ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

Assignment #1 - Anaylsis of Instructional Need. Analyzing instructional need facilitates the yearly changes that I make in my curriculum. Since I have the luxury of teaching consecutive grades, I can use my background knowledge of each group, the goals of our school and state, and the compiled opinions of the class to fine-tune their English instruction. My current freshman class is behind in the skills needed to write, edit, and publish writing for multiple audiences. They often believe that the lessons they learn in English class stay in English class and fail to write outside of the regular school day. They have faulty perceptions about the power their writing can have. Below is the rationale used to determine the need for this particular unit. School Mission Statement. Our school mission statement, “Learning Today to Prepare for Tomorrow”  challenges every teacher in the building to focus on how each lesson applies to real life. Not only do we want our students to succeed at their daily lessons, we want them to see each lesson as a stepping-stone to their success as adults.

In the last nine years I have been asked many times,“Why do we have to do this?“or have been told “I will never use this again in my life.” Because of these two perceptions, I find it important to create lessons that have real-life applications. North Dakota Assessment. The 2003-04 North Dakota State Assessment reports showed that Mt. Pleasant’s eighth grade class (this year’s freshman) scored below the state average percent correct in three Language Arts areas that will be addressed by the unit (these standards/benchmarks may appear slightly different in Assignment 2 because of the change in the ELA Standards/Benchmarks document since the test was administered last year).
North Dakota Standard/Benchmark State % Correct District %. Standard 4: Engage in the writing process. 4. Edit to improve comprehension. 58% 49%.
Standard 5: Write for a variety of purposes. 1. Write for various specific audiences 66% 59%.
Standard 7: Understand/use principals of grammar. 1. Understand conventions of English grammar 71% 64%.
The proposed unit will have the students writing for an audience that they normally do not address: the public. They will have to understand the conventions of English grammar well enough to edit to improve comprehension. School Improvement Target Areas. In reviewing the areas identified during the visitation for Mt. Pleasant School District #4 in regards to our school improvement plan, I was able to address all four target areas (Writing Across the Curriculum, Spelling, Critical Thinking Skills, and Problem Solving) with this single writing unit.

Our school has struggled to find an effective way to address the above target areas, and we find ourselves floundering because of turn-over in administration. Although the writing will be taking place within the English classroom, it will be transmitted to the community, thus teaching the students that effective writing skills are necessary outside of the English curriculum. They will most definitely find a real-life reason for checking for spelling accuracy considering the potential audience size of the city web site, and part of the lesson will deal with critically looking at their town to find positives which will hopefully solve the problem of negative perceptions of today’s youth.
Formal Writing Survey. Finally, using a formal survey to assess writing outside of the classroom, I found that my students still do not understand the power of the written word or believe they have any power through their own written words. 42% of them reported that they “almost never” write anything outside of schoolwork. Of those that do write, 58% reported that they only write “lists” or “notes”. The majority of them believe that their written opinions, positive or negative, would not make a difference in their school or town. They site reasons such as; “No one will listen to me.”;  “l’m just a teenager.” ;  “I’m not good at putting my thoughts into words.”;“I’m not a good writer.” Hopefully the writing unit I have developed will make them aware of the power they have. I want them to see that their opinions are important, and that others can be affected in one way or the other by what they say in their writing.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: I want my students to understand that they can make a difference in the world by using effective writing skills, and that it can be as simple as a “thank you” or as elaborate as a media presentation for Congress.
Goal(s): 1. Students will understand the influence and effect their writing can have on the world outside the classroom.  2. Students will understand how writing is essential in civic participation.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: 1. What can we find to appreciate about Rolla by taking a field trip around town? 2. How can writing express our appreciation and bring a community together? 3. What conventions of grammar, mechanics and structure do good essays use or edit out? 4. How can we use technology to publish writings of appreciation to reach the most people?
Objectives: 1. Students will identify an aspect of Rolla they appreciate.  2. Students will research the topic of their appreciation.  3. Students will write effective introduction, body, and conclusive expository paragraphs.  4. Students will compose essay that express their appreciation and detail the positives of the community.  5. Students will effectively edit and revice for grammar, structure, word choice, and audience. 6. Students will publish an HTML page that creatively presentes their essay and a picture of their topic.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding?  1. Proof-reading and revision 2. multiple choice quizzes that ask students to choose the correct sentence based on mechanics,  3. grammar, syntax, diction, and order.
What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding? 1. Daily prompts that focus on audience (correctly preparing an essay for the public), composition, clarity, and focus.  2. These will be asked as the unit progresses and the product moves toward publication.  3. They will also be individualized and tailored to the issues that arise in the process.
What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding?  Students will write an illustrated essay that shows appreciation for their community and then upload it onto the city website. What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect?  1. Classroom observations,  2. work samples, self-assessment rubrics,  4. peer assessment rubrics,  5. teacher assessment rubrics, and 6. self-reflection after the completion of the project.

Instructional Strategies

Students will use inquiry-based, problem-based, and project based learning strategies to achieve the learning goals of the unit. Inquiry-based: Through brainstorming, research, and travel, the students will investigate their own community. Each student will have to individualize their activites and inquire in a way that suits their particular topic. Problem-based: Students will address individual problems that arise during their inquiry. They will have to solve individual problems concerning the unit ranging from “I don’t know what to write about,” to photographic issues (quality and/or subject). They will also be faced with the challenge of solving how to get the essays uploaded. Project-based: The project will solidify the most important objectives for the unit. Because of the visibilty of their final project, students may be more motivated to address the writing, editing, and proof-reading benchmarks chosen for the unit. They will also address the importance of technology, not only in the creation of the project, but also in its publication.