Standard 3

Karen Donohoe

Standard 3

April 22, 2015

Standard 3        Knowledge of content and integrated curriculum 

1)    Educators should know, understand, and use the central concepts and tools of inquiry appropriate to the subject matter and age/grade levels they teach.

2)    They should be able to create meaningful learning experiences that develop children’s understanding of subject matter and increase their skills. 

3)    Educators should plan integrated units of curriculum, instruction, and assessment based upon their knowledge of subject matter, curriculum goals, and developmentally appropriate practices among the families, communities, and cultures from which their children come.

            It is important for teachers to follow the state standards and frameworks to make sure that the content of what is being taught is appropriate for the grade level and the students age. Teachers must teach within the standards in order to assure the best learning for students. If teachers teach in different grade levels the content may be too easy or too hard for the students. This also will affect the next grade that the student goes to because they will be behind in their learning or what they have already learned will be repeated. Teachers should create meaningful learning experiences by telling the students why they are learning what they are learning or what they are expected to learn. Stating the objective of each lesson helps the students understand what they will be able to do at the end of each lesson, giving the students meaning behind their learning. Teachers need to plan their curriculum keeping in mind that they need to be knowledgeable about the material but also the material needs to be appropriate to the community and cultures of the students.

            This standard is important because not only should the students be held accountable for their learning but the teachers need to be held accountable for their own learning as well. Teachers also need to teach for understanding of meaning. It is important for the students to understand why they are learning what they are learning and the relevance to their lives. It is important to relate their learning to their lives through their community or families. If you are teaching a social studies lesson on Mount Washington and a students parent has climbed Mount Washington you could bring that person in to share their experience making what the students are learning more relatable and personal. Teachers can do this by following the standards to see what is appropriate for each grade level.

            Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design notes, “In the first stage of backward design, we consider our goals, examine established content standards (national, state, prov- ince, and district), and review curriculum expectations. Because there is typically more content than can reasonably be addressed within the available time, teachers are obliged to make choices. This first stage in the design process calls for clarity about priorities.” (Wiggins, McTighe, 2005) Wiggins and McTighe address the importance of making sure that you are teaching within the appropriate grade level by checking the goals and content standards. Wiggins and McTighe also address the importance of reviewing a unit or curriculum and revising based on what is the most meaningful to your students learning.  This relates to this standard because 3.3 states that planning units and curriculum within the standards and developmental stage is important but modifying it to relate to the students and engage them in their own learning is extremely important.

            I believe that I have reached standard 3.2 by teaching an open circle curriculum lesson with my class. Open Circle is a curriculum where the students have a safe space to learn about how to deal with every day interactions. This specific lesson was on teasing. I talked to the kids about what teasing was and how it felt. The students already had talking cues on chart paper on the wall about how to deal with annoying behavior so we reviewed those language references. I introduced the book we were reading, Thank You Mr. Falker, and read the book aloud to the class stopping throughout asking higher order thinking questions. Artifact 3A shows the part of my procedure where I was reading aloud and stopping and also the talking points for after the book was over. This lesson is meaningful to the students every day lives where they need to learn how to deal with certain social situations. This lesson increased the student’s skills of being able to deal with social situations maturely and effectively. I had the students write an example of teasing in their notebook and how it made them feel to be teased or see someone else being teased. The students were able to reflect back on a time that they witnessed teasing and remember how it made them feel. This was a life skill that the students needed to learn because not all students are taught to deal with problems using words. It is important to give the students the tools to deal with situations properly.

            In my pre-practicum I was in a second grade classroom and I taught a lesson on compound words. I knew that the students had talked about compound words in morning meeting when they had seen them on the morning message so I activated their prior knowledge and then we made a brainstorm of other compound words. The students made compound word books, where they were given a word and split the compound word into its two words and drew a picture of each word on each flap and then when you pulled the flaps back the two words were put next to each other with the picture that represented the compound word. This lesson showed the students the two words that a compound word can be broken up into and how separately they mean different things than the two words together mean. The pictures helped the students see that the words by themselves mean something different than they do when they are put together to make a compound word. This lesson helped the students comprehend the subject matter being taught. This lesson was also appropriate for second grade because it was somewhat hands on and created a visual for them to see how a compound word is two words put together.        This lesson proves my understanding of standard 3.1 and 3.2. This lesson was apart of the state standards for second grade making it not to easy or to hard for second grade. The students were able to grasp the concept and were very proud of their work. This also was a meaningful learning experience because their books literally showed them that the two words are not similar in meaning when they are separate but when you put them together they have their own meaning or definition.

            In the Teaching Social Studies class that I took last year, we had a family history project that we had to do that involved looking into the our personal family history. This project directly relates to standard 3.2 by creating a meaningful learning experience that increased my learning skills by giving me a creative idea of how to incorporate family into the classroom. I talked a lot with my Grandmother about my Papa’s side of the family and I learned a lot about my Mom’s side of the family that I did not know before. Artifact 3C is my family time line that I had to do for this project. Artifact 3C shows the meaningful learning that was put behind this project. This project was very personal and meaningful to each student in different ways. I thought that the general idea of the project, and involving our own lives was interesting and engaging, but it was not reasonable for all students. Some students may not know their family’s history or they might be adopted and feel conflicted on which part of them to research further. This project motivated me to incorporate family and culture into the classroom as much as I can. I have not yet had an opportunity to do this because I am not in my own classroom, but I intend to use a modified version of this project within my own classroom someday. I would modify it slightly by giving the students more freedom of how they want to represent and define their family. I would sculpt the assignment keeping in mind that this might make some students feel uncomfortable or sad.

            I feel as though I have met 3.2 of this standard by creating meaningful learning experiences. I think that I could work harder to reach this standard in full. Family involvement in my full practicum classroom is close to non-existent, making it difficult to picture an environment where the community, culture and families are participants in student learning. With that being said I do not believe that it is impossible, and I plan to make it possible. I want to work towards a goal of having the parents in the classroom once a month at least whether they are just saying hi as they drop of their child or they are participating in their child’s learning. In addition to family involvement I also want to create an environment where the students can speak freely about their community or cultures making it a natural part of the classroom.

Wiggins & McTighe (2005). Understanding by Design, 2^nd edition. [Ebrary introduction]

           

ARTIFACT 3A

State Standards:

Comprehensive Health: Grade 4

Interpersonal Relationships

Students will learn that relationships with others are an integral part of the human life experience and the factors that contribute to healthy interpersonal relationships, and will acquire skills to enhance and make many of these relationships more fulfilling through commitment and communication.

Procedure: Teasing Lesson

Read Thank You, Mr. Falker: Questions during and after reading

-Why do you think Eric and the other classmates teased Trisha?

-Why do you think that Trisha didn’t ask Eric and the other students to stop teasing her?

-What are some strategies that you could have used if you were in Trisha’s situation? Turn and talk

            -Tell a teacher

            -Ask the person to stop

            -Walk away

-Can teaching be a dangerous or destructive behavior? Why?

- What should you do when you see dangerous or destructive teasing happening?

-Your teachers and other adults in the school are always there for you to talk to if you come across a situation that makes you uncomfortable or upset, right?

-Okay, now we are going to write in our reading journals about a time that you have been teased, you have seen someone being teased, or you have teased someone. I want you to talk about how you felt and how you think the other person felt, but first I want you to turn and talk about writing ideas with your neighbor.

-Raise your hand if you have a personal story about teasing that you can write about? If you do not have an idea, out your chair away and come back to the rug and we can brainstorm together. When you are done with your writing you can read to self.

ARTIFACT 3B

MA Curriculum Standards:

Reading Standards for Informal Text: Grade 2

-Craft and Structure: 4.Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.

Language Standard: Grade 2

-Vocabulary Acquisition Use: 4.Use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark).

Wheelock College Educator Standards:

Standard 3: Knowledge of Content and Integrated Curriculum

-3.2 Create meaningful learning experiences to develop children’s understanding of subject matter and increase skills.

Standard 4: Educational Practices that foster learning, development, and achievement for all of the nation’s children

-4.10 Model effective communication strategies in conveying information, asking and responding to questions

Understanding: The students will be able to understand that compound words are words that have two words within them and together they make one word with one meaning.

Essential Question: What are compound words?

Activate Prior Knowledge: The students have been introduced to compound words and often talk about them during morning meeting. I will ask the students when they have talked about compound words before, and if they know what they mean. We will brainstorm compound words to also activate prior knowledge. They also have a hamster in the classroom named Cupcake and my examples word is Cupcake so I will give them time to make connections between the hamster, a cupcake, and my example.

Objectives: I want the students to be able to understand that the two words separately are different than they are together. Drawing the words separately and together will help the students with this. I want the students to show understanding through their work. I want their work to show me that they understand that there are two separate words within compound words.

Procedure:

1: As the students come back from lunch I will stand in the room asking them to come quietly to their seats and to clear everything off of their desk and take out a pencil.

2: I will then ask them what a compound word is? Compound words are words that are made up of two words. We will brainstorm some compound words that we know.

3: “So now we are going to do an activity using compound words. You are each going to pick a compound word out of this bag and you are going to make a card just like this one. I did this one so that you could all see what you will be doing. My word was cupcake. So on this side I drew a cup and on this side I drew a cake. When you open the flaps the word cupcake is inside and there is a picture of a cupcake. You will all do this with your compound words. If you finish early there will be two worksheets over on this table that you can work on quietly at your desk. You will have 15 minutes to make your card and then we are going to have some time for people to share their work. I will write the time that we are going to stop our work and listen to our friends sharing their work.

4: Does anyone have any questions?

5: I will circulate around the room seeing if anyone needs help or has any questions.

ARTIFACT 3C

Family Time Line

1904: Peter Syracusa came to America at the age of 2 from Sicily and settled in        Rochester NY

1933: Anthony Syracusa born in Rochester NY.

1956: Anthony Syracusa joined Air force became second lieutenant.

1957: Anthony met Elaine Smith in Plattsburg, NY. They got married and had their two children, Keith and Mark Syracusa.

1961: KI Sawyer Air force base, Michigan. Anthony and Elaine’s third child, Linda, was born in Michigan. (My Mom)

1964: Westover Air force base Massachusetts. Anthony and Elaine had their last child Melisa and Anthony became a Lieutenant Major.

1973: Pease Air force base, Portsmouth NH. Anthony became a Lieutenant Colonel and this is where Anthony and Elaine settled and Elaine still lives there today.

1980: Linda Syracusa met Barry Donohoe

1987: Barry and Linda got married and moved to North Hampton, NH.

1990: Barry and Linda had their first child, Kevin Syracusa Donohoe.

1993: Barry and Linda had their second and last child, Karen Syracusa Donohoe.

Present: Barry and Linda live in North Hampton still to this day and the story will continue when Kevin or Karen are ready to start a family of their own and create their own family history.