Curriculum

C1- Plans informative, developmentally appropriate lessons and/or units

This first grade science lesson on the characteristics of trees and rubric shows my ability to plan lessons that are informative and developmentally appropriate. Students begin the lesson by listening to a story about trees and then adopting a tree outside of the school. Students are assessed by the journals they keep over their tree.
This third grade Haiku Poetry lesson and rubric demonstrates my ability to plan lessons that are age appropriate and engage students working on a variety of levels. The lesson introduces students to Haiku Poetry and has each student create their own poems. It also includes various adaptations that allow students of various levels to learn.

C2- Teaches subject matter accurately to insure that students can meet P-12 academic standards

This third grade lesson on map skills, shows my ability to insure students' are meeting P-12 standards. This lesson begins with a pre-assessment to determine what students already know about reading maps. Then the lesson introduces students to the various symbols on a map and the proper way to find different locations on a map. Students are then allowed to practice using these new skills by answering various questions. Finally a post-assessment was given to determine if students mastered the standards outlined in the lesson.
This comprehension lesson and rubric over the story "Saturday Market" demonstrates my ability to teach comprehension strategies and meet P-12 standards. The lesson assesses students on a reading standard by having them answer higher level comprehension questions that were created by using Bloom's Taxonomy. Students create an advertisement at the end of the lesson which is used to assess the writing standard within the lesson.

C3- Uses interdisciplinary instruction as appropriate

This Interdisciplinary Resource uses physical activity to teach various content areas and meets multiple state standards within a lesson. The lessons in this document help students develop fine and gross motor skills while learning about math, reading, social studies, science, writing, art, and music.
This unit plan over Benjamin Franklin with accompanied rubric demonstrates my ability to use multiple content areas to teach students about the role Benjamin Franklin played throughout history. Lessons within the unit plan utilize a social studies standard in each lesson accompanied by a state standard from another content area. Throughout the unit plan, students are engaged through a cooking lesson, drama lesson, a field trip, and various other lessons.

C4- Addresses subject matter from various points of view

This lesson entitled "Two Bad Ants" was taught to third grade students to teach them about various points of view. The students were read the story "Two Bad Ants," during Reader's Workshop and then asked various questions about the story. The questions focused on how ants view things differently than humans. After discussing the story, the class discussed how everyone sees the world differently because we all have different experiences. After the class discussion, students returned to their seats to write about ants seeing things differently than humans.
This third grade lesson over the story "Saturday Market" enables students to examine the various points of view of the characters within the story. Students explore and discuss what a market would look like to a tourist compared to a citizen of Mexico. After students compare the two sides of the market they have the opportunity to develop an understanding of how tourists to the USA feel and how they will feel when they visit another country.

C5- Teaches students to use critical thinking and problem solving strategies

This modified science lesson entitled One Towel, One Tree requires students to think critically and answer various questions about recycling. Students answer questions such as "Why should people recycle?", "What should people recycle?", and "How recycling can benefit the world?" This science lesson was modified for fourth grade students who are functioning at a third grade level. The lesson uses paper towel rolls to represent all the waste people put into landfills and how recycling can reduce the amount of space needed for landfills.
This math lesson entitled "Magic Squares," allows students to explore and learn about mathematic in an engaging way. Students are read a story about magic squares and then given an opportunity to work in small groups to solve various magic squares. Students also create two or three of their own magic squares within a group setting.

C6- Uses effective questioning strategies

This lesson entitled "Adventures to the Sun and Moon" was designed to allow students to explore the different characteristics of the moon and the sun. Within the lesson, students listen to a story about the moon and one story about the sun. Then students answer questions about each story created using Bloom's Taxonomy. After discussing the stories, students create their own story about visiting the moon and the sun.
This lesson over severe weather demonstrates my ability to create effective questions using Bloom's Taxonomy. While reading the story that goes along with the lesson the teacher stops to ask questions from the following levels of Bloom's: comprehension, analysis, knowledge, and synthesis.