EDTC 602 ADDIE Template

Project Title: Making Writing Meaningful

A writing unit based on African animals motivating boys to write by making it meaningful.

Name: Ondalee Moore

Analysis Problem Identification (Why?)

In my Kindergarten class, I have many boys who have the most difficult time writing. I have tried many different genres of writing and nothing seems to work. I know that boys are developmentally behind girls. Aside from the ability to stay seated and focused, boys lack the ability to write as well as girls. According to Cherry Creek School District (CCSD) Literacy Coordinator, Tracey Wilson, boys will never catch up to girls in writing ability, just as girls do not have the same understanding of math and spatial/visual concepts as boys and will always lag behind. This is something that will always be an issue and according to a 2005 Education Today article, boys are falling further behind girls in writing. While I do have some boys who are strong writers, overall, my male students fit the typical developmental characteristics of five and six year old boys. I found his to be true every year I have taught. It is an issue I am attempting to address. In CCSD, Mark Overmeyer has partnered with the Kindergarten Study Team (KST) to look deeper into the new Common Core Standards and see how we can accelerate the writing of boys despite developmental delays. As a member of the KST, I have chosen to implement some of the ideas Mark Overmeyer has for encouraging Kindergarten boys to write. One way is to make the material meaningful and another is to focus on non-fiction, content related assignments. This unit will address both of these ideas.

Contextual Analysis (Where?)

This unit will be important to students because it will allow the boys to express themselves through writing. The students know that writing and reading are intertwined and in order for them to succeed in the future they must be able to do both and it begins in Kindergarten. Often times my students bring me a piece of writing and even though through my Kindergarten Teacher eyes I may know exactly what it says, they must read it to me. If they are unable to do so I ask them if they cannot read it how is someone else supposed to read it and get excited about it just like you did. I feel that this creates accountability and desire to write well in my students.

This unit will have many different components that will happen in different places. Students will each research one African animal in the library of our school. The students will learn about different African animals in the computer lab. The students will get to see all of the African animals will they will be writing about at the Denver Zoo. The students will be doing all of the writing in our classroom during our hour-long writing block. The in-class writing will begin with reading of a non-fiction text. This will either be in the form of an actual book or found online and displayed on the wall-mounted SAMRT Board using the mounted projector. The SMART Board will contain an image of the animal of which the students are writing for the entirety of the writing block to make the drawing of the animal easier and to give students visual cues. The Circle Map of the facts about the current animal will also be displayed to aide in the content of the writing. According to Gender and the Brain class instructor, Kim Bevel, brain activity is increased during writing by music that does not follow a pattern. This type of music will be played while students are writing. The students will be writing at tables of approximately five students, while the same amount of students will be working with me at my table. The students are put in groups to work so that students may build on each others knowledge. This is a proven strategy brought forth by the Pacific Education Group and their Motivational Frameworks for Culturally Relevant Teaching. Before any writing begins but, after the lesson, the students will do some sort of brain enhancing movement activity such as Brain Gym. This is also a strategy from Kim Bevel used to help boys focus on their learning.

Learner Analysis (Who?)

The learners will include twenty-something Kindergartners. They will include many English Language Learners (ELLs) as our school has a huge ELL population. In Kindergarten, we treat all students as ELLs because in our area the majority of students have low language exposure, so the lessons will be scaffold with a lot of background knowledge, letter-sound support, modeling and many visuals. The students will be a mix of boys and girls for many reasons. The added strategies for teaching boys are beneficial for all students and in writing I have found that a heterogeneous group of students is more successful because it allows some students to be the models for the others. Due to the structure of our Kindergarten, there will be no teacher assistant during this time.

Content Analysis (What)

In Kindergarten we are required to teach the students about Africa based on the Cherry Creek School District expectations and the Colorado Model Content Standard for Geography which states the concepts and skills Kindergarten students master are that people belong to different groups and live in different places around the world that can be found on a map or globe .I will use the knowledge the students gain during this lesson and integrate it into their writing. This will act as a scaffold for my students and especially my English Language Learners. From all the information gained, the students will each write a nonfiction book about African animals.

My boys have struggled with writing all year long until we began learning about dinosaurs. Each day we read a book about a particular dinosaur and then the students had to write one page that included three facts about the dinosaur. We did this for five different dinosaurs. During this time I saw my boys produce writing that I did not know they were capable of. They wanted to write and write and write. A few of the boys would even spend their free time writing about dinosaurs. I feel that African animals are similar to dinosaurs in many ways. I plan to structure this unit similarly to the dinosaurs unit and see if the results are similar. By having the students create non-fiction writing about the different animals I will be addressing the Colorado Model Content Life Science Standard for Kindergarten which states that students know and understand the characteristics and structure of living things, the processes of life, and how living things interact with each other and their environment.

Delivery Analysis (How?)

I will use many different tools to deliver the information on animals such as Pebble Go, Brain Pop Jr., fiction and non-fiction books, and a trip to the Denver Zoo. Aside from my instruction, the students will research the animals in library and technology specials. I have chosen many different delivery methods to reach all the different styles of learning such as the auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners and provide necessary scaffolding for English Language Learners through use of regalia. By using the SMART Board and various websites, I can address some of the National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for students.

Project Plan (When?)

I will teach this lesson the last six weeks of school. We take our last field trip to the Denver Zoo during this time. The zoo lends itself perfectly to adding realia to the teaching of African animals. This unit also fits best towards the end of the year, as Kindergarteners have a greater writing ability and are more developmentally ready for a project of this nature.

Design Concept Statement

This unit was created to enhance the writing abilities and motovation of boys while meeting the district and state standards and teaching the students about African animals.

OCPA Chart
Objective Content Practice Assessment

(Learning/Training Activity/ies) 1. The students will evaluate digital media to find and examine information. (NETS 1 and 6) Through guided instruction, the teacher will demonstrate techniques for using databases to find information. The students will use PebbleGo to learn about five different African animals and pick one as their favorite. The students will orally explain which animals they chose while exploring the digital media and why. If the students are unable to give information found from the website, I will know that they were unable to use the technology correctly. The students will be assessed based on the writing they produce. It will be a formative assessment that will allow the teacher to see what skills need to be taught before the final project begins. The students will be assessed based on a student and teacher rubric. They will be given scores of happy, straight, or sad faces for the different categories. This is the same rubric that has been used for previous assessments and will be sure for final the final assessment of this unit. The students are very familiar with this rubric. The students will be assessed based on a student and teacher rubric. They will be given scores of happy, straight, or sad faces for the different categories.

2. The students will analyze non-fiction books as a reference for research and create writing based on the information found.

The students will be shown how to look for information in a non-fiction text and take away only the important pieces of information.

The students will work in groups (determined by the animals chosen as their favorite when researching them on PebbleGo) and analyze Kindergarten leveled text that will be placed on the tables of each group. From the information gathered the students will produce a onepage writing about their animal.

3. The students will create an explanatory text.

(CCSS: W.K.2)

The students will need to compose a book about five different African animals. The teacher will read a book about each of the animals (one per day) and create a circle map about each of the different

The students will take the information to add one page to their African Animals Book. This book will be a non-fiction explanatory text about five different animals found in

animals.

Africa.

4. The students will provide a written defense of which animal they believe to be the best with supporting details.
(CCSS: W.K.1)

The students will defend their African animal as the best through writing.

After the students have learned and read about the different African animals, the They will need to give at least teacher will hang up all the three supporting details. circle maps and discuss all the interesting facts about the different animals. The students will choose one as their favorite.

The students will create writing piece with a sentence frame. _______ Is the best animal in Africa because___________________.

The students will be assessed based on a student and teacher rubric. They will be given scores of happy, straight, or sad faces for the different categories. The rubric will be based on the student expressing his/her opinion and giving at least three reasons why. This will act as the summative assessment of the unit.

Rationale for Sequence

This is an effective sequence for this unit as it builds on the knowledge of the previous lesson. Each lesson must have the previous lessons in place as they act as the background knowledge for each new activity. This sequence will scaffold the learning for the English language learners by adding on the concept from the previous lesson and creating and activating background knowledge before expecting the to produce the final project. Each of the writing lessons is progressively more difficult according to what is developmentally appropriate for Kindergarteners.

Development Advance Organizer

For the Kindergarten unit on African Animals writing I have chosen to use a Tree Map for the advanced organizer. I chose this particular organizer because my school uses the Thinking Maps program to heighten student understanding. This way my students have background knowledge of how to use the Tree Map. I use it for independent, small group and whole group activities now and my students are more than able to complete the organizer with guidance. This map is used for classifying and I think it works best for this unit. I have incorporated visuals for students that need them. The English Language Learners will be able to take the most advantage of this. Our Kindergarten team views all Kindergarteners as English language Learners because essential, that is what they are. For our population this is typically there first exposure to school. I have given you an 8 by 11 example of this organizer, but for my students we would be doing this on a much larger format. The SMART Board will be the method of deliver for the whole group and for the students who are able they will complete their own. For the students who are able the organizer will be much larger so that the students are able to write all the information needed. I feel that this advanced organizer will be a great tool for the students to use. I will show this tool before we learn about each animal so the students know what to be aware of as we are learning. We will fill in the whole group organizer as we go and not after all the learning is complete. I think that this will allow the students to focus on each individual component. I do not think any other organizer would allow for this.

Gagnes Nine Events of Instruction

Lesson Plan Summary Sheet

Lesson Standards/ Benchmarks Unit Objectives: 1-6 Activities:
Cooperative, Discussion, Independent Work, Group Work, Assessment

Assessment Formats:
Formal, Informal, Summative, Subjective, Objective

Blooms Taxonomy:
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation

Gardners Multiple Intelligences:

Verbal/Linguistic, Visual/Spatial, Interpersonal, Interpersonal, Logical/Mathematical, Body/ Kinesthetic,

Musical/ Rhythmic

1 Online Animal Research 2 Group Research Project 3 African Animals Book 4 Animal Opinion Writing

NETS 1 and 2 Verbal W-K1

Obj. 1

Independent work

Informal, Summative

Knowledge, Analysis, Evaluation

Verbal/Linguistic

W-K2, W-K5, and WK7

Obj. 2

Cooperative, Group Formative, Work Subjective Discussion

Application

Verbal/Linguistic Interpersonal

W-K2, W-K5, and WK7

Obj. 3

Cooperative, Independent work, Group Work, Discussion, Assessment Discussion, Independent work, Assessment

Formal, Summative, Objective

Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Synthesis Comprehension, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation

Verbal/Linguistic, Interpersonal

W-K1 and WK5

Obj. 4

Formal, Objective

Verbal/Linguistic

Unit Plan
Name: Ondalee Moore Title: African Animals Book Content Area: Writing Grade: Kindergarten Duration: 3 weeks

Standards/Benchmarks: Common Core Writing Standards 1. W.K.1. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book. 2. W.K.2.Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic. 3. W.K.5. With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed. 4. W.K.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects Colorado Model Content Standards- Science Life Science: Students know and understand the characteristics and structure of living things, the processes of life, and how living things interact with each other and their environment. Colorado Model Content Standards- Social Studies Geography: People belong to different groups and live in different places around the world that can be found on a map or globe NETS Standards 1. Standard 1: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. 2. Standard 6:Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations Objectives: 1. 2. 3.
4.

The students will evaluate digital media to find and examine information. (NETS 1 and 6) The students will analyze non-fiction books as a reference for research and create writing based on the information found. The students will create an explanatory text. (CCSS: W.K.2) The students will provide a written defense of which animal they believe to be the best with supporting details. (CCSS: W.K.1)

Resources and Materials: 1. PebbleGo.com 2. Non-fiction books about African animals such as zebras, lions, gorillas, elephants and giraffes. 3. Technology teacher and Library teacher 4. Pencils 5. Crayons 6. Erasers 7. My favorite writing paper 8. African animals writing books

9. Student rubrics 10. Teacher rubrics 11. SMART Board 12. Projector 13. Speakers 14. Computer 15. Permission Slips and chaperone request forms Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions: What do the animals look like? What do the animals eat? Where do the animals live? What eats the animals? How do the animals move? How do these characteristics help them survive? Prerequisite Knowledge: Ability to sound out words Knowledge of sentence structure Background knowledge of how to research and create non-fiction writing from the dinosaurs unit Basic computer skills such as website navigation and use of mouse SMART Board skills Assessment: Formal, Informal, Summative, Subjective, and Objective 1. The students will orally explain which animals they chose while exploring the digital media and why. 2. Interaction including class participation and cooperation 3. The students will be assessed based on the writing they produce. It will be a formative assessment that will allow the teacher to see what skills need to be taught before the final project begins. The students will be assessed based on a student and teacher rubric. They will be given scores of happy, straight, or sad faces for the different categories. 4. The students will be assessed based on a student and teacher rubric. They will be given scores of happy, straight, or sad faces for the different categories. The rubric will be based on the student expressing his/her opinion and giving at least three reasons why. This will act as the summative assessment of the unit.

Data Collection: Data will be based on the production of the African animals book. It will be in the form of formative and summative assessments based on the rubrics. The scores will be converted from faces to points. Happy face= 3 points, straight face= 2 points and sad face = 1 point. (See example)

Daily Lessons and Activities: 1. The students will be shown how to use Internet databases as a resource to find information. 2. The students will be shown how to look for information in a non-fiction text and take away only the important pieces of information. 3. The students will need to compose a book about five different African animals. The teacher will read a book about each of the animals (one per day) and create a circle map about each of the different animals. 4. The students will defend their African animal as the best through writing. After the students have learned and read about the different African animals, the teacher will hang up all the circle maps and discuss all the interesting facts about the different animals. The students will choose one as their favorite. Independent Practice: (Homework and Practice) No independent practice or homework will be assigned because of the complexity of the assignment and the lack of independent ability of the students. Homework will not be assigned because of our movement away form homework at the Kindergarten level at our school. Summarize/Evaluate/Reflect:

Differentiation: For the unit students will be in heterogeneous groups. For students who are excelling above the rest an ability group will be created. These students will be expected to find, research, and write about at least one additional African animal. Visuals will be used for English Language Learners.

Differentiation: None

Did the students understand the concept? Were the students able to complete the assignment? Was the quality of work produced by the boys greater than that produced during personal narratives? Were the students motivated by the unit? Was the background knowledge from the previous non-fiction units activated appropriately?

Implementation Checklist: Create a checklist of items and tasks that would need to be ready before this
instructional unit is presented.

Items (physical things like flipcharts, notepads, refreshments)

African animals book (request from library one week in advance)

Teacher rubrics (make copies one week in advance) Mounted SMART Board (in room) Mounted Projector (in room) Speakers and computer (in room) Newsletter explaining project to parents (make copies one week in advance) Field trip permission slips and chaperone request forms (make copies one week in advance)

Pencils (in room) Crayons (in room) Erasers (in room) My favorite writing paper (make copies one week in advance) African animals writing books (make copies one week in advance) Student rubrics (make copies one week in advance)

Tasks (jobs to be done, such as setting the chairs in a horseshoe or copying handouts)
Plan unit with technology, library

specials teachers and co-teacher (one month in advance)

Turn in book request form (one week in advance) Schedule field trip (beginning of school year)

Reserve transportation for field trip (beginning of school year) Contact budget department to insure finances and payment (beginning of school year and one week after field trip)

Send home permission slips and chaperone forms (two weeks prior to field trip) Send home newsletter (Friday before) Make copies (one week in advance)

Evaluation
Use the space below to document your plan for a formative evaluation. For this course project, you need not address summative or confirmative evaluations.

The students will be assessed based on the writing they produce. The students will be assessed based on a student and teacher rubric. They will be given scores of happy, straight, or sad faces for the different categories. This is the same rubric that has been used for previous assessments and will be sure for final the final assessment of this unit. The students are very familiar with this rubric. The scores will be converted from faces to points. Happy face= 3 points, straight face= 2 points and sad face = 1 point. These will then be converted into proficiency ratings of proficient, partially proficient, and unsatisfactory. The information will be used to see where the students are excelling and where they need more support. Once this is determined, further instruction will take place to meet student needs. This assessment will focus on the writing standards and not the others because the purpose of this unit is to improve the writing abilities of boys.