Sherry YALit15

Option 2: INSIDERS INStructIonal DEsign for a Real Student

Purpose
To practice techniques for learning from your students how to teach them better.
To practice designing instruction based on students interests and abilities.
Big Question: What literature should be read by young adults? Why? How?

Process
This assignment involves an interpretive
process of gathering information, analyzing
that information, and writing about it in
order to create a case study that includes
artifacts, an analysis of each artifact, and
an annotated instructional sequence based
on what you learned about the student.

Assignment Checklist: Introduction, artifacts/analyses, instructional sequence

5 artifacts
Observation
Interview
(student)
Interview
(teacher)
Interview (other)
Student work

Artifact analyses
Linguistic
analysis
Reading
strategies
analysis
Literacy analysis
Connections to
other artifacts

Instructional Sequence
Rationale/Big Q
Assignment
3+ Lessons
o Objectives
o Materials
o Activities
o Assessment(s)
Annotations relating
planning to artifacts

Part I: Learning about a Student

For Part I, choose a student in your focal classroom who can teach you something: a student that you find puzzling, or
who seems different from you. Talking through this choice with the cooperating teacher or with a
partner may be helpful (partners should choose two different students). You may also need to
obtain verbal/parental permission from the student to become a focus. Decide on pseudonyms for
the student, teacher, and school and use them in all artifacts and notes.
Artifact 1: Observation of student
Write field notes about a focused observation of the student you choose. Negotiate with the teacher how best to
observe the student. Try to see the classroom and its activities from this students point of view. Your objective is to
see and hear how the student engages with teacher and peers in the language arts classroom. Some activities may be
academic in nature, others may not. Make notes of your observations while in the classroom, and add details as soon
after leaving the classroom as you can. Use the following field-note system to try to separate your observations from
interpretations:
Time/Participants

Observation

Interpretation

Artifact 2: Interview with student

Further develop this inside-out view in a student interview that does not include the teacher. Use
the interview as an opportunity to learn about this students life and home resources. What resources
for learning does the student bring to the classroom? What literate practices does the student engage
in outside of school? What are this students perspectives on school and on this English class? What
stories does the student tell about his or her life? If possible, audio record the interview and transcribe illuminating
parts.

Sherry YALit15
Artifact 3: Sample of student work
Collect a sample of representative student work. This should be a piece of work that is more or less
typical of this student. Consult with your teacher to help you do this and be sure to remove the
students name from the work and replace with a pseudonym.
Artifact 4: Interview with teacher
Interview the teacher, to gather further information about this student. Try to learn more about the teachers perspective
on the student. If possible, audio record the interview and transcribe illuminating parts of it.
Artifact 5: Interview with school or community person
Interview someone else in the school (not the teacher) or the community who knows and works with the student. Your
objective here is to gain yet another perspective on the student. Consider asking the student or the teacher for help
finding this person.
Part II: Designing Instruction
For part II, you will use what you have learned about this student to design an instructional sequence. The sequence
should include the following parts:
Rationale Generally, how does your sequence relate to your artifacts? What text(s) have you chosen, and why?
Big Question(s) What organizing inquiry have you chosen to address with this student, and why?
Assessment(s) What tasks would provide evidence that you have addressed the Big Question?
Plans (at least 3) How will you break the Big Q into objectives, address them in activities, and assess learning?
NOTE: You may use whatever format you prefer, as long as it includes Objectives, Materials, Activities, Assessments
Annotations Specifically, which parts of your plans show how your artifacts inform your teaching of this student?
Putting it all together
The final step is to assemble a case study portfolio that includes each artifact, your analysis of it,
your plans, and an introductory letter that synthesizes what you have learned through the case study.
You should include helpful organizers, such as a Title Page, a Table of Contents, and a Reference
page.

Assessment
Criterion
Process/Conventions (10%) Completes all parts fully and on-time
Application (30%) Applies knowledge of language variation, reading strategies, and
students out-of-school literacy practices to artifact analyses and plans/annotations
Relevance (15%) Relateds insights from artifact analyses to plans/annotations
Alignment (15%) Connects objectives to assessments and Big Question/Rationale
Scaffolding (15%) Builds logically from activities to assessments for learners
Diversity (15%) Addresses various backgrounds, abilities, and learning styles

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

Sherry YALit15
Guidelines for Linguistic Analysis
The goal of this analysis is to identify variations in the ways your focal student uses language in different contexts that
might inform your teaching: How does s/he speak/write differently at home or with friends vs. at school/with teachers?
What patterns do you see in his/her speaking or writing, and what might explain them? How might understanding those
differences and patterns inform your planning/teaching? For example, see Wheeler & Swords (2004) Codeswitching:
Tools of language transform the dialectally diverse classroom. Language Arts. (81)6. 470 480.
How to get the info you need
As you collect your artifacts, you might consider the following questions:

(Observation) How does the student speak/write/behave differently with the teacher than with other students?

(Student interview) Do you speak differently at home than at school? Can you give me some examples?
(Examples that are different/unique for this area to open discussion: Youse The car needs washed)

(Teacher/Other interview) How does this student speak/write differently from other students in this area?

(Student work) In the students written work, what patterns do you see that are non-standard but consistent?

Guidelines for Reading Strategies Analysis

The goal of this analysis is to find out about your focal students experience of reading: what does s/he find enjoyable
or difficult about the process of reading? What strategies does s/he already use when reading is difficult? What
strategies might you use to address these strengths and struggles in your planning/teaching? For example, see Beers
(2001) When Kids Cant Read, What Teachers Can Do. New York: Heinemann.
How to get the info you need
As you collect your artifacts, you might consider the following questions:

(Observation) How does the student react to reading-related activity (e.g., reading aloud/silently/discussion)?

(Student interview) When you read something you like/dont like, what happens to you? When you have to
read something you dont like, what do you do?)

(Teacher/Other interview) Is this student a strong reader? How can you tell?

(Student work) What does the students written work suggest about his/her experience of reading?

Guidelines for Literacy Analysis

The goal of this analysis is to find out what resources for meaning making your focal student brings to the ELA
classroom: What experiences with reading/writing/researching has s/he had outside of school? What sponsors have
facilitated those experiences? How might you capitalize on those experiences in your planning/teaching? For example,
see Brandt (1997) Sponsors of literacy. College Composition and Communication. 49(2). 165-185.
How to get the info you need
As you collect your artifacts, you might consider the following questions:

(Observation) What is required to participate in literacy-related activities in the classroom (e.g., ability to

(Student interview) What kinds of reading/writing do you do outside school? Where? With whom?
(Examples that might open discussion: with a sports team/youth group/hobby/online community)

(Teacher/Other interview) Of what communities/groups is this student a member?

(Student work) What does the work suggest about opportunities to learn about reading/writing outside school?