Week 5, Assignment
# 1
KEYSTONE
ASSIGNMENT: CASE STUDY
PROFILE OF THE
STUDENT, STRENGHS / WEAKNESSES
The name of
the student for this case study is John. John is 7 years old. He is in First
Grade and his native language is English. John was diagnosed with Learning
Disability a little more than a year ago. John shows difficulties in obtaining information
and processing it. He has a hard time following the work presented in his grade
level and was falling behind in comparison with his classmates. He is not able
to recognize the letters easily and as a result, his reading abilities are
below grade level. He also shows difficulties recognizing shapes, colors,
numbers and more. As a person, John is a very intelligent individual, very well
behaved, very polite and kind. He is a shy student, with self-centered behavior
in most cases. He will never ask for help when he needs and he definitely needs
special attention, constant motivation and encouragement, especially since his
condition has made him fall behind academically and struggle socially.
In addition,
John also has attention issues. He has a hard time focusing and concentrating
in what is taking place in class. He needs constant reminders to stay in task
and focused.
His learning
and attention issues are brain-based difficulties in reading, writing, math,
organization, focus, listening, comprehension and social skills. John is an
intelligent boy, and his learning and attention issues are definitely not
results of low intelligence, poor vision or poor hearing as his peers and
others easily assume. His learning and attention issues rend to run in his families’
history, as his parents say. Those genes can affect John’s brain structure and
chemistry passed down from parents to children.
LEARNING NEEDS
OF THE STUDENT
John is a very
sweet boy that definitely needs support in all academic areas and social skills
as well. John has a hard time processing the information provided to him. He
seems to get stressed when a large amount of information is presented to him,
and that draws him back from his task (any task assigned) and deprives him from
proceeding. The written information is what makes him more nervous most of the
time. He seems to accept better anything that has a picture next or any audio
component. John is below the reading level for his age/grade because he lacks
basic reading mechanics. John had a hard time recognizing and distinguishing
some letters while reading. He was guessing most of the time in an effort to
proceed. He also faces difficulties in remembering information that was
presented in reading text that he read. John has a hard time distinguishing measuring
unit during math class and his efforts in pretending he knows things that he
doesn’t, in an effort to keep up with the classwork and his peers, causes him
additional stress and enforces his self-centered behavior quite often. He also
faced difficulties in basic math when asked to solve basic computation problems
as well.
It seems that
John has more than one learning or attention issue.
CLASSROOM
ENVIRONMENT
John is a
student in a class of 26 in his day school. His class has a lead teacher (general
education teacher) and a teacher assistant sometimes. The class has a
smartboard and all the required centers for this level. The classroom has 10
desktops as well where students can use for their individual tasks when needed.
The desks are placed in the center of the classroom in a group of 5 or 6. The
students are encouraged to communicate often, especially when they work in
groups. The students also are encouraged to provide constructive criticism and
feedback on the work of other friends or other groups. John goes to an
afterschool activity center every day.
INSTRUCTIONAL
TASK
In the
attached designed lessons, you’ll find John will be involved in a number of
activities such as writing, reading, listening, thinking, measuring, comparing
and communicating in the form of discussion, guided research, and also using
online technology to enhance the above-mentioned.
TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION
AND ACCOMODATIONS
John will be
able to use the internet (classroom desktops) to research himself (in a guided denominator)
for whatever is needed during the lessons below.
He will also
be able to enjoy audio readers and practice his readings with a plethora of
games at teachyourmonstertoread.com. The games take children on a magical
journey, meeting colorful characters along the way and collecting fantastic
rewards. When children are engaged, they’re motivated to learn. As they
progress, they rehearse a range of essential reading skills; matching letters
to sounds, blending, segmenting, tricky words and reading full sentences. He will
be using this platform in an effort to improve his reading skills and keep up
with the classwork with some extra help from the teacher assistant or the
teacher whenever needed.
UDL Lesson #1 Overview
Title:
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Fill them up!
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Author:
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Kelly Demetra Varsami
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Subject:
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Measure / Comparison
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Grade Level(s):
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1st
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Duration:
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One Period
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Subject Area:
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Science / Math
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Unit Description:
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This
lesson teaches students to compare how much different containers can hold.
Get ready for some overflowing fun!
Students will learn by experimenting with: measure,
more, less
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Lesson Description for Day:
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Students
will compare which container holds more.
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State Standards:
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1.Asking questions and defining problems
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions 7. Engaging in
argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
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Goals
Unit Goals:
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Students will be able to acquire basic knowledge about measure using
science and math topics and compare containers based on how much they hold.
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Lesson Goals:
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Students will learn how to measure and compare
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Methods
Anticipatory
Set:
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Introduction
Take out two cups of different sizes. Show students the
snap cubes. Tell them that you are going to fill each cup with snap cubes.
Ask which cup they think will hold more. Have students turn and talk to a
partner to share which cup they think will hold more.
Have students point to the container they think will hold
more.
Have students use the sentence frame: "I think the
__ __ __ __ holds more."
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling
Fill the cups with snap cubes, counting the cubes as you
put them in. Record how many cubes each cup holds on the board. Ask, “Now
what if we fill the cups with pennies. Which do you think will hold more?”
Take a few answers from the class. Fill the cups with pennies, again counting
as you put them in. Write the numbers of pennies on the board and ask
students, “Did the same cup hold the most pennies and the most cubes? Why do
you think that is/isn’t true?”
Use gestures to indicate more vs. less and invite
students to repeat words after you.
Ask students to turn and talk to tell a partner which
container they think will hold more pennies.
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Introduce
and Model New Knowledge:
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Enrichment:
Challenge students to order the objects they measured from
the object that holds the least to the object that holds the most.
Support:
Have students measure the capacity of two objects and
determine which one holds more and which one holds less.
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Provide
Guided Practice:
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Allow students to count in their home
language.
Put all the objects that can be filled
(boxes, bags, and cups) in the front of the room. Have students work with a
partner to choose one object to measure. Hand out snap cubes and paper to
each pair. Have students guess how many snap cubes their object can hold and
write their guesses on the paper. Then instruct students to add snap cubes to
fill their objects, counting as they go. When they are done filling the
object, they should write the actual number of snap cubes they used on their
papers.
Provide visual instructions for students
to follow in their groups.
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Provide Independent
Practice:
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Now have students choose three more
objects to measure, following the same process that they did with their first
object. Have students draw or write what object they are measuring next to
their estimates and actual measurements of how many snap cubes the objects
hold. When students are done measuring, they should circle the object that
holds the most snap cubes and draw a rectangle around the object that holds
the least snap cubes.
Work with students in a small group to
measure the additional objects. Support students to use the new vocabulary
("more," "less," "same") when describing how
much a container can hold. Intermediate Pair students together with a
partner.
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Assessment
Formative/Ongoing Assessment:
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Assess students’ understanding by looking at the papers
where they record their work.
Assess students understanding by taking note of how they
interact with the materials and their classmates when comparing which
container holds more.
Ask guiding questions as students work in pairs:
"Which do you think will hold more?" "How do you know?"
"Can you show me?"
Have pairs raise their hands to share which object that
they measured held the most and which object held the least.
Have students point to the object that held the most and
least. Have students turn and talk to a new partner to share their findings.
The responses of all the students will be checked to make sure they
did comprehend the key points.
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Summative/End Of Lesson Assessment:
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Hand out worksheets related to the above project in order to ensure
that the topic covered was fully understood by all students. You can also ask them to find fun facts
about measuring.
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Materials
Cups of different sizes
Boxes of different sizes
Bags of different sizes (sandwich bags, gallon bags, etc.)
Snap cubes
Pennies
Paper
Pencils
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UDL Lesson #2 Overview
Title:
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Where did the snow go?
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Author:
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Kelly Demetra Varsami
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Subject:
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Measure / Density
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Grade Level(s):
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1st
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Duration:
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One Period
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|
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Science / Math
|
|
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Students will learn by experimenting with: measure,
density, more, less
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Lesson Description for Day:
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Students will change the density of powdered
sugar by adding a liquid. They will use the changed sugar to decorate a snowflake cookie.
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State Standards:
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1.Asking questions and defining problems
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions 7. Engaging in
argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
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Unit Goals:
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Students will be able to acquire basic knowledge about measure and
density using science and math topics
|
|
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Students will learn the relationships between
density, measure and space
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Methods
Anticipatory
Set:
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Ask: How do you think snow
melts? What happens when it melts?
Explain that when snow melts,
the density (how much space it fills) changes. The students will see how this
is done by dissolving powdered sugar.
Direct a student to fill a
measuring cup with powdered sugar, making sure that the sugar is not packed
into the cup. Level the top with the handle of the spoon.
Direct a student to pour 1
teaspoon of milk into the center of the cup of sugar.
Ask: What is happening to the
powdered sugar?
Direct another student to add
a second spoon of milk. A third, etc. Observe what happens to the sugar. Use
no more than a total of 6 teaspoons.
Ask: Why does it look like
there is less sugar in the cup? Where did it go?
Repeat steps 2 and 3.
Stir the contents of the cup
into a bowl, adding 2 teaspoons of vanilla to flavor. *ask: Is the cup full
of sugar? Let’s see if we can change that.
Use the steps in lesson 2 to create
snowflakes that are 1.75″ in diameter from the parchment paper.
Cover the cookies with the
powdered sugar icing.
Place the parchment snowflake
on top of the cookie and sprinkle generously with colored sugar, tapping off
the extra before removing the snowflake pattern. A clean pin helps remove the
parchment snowflakes from the icing.
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Introduce
and Model New Knowledge:
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Take the time to let the students know that there is a close
relationship about measure, density and space. You can start reading to them Sometimes Snow Falls in the Summer, by Deb Troehler.
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Provide
Guided Practice:
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You can have the students read aloud
in groups or independently and highlight what draws their attention more,
write down important or unknown vocabulary words
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Provide Independent
Practice:
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Have each student do an independent (or in a group of 2 or 3) research
on the internet regarding the topic of the lesson. Where does the snow go?
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Assessment
Formative/Ongoing Assessment:
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Explain what they should keep from the above activity: When liquid is
added to powdered sugar, the sugar dissolves into the liquid, increasing the
density of the sugar. The amount of air between the particles of sugar is
reduced, causing the sugar to take up less room in the cup. This is similar
to how the density of snow is changed when it melts. The air between the
snowflakes is reduced as the snow becomes a liquid.
The responses of all the students will be checked to make sure they
did comprehend the key points.
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Summative/End Of Lesson Assessment:
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Hand out worksheets related to the above project in order to ensure
that the topic covered was fully understood by all students. You can also ask them to find fun facts
about snow.
Here is an example:
Snowy fact: If a snowstorm produces a light fluffy snow, then it is possible
for 10 inches of snow to melt into merely 1 inch of water.
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Materials
2 pounds powdered sugar &
colored granulated sugar
Milk (2 TBSP per
demonstration)
Prebaked sugar cookies
Vanilla and butter (optional)
Set of measuring cups and
spoons
Spoon and spreading knife
Parchment paper
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UDL Lesson #3 Overview
Title:
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Can you make your own rainbow?
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Author:
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Kelly Demetra Varsami
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Subject:
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Elements of rainbow
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Grade Level(s):
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1st
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Duration:
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One Period
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Subject Area:
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Science / Math
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Unit Description:
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Students will learn the relationship between simple elements and
natural phenomena
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Lesson Description for Day:
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Students will be able to create a rainbow by simply using sunlight and
water
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State Standards:
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1.Asking questions and defining problems
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions 7. Engaging in
argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
|
Goals
Unit Goals:
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Students will be able to acquire basic knowledge about natural
phenomena and how they are formed
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Lesson Goals:
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Students will learn the relationships water and sunlight and how that
gives us a rainbow
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Methods
Anticipatory Set:
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Show the
students images of naturally occurring rainbows (single and double rainbows).
Ask: What colors do you see
in the rainbows? How do you think these rainbows are created? Look closely at
the double rainbows. How are they different?
Show students the picture of
a right triangle.
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Introduce and Model New Knowledge:
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Demonstrate:
Position
yourself with the sun directly behind you so that you and your shadow form
the legs of a right triangle, as shown.
Position the hose approximately halfway between your shadow
and you. The actual angle is
42 degrees for the primary rainbow and 50 degrees for the secondary rainbow.
However, halfway will be easier for the students to understand.
Have
a student turn the water on FULL blast. Arc the hose spray to create the
rainbow. The rainbow should be formed close to the halfway point between the
legs of the triangle.
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Provide Guided Practice:
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Ask: What colors do you see
in the rainbow? What color is at the top? At the bottom?
Have the students take turns
creating their own rainbow. It may be possible to create a double rainbow in
this manner, but the secondary rainbow will be faint.
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Provide Independent Practice:
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Have each student do an independent (or in a group of 2 or 3) research
on the internet regarding the topic of the lesson.
What can they find out about the formation of the rainbow?
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Assessment
Formative/Ongoing
Assessment:
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Explain what they should keep from the above
activity: To create a rainbow you need a source of light and something that
will refract and reflect the light. The light from the sun is refracted
(bent) and reflected (bounced) inside the droplets of water from the hose. As
each color of the rainbow has a different-sized wavelength, the way they are
refracted and reflected causes the sunlight to split into the different
stripes of the rainbow.
The responses of all the students will be checked
to make sure they did comprehend the key points.
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Summative/End Of Lesson
Assessment:
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Create a rainbow in the classroom: In the
story, Sometimes Snow Falls in the Summer, a rainbow is created in Ella’s
room by a prism. There are many ways to create a rainbow–using CDs, water,
water and oil, and many more. Try your own hand at creating rainbows in the
classroom.
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Materials
Garden hose with an
adjustable nozzle attached
Photographs of naturally
occurring rainbows
Picture of a right triangle
or angle
Open space outside
Sunshine (the sun should NOT
be directly above you)
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