Evidence of Students Learning (ESL)

Part A: Learning Context, Topic and Objectives

Pikesville Middle School is a lighthouse school located in Pikesville,
Maryland. There are a total of 1010 kids school attending. 49% of the
students are female and 51% of the students are male. 47% of the
student population receives free and reduced lunch. The classroom
that I am placed in is a self-contained special education class. This
class is part of the FALS program. The students who are in this
classroom are academic not age appropriate, but socially are closer to
being age appropriate in comparison to their peers. These students are
self contained for all academic subjects and included for one special
each day. The language arts class is composed of 3 boys and 2 girls.
The students in this class are all coded with intellectual disabilities. Two
of the students are also selective mutes. All five students speak
English. The writing abilities of this student range from kindergarten to
a second grade level. The accommodations needed by this group of
students include a scribe, a reader, and one on one support and/or
small group instruction.
Objectives:
Lesson 1: Students will discuss different topics and details
included in an autobiography
Lesson 2: Students will identify personal details in order to begin
the writing process for their autobiographies
Lesson 3: Students will be able to identify additional details to
add to their autobiographies in order to expand their writing and
be more specific.
MCCRS Standards:
College and Career Readiness: Anchor Standards
Writing
Production and Distribution of Writing
o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in
which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.
o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.5 Develop and strengthen writing as
needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

English Language Arts

Writing

Production and Distribution of Writing

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.4 (grade 3): With guidance and support from

adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are
appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types
are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.5 (grade 4): With guidance and support from
peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning,
revising, and editing.

Demonstrate knowledge gained: Students will demonstrate the

knowledge they gained through the creation and completion of their
autobiographies. By the end of this unit, each of the students will have
gone through the writing process and created an autobiography that
includes a number of specific details.

Part B: Assessment Plan

Summative Unit Assessment: The summative assessment for this
group of lessons was the creation of Autobiographies by each of the
students. These lessons were designed to guide students through the
writing process of writing an autobiography. Students were graded
based upon on a checklist created by the teacher. The rubric is in the
format of a checklist in which students were asked to include a specific
number of details per topic. Students will use the checklist as they
work to ensure they meet all the writing requirements of the
autobiography. Upon completion of their autobiographies, students
were graded individually based on the level of requirements met in
consideration with of their academic abilities and supports needed.
Pre-assessment: The pre-assessment for this group of lessons was
used in order to determine the students ability to include details in
their writing before any instruction. In order to get baseline data on
each of the students writing abilities, students wrote personal
backgrounds. Each student was required to write their background
using details from their personal history. These backgrounds were used
to gauge each students ability to included specific details in their
writing. These backgrounds were also used to identify what supports
students would need during this writing process.
Student
I go to Pikesville Middle School. I have 3
1 (PF)
brothers. My birthday is on June 12. I have
Personal- 3
one sister.
Is my moms first name.
details
My dogs name is major. Im in the 6 grade.
My teachers name is Mrs. Donovan. Im 12
Family- 8
year old. I was born in 2003. My brothers
details
names are
,
and
. My

14/15
93%

Student
2 (JJ)

Student
3 (TG)

Student
4 (JQ)

Student
5 (AF)

sisters name is
. My dog is a pitbull missed with something and he is a
puppy.
I have 3 sisters. I have 1 dog. We used to
have a pet bird. My birthday is April 13,
2001. I like to play games.
I go to Pikesville Middle School. I am in
seventh grade. My favorite color is red. My
birthday is April 9th. I like to play and watch
basketball games. I live in Baltimore. I have
a brother named
. I have two
sisters named
and
.
.I
like reading Wimpy Kid books.
I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters. I have 5
pets. There are 2 cats and 3 dogs. My
birthday is June 10th. I got to Pikesville
Middle School. I was born in new york.

I got to Pikesville Middle School. I have 2

brother and 3 sisters. I am in seventh
grade. I like to go on walks.

School- 3
details
Personal- 2
details

5/15
33%

Family- 3
details
Personal- 5
details
Family- 2
details

9/15
60%

School- 2
details
Personal- 2
details
Family- 3
details

6/15
40%

School- 1
detail
Personal- 1
detail
Family- 2
details
School- 2
details

Formative Assessment Strategies: For each of these lessons, there

will be at least one formative assessment used to gauge students
learning. The formative assessments used are listed below by lesson
plan.
Lesson 1: Observation of students participation throughout the lesson.
Lesson 2: Personal traits packet- Students will complete a packet where
they will identify and write down details about themselves pertaining

5/15
33%

to specific topics. Each student was required to complete three of the

topics.
Lesson 3: Specific details checklist- Students will complete a checklist
for each of their chapters. The checklists show students how many
specific details they need to add to each of their topics.
First written draft of autobiography (in composition journal)- Students
will write out their first draft of their autobiography as they add details
to their chapters and complete their checklists.
Scoring tools to assess learning:
For my scoring tool, I added up the amount of details the students
added in their final draft of their autobiographies and compared that to
the total number that was expected. In the chart below, you will see
the different topics that students were able to write about and the
number of details expected to be included in each. Students were
given an N/A for the topics that they did not chose to write about. This
data was used in determining students achievement along with taking
into consideration their academic levels and abilities and the effort that
they showed throughout the process.
Student Physical
name
feature
s- 14
PF
14

Family9
N/A

Style11
9

When I
grow
up- 15
N/A

Interest
s- 17
17

JJ

10

N/A

N/A

13

TG

13

N/A

N/A

12

16

JQ

14

13

N/A

AF

10

N/A

N/A

17

Total
40/42
95%
28/40
70%
41/46
89%
44/49
90%
34/40
85%

Data: I collected data for this group of lessons prior to the beginning of
the unit and throughout the duration of the three lessons. I collected
data prior to the implementation of the lessons by collecting students
work in order to see where each of the students are in their writing
abilities. Students wrote personal backgrounds as a pre-assessment to
the unit. These backgrounds were collected as part of the data. The
data that was collected through out the lessons were that in the form
of the formative assessments. Students completed a topics packet
where they identified details for the three topics they chose. They also
completed a checklist to ensure they added the correct amount of
details. Students also completed a first draft of their autobiography in

their composition journals. All of these assessments were collected and

used in determining students level of understanding and achievement.
(Refer to bottom for pictures of data)

Part C: Instruction
In order to share the objective of each lesson with my students, I
posted the objective in student friendly terms in the front of the class. I
made sure that the objective was posted in a central location that all
students would be able to see. When beginning each lesson, I first read
and reviewed the objective with my students. I then asked the students
to share their understanding of the objective and what they believe it
means. I used these responses to ensure that each of my students
understands the objective and what they are expected to achieve by
the end of the lesson.
I used the pre-assessment data to not only ensure that my objectives
were appropriate for each lesson but also to make sure that I covered
all necessary knowledge and skills thats students needed in order to
create their autobiographies. Using the pre-assessment data I was able
to identify the different areas of the writing process that my students
needed to focus on during each of the different lessons.
The first way I kept my students motivated and engaged was by
planning engaging lessons that kept my students focused and
interested in the work they were completing. With this unit, students
wrote their own autobiographies. Through each of these lessons
students focused on identifying details about themselves. This helped
students in staying motivated during the lesson and in completing their
work.
The way I introduced new knowledge to my students was to provide an
example that I worked through with the students help, as we discussed
the new information. I used different variations of this method in my
lessons so that my students were not only being taught the information
verbally but were also able to see the information being using in
context. For example in the Tell Me More lesson, I wrote a simple
sentence on the board to begin. As we discussed the importance of
having details, I asked students to share ideas on what details I could
add to my sentence in order to tell them more. As students gave me
details to include, they were able to see my sentence expanding on the
board as I added each different detail.

Each of my lessons followed a similar format to ensure the opportunity

for the modeling of new skills, guided practice and independent
practice. Once students were taught the new knowledge we then
worked through an example using the information together as a class.
By doing this students are not only able to see how to use the
information the learned in their writing but also provides them with
better understanding of what is expected of them when using the new
knowledge. This allows for both modeling of new skills and guided
practice. To ensure that both of these are being done, I would first
show students how to use the information in our example. I would then
have students complete parts of the examples by sharing their ideas
with the class. This allows for the students to have guided practice in
the lesson. Lastly, each of the lessons provided times for independent
or small group work where students where then responsible for
completing their work. Due to the needs of my students, we often use
small group work as opposed to independent work because many of
the students require a scribe or a reader.
Through this unit students wrote their autobiographies. Through out
the lessons students were not encouraged but rather required to use
critical and creative thinking when going through the writing process.
Because students created these autobiographies based on their
personal information, they needed to use creative thinking when
identifying details about themselves.
Throughout the duration of this unit, I used each of the formative
assessments to check for the students understanding of the
information the learned. I frequently checked the students writing
journals in order to gauge how their writing skills were improving
throughout each lesson. I was also able to identify which students
needed more support moving forward in the writing process.
Using small groups while students completed their work allowed for me
to give student clear feedback as they were going through the different
steps in the writing process. Also working with them one on one or two
on one gave me the opportunity to provide the students with more
detailed and personal feedback. It also allowed me to give the students
feedback as they worked as opposed to afterwards.
To summarize the important points in the lesson, I reviewed the
objective and what was achieved at the end of each of my lessons.
After students completed their independent work, the class came
together and discussed what new knowledge they learned and whether
or not they felt they measured the objective.
Although each of the students completed the same assessments, I
made sure that they were each given the proper supports and

accommodations to ensure that they were able to complete the

assessment in a way that was appropriate for their needs and abilities.
These accommodations included having a scribe during the writing
process, a reader, and one-on-one support.

Part D: Analysis and Instructional Decision- Making

Student achievement of the selected MCCRS and Essential skills was
determined through students scoring on the rubric along with
consideration of their academic levels and abilities. In order to achieve
the selected standards students needed to go through the steps of the
writing process to create their autobiographies. Students were able to
show that they have completed each step throughout each lesson and
by the formative assessments. By examining the drafts and checklists
of each of their autobiographies I was able to determine whether or not
the students had achieved the standards.

Pre-Assessment
Summative

PF

JJ

TG

JQ

AF

Percentage of increase in students achievement:

PF
+2%
JJ
+37%
TG
+29%
JQ
+50%

AF

+52%

Although all of the students demonstrated significant growth towards

mastering the standard, there was one student who did not reach the
same level as achievement in comparison to his classmates. You can
see on the graph that student JJs scored increased immensely from his
pre- assessment to his summative assessment, but was not in the
same range as his peers. Moving forward, I would implement additional
interventions in order to support student JJ in his ability to meet a high
level of achievement.
Looking at the graph you can see that four of the five students
increased their level of achievement by in increase of over 20%. The
only student whose did not have a comparable level of increase was
student PF, who began this unit with an already high level of
achievement on her pre-assessment. Going forward, I would increase
the use of differentiation throughout the unit. For student PF, I would
increase the expectations and create more challenging activities.
Where as with student JJ I would maybe focus on a smaller number of
topics but increase the level of supports needed throughout the
process.

Part E: Reflection and Self-Evaluation

Using the data, I believe the instructional strategies and interventions
used within this grouping of lessons were effective in increasing
students level of achievement. When looking at the data comparing
students scores from the pre-assessment to the summative
assessment, all five of the students increased their level of
achievement. Only one of the students increased his/her level by less
then 20% and if you look at that students pre-assessment score, she
was already at a 93%. There were two students who increased their
levels by over 50 percent. The last two students increased their levels
by 29% and 37%.
The instruction influenced the student learning by introducing them to
new information in a manner that was appropriate both academically
and socially. The use of small group and/or one-on-one support was an
important part of the instruction in all three of the lessons. Many of the
students need support in their writing skills, and by working in small
groups or one-on-one it gives the students the level of support they
need to be successful in their academics. One other key part of
instruction was the use of guided practice during whole class
instruction. This allowed for the students to see what was expected of

them and gave them the opportunity to get a better understanding

their responsibilities towards their work.
One implication I found after implementing this group of lessons would
be to spend more time analyzing the students pre-assessments in
order to better differentiate the assignment. Although I used the preassessment date to determine students achievement, looking at the
data I think some of a few of the students would have benefitted from
having more challenging assessments. For example student PF, began
this group of lessons at an achievement level of 93% but she was still
responsible for complete the same amount of work as her classmates
who began at a lower level of achievement.
Another implication I found through this instructional activity was the
importance of taking into consideration a students abilities not only
academically but also socially when determining the students
achievement. Moving forward, I will be sure to take into consideration
not only each of my students needs but their abilities, including
socially when creating instruction and assessments.
In order to develop the above changes, I would be sure to collaborate
with other school based professionals in order to achieve the most
thought out and appropriate lessons for my students. One specific
professional that I would collaborate would be the English teacher. By
collaborating with the English teacher n this group of lessons, I would
have to opportunity to gain knowledge and insight in how these skills
are given to the general education classes and different strategies they
use. This would then allow me to use these strategies and ideas when
creating my lessons and assessments to ensure that each of my
students were completing challenging but still appropriate work.
Other school professionals I would collaborate with would be the other
teachers or teacher in the classroom. Two of the three lessons in this
grouping have small group or one-on-one instruction. In order for this
to be successful, all the teachers in the room need to be on the same
page and have the same understand of what is expected of students.
By collaborating with the other adults in the room, we will be able to
determine different supports and strategies that we can use during the
small group or on-on-one instruction in order to support all of our
students in their learning.
After completing the implementation of this group of lessons, one
personal professional learning goal that emerged for me was to focus
on the creation of appropriate assessments for the abilities levels of
each of my students. Throughout these lessons students were all
assessed using the same assignments/assessments. Looking back, I
believe some of my students with higher writing abilities would have

benefited from having a more challenging assessment. This being said,

moving forward I want to focus on really taking into consideration the
abilities of each student when creating my assessments as opposed to
taking a one size fits all type approach.
A second personal professional goal that I will focus on moving forward
will be collaboration with other school-based professionals when
creating lesson plans. When creating this grouping of lessons, the only
other professional I collaborated with was the classroom teacher. If I
had collaborated with other teachers such as the English teacher, I
would have been given myself the opportunity to access more
knowledge and even strategies to use when teacher these skills.
Gaining this additional knowledge from other professionals, especially
those in other content areas, will also help me in my creation of
appropriate assessments.

Lesson Plans:

Autobiography Topics
About This Lesson
DESCRIPTION
Studentswillbeintroducedtotheideaofanautobiography.Duringthislessonstudents
willidentifyanddiscussdifferenttopicsthatcanbeincludedinanautobiography.Asa
classstudentswillselectacertainnumbersoftopicstheywishtofocusonaswewrite
ourautobiographies.Oncethesetopicsareselected,thestudentswillthenworktogether

tocreatelistsofspecificdetailsthatshouldbeincludedineachofthetopics.Attheend
ofthislesson,eachstudentwillthenchoosethreeofthetopicstoincludeintheirown
autobiography.
PREREQUISITES
Inorderforstudentstocompletethislesson,studentswillneedtohaveabasic
understandingofthedifferentaspectsthatmakethemwhotheyare.
ESTIMATED TIME
1hour

Potential Use
PURPOSE:
Classroom Instruction
GRADES:
2-5
CONTENT AREAS:
English/Language Arts
COMMON CORE:
College and Career Readiness: Anchor Standards

Writing
Production and Distribution of Writing
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4 Produce clear
and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose,
and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.5 Develop and
strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing,
rewriting, or trying a new approach.

English Language Arts

Writing
Production and Distribution of Writing
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.4 (grade 3): With
guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which
the development and organization are appropriate to task

and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types

are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.4 (grade 4): Produce
clear and coherent writing in which the development and
organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience.

Goals
INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS
Studentswillidentifydifferenttopicsthatcanbeincludedinanautobiography.Theywill
narrowdownthelistto5topicsandexpandoneachofthetopics.Asaclasstheywill
identifyspecificdetailsthatshouldbeincludedwhenwritingeachofthedifferent
topics.Attheendofthelessonstudentswillselectthreetopicstowriteaboutfortheir
autobiographies.
OBJECTIVES

Students will discuss different topics and details included in an

autobiography

VARIABILITY
Duetothedifferentneedsofthestudentsinthisclass,avarietyofaccommodationswill
beusedduringthislesson.Theseaccommodationswillinclude,

A scribe

A reader

Visuals

Assessments

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

Teacher observation of students participation during lesson

Exit ticket- students will select 3 topics to write about for their
autobiography

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
Attheendofthisunit,studentswillhavewrittenandcreatedanautobiographyinwhich
they3chapters,eachonadifferenttopic.

Instructional Methods

OPENING
Introduction

Teacher will direct students attention to the objective

Teacher will read objective to students and then ask students to

share their ideas on what the objective means and what they
believe we will accomplish by the end of the lesson

After all willing students have shared teacher will then introduce
Autobiographies

Teacher will ask students if they have ever heard of an

autobiography and what they think an autobiography is

Students will share their ideas with the class

Teacher will then explain to students what an autobiography is

and share with students that they will be writing their own
autobiographies by the end of the unit

Teacher will explain that today they will be identifying the

different topics that can be included in an autobiography and that
by the end of the class students will complete the first step in the
writing process by selected 3 topics that they will write about

DURING
Introduce New Knowledge

After introducing autobiographies, teacher will then ask students

to share their ideas on what different topics could be included in
ones autobiography

As students are sharing their answers the teacher will create a

list of all the different topics on the white board for students to see

This will continue until students have no more ideas to share

Once the master list is finished the teacher will read through all
of the topics for the students

Teacher will explain to students that as a class they are going to

vote on the topics and narrow the list down to six topics that they
will be able to chose from

the teacher will explain to students that one they narrow down
the list of topics, they will then as a class expand on each of the
topics and discuss what details would be talked about in each topic

The teacher will then hold a vote with the students in order to
determine the top six topics that they will then expand on

Once the six topics are selected the teacher will erase all other
topics and write each of the six topics in its own column on the
white board

Pose Leading Questions

Now that the six topics have been selected and written on the
white board, the teacher will go through each topic one by one in
order to expand the topic and identify different details that would
fit in the topic

To begin the teacher will ask one student to explain what the title
of the topic means (for example: "Interests" would be things you
like to do and your favorite things)

After the selected student has shared the "definition" of the

topic, the teacher will ask students what different details they
could write about under this topic

Students will call out different suggestions and the teacher will
write them on the board

Teacher will ask students questions as a way to prompt them and

get them to use critical and creative thinking

This process will be repeated for each of the six topics

CLOSING
Closing

After each of the six topics has been discussed and expanded
students will then complete an exit ticket in which they will write
down the three topics they selected to write about in their
autobiographies
These exit tickets will be turn in at the end of class

Review

Once students have selected their topics and turned in their exit
tickets, the teacher will ask students to review what they have
learned and complete in this lesson
Teacher will call on willing students to share

Materials

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

White board

Dry erase markers

Exit tickets

Pencils

Personal Traits
About This Lesson
DESCRIPTION
Studentswillcompletethefirststepinthewritingprocessforcreatingtheir
autobiographies.Studentswillbeidentifyingpersonaldetailspertainingtoeachofthe

threetopicstheychosetowriteaboutfortheirautobiographies.Inordertocompletethis
firststep,studentswillreceiveapacketinwhichtheywillwritedowntheirspecific
detailsforeachtopic.

PREREQUISITES
StudentswillhaveaworkingdefinitionofwhatanAutobiographyisandwhattopics
are/canbeincludedwhenwritinganautobiography.
Studentswillhaveselectedthethreedifferenttopicsthattheywillincludeintheir
autobiographies.

ESTIMATED TIME
1hour

Potential Use
PURPOSE:
Classroom Instruction, Small Group

GRADES:
2-5

CONTENT AREAS:
English/Language Arts

COMMON CORE:

College and Career Readiness: Anchor Standards

English Language Arts

Goals
INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS
Studentswillindividuallycompletedpacketsinwhichtheywillberesponsiblefor
identifyingandwritingdownspecificpersonaldetailsforeachofthethreetopicsthey
chosetoincludeintheirautobiographies.

OBJECTIVES

Students will identify personal details in order to begin the

writing process for their autobiographies

VARIABILITY
Duetothedifferentneedsofthestudentsinthisclass,avarietyofaccommodationswill
beusedduringthislesson.Theseaccommodationswillinclude,

Ascribe

Areader

Providedsentencestarters

Smallgroupinstruction

Visuals

Assessments
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

Individualtopicpackets(eachstudentwillberequiredtocompletethreetopics)

Teacherobservationonstudentparticipationduringlesson

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
Attheendofthisunit,studentswillhavewrittenandcreatedanautobiographyinwhich
theywrite4chapters,eachonadifferenttopicoraspectoftheirlife.

Instructional Methods
OPENING
Introduction

Teacherwillaskstudentstoreviewwhatwediscussyesterday
Teacherwillfacilitateadiscussionbetweenstudentsinordertodiscussand
reviewtheinformationtheyreceivedyesterdayaboutautobiographies

Makesurestudentsdiscusswhatanautobiographyisandwhatdifferent
topicswediscussedthatcanbeincludedinanautobiography

Askeachstudenttosharewhichthreetopicstheychosetoincludeintheir
autobiographies

Afterreviewingyesterdayinformation,teacherwillthendirectstudentstothe
objective

Teacherwillreadtheobjectivetostudentsandaskthemtosharetheirideason
whattheythinkitmeanandwhattheywillbedoingduringtodayslesson

Onceallwillingstudentssharetheirideastheteacherwillthenexplaintostudents
whattodaysclasswillconsistof

Todayyouareeachgoingtoreceiveapacketthatincludesall6ofthetopics
thatweselectedasoptionsforyourautobiographies.Foreachofthetopics,I
tookthedetailsthatwediscussedyesterdayandcreatedalistofdetailsthatyou
shouldincludeforeachofthetopics.

Inordertocompletethepacket,youwillwritedownyouownpersonal
detailsundereachtopic.Youdonotneedtowriteyouranswersinfull
sentences.

DURING
Model New Skills and Knowledge

Beforeyouguysbeginworkingonyourpacketsindividually,we'regoingto
workthroughthefirstpageonthepackettogethersothatyouguyscansee
whatisexpected.

Asaclass,wearegoingtoworkthroughthefirstpageofthepacket,Physical
Features,andcompleteitusingmypersonaldetails.

Teacherwillshowthe"PhysicalFeatures"pageupontheprojector

Teacherwillfirstreadthrougheachoftheitemsonthelist

Theteacherwillthenaskstudentstohelphercompletethepage,workingthrough
eachoftheitems

Teacherwillreadeachitemandthenaskstudentstosharewhattheythinkshould
bewrittenasmypersonaldetails

Asstudentsshare,teacherwillwriteintheanswersonthePhysicalFeaturespage
shownontheprojector

Repeatthisprocessforeachoftheitems
Aftertheyhavegonethroughtheentirelist,theteacherwillaskthestudentsif
theyhaveanyquestionsorneedanyclarification

Independent Practice

Nowthatwehaveseenhowtocompletethepackets,andpracticesanswers
someoftheitems.Wearegoingtobreakupintosmallgroupssothatyoucan
completeyourownpackets.

Studentswillthenbreakupintosmallgroupsorchoosetoworkindependentlyin
ordertocompletetheirpackets.

Theteacherwillguidethestudentsheorsheisworkingwiththrougheachofthe
listsastheyidentifytheirownpersonaldetails.

Teacherwillassistthosestudentswhoneedadditionalsupportbyreadingfor
them,writingforthem,and/orpromptingthemtohelpthemidentifytheiranswers.

Studentwillberesponsibleforcompleteeachofthelistsforthethreespecific
topicstheychose.

CLOSING
Closing

Asstudentsarefinishingaddingtheirdetailstotheirpackets,theteacherwillgo
uptoeachstudenttoreviewwhattheyhavegottenthroughonthechecklist

Teacherwillaskedstudenttoreviewwithherwhich3topicstheychosetowriteabout

Teacherwillthenaskstudenttoshareatleastonedetailsthewrotedownineach
ofthetopics

Aftercheckingonthestudents,teachershouldbringallthestudentsbacktogether
andreviewwhattheydid

Askanystudentsiftheywouldliketoshareanyoftheirpersonaldetailsthatthey
wroteintheirpackets

Materials
MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

Topicpackets

Elmo

Projector

Pencils

Autobiography
About This Lesson

DESCRIPTION
Studentswillbeworkingonspecificdetailsandprovidingmoredetailsintheir
autobiographies.Thislessonwillbefocusedaroundtheideaof"Tellmemore"andwhy
itisimportanttohavespecificdetailsinyourwriting.Asaclass,wewillpracticeadding
specificdetailsbyusingaparagraphfromtheteacher'sautobiographyandexpanding
it.Thestudentswillthenbreakupintosmallgroups,basedontheirtopics,andusea
checklisttoaddmoredetailstotheirownautobiographies.
PREREQUISITES
StudentswillhaveaworkingdefinitionofwhatanAutobiographyisandwhattopics
are/canbeincludedwhenwritinganautobiography.

Studentshavecompletedapacketwheretheyidentifiedpersonaldetailspertainingto
specifictopics.Studentsthenusedthatinformationtowritetheirparagraphsfortheir
autobiographies.

ESTIMATED TIME
1hour
Potential Use
PURPOSE:
ClassroomInstruction,SmallGroup
GRADES:
25
CONTENT AREAS:
English/LanguageArts

COMMON CORE:

College and Career Readiness: Anchor Standards

Writing

ProductionandDistributionofWriting

CCSS.ELALiteracy.CCRA.W.4Produceclearand
coherentwritinginwhichthedevelopment,organization,andstyleare
appropriatetotask,purpose,andaudience.

CCSS.ELALiteracy.CCRA.W.5Developandstrengthen
writingasneededbyplanning,revising,editing,rewriting,ortryinganew
approach.
English Language Arts
Writing

ProductionandDistributionofWriting

CCSS.ELALiteracy.W.3.4(grade3):Withguidanceand
supportfromadults,producewritinginwhichthedevelopmentand
organizationareappropriatetotaskandpurpose.(Gradespecific
expectationsforwritingtypesaredefinedinstandards13above.)

CCSS.ELALiteracy.W.4.5(grade4):Withguidanceand
supportfrompeersandadults,developandstrengthenwritingasneeded
byplanning,revising,andediting.

Goals
INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS
Studentswillidentifyadditionaldetailstoaddtotheirautobiographiesinordertoexpand
theirwritingandbemorespecific.

OBJECTIVES

SWBATidentifyadditionaldetailsinordertoexpandtheirautobiographies

VARIABILITY
Duetothedifferentneedsofthestudentsinthisclass,avarietyofaccommodationswill
beusedduringthislesson.Theseaccommodationswillinclude,
Ascribe

Areader

Providedsentencestarters

Smallgroupinstruction

Visuals

Assessments
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

Checklistthatstudentswillcompleteastheyareworkingtowardsaddingmore
detailstotheirwriting
Secondwrittendraftofautobiography(incompositionjournal)
Teacherobservationsduringsmallgroupwork

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
Attheendofthisunit,studentswillhavewrittenandcreatedanautobiographyinwhich
theywrite4chapters,eachonadifferenttopicoraspectoftheirlife.
Instructional Methods
OPENING
Introduction

Teacherwillreviewwithstudentswhattheyhavedoneinthepastcoupledays,
whatstepstheyhavecompletedinwriting/creatingtheirautobiographies
Teacherwillcallonstudentstoshare,ratherthanreviewingonherown
Teacherwillintroducetheideaof"Tellmemore",whatthatmeanswhenwetalk
aboutourwritingorautobiographies

Askstudentsaboutwhattheythinkthatwouldmeanfortheirbiographies,what
theyshouldbeadding(specificdetails)

"Todaywe'regoingtotalkaboutthisideaofTellmemore,andwhatthat
meanstousaswearewritingourautobiographies".

Callonstudentstosharetheirideasonwhatmeansandhowyoucan"tellme
more"intheirwriting

DURING
Introduce New Knowledge

Putontheboardthesentence"IhaveBrothers",witheachwordonadifferent
sentencestrip.

Readthesentencetostudentsandaskthemiftheyfeelliketheygotenough
informationaboutmybrothersfromthatsentence

Callonastudenttoanswer,andaskthemwhytheydidn'tgetenoughinformation

Askthestudentswhatelseitistheywouldwanttoknowaboutmybrothersand
whatIshoulddosothattheycangetthatinformation(adddetailstomysentence)

Askstudentstohelpyouexpandyoursentencebyaskingquestionstheywantto
know(Ex.howmanybrothers,howoldarethey,etc.)

Eachtimeastudentasksaquestions,teacherwillwritetheinformationonanew
pieceofsentencestripandaddittotheboard(writeadditionaldetailsinadifferent
colorthenstartingsentence)

Repeatthisuntilstudentsfeelasthoughtheyhaveenoughdetailsaboutmy
brothers

Readbeginningsentence,andthenreadnewexpandedsentencetostudents

Askstudenttocountthenumberofadditiondetailswehaveaddedtomysentence

Model New Skills and Knowledge

"Nowthatwehavepracticedaddingdetailstoasentence,Iwantyouguysto
helpmeputmoredetailsinmyautobiography.IwrotemyPhysicalFeatures

chapter,butIneedtoaddmoredetailsaboutmyself.Ifyouremember
yesterdayweintroducedthesecheckliststhatyouguyswillbeusingtoadd
detailstoyourautobiographies,sowe'regoingtousethechecklistforPhysical
Featurestohelpmeexpandmyautobiography."

Ontheprojector,teacherwillshowherphysicalfeaturesparagraphthatshewrote
(withoutspecificdetails)

TeacherwillreadtheparagraphtostudentsandaskiftheythinkIputenough
detailintomywriting

Teacherwillthenaskstudentsforhelpinexpandingherparagraphandadding
moredetailsusingthechecklistforPhysicalfeatures

Teacherwillreadthrougheachsentenceandthecorrespondingchecklistbullet
andaskstudentswhatIcanaddtofulfillmychecklist

Asstudentssharetheirideas,teacherwilltypethenewdetailsintoherparagraph
(inboldfont,sostudentscanseewhathasbeenadded)

Repeatthisforeachsentence/bulletonchecklist

Readthroughthenewlyexpandedparagraph

Askstudentswhytheythinkaddingdetailstoourautobiographiesareimportant
andcallonstudentstosharetheiranswers

Guided Practice

Afterworkingthroughtheteachersparagraph,theteacherswillexplainto
studentsthattheywillnowbebreakingupintosmallgroupstoworkonexpanding
theirownautobiographiesbyaddingdetails

Explaintostudentsthattheywillbeusingchecklistsspecifictotheirtopictohelp
guidethem

Beforebreakingintogroups,teacherwillshowstudentsthecheckliststhatthey
willbeusing,andbrieflyexplaintothemhowitworks

Studentswillthensplitintosmallgroupsbasedontheirtopic

Inthesmallgroupstheteacherwillthenreviewthechecklistwiththeirgroup,
readingthrougheachofpoints

Thenteacherwillguidestudentsthroughthechecklistsandaddingspecificdetails
totheirparagraphs

Teachershouldassiststudentsinaddingthedetailsbypromptingthem,orusing
questionstohelpthemidentifyspecificdetails

CLOSING
Closing

Asstudentsarecompletingtheirchecklistsandaddingdetails,teacherwillgoup

toeachstudenttoreviewwhattheyhavegottenthroughonthechecklist

Teachershouldaskstudenttoshareatleast23detailstheyhaveaddedintotheir
writing,andwhichitemsontheirlistthehavecheckedoff

Aftercheckingonthestudents,teachershouldbringallthestudentsbacktogether
andreviewwhattheydid

Askanystudentsiftheywouldliketoshareanydetailstheyaddedtotheirwork

Reviewwhyweadddetailstoourwriting(whyitisimportant)

Materials
MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

Sentencestrippaper

Markers

Projector

Computer

Checklistworksheetsfortopics

Eachkidneedstheirautobiographies

Pencil

Data: