Tuesday, March 19, 2013

EDLD 5364 UDL Lesson Plan and Reflection

UDL stands for Universal Design for Learning.  The CAST UDL website offers a lesson builder to help teachers incorporate the principles for curriculum development that gives all students equal learning opportunities.  A template is provided for creating instructional goals, methods, assessments, and materials.  The lesson can be designed to accommodate every student by customized, flexible approaches to each lesson. 
(http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/)


For this group assignment, I was responsible for creating day 4 (Thursday) lesson plan.  Our group designed a week long unit lesson studying Early Explorers of Texas.  Since I am not a school teacher, this assignment was very challenging for me personally.  I had to research the terminology associated with lesson planning.  I am not afraid to say, I was very overwhelmed at times with this portion of the assignment.  Luckily, I have great group mates that were very patient and understanding.  They helped me all along the way.  Thank you very much - Cindy, Josie, and Tony! :)

I actually learned a lot from this assignment. Although I am not a school teacher, I do create and facilitate training for various topics.  The knowledge I learned from the UDL lesson building project will help guide my future training "lesson" plans.  As I was working on our group subject, I couldn't help visualize implementing this same concept to the training sessions I conduct.  Just as there are different levels and needs of students in a classroom, I am sure there are different levels of needs for adults in a training session.  I will take what I have learned this week and revisit my training plans.  I will follow the guidelines outlined at the CAST website to incorporate the principles of learning.
(http://www.cast.org/index.html)


UDL Lesson Plan

Lesson Overview
Title:
Early Explorers – Who, When, What, Why?                            
Author:
Diann Brodnax
Subject:
Social Studies – Texas History
Grade Level:
4
Duration:
60 minutes, 1 Class Period - Thursday's Lesson
Subject Area:
Early Explorers of Texas
Unit Description:
In this unit, Early Explorers’ of Texas, activities and assignments will be given to help students understand the courses, successes and struggles for the lives of those who explored Texas. Students will access websites that contain data-rich articles on each explorer. Students will be tested on information within the articles to gauge their reading comprehension level. Students will present a final media project of their choice to the class on the knowledge that they acquired from their reading.  They will be able to choose to create a PowerPoint, or use an app to create a photo card, trading card or typedrawing. The final product will be presented to the class.
Lesson Description for the Day:
Students will study early explorers by working in groups and completing a tree map together.  Students will then work independently creating a Rhombus poem incorporating the learned concepts from the lesson.
State Standards:
TEKS 113.6.b.2.B / SS 4.2.B   The student identifies the accomplishments of significant explorers such as Cabeza de Vaca; Christopher Columbus; Francisco Coronado; René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle and explain their impact on the settlement of Texas.
  A: The student understands the causes and effects of  
       European exploration and colonization of Texas and
       North America.
  B: Summarize motivations for European exploration and
       settlement of Texas, including economic opportunity,
       competition, and the desire for expansion.
  C: Identify the accomplishments and explain the impact of
      significant explorers, including Cabeza de Vaca;
      Francisco Coronado; and René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de
      la Salle, on the settlement of Texas.

Goals
Unit Goals:
Students will understand the causes and effects of European exploration and colonization of Texas and North America.
(TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4.)
Student will:
 (2.A.) Summarize motivations for European exploration and settlement of Texas.
 (2.B.) Identify the accomplishments and explain the impact of significant explorers on the settlement of Texas.
Lesson Goals:
Student will:
study the early explorers, including Cabeza de Vaca, Francisco Coronado, Robert La Salle, and Christopher Columbus.
Students will:
 complete a tree map worksheet while working in groups to:
* research what country each explorer was born in.
* calculate how many years of exploration for each explorer.
* discover what each explorer found while on their expeditions.
* identify the accomplishments and explain the impact the
   explorers made in history.
* apply geographic tools to interpret maps.
* organize and interpret information in charts and maps.

Methods
Anticipatory Set:
(Recognition Network)  At the beginning of class, students will take a short vocabulary quiz for understanding of the unit terminology.  After the quiz, students will brainstorm and discuss what they know about each explorer studied this week. Students will discuss routes taken by each explorer on a map. Students will be divided into groups and complete a tree map worksheet.
Introduce and Model New Knowledge:
(Strategic Network)  The teacher will administer an online vocabulary quiz.  This will assess their knowledge of terminology learned this week. 
Students will work in four groups to rotate through different stations to take notes on the different explorers. The teacher will have stations set up with an online eBook titled Early Explorers of Texas, created by the teacher before class, for reference at each station. Students will take notes to include what country the explorer was from, years of expeditions, what the explorer found, and why the explorer was important. This data will be populated in a tree map as the groups rotate among explorers.. 
Provide Guided Practice:
(Affective Network)  Students will be divided into four groups to work together filling in the facts about each explorer on the tree map worksheet.  Each group will spend 5 minutes at each station collecting facts to fill in the worksheet.  After 20 minutes, the groups will stay at the current station.  Each group will explain the facts about the explorer they gathered at each station to the class.  The station the group is located at when time is up will indicate their explorer.
Provide Independent Practice:
Students will demonstrate their understanding of new concepts learned by working independently creating a Rhombus poem about their favorite explorer.  Students will share their poems with the class.   

Accommodations
Teacher with basic computer skills
Work with teacher 2 days a week for 4 weeks.  Create tutorials and lesson plans on laptop usage, creating customizable worksheets and rubrics, CAST eBooks, Tagxedo online tool, desktop shortcuts, online quiz, and creative software uses.
“Advanced” technology student users
These students will be the “leader” of the group to help navigate on the laptop.
Low to high ability range students
Low ability – modifications are: students will only be required to fill in 4 components of the Rhombus Poem worksheet.  Provide students with standard word processor with spell and grammar checker and a large keyboard.  Allow extra time to complete the poem worksheet. Teacher offers assistance.
Students with disabilities, sight and hearing impaired
Modifications are offered in the eBook: text to speech capabilities, audio version of text, and images.  Provide student with talking word processor software.   Provide Braille translation software and a Braille embosser.  Use picture communication symbols to support interactions. 

Assessment
Formative/Ongoing Assessment:
Students will take a vocabulary quiz on terminology regarding explorers’ lesson.  Students will receive immediate feedback.
Use rubric to evaluate student’s performance on guided activities.
Summative/End of Lesson Assessment:
Use a rubric to evaluate student’s performance on independent activities.

Materials
Laptops
Internet
Prevoiusly created eBook detailing early explorers, with link included –
Early Explorers of Texas
Map
Tree Map Worksheet
Rhombus Poem Worksheet (Alief ISD)
Assessment Rubric
Vocabulary Quiz

 

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