tpe domain a: making subject matter comprehensible

7/22/2019 TPE Domain A: Making Subject Matter Comprehensible

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TPE A. MAKING SUBJECT MATTER COMPREHENSIBLE TO STUDENTS 1

TPE Domain A. Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to Students Lara Landry

National University


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Abstract

The following paper describes the Teacher Performance Expectations for TPE

Domain A: Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to Students. A description of why

each of the three artifacts were chosen as examples of my competency in TPE Domain A

follows the expectations.


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Due to the fact that multiple subject and single subject credential holders have

different teaching assignments; multiple subject credential holders work in self-contained

classrooms and are responsible for instruction in several subject areas, and single subject

credential holders work in departmentalized settings and have more specialized

assignments, TPE #1 is divided into two categories. There is TPE 1A: Subject-Specific

Pedagogical Skills for Multiple Subject Teaching Assignments, and TPE 1B: Subject-

Specific Pedagogical Skills for Single Subject Teaching Assignments. As I am to be a

multi-subject credential holder, this is the category I will examine (Appendix A: TPEs,

2008).

TPE 1A is divided into four sections; Reading-Language Arts, Math, Science, and

History-Social Science. Multiple Subject Teaching Credential candidates must show the

ability to teach the state adopted academic standards for K-8 students in all four of these

subjects. Multiple Subject teachers know how to strategically plan and schedule

instruction to ensure that students meet or exceed the standards in all subjects. They must

be knowledgeable in, and have command of, all subjects. In meeting the standards for

Reading and Language Arts, a Multiple Subject Teacherunderstands how to deliver a

comprehensive program of systematic instruction in word analysis, fluency, and

systematic vocabulary development; reading comprehension; literary response and

analysis; writing strategies and applications; written and oral English Language

conventions; and listening and speaking strategies and applications. Candidates create a

classroom environment where students learn to read and write, comprehend and

compose, appreciate and analyze, and perform and enjoy the language arts. A Multi-

Subject Teacher understands how to make language comprehensible to students and the


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need for students to master foundational skills as a gateway to using all forms of

language as tools for thinking, learning and communicating (Appendix A: TPEs, 2008).

In math Multiple Subject Teacher candidates enable students to understand basic

mathematical computations, concepts, and symbols, and help students to use these tools

and processes to solve common problems and also apply them to novel problems. They

help students understand different mathematical topics and make connections among

them. Candidates help students solve real-world problems using mathematical reasoning

and concrete, verbal, symbolic, and graphic representations. Most importantly, they foster

positive attitudes toward mathematics, and encourage student curiosity, flexibility, and

persistence in solving mathematical problems (Appendix A: TPEs, 2008).

In Science, Multiple Subject Teacher candidates balance the focus of instruction

between science information, concepts, and investigations. The explanations,

demonstrations, and class activities that are used serve to illustrate science concepts and

principles, scientific investigation, and experimentation, and candidates emphasize the

importance of accuracy, precision, and estimation (Appendix A: TPEs, 2008).

In History, Multiple Subject Teachers are responsible for enabling students to

learn and use basic analytic thinking skills while attaining the state-adopted academic

content standards for students. They would use timelines and maps to give students a

sense of both temporal and spatial scale, and would teach students how history concepts

and themes provide insights into historical periods and cultures. They help students

understand events and periods from multiple perspectives by using simulations, case

studies, cultural artifacts, works of art and literature, cooperative projects and student

research activities (Appendix A: TPEs, 2008).


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I have chosen to include as an artifacts lesson plan I wrote for 4th grade history on

the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a conflict between farmers and railroad companies in 1880.

This lesson allows students to see a historical event from two different perspectives by

having students engage in cooperative projects and simulations, and study artifacts and

works of literature. After working in groups to read and answer questions about the event,

students engage in a mock debate between farmers and railroad agents. And, after

analyzing a political cartoon that depicts the railroad companies as corrupt and greedy,

students create a cartoon from the railroad companies' perspective. They then write a

paragraph explaining their cartoon. Being a multi-disciplinary lesson plan, it meets

Language Arts reading, writing, speaking and listening standards. It is a lesson I am

proud of.

A second artifact I have chosen to show competency in TPE Domain A is a lesson

I created for sixth grade Earth Science on air currents and the uneven heating of the

Earth's surface. This is an interdisciplinary lesson as well. I had first wanted to include

this lesson as an artifact for TPE C: Engaging and Supporting Students in Learning,

because it engages students in a problem solving activity that includes three student

engagement activities, asks three critical and three creative thinking questions, and uses a

song about the subject matter put to a culturally relevant song. However, this lesson

shows competency in TPE A: Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to Students as

well. The explanations, demonstrations, and activities in the lesson illustrate the concepts

and principles of the standards. It also provokes scientific investigation by having

students conduct and experiment to see which surfaces heat up faster. This is another

lesson I am proud to share.


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The third artifact is a literature review on an article about the recently

implemented STEM Initiative, which stands for Science Technology Engineering and

Mathematics. The article is calledIntegrating Engineering Into K-6 Curriculum:

Developing Talent in the STEM Disciplines and addresses the importance of introducing

engineering in elementary through high school classrooms. I included it because it

describes how to make the STEM Subject matter comprehensible and accessible, to

students.


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References

Appendix a: The california teaching performance expectations (TPEs) (2008). Cal

TPA: California Teaching Performance Assessment Candidate Handbook.

Sacramento, CA: California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Retrieved

from http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/tpa-files/candidatehandbook-

appendixa-tpes.pdf

tpe domain a: making subject matter comprehensible

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