Reflections on a lesson full of compound sentences

The My Best Attributes lesson, with its end goal of having students write a personal narrative, was more difficult than a lesson focusing on concepts to make universally designed because the goal is very difficult for many students and doesn’t lend itself to certain kinds of expression. Because students will be using their narrative writing assignment as part of their portfolio for the end of the semester/year, though, they will have the opportunity to revise several times with more scaffolding and help from the teacher. (START SENTENCE WITH BECAUSE AND USE OF THOUGH AS INTERJECTION IN MIDDLE OF SENTENCE, POWs 2 and 4)

The portfolio’s online component will engage students throughout the school year, especially those whose skills and interests lean toward technology. Not all students will want to create a website. Nor will every student want to write an essay, which is to be expected. (START SENTENCE WITH NOR, POW 1). The technology component of it not only addresses Common Core standards but gives students the opportunity to develop skills in presentation using multiple means of engagement with integration of audio, visual, and tactile components.

I created this lesson for students to have multiple opportunities to learn in small groups, large groups, and by themselves, because different students learn best in different groupings or individually. (END SENTENCE IN BECAUSE  CLAUSE, POW 3.) In partner groups, I wanted to make sure students would not feel intimidated to read to another student, which is why I grouped partners based on reading ability. Students who read at the same rate will be able to finish questions at the same rate and will be better served by the teacher or reading specialist with comprehension. Those in the lowest group can have nearly individual help reading the remainder of the story.

            Because I wanted every student to be engaged with the lesson, which can be difficult in an English/language arts classroom, I created a plan that included a pop song. Reluctant learners are given the opportunity to engage with the concept; eager learners are given the opportunity to have a little fun. (COMPOUND SENTENCE CONNECTED BY SEMI-COLON, PARALLEL STRUCTURE, MIRRORING ONE ANOTHER, POW 6).

            Several kinds of learners will benefit from this lesson: written responses, in the form of the personal narrative and the comprehension questions, will help those who work best in writing; visual learners will see the videos; auditory learners will hear the video and their classmates’ discussion; and kinesthetic learners will have the option of presenting their work by acting it out. (SEMICOLON AS SUPER COMMA, POW 7.)

            Though this lesson is partially focused on the Common Core standard of understanding and being able to create a personal narrative, I wanted students to expand their thoughts to consider how different people evaluate different characteristics of others. The Common Core directs teachers to create lesson plans following strict standards of convention, which makes creating dynamic lesson plans difficult; this plan meets the challenge. (COMPOUND SENTENCE CONNECTED BY SEMI-COLON, LONG WITH SHORT, POW 5).