DIFFERENTIATED LESSON PLAN

Differentiated Lesson Plan: Communication Developments in the 19th Century Lara Landry National University

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Abstract The following is a differentiated lesson plan for fourth grade California history. It also integrates standards for language arts and physical education. The lesson follows the three curricular elements of Teach, Practice, Apply. The Apply section of the lesson asks the students to create knowledge into something new, an advertisement and an interview using knowledge from the lesson. There are both heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping patterns (blue). The Peer pairing strategy, a differentiation strategy for ELLs, is used throughout the lesson, as is pre-teaching (orange). The quick think focusing strategy and skimming the lesson are other differentiation strategies listed in Chapter 5 of the text (green).

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Content Standards: History 4.4.1. Understand the story and lasting influence of the Pony Express, Overland Mail Service, Western Union, and the building of the transcontinental railroad, including the contributions of Chinese workers to its construction. Physical Education 4.1.6. Throw and catch an object with a partner while both partners are moving. Language Arts Reading Standards for Informational Text: Key Ideas and Details 3. Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text. Reading Standards for Informational Text: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7. Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears. Materials: Text: Reflections: California: A Changing State White Boards Dry Erase Markers Listening Station Graphic Organizer Templates Large Construction Paper

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Markers Colored Pencils Lined Paper Pencils

Assess Student Readiness: (Day 1) Prior to teaching the lesson on faster ways of communication to the west, teacher should assess students' prior knowledge and readiness. Students work in pairs to answer Think-Pair-Share questions on white boards. The teacher poses a question and the students have 1-2 minutes to think of and write their responses, then they share their response with their partner for an additional 1-2 minutes. Students may choose to change or add to their responses. The teacher then either calls on different pairs to share their responses, or asks the class to show their responses and then chooses pairs with correct responses to share. Questions to ask: 1. What were the different routes to California from the West prior to the 1850s? 2. How would people in California get news from the Capitol in Washington D.C. and other big cities back east? How would separated families communicate with one another before 1850? The teacher can then create a graphic organizer in way of a timeline on the front board with the students about the history of communicating across long distances. They list the current means of communication between people today and the first ways of faster communication. This will allow the teacher to see what the students already know about

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the topic of the lesson. If the students do not list the stagecoach, Pony Express, and telegraph the teacher should leave the timeline on the board to complete during the teaching part of the lesson. Teach: The teacher sets the purpose of the story they will read about a 17-year old Pony Express Rider called Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express by Kristiana Gregory. The students and teacher take turns reading the story aloud and all follow along. After the story students are paired and asked to list some positive and negative aspects of working as a Pony Express rider with their partner. Students are in peer pairing; ELLs are paired with students of higher English proficiency, and lower-level students are pair with students at a higher level (a heterogeneous group). They also list some details to support their answers from the story. The teacher calls on pairs to share responses. The teacher reviews with the students how mail was carried by the Pony Express. She divides the class into two teams and has them compete in a relay race of their own by passing a backpack filled with books instead of the mochila (the Spanish word for backpack) which Pony Express riders carried. This gets the students engaged in a physical activity benefiting kinesthetic learners. (Day 2) Prior to instruction on the day 2, the teacher pre-teaches the English language learners the vocabulary and key concepts in the lesson. She has the ELLs pre-read the chapter at a listening station and complete a graphic organizer outlining the main ideas. This allows ELLs to process the printed content materials and create meaning before having to engage in class discussions. Fluency is facilitated when students read and

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reread content selections. Low-level students can also benefit from pre-teaching and this can be determined necessary through pre-assessment and teaching on day 1. Students (all) are instructed to skim the lesson prior to the whole group instruction with their partner (peer-pair) and find answers to questions about the content that can be answered by reading quickly through the chapter headings and accompanying visuals. Students are in a peer pair, a heterogeneous group, so students of higher proficiency can assist those of lower ability. The student of higher ability benefits from teaching the other student. They answer their questions on the white boards and show them to the teacher when finished. The teacher calls on pairs to respond. Questions to ask: 1. What early mail routes to California are depicted on the map? 2. Put the routes used in time order. 3. Which was the fastest mode of communication? The teacher uses whole group direct instruction to outline the elements critical to the lesson. She brings the students' attention to the vocabulary words for the lesson and has the students write the vocabulary for the lesson in their history spirals, with a sentence. Students can use the sentence in the text. If they're more advanced, they should be encouraged to make their own sentence using the word in context. The students and the teacher read through the lesson. After each section, and after important information, the teacher uses the quick think focusing strategy to sharpen students 'attention on the important facts. The teacher stops when something important is read and asks the students a question. The students work with their partner to answer the question. They write it on a shared white board and show it to the teacher when finished.

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The teacher can assess the students' comprehension and see what needs to be retaught to the whole group and who needs one-on-one or small group additional instruction. The teacher asks different students to share their responses and serves as "a guide on the side" as she paraphrases students' remarks and extends ideas to new levels of meaning. The teacher differentiates instruction as she responds to students and builds on their levels of understanding. Practice: (Day 3) English language learners are paired with more proficient speakers in a peer pairing strategy. The heterogeneous group works together to identify differences and similarities between the three different ways of communication discussed in the lesson; the stagecoach, the Pony Express, and the telegraph in a graphic organizer. Both students benefit; the more advanced learns more by teaching someone else, and the ELL student benefits from the communication. Lower level students should be paired with students of higher proficiency. The teacher can work one-on-one with a student or in small homogeneous groups to reteach the lesson and go over main concepts for any students that did not do well in the Quick Think Focus Strategy. The teacher works with these students to create the graphic organizers that the other students are completing. Apply: The teacher divides the class into small homogeneous groups of 3-4 and has the students design an advertisement to recruit Pony Express riders. Students at similar academic levels can work together to create their advertisements. The lower level

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students and ELLs discuss a strategy for persuading people to become riders and draw a picture and create a headline. The middle level students include persuasive sentences in their ad and emphasize the rewards of the job, and the more advanced write a persuasive paragraph, describing the requirements of the job as well as the rewards. Students then break up into small heterogeneous groups of 2-3 where students write questions they would want to ask either a driver for the Overland Mail Company, a Pony Express rider or a telegraph operator. They ask each other the questions and respond orally.

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References Reflections: California: A changing state (2007). Orlando: Harcourt School Publishers. A Look at... Fourth Grade in California Public Schools and the Common Core State Standards (2011). California Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/documents/glc4thgradecurriculum.pdf Ventriglia, Linda D. Ph. D. (2010). Best practices differentiated instruction: the rule of foot. 8th Edition. Mexico: Younglight Educate.