Learning Map - Social Studies

ITL 520: Academic Language and Literacy

Selena Hernandez

Profesor Calver
GRADE LEVEL: 8th Grade U.S History

COMMON CORE STANDARD(S):​CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.8

Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.

Types of Standard English Learner Emerging English Proficient English

Learner: Learner Speaker

Planning A Standard English Learner A student who is an A Proficient English

is a student whose standard “Emerging English Speaker is a student
English language is not Learner” is learning who has mastered the
native and whose home English as a new skill of the english
language differs in structure language. While an language and
and form from the academic English Language comprehends how
English. For example: Learner at the emerging and when to use it.
students who speak ​African phase learns useful For the most part,
American Vernacular phrases to ask for help or these students will
English or Chicano English. refer to their needs, they comprehend and will
These students will have the will need a lot of support understand the
comprehension of basic in comprehending the assignments and
vocabulary to communicate social studies content. objectives in the
and understand whole ideas, By providing visuals, a class. I will make
however will need more translator, and videos in sure these students
support when learning the their native language, I are constantly
academic texts or will support them in challenged and feel
understanding the assigned better understanding the they are important to
readings in the classroom. In material. In addition, the class as they can
order to support these modifying their expected contribute to
students, I plan on integrating work will benefit them supporting their peers
class and small group in not feeling when grouped in
discussions where students overwhelmed with the pairs. By knowing
will have the opportunity to language barrier. For that my class will
share their ideas and example: If I am have proficient
elaborate on their thinking requiring my students to english speakers, I
through the use of language. write an essay, I will ask can dig deeper and
an emerging student to really focus on
write a paragraph and teaching critical
will also provide thinking skills.
sentence starters for
them to use and maybe
even a word bank
-depending on their
learning level.
Target Students will be given three forms of text throughout the Meso-American
civilization unit and be expected to read and comprehend the main idea. The
target of this common core standard is for students to be able to tell apart
different forms of text from each other. The goal is for students to distinguish
when reading fact, opinion, and reasoned judgement in a text. In order to
reach this target, I must focus on teaching my students how to evaluate an
author’s reasoning and evidence. The way to do this is by providing a variety
of assigned texts where there are different viewpoints about the
Meso-American civilization and analyze what they read. The goal is not so
much to focus on the civilizations' way of life, instead teach students how to
analyze an author’s point of view and to distinguish the difference between
reading a fact vs a biased point of view.

Assessment Before class ends, I will be giving out “exit slips” asking specific questions
in regards to what we learned that day. This would be an informal
assessment where I will be able to evaluate my student’s understanding of
the content, as well as evaluate my own teaching methods and strategies. The
exit slips will be short and sweet and worth a small percentage since I don’t
want them to think they need to memorize everything we will discuss. In
addition, I will have my students play games like Kahoot, Quizlet, and
Quizziz. By having my students play in a more competitive and fun setting,
they will be most likely to engage and comprehend the material. This will
also allow me to get a better look at where I am succeeding in teaching and
what points I need to reevaluate and work on.

Formative assessments will be worth a lot more points and will ask students
to demonstrate what they know about the unit covered. As a future social
studies teacher, I don’t plan on giving out multiple choice tests. Instead, I
will focus on creating either group or independent projects where students
will be required to do more hands-on as well as write essays. Through
written essays, students will be able to practice how to develop an argument
and use evidence to support their claim. Writing is a skill they will need to
master in order to lay out their thinking, ideas, and practice their grammar
structure for their future education.

Instruction To integrate this common core standard to my content lesson, I will begin by
tapping into my student’s prior knowledge. In their early elementary years
they already learned the difference between fact and opinion. To remind
them of this, I will provide a few sentences and ask them to compare the
structures of it. One sentence may be: ​George Washington was the first
President of the United States. ​While the other sentence can be: ​George
Washington was the greatest president of all time!​ Students will then
immediately recognize that the first sentence is a fact, while the second is an
opinion. I will then ask: “who can tell me the difference between fact and
opinion?” I will assume many hands will go up and I will jot on the board
what they tell me. Eventually, we will come up with a small summary of
what each means and what we need to look out for when reading and
analyzing our primary and secondary sources; as well as the assigned
articles. In short, we can say that a fact is when something is objective and
can be proven true. While on the other hand, an opinion regards how
someone feels about something, it is subjective and can change depending on
the person’s judgement. By beginning the class like this, I will be getting my
students ready to think more critically about what they’re reading. As a
historian, we are aware that we cannot take anything at face value. Building
critical thinking skills by asking questions and evaluating what they’re
reading is a good way to begin the process of teaching them to be critical and
objective in everything they may encounter.

After discussing what to look out for, I will create groups and assign a
different text to each group (some groups may have the same readings as
other groups). I will give them 20 minutes or so to read silently on their own.
I will have a list of questions they will need to answer as they’re reading.
For example:
-What year was this text written in?
-Who wrote it ?
-What was the main idea of the reading?
-What do you think was the purpose in writing this text?
-How might this influence the way it is written?
-What evidence does the author provide to support their argument?
-Do you agree with the author or have questions about their conclusion?
-Is this text written based on facts, opinion, or is it a reasoned judgement and
why?

Once they have read silently on their own, they will be able to get into their
groups and discuss their findings. For the ones who didn’t answer all the
listed questions, they will be able to get support from their peers and fill out
the questions they are still missing. The goal is for them to discuss what they
read, answer the questions, and determine if their assigned text was either
based on fact or opinion. Once the group has come to a conclusion, they will
be given time to present their reading, their conclusion, and evidence for why
their text is either a fact or an opinion. Once all groups have presented, they
will independently write a reflection about what they learned during the class
activity. It can be in regards to the content, the Meso-American civilizations,
or in regards to how to be objective when reading something. Depending on
the number of students, classroom management, and bell schedule, this
activity will probably take me two block periods to accomplish. Their final
grade for this assignment will be a combination of their completed
worksheet, their participation in the group presentation, and lastly, their
reflection about their learning. Additionally, since this activity will require a
lot of reading, writing, and discussion; I will work with English Learners or
 students who have a low reading level. I will modify their assigned readings
to allow them to be part of this activity and will give them additional time to
do their presentations, if needed. I will also multitask working with the group
who needs the most support and walking around to monitor class
discussions.

Management In my class, the classroom behavior and expectations will be clear and
addressed on the first day of school. I will create a classroom behavior
agreement with my students as I plan to ask them for their input and
opinions. By having this social agreement, students will most likely follow
through since they knew they were part of creating the “classroom rules.” In
addition to asking for their input, there will also be clear consequences for
those who do not follow through or constantly disrespect others' learnings or
my teaching. First, a warning, then a phone call home, lastly a referral to the
principal’s office (depending on the severity of the student’s actions),
However, I am a big fan of positive reinforcement, so I will also be giving
out raffle tickets throughout the week when students have outstanding
behavior or do something kind to support the class or their peers. Students
with raffle tickets will be entered for a prize drawing. At the end of the week,
during the last 5 minutes of class, I will use this time to pick 2-3 winners and
give them a choice on picking their reward (candy, pencils, stickers, fun
erasers, etc). By having raffle tickets and rewards, students will be motivated
to behave and follow the class rules.

Universal Design for Learning Guidelines:

Engagement: ​The purpose of Universal Design for Learning is for students to have an equitable

education, regardless of the student’s socioeconomic or cultural background, gender, disability,

language ability, and race. UDL is beneficial as it removes barriers that would limit student’s

education. During my class lessons, I will implement multiple means of engagement as I do not

plan on teaching on the board and have my students in their desks taking notes all period. ​The

learning activities that I plan on teaching to my future World History or U.S History classes will

Historia,​ a paper based simulation game that incorporates a world cultures

come from ​

curriculum aligned to state standards. By using these lessons, I will keep my classes engaged

since it is a game based learning that teaches history through experience. The lessons will require
students to do research, learn how to interact with other students, and make decisions on their

own. The challenging tasks will require students to do research, practice critical thinking, come

up with creative problem solving, and learn how to work as a team. The applications of concepts

or skills to purposefully advance the specific content will be provided by graphic organizers,

maps, and videos.

Representation: ​During my class lessons I will be sure to offer multiple means of

representation, as it will support all of my visual and hearing learners. I will provide educational

videos that will support the content we are learning, as well as audio books for the students who

need it. By working with primary and secondary sources we will also be using art, news articles,

statues, and old artifacts to support our learning and having the opportunity to learn the content

with different forms of representation.

Action and Expression: ​Since my lessons will require students to do their own research, work

on group projects, or even reenact historical scenes, my students will be constantly moving

throughout the classroom. They will be able to express their learning by choosing how they want

ro present the information. For our final semester projects I will provide students with different

choices and allow them to pick the one they feel they will best connect with. The options will

vary from: creating a portfolio, an oral presentation, a powerpoint, or writing an essay.

Whichever they choose, students will be required to follow a similar format in covering specific

details in their projects. By providing multiple means of expressions, students will feel they have

a sense of autonomy and in a way, will feel obligated to complete the work since they chose it in

the first place.

 Conclusion:

During my last week of ITL 520, I learned the importance of lesson planning and how the

“Learning Map” supports us in breaking down the standards we are required to teach and really

have an idea of how we will carry the lesson out. Since the learning map covers six elements and

four stages of teaching, it really goes into depth and simplifies the required steps to design our

lesson. From working on this assignment, the two most important parts of lesson planning that

caught my attention were: 1) Getting to know who my learners are and 2) Reflecting on my

teaching strategies through the use of assessments and other gathered evidence. To begin with, as

an aide who works in the classroom to support the teacher and students, the first thing I do is get

to know who my students are. By understanding how they learn, what their interests are,

language background and their cultural background; I can better understand and design a lesson

plan that will keep them engaged, as well as cover their learning needs. By reflecting on my

teaching effectiveness and evaluating the progress of my students’ learning through assessments;

I can gain new information, change my practice, or modify a lesson. Being an educator means to

be consistently learning something new and I have realized that it is okay to make mistakes and

learn from them. If a lesson plan does not go the way I would have hoped for, I would need to

find another strategy or find a different way to get my lesson across. If it did succeed, use that as

an example to follow when planning my future lessons. In conclusion, my goal as an educator

will be to ensure my learners with meaningful academic achievement, social-emotional thriving,

and create an equitable and inclusive classroom for all.