Lesson Study: Cycle 1
Our Lesson:
This lesson took place in Noel Gikling’s fourth grade classroom at High Tech Elementary. This class has engaged in several quick write activities over the course of the past month. Students who once professed a dislike for writing have grown to enjoy these writing opportunities. In a recent lesson, students were asked to write for ten minutes about what they want to be when they grow up. Nearly the entire class protested when the timer went off, insisting on the opportunity to write for 10 more minutes. In the followup lesson, students were asked to write for 20 minutes, the only guideline being that they had to use the words Blue/Goblin/Pizza. Our 45 minute lesson study is an opportunity for the students to build on the story they started last week. After reading the book Fry Bread by Noble Maillard as a class, students worked together to create an anchor chart to highlight helpful sensory details. The goal was to have the students use sticky notes to insert similar sensory details intended to enrich their writing.
Standards:
Prior learning standards that unit builds on
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Learning standards for this unit
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.D
Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
Later standards for which this unit is a foundation
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.4.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Learning standards for this unit
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.D
Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
Later standards for which this unit is a foundation
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.4.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Lesson Goals:
Content Goal: Students understand that incorporating new writing techniques, such as sensory details, will support them in their writing growth and can yield confidence in their writing through a short narrative.
Equity Goal: How can we introduce writing opportunities that all students will enjoy engaging in while ensuring progress towards fourth grade literacy goals?
Equity Goal: How can we introduce writing opportunities that all students will enjoy engaging in while ensuring progress towards fourth grade literacy goals?
Take a look at our lesson slides:
Focus Students:
Focus Student 1:
- -Student has an IEP centered around classroom behavior. On good days he is interactive in classroom lessons, is outgoing and has no trouble getting started on his own. Unfortunately, challenging days outnumber good days and he is often disruptive, easy to upset and unable to collaborate with classmates.
- -Student reads considerably below his grade level. He does literacy work with an academic coach and will not read during quiet reading in the classroom. He often asks to work on a story he has been writing since the third grade and is very interested in sharing his work with his classmates; however, when he does, his story lacks cohesion and an identifiable story line..
- -Student has managed to write about a third of a page when we have done quick writing activities but this is rare. He will usually pace the room. Student chose the word “goblin” when we were brainstorming three words that must show up in a quick write. Buy-in opportunities like this are usually the key to keeping his interest.
Focus Student 2:
- -I just started an SSC (student support consultancy) for this student as she has begun to fall behind in math and literacy. When faced with a challenge in the classroom this student will often break down in tears and become despondent.
- -I was concerned with this student after I first gave her a writing assignment because she was unable to produce any writing when given a simple prompt. The next day she was able to write a whole page and demonstrated considerable skills in penmanship, capitalization, spelling and punctuation.
- -Mood swings seem to be a serious impediment. She shows signs of severe anxiety and will often sit through an entire lesson sharpening a pencil with a handheld sharpener. Despite this, she is very social and a pleasure to be around when she is in a good mood.
Student Work:
Data:
Reflection:
One of my biggest takeaways from our first lesson study cycle is that a team of dedicated educators can work together to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the classroom. Early efforts at getting my students to engage with the written word were extremely challenging with at least half of my class. The immediate audible response when I asked my kids to open their writing notebooks was disheartening enough. When they finished the assignment and I had the opportunity to review their work I began to wonder if I had what it would take to truly reach my students as a novice, first-year teacher. After a short brainstorming session, I returned to my classroom with a fresh game plan but a nagging skepticism.
Once I had the opportunity to institute some of the strategies that my study team and I theorized might improve student participation and output, I was immediately, pleasantly surprised. Helpful lesson considerations included allowing student input on the writing topic, assurances that the assignment was low-stakes, modeling the exercise before hand and completing the assignment with the students, an opportunity to share writing during an open mic and offering the students the opportunity to sit in an ‘author's chair’ while using a microphone. The students showed far more interest when it came time to introduce sensory details on the day of our lesson study and our focus students demonstrated engagement through the entire lesson.
Once I had the opportunity to institute some of the strategies that my study team and I theorized might improve student participation and output, I was immediately, pleasantly surprised. Helpful lesson considerations included allowing student input on the writing topic, assurances that the assignment was low-stakes, modeling the exercise before hand and completing the assignment with the students, an opportunity to share writing during an open mic and offering the students the opportunity to sit in an ‘author's chair’ while using a microphone. The students showed far more interest when it came time to introduce sensory details on the day of our lesson study and our focus students demonstrated engagement through the entire lesson.