Ashley Allen

3-21-14
DIFF 510
Lesson reflection
Part 1: Describe the lesson
I taught a social studies lesson to the Kindergarten class in which I am completing my
field placement. The class is made up of 20 kindergarten students. The lesson took place over a
40 minute time period and was a part of their Columbus and the Pilgrims unit. This particular
lesson focused on King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The objective for this lesson was for
students to be able to identify King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain and recall what they
gave Christopher Columbus.
After reviewing information from the previous days lesson, I read the students a story
Ferdinand and Isabella. This story teaches the reader about Columbus and his attempt to find a
King and Queen to pay for his trip to the Indies. After listening to the story and learning about
Ferdinand and Isabella, the students completed an activity that allowed them to demonstrate
their knowledge about Ferdinand and Isabella.
The students were placed into three different groups. Each group was asked to
complete a different task that demonstrated their knowledge of Ferdinand and Isabella. These
tasks were tiered by challenge. One group completed a quick draw activity. They were asked
the question What did Christopher Columbus need from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella?
The students expressed their answer through a drawing. Then they were encouraged to label or
write a sentence about their pictures. The classroom aide worked with the next group. This
group completed a Venn diagram that compared and contrasted Ferdinand and Isabella from
the other kings and queens Columbus went to for help (the students came up with the ideas,
the aide recorded them). The last group also completed a quick draw activity. This group was
asked to recall what Isabella and Ferdinand gave to Columbus. They were then asked to predict
what might have happened if the King and Queen did not give Columbus the things he needed.
They drew a picture of their prediction. The students were encouraged to write about their
predictions as well.

Part 2: Describe the differentiation strategies you used

I used the tiered lesson model to differentiate instruction throughout this lesson. As
mentioned above, I tiered the students tasks by challenge. Like one would find in any
classroom, there is a diverse group of learners in this classroom. There are students in the class,
like one of my target students Dan for example, who demonstrate advanced thinking on a daily
basis. Dan is quick to grasp a new concept. Once he does he is ready to run with it, often times
much before many of his other classmates. Dan reflects on his work and is able to clearly
explain his work and thought process. During lessons these students with similar characteristics
will often chime in with what if, make connections to material that we have previously
learned, or to their own lives, and share their opinions on a matter. They often offer new ideas
and like Dan are quick to grasp a new skill or content that is introduced. While Dan and some
other students in the class are in need of a greater challenge, other students are in need of
extended time and practice with a new concept. Abby (my other target student) is one of these
children. Abby needs a bit more practice and time to play around with new ideas before she
masters a concept or skill. There are also those children in between as well. They may not
understand a concept the instant they learn it, however they are able to gain an understanding
after a small amount of time with the concept.
For these reasons, I choose to tier by challenge. This allowed all students in the class to
work with the new material that had been introduced, but at a variety of levels of thinking.
While completing a quick draw that asked the students to think about what Columbus needed
from Ferdinand and Isabella, students are able to have that extended time to think about and
review what they learned about Ferdinand and Isabella. The other activities allow the students
to dig deeper into the new information that was taught (how Ferdinand and Isabella helped
Columbus). They are given the opportunity to gain an in depth understanding of why Ferdinand
and Isabella are significant to Columbus story and continue to practice higher level thinking.

Part 3: Data analysis

The lessons objective stated that students will be able to identify King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella of Spain and recall what they gave Christopher Columbus. I measured this
objective through a quick draw activity for some students and a Venn diagram activity for
others (the students who worked on the Venn diagram quickly jotted down what Ferdinand and
Isabella gave Columbus before they began their Venn diagram. I conferred with the aide about
their responses). In the story, the students learned that Ferdinand and Isabella gave Columbus
money and ships so he could complete his journey. For this lesson, I considered students to be
at mastery if they were able to recall one or both of the objects that Ferdinand and Isabella
gave to Columbus.
Of the twenty students, eighteen were able to identify at least one of these objects
(either money or ships). As I rotated around the room, I noticed the students who only
mentioned one of the two objects and asked many of them Did the King and Queen give
Columbus anything else? With this prompt, many of the students were able to respond with
the other object.
This data shows me that a majority of the students (18/20) know who Ferdinand and
Isabella were and are able to understand how they helped Columbus. I feel these students are
ready to be introduced to the next part of Columbus story.
The two students who did not respond correctly with either money or ships both
responded with spices and gold. Spices and gold are actually the two things that Columbus
wanted to find in the Indies. To me, this suggests that these two students are confusing what
Columbus wanted from the Indies, with what he needed to get there. I believe it would benefit
these two students if we revisited the reasons why Columbus wanted to go to the Indies, and
then the two things he needed so he could travel there. One way we could review these
concepts is by completing a Somebody Wanted But So chart (Somebody-Columbus, Wantedgold and spices from the Indies, But- he needed ships and money so he could sail to the Indies,
So-he asked Ferdinand and Isabella for their help). I feel that using this chart to organize what
we have learned so far would help the two students to see the relationship between gold and

spices, and money and ships. It would help to emphasize that Indies gold and spices were what
Columbus wanted, but ships and money were what he needed from Ferdinand and Isabella to
get those things.