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Standards: 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8

Abilities: diagnosis, and conceptualization


Julius Caesar Unit Sketch and Lesson Plan
This scenario provided me with the unique opportunity to implement a portion of a unit
sketch I created in ED 396 (Artifact 1), to a lesson in my fourth field placement (Artifact
2). My CT and I discussed that we would be covering Julius Caesar at the end of my
placement that semester. So when I was assigned the task of creating a unit plan in
another class, I thought it would be beneficial to refresh my memory on the content by
creating a unit plan on the play. The unit sketch is a five-week plan that outlines daily
activities as well as long-term objectives. I chose to combine two artifacts in this section
of my portfolio because I wanted to illustrate how, why, and where I connected the unit
sketch to the lessons I did that semester.

Standard 1 and Conceptualization: Knowing the subject matter is an essential role for
the teacher. Having the ability to make that knowledge meaningful for students is equally
as important. Before I created this unit plan, I had taken a Shakespeare class and felt
comfortable with the content. The next step was to make the content relevant for students.
To do this I went through the play and mapped out essential themes and concepts to be
addressed. Next, I broke them down and created an anticipation guide to assess students
prior knowledge. I considered this to be important because it would help students form
connections to content that can be challenging to relate to.
When it came time for me to begin teaching lessons in my field placement, I was
able to use parts of my unit sketch. For example, my lesson plan focused on rhetoric in

the funeral speeches in the play. I then went back to the themes from my unit sketch and
used them to help form questions to guide student thinking (yellow highlighted areas are
the sections I pulled from my unit sketch for my lesson). Due to the content knowledge I
had, I was able to ask students to not only identify and analyze rhetoric in the speeches;
but I was also able to push them to make broader, more substantial connections to the
play. In addition to this, I was able to touch on the anticipation guide from the beginning
of the unit that focused on key themes in the play (where students were asked to connect
Shakespearean themes to modern day scenarios). This helped solidify content knowledge
for students because they were able to connect themes within the play to the new lesson
on rhetoric and they were also able to refer back to the relevant, personal connections
they made to the themes in the beginning of the unit. The depth of my content knowledge
in this situation allowed for me to bring the lesson full circle and made for an engaging
classroom discussion on the relevance of Shakespeare in modern day society.

Standard 2: Teachers need to be aware of and have the ability to effectively teach to the
vast array of ability levels that exist in each class. Throughout my unit sketch I had many
formative assessments and one summative narrative assessment. The objective was for
students to demonstrate their knowledge of the themes and character traits addressed in
the play, and to write their own narrative piece using one theme and one character that
exhibited similar traits of a character in the play. This strategy pushed students to not only
explain the themes and characters they read about in Julius Caesar, but to also employ
their creative writing skills to create a story using the same concepts. Students would also
be required to write a brief self-assessment to outline connections to the play as well as

their progress from the rough draft to the final piece (standard 8). To help students assess
their own progress, I arranged for one-on-one mini conferences where individual goals
were decided upon by the teacher and student based on the individual ability level of each
student.
When creating my lesson plan for my field placement (Artifact 2) I referred back to the
unit sketch and the teaching tools (anticipation guide, worksheets, ESL support materials,
etc.) I created for it. I then thought about the range of abilities that existed in my field
placement with specific attention to ESL learners; as I knew the Shakespearean language
would prove to be a challenge. To assist students in need of additional support, I printed
out a PowerPoint presentation on rhetoric I did the previous day and included additional
notes. I also had papers with Shakespearean terminology and modern day definitions
available for the class (specific strategies are highlighted in blue within my lesson plan
below).

Standard 4: The use of multiple teaching strategies is necessary to best serve the diverse
learning needs of all students. In my unit sketch, I used a variety of mediums to expose
students to the content paired a mixture of activities to teach the lessons. For example, the
students explored the play through an audio recording, reading from the textbook, select
video clips of live performances, and BBCs made for television version. Which appealed
to auditory and visual learners (standard 3). I also included questions asking students to
compare each portrayal of the play.

My unit sketch outlined the use of multiple instructional strategies throughout the plan

that include: small group/classroom discussions, individual reading/writing,


partner/group work, exit slips, concept mapping, turn-and-talks, and jig-sawing (along
with many other tactics). I also used a variety of instructional strategies in my lesson on
rhetoric. For example, I used Merrienboers deductive-inquisitory method during the
discussion by first presenting the students with the information and then asking them to
provide me with examples/scenarios from the anticipation guide. I also had students
participate in a group poster; a platform to share ideas with the class and an opportunity
to get up and create something (kinesthetic learners, standard 3).

Standard 8: Assessing student progress is necessary to check for comprehension and to


ensure successful completion of curriculum objectives. To assess student progress
throughout this unit sketch I created exit tickets to check student comprehension and to
review what I needed to cover in more detail (standard 9). However, the most valuable
strategy I used to monitor student progress was to set aside time for individual writing
conferences. This is something I observed in a previous field placement and found it
valuable for students because it provided them with specific goals to improve upon. It
was also personally helpful because I learned a great deal about the ability levels of each
student (standard 2). I found that individual attention and specific, detailed instruction
worked well for students. The self-assessment was also a tool to help students clearly
identify the connections to Julius Caesar and their own narrative. The self-assessment
also asked students to demonstrate how they achieved the writing goals that were created
by both the teacher and the student during the one-on-one mini conferences. This method
allowed for not only the teacher to assess student progress, but also for the student to

monitor his/her own progress throughout the unit.


Standard 6: I demonstrated my ability to communicate effectively many times
throughout my unit sketch and lesson plan. During the mini-conferences, the teacher
would sit facing the student and work together to create a plan and establish goals. This
form of communication demonstrates the teachers ability to support individual student
learning. I used the environment and illustrations to support student collaboration and
communication during the post-it note activity where I asked students to use post-it notes
to contribute their thoughts by posting brief comments on a board in the room. I also used
media/technology to communicate throughout the unit sketch by utilizing multiple
versions of the play. I demonstrated my ability to communicate effectively in my lesson
plan by providing students with examples from the assignment from the previous day,
which helped clarify the objectives. I also created a PowerPoint presentation on rhetoric
and additional notes available to students.

Diagnosis: I used diagnosis to support student learning in my lesson plan as well


as my unit sketch. In my unit sketch, I set aside time for comprehension check quizzes
and exit slips. After assessing student comprehension using these tools I would be able to
go back and make changes to plans based on the areas that needed clarification. Although
not explicitly stated in my lesson plan, I used student tracking to diagnose the needs of
the students. For example, if I charted that a student was not participating in a group
discussion I would check in with that student during individual group time to pose some
questions and assess their comprehension.

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