The lessons I will be working with are:
Original lesson: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IVcVQ65bRnqZfEP3NSfQ3PWK44_pMPVEG2nzKvq4-HA/edit?usp=sharing
Enhanced lesson using the 5E model and UDL guidelines: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KWT7MHsECUqNQtll229lEfOqBmVe5fLBCJxT7qzi3Lk/edit?usp=sharing
Background information:
The book is about a girl from the Dominican Republic who struggles to find her place in the world. In a time where women were not allowed to vote, read, or write (Trujillo’s reign of power). Ana Rosa, the main character, is faced with obstacles and cultural ideologies that challenge her dreams of reading and writing.
Original lesson:
The original lesson aims to aide students into creating a book report for chapter 1-Wash day for the book The Color of My Word by Lynn Joseph. I picked this lesson because it’s one of our core books at ICHS. Students read this book when they are in 9th grade in my school. The book is actually intended for 4th to 6th graders, but because we are an international high school we adapt it to our student population. I also believe this is a great book for my school population because it is very culturally responsive. The original lesson focuses on summary concepts and evaluation of contents. Students work individually and in groups to come up with key ideas about chapter one. They are given a chance to present their ideas in two ways. One is producing a comic strip highlighting the big ideas from chapter one. The other option is creating a Canva infographic depicting the key details from chapter 1. This is an actual lesson I developed some years ago with the help of my co-teacher. I have to say we did not use any framework or instructional model. We brainstormed ideas and figured this would allow students to have some choices to present their findings. We also thought about our population of students and previewed important vocabulary words, as well as sentence starters. I am mentioning this because they are not in the original lesson plan.
Redesigning the lesson:
This class and EDU 226 have given me tools to improve my teaching, and develop more accessible, equitable, and thorough lessons. Learning about the different instructional models and brushing up on UDL has opened my eyes to a new world of lesson design. The 5E model gave me an opportunity to guide myself step by step from the beginning to end. It gave me an anchor to hang on to while thinking and reflecting with having students in mind first. From engagement to exploration, followed by elaboration and evaluation I was able to stay within focus of each guideline. In addition to, I decided to use the UDL guideline checkpoints to promote and foster engagement, representation, action and expression.
The enhanced lesson focuses on prediction and connections. I made changes from the original version all over the lesson plan. The original lesson focused on interpretation of ideas, the new lesson has guided questions and promotes collaboration through a think pair share activity. I also made adaptations for audio learners by adding a YouTube audio recording of chapter one. Moreover, I added choices for evaluation and summative assessment. I added the option for students to create a short 3-5 minute video explaining the key ideas, prediction, and connections from chapter 1. I believe this added a layer of differentiation; which allows for those students that lack the writing skills to excel in their speaking skills. The 5E model focuses on Evaluation and states, “The evidence of such change could be students’ response to a project-based assignment in form of a portfolio, physical model, prototype, paper, etc.”. This is important because the new enhanced lesson is opening a door for students to explain their rationale using a digital app. The students will create a flipgrid video summarizing the big ideas from chapter one. All students in the group should aim for 30 seconds in the video. (Clear guidelines) (Optimize access to tools and assistive technologies ).
The original lesson has both strengths and weaknesses. I do have to admit that after reviewing the lesson I felt it was weak and did not offer many opportunities for student success. The original lesson does not value accessibility and lacks structure. I see it as ideas pieced together without mortar. Sometimes the connections are seamless, and other times they are not. I do think that the original lesson promotes collaboration and explores some accessibility by having the translated Spanish version available for students. Although, not equitable for those students that speak languages other than Spanish. So if I think about the cultural context and the impact on equity and accessibility, I think we failed. We are not being fair and are providing more scaffolds to Spanish speaking students. The enhanced lesson plan does offer audio format, which can be translated using the various commands that YouTube offers. Allowing students to listen to the YouTube read aloud creates fairness and adds a huge layer for student success. Students will be able to use The Color of My Words Audio File, this feature will aide students to access (AT, CC Closed Captions and set audio for .75 play speed) and promote better understanding of the reading.
The enhanced lesson promotes activation of prior schema through a series of open ended questions, which aligns with the 5E model. Engagement is one of the 5 E’s and promotes student discussion to motivate students into the lesson objectives. The 5E model states, ” The instructor introduces the subject, motivates students, and assesses their prior knowledge by asking open-ended questions, facilitating brainstorming activities, or utilizing props and charts to start a conversation”. During the main activity there is evidence of guided open-ended questions to facilitate reading comprehension. This said the 5e model is not a model where every one of the 5 E’s is an isolated rigid guideline, on the contrary it is meant to be iterative and cyclical.
Sources:
https://udlguidelines.cast.org
https://commons.hostos.cuny.edu/edtech/faculty/teaching-with-technology/instructional-design/5e
https://commons.hostos.cuny.edu/edtech/faculty/teaching-with-technology/instructional-design/5e
