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| This lesson was developed to meet Standards
1 and 4 of the New York State Learning Standards for English Language
Arts. In terms of Standard 1, Language for Information and Understanding,
I geared the lesson to focus on the editing strategies the students had
been utilizing in the classroom, particularly the mnemonic writing strategy
COPS. I desired them to focus on basic writing conventions such as
correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and spacing/neatness, in
particular. As regards Standard 4, Language for Social Interaction,
I wanted the students to practice what I consider to be an essential communicative
function, letter writing, with particular regard to the theme of the Thanksgiving
holiday concurrently under discussion in the classroom - the concept of
thankfulness. Thus, I asked the students to write thank-you notes. |
| This learning experience draws on a variety
major understandings, or competencies, laid out in the core curriculum
for Standard 4: Writing (Students will write on a daily basis across all
content areas and standards). I focused on writing here because it
is commonly a neglected area in many classrooms’ daily schedules.
A crucial life skill, writing is valuable in terms of its use in education
and, later, in the workplace. Writing encompasses such visual elements
as spacing between words and letters, and top to bottom, left to write
directionality. Capitalization, punctuation, and spelling are mechanical
elements of writing addressed within the experience as well. Students
are using their high frequency words, and then pulling from classroom resources
to aid in spelling. They then build off of each other’s strengths
in the infinitely valuable cooperative, peer review process. In accordance
with the competencies, they are giving and seeking "constructive feedback
in order to improve writing." |
| By incorporating writing practice and editing/peer
review skills with the letter writing process in this learning experience,
I feel students were honing valuable life skills with regard to communicative
means and functions. They became aware of another reason we send
letters (or thank-you notes), to show gratitude toward others, at an opportune
time - Thanksgiving. When asked for a reflection on their experience,
or why they thought writing thank-you notes was important, one student
exclaimed: "Because now my mom and dad will know how much I ‘preciate them!" |
| This learning experience was originally written
for a first/second grade, self-contained classroom consisting of
nine students with varying mild learning disabilities. As presented here,
it is geared toward any first or second grade setting, provided the abilities
of the students in the classroom are adequate for meeting the writing objectives
set forth within the experience, without frustration. Modifications
were necessary so as to adapt the lesson (as written here) to meet individual
writing deficits, particularly among the first grade students, such as
Jessica, whose modification plan is presented here. It can also be
adapted for use in a kindergarten classroom. In both settings,
the expectations would be for students to fill in two sentence strips ("Dear________"
and "I am thankful for_______") in order to reduce the amount of writing
required by providing guidelines for the learners. |
| Students in all settings enjoyed
the peer review process, as they were enthralled to be able to "play teacher"
with a friend. Beforehand, I found it very helpful to talk about
the nature of feedback offered in the peer review sessions, as it made
the students aware of proper etiquette in helping another student to improve
his work. |
| "We Give Thanks" was peer reviewed
by the students and professor in my Teaching to the Standards course at
Daemen College. We engaged in the Statewide Peer Review process used
by the New York State Academy for Teaching and Learning , and obtained
warm and cool feedback to use in the improvement of our learning experiences.
For me, the experience of having my lesson peer reviewed was very rewarding,
as it was received highly by the reviewers. During this review, my
incorporation of "hidden curriculums" into the lesson, such as the topic
of giving thanks and the value of the real-life skill of peer editing,
was noticed. The student peer reviews were favored particularly because
of the empowering nature of the role of evaluator that students are given
the opportunity to play. The process, as a whole, provided valuable
feedback on my learning experience, and an opportunity to test the caliber
of my planning capabilities. |
