CEP 842 by Andrea Smock
A Unit Plan for A Diverse Classroom
My learners are a group of 30 seventh and eighth grade students. I have 17 seventh graders and 13 eighth graders. For the 7th grade I have 6 students that are working above level, 8 that are at level, and 3 that are below level or receive special education help. For the 8th grade I have 4 students that are above level, 4 that are at level, 2 that are below level or receive special education help, and 1 student that is cognitively impaired that has a full time aid.
Science: Genetics
We will be discussing modern genetics. This topic is important, not only because it is stated in the Michigan GLCE’s but also because students will need to know where they come from. Students are also curious why they have certain traits that may or may not look like their parents.
The Michigan content standards for science state students should “Recognize that all organisms are composed of cells (single cell organisms, multicellular organisms).
(L.OL.07.21), Describe how cells in all multicellular organisms are specialized to take in nutrients, which they use to provide energy for the work that cells do and to make the materials that a cell or organism needs.
(L.OL.07.23), Recognize that cells function in a similar way in all organisms.
(L.OL.07.24), Describe growth and development in terms of increase of cell number and/or cell size.
(L.OL.07.31), and Examine how through cell division, cells can become specialized for specific functions.
Modern Genetics : Day One
A.) Instructional goals for the day
Today we are going to get a general overview of the inheritance of traits in organisms. The students will learn about Gregor Mendel, the man who formed the foundation of genetics.
B.) Materials to be used to achieve the goal
Prentice Hall Life Science book, notebook for note taking, pencil
C.) An outline of instructional activities
1.) Students will skim the pages of the genetics chapter
2.) As a whole group, the students will write down vocabulary words in bold print in section one. (Heredity, purebred, genes, alleles, recessive alleles, dominant alleles, hybrids.)
3.) As a whole group, we will read the first section of the chapter together.
4.) Students will stop when we get to a vocabulary word to write the definition in their notebooks.
5.) After reading aloud together, I will ask a few questions about the section that each table will answer together.
6.) Students are then assigned four review questions at the end of the section.
D.) How to evaluate students on what they have learned today
1.) I will go around to each table to see what the groups have answered to my questions.
2.) I will grade their homework for the section review.
Modern Genetics : Day Two
A.) Instructional goals for the day
Today students will get with an assigned partner to create a paper pet. The paper pet is a cut out from construction paper. Once in their group the students will create a male or female paper pet, based on their own gender. I have paired Malley, my student with down syndrome with Oscar, my student in advanced subjects. These two have worked together on other projects before and I know Oscar will do a thorough job explaining this project to Malley. The other students that have learning disabilities or need extra help are
also paired with my higher functioning students. The goals for the day are to create a paper pet and describe its phenotypes (physical
characteristics) and genotypes (genetic makeup).
B.) Materials to be used to achieve the goal
Prentice Hall Life Science book, Paper Pet handout, pencil, yellow and blue construction paper, scissors, glue
C.) An outline of instructional activities
1.) Students will get with their assigned partner and gather their materials.
2.) As a whole group, we will read the Paper Pet handout together.
3.) I will walk them through each step as to how to create their paper pet. (Cut out pattern, glue to construction paper…)
4.) Students will then work with their partner to design the facial features of their own paper pet, using the description in the handout. (Eyes, teeth, nose, etc.)
5.) When students have had enough time to design their paper pet, we will go over the phenotypes and genotypes as a group. (Also, partners helping partners.)
6.) Students will fill out the back of their paper pet with the phenotype and genotype of their paper pet.
D.) How to evaluate students on what they have learned today
1.) First we will discuss some volunteers’ paper pets.
2.) Then I will have each partnership come to me to show me their paper pet and to tell me about the phenotype and genotype. I will be looking to make sure the students know that the phenotypes are what physical characteristics their paper pet has, and the phenotypes are the genetic part of their paper pet.
Modern Genetics : Day Three
A.) Instructional goals for the day
Today we will be taking a class survey. The goals for the day are to develop a hypothesis, interpret class data, and draw conclusions about the data.
B.) Materials to be used to achieve the goal
Prentice Hall Life Science book, notebook for note taking, pencil
C.) An outline of instructional activities
1.) Students will create the data table from their science books and hypothesize if traits controlled by dominant alleles more common than traits controlled by recessive alleles.
2.) Students will get with the assigned partner from yesterday. They will read the survey instructions together.
3.) Students will work through the questions with their partners.
4.) Once students have observed their traits and filled in their data table, we will go over our results as a whole class.
D.) How to evaluate students on what they have learned today
1.) I will go around to each table to observe partner interaction.
2.) When we have the whole group discussion I will observe the answers from each set of partners.
Modern Genetics : Day Four
A.) Instructional goals for the day
Today the students will learn about probability and genetics.
B.) Materials to be used to achieve the goal
Prentice Hall Life Science book, notebook for note taking, pencil
C.) An outline of instructional activities
1.) Students will skim the pages of the probability and genetics chapter
2.) As a whole group, the students will write down vocabulary words in bold print in section two. (probability, Punnett square, homozygous, heterozygous, codominance.)
3.) As a whole group, we will read this section of the chapter together.
4.) Students will stop when we get to a vocabulary word to write the definition in their notebooks.
5.) After reading aloud together, I will ask a few questions about the section that each table will answer together.
6.) The students will do a coin toss to test the concept of probability. They will hypothesize how many heads and how many tails will occur in 20 flips of a quarter.
7.) I will have a graph ready where each student can come up and graph how many heads and tails came up during their 20 coin flips. When all students had a chance to enter their data, we will discuss the class results.
8.) Students are then assigned five review questions at the end of the section.
D.) How to evaluate students on what they have learned today
1.) I will go around to each table to see what the groups have answered to my questions.
2.) I will grade their homework for the section review.
Modern Genetics : Day Five
A.) Instructional goals for the day
Today we are going to get a general overview of the inheritance of traits in organisms. The students will learn about Gregor Mendel, the man who formed the foundation of genetics.
B.) Materials to be used to achieve the goal
Prentice Hall Life Science book, notebook for note taking, pencil
C.) An outline of instructional activities
1.) Students will skim the pages of the genetics chapter
2.) As a whole group, the students will write down vocabulary words in bold print in section one. (heredity, purebred, genes, alleles, recessive alleles, dominant alleles, hybrids.)
3.) As a whole group, we will read the first section of the chapter together.
4.) Students will stop when we get to a vocabulary word to write the definition in their notebooks.
5.) After reading aloud together, I will ask a few questions about the section that each table will answer together.
6.) Students are then assigned four review questions at the end of the section.
D.) How to evaluate students on what they have learned today
1.) I will go around to each table to see what the groups have answered to my questions.
2.) I will grade their homework for the section review.
Each lesson has different formats that I believe can reach all students. When students are working on their own, we are still reading the material as a whole group. This reaches the students that have difficulty reading. I also made sure the students that do have difficulty reading are sitting next to a student that can help them while we are reading aloud. I used the Content Enhancement Series to plan the lessons that included partners. Also, when students were taking notes, the students with learning disabilities had a handout that had page numbers for where they could find information. On some difficult definitions, some of the students had a fill in the blank question that was word for word in the book. I will also use co-teaching and co-planning in this lesson. I will use the one teach, one assist method of co-teaching. I think for this unit it would work best for me to do the main teaching and lesson planning for the material. The special education teacher would plan with me on modifying the lesson to help the students get the most out
of the unit. To plan I would like to use the template found on http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/~specconn/page/collaboration/coteach/pdf/co_planning_template.pdf.
The special education teacher will walk around assisting students that are IEPed or any other student that may need clarification.
My learners are a group of 30 seventh and eighth grade students. I have 17 seventh graders and 13 eighth graders. For the 7th grade I have 6 students that are working above level, 8 that are at level, and 3 that are below level or receive special education help. For the 8th grade I have 4 students that are above level, 4 that are at level, 2 that are below level or receive special education help, and 1 student that is cognitively impaired that has a full time aid.
Science: Genetics
We will be discussing modern genetics. This topic is important, not only because it is stated in the Michigan GLCE’s but also because students will need to know where they come from. Students are also curious why they have certain traits that may or may not look like their parents.
The Michigan content standards for science state students should “Recognize that all organisms are composed of cells (single cell organisms, multicellular organisms).
(L.OL.07.21), Describe how cells in all multicellular organisms are specialized to take in nutrients, which they use to provide energy for the work that cells do and to make the materials that a cell or organism needs.
(L.OL.07.23), Recognize that cells function in a similar way in all organisms.
(L.OL.07.24), Describe growth and development in terms of increase of cell number and/or cell size.
(L.OL.07.31), and Examine how through cell division, cells can become specialized for specific functions.
Modern Genetics : Day One
A.) Instructional goals for the day
Today we are going to get a general overview of the inheritance of traits in organisms. The students will learn about Gregor Mendel, the man who formed the foundation of genetics.
B.) Materials to be used to achieve the goal
Prentice Hall Life Science book, notebook for note taking, pencil
C.) An outline of instructional activities
1.) Students will skim the pages of the genetics chapter
2.) As a whole group, the students will write down vocabulary words in bold print in section one. (Heredity, purebred, genes, alleles, recessive alleles, dominant alleles, hybrids.)
3.) As a whole group, we will read the first section of the chapter together.
4.) Students will stop when we get to a vocabulary word to write the definition in their notebooks.
5.) After reading aloud together, I will ask a few questions about the section that each table will answer together.
6.) Students are then assigned four review questions at the end of the section.
D.) How to evaluate students on what they have learned today
1.) I will go around to each table to see what the groups have answered to my questions.
2.) I will grade their homework for the section review.
Modern Genetics : Day Two
A.) Instructional goals for the day
Today students will get with an assigned partner to create a paper pet. The paper pet is a cut out from construction paper. Once in their group the students will create a male or female paper pet, based on their own gender. I have paired Malley, my student with down syndrome with Oscar, my student in advanced subjects. These two have worked together on other projects before and I know Oscar will do a thorough job explaining this project to Malley. The other students that have learning disabilities or need extra help are
also paired with my higher functioning students. The goals for the day are to create a paper pet and describe its phenotypes (physical
characteristics) and genotypes (genetic makeup).
B.) Materials to be used to achieve the goal
Prentice Hall Life Science book, Paper Pet handout, pencil, yellow and blue construction paper, scissors, glue
C.) An outline of instructional activities
1.) Students will get with their assigned partner and gather their materials.
2.) As a whole group, we will read the Paper Pet handout together.
3.) I will walk them through each step as to how to create their paper pet. (Cut out pattern, glue to construction paper…)
4.) Students will then work with their partner to design the facial features of their own paper pet, using the description in the handout. (Eyes, teeth, nose, etc.)
5.) When students have had enough time to design their paper pet, we will go over the phenotypes and genotypes as a group. (Also, partners helping partners.)
6.) Students will fill out the back of their paper pet with the phenotype and genotype of their paper pet.
D.) How to evaluate students on what they have learned today
1.) First we will discuss some volunteers’ paper pets.
2.) Then I will have each partnership come to me to show me their paper pet and to tell me about the phenotype and genotype. I will be looking to make sure the students know that the phenotypes are what physical characteristics their paper pet has, and the phenotypes are the genetic part of their paper pet.
Modern Genetics : Day Three
A.) Instructional goals for the day
Today we will be taking a class survey. The goals for the day are to develop a hypothesis, interpret class data, and draw conclusions about the data.
B.) Materials to be used to achieve the goal
Prentice Hall Life Science book, notebook for note taking, pencil
C.) An outline of instructional activities
1.) Students will create the data table from their science books and hypothesize if traits controlled by dominant alleles more common than traits controlled by recessive alleles.
2.) Students will get with the assigned partner from yesterday. They will read the survey instructions together.
3.) Students will work through the questions with their partners.
4.) Once students have observed their traits and filled in their data table, we will go over our results as a whole class.
D.) How to evaluate students on what they have learned today
1.) I will go around to each table to observe partner interaction.
2.) When we have the whole group discussion I will observe the answers from each set of partners.
Modern Genetics : Day Four
A.) Instructional goals for the day
Today the students will learn about probability and genetics.
B.) Materials to be used to achieve the goal
Prentice Hall Life Science book, notebook for note taking, pencil
C.) An outline of instructional activities
1.) Students will skim the pages of the probability and genetics chapter
2.) As a whole group, the students will write down vocabulary words in bold print in section two. (probability, Punnett square, homozygous, heterozygous, codominance.)
3.) As a whole group, we will read this section of the chapter together.
4.) Students will stop when we get to a vocabulary word to write the definition in their notebooks.
5.) After reading aloud together, I will ask a few questions about the section that each table will answer together.
6.) The students will do a coin toss to test the concept of probability. They will hypothesize how many heads and how many tails will occur in 20 flips of a quarter.
7.) I will have a graph ready where each student can come up and graph how many heads and tails came up during their 20 coin flips. When all students had a chance to enter their data, we will discuss the class results.
8.) Students are then assigned five review questions at the end of the section.
D.) How to evaluate students on what they have learned today
1.) I will go around to each table to see what the groups have answered to my questions.
2.) I will grade their homework for the section review.
Modern Genetics : Day Five
A.) Instructional goals for the day
Today we are going to get a general overview of the inheritance of traits in organisms. The students will learn about Gregor Mendel, the man who formed the foundation of genetics.
B.) Materials to be used to achieve the goal
Prentice Hall Life Science book, notebook for note taking, pencil
C.) An outline of instructional activities
1.) Students will skim the pages of the genetics chapter
2.) As a whole group, the students will write down vocabulary words in bold print in section one. (heredity, purebred, genes, alleles, recessive alleles, dominant alleles, hybrids.)
3.) As a whole group, we will read the first section of the chapter together.
4.) Students will stop when we get to a vocabulary word to write the definition in their notebooks.
5.) After reading aloud together, I will ask a few questions about the section that each table will answer together.
6.) Students are then assigned four review questions at the end of the section.
D.) How to evaluate students on what they have learned today
1.) I will go around to each table to see what the groups have answered to my questions.
2.) I will grade their homework for the section review.
Each lesson has different formats that I believe can reach all students. When students are working on their own, we are still reading the material as a whole group. This reaches the students that have difficulty reading. I also made sure the students that do have difficulty reading are sitting next to a student that can help them while we are reading aloud. I used the Content Enhancement Series to plan the lessons that included partners. Also, when students were taking notes, the students with learning disabilities had a handout that had page numbers for where they could find information. On some difficult definitions, some of the students had a fill in the blank question that was word for word in the book. I will also use co-teaching and co-planning in this lesson. I will use the one teach, one assist method of co-teaching. I think for this unit it would work best for me to do the main teaching and lesson planning for the material. The special education teacher would plan with me on modifying the lesson to help the students get the most out
of the unit. To plan I would like to use the template found on http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/~specconn/page/collaboration/coteach/pdf/co_planning_template.pdf.
The special education teacher will walk around assisting students that are IEPed or any other student that may need clarification.