Ch. 6 Assignment- 5th grade Informational text lesson plan

Subject: 3rd grade Science
Title of Informational Text: Planet Earth, Animals and their prey.

Curriculum Framework: 3. Describe the characteristics, structures, life cycles, and environments of organisms.

e. Recall that organisms can survive only when in environments (deserts,
tundras, forests, grasslands, taigas, wetlands) in which their needs are met and
interpret the interdependency of plants and animals within a food chain, including
producer, consumer, decomposer, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, predator, and
prey. (DOK 2)

Big Idea: Predators and prey are both integral to a life cycle.

Preparation:

1. The teacher will read the informational text to the class while emphasizing important points to the class.
2. Students will work in groups to create a visual representation of a food chain, using a copy of the text as a guide.
3. Students will present their food chains to the class. Each group will likely have used different animals.
4. After students have finished presenting their food chains, the teacher will ask a series of open-ended questions to help develop students' understanding.
a. Look carefully at these different food chains. What are some things that you notice that they all have in common?
b. Is an animal always either a predator or prey?
c. Do all predators eat the same prey? What factors might determine what an animal's prey might be?
d. Which category do humans fall under, predator or prey? Why do you think so?
e. Why are prey important? Why are predators important?
5. Students will be given an opportunity to share and ask questions about the topic or the activity.

Guidance:

1. Students will work in groups to help one another, and will refer to the text if needed.
2. The teacher will walk around providing guidance and assistance to students.

Application:

1. Students apply what they know about the predator and prey relationship to create a food chain.

Assessment:

1. Students will be assessed by the accuracy of their food chains.
2. Students will also be assessed during the class Q & A through informal teacher observation.

Conley's Ch. 5-Understanding and Using Texts

One key point that I took from Chapter 5 is that your students determine what texts will be most appropriate for a lesson. It is their experiences, prior knowledge, and motivation that should dictate what texts a teacher chooses to enhance a lesson. It makes sense to me. I mean, if I have absolutely no prior knowledge on a topic, and then I read about it, I personally will still not have much understanding of that topic because I won't have understood what I read. It's kind of like a vicious circle. Give a student something to read about that they don't understand, and they probably won't understand what they read. My point is, the best way to introduce a brand new concept in which students have no prior knowledge is to let them experience it, either by taking a trip, or more likely a video or photos. Then you can introduce simple texts to students on the concepts and gradually get more complex.

Another key point that I took from Chapter 5 is the importance of using a variety of texts. Most teachers will work with diverse learners who have different levels of experience and prior knowledge. We all know by now that what is best for one student is not necessarily best for another, therefore we need to mix it up. There are so many options these days that this task does not need to be that difficult. We have textbooks, informational texts and documents, and various media outlets in which to utilize to reach all students. With this being the case, using a textbook as the sole source of presenting information is basically inexcusable.

Lastly, choosing quality texts is extremely important. A teacher can use all the different types of texts, but if they are too complex, too vague, or if they don't focus on the main idea the teacher is trying to convey, then they won't be effective in achieving the desired results. No matter what teachers choose to use, they should always keep understandability, usability, and "interestability" in mind. I particularly like the checklist on page 139 that teachers can use as a guide to check for these things. The most important thing is to know your students and keep their interests, abilities, prior knowledge, experiences, and motivation in mind when choosing texts for them to use.

Conley Ch. 4 blog

The first thing about this chapter that jumped out at me is the concept of ongoing assessment. I agree that this is extremely important. Reading this made me think of a time back in high school when I was trying out for the dance team. I went to the whole week of workshop to learn the dance and practice before the actual tryout was to take place. By the day of the tryouts, I had the routine down, but the tryouts had me so nervous that I didn't feel confident about my ability. The combination of nerves and the lack of confidence caused me to bomb the tryout. I had done the routine perfectly probably a hundred times, but for the one where it had to count, I blew it. Lucky for me, I made the team anyway. It turns out that the judges were observing us the entire week to see how quickly we picked up the routine and how well we did overall. So, I thought this was a perfect example of why it is important to assess students often and by various means. Its the only way to know what they really know and what they are really capable of.

Another part of this chapter that struck me as interesting was the examples of assessments. I mean, I have heard of most of these assessments before, but a few of them I had not considered before, and others were presented in the chapter in a way that made me see how I could actually use them one day. For example, surveys! For whatever reason, I always saw surveys as something that should only be used with parents and college age students, but there really is no reason why they can't be used with younger students. I think that is a great way to get an idea of how your students feel about certain subjects, how confident they are in their knowledge, and what they enjoy. I can definitely see using surveys with my students at the beginning of the school year and then again at the very end. Another idea from the book that I liked was the personal portfolio. We have all seen and done academic portfolios, and I think they are valuable assessments, but I think a personal portfolio would be a great way to not only get to know your students, but also to give them a chance to become accustomed to what is involved in creating a portfolio.

This chapter also did a good job at addressing the concerns I have about high stakes testing. I will never feel that it is acceptable to put so much emphasis and accountability on a one-shot test. To me, its that dance tryout all over again. Anyhow, what really stood out to me was this phrase; "Some teachers are fortunate enough to receive results from the tests...". What?! I guess I was naive in assuming that teachers were always able to see how their own students performed on a test that is the end-all, be-all for the whole school year. I just think that it makes the most sense that a teacher be able to see where his or her students performed well and where they really missed the boat. How are teachers supposed to adjust their instruction accordingly if they don't have that information? I mean, isn't that the whole purpose of assessment? I, for one, absolutely want to know how my students performed on a big test like that, first of all to see if I'll still have a job, but mostly so I can help my students improve for the next one.