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TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 1
SPRING 2013 Teacher Work Sample:
A Unit on Theme
Eric Matthew Brame
University of Central Florida
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 2
Contextual Factors
This research identifies the needs of students who are studying language arts online. The
curriculum is designed for students that are in the honors program, ESOL program, ESE program
and regular curriculum. Instruction throughout the language arts course is differentiation through
each module, providing students with numerous opportunities to master each skill presented in
each lesson. Each lesson is allowed to be revisited as many times as the student desires. In
addition to each revisit, students may resubmit assignments to increase the score of each
assignment. Due to the philosophy of mastery over single submission policies, students are
allowed to revise each assignment until the student completes the assignment with full mastery.
This TWS will include students from the honors program, ESOL program, ESE program and
regular curriculum due to diverse online environment. This mode of instruction is serves students
throughout the United States. Its services are free for residence in one state. Headquarters of the
virtual school is located in Orlando, FL. However, students in other States, or overseas, may
enter the services on tuition basis.
The school consists of about 150,000 students, who are dispersed globally. This
population lives throughout metropolitan areas, suburban areas, and rural areas. Due to the need
of the school, and its population receiving education services – nationally and internationally –
the school employs over 1,400 faculty and staff. The school comprises of 57% Caucasian-Non-
Hispanic; 14% Black or African-American; 3.5% Asian or Pacific Islander; and 0.9% Native
American. Within this population, the school serves numerous economically disadvantaged
students, who comprise 47.5% of the student population.
My class is not similar to the demographics of the school. Based on the data collected, the
class has 44 students, 2 identify as Asian or Pacifica Islander; 2 identify as Black or African-
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 3
American; 3 identify as Hispanic; 1 identifies as American Indian; 33 identify as Caucasion.
Within this group, one student is identified as ESOL. Five students are identified as ESE.
Spanish is the primary language of the ESOL student. This student functions at advance levels of
English language proficiency. The students who are ESE have minor learning disabilities and
require further assistance through additional comments and scaffolding.
Six of the students have IEPs. Five students have IEP’s due to ESE services; one student
has an IEP due to short term memory problems; four other students have IEPs due to attention
deficit disorder (ADD). The other IEP is due to ESOL services of one student. Due to the
ESOL student being advanced in his progress toward English language acquisition, the student
tends to be independent. When the students with ESE IEPs have difficulties with comprehension,
they have access to the work numbers of their instructors in order to receive additional assistance.
The environment of my supervising teacher’s classroom is an online classroom. Students
may access the classroom 24 hours per day, each day of the week. Because this class is online,
students do not have direct access to the instructor. Also, the classroom allows free roaming
through links designed by the school. The classroom provides live online instruction for
an hour, once per week. Each module provides easy to access information for students access
including examples of essays, pomes, etc. However, there are certain technology requirements
that students must have including internet, in order to access the classroom.
Students who are a part of the school are closely monitored for academic integrity. One
method that is used is plagiarism software, which is powered by Turnit.com. If a student is found
plagiarizing, the student is given a zero on the assignment, called and a discussion occurs.
According to the school’s policy, there is a zero tolerance policy the student may be expelled for
plagiarism. However, each instructor gives the student the benefit of the doubt, calls the student,
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 4
and allows the student to explain why the policy infraction occurred. If the student is found to be
in error, the student must redo the assignment and submit the revision. However, if the student is
found to have intentionally plagiarized, the instructor must report the student to the school’s
administration.
To assist my students with an IEP for ADD and ESOL, I will provide study guides on
their Discussion Based Assessments (DBA) prior to their over the phone quizzes; the student’s
mother will have a large role in the student’s success, reading the modules to the student and
helping the student type written assessments. Additional individualized online and over the
phone sessions, as well as additional instructional videos, will be given as the student progresses
through the course and the quality of work is assessed..
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 5
Learning Goals
These goals are appropriate because the standards for a student in Language Arts
II require the student to be able to use full, formal sentences, which will be expanded into
formal paragraphs and essays. This unit is based on the Next Generation Sunshine
Standards for eighth grade that relate to theme in literature. All of the students in the class
performed at or above grade level in Language Arts II, so these standards should be
appropriate for this group of students. Since literature uses literary devices, I will create
vocabulary matching, short response and think-pair-share-collaborative activities in order
to help students demonstrate making connections to textual information. In order to
support the two ESOL students in the class, I will provide word banks and images along
with other visual aids. I will also provide the ESOL students with language acquisition
strategies that will allow them to read critically.
These goals also provide challenging learning outcomes because students have to:
1. Identify and analyze universal themes and symbols across genres and
historical periods, and explain their significance (Next Generation Sunshine State
Statndards: LA.8.2.1.4).
2. Develop an interpretation of a selection and support through sustained use
of examples and contextual evidence to support an argument for them (Next
Generation Sunshine State Standards: LA.8.2.1.5).
3. Compare and contrast literary texts that express a universal theme,
providing textual evidence (e.g., examples, details, quotations) as support for the
identified theme (Next Generation Sunshine State Standards: LA.8.2.1.6).
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 6
4. Synthesize textual data from the text to create a meaningfully argument
for the identified universal theme (Next Generation Sunshine State Standards:
LA.8.2.2.2).
5. Organize information from the text to show an understanding or
relationships among facts, ideas, and events that identify theme (Next Generation
Sunshine State Standards: LA.8.2.2.3).
Due to these goals, the student has mastered each goal when the student demonstrated
80% accuracy on analysis, discussion, and literary relations to the goals. Each goal will have
a sub-skill that can be evaluated independently. My pre/post-assessments and other
assessments will assess all parts of the goal as much as possible. Also, every goal will be
assessed by applying the knowledge and skills introduced as realistically as possible.
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 7
Assessment Plan
The supervising instructor uses activities such as the Venn diagram, in order to
formatively assess student comprehension of relationship between literary pieces, in order to
assist students grow in their abilities to compare and contrast. To assist students understand
theme through the comparison and contrast, I will also use two videos via YouTube that has two
different interpretations of The Boy the Called Wolf. The students will also have an opportunity
individually practice identifying theme with support from the instructor and me.
Class Meetings: Description of Assessment: Learning Goals Assessed:Student is pre-assessed before
online live lesson.
Pre-assessment (attached to TWS) 1, 2, 3
Day 1 Introduction to Theme. 1, 2, 3
Day 2 Defining a theme statement. 1
Day 3 Supporting theme statement with evidence. 2
Day 4 Relationship in theme/short responses. 3
Student is post-assessed before
online live lesson.
Post-assessment (attached to TWS) 1, 2, 3
In order to properly accommodate the students with ADD and ESOL needs, I will
provide an addition half hour of instruction. The ADD IEPs indicate that the assessment must be
interactive within the class and the instructor must give individualized attention for each student.
According to the IDEA, “the content of the child’s individualized education program, including
information related to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general education
curriculum, or, for preschool children, to participate in appropriate activities.” See 20 USC §
1414(b)(ii). To assist students with ADD and ESOL IEPs, I will create an interactive activity that
allows students to interact, ask questions, and work with each other. This will assist students with
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 8
ADD to concentrate and ESOL student with their interactive language acquisition. This requires
extra time for assessments, .
Throughout the pre-assessment and post-assessment I will use the bloom taxonomy. This
is in order to reinforce higher-order levels of thinking (e.g., creating, evaluating, etc.). In order to
pre-assess students, I will ask questions to the following effect:
Pre-Assessment Questions:
1) What is theme?
a) What happens in a story.
b) The lesson or moral of a story.
c) The angle from which a story is told.
d) Why a story was written.
2) What is a good theme statement?
a) Love
b) A boy learns to survive in the wilderness.
c) To move forward, people must learn to remember and forget the past.
d) Courage
3) Which line from the text best ILLUSTRATES theme?
a) Red
b) Blue
c) Green
d) None
4) Which line from the text best ARGUES the theme statement?
a) Red
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 9
b) Blue
c) Green
d) None
Post-Assessment Questions:
1) What is a theme statement?
a) What happens in a story.
b) What the lesson is in a story.
c) What the character wants in a story.
d) What the angle is in a story.
2) What is the best example of a theme statement?
a) She wants to learn how to love someone and care for them.
b) The boy need to learn how to survive in the wilderness at all times.
c) In order to move forward, remember and forgetting the past is necessary.
d) Freedom
3) The Dog and the Shadow. Please read the story and select the BEST answer.
A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a giant steak in his mouth, saw his own shadow in
the water and took his reflection for that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double the his own
size. He immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attack the other Dog to get his larger piece
from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a shadow; and
his own, because the stream swept it away.
Select the letter which best illustrates the theme statement.
a) Greedb) A dog crossed a bridge and lost his piece of steak in the water.c) Greed is a destructive urge. It makes you like you never have enough.
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 10
4) The Dog and the Shadow. Please read the story and select the BEST answer.
(1) A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a giant steak in his mouth, saw his own shadow
in the water and took his reflection for that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double the his
own size. (2) He immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attack the other Dog to get his larger
piece from him. (3) He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a
shadow; and his own, because the stream swept it away.
Select the letter which best illustrates the them statement.
a) Line 1b) Line 2c) Line 3
In order to create a post-assessment that addresses student needs through rigor, the
following questions will be incorporated, in order to assist students with the concept of theme:
1) Describe what a theme is:
a) What happens in a story.
a) What the lesson is in a story.
b) What the character wants in a story.
c) What the angles is in a story.
2) What is the best example of a theme statement?
a) She wants to learn how to love someone and care for them.
b) The boy needs to learn how to survive in the wilderness at all times.
c) In order to move forward, remembering and forgetting the past is necessary.
d) She is learning to hate how people treat her every day.
This creates a challenging assessment that allows students to assess their learning and
interact with core concepts in the lesson.
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 11
Design for Instruction
The students in my class scored an average 46% on the pre-assessment. The students did
not demonstrate master of any of the learning goals. The average score of the students suggests
little familiarity with the concepts of theme, which I plan to teach, therefore, the learning goals
are rigorous and challenging. Although they seem to lack some familiarity with, the topic is not
to challenge and rigorous, due to some of the correct understanding of the content.
The pre-assessment showed me that the students know how to use contextual clues. The
questions that were most frequently answered correctly were covered in the sixth and seventh
grade. Students had a more difficult time with close reading. After analyzing the pre-assessment
results, I will spend more time on the different methods to extract evidence from the text, in
order to teach theme.
The unit will follow the general timeline below. For more detail, I have attached my
lesson plans to this TWS.
Eric M. Brame
Lesson Title: Introduction to the Novel
Subject: Language Arts III
Grade: 8th
Topic: Theme
Content Summary: This lesson will cover the various complexities of chapter three,
which discusses the concept of the novel. Specifically, the lesson will address the various
concepts of theme, student analysis and opportunities to practice the skill they learn. Also, the
State learning goal is appropriate for 8th grade students because analysis of theme is assessed on
State standardized testing for 8th grade reading.
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 12
Next Generation Sunshine State Standards:
1) LA.8.2.1.5: The student will develop an interpretation of a selection and support
through sustained use of examples and contextual evidence;
2) LA.8.2.1.6: The student will compare literary texts that express a universal theme,
providing textual evidence (e.g., examples, details, quotations) as support for the
identified theme;
3) LA.8.2.1.7: The student will locate and analyze an author's use of allusions and
descriptive, idiomatic, and figurative language in a variety of literary text, identifying
how word choice is used to appeal to the reader's senses and emotions, providing
evidence from text to support the analysis;
4) LA.8.2.2.2: The student will synthesize and use information from the text to state the
main idea or provide relevant details;
5) LA.8.2.2.3: The student will organize information to show understanding or
relationships among facts, ideas, and events (e.g., representing key points within text
through charting, mapping, paraphrasing, summarizing, or comparing/contrasting);
Common Core Standards:
1) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an
analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
2) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze
its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the
characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 13
3) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in
a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a
decision.
Goals/Objectives:
1) The 8th grade students will be able to identify concept of theme, using the text of the
short stories choses for the lesson, under the direct supervision of their instructors in a
virtual environment, and achieve a mastery of 80%.
2) The 8th grade students will be able to develop an interpretation of theme, using
elements of the text, under the direct supervision of their instructors in a virtual
environment, and achieve a mastery of 80%.
3) The 8th grade students, will be able to identify allusions and descriptive, idiomatic,
and figurative language of theme in the novel they chose, under the direct supervision
of their instructors in virtual environment, and achieve a mastery of 80%.
4) The 8th grade students will be able to converse about theme, using formal language,
which pertains to the literary piece being discussed, under direct supervision of their
instructors in a virtual environment, and achieve a mastery of 80%.
5) The 8th grade students will be able to formally argue theme, using formal writing,
under the direct supervision of their instructors in a virtual environment, and achieve
a mastery of 80%.
Materials:
1) Elluminate
2) PowerPoint Presentation
3) Computer
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 14
4) Pencils
5) Paper
6) Internet
Procedures:
Students will receive am online live lesson which begins with the students taking a pre-
assessment. Afterward, each student will receive interactive instruction using a YouTube video
of The Boy that Cried Wolf and an updated version, which was produced by three middle school
students. Afterward, each student will use the evidence in the story, in order to produce a theme
statement. When they complete the theme statement, they will receive instruction on using
evidence from the text in order to find the relation of comparison and contrast. When the lessons
are complete, each student will receive a post-assessment.
Evaluation and Assessment:
The primary source of assessment will be a multiple choice quiz (i.e., pre-assessment and
post-assessment). However, I will gather further assessment data from the lesson through the
activities of each student. To achieve mastery, the student must have at least 80% over all in each
category – including the pre-assessment and post-assessment.
ESOL Accommodations:
I will allow extra time for the ELL student who is in the class. I will also provide a
modified quiz upon request. Also, the student will have opportunities to chat with me or the
instructor through the online session system. In order to provide further support, I will identify
the ESOL of the student. I will modify the lesson for the student, depending on the ESOL as
follows:
1) Novice: I will provide additional assistance by creating a word bank that has graphic
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 15
contextual clues, including simplified English. Also, if possible, I will provide a bilingual
overview of the lesson and a bilingual assessment. To further assist the student, I will ask if the
student desires extra time on the assessment.
2) Intermediate: I will provide an overview of the lesson in simplified English. The
student will also be provided a word bank that simplifies the literary jargon presented in the
lesson. To further assist the student, I will ask if the student desires extra time on the assessment.
3) Advanced: I will provide extra time on the assessment, if the student desires. Also, the
student will allowed to use a word bank, I will design through dictionary.com in order to assist
the student with increasing their advance vocabulary.
Resources:
1) Reiss, Jodi. ESOL Strategies for Teaching Content: Facilitating Instruction for
English Language Learners. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice-
Hall, 2005. Print.
2) Smith, Michael W., and Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Fresh Takes on Teaching Literary
Elements: How to Teach What Really Matters about Character, Setting, Point of View,
and Theme. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print.
3) Writer's Corps. Jump Write In!: Creative Writing Exercises for Diverse Communities,
Grades 6-12. Ed. Judith Tannenbaum and Valerie C. Bush. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2005. Print.
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 16
Instructional Decision Making
Example One: The first example of a time that it was necessary to modify the lesson
plan, which was approved by my instructor, was the ability for each student to differentiate
between theme and plot. When I asked them to give an explanation of theme, they would give
explanations of plot, which suggested that they were struggling with the differences in the
elements of theme and plot. After the pre-assessment, I asked them to discuss The Boy that Cried
Wolf in order to assess their comprehension of the story’s theme. The ELL only address the
concept with single words, which allowed me to modify my explanation of theme from a
generalization to the proper method of writing a theme statement.
During the lesson, in order to assist the ELL, and other students, I will model the various
concepts by writing an example using a different story. When they were done with their work, I
will show them my theme statement and explain how theme has multiple elements, not just one
word. If they find that confusing, the supervising instructor will enter the conversation and give
additional examples, explaining that a theme statement is a full sentence. If the ELL student or
other students struggled further, I will allow them to give me a call in order to assist them further
by asking them what they do not understand. I will offered further time in live online session for
individual instruction.
Due to the school being primarily online, it is necessary for student to have access to my
office number, which allows them to communicate their learning needs. The online learning
environment presents additional challenges since there are few, if any, face to face sessions.
Thus, it was necessary to assist each student through follow up calls. Each follow up call is
documented and logged in the school’s system.
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 17
I allowed them to have individual discussions via phone calls, and extended live online
instruction, using different descriptions of theme, by challenging them to use their current novel.
When as I explain that theme is the lesson the author is attempting to convey, they said
comments in the live lesson such as: “Cool,” and “I get it now,” or words to that effect. In order
to reinforce the concept, I gave them opportunities to roam with and review the slides presented.
Example Two: The second example was the short response. In this, they were offered
the opportunity to practice describing theme. They would use the book that they are reading. The
task was to draw evidence from the text to explain why they thought the book’s theme was a
certain topic. However, they started off struggling, even after they were offered the numerous
lessons on theme through the live lesson.
To assist each student, I modeled how to write about theme. Each student witnessed how
I used evidence from the text of The Outsiders. My short response stated, “Pony Boy shows his
heroic side of his personality when he comforts his companion who hard to address the socs who
were attacking him at the fountain.” Afterward, one the ESOL students saw my example and
wrote, “In the first couple [of] chapters he trys [sic] to figure out what his feeling about. He
says[,] ‘It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to feel frightened. No. wrong word.’”
Although the student showed signs of struggle, the ESOL student should immense improvement
due to the modeling technique. This allowed me to assess how each student is able using
examples to scaffold their own learning.
Current research shows that students, both ESOL and ESE, benefit greatly when they see
teachers model through their own writing and revisions. This is why I asked the supervising
teacher who approved my method modeling, which used live method of writing to show students
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 18
who professional writers start with a draft. Thus, each student began to write a rough draft of
their argument for the theme of their book.
The result of the modification and modeling increased student awareness, including their
ability to write full sentences. Due to this, their mastery of the concept increase exponentially.
Instead of writing a single word, they started writing sentence of at least five words to
summarize the theme. The next sentence had at least six words, using data from the text to
summarize the evidence for the argument.
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 19
Analysis of Student Learning
The pre/post assessment results showed that each student increased their understanding of
theme and its concept in a novel. The class scored an average of 65.7% on the post-assessment,
which was an increase of 19.7% from the average score of 46%. Individual students increased
their mastery from 28% to 84. The graphs bellow shows the individual student scores on the
pre/post-assessment for the live lesson I taught.
Figure 1
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 20
Figure 2
Figure 3
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 21
Prior to instruction, my students did not demonstrate master of any of the learning goals.
After the completion of the of my unit, ≈0% of my student demonstrated mastery of learning for
learning goal one, ≈33.3% demonstrated master of learning for learning goal three, ≈50%
demonstrated master of learning goal four, and ≈33.3% demonstrated mastery of learning for
learning goal five. This demonstrated an overall improvement of mastery. However, no student
mastered all five learning goals. For this reason, I plan to discuss revision of the material
presented and the manner it is presented and the possible inclusion of Common Core and
additional ESOL and ESE support. This will give me a chance to review and revise the
presentation with each instructor in live lessons, in order to include further modifications.
My cooperating teacher and have decided to increase the number of calls we make for
students that are currently in the module that contains the unit on them. Each student
demonstrated increase mastery. However, no student has demonstrated full mastery of each goal.
To assist each student, I will provide them additional reinforcement by providing additional
opportunities to master the material through module assignment revisions. In order to be
beneficial to ELLs and other students, I will provide opportunities for theme analysis through
line-a-child choral reading, using poems that are easy to read. However, each poem will have
moral lessons which need to be argued, using textual evidence from the poem for their
interpretation of the theme. If it is possible, I will provide a copy of a poem that is translated
from the ELLs native language. This will help unlock the ELL’s background knowledge and
interact with the L1 students. After creating an environment the ELL is comfortable with, I will
use a simplified word bank, which each student can use, including the ELL. This will break
down the tier one, two, and three words into the context of the lesson. After the remediation
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 22
lesson, I will ask the students to use the techniques taught toward their favorite books, poems,
journals, etc. They will be allowed to work on a group project or individually.
Four out of six students failed the post assessment. However, each student should
significant growth. The ESOL student (B6) increased from 30% mastery to 49% mastery in one
live lesson. Each student had poor master to begin with. However, ESOL students, as research
demonstrates, do not have the mastery of the English language to acquire complete mastery of
eight grade literary analysis. Due to this, I will design future lessons with an embedded ESOL
modified unit. Also, I will provide incentives for each student, such as an automatic 50% for
showing effort in the live lesson, for the topic covered. I will also notify parents that I will
provide further instruction upon request. There were points of distraction, which accounts for
low mastery. Thus, I will provide an additional opportunity each week for further instruction of
the topic I cover during the week.
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 23
Evaluation and Reflection
The highest average among students was learning goal four, which was mastered at 75%
overall. The least mastered learning goal was learning goal one at 45.8% mastery overall Due to
this, I believe that my overall teaching method was highly inadequate for each student, especially
the ESOL student. In order to create a better lesson plan, I believe it is necessary for me to revise
the entire presentation so it more interactive. Also, I need to work on allowing students the
opportunity to ask me for extra time, if they need it.
Overall, learning goal four was the most successful learning goal, with a 75% mastery,
due to the modeling that I planned to perform during the analytical writing session; each student
conducted their analysis using evidence of the text to argue for a theme statement. I used
concepts such as the Venn diagram that assisted students with juxtaposing two versions of The
Boy that Cried Wolf and the characters with in it. This taught each student close reading of the
text. Afterward, I modeled how to use evidence in the text through written argumentation.
The least successful learning goal was learning goal one, with a mastery of 48.5%. The
students did not show that they had any practice with module three. In order to clarify their
strengths and weaknesses, it is necessary for me to create a mini-lesson toward analytical
reading. To assist the students with analytical reading, it is advantageous to supply them with
professional writing that uses the technique they need to know. An example of a collection of
articles is The Journal of American Literature. This journal explores theme, scene, plot, etc. This
type of modeling will assist students because I will be there to show them how professionals
determine theme. Afterward, I can ask them how the author of the article discovered theme in the
literature the author is analyzing. Also, I can bring those concepts they witness from the
professions to the literature read in the class.
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 24
I believe my strength as a teacher is the hands on method I have as a teacher helps
students understand what they need to know through interactive processes. The instruction
method of illuminate, which was designed through PowerPoint, contains YouTube videos,
juxtaposition exercises and basic writing exercises. I used the Venn diagram as the juxtaposition
exercise for the YouTube videos that allowed the students to see two version of The Boy that
Cried Wolf. This was used a prewriting exercise that assisted student with their ability to use
textual evidence. Also, I modeled analytical writing for the students by completing portions of
the assignments in the class with them.
An area where I can improve my instruction is my i+1 methodology. After I taught the
lesson, reviewed the concepts taught, and the raw data gathered, I saw evidence that my lesson
lacked numerous accommodations and modifications. During my play back of the class, my
lesson on theme did not address ELLs and/or ESE. Instead, it was set up for students who did not
have IEPs. When teaching, I need to assess which IEPs I have in the class, which includes ESOL
and ESE students, and attempt to design lessons that have additional support. Part of that support
is word banks and modifications of lesson ideas. Since the students did not achieve mastery, I
noticed that the class was extremely high paced and left students with many questions I could not
answer, due to time. The evidence suggests that the questions and activities I submitted to the
online education system did not have enough visuals or manipulative. To assist ESOL and ESE
students, it is necessary to add more visuals and manipulative that each student can interact with.
This will assist each student to master the concept of theme and answer the questions, which uses
an i+1 methodology.
During the lesson, I learned that my pedagogy must engage students through differential
instruction. When I attempted to teach, I only taught using one methodology. Also, I spoke a lot
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 25
in the class, which gave it the quality of a traditional classroom. In the future, in order to
scaffold, I will design my lessons to be interactive. To accomplish this, I will use modified
activities from different sources. One of sources is Jump Write In! by Writer’s Corps. In the
book, there is a lesson that I call the tree of life. This is a visual, auditory, and kinesthetic activity
that is used to assist L1, ESE, and ESOL student to interact with a writing lesson, converse, and
work as a group. This lesson would have assisted the students in the lesson to interact with the
concept of theme in a differentiated manner. Also, it is necessary to scaffold for ESE and ESOL
student by addressing their interests. In the future, I will design lessons that address these
interests as I collect their free writes. This suggests that students who are not interested in the
lesson, or have poor rapport with me will not listen to it anyways. In fact, I should design my
lessons to address their views on technology, sports, music, and much more (i.e., video games).
Since their interests are much more visual due to technology, I should scaffold by using video
game designed lessons about theme to interest them.
Overall, the unit on theme suggests that the students have improved greatly improved.
However, they did not achieve mastery of the concept of theme. During the lesson, I asked
questions about the similarities and differences between The Boy the Cried Wolf from the
tradition version and the story from a modern, 21st century version. I asked questions such as:
“What did the boy in the original version do?” Also, I asked the same question about the 21st
Century version. When I asked for the differences, the students struggled to give an answer. This
shows that I needed to appeal to their background knowledge. For this reason, I asked about their
favorite shows. After I challenged them to see the differences between two of them, they were
able to complete the task. The same issue occurred when I asked about the similarities between
The Boy that Cried Wolf in the traditional version and the 21st century version. When I redesign
TEACHER WORK SAMPLE 26
the lesson, I will use the videogames, films, and books that the students are familiar with. This
will allow them to unlock their understanding of theme more efficiently. Also, it will get the
students further involved in the lesson presented. This will assist each student in their analytical
skills prior to assessment.