Lesson Planning
Weekly Lesson Plans
I plan daily lessons at weeks length. I am the sole reading teacher for fourth grade on my campus. However, I seek out collaborative opportunities to work with content co-workers through vertical alignment with third and fifth grade educators. Their experience and suggestions allow variety in practice for my students.
The sample provided is from Unit 2 Drama with the dates of implementation included. On our weekly cover page, all state standards are identified. The following plans will reflect the explicit instruction, practice, mastery, and assessment of these skills.
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Critical Vocabulary is directly pulled from curriculum guide and paces with the appropriate unit. This is a sample of my planning in September for Drama.
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Daily Objectives are color coded to determine TEKS (State Standard),Task, and Product. Daily student know the skill, the activity to practice the skill, and a tangible result to show daily mastery of their learning.
As a whole class prior to jumping into the lesson, we read the objective to set vision for our time together.
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Interactive Read Alouds allow the teacher and students to fill out a posted graphic organizer throughout the read aloud. Additionally, question stems are posted with the graphic organizer to allow peer conversations to be meaningful. The sentence stems serve as a visual reminder and help my ELL students in particular with their oral literacy skills.
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Anchor charts are included in my plan and created during class. They are then hung up on the walls for students to reference. Guided Notes reflect our anchor charts and go in students' interactive notebooks. These anchor charts also provide visuals for my ELL students.
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Independent Practice and Guided Practice is when I pull small groups. Small group instruction is skill based, while Independent Practice allows for students to complete an activity practicing our daily standard.
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Assessment daily is aligned to our summative assessments. Either in the form of a multiple choice question or short answer, this daily exit ticket time allows students and teacher alike to monitor understanding. From this practice, I can provide support to misconceptions in reteach opportunities or small group. It gives voice to the daily learning in class.
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IEPs and Accommodations
9% of my students have Individual Education Plans. In my weekly plans on the last page I attach all possible accommodations for this populous. Daily I provide extra think time, oral administration, visuals, modify teacher talk to simplify language and slow rate of speech, table grouping for peer teaching, graphic organizers, and reminders to stay on task.
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1% of my population is Gifted and Talented. For this sole student, I utilize him as a "student expert" who peer teaches. Additionally, I provide higher level questioning for his partnerships and an independent study project per unit.
Most Frequently Used Accommodations:
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preferential seating near teacher
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allow use of fidget/stress ball
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repeat directions
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visuals
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reminders
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checks for understanding
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proximity
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oral administration of texts and assessments
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"to-do" checklists
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positive feedback/praise
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chunking assignment
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extended time
English Language Learners make up 74% of my student population. In order to take into consideration the input of learners, colleagues, families, and the larger community, I provide resources to ELLs in English and Spanish (the only two languages spoken by my students). In class, I accommodate these learners through the ELPS- English Language Proficiency Standards. On my weekly plan I note alongside my TEKS (Texas State Standards) the ELPs of focus for the week.
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Additionally on the last page of my weekly plans, I attach this ELPs abridged and highlight the most beneficial ones. This allows me to see patterns in most practiced ELPs and shines a light on infrequently used standards so that I can include those in upcoming lessons.
ELPS for ELLs
