BRENDAN C. A. MENG
Planning For Instruction Evidence
Planning For Instruction Navigation Menu:
Planning For Instruction: Introduction
Long-Range Planning
Unit Planning
Lesson Planning
Planning for Instruction: Conclusion
Unit Planning
Unit planning is where I am able to develop appropriate sequencing of learning experiences and plan to provide multiple ways for my students to demonstrate their knowledge. This is accomplished by selecting and creating learning experiences that are appropriate for curriculum goals and content standards, and are relevant to learners. Once learning experiences are selected, I then plan how to achieve each student's learning goals by choosing appropriate strategies and accommodations, resources, and materials to differentiate instruction for individuals and groups of learners. As the year progresses and I am able to better identify my students' strengths and learning needs, my choices of strategies, accommodations, resources, and materials become more specific in responding to these strengths and needs.
When unit planning, I include the laboratory activities, project-based learning, and assessment activities which I will use to formally and summatively assess my students learning throughout the unit as I continue to look for gaps in learning and make any necessary adjustments to lesson progression as I provide reteaching opportunities based on student achievement data. Prior consideration for my students' learning needs, ability levels, and current content knowledge assists in minimizing the adjustments needing to be made throughout the unit once instruction begins. Ultimately, I begin planning each unit by identifying and creating each unit's summative assessment and backward plan to successfully include instructional opportunities which will satisfy the content delivery of each topic of a summative unit assessment to ensure maximum learning opportunities, content exposure, and formative assessment monitoring as evidence of my students' learning as it progresses throughout each unit.
Please utilize the navigation arrows at the top of both pieces of evidence above which demonstrate my abilities to successfully plan instructional units for both my earth science and biology classes.
Above: Earth Science Unit 4 Plan (top) and Biology Unit 3 Plan (bottom). What is extremely helpful in the success of teaching each sub-standard contained in each unit is the calendar layouts you will find below on pages 4-6 of both the earth science and biology unit plans, respectively. You will notice two versions of calendars including the same time frames and dates for each subject. The first calendar version includes the lesson objective for the day whereas the second includes the primary learning activities which I have intentionally created and collaborated on with colleagues that will be utilized to assist in the achieve of each lesson's objective. By defining daily lesson objectives and learning activities in this way I successfully develop appropriate sequencing of learning experiences and can plan for differentiation of learning experiences throughout each unit in order to provide multiple ways for my students to demonstrate their knowledge and ultimately achieve each student's learning goals. The calendar layout of my unit planning also provides visualization of scaffolding of information and learning activities for each topic to ensure I am providing adequate structuring of lesson and topic progression. The learning activities included in each of the above artifacts also show that I know a wide range of evidence-based instructional strategies, resources, and technological tools and how to use them effectively to plan instruction that meets diverse learner needs.
The remainder of this unit planning section will display student artifacts from the earth science unit 4 plan documented above. The majority of the artifacts will focus on the progression of the minerals content portion of the unit. Artifacts from the rock portion will be featured later in the lesson planning section of my portfolio.
I began this unit with the minerals pre-assessment (above) which contains eighteen mineral-based content questions which I created from previously released SOL questions. The questions I chose to assess prior student knowledge are ones which reflect the entirety of essential understandings, knowledge and skills in the DOE's earth science curriculum framework. By selecting such questions, this pre-assessment serves as an excellent gauge of my students' current prior knowledge compared to the essential understanding outcomes of the standard as well as a guide for adjustments to the unit plan based on student achievement data. It also shows that I plan for instruction based on formative and summative assessment data, prior learner knowledge, and learner interest as my unit plans remain flexible to respond to my students' learning needs as identified by such pre-assessments. I believe constantly assessing and reassessing student knowledge through various formative and summative assessments is an incredibly important factor to consider as a unit progresses. The data provided allows me to make instructional-based decisions regarding what areas of a standard we will need to spend the most time on and adjust my unit plan as necessary to remediate any misconceptions which continuously arise with the reteaching of a skill or set of knowledge.
Above: Intro to Minerals and Mineral Chemistry Student Guided Notes. Following the pre-assessment, we transitioned into the student guided notes picture above. I used a copy of the pre-filled noted to write in each of the missing pieces of information on the whiteboard while each page was projected. Students copied the missing information as each aspect was explained to them. Many of my collaborative class earth science students have IEPs and 504 plans that require I provide them with graphic organizers and chunking of information. The guided notes above were provided to each student in the class as a best teaching practice and also show how I achieve each student's learning goals successfully through the use of appropriate modifications and materials to differentiate instruction for my learners. Following the identification of key vocabulary through direct instruction guided notes, we finished the lesson with a formative assessment literacy worksheet on the properties of minerals (pages 1-2 below).
Below: Glencoe Virtual Mineral Lab Screenshot (page 1) and Completed Student Lab Sheets. Prior to completing a physical laboratory investigation, I will familiarize my students with the procedures and objectives through virtual labs. This sequencing of learning activities displays my abilities to appropriately sequence learning experiences and captures how I provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate knowledge and skill throughout each unit. I have found these virtual labs are an excellent way to differentiate learning for those of my students who have diverse needs and may prefer online and digital learning as well.
The first page of the PDF above displays the virtual mineral lab which students access and use to perform various tests on five mystery minerals. Based on their tests of each mineral's luster, cleavage/fracture, color, streak color, and hardness, students refer to the properties of minerals virtual handbook to decide what five mystery minerals they are investigating. The second two pages are student examples of completed accompanying worksheets which serve as documentations of learning and formal assessments which I personally created to target specific curriculum goals and content standards. Notice that question 5 of the post-lab analysis is a question assessing spiraled content knowledge from the introductory lesson on content regarding the five characteristics which a substance must exhibit in order to be considered a mineral. This, like the classification of minerals based on their chemical composition, is also directly assessed on the pre-assessment and summative mineral assessments as question 4 (below). Repeated exposure to the essential understandings, knowledge and skills contained within a standard through various learning experiences, activities, and assessments is the best way to ensure that I am reaching all my learners, meeting them where they are, and creating meaningful connections within the material with regard to each student's individual learning needs, cultural diversity, strengths, and differences.
Above: LAB: Mineral Properties. Following the successful completion of the virtual minerals investigation lab, students investigated the minerals in real life. This learning activity progression is a display of my abilities to develop appropriate sequencing of learning experiences throughout which I provide multiple ways and opportunities for my students to demonstrate their knowledge.
Above: Mohs Hardness Scale Mineral Investigation, reteaching learning activity. Each laboratory assignment throughout the year is used as an opportunity to formally assess my students' current knowledge and progression on content material. Through careful analysis of each student's paper and reflection of formative assessment of student groups during the lesson, I was able to identify the content which this lab was intended to teach that needed the most remediation. In keeping my unit plan flexible, I was able to construct a follow-up lesson aimed at reteaching the skills and knowledge of mineral hardness in relation to the universal mineral hardness scale. Above are several student lab sheets completed during this reteaching lesson which display student growth through successful understanding of mineral hardness and skills of how to test for a mineral's hardness against the universal scale. The creation and implementation of this reteaching activity shows my ability and commitment to evaluating plans in relation to short- and long-range goals and that I systematically adjust plans to meet each student's learning needs and enhance learning
A great deal of reflection goes into constructing a reteaching lesson whenever learning gaps are identified. Upon reflection of this particular content area of the lab it was evident that this skill and knowledge was not scaffolded in a way which allowed my learners to adequately understand the content and skills required for successfully carrying out such investigations into a mineral's hardness. Thus, I focused on scaffolding this knowledge and skills as I saw fit by deconstructing the knowledge and skills and reintroducing them to my students one by one on the Mohs hardness scale investigation worksheet.
At the conclusion of the first part of unit 4 dealing with minerals, their classification, and properties, students were reassessed with a minerals quiz which contained the same number of questions, each testing the essential understandings, knowledge and skills outlined in the framework and unit plan. My students' growth in this content and unit thus far is displayed below.
Column B displays my A4 earth science students' pre-assessment scores, column C displays their scores on the end of mineral content quiz for the unit, and column D displays their score on the first half of the end of unit summative assessment comprised of questions assessing student learning on both mineral and rock content knowledge and skills.
Columns E through H display my analysis of student achievement throughout the unit. Average percent increase in student learning was a 54.6% with a maximum of 94.4% increase in content knowledge and skill.
My B1 and B3 earth science classes' data reflected nearly identical amounts of student growth.
The above evidence and data included in this section are testament to my abilities as a teacher to successfully plan and instruct curriculum for the achievement of each and every student in my classroom with consideration for individual learner needs, abilities, and accommodations through a range of evidence-based instructional strategies, technology tools, and diversified learning experiences. Through adjustments to the unit timeline and incorporation of a reteaching lesson I was able to successfully remediate learning gaps identified through various assessment means. Additionally, this section is evidence of my abilities as a teacher to select and develop appropriate learning experiences and sequence them in a way that provides various opportunities and ways for my learners to demonstrate progress their knowledge and progress.