C. DeeDee Bennamon TASK 4 Task 4 Contextual Information A.

The classroom in which I work with my cooperating teacher is located in F-132 at Greenwood High where I teach and provide instructional content that covers 9th grade World History. I teach five 9th grade World History classes everyday of 158 students in all. We cover subject areas regarding Absolute Monarchy, the Renaissance and Reformation, and the French Revolution. All of these topics provide students with the opportunity to practice taking notes, viewing and hearing extensive lectures from PowerPoints, reading extensive documents and analyzing them, and engaging in class discussions and role play. The first four classes are College Prep, while the last class is an Honors class. In the first four classes, there are at least three or four students that are ESOL learners, who speak, read, and can understand very little English. The first four classes also contain 4 students each that regarded under IEP 504. For ESOL and students with IEP's, Greenwood High School provides these students with a resource period and instructor that offers them supplementary help during tests, quizzes, or projects. B. In each of the Coach Addis' 9th grade World History courses there are no students with physical factors that impact instruction. All four of the college prep classes has students that are ESOL or directed under IEP 504. These students impact instruction because as a teacher, one must keep in mind that during instructional planning these students need to be accommodated with either English to Spanish dictionaries, sent to their resource teachers, have the material read aloud for them, or receive help that grants them a fair chance of being educated. Some of the ESOL students that speak or understand very little English are not as social and do not engage or participate in class activities, so as a teacher it is important to welcome and make everyone feel respected and appreciated. There are also a few students in some of the classes that have either asthma or are allergic to certain things, but as a teacher having those issues documented makes it easier on how to plan instructional lessons. C. Some factors related to school and the surrounding community that may impact the teaching and learning that occurs is the amount of students at Greenwood High School and in most of the classes I teach that come from impoverish families. Many of these students that make up the classroom setting are raised in poor households, often lack guidance, and relationships. In class these students tend to do poorly on assignments, test, and projects, behave poorly in class, rarely attend class, give up easily, and are easy to become frustrated. If not corrected and helped, this behavior can negatively impact the classroom environment and hinder the learning of other students. Step 1: Planning 4.1.1: Goals and Student Background A. In all high school South Carolina World History courses, students are expected to be taught about The Americas and early civilizations that rooted and later influenced later civilizations. The standard covered in this lesson is GS-2.4. that covers content regarding the

origins and characteristics of the Mayan, Aztecan, and Incan civilizations, including their economic foundations, their political organization, their technological achievements, and their cultural legacies of art and architecture that all took root in the Americas. This lesson specifically teaches students the routes of the first inhabitants that migrated to the Americas and the origins and impact of agriculture in the Americas. The learning goals are appropriate for this lesson because it accommodates the diverse learning styles of all the students in the classroom. Students are able to understand the content by taking notes from an extensive PowerPoint that offers visual representations of the content, a section review that reinforces their knowledge of the content and creates communication and discussion, and a section review quiz that enables students to demonstrate their understanding of the content. B. In reference to the Pre-Test students took that covered content from each section of the chapter, for this specific section, not one student mastered the section and was able to answer or communicate the content to show they had any prior knowledge of the material. When I planned this lesson, I made sure to create an extensive PowerPoint that could present effective information and visual depictions so students could take notes and view photos from the content. Also the section review enabled students to work in their cooperative groups and create discussion and gives students the chance to practice communicating the content with their peers and the section quiz at the end enabled students to see how effective the strategies used to teach the material impact student's knowledge. 4.1.2: Instructional Strategies A. For each section of a chapter, I always implement an interactive lecture that intellectually engages and involves students in learning and practicing content area language, critical thinking, and inquiry. When presenting large amounts of content to the class, students are able participate and promotion of student retention of the material by taking part in answering content related questions during the lecture, practicing note-taking skills, taking part in discussion, and demonstrating what they learned from the content by completing a section quiz. B. Using techniques like question and answering throughout the lesson, discussion, note-taking, and taking a section quiz allows all students to participate, reinforces student knowledge, and promotes student retention and learning of the material presented during lecture. Each technique gives students practice in developing critical thinking skills by answering content questions, taking notes which helps students transmit the information down on paper and reinforce their knowledge of the content, the discussion helps students communicate with their peers and I content language, and the section quiz enables students and I to view and assess their mastery of the section and how well the instructional strategies impacted their learning. All the instructional techniques used for the lecture allows students to immediately apply content and provides feedback to me on the student in regards to the particular section. 4.1.3: Lesson Activities A. The lecture is the main activity or focus of the lesson plan in teaching this particular section. This lecture accommodates all students and the diverse learning styles in the classroom because it provides clear and concise information, visual representations of the content, opportunity to

transmit the information into their notes, and demonstrate their knowledge of the content by taking a section quiz. This interactive lecture allows me to present large amounts of content to the class which facilitates question and answering, note-taking, discussion, and a section quiz. These strategies implemented during the lecture engage students and captures and maintains student attention. This activity promotes and facilitates critical thinking skills, inquiry, communicating content language, application, and retention. B. Student learning will be monitored by their participation, efficiency of the answers they give when called on to answer content related questions, participation during class discussion, attentiveness and effort during note-taking, and their grade on the section quiz that assesses their knowledge of the content material from the lesson. C. During the lesson students took notes and completed a section quiz at the end which both helped students process and apply the content information they learned. The notes students took were collected so that I could become aware of how effective they were in taking the notes, how focused their attention was during the lecture, and how effective their notes were in helping students process information more deeply and do well on the section quiz. The notes are collected and impact their participation and classwork grade. At the end of the lecture and the activities implemented during it, students took a section quiz that allowed them to demonstrate their complete understanding of the material and how effective the instructional strategies were in impacting their learning of the material. Step 2: Implementing the Plan - 4.2.1: Instructional Strategies A. During this lesson I used content area language a lot to promote processing, retention, application, and discussion of the content. For example, in the beginning of the lesson we discussed the land bridge, Beringia, which early settlers use to come from Asia to the Americas and the date of the first crossings. Students were lectured on the Beringia and the dates and had it repeated so they could transmit the information in their notes and practice saying the content area language. Also, in another case when discussing the chief prey, the mammoth, students were given questions that lead them to how many settlers hunted for this animal, how it became extinct, and led to agriculture. After discussing this, I asked students questions to formulate an overview of the content we had learned so far from this lesson in efforts to facilitate discussion and communication of the content language material from this section. B. During the lecture students listened to the information and took notes in efforts to process the information and recite content language when they were called on to answer content related questions and formulate an overview during the lesson before moving on to new parts. During the lesson students were able to think about what they wrote, apply it, and be able to discuss the information. For example, during the lecture I gave an example about today's world how many people go after what is popular in efforts to show them how many people adopted the practice of agriculture and farming. At this point in the lesson students were able to communicate back with me and their peers an overview of the section and how it lead up to the point we were at. Students were able to answer questions effectively from taking notes, constantly being asked content related questions, and formulating overviews.

C. Critical thinking promoted student learning because students were able to answer content related questions effectively and think of all their notes together and order it in which it happen by telling it as a story. Critical thinking during the lesson helps students towards the end analyze and synthesize the content information. For example, at the end students recited the content material from the beginning to the end like a story in efforts to formulate an overview. This shows how the questioning, note-taking, and discussion during the lesson impacted student learning because they seemed to master the content. D. Content area reading was integrated in the lesson as students were asked to recite parts of the PowerPoint and content vocabulary words for pronunciation and meaning. For example, in the beginning students repeated the content word and meaning of Beringia and learned how it impacted the Early Americas. In another instance, students recited the Tehuacan Valley and how it became a Mexico City inhabited by early settlers. Students read from their notes and PowerPoint the correct pronunciation and meaning of the word. By doing this, learners were able to transmit the information to their notes, recall it during questioning and discussion, and applying and communicating it at the end when they formulated an overview and took their section quiz. 4.2.2: Interacting with the Students A. I monitored student during the lesson to keep track of their learning, make instructional decisions, and provide feedback to students on their progress. I monitored student learning during the lesson by questioning students during the lecture to check their understanding of the material being taught, I circulated around the classroom during the lecture to ensure they were staying on task and taking notes, I collected the notes at the end, and students took a section quiz at the end to demonstrate their understanding of the material. For example, in the video I asked students questions at the end regarding the Beringia to spark off a discussion in efforts to create an overview of the material. B. As I monitored student learning progress and the outcome of achievement, attitude, attentiveness, effort, and behavior, I was able to provide feedback to individuals or the whole class. For example, in the video I asked questions that lead into what was to be taught next in the section such as when I asked at the end, "What do you think will happen when the mammoth becomes extinct?" This gave students the ability to critically think and give answers that I gave feedback on and lead them to understand that agriculture came about. I also asked random students content related questions and provided feedback on the accuracy of their answer and how it connected to the content. For example, I asked what the Beringia was several times to ensure students were aware that this land bridge sparks settlers to inhabit in the Early Americas, thus leading to agriculture. C. I give feedback, whether verbally or non-verbally as motivation and to give students information they need so they can understand where they are in their learning and what they can do next to advance in the content areas. For example, in the beginning I asked a student what was the Beringia and they answered a land bridge. In efforts to give them effective feedback that would foster their learning, I non-verbally nodded my head as they answered the question to ensure them that the answer they gave was correct, but to foster their learning in connection to

the content, I verbally made it clear to them and the class as a whole that this specific land bridge was used by early settlers to come from Asia to the early Americas, which later led to agriculture. 4.2.3: Classroom Management A. During this lesson I used classroom management strategies that ensured students were attentive and behaving to ensure learning was taking place. Throughout the lesson I always remained caring and assisted students who had questions or had behavior problems. For example, in the video I corrected many students that seemed off task and ensured them to stay attentive and pay attention because the content was important and testable material. I also asked questions frequently individually and to the whole class to check their understanding of the content and make sure everyone was learning. During the lesson, I made sure everyone was taking notes and in the end I collected them as a participation grade to show they were attentive and giving effort to master the content. B. Being caring, providing feedback, correcting disruptive and inattentive behavior, asking content related questions frequently, and ensuring everyone was taking notes during the lesson promoted a positive learning environment. For example, in the video I often asked content related questions to ensure everyone was attentive and understanding the material and I verbally told students to stay attentive in efforts to master this testable material. As a result, everyone felt comfortable and there were no major disruptions that hindered the learning of any student. At the end when students received their section quiz to take, no one had any questions or misunderstanding because the class as a whole stayed attentive, took notes, and was able to answer content questions effectively. Step 3: Student Work - 4.3.1: Student Work A. In efforts to ensure students understanding of the lesson was mastered, after the lecture, the class as a whole formulated an overview, all misunderstandings were corrected, notes were collected to check for effort and attentiveness, and I administered a section quiz. The section quiz covered the learning goal that required students to view a PowerPoint and take notes on the route of the first inhabitants' migration to the Americas and the origins and impact of agriculture in the Americas. The section quiz asked question aligned to the NCSS standards that enabled students to demonstrate their understanding of the culture of various early Americas groups of that era and their practices that later influenced other later civilizations. Both student work samples shows how they mastered the content of section 1 and how the instructional strategies used were effective. B. Both work samples show the understanding of the content of two students in the class that was able to master the content and answer multiple choice, fill in the blank, and write a paragraph that demonstrates their understanding of the content. All the questions cover the content that traces the route of the first early inhabitants' migration to the Americas and how their culture and practices later influenced other civilizations and how agriculture came into existence. Work Sample 1 and 2 both indicate that each student was able to master the content

by the instructional strategies used like the lecture, note-taking, questioning, and class discussion. C. Overall each student mastered the content and answered all of the questions correctly. In reference to Work Sample 1 and Work Sample 2, each student was able to effectively write and communicate the content language by answering a short paragraph question at the end. In doing so correctly, I provided feedback on the essay part of each student by acknowledging the fact that their writing was "Excellent or Great" and they had effectively answered, critically thought, and written the content material. This shows how effective the instructional strategies were and how the students were able to think and distinguish amongst the early American civilizations answer questions about it and write an essay on it as well. Overall, both students received feedback on their quiz that read, "Excellent Work" or "Awesome" and that they both had "Mastered" the content, which was written to praise and motivate the students to continue working hard and giving the same effort for all the other sections. Step 4: Reflecting - 4.4.1: Reflection A. In reference to the lesson and student work samples, both students were examples of how the instructional strategies such as the lecture, note-taking, questioning, and discussion all impacted student learning in efforts to administer the learning objective that focused on the route of the first inhabitants' migration to the Americas and the origins and impact of agriculture in the Americas. In regards to the video, the students were attentive and actively participated in discussion and answering the questions effectively. Student Work Samples 1 and 2 are evidence that students were able to master the content from the lesson. B. The instructional strategies I used in this lesson such as the lecture, note-taking, questioning, and discussion all work to impact student learning and master the content. Students were able to actively interact as they practiced writing the content information into their notes and practiced communicating the content material with their peers and I through question and answering and discussion. In the video, at the end all students took part in discussion as we formulated an overview in a story form of section 1 to clear any questions or misunderstanding and ensure everyone was able to understand, communicate, and write the material. As a result, the student work samples show that each of the students were able to master the content from the instructional strategies used in this lesson, so those strategies were effective for this lesson. One thing I want to implement is maybe a more active participant discussion that has students read content material and maybe peer teach or discuss about it in two big groups, like a fishbowl activity. C. If I was to teach the lesson again I want to add maybe a primary source document or photo from that particular era that aligns with the content and have students examine, read, and discuss with their peers in groups about it. I would make this revision because this gets everyone involved as a whole at the same time and this helps reinforces their knowledge of the content as they are able to read, write, comprehend, communicate, analyze, and apply the content information. I could implement this in the lesson plan maybe after the lecture take some time to examine a document or photo from this particular period and discuss its connection to the content material.