YEAR LONG PLAN Rubric, in adherence with Colorado State Universitys Center for Educator Preparation

TEACHER CANDIDATE QUALITY STANDARDS

Each Teacher Candidate selected one or more benchmarks for focused and personalized evaluation
of our YLP in each of the categories below. CEPTCQS #4, Teachers reflect on their practice,
appears in a segment of its own at the end of the YLP.

CEPTCQS #1: Teachers demonstrate mastery of and pedagogical expertise in the content they
teach.

Benchmark 1b applies directly to

Unit 1. Rules for discussion will be introduced and practiced. We will also lay the
groundwork for technology practices that well utilize by setting up accounts and
experimenting with them. This will set them up for success for future oral and written
communications. Students will be critically thinking when they help me develop classroom
rules and consequences. Promotion of literacy skills will be jumpstarted with our speeddating books activity, starting To Read Next lists, and an introduction to our classroom library,
reading spaces and philosophies.
Unit 2. Students will be critically thinking as they gather information from multiple sources
and write informative/explanatory texts to reflect their grasp of the informationthey gained.
Unit 3. In this unit that examines voice, students will close read apodcast,analyze the
descriptive writing that made it successful, andapply their findings to their own creative
writing. Students will record themselves reciting a poem and practice enhancing appeal to
audience, rehearsing their presentations for fluency, adjusting their tones and modulating
their volumes for emphasis, developing poise, and using feedback to evaluate and revise
their presentations.
In the rest of my units students will always be working on written communication, critical
thinking, and literacy skills. Oral communication will be developed in Unit 4 when students
enact a satirical short story. Unit 7 will take on literacy in a very special way as students will
create childrens picture books that are intended for sharing with younger students.

YEAR LONG PLAN Rubric, in adherence with Colorado State Universitys Center for Educator Preparation
TEACHER CANDIDATE QUALITY STANDARDS

Benchmark 1d applies directly to

Unit 4. In most units I employ a variety of inquiry methods from Making Thinking Visible,
How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners by Ron
Ritchhart, Mark Church and Karin Morrison, to explore new ideas and theories. In Unit 4, a
variety of explanations and multiple representations of concepts and ideas can be clearly
seen in the variety of satirical texts from multiple genres that will be employed for study and
practice.

CEPTCQS #2: Teachers establish a safe, inclusive and respectful learning environment for a diverse
population of students.

YEAR LONG PLAN Rubric, in adherence with Colorado State Universitys Center for Educator Preparation
TEACHER CANDIDATE QUALITY STANDARDS

Benchmark 2a applies directly to

Unit 1. I will foster positive relationships between and among students that are respectful
and demonstrate mutual support by presenting students with the opportunity to develop my
two basic classroom rules, which are (1) Respect yourself and others, and (2) Work hard and
do your best. Students may expand on these and help me determine consequences.
Additionally, this will also take place when we introduce and practice rules for discussions.

CEPTCQS #3: Teachers plan and deliver effective instruction and create an environment that
facilitates learning for their students.

Benchmark 3d applies directly to

Unit 3. After close-reading a wonderfully descriptive and well-researched podcast delivered
in an engaging dramatic manner, students will analyze descriptive writing found in the
podcast and apply their findings to their work. They will write a creative story prompted by
photographs of Antarctica from 1912. Students will also produce a podcast of their own,
recording themselves reciting the poem that Mawson called on for motivation when he
climbed out of the crevasse; Mawson was the primary figure in the podcast we studied.
Unit 4. Students will produce a skit from their assigned portion of a satirical short story.
Unit 5. Students will design a book jacket for our novel.
Unit 6. We will study a classic sixteenth century text that is a combination of picaresque
novel and folk epic that mixes satire, allegory, and history into a rollicking adventure. Such a
piece demands a response of creativity and innovation. The culminating text of this unit is a
Multimedia/Multigenre Production, modeled after Peter Smagorinskys idea in Teaching
English by Design.
Unit 7. Students will produce childrens illustrated picture books, with inspiration from
Australian masterpieces in the genre.
Unit 8. Students will create presentations using the following programs: Audacity, Powtoon,
Animoto, PiktoChart, and Tackk.

YEAR LONG PLAN Rubric, in adherence with Colorado State Universitys Center for Educator Preparation
TEACHER CANDIDATE QUALITY STANDARDS

Benchmark 3h applies directly to

Unit 2. Students will self-assess and effectively use formal and informal feedback to monitor
their learning as they collaborate in groups to prepare their debate, review each others
letters to the editor, and revise their writing.
Unit 3. In groups of 2-3, students will peer review each others title, opening sentence, and
story map template for their Creative Story assignment, challenging and celebrating each
others writing. Still in their groups, students will revise and edit their personal work, moving
into further brainstorming, fleshing out details, and beginning writing. This will give them an
opportunity to sound their ideas off of each other. After spending an entire class period on
their personal writing, they will upload their work to our classroom group on figment.com, and
homework will be to peer review the drafts of small group members. The following day will
be our last day to work on their Creative Story where I will provide informal feedback to
monitor their learning. Students who are done may also help with review and revision.
In other units, when there is a writing assignment, there will be opportunities for peer review
and revision. This is a vital part of The Six Traits Professional Development Model for
teaching writing that instructors are required to use when teaching this course. I have set up
a classroom group on figment.com for situations where there is not enough classroom time to
do writing workshops in class so that the practice can still take place outside of the
classroom.
Reflective Commentary. I will self-assess the work I have done on my YLP on a variety of
skills and concepts.

YEAR LONG PLAN Rubric, in adherence with Colorado State Universitys Center for Educator Preparation
TEACHER CANDIDATE QUALITY STANDARDS

CEPTCQS #5: Teachers demonstrate leadership.

Benchmark 5d applies directly to

Unit 8. Shakespeares Julius Caesar will help students understand the importance of ethical
behavior as an individual and member of society as we read, discuss, and write about the
events that led to Caesars rise and downfall, and what principles can be gleaned from this
and applied to our lives.
Course Overview. My Overview of units and Overarching Concept will help students
understand the importance of ethical behavior as I elaborate what is driving my instruction.
Additional Ideas/Resources. I have put together a number of practices that will help my
students understand the importance of ethical behavior as an individual and member of
society.