Joanna Jiang, 1

Grammar Stand-alone Lesson

Grade: 9th grade Subject: English-Language Arts Topic: Grammar Duration of Lesson: One 90-minute session Demographics of Class: There are 30 students, 16 of them girls and the other 14 are boys. There are 10 Latinos, 5 African-American, 9 Caucasian and 6 Asian. There are 9 students with special needs: 2 of which are students with ADHD and 7 of them are ELLs (5 Latinos, 2 Asian). The ELLs are all either early intermediate or advanced intermediate learners. All of the students are either middle class or lower-middle class. Standards: Academic Content Standards: 1.0 Written and Oral English Language Conventions Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions. Grammar and Mechanics of Writing: 1.2 Understand sentence construction (e.g. parallel structure, subordination, proper placement of modifiers) and proper English usage (e.g., consistency of verb tenses) 1.3 Demonstrate an understanding of proper English usage and control of grammar, paragraph and sentence structure, diction, and syntax ELD standards: CA.ELA.K.WO.1 Written and Oral English Language Conventions Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions CA.ELA.K.WO.1.2 Spell independently by using pre-phonetic knowledge, sounds of the alphabet, and knowledge of letter names TPE: CA-TPE.1A.1c Deliver a comprehensive program of systematic instruction in word analysis, fluency, and systematic vocabulary development; reading comprehension, literary response and analysis; writing strategies and applications; written and oral English language conventions; and listening and speaking strategies and applications CA.TPE.1A.1d Make language (e.g. vocabulary, forms, uses) comprehensible, foundational skills as a gateway to using all forms of language as tools for thinking, learning and communicating, comprehensible to students and the need for students to master

Joanna Jiang, 2 Unit Goal: Essential Question: Why is proper spelling so important? Focus Question: How does knowing different homophones help us realize why spelling is so important? Objectives for the Learning Experience: Student will be able to: Define homophones and give examples of different words that are considered homophones Demonstrate usage and spelling of different homophones Assessment: The type of assessment used would be formative and summative. The former is assessed when the students have participated in class discussion, group work and in the games that is part of the instructional plan. The teacher will walk around the classroom, making sure that the students stay on task and clarify any misunderstandings of the content knowledge. Summative assessment is done when the students complete the worksheets that they will have to do individually. Materials: dictionary large index cards with common homophones written on them whiteboard homophone reference cards with (www.imaginativeteacher.com/Literacy.html) computer with video projecting capabilities projector homophone (www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/docs/SN_homophones.doc)

pictures

worksheet

Vocabulary: Difficult words or concept that need explanation is homophones. Words that are reviewed with the class include many common homophones. Examples are listed below: see/sea hey/hay way/weigh stares/stairs flower/flour break/brake write/right

Joanna Jiang, 3 Instructional Plan: Teacher Actions Into: The teacher would jump into her PowerPoint, introducing homophones as she goes through the slides. The teacher will show them the video Homophones with Brian McKnight and Cleo the Lion as an opening. Then the teacher will ask the students for their responses. If no one raises their hand, the teacher will call them out randomly, so that each student can be included in discussion. Student responses may vary. The teacher will point out the word homophone on the Powerpoint. She will also say that homophones have Greek roots: homo meaning same and phone meaning sound. By definition, homophones mean that they are words that have the same sound but different spelling and meaning. The main point that the teacher should try to get is that correct spelling in writing is very important. Teacher also adds that if the writings have misspelled words or wrong word usage, the reader may not understand what the writer is trying to say. Homophones are words that are very often misused and misspelled. Explaining this would satisfy the academic content. This part will take about 10-15 minutes. Through: Teacher will then transition by saying that the class should divide into small groups of students. Ask the students to count off, instead of spending seconds trying to split themselves up. The small groups are especially helpful to students with ADHD because they need small group Students will count themselves off into small groups, depending on how many people there are in the class. Students will brainstorm, as quickly as they can, as many homophones as they can. Then they will choose one volunteer to represent them and write it on the board. After all homophones are written Student Actions Students will respond to the Powerpoint, answering the questions and participating in discussion as the prompts on the slides appear.

Joanna Jiang, 4 work in order to stay focused. Then the teacher will ask them to brainstorm as many homophones as they can. The teacher will have provided Spanish/English and other resources that translate to ELLs, so that they can understand the homophones their group members are saying. As the students work, the teacher will roam the classroom, making sure that the students stay on task and that questions can be answered. Then one volunteer from the group would come up to the board to write it down. Discuss the meaning of the words they come up with as a class. The teacher could refer to the homophones in the Homophones song again. Afterwards, the teacher will hand out the packet Homophone Reference Cards to the students, pointing out that images accompany the words. This is particularly useful for ELLs and students who are better visual learners. This part will take about 20-25 minutes. Then, without breaking apart their groups, divide the entire class into two. Bring out large cards with homophones written on them and stick them on the whiteboard. Tell the class that they will be playing a game called Swat the Fly. In this game, the teacher will say a sentence with a common homophone in it. A representative from each side of the class should come up to the board and swat the homophone that is in the sentence. The winning team will get to skip a passage to proofread later in the Beyond. This game is especially helpful for students with ADHD because it is fast-paced and it is interactive. The students with ADHD on the board, the students will listen and respond as the teacher explains a few homophones on the board. Students will receive their reference cards and review it briefly, taking note of the illustrations and examples.

Students will participate in the game Swat the Fly. Students with ADHD would benefit from this game because it is fast-paced. Even ELLs can benefit from the game because of the easy words.

Joanna Jiang, 5 would want to participate more. To help ELLs, the teacher may pantomime the words and/or pair competing ELLs against each other instead of against a proficient English learner. This game will take up to 2530 minutes. Beyond: After the game, the teacher will give the students some passages that need to be proofread because of incorrect usage of homophones. The teacher would also comply with the winning students request and allow them to skip a passage to proofread. This activity would be done individually and the teacher will walk around to make sure that the student gets the instructions and recognize any learning gaps or misunderstandings. The teacher will also instruct the students to use their dictionary if they are unsure of what the definition of the words is. Based on which activity they chose, this will take up to 25-30 minutes. Any passages that are not proofread would be left for homework. Planning Review: 1. Some elements of differentiation in my lesson include small groupings, frequent checks for student understanding, interactive activities, modeling, and pacing. The language objectives that I have chosen are: CA.ELA.K.WO.1 Written and Oral English Language Conventions Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions CA.ELA.K.WO.1.2 Spell independently by using pre-phonetic knowledge, sounds of the alphabet, and knowledge of letter names Students need small groups to discuss their ideas on homophones. Small groups are effective because they allow students to interact and share their ideas. It is especially effective for students who are struggling with speaking in class discussions. Besides, small groupings save time because the group members tend to focus in small numbers. The Students will receive passages to proofread and work individually. Students will ask the teacher for help and use their dictionary or translating books to help.

Joanna Jiang, 6 teachers method of constantly checking for understanding and modeling is effective for students that are slow learners or lack the skills needed to fully comprehend. By modeling, the teacher can set an example. By clarifying with the students, the teacher is making sure that the students are aware of the situation. The interactive activities and the quick pace of the activities will allow the students to indulge in the pleasure of learning and learn to recognize proper spelling. The students will develop their academic content language when they use their dictionary and translating books to help with their proofreading, given that they have already been exposed to the previous activities.
2.

The two adaptations that meet the needs of my learners are that ELLs get to have translating books at their fingertips. Plus, the homophone reference cards will also have images so that they can relate the image to the word. Considering that the ELLs are early intermediate or advanced intermediate, they will respond well to lots of visual aides. The adaptations do not limit the students ability to achieve the learning goals. In fact, the differentiated instruction allows the student to grasp the concept of the lesson quickly. For students with ADHD, having a fast-paced instruction (as seen by the Powerpoint) and an interactive activity would make it so that he would not easily distracted. Besides, moving around the classroom excites everyone and induces active and healthy learning.

Self-Reflection This is what worked: Students responded well to the Powerpoint presentation Students liked pairing themselves into small groups Students liked the game Swat the Fly This is what did not work: Students found it difficult to finish proofreading the passages Students were unable to respond well in a game like Swat the Fly because of their nervousness/inability This is what I will change: I would have wanted to test the students understanding of the concept of homophones, but it would have been too much Maybe I could leave out the small groups activity so that we could focus more on understanding the homophones rather than skimming through it