Quality Work Exempler

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Quality Work Exempler

• Hayden Elementary
• Grade 6 Language Arts
• by Deanna Howard

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The Designer

• 26 year teaching veteran- I have seen when
  using the design qualities, students of all
  abilities approach tasks with perseverance and
  enthusiasm. Even those projects such as research
  papers and speeches which are traditionally saved
  for advanced students are attempted successfully
  by students who may seem incapable of the task

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The Students

• The class is a heterogeneous group of 45-55
  students with abilities ranging from gifted to
  special needs. A team of two regular education
  teachers and one L.D./MiMh teacher teach this
  class

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Intended Learning

• Students will discover the purpose of Lewis and
  Clark Corps of Discovery and become familiar with
  the members of the Corps and the things that
  happened along the way. Students will also
  practice reading nonfiction articles for
  information and presenting the information orally
  to a group. Students will also practice writing
  from the point of view of a character in
  historical fiction or an actual person who is
  part of the actual history. They will
  particularly look at and review letter writing
  skills.

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The learning experience

• In reading ability groups students read magazine,
  newspaper, Internet, and encyclopedia articles
  about the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery and
  its members. Articles are chosen specifically
  for each group according to the reading levels of
  the members of the group.

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The Learning Experience

• 2. After reading the articles and discussing
  them as a group, the students are regrouped
  according to topic. These groups are mixed
  ability groups with different articles of like
  topics. For example, all of the members of the
  group have different articles about Meriwether
  Lewis. The students are to share information
  from the various articles, summarize the
  information and make a chart and plan a
  presentation for the purpose of sharing the
  information with the rest of the class

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The Learning Experience

• 3. Groups take turns presenting information to
  the class. At the end of the presentation all
  students in class, regardless of the article they
  read or the topic they studied should have a
  knowledge and understanding of the Lewis and
  Clark Corps of Discovery and a number of the
  members of the Corps

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The Learning Experience

• 4. Watch the National Geographic film Lewis and
  Clark- Great Journey West
• 5. Have each student write a letter as if they
  were a member of the Corps of Discovery or an
  observer of the Corps of Discovery as it made it
  way across the West. Students will need to
  decide to whom they are writing their letter and
  thus if their letter would be a friendly letter
  or a business letter. They will also need to
  adapt the style of letter to the writer.

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The Learning Experience

• 5(continued) For example, Meriwether Lewis was
  probably the most educated member of the
  expedition, and his letter would be written more
  formally and in Standard English as opposed to a
  letter written by William Clark whose
  opportunities for a formal education were limited
  while being raised in the American Frontier. The
  student will also need to consider the fact that
  the members and observers of the Corps of
  Discovery would not have written their letter on
  a modern looking piece of notebook paper. They
  will need to write their letter authentically as
  well as making it look authentic.
• 6. Display letters on bulletin board

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Materials needed

• Various articles about the Lewis and Clark Corps
  of Discovery and its members written in different
  reading levels from a variety of sources
• Chart paper
• Markers
• Letter-sized plain paper

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Content and Substance

• Students learn about the Lewis and Clark Corps of
  Discovery and its members. Students also
  practice letter-writing skills and writing from
  different points of view. This lesson also
  covers the following state standards S2,4,5,6,7

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Organization and Knowledge

• Students first focus on information reading an
  article written in their reading level. They
  will then have the opportunity to synthesize that
  information with students who read a variety of
  different articles in a variety of different
  reading levels on the same topic. They become
  classroom experts on the topic sharing that
  information with the rest of the class. The
  whole class then has the opportunity to learn
  something about all aspects of the expedition and
  the members of the Corps.

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Product Focus

• Students produce a letter that seems authentic in
  its appearance and writing style. The letter
  demonstrates their knowledge of the Lewis and
  Clark Corps of Discovery and its members

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Protection from Adverse Consequences for Initial
Failure

• Students work with a group when learning about
  the Lewis and Clark Expedition and have the
  opportunity to plan with their group and share
  with the teacher before making a presentation to
  the rest of the class. They also have the
  opportunity to write a rough draft of their
  letter and share it with a peer editor and/or a
  teacher before producing the final product. Many
  ideas are discussed and shared before the writing
  of the letter and production of the final copy.
  Students help to produce the rubric used to
  evaluate the final product.

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Clear and Compelling Product Standards

• Students help to produce the rubric used to
  assess the final product

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Affirmation of Performance

• Students share information learned about the
  Corps of Discovery with the entire class and
  enjoy for that time the opportunity to be the
  classroom expert on that particular topic.
  They also have their letters shared with the
  entire school as they are hung on the bulletin
  board in the hallway.

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Choice

• The student may choose the member or the Corps
  of Discovery or observer of the Corps of
  Discovery they want to be and to whom they wish
  to write. These choices also determine the style
  letter they wish to write. They also have their
  choice in how to make their letter look authentic.

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Affiliation

• Students work in two different groups while
  learning about the Lewis and Clark Corps of
  Discovery. They then have the opportunity to
  share their findings with the rest of the class.

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Authenticity

• The students are using their understanding of the
  Lewis and Clark Expedition, the members of the
  Corps and letter writing to produce an actual
  letter that sounds and looks authentic.

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Novelty and Variety

• Students teach each other and apply knowledge
  learned to the writing of a letter showing what
  they know through the letter rather than through
  a test

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Results

• This lesson was in preparation for and a follow
  up to a Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery
  Celebration in which the entire school
  participated. My students like working in groups
  and do it well. They also enjoy being
  responsible for the learning of their fellow
  students and learning from their fellow students.
  They appreciate getting information from a
  variety of sources and are learning much about
  the Internet, the media and library resources and
  that not all of these resources will always
  agree. They are also finding out that there is
  a way to learn about something besides reading
  about it in a textbook. My students enjoyed
  pretending that they were someone else and were
  very interested in the prairie dog captured as a
  specimen by the Corps. Some were other animals
  who saw the expedition as it made its way West.
  They were also creative in choosing to whom to
  write.

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Reflections

• This type of work is easily adapted to the mixed
  ability classroom. The process of using reading
  material on the same subject but in different
  reading ability levels insures that students will
  be exposed to and learn the same material while
  still challenging high ability students without
  pushing struggling readers beyond their limits.
  Students in general remember and understand
  material that they are actively involved in
  whether doing the actual research, reading and
  analyzing or reporting to the class their
  findings.

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Points to Ponder

• People retain more information when they are
  engaged in the learning process. We remember
• 10 of what we read
• 20 of what we hear
• 30 of what we see
• 50 of what we both see and hear
• 70 of what we say
• 90 of what we learn while talking and
  interacting