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Content Statement

How do we, as teachers, decide the content of our instruction, not only

understanding how we should teacher, but what we should teach? According to

Perrone (1991), the content of our teaching should always start by thinking about

the purposes and aim of the school as a whole. This often includes an understanding

of the state and local standards that need to be addressed. However, we cannot

simply stop at teaching strictly to the standards. As stated in his book, A Letter to

Teachers, Perrone (1991) states that having effective content means:

A flexible curriculum rooted in large questions, classroom discussions that

lend themselves to diverse viewpoints, a literature that addresses issues in

challenging ways, and an ongoing consciousness about the relationships

across disciplinary lines and the boundaries of the school itself. (p. 14)

In this four-week reading unit I created for 4th grade, I considered the large

questions that would be addressed in the unit, incorporated many group discussions

to enhance student understanding and engagement, and chose a piece of literature

that could be connected to students’ individual experiences, but also integrate

understandings across educational disciplines.

When I am beginning the process of designing a lesson or unit, I often start

with questions. What questions should I be asking myself as I design the unit? What

questions do I want my students to ask themselves as we move through the unit?

What questions are still unanswered after we have completed the unit? Marzano

(2012) provides three design questions to be considered when developing a lesson

or unit:
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(1) What will I do to help students effectively interact with new knowledge?,

(2) What will I do to help students practice and deepen their understanding

of new knowledge?, and (3) What will I do to help students generate and test

hypotheses about new knowledge? (p. 23)

In my unit, I adjusted my timeline as well as created additional mini-lessons to help

students understand the concepts behind character traits and the theme of a story. I

allowed students opportunity to have small group discussions as well as complete

reflection worksheets to practice and deepen their understanding of these concepts.

Finally, students created a final product to demonstrate their understanding and

also participated in a final group discussion, giving them a chance to test their

understanding and views against others’ perspectives. Through these steps of

contemplation at the beginning of the unit design, as well as continually checking on

students’ progress through formative assessment throughout the unit, I was able to

confidently say that my students were able to master the content that I presented to

them.

Lemov (2010) also supports this idea of questioning in lesson design. He

discusses how you should “discipline yourself to ask questions that mirror the kinds

of comprehension questions students need to master” (p. 297), in particular, the

questions that are addressed in the standards of your subject area. As shown in my

unit design, I started with the standards that would be addressed, and from there

developed questions that aligned with those standards for students to interact with

throughout the unit.

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Integration of content is another key factor in designing content that must be

addressed in the design of a unit. The idea of integration is not a new concept.

Many attribute its roots to Dewey’s (1933) ideas and the education reform of the

1930s. However, it is still a very relevant concept, and something that has huge

implications on student learning. Integration in the language arts field holds

particular significance, as it is clearly evident that reading and writing skills are

deeply rooted in the development of oral language knowledge as well as many other

content areas (Lipson, Valencia, Wixson, & Peters, 1993). I utilized integration in

my unit by incorporating reading as well as speaking and listening standards. In

addition, students used art to create their final product displaying their

understanding of character traits from the reading.

When looking at what we should teach in the classroom, it is critical to

consider questions, both for yourself and your students. State and local standards

should certainly be addressed to provide the framework for student understanding.

Finally, integration across content standards and curriculum is key to enhancing

student engagement and understanding.

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References

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think (Rev. Ed). Boston, MA: Heath & Co. Publishing.

Lemov, D. (2010). Teach like a champion: 49 Techniques that put students on the

path to college. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Lipson, M., Valencia, S., Wixson, K., & Peters, C. (1993). Integration and thematic

teaching: Integration to improve teaching and learning. Language Arts, 70 (4),

252. Retrieved from ProQuest.

Marzano, R. J. (2012). Becoming a reflective teacher. Bloomington, IN: Marzano

Research Laboratory.

Perrone, V. (1991). A letter to teachers: Reflections on schooling and the art of

teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.