Instructional Unit 5: A Systematic Review and Revision

Instructional Unit 5: A Systematic Review and Revision

Goal Statement

At the completion of the coursework, students will be able to describe, identify, and illustrate the reasons the United States sought Independence. In addition, they will be able to describe various Social Studies topics in complex arguments comparing them to difficulties the U.S. faces now. There are a total of 10 tasks and 3 First-Level Task Analysis steps.

Introduction

This instructional unit provides the tasks necessary for 8th grade students to score an additional 20 points on the Social Studies 8th Grade STAAR Test compared to the score they received the previous year. These 8^th graders had failed the 7^th grade Social Studies STAAR Test. This performance objective should help these students raise their score an additional 20 points. Mr. Brown is the teacher hired to help these students pass the objective.

I. Subject Matter Expert Review

1. Introduction

Reanna Aguilar is the subject matter expert who reviewed this lesson. She has 10 years working in education. Her Master’s Degree is in Curriculum and Instruction. She has many years teaching adult learners and creating curriculum. She went through the materials and lesson for about 45 minutes and gave me some recommendations. She was initially impressed with the materials despite the many revisions she recommended.

2. Subject Matter Expert Review Summary

Steps	SME's Comments	My Response
Step 1: Students will read about U.S. Independence in History book.	SME said that my ‘Read the Textbook’ might have been too simple. She recommended that I add a video or podcast to reinforce the content and to appeal to learners with various learning styles.	I added additional content such as novels and videos as supplemental resources.
Step 2: Student will create a Project Based Learning (PBL) project in which students develop solutions to countries currently seeking independence.	SME said I might need to spend time before this activity going over and practicing PBL’s. She added that this might be complicated for students without proper guidance and an instructor experienced with PBL’s.	In the future, the district should choose an instructor who has PBL experience prior to starting this course.
Step 3: Students will present project to class	SME mentioned that my rubric in IU3 might not be detailed enough. She also added that students will need to practice those expectations with students before I get the results I am expecting.	I changed IU4 to reflect a more detailed rubric I found online. I also added a sentence or two explaining that the instructor, Mr. Brown, needs to present to the class a sample project and have the students grade him.

3. Synopsis

The SME, Reanna Aguilar, did a great job of explaining how I should make this Instructional Unit more effective. I added some short-term changes, such as adding links to continue the learning process. In the long-term, there are some changes such as the instructor being hired should have some experience with PBL’s.

II. One-to-One Evaluation

1. Introduction The learner is a 11^th grader who has successfully passed 8^th grade Social Studies. While she is not the ideal candidate to test out this material, I am grateful for her help. She went through the content and gave me her opinion as she went along.

2. One-to-one Evaluation Summary

Steps	My Observations	My Response
Step 1: Students will read about U.S. Independence in History book.	She said she read and understood the example chapter I found online, but that it was kind of boring.	Students need to be exposed to rigorous and challenging texts, so I’m keeping this content.
Step 2: Student will create a Project Based Learning (PBL) project in which students develop solutions to countries currently seeking independence.	She said she was a bit confused on all the different parts.	Following the SME’s advice I should have PBL’s be introduced multiple times.
Step 3: Students will present project to class	She claims students hate presenting in middle school.	If students understand the rubric and expectations, there should be less nervousness and uneasiness.

3. Synopsis

The student gave me an accurate reflection of what I should expect in a real world situation. I am aware that PBL’s are a long-term educational effort and that they can’t be mastered on the first try.

III. Small Group Evaluation.

1. Introduction

I was able to use some of my sister’s friends: two 17 year-olds who are home during the summer. Both students are female and have taken history and understand the American Revolution very well. They are both juniors in high school and are not the ideal test candidates for this evaluation.

2. Small Group Evaluation Summary

Steps	My Observations	My Response
Step 1: Students will read about U.S. Independence in History book.	The students wanted to know if I can ‘just show the movie Independence Day.’	The movie, Independence Day, has no real historical significance.
Step 2: Student will create a Project Based Learning (PBL) project in which students develop solutions to countries currently seeking independence.	They said it appeared to be a lot of work.	I mentioned that ideally, it should be a few weeks long assignment.
Step 3: Students will present project to class	The students went on a limb and picked places that I hadn’t considered such as Ukraine.	When students select their country, the teacher needs to approve first.

3. Synopsis

The small group presentation gave me some ideas on what to look out for before this project goes live. I didn’t think that students would try to think outside the box when it came to countries. The instructor needs to monitor country selection carefully.

This project might need to be anywhere from 1-6 weeks long depending on the students.

Revised Lesson Plan

To give the instructor and students additional resources, I included this list of supplements:

Independence Day Book List

Arndt, Ursula. 2001. Fireworks, Picnics, and Flags: The Story of the Fourth of July Symbols. Clarion Books.

Bates, Katharine Lee. 2004. America the Beautiful. Little, Brown Young Readers.

Dalgliesh, Alice. 1995. The Fourth of July Story. Aladdin Library.

Fradin, Dennis Brindell, and Michael McCurdy. 2002. The Signers: The Fifty-Six Stories behind the

Declaration of Independence. Walker and Company.

Freedman, Russell. 2002. Give Me Liberty: The Story of the Declaration of Independence. Holiday House.

Fink, Sam. 2002. Declaration of Independence. Scholastic Reference.

Kimmelman, Leslie. 2003. Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney! Albert Whitman & Company.

Landau, Elaine. 2001. Independence Day: Birthday of the United States (Finding Out about Holidays). Enslow Publishers.

Osborne, Mary Pope. 2008. Happy Birthday, America. Square Fish.

Scillian, Devin. 2001. A is for America. Sleeping Bear Press.

Stein, R. Conrad. 1995. The Declaration of Independence (Cornerstones of Freedom). Children's Book Press.

Wong, Janet S. 2002. Apple Pie Fourth of July. Harcourt Children's Books.

I also included a great rubric to help students understand expectations. I changed the wording from IU3’s “using the rubric” to IU4’s “the instructor will demonstrate the rubric”. The rubric can be found here: http://bie.org/object/document/6_8_presentation_rubric_ccss_aligned

I added additional content to the First Draft Materials list:

http://daniel--eportfolio.blogspot.com/p/instructionalunit4theinstructionalstrat.html

Summary

This detailed instructional unit should give these 8th grade Social Studies students enough practice and knowledge to increase their test scores the next time they take the STAAR Exam. The work should be challenging and engaging. Mr. Brown's course might be fraught with obstacles (low motivation among students, for example), but he should have little trouble getting these students where they need to be if he follows the lesson accordingly.