CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
Standard #4: Content Knowledge
The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of content.
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Standard #5: Application of Content
The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local global issues.
NATIVE AMERICAN UNIT
Summary of Instruction
One of the largest units I taught during my student teaching semester was on Native Americans; to spark students’ interest and make the content more meaningful for them, I grew creative with the lessons.
While learning about the Iroquois Confederacy, the students were separated into five groups to represent the original nations. They were able to go through the process of making a decision the same way the Confederacy did.
Another way I enriched the students’ learning of Native Americans was during the summative assessment. This assessment was a group research project in which the students had to create a poster on their identified region. However, they were only allowed to ask their tribe’s Chief or Clan Mother questions. Not the teacher. This allowed students to experience the processes of early times further while also providing students with a different learning dynamic.
PRESENTATIONS
Available for Download
MIRRORS, WINDOWS, & SLIDING GLASS DOORS
This presentation was designed to describe to teachers the importance of students seeing themselves, others, and similar experiences in books. The presentation also provides ten diverse examples of books that fit these categories, while also incorporating a classroom activity a teacher could use to teach the book to the whole class.
LITERARY ELEMENTS
Classroom Read Aloud
Classroom read aloud are important pieces of the classroom day. A teacher should utilize read aloud novels to discuss with their students literary elements to further help students understand the concepts.
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Literary elements we like to point out in my current clinical class are the settings, similes, and lately we have been trying to
PERSONAL NARRATIVES
Writing About Their World
In every clinical experience I discuss with my cooperating teacher what they think the hardest subject is for most students to enjoy doing. Many times their answer is Writing, especially Personal Narratives. Students often feel as if they have no stories to tell about themselves, believing that since they haven’t lived as long as their teacher they have no experiences to write about.
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During my Diversity in Language Arts course, in my third year, I wrote this Curriculum Map for a Personal Narrative unit. Though I did not teach this whole unit I have sense taught several of the lessons to my students. I have been able to do this since students write Personal Narratives every school year.
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My favorite lesson of this unit is the very first one. Students are tasked with sketching one of their favorite memories. This lesson has students expressing information in a more preferred task than writing paragraphs. It also allows students to think of and truly developing only that small moment.