Subject: Reading
Title of Strategy: Comprehension: A short poem.
Goal or Objective: The achievement of understanding of the meaning of the selected poem and the mood of the lyric among students with intellectual disability (ID).
Teacher Task Analysis
To introduce the poem to the class, a teacher will briefly present some facts about the author, his or her previous works, genre, and other necessary details. A teacher will also show the peculiarity of lyric poetry and the poet’s skill in creating pictures of the given theme (Ainsworth, Ortlieb, Cheek Jr, Pate, & Fetters, 2012). The practice of the skill of expressive reading of the lyrical text will be provided as well.
Procedure
The students will be asked to read the poem independently and note the words by which the author expresses his or her ideas. The subsequent group discussion will enlighten the overall comprehension of the given piece in the class. During class discussions, every student will receive an opportunity to reveal his or her perceptions, questions, and any other assumptions. Working in groups brings the opportunity to students with ID to rationalize their position and come up with arguments. To facilitate discussion, a range of leading questions may be used. How do you understand the content? About whom does the author speak in his or her poem? To whom does the author apply? What is the author’s mood? Which words does the author use to convey his or her mood? (Hayes-Jacobs, 2013). These questions will lead students on their learning, thus ensuring appropriate and effective reading mastery.
Student Task Analysis
The students will expand and deepen their knowledge of poetry and ways to express their feelings through poetic means. They will develop the ability to compare, analyze, and summarize information to draw appropriate conclusions (Dymoke, 2012). After reading the poem, students will exchange their impressions about the nature of the literary work and conclude that it is possible to tell about one’s mood and feelings with the help of poetry.
Student Assessment
The assessment criteria will involve the extent of participation in discussion, appropriateness of ideas, and independent tasks. The latter will be accomplished via individual essays written by each of the students at home. For example, the essay topic may be formulated as follows: why did the author write this poem? (the students will write about the fact that the author wanted to tell about his or her feelings, share it with a reader, reveal the beauty of something, etc.). The expected volume of essays is one to two pages. Such length is appropriate for students with ID. A teacher will provide any required help with essay writing individually.
Mastery Goal: 80% – 90%.
Subject: Writing
Title of Strategy: Formal and informal letters.
Goal or Objective: The purpose of this curriculum is to give an idea of writing letters as a genre, focusing on the formation of accuracy, specific parts, and the role of the letter in one’s life. Mastery of knowledge of students regarding letter writing will be considered as a target.
Teacher Task Analysis
A teacher will explain the theme in detail to familiarize students with the letter as a type of text having its own structure and stylistic features. To acquaint students with the importance of letters in people’s lives, their importance, necessity, and relevance to society, a teacher will provide examples of official and informal letters (Kucer, 2014). The main task is to teach students to write letters according to the rules, norms, and requirements of the corresponding style (Hyland, 2016). A teacher will formulate the educational task, organize the conditions for its implementation, and direct the students’ speech activity. A teacher will ensure simple sentences and speech organization.
Procedure
A real-life situation will be used to illustrate that despite rapidly developing technology, traditional letters remain significant. For example, it will be suggested to imagine that one went to rest in a camp where mobile communication is not available. This person misses his parents and writes a letter, hurrying to share his impressions. The situation that may occur to every student will show learners the role of letters in one’s life.
The group discussion will be provided based on the above situation. Two examples of formal and informal letters will be presented to students to show the differences and similarities between these styles. The core rules will be identified in the course of the group discussion. Ultimately, the students will be asked to share their ideas on themes they prefer to reveal in their letters. This may include letters to friends, relatives, etc.
Student Task Analysis
The students will develop a sense of the formation of educational activity by establishing a connection between this activity and its application in real life. They will study the structure of a personal letter and a formal letter, the language clichés, and structural peculiarities (Hayes-Jacobs, 2013). The learners will have the opportunity to learn how to write two types of letters with the appropriate use of language tools. Also, the organization of group discussion will allow addressing all the questions regarding the theme that may occur in the course of interaction.
Student Assessment
To assess the learning results, a teacher will engage students in discussion, asking such questions as What is new for you? What did you already know? How can one apply it in practice? Where can one learn more about this? Also, the students will be asked to write one informal letter choosing the theme independently. They will write their letters legibly and clearly, avoiding corrections and mistakes. The letters will consist of several parts: greeting, body, questions, conclusion, and signature. The learners will use the acquired knowledge in the course of the exercise and present the results to the class.
Mastery Goal: 70% – 80%.
Subject: Spelling
Title of Strategy: Mastering words from the text.
Goal or Objective: To form the skills of the correct spelling of words in the text, working independently, expressing one’s point of view on the initiative of a teacher, and making a reflection on others’ works.
Teacher Task Analysis
A teacher will reveal and summarize the words noted by the students to learn their spelling, thus improving learners’ reading, vocabulary, and writing skills (Hayes-Jacobs, 2013).
Procedure
Every student will, first, carefully read the given short text to examine it from the point of view of spelling. Secondly, they will emphasize the most difficult words. After that, students will make a mutual check in pairs. The examining student will assess the peer whose work was checked. This will provide the opportunity for every student to see how well he or she coped with the task. A teacher will provide a detailed definition of these words and examples of their use in a sentence. Several tasks will be offered to promote learning of the revealed words. For example, students will compose sentences, fill in gaps, create short dialogues, etc.
Student Task Analysis
The students will consolidate and generalize knowledge gained on the topic, promote the development of the skills of work in pairs and independent work (Hyland, 2016). Simultaneously, a teacher will motivate students to form control skills based on reflection that will allow them to comment on others’ actions when performing tasks. The collaboration with classmates in the performance of the learning task will also be targeted.
Student Assessment
The evaluation of others’ works will be used to assess the outcome of the suggested learning activities. A teacher will invite students to analyze their partners’ work and exchange opinions about knowledge, skills, and abilities that they have learned or demonstrated during the performance of a certain exercise, task, or activity (Kucer, 2014). It should also be noted that a teacher will create conditions for adequate evaluation by students and motivate them for further education. Among the expected results, there is the application of knowledge and skills regarding the practice of spelling and the application in practice. The students will also show their mastery of the revealed and discussed words’ spelling in an individual manner via the multiple-choice test.
Mastery Goal: 90% – 100%.
Subject: Mathematics
Title of Strategy: Arithmetic mean.
Goal or Objective: To develop skills of representing the arithmetic mean of several numbers; to acquaint students with the rule of finding the arithmetic mean and its use in solving simple tasks.
Teacher Task Analysis
One of the most important educational tasks of a teacher is the formation of the cognitive perception of the arithmetic mean (Jacobbe, 2012). It will be achieved via the detailed explanation, and use of such concepts as “the arithmetic mean of several numbers” and “the rule of finding the average arithmetic” in the process of a real situation (McKeough, 2013). A teacher will engage students in participating in the collective discussion of the issue and build productive interaction to answer the questions related to the theme, thus making sure that each of the ID students understands it.
Procedure
The so-called “picture look” will be offered to students to let them overview the topic. After that, a teacher will provide examples, focusing on one-digit numbers. The class will work together to understand the topic in detail and reveal any questions. A range of real-life situations will be used to help students in learning. For example, it will be beneficial to consider the following situation. Jane, Alice, and Kate were on a camping trip. Approaching the forest, they decided to make a halt. Jane had 2 apples, Alice 4, and Kate 3. Girls shared all the apples equally and ate. How many apples did everyone eat?
Student Task Analysis
The students will be able to find the arithmetic mean of one-digit numbers. They will be able to resolve simple tasks based on real-life situations. Every student will be asked to resolve a couple of tasks to show his or her understanding of the theme (McGee, Wang, & Polly, 2013).
Student Assessment
The students will be assessed according to the following points: the ability to process information and rank it for the reasons indicated; the mastery of finding the arithmetic mean; and ways selected to resolve problems depending on specific conditions.
Mastery Goal: 80% – 90%.
References
Ainsworth, M. T., Ortlieb, E., Cheek Jr, E. H., Pate, R. S., & Fetters, C. (2012). First-grade teachers’ perception and implementation of a semi-scripted reading curriculum. Language and Education, 26(1), 77-90.
Dymoke, S. (2012). Poetry is an unfamiliar text: Locating poetry in secondary English classrooms in New Zealand and England during a period of curriculum change. Changing English, 19(4), 395-410.
Hayes-Jacobs, H. (2013). Active literacy across the curriculum: Strategies for reading, writing, speaking, and listening. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hyland, K. (2016). Teaching and researching writing (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Jacobbe, T. (2012). Elementary school teachers’understanding of the mean and median. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 10(5), 1143-1161.
Kucer, S. B. (2014). Dimensions of literacy: A conceptual base for teaching reading and writing in school settings (4th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
McGee, J. R., Wang, C., & Polly, D. (2013). Guiding teachers in the use of a standards‐based mathematics curriculum: Teacher perceptions and subsequent instructional practices after an intensive professional development program. School Science and Mathematics, 113(1), 16-28.
McKeough, A. (2013). Teaching for transfer: Fostering generalization in learning. New York, NY: Routledge.