differentiated lesson plan: communication developments in the 19th century
TRANSCRIPT
DIFFERENTIATED LESSON PLAN
Differentiated Lesson Plan: Communication Developments in the 19th Century
Lara Landry
National University
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DIFFERENTIATED LESSON PLAN
Abstract
The following is a differentiated lesson plan for fourth grade California history. It
also integrates standards for language arts and physical education. The lesson follows the
three curricular elements of Teach, Practice, Apply. The Apply section of the lesson asks
the students to create knowledge into something new, an advertisement and an interview
using knowledge from the lesson. There are both heterogeneous and homogeneous
grouping patterns (blue). The Peer pairing strategy, a differentiation strategy for ELLs, is
used throughout the lesson, as is pre-teaching (orange). The quick think focusing strategy
and skimming the lesson are other differentiation strategies listed in Chapter 5 of the text
(green).
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Content Standards:
History
4.4.1. Understand the story and lasting influence of the Pony Express, Overland Mail
Service, Western Union, and the building of the transcontinental railroad, including the
contributions of Chinese workers to its construction.
Physical Education
4.1.6. Throw and catch an object with a partner while both partners are moving.
Language Arts
Reading Standards for Informational Text: Key Ideas and Details
3. Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical
text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
Reading Standards for Informational Text: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts,
graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and
explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it
appears.
Materials:
Text: Reflections: California: A Changing State
White Boards
Dry Erase Markers
Listening Station
Graphic Organizer Templates
Large Construction Paper
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Markers
Colored Pencils
Lined Paper
Pencils
Assess Student Readiness:
(Day 1)
Prior to teaching the lesson on faster ways of communication to the west, teacher
should assess students' prior knowledge and readiness.
Students work in pairs to answer Think-Pair-Share questions on white boards. The
teacher poses a question and the students have 1-2 minutes to think of and write their
responses, then they share their response with their partner for an additional 1-2 minutes.
Students may choose to change or add to their responses. The teacher then either calls on
different pairs to share their responses, or asks the class to show their responses and then
chooses pairs with correct responses to share.
Questions to ask:
1. What were the different routes to California from the West prior to the 1850s?
2. How would people in California get news from the Capitol in Washington D.C. and
other big cities back east? How would separated families communicate with one another
before 1850?
The teacher can then create a graphic organizer in way of a timeline on the front
board with the students about the history of communicating across long distances. They
list the current means of communication between people today and the first ways of faster
communication. This will allow the teacher to see what the students already know about
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the topic of the lesson. If the students do not list the stagecoach, Pony Express, and
telegraph the teacher should leave the timeline on the board to complete during the
teaching part of the lesson.
Teach:
The teacher sets the purpose of the story they will read about a 17-year old Pony
Express Rider called Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express by Kristiana Gregory.
The students and teacher take turns reading the story aloud and all follow along.
After the story students are paired and asked to list some positive and negative aspects of
working as a Pony Express rider with their partner. Students are in peer pairing; ELLs
are paired with students of higher English proficiency, and lower-level students are pair
with students at a higher level (a heterogeneous group). They also list some details to
support their answers from the story. The teacher calls on pairs to share responses.
The teacher reviews with the students how mail was carried by the Pony Express.
She divides the class into two teams and has them compete in a relay race of their own by
passing a backpack filled with books instead of the mochila (the Spanish word for
backpack) which Pony Express riders carried. This gets the students engaged in a
physical activity benefiting kinesthetic learners.
(Day 2)
Prior to instruction on the day 2, the teacher pre-teaches the English language
learners the vocabulary and key concepts in the lesson. She has the ELLs pre-read the
chapter at a listening station and complete a graphic organizer outlining the main ideas.
This allows ELLs to process the printed content materials and create meaning before
having to engage in class discussions. Fluency is facilitated when students read and
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reread content selections. Low-level students can also benefit from pre-teaching and this
can be determined necessary through pre-assessment and teaching on day 1.
Students (all) are instructed to skim the lesson prior to the whole group
instruction with their partner (peer-pair) and find answers to questions about the content
that can be answered by reading quickly through the chapter headings and accompanying
visuals. Students are in a peer pair, a heterogeneous group, so students of higher
proficiency can assist those of lower ability. The student of higher ability benefits from
teaching the other student. They answer their questions on the white boards and show
them to the teacher when finished. The teacher calls on pairs to respond.
Questions to ask:
1. What early mail routes to California are depicted on the map?
2. Put the routes used in time order.
3. Which was the fastest mode of communication?
The teacher uses whole group direct instruction to outline the elements critical to
the lesson. She brings the students' attention to the vocabulary words for the lesson and
has the students write the vocabulary for the lesson in their history spirals, with a
sentence. Students can use the sentence in the text. If they're more advanced, they should
be encouraged to make their own sentence using the word in context.
The students and the teacher read through the lesson. After each section, and after
important information, the teacher uses the quick think focusing strategy to sharpen
students 'attention on the important facts. The teacher stops when something important is
read and asks the students a question. The students work with their partner to answer the
question. They write it on a shared white board and show it to the teacher when finished.
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The teacher can assess the students' comprehension and see what needs to be retaught to
the whole group and who needs one-on-one or small group additional instruction. The
teacher asks different students to share their responses and serves as "a guide on the side"
as she paraphrases students' remarks and extends ideas to new levels of meaning. The
teacher differentiates instruction as she responds to students and builds on their levels of
understanding.
Practice:
(Day 3)
English language learners are paired with more proficient speakers in a peer
pairing strategy. The heterogeneous group works together to identify differences and
similarities between the three different ways of communication discussed in the lesson;
the stagecoach, the Pony Express, and the telegraph in a graphic organizer. Both students
benefit; the more advanced learns more by teaching someone else, and the ELL student
benefits from the communication. Lower level students should be paired with students of
higher proficiency.
The teacher can work one-on-one with a student or in small homogeneous groups
to reteach the lesson and go over main concepts for any students that did not do well in
the Quick Think Focus Strategy. The teacher works with these students to create the
graphic organizers that the other students are completing.
Apply:
The teacher divides the class into small homogeneous groups of 3-4 and has the
students design an advertisement to recruit Pony Express riders. Students at similar
academic levels can work together to create their advertisements. The lower level
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students and ELLs discuss a strategy for persuading people to become riders and draw a
picture and create a headline. The middle level students include persuasive sentences in
their ad and emphasize the rewards of the job, and the more advanced write a persuasive
paragraph, describing the requirements of the job as well as the rewards.
Students then break up into small heterogeneous groups of 2-3 where students
write questions they would want to ask either a driver for the Overland Mail Company, a
Pony Express rider or a telegraph operator. They ask each other the questions and
respond orally.
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References
Reflections: California: A changing state (2007). Orlando: Harcourt School Publishers.
A Look at... Fourth Grade in California Public Schools and the Common Core State
Standards (2011). California Department of Education. Retrieved from
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/documents/glc4thgradecurriculum.pdf
Ventriglia, Linda D. Ph. D. (2010). Best practices differentiated instruction: the rule of
foot. 8th Edition. Mexico: Younglight Educate.
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