Modified lesson plan

Modified Lesson PlanMarley Martin

About the Lesson

• Lesson on nouns• Taught to first grade• Class size of 17• Taught by myself as a substitute

teacher• I was provided:

• A lesson book• Picture cards• A pocket chart• White boards for each child

Example of pocket chart

The Lesson• Topic: Nouns• Objective: To identify nouns in pictures and in words.• Time Allotment: 35 minutes• Summary: As a substitute I was left a lesson plan book that

was left open on the page about introducing nouns for the language arts portion of the day. It’s direction was to have the children understand that a noun is a person, place or thing. It also explained that students should also be able to pick out what is a noun and what is not based on the word. This was the children’s first introduction to nouns, they had however learned about verbs the day prior so they understood what parts of speech are.

ProcedureI explained to the students that a noun was word that’s a person, place or thing, I then handed out the children each three picture cards that had either a person, a place or a thing on the front. I had a pocket chart in the middle of the room so that everyone could see it from their desk. The pocket folder had three categories: person, place and thing. I instructed the children to take 3 minutes and look at their card to decide what category each one fit into. I had each child take a turn coming up to the front of the room to show each card and to put it into the right category. The class was able to help their classmates if they needed help picking a category out, this took about 20 minutes total. The students had their white boards at their desks so we were able to move into the next activity very smoothly. I would say a word and they had to write down if it was a noun or not, and if it was what category it fell under; we did this activity for 10 minutes. For the last 5 minutes before we had to change our focus the students asked questions about nouns such as asking if a word was a noun or not.

Current Status• In order for this activity to be successful the students need

to have basic knowledge of the words person, place and thing• As well as a general understanding of the pictures and words used

to demonstrate nouns• The students should also already have a prior

understanding as to what parts of speech are• If a child lacks these skills they will have a hard time

comprehending what is being said and taught• Potential Barrier

• Students could guess what type of noun it is by being in a whole class setting

• Feel pressure from being in front of class

UDL Principle 1Provide Multiple Means of Presentation• More Descriptive Examples

• Clarifying the noun by describing it a couple of sentences• Use Visuals

• Writing out the words for the students to decide on their white board if it is a noun will help visual learners

• Give Definition• I never gave a hard copy of the definition; they could write this out or I

could give them a printed copy• Background Knowledge

• Reviewing with students what parts of speech means and writing that on the board next to a definition of a noun could help students remember what they learned previously

• Remove Distractions• To remove unwanted distractions I could collect the photo cards after

they look them over before they go up to put them inside the pockets

UDL Principle 2Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression• Different Ways to Write

• Instead of everyone writing on white boards some could write in pencil on paper, or on a tablet.• Speech to text for the students who need it.

• Multiple Tools• As an alternative to everyone doing the pocket activity students could opt to use other graphic

organizers and can come up with their own examples of nouns through pictures or words• Provide examples or templates

• Concept maps• Visual organizer on iPads• Outlines

• Different Models• Have examples of different tools they can use and create to show same result• Could make groups out of the different tools students choose to label their pictures as

• Set Goals• Have goals in place for how many nouns they should come up with

• Make these goals seen by writing them on the board

• Monitoring Progress• Prompt students for self reflection such as writing if they feel good, alright or not so good with

what the learned and writing them on their white boards and showing the teacher

UDL Principle 3Provide Multiple Means of Engagement• Options

• Allow the students the option to choose which graphic organizer they want to work on and how much they want to write for each group

• Keeping it Relevant• Using words and pictures that the students know and care about or that are

intriguing to them• Variation in Noise

• Keeping it quiet during instruction, small chat during examples and choice of quiet or group working while practicing

• Group Work• Allow students to work in assigned groups to work on the task of making their

graphic organizers together• Self Reflection

• Have students write out a sentence on what they learned about nouns and keep this in a journal, this could be used as a reminder each time there is a new lesson

Scaffolding• Struggle

• Have different explanations ready for students who might not understand •Examples already premade of finished project•Explaining the definition of a person, place and thing

• Chunk Lesson•Break lesson into smaller parts by only giving the student one picture card at a time to look at

• Allow for struggling students to work with a teacher• In small groups have the teacher be located near the most challenged students

Levels of Challenge- Students who Excel• Build off of the assignment

• Identify verbs that could go along with their noun• Example: noun: ocean; verb: swim

• Expand on previous knowledge of verbs• Have Options

• Make the amount of work a student does on each assignment optional; meaning set a minimal expectation of what needs to be completed and expect advanced students to do more

• Accelerated students usually finish sooner than those who have challenges, encourage them to do more examples

• Extra Assignment• Have extra assignments available for those who are finished

such as a reflective question or a worksheet

How to Help Diverse Learners• ESL Students

• Provide a translation sheet with the words in English and in their language

• Pair the ESL student with a student who has advanced speaking, reading and writing skills

• Auditory Learners• Offer one of the extra activities to be to make a song about remembering

nouns• Visual/ Kinesthetic Learners

• Draw a picture and label an example of a person and thing in a place as an extra activity

• Other Accommodations• Utilize assistive technology such as iPads• Write schedule on board so students do not get anxious over what is next

My Modified Lesson• The outcome and the learning product stays the same• The process changes to fit needs of all learners• Broke the activities into two sections

• Part one: Noun definition and examples• Part two: Identifying nouns and using them

Part One: Introduction and Examples• Students will be asked to describe/define what parts of speech

are. Teacher will write the definition on board when answered correctly by a student or will explain what the definition is if no one recall it. Teacher will right “Noun: person, place or thing” on board underneath the parts of speech definition. Teacher will ask for any examples of nouns and will provide feedback based on answers.

• The teacher will pass out an image card to each student and tell them that they will have a minute to think about if it is a person, place or thing. The students will then come up to the front of the classroom to put it into a pocket chart under the titles: person, place or thing. When a student gets a tough image to fit into a category then they can turn to the class for help with identifying it.

Part Two: Identifying and Demonstrating the use of Nouns • After the students practice with the entire group they are broken into

groups to practice in different stations. The stations include:• Creating a graphic organizer to list different examples of nouns• Teacher guided station where they say a word and the student has to write down

on a white board or a piece of paper if it is a noun and what category it goes into if it is

• Creative station where students can create a song about nouns, a story or a picture (picture has to have nouns pointed out by words)

• Each station will be 10 minutes long, worksheets about nouns will be available for those who finish early in their station

• Worksheets will be given as homework if not completed in class• Worksheets include

• Highlight the noun in a sentence• Two examples of three nouns that match in each category (Alaska, Eskimo, snow)

• The last ten minutes of class will be for the students to write in their journal two sentences, the first on what the learned about nouns and the second on how they feel about their knowledge on nouns

Conclusion• Time allotment: 45 minutes to an hour • Small groups are introduced

• Groups can be chosen to pair students with• Similar needs and strengths •Diverse strengths and weaknesses

• Greater understanding of content• The stations provide a way for students to experience nouns in

several different ways• More ways of assessment

• Working in small groups with teacher, reflective journal, graphic organizer, and noun project • Compared to the informal assessment of white board answers during group lesson in the unmodified lesson