2013-2014

UMU Lesson Plan

Names: Allyson Miller, Kristen Jackson, Alexis Parsons,

Date: April 17, 2014
Kate Baker
Grade Level: College
Class Period: T, R 12:30-2:10pm
Subject: MCH 175
Lesson # & Title: Lesson #1, U-Turn Teaching
Big Idea/Lesson Focus: Working in Teams
Essential Question: Why is working in teams essential and effective in the classroom?
Context for Learning:
Total of 28 college sophomores and freshmen
o 15 females and 13 males
Racial Make-up:
o 1 out of 28- African American
o 1 out of 28- Japanese
o 1 out of 28- Chinese
o 25 out of 28- Caucasian
Language:
o 2 out of 28 students are bilingual
Function of the Lesson (check all that apply):
Introduce New Skill or Content
Practice

Review
Remediation/Re-teaching

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this activity, students will understand how to build and form team bonds
By the end of this activity, students will understand the importance of working in teams.
By the end of this activity, students will be able to recognize and encourage team functionality.
By the end of this lecture, students will understand the importance of monitoring and interacting with groups
from the sidelines.
Instructional Materials and Support:
Two yardsticks
Jolly Ranchers (4 colors, 6 Jolly Ranchers per color)
PowerPoint
Music
Tape
Whiteboard/ markers
Prior Knowledge:
Intellectual and Cognitive Development:
o Prefer active over passive learning experiences
o Prefer interaction with peers during learning activities
Social Development:
o Have a strong need to belong to a group
The Self-Actualization Checklist:
o Solution oriented
o Accepting of self, others, and nature
o Discrimination between ends and means
Tension of Opposites:
o Asset-driven

o Positive freedom
Twelve Contradictory Needs of Adolescents
o For intensity vs. for routine
o For physical activity vs. for stillness
o For separateness vs. for belonging
The Nine Elements of FLOW
o Immediate feedback to ones actions
o Balance between challenges and skills
Cooperative Learning

Assessments:
Assessment(s) during the lesson:
o Assessment over applying over what students know about cooperative learning
Assessment(s) at the end of the lesson:
o Exit slip
Students will write at least 3 things they learned in todays lesson
Strategies & Learning Tasks
Introduction:
Attention-getters
o Hangman (Spell out: Look Under Chair)
o Jolly Ranchers taped to the bottom of the chair
Presentation/Explicit Instruction:
Alternate between activities and PowerPoint slides (make sure activities are no longer 3 minutes)
Presentation
o Building and forming team bonds
o Understanding importance of teams
o Team functionality
o Coaching from the sidelines
Structured Practice/Exploration:
Activities:
o Creating a team name that relates to each group member in some way
o Raising and lowering a yard stick as a group
o Knotted hands activity
Guided Practice/Specific Feedback:
Knotted hands- Teachers provide guidance to students as they try to solve problem
Independent Practice/Application:
Creating their group name- students need to determine a group name that relates to each individual
Closure:
Exit Slip- Students must write 3 things they learned during the lesson
Differentiation, Individualized Instruction, and Assessment:
Students have different strengths and weaknesses in relation to being a team leader
We can anticipate students will have difficulties coming up with a team name

Research and Theory:

Lev Vygotsky and cooperative learning

AMLE Characteristics of young adolescence

Tension of opposites
Twelve Contradictory Needs of Adolescence
Nine Elements of FLOW

Here is the Planning Commentary for the Lesson Plan for AYA/MCH 175 re: edTPA
1. Respond to the Content Focus for your Advisory Lesson. Be sure the summary is thorough!
Content Focus Summarize the central focus for the content you will teach in this learning segment.
Explain how this focus allows AYA/MCH 175 students to ask and answer significant and challenging questions about UTurn Teaching and to make relevant connections to the teaching field.
The main focus of our lesson is Teamwork. The first section talks about Setting Team Expectations. Here, students
learn the important aspects of being part of a team. A few that specifically relate to our lesson are listed:
Team members must bond
Teams understand how to collaborate
All members are held accountable
Teams are always collaborative, not competitive
Once students understand teams, it is important to get them to buy in. This teaches students that being in a team is a positive
experience. They are able to see examples of teams that work well and those that do not, as well as why they are this way.
Students see that working together leads to success, and if one person does not cooperate, the whole group could fail.
The next section focuses on the importance of team bonds and how to establish them. More specifically, it focuses on
group bonds helping students to develop a sense of identity within the group, cooperate with different groups of people, and
helps students become aware of others idiosyncrasies. Then, the section goes into detail with examples to help create group
bonds. Team names based on commonalities force the group to learn more about each other. Team rubrics help the group to
analyze things they need to work on and things that they did well. Team cheers make group members more enthusiastic. Having
the team create a flag, mascot, or emblem, along with the team name gives the teams a sense of identity.
The third section focuses on team functionality. Being a team leader within a group is a very important role for
students. A few main points suggested in this section include:
Team Leaders
Keeping Teams Tight
Ensuring Individual Accountability
Ending Team Clean Routine
Each team will have a different team leader daily. Leaders are in charge of keeping the team organized and on task. Every week,
using a simple activity the team works on together will keep them tight and keep synergies alive. To ensure individual
accountability, all members are expected to know all the procedures within the group. Lastly, to ending the day with a Team
Clean Routine will help students remember their homework and give them the opportunity to model good behavior.
The last section of the lesson focuses on coaching from the sideline. In a lot of ways teaching is a lot like coaching. It is
very easy to kind of disappear when you put your students into groups but in reality you should stay both visible and audible.
The three main points that we will talk about are:
Monitoring-struggling groups and mixed ability groups
Feedback-constructive feedback and the effect it has on your students
Rewards-witnessing the AHA! moments
As teachers we need to realize that we make a difference in our students lives and are looked to almost constantly. They will
love having you let them work in groups, but they also want to know you are there if they need you. Giving constructive
criticism and encouraging your students can really have a positive effect and give you the ability to push your students to their
greatest potential. Coaching and teaching almost go hand in hand and is one of the main roles of a successful teacher.
2. Respond to bolded and italicized PROMPTS in the next sectiononce again BE THOROUGH! So be sure to answer prompts
a), c), and d) from Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching and prompts a) and b) from Supporting Young Adolescent
Learning in the Discipline.
Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching
For each of the categories listed below (ad), describe what you know about your students prior learning and experiences with respect
to the central focus of the learning segment. What do they know, what can they do, and what are they learning to do? Consider the
variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/support.

a.

Academic development (e.g., prior knowledge, prerequisite skills, ways of thinking in the subject areas,
developmental levels, special educational needs)

All of students have graduated high school, and are looking deeper into the field of
education at the middle and high school level. There are groups of students focusing on
specific subjects including math, music, English, etc. Students have multiple intelligences;
therefore lots of different strategies of teaching should be used to accommodate a majority of
the group. All students in our class have had experience participating in group activities before

this class. Knowing this, we can conclude that they have formed their own opinions on the
subject. Some students love the idea of teams and work well in them. Other students may
prefer to work independently. Our job is to reinforce the importance of teams to those who
already like the idea of them and to show the group that do not like them the positive outcomes
that teams can produce.
b.

Academic language development (e.g., students abilities to understand and produce the oral or written language associated with
the central focus and standards/objectives within the learning segment)

c.

Family/community/cultural assets (e.g., relevant lived experiences, cultural expectations, and student interests)

We are in an age where technology controls much of our lives. It is the main way we
communicate, Therefore incorporating it into a lesson would be greatly beneficial. Students will
be able to share personal experiences relating to times they were placed in teams. Many
students have the experience of countless sports teams throughout their lives. Others have
experienced teams mostly in school settings. When students were allowed to choose their own
teams (for example, choosing whether to be on the softball or soccer team), they were able to
be guided by their interests. In our activity, students will have to learn to work in teams not
necessarily based off of similar interests.
d.

Young adolescent development, including cognitive, physical, and social and emotional dimensions

Intellectual and Cognitive Development: Prefer active over passive learning experiences.
Prefer interaction with peers during learning experiences. Develop and increasingly better
understanding of personal abilities.
Emotional and Psychological: Are increasingly concerned about peer acceptance.
Social Development: Have a strong need to belong to a group
Moral Development: At times are quick to see flaws in others but miss their own faults
Supporting Young Adolescent Learning in the Discipline
Respond to prompts af below to explain how your plans support your students learning of history/social studies related to the central
focus of the learning segment. As needed, refer to the instructional materials you have included to support your explanations. Cite
research and theory, including concepts addressing young adolescent learning, to support your explanations.

a.

Explain how your understanding of your students prior learning, experiences, and development guided your choice
or adaptation of learning tasks and materials for students to use facts, concepts, interpretations, and analyses to
make and explain claims/arguments about a significant historical event, topic/theme, or social studies phenomenon.

We are teaching our classmates basically how to teach and utilize teamwork in the classroom.
This is different from teaching a non-collegiate level class because we are focusing on
Applying, not just Remembering. This relates to our classs understanding of Blooms
Taxonomy. Also, all of our students have experienced being a part of a team. Therefore, we do
not have to go as in depth explaining what this is like. The activities we chose were based on
the material we are teaching, and we picked activities that are age appropriate.
b.

How are the plans for instruction sequenced in the learning segment to build connections between students prior
learning and experiences and new knowledge?
The activities demonstrated in the lesson reflect the new knowledge students will acquire. These activities will
help the students learn and remember the material because they have a visual and physical demonstration of it.
Students can use their previous knowledge of teamwork to apply it to the new information they have learned. Then,
they can more easily use it in their teaching.

c.

Explain how you will help students understand the interdisciplinary or integrative connections that build on the central focus of the
learning segment.
Explain how, throughout the learning segment, you will help students make connections between and among facts, concepts,
interpretations, and claims/arguments regarding your content area.
Describe how you will engage students in analyzing and interpreting primary and secondary sources as evidence to support their
claims/arguments about a historical event, topic/theme, or social studies phenomenon.

d.
e.

f.

Describe any instructional strategies planned to support young adolescents with specific learning needs. This will vary based on what
you know about your students but may include students with individualized education programs (IEPs), English language learners, or
gifted students needing greater support or challenge.

(These two sections are not required for this Lesson assignment; however, I do want you to be familiar with both sections for
edTPA.)
Supporting Student Understanding and Use of Academic Language
a.

b.

Identify the key academic language demand and explain why it is integral to the central focus for the segment and appropriate to
students academic language development. Consider language functions and language forms, essential vocabulary, symbols, and/or
phrases for the concepts and skills being taught, and instructional language necessary for students to understand or produce oral
and/or written language within learning tasks and activities.
Explain how planned instructional supports will assist students to understand academic language related to the key language
demand to express and develop their content learning. Describe how planned supports vary for students at different levels of
academic language development.

Monitoring Student Learning

a.

b.

Explain how the informal and formal assessments were selected and/or designed to provide evidence you will use to monitor
student progress toward the standards/objectives. Consider how the assessments will provide evidence of students understanding
of facts, concepts, interpretations, and analyses to make and explain claims/arguments about a significant historical event or social
studies phenomenon.
Describe any modifications or accommodations to the planned assessment tools or procedures that allow young adolescents with
specific needs to demonstrate their learning.

SIGN HERE I _____________________________________have designed a LESSON PLAN for teaching and am aware of the edTPA
PLANNING COMMENTARY prompts.