Lesson Plan Nicolette Oliver Oakland City Teacher Corps ... Plan.pdfLesson Plan 2 Abstract This...
Transcript of Lesson Plan Nicolette Oliver Oakland City Teacher Corps ... Plan.pdfLesson Plan 2 Abstract This...
Lesson Plan 1
RUNNING HEAD: Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan
Nicolette Oliver
Oakland City Teacher Corps
Interview Event: April 18, 2009
Lesson Plan 2
Abstract
This health education unit is comprised of eight 45-minute lessons for a total of six hours
of instruction. It was successfully implemented within a 5th
grade elementary classroom during
my student teaching with the Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS).
Lesson Plan 3
Table of Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Context .......................................................................................................................................................... 5
Community ............................................................................................................................................... 5
District ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
School ....................................................................................................................................................... 6
Classroom ................................................................................................................................................. 7
Unit of instruction ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Instructional design ..................................................................................................................................... 11
Learning objectives ................................................................................................................................. 11
Differentiation ......................................................................................................................................... 14
Organization ............................................................................................................................................ 15
Instructional strategies ............................................................................................................................ 16
Technology ............................................................................................................................................. 17
Assessment .............................................................................................................................................. 18
Data analysis ............................................................................................................................................... 21
Whole class data analysis ........................................................................................................................ 21
Subgroups data analysis .......................................................................................................................... 22
Individual data analysis ........................................................................................................................... 22
Student ID3 ......................................................................................................................................... 22
Student ID15 ....................................................................................................................................... 23
Reflections on student learning ................................................................................................................... 24
Reference list .............................................................................................................................................. 27
Appendix A: Demographics ....................................................................................................................... 28
Appendix B: Lesson plan outline ................................................................................................................ 29
Appendix C: Sample lesson plan on communicable versus noncommunicable diseases ........................... 35
Objectives ............................................................................................................................................... 35
Information ............................................................................................................................................. 35
Shared practice: ....................................................................................................................................... 35
Lesson Plan 4
Guided practice: ...................................................................................................................................... 35
Independent practice: .............................................................................................................................. 35
Appendix D: Sample lesson plan on immunization to communicable disease ........................................... 36
Gain attention .......................................................................................................................................... 36
Inform learners of objectives .................................................................................................................. 36
Stimulate recall of prior learning ............................................................................................................ 36
Present content ........................................................................................................................................ 36
Provide learning guidance ....................................................................................................................... 37
Elicit performance ................................................................................................................................... 37
Provide feedback ..................................................................................................................................... 38
Assess performance ................................................................................................................................ 38
Appendix E: Post-assessment instructions .................................................................................................. 39
Appendix F: Pre-assessment and post-assessment rubric ........................................................................... 40
Appendix G: Data graphs ............................................................................................................................ 41
Appendix H: ID15 pre-assessment ............................................................................................................. 44
Appendix I: ID15 formative assessments ................................................................................................... 45
Appendix J: 1D15 post-assessment............................................................................................................. 47
Appendix K: ID3 pre-assessment ............................................................................................................... 48
Appendix L: ID3 formative assessments .................................................................................................... 49
Appendix M: ID3 post-assessment ............................................................................................................. 51
Lesson Plan 5
Context
Have you ever heard a teacher complain that much of students’ ability to learn is out of
their control? Such teachers must adapt to contextual factors that may affect the teaching-
learning process. However, contextual factors must first be acknowledged and identified before
teachers can leverage them for student success.
Environmental factors include many different areas, such as the community, district,
school and classroom. The next few paragraphs will explore the contextual factors present at
Humphreys American School (HAS) and how they affect the design of this instructional unit.
Community
HAS is located within United States Army Garrison (USAG) Humphreys. The immediate
community includes Army personnel and affiliated civilians. The political climate in our district
is very interesting. The population of USAG Humphreys is approximately 10,000 soldiers, but is
scheduled to increase to roughly 44,000 soldiers in the next few years. The reason it is expanding
is because many Koreans feel U.S. military presence in their capital city of Seoul is
“imperialistic”. While many Koreans still desire U.S. military presence in the country, the
Korean government has asked that the majority of soldiers at USAG-Yongsan in Seoul be
relocated south to USAG Humphreys.
Surrounding USAG Humphreys is the rural town of Anjeong-ri. Anjeong-ri is located
within Pyeongtaek City, which is famous for its flat countryside and rice production. Thus,
many local residents are agricultural workers. However, the presence of American troops and
civilians has attracted many small businesses into the area, and this sector of the economy is
expected to grow as more soldiers are transferred to USAG Humphreys.
Lesson Plan 6
District
HAS is administered by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA), whose
annual budget is approved and provided by Congress. DODEA is comprised of schools serving
U.S. military dependents at home and abroad. Schools in the U.S. are referred to as Domestic
Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS). Schools outside the U.S. are referred
to as Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS). DoDDS is further broken into global
regions and country districts. HAS is under the jurisdiction of the DoDDS-Pacific region, which
is based out of Okinawa, Japan. Finally, HAS is positioned within the DoDDS-Korea school
district.
Military dependents are notoriously transient, and to combat the additional toils this
characteristic may inflict, DODEA has standardized grade level standards so that if a military
parent is transferred in the middle of the school year, the student should be able to join their new
classroom during the same general content being presented in their original school. In addition,
many of the major learning goals set by DODEA are consistent across different grade levels. For
example, using graphic tools is a learning standard for many different grade levels within the
DODEA system. So, many students have already been introduced to Venn diagrams in past
grades. This same tool can continue to be used in higher grades for instruction or assessment to
help students analyze more complex subjects.
School
HAS serves a wide age range of students, from Sure Start participants to grade 8. This is
a new development since last year, when HAS was called Humphreys American Elementary
School (HAES) and only served students up to grade 6. With the expansion of the military base,
it became a burden to bus grades 7 and 8 to the nearby Osan Air Force base to attend school.
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Now, classes up to grade 5 are taught as elementary and grades 6 through 8 are taught as middle
school.
School facilities and resources are becoming overstretched in this fast-growing
environment. Last year, this school serviced around 100 students. This year, over 300 students
attend HAS sharing the same amount of space. The only reason HAS is not divided into separate
elementary and middle schools is that they share a common lunch room. Furthermore, HAS
suffered a paper shortage for over a month this year due to the increasing number of students.
Each DODEA school must participate in Continuous School Improvement (CSI). During
my student teaching with HAS, I participated in its CSI plan by serving on its Profile Committee,
and utilizing its prescribed interventions to improve student skills in mathematics and nonfiction
reading comprehension. The prescribed intervention to improve nonfiction reading
comprehension includes various graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams, and sequence
charts.
Classroom
Relevant classroom factors include the physical makeup of the classroom, student
characteristics, and outside forces such as parent involvement. My classroom at HAS was Ms.
Angela Shoff’s grade 5 elementary classroom. The classroom included approximately 20
students. An exact number is not provided because the number of students fluctuates according
to the deployment schedule of our students’ parents. For example, in the first month of this
school year, two students moved to different countries, and three new students joined our
classroom.
Our classroom is designed as an approximately 1200-square-foot rectangle. The front of
the classroom is comprised of sliding white boards, maps, an overhead projector and presentation
Lesson Plan 8
screen. One side of the classroom is occupied by two large windows and the air
conditioner/heating unit. The other side of the classroom houses many cupboards, drawers, and
bookshelves. The back of the room includes Ms. Shoff’s desk, four computer stations, one
printer, and a supplementary white board. The middle of the classroom is comprised of student
desks arranged into groups of 4-5, and larger tables for cooperative learning activities.
Regarding the racial/ethnic makeup of my students, Whites are not the majority. They are
approximately 24% of the class. Majority of the class is comprised of Asians at 38%. Blacks
make up another 28%. There are no Hispanics in our classroom, but the Pacific Islanders and
Other categories each represent 5% of our classroom. Many of the Asian students are of Korean
descent. For more details, please see Appendix A: Demographics.
Almost all students in the classroom speak English. There is one student with extremely
limited English language skills. She is pulled out of the regular classroom for 60 minutes each
day for ELL tutoring sessions. Some of the other Korean American students are bilingual, and
while their language skills are beyond the need for individual ELL tutoring sessions, they often
struggle with expressing new concepts.
There are also some students in our classroom that are enrolled in the Gifted Education
program. These are students who have demonstrated above grade level academic performance,
and mature interpersonal characteristics. These students are also pulled out of the regular
classroom for 60 minutes each day for more challenging coursework.
Other students that are pulled out of the regular classroom include one student with an
IEP that recommends regular sessions with a speech pathologist, and students who participate in
the Read 180 program. Read 180 is designed to help students with low reading skills to reach
grade level standards for reading comprehension.
Lesson Plan 9
A major difference among my students is their general skill level. Only some students
have been identified as Gifted, but there are other extremely bright students in the class who
work hard and consistently surpass the rest of the class academically. On the other hand, there
are consistently low-performing students who struggle in more than one classroom subject and
need more practice in basic skills before they can reach grade level expectations. The rest of the
class is generally ready to learn and achieve grade level standards.
Some of this may be due to students’ developmental/skill levels, but parent involvement
is another important factor to student performance in the classroom. Most students at HAS have
at least one very involved parent who regularly reads our classroom’s weekly newsletter,
monitors student assignments online via GradeSpeed, and attends school functions such as Open
House or Parent-Teacher Conferences. Unfortunately, not all students have a parent that is
involved in their schoolwork, and it shows in their lack of completed homework assignments,
missing projects, and low test scores. In two cases this year, parent involvement has influenced
the student’s basic ability to participate in the classroom by not having the proper prescription
glasses for their student.
Unit of instruction
This instructional unit addresses many of these contextual factors. For example, students
were urged to research a communicable disease that is present either on the military base or in
the greater Korean community. The required immunizations list was shared with students so
they could relate these communicable diseases to their shared experience of getting a health
check-up before enrolling at HAS.
Furthermore, to meet the CSI goals for nonfiction reading comprehension, all groups will
be expected to use graphic organizers throughout the unit. Venn diagrams will be required
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during pre-assessment, formative assessments, and post-assessment. Sequence charts will be
required during in-class activities as well as formative assessments.
To encourage parent involvement in the unit, education standard information will be
distributed to parents via weekly newsletters, and homework assignments will directly relate to
their final project. Parents at our school expect the connections between homework,
projects/exams and standards to be very clear, and it is the teacher’s responsibility to
communicate these connections to parents. In addition to the weekly newsletter, which was
distributed via hardcopy and e-mail, the classroom website posted information about the project
on a regular basis. This way, parents could be reminded of assignment due dates and check
grades on submitted student work throughout the unit.
Student skill levels informed my instructional design and urged me to differentiate the
unit according to skill level. This includes English language, reading comprehension and
giftedness skills levels. I divided students into three groups according to their pre-assessment
scores: Gifted/High Performance (HP); Average Performance (AP); and ELL/Read 180/Low
Performance (LP). The HP group will be challenged to express the unit’s information through a
creative brochure that includes a graphic organizer. The AP group will be expected to use a
balanced mixture of written expression and graphic organizer use. The LP group will express
information almost entirely through graphic organizers and illustrations in order to focus on new
vocabulary and the main ideas of the unit topic. I spoke with the ELL Specialist at our school
and he approved that such graphic organizer work and illustrations are appropriate for the ELL
student’s English language skill level.
Ample classroom time will be given for students to complete their final project, including
research and production in the computer lab. Due to the strained school facility resources,
Lesson Plan 11
computer lab time was reserved well in advance to ensure all students have access to the Internet
and Microsoft Office software to complete their programs, if necessary. For students in the LP
group, art materials such as poster board and markers were made available.
Instructional design
Learning objectives
The learning goals for my unit of instruction are:
• HESK1: Students will access valid health information about a specific communicable
disease
• HESK3: Students will analyze the influences of communicable diseases
• HESK5: Students will advocate for health regarding a specific communicable disease
These goals come from the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) grade 5
curriculum standards in health education (2006). They have been amended to focus on the unit
topic of communicable diseases.
These goals are appropriate for student cognitive development because at age 10,
students are able to demonstrate some high order thinking skills, such as analyzing, comparing
and contrasting, sequencing events, and making inferences. They are aware of larger concepts
beyond their own needs and wants so that they are developmentally ready to learn advocacy
skills on behalf of not only themselves, but the larger community and the environment as well.
These goals are appropriate regarding student prerequisite knowledge and skills because they
have demonstrated similar skills in other curriculum areas. For example, students have accessed
valid information in the context of other disciplines, but now we are applying this skill to health
education. Students have practiced analytical skills during literature /language arts and will now
apply these skills to health education as well.
Lesson Plan 12
These goals are appropriate for meeting additional student needs, such as those of our
Gifted Education, Read 180 and ESL students. Assessment products will be differentiated for
different skill levels, including additional challenge for Gifted Education students, and increased
support for Read 180 and ESL students.
I have identified the following objectives to guide student activity toward achievement of
the learning goals:
• HESK1a: Given access to the Internet, students will access two reputable websites to
research a communicable disease.
o Type: performance (skill)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
• HESK3a: Given the categories of “communicable diseases” and “noncommunicable
disease”, students will successfully categorize at least four specific diseases.
o Type: performance (skill)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (synthesis)
• HESK3b: Given a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast communicable
disease and noncommunicable disease by correctly identifying one similarity and two
differences, plus four specific examples of diseases.
o Type: performance (skill)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)
• HESK3c: Given a communicable disease, students will dramatize one of its symptoms
o Type: performance (skill)
o Taxonomy: psychomotor (guided response)
Lesson Plan 13
• HESK3d: Given an environment, students will identify two possible areas of
contamination by communicable diseases.
o Type: reasoning
o Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
• HESK3e: Given a cause and effect diagram, students will illustrate how a person gains
immunity to a communicable disease with 80% accuracy.
o Type: performance (skill)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)
• HESK3f: Given a bar graph of vaccinations and disease incidence over time, students
will give a plausible explanation of the impact of immunization on the community.
o Type: reasoning
o Taxonomy: cognitive (evaluation)
• HESK5a: Given a communicable disease, students will advocate its prevention by
creating an informational communication with 80% accuracy.
o Type: affective (attitude)
o Taxonomy: affective (responding to phenomena)
• HESK5b: Given a communicable disease, students will illustrate its impact on the
environment by providing two examples.
o Type: knowledge (cognitive)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
• HESK5c: Given a communicable disease, students will illustrate its impact on the
community by providing two examples.
Lesson Plan 14
o Type: knowledge (cognitive)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
• HESK5d: Given a communicable disease, students will identify two prevention
strategies.
o Type: knowledge (cognitive)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
• HESK5e: Given a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast two prevention
strategies for a communicable disease by identifying one similarity and two differences.
o Type: performance (skill)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)
Differentiation
This section will describe how I will design my original unit of instruction related to unit
goals, student characteristics and needs, and the specific learning context.
I administered a pre-assessment to determine students’ prior knowledge and skills
regarding communicable diseases. After analyzing students’ performance, I divided the class into
three groups based on prior knowledge levels. These groups will guide my instruction, and I will
modify assessment products according to the needs of each group.
There were some students who have already mastered the learning goals of the unit,
measured as 80% of possible points. Some of these students are enrolled in our school’s gifted
education program, and require more challenge in our classroom. I refer to these five students as
the gifted/high performance group (HP).
Other students had a working knowledge of communicable diseases, but scored in the 60-
70% range. I refer to these seven students as the average performance group (AP). While these
Lesson Plan 15
scores would be considered as academically “passing” the unit, these students need additional
knowledge in order to master the learning goals and objectives for this unit by demonstrating
80% accuracy.
I refer to the last group of students as the ELL/Read 180/Low Performance (LP) group. It
includes the eight students who are enrolled in our school’s ELL program, Read 180 program,
and those whose prior knowledge of communicable diseases would earn a failing grade for the
unit’s learning goals and objectives. These students need to learn the basic concepts of
communicable diseases.
Organization
For an overview of each lesson’s topic and related objectives, see Appendix B: Lesson
plan outline. I included the lesson on communicable versus noncommunicable diseases as
prerequisite information to mastering objective HESK3. On the pre-assessment, many students
did not correctly identify a communicable disease. Many listed a noncommunicable disease.
Some failed to identify a disease at all. In order to complete their summative assessments and
meet the learning goal, it is vital for students to understand the definition and concept of a
communicable disease. Thus, this is sequenced as the first lesson taught during the unit. A
sample lesson plan for this topic is provided in Appendix C.
The next two lessons gave more in-depth information on the symptoms and causes on
communicable diseases. Students learned how symptoms are the body’s means of fighting
pathogens. Students also learned about different types of pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses,
protozoa and fungi.
Immunity to communicable disease was another vital lesson in this unit of instruction. It
relates to my instructional goals by showcasing an important prevention strategy for many
Lesson Plan 16
communicable diseases. It is influenced by the pre-assessment information, because no students
identified immunization as a prevention strategy on their pre-assessment. It is sequenced after
students learn about pathogens so that students know what vaccines and immunization are used
against. A sample lesson plan on this topic is provided in Appendix D.
Another lesson I included in this unit of instruction is on researching a specific
communicable disease. Students were asked to select a communicable disease that can be found
in Korea, and research information to be included in their summative assessment. A research
worksheet was provided to guide students during their time in the computer lab.
I felt it was important for students to study communicable diseases outside the common
cold or influenza, because majority of the students who were able to identify a communicable
disease on the pre-assessment named the common cold. Furthermore, the classroom textbook
focused intensively on the cold or influenza. I wanted to give students a broader understanding of
what communicable diseases are, especially those that they have been specifically immunized
against.
This lesson is sequenced towards the end of the unit so that students have a base of
knowledge about what communicable diseases are, how they spread, and their impact on the
community and environment before students are asked to apply this information to a specific
disease. This application of knowledge encourages students to use critical thinking and problem
solving skills.
Instructional strategies
I used multiple learning strategies during this lesson. I used the inquiry strategy by asking
students to connect the textbook content with their own experiences. For example, I asked
Lesson Plan 17
students if they have ever had a communicable disease, such as a cold or the flu, and if they have
ever received vaccine shots.
I used collaboration by asking students to work in table groups to create a list of
examples of communicable and noncommunicable diseases. I further asked these table groups to
discuss why people use the phrase “catch a cold” to describe the spread of this communicable
disease. In addition, I allowed students to discuss with their table groups the relationship between
disease incidence and immunization as described below.
I encouraged student use of critical thinking and problem solving by presenting them a
bar graph representing immunization and disease incidence over time for a specific
communicable disease. Students were asked to analyze the relationship between immunization
and the spread of the disease. I assessed students’ formative learning of this lesson’s content
according to their answer to this critical thinking activity. I assessed student learning after this
lesson by asking students to complete a cause and effect diagram to explain how a person can
gain immunity from a communicable disease. Feedback to students came in the form of
immediate verbal cues during the lesson, and graded work at the end of the lesson.
Technology
Different types of technology were used by the students during this unit. All students
used computers to find Internet resources on their specific communicable disease. I referred
students to appropriate websites such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. I
assessed students’ formative learning according to their ability to navigate the Internet and
access multiple websites with valid health information.
Contextual factors that were under my control included the amount of in-class time that
students could use for research, the quality of the websites students used in their research, and
Lesson Plan 18
what type of information students sought during their research. I believe that keeping these
contextual factors under my control versus allowing students to do research at home from any
websites they choose increased the quality of student work and contributed to student success. I
provided immediate feedback to students, such as reinforcing that they found valid information
on that website, or redirecting them if I saw them visiting an inappropriate website. After the
lesson, I asked to view students’ research worksheet to ensure that they found all the necessary
information to complete their summative assessment project for the entire unit of instruction.
Students in the HP group also used Microsoft Office software to create brochures.
As the teacher, I used the overhead projector in class on a regular basis to model
information for students. For example, I modeled correct usage of a Venn diagram on the
overhead projector. Visual aids were also presented via photocopied transparencies on the
overhead projector.
Assessment
I designed an original assessment plan to monitor student progress toward learning the
goals for my standards-based instructional unit. This required creating pre- and post-assessment
instruments, scoring rubrics/keys, and an assessment plan table.
I used multiple assessment approaches and forms that are aligned to my learning goal.
They measured student learning before, during and after instruction. To begin, a pre-assessment
was given to students to assess their prior knowledge and skills on the topic of communicable
diseases. This pre-assessment addressed learning goal HESK5 for my unit of instruction. It
included short answer prompts and completion of a graphic organizer. Sample pre-assessments
are shown in Appendices H and K. The pre- and post-assessment grading rubric is shown in
Appendix F.
Lesson Plan 19
I utilized a diverse range of formative assessments. Some assessments were completed
in-class, while others were assigned as homework. Some were paper-and-pencil assessments.
Many included graphic organizers. Others utilized students’ dramatic skills. They alternated skill
levels to cover the range of abilities for LP, AP and HP groups. At the end of each lesson in the
textbook, I assessed student comprehension via lesson summary and review questions from the
textbook as individual seatwork. These were important pieces of supporting evidence of whether
students were learning/retaining information as it was presented to the class. ELL students were
never required to write more than basic vocabulary words. They always had the option to draw a
picture to express the required information. Sample formative assessments are attached that
addresses the following objectives:
• HESK3b: Given a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast communicable
disease and noncommunicable disease by correctly identifying one similarity and two
differences, plus four specific examples of diseases.
o Type: performance (skill)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)
• HESK3d: Given an environment, students will identify two possible areas of
contamination by communicable diseases.
o Type: reasoning
o Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
It is important to collect such supporting evidence of student learning during the
formative stages so that future lessons are building on a good foundation of knowledge. If a
student doesn’t understand the difference between a communicable and noncommunicable
disease, they will not be able to discuss communicable disease prevention with accuracy.
Lesson Plan 20
Final projects, as summative assessments, were differentiated according to each group’s
needs and readiness to learn about the topic. See Appendix E for specific instructions. These
post-assessments directly aligned to stated learning goals and objectives. The final project fulfills
the following learning goal, as did the pre-assessment:
• HESK5: Students will advocate for health regarding a specific communicable disease.
The final project/summative assessment used the same grading rubric as the pre-
assessment in order to measure student learning authentically. It was the product that was
differentiated for the different groups in order to assess student learning appropriately. For
example, AP students completed the exact same exam sheet as the pre-assessment. LP students
represented their answers in visual form using illustrations and graphic organizers. This adapted
to ELL needs so that they could focus on key vocabulary and expressing main concept, while at
the same time authentically measured student learning. HP students were challenged to create an
informational brochure. This summative assessment addresses the following objectives:
• HESK6a: Given a communicable disease, students will advocate its prevention by
creating an informational communication with 80% accuracy.
o Type: affective (attitude)
o Taxonomy: affective (responding to phenomena)
• HESK6b: Given a communicable disease, students will illustrate its impact on the
environment by providing two examples.
o Type: knowledge (cognitive)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
• HESK6c: Given a communicable disease, students will illustrate its impact on the
community by providing two examples.
Lesson Plan 21
o Type: knowledge (cognitive)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
• HESK6d: Given a communicable disease, students will identify two prevention
strategies.
o Type: knowledge (cognitive)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
• HESK6e: Given a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast two prevention
strategies for a communicable disease by identifying one similarity and two
differences.
o Type: performance (skill)
o Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)
The goal of my unit of instruction was for all students to achieve mastery of the learning
goal and stated objectives. Mastery is defined as a percentage score of 80% or higher on the
summative assessment. This corresponds to a raw score of 8 on the pre-/post-assessment rubric.
Data analysis
Whole class data analysis
At the beginning of the instructional unit, my students had limited prior knowledge of
communicable diseases, their impact on the community or environment, and strategies to prevent
communicable diseases. In fact, nearly 1/3 of the class could not name a communicable disease
in the pre-assessment. Those students who could name a communicable disease recognized that
it impacted the community, but less than half the class recognized how such disease impact the
environment. Less than half of the class could cite, compare or contrast prevention strategies.
Lesson Plan 22
Overall, the class averaged 52.86% on the post-assessment, which does not indicate mastery of
the learning goals.
Students demonstrated their learning via the post-assessments. Whereas nine students,
over 40% of the class, failed the pre-assessment, no students failed the post-assessment by
receiving a score of 50% or lower. Fifteen students, or over 70% of the class, achieved mastery
of the learning goals by earning a score of 80% or higher. Of those mastery students, six students
earned perfect scores. The class average increased from 52.86% to 84.29%, a gain of 31.43%.
Subgroups data analysis
The individual students in the LP group demonstrated the most learning progress. This
group made the most progress in identifying prevention strategies. Their scores on this rubric
item improved nearly 80%. This data shows that students will little or no prior knowledge of
communicable disease were successful in learning about the effects of disease and prevention
strategies. None of these students passed the pre-assessment, but all of them passed the post-
assessment. Five, over half the students in the group, achieved mastery of the learning goals. In
fact, four of the nine students earned “A” grades, and two of those students scored 100%.
Individual data analysis
Student ID3
Student ID3 is a non-native English speaker. She is enrolled in our school’s English as a
Second Language (ESL) program and has very limited English language skills. In collaboration
with our school’s ESL specialist, I allowed her to complete most assignments via visually
representations versus written explanations. Thus, I allowed her to complete her pre-assessment
via drawing pictures, and I differentiated the LP group’s post-assessment format to focus on
illustrations and graphic representations.
Lesson Plan 23
On the pre-assessment, ID3 identified a noncommunicable disease instead of a
communicable disease. She did not identify its affects on the community and environment.
While she identified prevention strategies for the disease, she did not compare and contrast the
methods via a Venn diagram. She scored 30%.
During the formative assessments, I personally worked with ID3 to ensure that she
understood the questions, and where to find the needed information in the textbook. Much of the
formative assessments focused on her English vocabulary of health terms such as “immunity”,
“pathogens” and “white blood cells”. Once the vocabulary was clearly explained to her, she was
able to successfully complete the formative assessments in written English versus drawing
pictures.
On the post-assessment, ID3 combined hand-drawn illustrations with written English.
She identified a communicable disease and successfully compared and contrasted prevention
strategies via a Venn diagram in written English. To analyze impacts on the community and
environment, she drew pictures. She demonstrated two examples of how the disease impacts the
community, but only one example of how it impacts the environment. Thus, her final score on
the post-assessment was 90%, demonstrating her mastery of the learning goals. This indicates
learning progress of 60%. It is important to understand the learning of ID3 because it shows that
I can differentiate my assessments and work individually to meet the needs of ESL students who
struggle with the content of the regular classroom.
Student ID15
ID15 is a very bright student, and is enrolled in the school’s Gifted Education program.
However, she did not demonstrate mastery of all the learning goals in her pre-assessment. She
successfully identified communicable diseases plus one impact on the community, and
Lesson Plan 24
adequately completed a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting two prevention strategies.
However, she did not have prior knowledge of its impact on the environment. Her overall score
on the pre-assessment was 70%.
ID15 completed formative assessments, including one that focused on the impacts on the
environment. She scored three of three points on that formative assessment by identifying
different ways that communicable diseases can impact the environment. She was able to apply
this information to a specific communicable disease on her post-assessment. On her post-
assessment, ID15 not only demonstrated mastery of all the learning goals, but answered each
rubric item correctly for a perfect score of 100%. This demonstrates learning progress of 30%.
It is important to understand the learning of ID15 because it shows that I can also meet the needs
of Gifted Education students that need to be challenged to learn more in-depth information about
topics they already have a working knowledge about.
Reflections on student learning
If you identify success at the percentage increase from pre- to post-assessment, my
students were most successful in identifying prevention strategies. On the pre-assessment, only
eight students, less than half of the class, successfully identified two prevention strategies for a
communicable disease. The class average on this rubric item was 47.62%. On the post-
assessment, nineteen of twenty-one students, or over ninety percent of the class, successfully
identified two prevention strategies. The class average on this rubric item increased to 92.86%.
This demonstrates a class average learning progress of 45.24%. I believe this success is
due to many factors. One factor is that I clearly defined prevention during instruction. I noticed
that students often listed treatments for communicable diseases on their pre-assessment and
during shared instruction, so I stressed the difference between treatment and prevention to give
Lesson Plan 25
students a clear concept of what prevention is and is not. One shared instruction activity
completed during whole class instruction was the construction of a Venn diagram comparing and
contrasting prevention and treatment.
Another factor is that I gave students ample access to information during class. We spent
three sessions in the computer lab, researching specific communicable diseases on the Internet.
Students were given a list of guiding questions which asked students how the disease spreads, to
locate two prevention strategies, and how those two prevention strategies are alike and different.
I gave students a list of suggested websites so that they could access valid health information
from reputable websites.
If you define success as mastery of a learning goal by demonstrating 80% on the post-
assessment, my students were least successful in identifying impacts of their specific
communicable disease on the environment. Students did increase the class average percentage
score from 47.62% on the pre-assessment to 71.43% on the post-assessment, demonstrating
learning progress of 23.81%. However, it remained to be the lowest-scoring rubric item on the
post-assessment. At less than 80%, the class average of 71.43% does not showcase that the class
as a whole mastered this learning goal. I believe there was one main factor that led to student
lack of success in this rubric item. Impacts on the environment were difficult to identify from the
online resources provided to the class. Some websites used high-level technical vocabulary that
students could not decipher. However, most websites failed to directly address this subtopic.
Thus, students could not simply find, record, and reiterate an answer.
Additionally, this learning goal required critical thinking skills. To successfully
accomplish this learning goal, students needed to synthesize different type of information to
discover on their own how a specific communicable disease impacts the environment. I gave
Lesson Plan 26
students pieces to the puzzle, such as asking them to research how a specific communicable
disease spreads from person to person. I gave students examples of how communicable diseases
can impact different components of the environment, such as solids, liquids, gases, and living
things. I even gave them a homework assignment as a formative assessment on how the common
cold affected the classroom environment. However, students were expected to combine all this
knowledge and make inferences about the communicable disease they researched. There was not
a lesson devoted to teaching students the skill of making inferences, so many students were
unsuccessful.
A contextual factor that I had control over was the websites that students visited during
in-class research. In the future, I could find websites that clearly and directly address the learning
goals. I could also change my instruction by devoting a whole lesson to critical thinking skills,
such as making inferences.
Two professional learning goals that emerged from this experience are how to teach
students critical thinking skills and improving the informational tools provided to students. To
improve my teaching of critical thinking skills, I will refer to professional journals and the
guidance of my host teacher. To improve the informational tools provided to students, such as
websites used for in-class research, I will locate online resources developed specifically for
students so that high-level, technical vocabulary does not discourage students from finding the
necessary information. To do this, I will need to further research the reading comprehension
level of my students.
Lesson Plan 27
Reference list
Clark, Donald. (May 6, 2007). Learning domains or Bloom's taxonomy.
Retrieved September 23, 2008, from the Big Dog and Little Dog's Bowl of Biscuits!
Website:
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html.
Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA). (2006). Health education: grade 5.
Retrieved September 23, 2008, from the DODEA Website:
http://www.dodea.edu/curriculum/docs/he/stn_health_grd_5.pdf.
Lesson Plan 28
Appendix A: Demographics
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Appendix B: Lesson plan outline
Lesson
number
Lesson topic Learning goal(s) Objective(s)
1 Pre-assessment HESK3:
Students will
analyze the
influences of
communicable
diseases
HESK5a: Given a communicable disease,
students will advocate its prevention by
creating an informational communication
with 80% accuracy.
Type: affective (attitude)
Taxonomy: affective (responding to
phenomena)
HESK5b: Given a communicable disease,
students will illustrate its impact on the
environment by providing two examples.
Type: knowledge (cognitive)
Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
HESK5c: Given a communicable
disease, students will illustrate its
impact on the community by providing
two examples.
Type: knowledge (cognitive)
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Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
HESK5d: Given a communicable
disease, students will identify two
prevention strategies.
Type: knowledge (cognitive)
Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
HESK5e: Given a Venn diagram,
students will compare and contrast two
prevention strategies for a
communicable disease by identifying
one similarity and two differences.
Type: performance (skill)
Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)
2 Communicable
versus
noncommunicable
disease
HESK3:
Students will
analyze the
influences of
communicable
diseases
HESK3a: Given the categories of
“communicable diseases” and
“noncommunicable disease”, students will
successfully categorize at least four
specific diseases.
Type: performance (skill)
Taxonomy: cognitive (synthesis)
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HESK3b: Given a Venn diagram, students
will compare and contrast communicable
disease and noncommunicable disease by
correctly identifying one similarity and
two differences, plus four specific
examples of diseases.
Type: performance (skill)
Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)
3 Symptoms of
communicable
diseases
HESK3:
Students will
analyze the
influences of
communicable
diseases
HESK3c: Given a communicable disease,
students will dramatize one of its
symptoms
Type: performance (skill)
Taxonomy: psychomotor (guided
response)
4 Pathogens spread
communicable
diseases
HESK3:
Students will
analyze the
influences of
communicable
diseases
HESK3d: Given an environment, students
will identify two possible areas of
contamination by communicable diseases.
Type: reasoning
Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
5 Immunity to HESK3: HESK3e: Given a graphic organizer,
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communicable
diseases
Students will
analyze the
influences of
communicable
diseases
students will illustrate how a person gains
immunity to a communicable disease with
80% accuracy.
Type: performance (skill)
Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)
HESK3f: Given a bar graph of
vaccinations and disease incidence over
time, students will give a plausible
explanation of the impact of immunization
on the community.
Type: reasoning
Taxonomy: cognitive (evaluation)
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6-7 Research of a
specific
communicable
disease
HESK1:
Students will
access valid
health
information
about a
specific
communicable
HESK1a: Given access to the Internet,
students will access two reputable
websites to research a communicable
disease.
Type: performance (skill)
Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
8 Post-assessment
HESK5:
Students will
advocate for
health
regarding a
specific
communicable
disease
HESK5a: Given a communicable disease,
students will advocate its prevention by
creating an informational communication
with 80% accuracy.
Type: affective (attitude)
Taxonomy: affective (responding to
phenomena)
HESK5b: Given a communicable disease,
students will illustrate its impact on the
environment by providing two examples.
Type: knowledge (cognitive)
Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
Lesson Plan 34
HESK5c: Given a communicable disease,
students will illustrate its impact on the
community by providing two examples.
Type: knowledge (cognitive)
Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
HESK5d: Given a communicable disease,
students will identify two prevention
strategies.
Type: knowledge (cognitive)
Taxonomy: cognitive (application)
HESK5e: Given a Venn diagram, students
will compare and contrast two prevention
strategies for a communicable disease by
identifying one similarity and two
differences.
Type: performance (skill)
Taxonomy: cognitive (analysis)
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Appendix C: Sample lesson plan on communicable versus noncommunicable diseases
Objectives
• HESK3a - Within collaborative groups, students will successfully categorize four
diseases as either communicable or noncommunicable.
• HESK3b - Given a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast communicable and
noncommunicable diseases by identifying at least one similarity and two differences.
Information
Students will read aloud from the health textbook. The teacher will use the inquiry method to
check for student understanding of vocabulary such as disease, communicable disease and
noncommunicable disease. The teacher will use the inquiry method to guide students in making
text-to-self connections.
Shared practice:
The teacher will draw a Venn diagram on the overhead projector, and ask student volunteers to
help compare the definitions of communicable versus noncommunicable disease.
Guided practice:
Students will work in collaborative groups of 4-5 students to brainstorm different diseases. They
will then categorize these diseases into communicable or noncommunicable disease categories.
The teacher will compile a class list on the board from student-generated answers.
Independent practice:
As a homework assignment, students will be given a blank Venn diagram graphic organizer.
They will use it to compare and contrast communicable versus noncommunicable disease. They
will include definitions and at least two specific examples.
Lesson Plan 36
Appendix D: Sample lesson plan on immunization to communicable disease
Gain attention
Show students a flyer about the upcoming influenza vaccine event with their school
nurse. Ask them how this school event relates to what they are studying in this health unit.
Inform learners of objectives
Clarify that in today’s lesson, they will learn how vaccines, such as the flu shot, help their
bodies gain immunity to communicable diseases and protect people in their community of
getting and spreading the flu. In addition, include these objectives on the weekly newsletter sent
home via e-mail or hardcopy to parents:
• HESK3e: Given a graphic organizer, students will demonstrate understanding of how the
body gains immunity to communicable diseases with 80% accuracy.
• HESK3f: Given a graph illustrating disease incidence and immunization over time,
students will make an inference about vaccines and immunization’s impact on the
community.
Stimulate recall of prior learning
Ask the class to come reach consensus on the following tasks:
• classify influenza as either a communicable or noncommunicable disease
• identify common symptoms of influenza
• determine what type of pathogen causes influenza
Present content
Students will read aloud from the required health textbook. The teacher will use the
inquiry method to guide students in making text-to-self connections. Questions such as “Do you
plan to sign up for the flu shot with the school nurse?” and “Do you remember getting some
Lesson Plan 37
shots before you came to school in Korea? Do you remember what those shots were for?” may
be asked. Then, the teacher will present the following graph to illustrate the correlation between
disease incidence and immunization over time:
Source:"Summary of Notifyable Diseases--United States, 1992" in Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report,41(55):46, September 1993, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia.
Provide learning guidance
The teacher will use the inquiry method to check for student understanding of the graph
above. The teacher will prompt students to verbalize the correlation between immunization and
disease incidence and make inferences regarding immunizations’ impact on the community. An
example response would be “After people started getting the vaccine, there were less people with
polio. This made it less common for polio to spread throughout the community.”
Elicit performance
Students will work in collaborative groups of 4-5 students to complete a sequence
graphic organizer. Students will be given the sequence graphic organizer worksheet. Students
Lesson Plan 38
will also be given small pieces of paper with the steps of gaining immunity pre-printed on them.
Students will work collaboratively and use the information in their textbook to place the steps of
gaining immunity into the correct sequence.
Provide feedback
The teacher will rotate around the room to provide feedback to collaborative groups. If
students’ work is out of sequence, the teacher can point out the first point of deviation or inform
the group how many steps are in error. The activity is considered complete when all
collaborative groups have reached the correct sequence.
Assess performance
As a homework assignment, students will be given a blank sequence graphic organizer
worksheet without pre-printed steps of gaining immunity. Students will need to identify the steps
of gaining immunity and correctly sequence the steps with 80% accuracy.
Lesson Plan 39
Appendix E: Post-assessment instructions
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Appendix F: Pre-assessment and post-assessment rubric
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Appendix G: Data graphs
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Appendix H: ID15 pre-assessment
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Appendix I: ID15 formative assessments
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Appendix J: 1D15 post-assessment
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Appendix K: ID3 pre-assessment
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Appendix L: ID3 formative assessments
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Appendix M: ID3 post-assessment