Carrie Lee's Portfolio
InTASC* Standard 4:
Content Knowledge
SUMMARY
OF
CONTENTS
EVIDENCE SUPPORTING STATEMENT
- Story Being Analyzed: "The Lie" by Kurt Vonnegut
- Irony - Lesson Plan
- Slide Deck for Class & Irony Lesson
- Student Samples (of escape room results & slide analysis)
- Lesson Video
- APA References
- Updated: October 24, 2021
- Language: English
“The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content,” (CCSO, 2013)
The content knowledge InTASC standard is about knowing the subject matter, the appropriate methods utilized in that field, and the expectations for this field of knowledge. It further states that the teacher should create a scaffolding allowing the students to build upon prior understandings to increase the understanding in a way that is relevant to their world (CCSO, 2013). This InTASC standard really is about being familiar with the content and the approaches that best meet the students in the range they can reach and will be able to apply their understanding. The range of both knowledge and strategies is key to being able to construct engaging and rich learning experiences for all learners (Knoster, 2013). Enjoying the experiences and the activities being relevant to either their lives or a future they can envision, offers a positive experience that is likely to have a better retention rate.
My final months of student teaching took place in the fall. So these freshmen had a different starting point than those I had taught in the spring before. I had executed a survey in the first week of school, asking questions meant to measure what literary terms they understood or were familiar with, and which were out of recall range, or completely unknown. In essence, measuring the prior knowledge so as to activate and build upon that understanding, the constructivist learning theory as outlined by Vygotsky (Ormrod et al., 2019). Some of the questions with the lowest number of students answering correctly were those having to do with irony (results).
This lesson occurred within a unit where I had broken out the elements of literary analysis and each day we would review a concept and apply it to the story after confirming understanding. This daily task eventually built to a full literary analysis, that the students then would use the group collaboration activity to inform their individual theme analysis paragraphs. This particular lesson was the element dealing with Irony and knowing the results from the earlier assessment I knew that this lesson needed to be engaging and relevant on every level.
In “planning lessons consider typical interests of the ages and genders of students” (Ormrod., et. al, 2019). This was the last day before a long weekend, with a fairly diverse class of interests – but with a nearly universal digital overlap and a competitive streak. Utilizing the structure I had built over the past month and the knowledge I had gained about the students, I crafted a mini-lesson on irony that was 8-10 minutes long, then an escape room to test their understanding that would take about 5-7 minutes. My experience with irony in the previous year’s class, was that student’s thought they understood it until they had to apply it in an academic context. Practice in applying their understanding of irony in a check-for-understanding task gave me opportunity to correct any confusion early on. The short lesson and immediate application is also an example of productive struggle as the students have to think flexibly in the application instead of just seeking the “right answer” (Ormrod., et. al, 2019).
I knew once the students had this practice their small groups would be able to easily identify, and analyze all three types of irony found in the 1962 short story “The Lie,” by Kurt Vonnegut (which they are actively analyzing that point). Providing an opportunity to quote textual evidence and explain reasoning. This is a key skill in the common core standards for 9th and 10th grade ELA students, and one that is frequently used in all areas of adult life (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2010).
This lesson is the best example of the INTASC content standard, because it so completely embodies some of the core elements of it. I demonstrate my understanding of these scholars, and the content, and how to deliver it to them in an accessible way. Their mastery of this task (see work samples right) shows vast growth from their initial literary terms survey results.
This takes place on a day where the administration of the school I am working in is present to observe and can be seen in the front of the room for the first half of the lesson (permission to film has been obtained from all parties).
In this lesson, the opening and closing routines immediately create a chunked effect, allowing the students to avoid feeling talked at, making the content more accessible. This structure allows for a mini-lesson, a check for understanding, and a group collaborative analysis task. This is sandwiched between the daily routine of an opening reading exercise, and a closing writing exercise, and also reminders with a joke serving as an “optimistic closure” (Lemov & Atkins, 2015). The first artifact is the lesson plan with a detailed and thorough walk-through of the points addressed and learning objectives met. The second artifact is the slide deck used during the presentation, providing the experience through the student’s perspective.
I am able to efficiently implement universal design for learning while simultaneously achieving consistency in the routine by using a chunked activity framework, then introducing a new concept with engaging practice in a variety of formats, to assure the understanding has been achieved (Chardin & Novak, 2020). An example of the accessibility and difference of activities can be found in the clues of the check for understanding – some are visual, some are text. Allowing for different types of practice in application of the concept. This also allowed students to feel like they were playing a game while checking their understanding of the three types of irony (you can play along using the link in the slide deck). The worksheets resulting from the escape room exercise are within the 3rd section of artifacts below, demonstrating having achieved a 100% participation and completion rate.
Another demonstration of differentiation is through group work exit slips for the check for understanding and on their analysis slides provided in the work samples in the 3rd artifact. Students have applied what they learned about irony to analyze the types of irony in the short story, using text evidence and explanations as they complete the slide assessment task. This demonstration of mastery of the content concept and method of providing reasoning (which is common in life and ELA academics) is the best example of content growth, especially in contrast to the results of the literary term survey.
The fourth and artifact provides a video of the classroom experience for this lesson, demonstrating the success and buy-in as well as the classroom culture, this video gives the most complete picture of a day in my class as I can provide.
