizer on time. Early finishers assisted other students in completing their
graphic organizer. The only students who needed extra help were the ELL, but the help
was minimum it was mostly to clarify directions. They wanted to make sure they were
doing what they were supposed to. To finalize the lesson, instructions were given to

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complete a minimum of 200 word summary on todays lesson. Students will complete
using their notes from the short video and the T chart graphic organizer. ELL will
complete a modified assignment where they will insert words to complete the summary,
still using the graphic organizer and notes. Mrs. Schoby will follow up on this assignment,
evaluate and provide feedback.
This lesson was a great opportunity for the students and for me to practice close reading.
As Mrs. Schoby stated that this was the first time the students have practice the strategy.
She mention I did a great job applying the strategy, I personally feel did a good job, but I
do understand that I need more practice not just with this lesson but overall teaching a
class.

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References
California State Board of Education. (2013). History-social science framework for
California Public schools. California Department of Education

California State Board of Education. (2013). California Common Core State Standards
English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical
subjects http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf.

Eby J., Herrell A. & Jordan M. (2011). Teaching in K-12 schools: A reflective action
approach. (5th Ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.