Learning to Plan:Planning Effective Literacy

Lessons in English Language Arts

Tell me and I’ll forget,Show me and I’ll remember,

Involve me and I’ll understandChinese Proverb

Introduction:• Effective teachers know that planning meaningful and active learning

experiences is a key to student success. Recent research on brain theory, multiple intelligence theory and social constructivist theory has provided teachers with new ways to look at lesson planning.

• At a conference on brain research, Eric Jensen stated that “we should change the expression ‘lesson planning’ to ‘plan for learning’ as lesson planning suggests a single event based on content and directed by the teacher. ‘Plan for learning’ shifts the focus away from content to the process of learning, implying considerations needed so that the child will achieve success.” (Eric Jensen, Teaching and Learning with the Brain in Mind, 2002)

• All areas of the English language arts curriculum are naturally integrated; students read, write, listen, speak, view and represent often within the same lesson. The social constructivist view of learning (Vygotsky, 1978) suggests that all teachers need to balance not only what they teach but also how they teach and interact with learners.

• Language arts lessons should occur in a supportive, nurturing environment where students engage in authentic, meaning making activities. Plans for learning should, therefore, support student learning that is active, interdisciplinary, and builds towards independence.

I. Considerations in Planning for Learning:

A. Begin with Assessment:• Assessment is a powerful link that is woven throughout the process

of instruction.• Curriculum should be rooted in children’s needs and

experiences. Whether we’re teaching science, mathematics, English or social studies, the class has to be about our students’ lives as well as about a particular subject. (Bigelow, Christensen, Karp, Miner and Peterson, 1994)

• It is important for teachers to begin their planning by designing their teaching around the students who are in their classrooms.

• Before planning a lesson, teachers should assess their students to determine their developmental levels in literacy. By discovering what students already know and can do, teachers can better choose appropriate instructional strategies and activities.

Getting to know the learner:• What are the characteristics of the

learners?• How will I meet the diverse needs of my

students?• What is the student’s developmental level?• What is the student’s learning styles?• What is the student’s prior knowledge?

Some effective tools for assessment include:

• Daily observation• Checklists• Surveys• Questionnaires• Pre-reading strategies• Student self-evaluations/assessments• Reading and writing exemplars

B. Organizing Classroom Groupings

• Flexibility in grouping students allows for students to interact and learn from students of varying strengths. Flexible learning groups may be formed on the basis of interest, learning styles, social or instructional needs. The type, size, and composition of groups are determined by the needs of class members and by the purpose of forming the group. Individual, pairs, small groups, and whole class group arrangements are all necessary at different times for optimum learning (The Department of Education of Western Australia, 1994).

• Small groupings allow for each individual to have a voice and to participate actively in learning. Students should be taught to work collaboratively and they need multiple opportunities for guided practice before they can be expected to work independently in groups. Teachers model various roles and facilitation techniques to show students what effective collaborative learning looks like and sounds like.

C. Considering the Time and Timing of the Lesson:

• The amount of time that a lesson takes depends on the type and purpose of the lessons and the organizational structure of the school day. A lesson can take 40 minutes or it may take several days to complete. In middle or junior high schools, class periods may vary in length; some days an ELA class may be forty minutes long while on another it may be 60 minutes in length. In senior high schools, class periods are often semestered which means that students have longer classes and a shorter time frame in which to complete the course. A class period may run for up to 100 minutes in length.

D. Considering the Type of Lesson

• Lessons may feature short explicit teaching by the teacher followed by guided practice and independent application by students. The majority of time should be spent with the student actively engaged in doing/learning.

• Mini-lessons or focus lessons are short lessons (10- 25 minutes) that concentrate on one particular topic, strategy or skill and may take the form of procedural, literacy, or strategy, depending on the objectives/outcomes of the lessons.

• Mini-lessons can be categorized into three types: procedural, literary and strategy (Atwell, 1998).

• Procedural lessons are most common at the beginning of the year and are used to model various roles and tasks in such approaches as the reading and writing workshop and literature circles. These lessons are key to providing effective individualized instruction as teachers plan their lessons according to student interest and need

• Literary lessons address techniques, styles, genres, authors and works of literature

• Strategy lessons include those that focus on what readers do; for example, what do proficient readers do when they read for information?

E. Setting overall and specific expectations

• In selecting the expectations to be addressed in the lesson, teachers need to be mindful that:

• Learning is easier when students understand what goals they are trying to achieve and the purpose of learning the goal

• Students need clearly articulated, concise learning targets to be able to understand what is expected of them

F. Planning for purposeful talk• Talk should underpin all language activities. (The Education

Department of Western Australia, 1994)• Talk is also a big part for setting the stage for the lesson. Thoughtful

teachers recognize the importance of real dialogue that can take place in a classroom when given the proper conditions.

• To begin the dialogue, the teacher might pose a controversial question related to the theme of the lesson and invite students to discuss their thinking in pairs or small groups.

• After a short discussion time, several people share their ideas. The students are invited to find out what the author they are about to read feels about the issue.

• Students need to be taught through modeling how to engage in purposeful talk. By observing they discover what purposeful talk sounds like and then they need to be given multiple opportunities to engage in guided and independent talk.

G. Collecting Resources and Materials

• Teachers should consider what supports are required and available for the lesson including human, technological, print, and non-print resources.

• Resource rich classrooms feature a large variety of resources including fiction, informational texts, picture books, magazines, instructional charts, posters and electronic resources

• It is recommended that teachers record materials and resources that have been particularly useful for future reference. Partnerships with the teacher librarian and colleagues in other schools as well as the public library enable teachers to provide a wide variety of resources that change throughout the year to meet student and curricular needs

• Materials should be age appropriate, accessible, current, inclusive, interesting and relevant to the students

• Resources should reflect the global nature of Canadian society as well as the local community

II. Planning for Learning: Approaches to Designing

Learning Experiences

A. Beginning with the End in Mind: Setting the Goals/ Choosing the Outcomes

• To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction. (Stephen R. Covey. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People)

• The teacher will address the specifics of instructional planning – choices about teaching methods, sequence of the lesson, and resource materials after identifying the desired results and assessments (Wiggins and McTighe, 1998)

• The ‘design back’ or ‘design down’ model for curriculum development, based on the work of Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (1998), focuses on beginning with the end in mind. Teachers design instructional tasks based on what the end assessment will be.

• The ‘design back’ or ‘design down’ model requires teachers to:– Know the desired outcome of the learning– Know what evidence will be acceptable to indicate success– Plan the assessment/instruction/learning experiences necessary to achieve

success– Be aware of appropriate resources

Guiding Questions:• The following guiding questions will help

teachers to plan with the end in mind:– What do I expect my students to learn as a

result of this lesson?– What is the best way for my students to

demonstrate their achievement?– What tasks could I plan and facilitate to allow

students to demonstrate achievement of the expectations?

Choosing the Outcomes• In order to arrive at the “big ideas” or enduring

understandings and take advantage of the integrated nature of English language arts, teachers are encouraged to cluster or “chunk” curriculum outcomes according to the appropriate Curriculum Guides (Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum Guide: Grades 7-9 and Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum Guide: Grades 10-12)

• Careful attention should be paid to the Curriculum Outcomes in each curriculum guide when planning learning experiences:

Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum

Guide: Grades 7-9 –• Curriculum Outcome Framework page 19• General Curriculum Outcomes (GCOs)

pages 20-21• Specific Curriculum Outcomes (SCOs)

pages 26-35• Suggestions for Implementing SCOs

pages 36-95

Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum

Guide: Grades 10-12• Curriculum Outcome Framework pages

13-14• General Curriculum Outcomes (GCOs)

page 16• Specific Curriculum Outcomes (SCOs)

pages 23-33• Suggestions for Implementing SCOs

pages 34-105

B. Lesson Strategies/Approaches:

• 1. Pre-Assessment: before the lesson, teachers need to hook their students into the learning by creating interest in the topic followed by activating student prior knowledge.

• Examples of pre-assessment activities/approaches:– Oral discussion – using a focus question (think/pair/share)– KWL – what we know/what we want to know/what we

learned/how we know it– Mind mapping – listing ideas and organizing

concepts/ideas/things related to the topic– Hands on activities – engage students in investigating a concept

or problem, ask students to engage in an activity– Paper and pencil pre-tests

2. Challenging Misconceptions: • Providing situations/opportunities to read and view, write

and represent, speak and listen to compare how the results fit in with what they think

• Examples of approaches used to challenge misconceptions:– Experimentation – learning centres– Observation – collecting data– Research – web quests work well– Field trips – seeing ideas put to use in real situations– Films –students prepare questions that might be answered by

the film, share results in post-film discussion– Class discussion – journals, think/pair/share

3. Introducing New Concepts: • Providing activities through which students can gain experience• Examples of approaches used to introduce new concepts:

– Discovery – provide an experience, then through discussion, link the experiences and provide terms to help discuss their experiences. An example might be the reading of a particular genre such as the short story. As the students begin to discuss the text, introduce terms such as character, plot, setting theme, students discover the concepts, teacher helps students acquire terms for concepts

– Discrepant ideas – having students assume a role of a character or debate on a side of a topic with which they disagree expands thinking and allows students to view through a new lens

– Brainstorming - generating ideas about a concept, character, event and then testing

– Problems – giving students a problem that requires an array of skills to solve such a debate resolution. This activity requires students to research, write, speak, and listen

– Graphic organizers – encourage students to use visual organizers to help them understand concepts or characters. For example, Venn diagrams can help students see differences and similarities between characters.

– Investigation – students can be presented with an investigation such as a web quest

4. Making Connections: • Providing opportunities for students to make connections

between what they know and the new concept they are learning; this includes real world applications

• Examples of approaches used to make connections:– Observations – personal journals, reading logs, writing folders

where students look for patterns and suggest connections– Guest speakers – students prepare questions before speaker

arrives and follows the visit with discussion that examines connections

– Concept mapping – list ideas/terms/concepts learned and make connections

– Problems – real world problems on the topic are presented

5. Reflection: • Important part of the learning process and one that is

often left out due to time constraints• Examples of approaches used for encouraging

reflection:– journals – can start off as a think/pair/share; can be used to

respond to guiding questions, can make use of drawing and writing

– discussion – present a scenario in which a concept is introduced in a new context where students are asked to respond

– application – apply knowledge and skills to real world situations; as they apply their knowledge and skills, students can explain why they are doing what they are doing

– KWL(H) chart – ask students to complete the last two columns “what we have learned” and “how we know it” individually, in small groups or as a whole class

6. Post Assessment: • Assessment help teachers find out what students have

learned so that the knowledge construction can be continued. Efforts need to be made to address higher-thinking skills. Scoring guides such as rubrics or checklists can be created by teachers and students.

• Examples of approaches used for assessment:– Reports – students organize information and make connections.

Students need to be aware of what is expected and the creation of a scoring guide such as a rubric should be developed

– Presentations – can be part of a report, rubrics again are important

– Skits – taking on roles to address problems related to concepts– Applications – applying new knowledge to a new problem with

students explaining how they arrived at the solutions

III. The Blueprint: Writing the Lesson Plan

• Beginning teachers need to design and write detailed lesson plans. This involves a great deal of thought and careful planning to create plans that will encourage their students to become engaged in their learning in meaningful ways. Just as you will provide scaffolded learning experiences that support your students until they develop skills and confidence, you need the support or scaffold of comprehensive lesson plans. As you gain more knowledge, confidence, and skill in the area of lesson planning, you will find that your planning will become more streamlined. However, it is advised that all teachers, no matter what level of experience, have a clear and meaningful plan for their teaching.