In the spring of 2014, I enrolled in the course EDU

3350, Language Arts and Linguistic Foundations.

During the duration of this course, I worked to
carefully plan a lesson plan based on the tool of
sequencing and its role in daily activities for first
grade students. This lesson was a small portion of a
two week unit based on sequencing and the role it
plays in both every day and academic tasks and
processes (such as reading and writing).

Before I began to plan my lesson, I worked to
thoughtfully plan my unit calendar. Planning my
instructional moves, scaffolding methods, activities,
evidence of learning and assessments in a sensible
order within my unit calendar assisted me in seeing
exactly where I needed to begin with my students. It
was clear that I needed to build off prior knowledge
and keep the activities and instructional moves
relevant and clear for my students. Creating and
utilizing my unit calendar was a tremendous help in
planning a sound introduction lesson for my unit.

When it was finally time to create my lesson, I
worked to base it on relevant, real life sequencing
examples that ALL students could relate to, such as
brushing their teeth. By building my instructional
moves and activities on topics that are familiar to my
students, I would be able to focus on helping my
students uncover and sharpen tools and knowledge
that they werent even aware that they possessed.
Many children are aware that certain tasks they
participate in daily must be done in a certain order.
The prior knowledge of my students along with the
use of familiar examples would do wonders in
assisting students in understanding the tool of
sequencing and how it relates to virtually everything
we do, both inside and outside the academic context.

While the lesson was mainly focused on tools, it also
relied heavily on the use and development of both
oral and written communication skills through
meaningful activities. The gradual release within this
lesson required students to write a basic 3-4 step
sequence that they participate in regularly after the
concept was introduced and explored in a whole
group context. Once students completed their
sequence of events, they would trade with a partner
and discuss whether or not their directions were
clear. As you can see, the lesson and the activities
that would take place within it would require a vast
amount of communication, and therefore would
foster communication development. Not only would
students need to learn how to effectively
communicate through their writing, they also would
need to learn how to effectively discuss their
sequence of events with a partner.

As a future teacher, I will be sure to plan my units
and lessons thoughtfully, taking into account the
prior knowledge of my students as well as their
interests, backgrounds and cultures. By practicing
this process, I will be able to focus my instructional
moves and activities on the tools rather than the
topic. In addition, my students will be able to more
effectively focus on the tools and processes I want
them to add to their tool belts rather than the subject
matter being presented to them. Each lesson I create
in my future classroom will also foster
communication development as it will require my
students to communicate their understandings and
ideas through AT LEAST 1 communication method.
By employing the processes I discussed above, I
hope to connect concepts and use differing
perspectives to engage my students in authentic
experiences that require critical thinking, creativity
and communication. These are all tools that one
must develop in order to be a successful learner.


Standard 5: Application of Content
The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing
perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and
collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global
issues.