Lesson Plan reflection: Marzano Techniques

3. Learning Targets – What are the objectives for the lesson?
3.3 – Cite the EALRs/standards using the numbers and text. Usually limit the lesson to 1 – 2 EALRs. (+5)
EALR 1- The student understands and uses different skills and strategies to readEALR 2- The student understands the meaning of what is read
3.4 – Cite the corresponding GLEs/performance expectations using the numbers and text. (+5)
1.2.2- Apply a variety of strategies to comprehend words and ideas in a complex text2.1.6- Apply comprehension monitoring strategies to understand text: monitor for meaning, create mental images. 2.3.3- Understand literary devices and explain how they make the story more interesting and/or convey a message.
3.5 – Cite the objectives (skills or concepts) for the lesson. What do you want students to think, know and/or be able to do at the end of the lesson? They need to be aligned with the GLEs/performance expectations and EALRs/standards. (+5)
Students will analyze a poem and create mental images to find the deeper meaning of a poem.
Essential Question: How does re-reading a poem help me figure out the deeper meaning hidden in a poem?  How does creating mental images help me better understand the author’s message in a poem?
4.8 – Complete the following table to highlight what the students will do to demonstrate competence specific to learning for this lesson.
Description of formative assessment activity (required) (+5)		Evaluative criteria (+5)	What the assessment is designed to assess (+5)	Feedback to students (+5)
Students will analyze the poem “The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost.  They will identify literary devices, uses of punctuation, the speaker, the audience, and create mental image to find the deeper meaning of the poem.		Poem has multiple annotations with important words or phrases circled or highlighted.  Poem will have an explanation of student’s ideas of the meaning of the poem.	Student’s ability to annotate poem and identify literary devices.  Student will be able to synthesize information and explain their idea of the author’s message.	2 to 1 small group verbal feedback.Whole group feedback on information learned. Written feedback on poems identifying what they did well and what they need to work on.
Description of summative assessment activity (optional)		Evaluative criteria	What the assessment is designed to assess	Feedback to students
Students will analyze a poem individually identifying literary devices, impact of literary devices, the deeper meaning of the poem, evidence cited specifically to support their answers.		Poem has 10 circled/highlighted words or phrases with annotations relating them to feelings and emotions.  Poem has 3 literary devices identified.  Poem has at least one sentence describing what the student thinks the deeper meaning of the poem is, and 3 pieces of evidence to explain	Student’s knowledge of literary devices and ability to identify them.  Student’s ability to find the deeper meaning in a poem.  Student’s ability to cite evidence to support their answers.	Written feedback on analysis.
5. Instructing and Engaging Students in Learning – What will happen in the lesson?
5.5 – Describe the sequence of steps in the lesson in the following table. General lesson sequences may be more directive (e.g., ITIP) or open (constructivist). Whatever design is used, the lesson needs to be explicitly outlined. (+45) Points here will depend on clarity, organization, and applicable Marzano strategies.  Blog reflections are scored separately.Complete the following table: Provide an estimate of time. List the sequence of the various learning experiences in the lesson. Include specific strategies from Classroom Instruction that Works, R. Marzano
Time	Learning experiences
	(2 minutes) Read out learning target and re-write target in student voice as a class.(15 minutes) Read aloud and model analysis and annotation of “A Dream Deferred”, by Langston Hughes.  This is the first time that we will read this aloud together as a class.  We will repeat this two more times, as we are working on students reading out loud, and re-reading poems. (5 minutes) Use turn and talks to create mental images for finding meaning of the poem as a group.  Write student ideas on poem.  By writing student ideas on the poem on the document camera we are acknowledging student voice.  Instead of writing what I think, we are creating a whole class analysis.  This coincides with Marzano’s ideas of reinforcing effort and providing recognition. (20 minutes) Students go back to tables and work in pairs to read “The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost to each other to practice re-reading a poem.  This is an example of “cooperative learning” from Marzano’s best practices.  Students begin annotating poem in pairs and create mental images to understand meaning of text.  I want them to do this together as the next step after this lesson will be for them to do it on their own.  This is part of the theory of gradual release. (8 minutes) Pull class up front and share ideas of the meaning of the text, check for clear and unclear meanings, check for identification of literary devices.  Students will then take a few minutes to write their own ideas of what the deeper meaning of the text is in a single sentence.  This is to prepare them for a discussion on theme, which is in upcoming lessons.  This whole lesson is a lesson in note-taking, annotating and summarizing for the purpose of finding deeper meaning within a complex text.  We are trying to get them to do this with poetry, but also to understand that this way of thinking can help them with other subjects and other texts that they have to read for class when they find it difficult to find the meaning of the text.

REFLECTION:  The idea of this lesson was to try and help students understand how to find deeper meaning within a text, which is a difficult lesson, but incredibly important lesson to learn.  My prediction was that my honors students were going to be able to do this with much more ease than my proficient students, but interestingly enough many of my honors students struggled with this task, and the proficient students grasp the concepts much more easily.  I think one reason this could be is that with poetry there is no right or wrong answer, so you can never tell a student that they got the answer.  This frustrated a lot of my honors students who are very used to getting the answer right or wrong, and a few of them have qualities that are similar to being a perfectionist.  It was very interesting to watch them struggle to find the meaning of the poem, as many of them took everything too literally.  The honors students could identify that part of the poem was a metaphor, but could not explain what the metaphor meant or why the author used the metaphor for emphasis.

I find that this model of a gradual release very well to help guide students in the right direction.  Often I do not scaffold enough for students so this time, as I was introducing very new material, I was careful to lay the lesson out very clearly and simply, so students were clear as to what they needed to do.  This lesson worked really well, and I like the idea of everyone contributing to the annotation of the poem, and showing them how far you can go with interpretations.  I also liked how it showed them that there are many different answers to the meaning of a text, and that not just one is right or wrong.  I could honestly teach this poetry unit for an entire year, as I am having so much fun with it, and feel like we are getting to the meat of understanding text, and writing some truly creative poems.  We have done so much in this whole unit working with grammar, structure, thesaurus work, dictionary work, annotating- the list goes on.  The students have all seemed to loosen up a bit in this unit and I am really enjoying seeing their creative sides.  We have done some art that goes along with the poetry and it helps to let the students who like to create art a chance to shine.

Lesson Plan reflection: Marzano Techniques 2

Lesson Design Template: Simplified for Teaching
Teacher Candidate (+5)		Kaarina Aufranc
Grade (+1)		7th
Subject  (+1)		English Language Arts
Date (+1)		2/14/12
3. Learning Targets – What are the objectives for the lesson?
3.3 – Cite the EALRs/standards using the numbers and text. Usually limit the lesson to 1 – 2 EALRs. (+5)
EALR 2- The student understands the meaning of what is read
3.4 – Cite the corresponding GLEs/performance expectations using the numbers and text. (+5)
2.3.3- Understands the function of literary devices
3.5 – Cite the objectives (skills or concepts) for the lesson. What do you want students to think, know and/or be able to do at the end of the lesson? They need to be aligned with the GLEs/performance expectations and EALRs/standards. (+5)
Students will identify and define literary devices and analyze texts for similarities and differences.
Essential Questions: How do literary devices impact the effectiveness of the poem?
4.8 – Complete the following table to highlight what the students will do to demonstrate competence specific to learning for this lesson.
Description of formative assessment activity (required) (+5)			Evaluative criteria (+5)	What the assessment is designed to assess (+5)	Feedback to students (+5)
Graphic organizer asking for them to activate prior knowledge of literary devices and taking a group of poems to try and predict what the common literary device used in the group of poems is.  Students will cite evidence to support their answer.			Chart is filled out completely, students are specific about their evidence to support their answers..	Student’s prior knowledge and ability to identify literary devices in a group of poems.Student’s ability to cite evidence correctly and specifically.	5 to 1 small group verbal feedback.2 to 1 small group feedback.Whole group feedback on information learned.Written feedback on charts identifying places where students could be more specific with evidence.
Description of summative assessment activity (optional)			Evaluative criteria	What the assessment is designed to assess	Feedback to students
Post test			Passing is 60%	Student’s knowledge of literary devices and ability to identify them.  Student’s ability to find the deeper meaning in a poem.  Student’s ability to cite evidence to support their answers.	Written comments on test.
5. Instructing and Engaging Students in Learning – What will happen in the lesson?
5.5 – Describe the sequence of steps in the lesson in the following table. General lesson sequences may be more directive (e.g., ITIP) or open (constructivist). Whatever design is used, the lesson needs to be explicitly outlined. (+45) Points here will depend on clarity, organization, and applicable Marzano strategies.  Blog reflections are scored separately.Complete the following table: Provide an estimate of time. List the sequence of the various learning experiences in the lesson. Include specific strategies from Classroom Instruction that Works, R. Marzano
Time	Learning experiences
	(5 minutes)Introduce learning targets for the learning segment and create a poster to hang in the classroom for these targets.(10 minutes) Students work in table groups to activate prior knowledge on what they think these literary devices mean: metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, rhyme, and repetition.  They write their answers in one column in the graphic organizer.(15 minutes) We then go over the definitions of these literary devices as student follow along on a modeled chart that is up on the document camera.  Students share out what they think it might be as we go along.  The final column is filling out an example of each literary device.  For example: Meataphor- “her smile was a ray of sunshine”.  We would ask for student examples as well and let them choose which one to use in their chart.This activity uses a graphic organizer to show students growth in learning.  Graphic organizers are an example of using Marzano’s technique of nonlinguistic representations. (Marzano, 2001)As they go along the lesson, students can see their prior knowledge and compare it to the actual definition.  This is an example of Marzano’s technique of generating and testing hypothesis.  While students may know the answers to these definitions, we are asking them to predict what they might mean and use other students to bounce ideas off of each other to see if that will activate any prior knowledge.  Most students have heard of these terms prior to coming to this class, so they may have a general idea of what they mean, but could not produce an example of what it is. (2001) (5 minutes) Explain table group station activity and divide class into groups of five. (15 minutes) Students begin table group activity called “Name this station”: Each station has a group of poems (about 7-10) that have ONE literary device in common.  Some of the poems are complex and some are very easy to help incorporate all levels of learning.  The challenge is that some poems have more than one literary device in them, but they need to use deductive skills in determining which one they all have.   Once they have named their station they must cite evidence to support their answer.  Rotate every 7 minutes.  We will only get to 2-3 stations today, but will continue lesson the next day. Homework for this lesson is a worksheet on simile and metaphor.  Student will practice writing their own similes and metaphors with examples for students to look through.  By the time they get home to work on this worksheet they will have encountered metaphor and simile a few times during the day.  This is an example of Marzano’s technique of using homework and practice as a way to practice their skills that they have already tried in the classroom.  The goal is not to frustrate the student with new ideas, but rather to let them practice the skill on their own, once they have tried it inside the classroom. (2001)

Reflection:

This was an incredibly successful lesson in a lot of ways, as I think that having them do the prior knowledge activity in groups helped them begin to access that knowledge better than if I had explained it to them.  Hearing academic language from their peers seemed to help the lower level students, as did the repetition of the language throughout this activity.  It should be stated that students have been grouped together in particular groups for the purpose of activating each other’s prior knowledge.  The graphic organizer that we used was incredibly useful for students to refer to for not only this lesson, but for lessons that followed this one.  I liked how the chart included sections: Section one was “What would you guess this means”.  Section Two: “What this actually means”.  Section Three: “An example of this is”.  They had this chart all throughout the table group activity so they could refer to it as they explored all of the different texts.  I could tell that this was useful as I heard students using the chart to identify their table group.  For example I heard one student say, “This poem is a tongue twister”, which is what we wrote about alliteration.  It helped them identify the table group when they were struggling to decide which was which.  Interestingly, I thought that this activity would not be as challenging for our honors class, but many of them found it to be very challenging.

I noticed on their worksheets that they did for homework that students of all levels had the ability to fill out the worksheet completely, which was not easy to do.  I could tell that it was a successful lesson, as many students also created their own examples of similes and metaphors that were creative and their own.  I was impressed that they didn’t just copy down examples that I had given them from their chart.

Lesson Plan: Marzano techniques

 

Lesson Design Template: Simplified for Teaching
Teacher Candidate (+5)		Kaarina Aufranc
Mentor Teacher (+5)		C.H.
University Coordinator (+5)		Betsy Le Doux
School  (+2)		PMS
Grade (+1)		8th
Subject  (+1)		U.S. History
Date (+1)		1/24/12
3. Learning Targets – What are the objectives for the lesson?
3.3 – Cite the EALRs/standards using the numbers and text. Usually limit the lesson to 1 – 2 EALRs. (+5)
EALR:  4: Student understands and applies knowledge of historical thinking, chronology, eras, turning points, major ideas, individuals and themes in US History in order to evaluate how history shapes the present and future.
3.4 – Cite the corresponding GLEs/performance expectations using the numbers and text. (+5)
4.2.2 Understands and analyzes how cultures and cultural groups have contributed to U.S. history
3.5 – Cite the objectives (skills or concepts) for the lesson. What do you want students to think, know and/or be able to do at the end of the lesson? They need to be aligned with the GLEs/performance expectations and EALRs/standards. (+5)
Students will know and analyze the differences and similarities between American Colonists and the English during Colonial times.
4. Lesson Assessment – How will students demonstrate their learning?
4.8 – Complete the following table to highlight what the students will do to demonstrate competence specific to learning for this lesson.
Description of formative assessment activity (required) (+5)			Evaluative criteria (+5)	What the assessment is designed to assess (+5)	Feedback to students (+5)
Students will follow a pictorial narrative with ELL color-coding strategies.  They will create a T-chart comparing and contrasting American Colonists and Englishmen.  Students will follow along taking specific notes from lecture.Students use a half sheet for a ticket to leave predicting why the Revolution began using prior knowledge.			– T chart should have a minimum of two specific notes in each category: Appearances, Children, Government, Women and Religion.	If they can compare and contrast two different cultures.	Written feedback and comments indicating whether they have fulfilled the minimum requirement and if it related to the criteria indicated.
Description of summative assessment activity (optional)			Evaluative criteria	What the assessment is designed to assess	Feedback to students
Post test and essay			Passing is 60%	Student knowledge of unit targets and essential questions.	Written comments on test.
5. Instructing and Engaging Students in Learning – What will happen in the lesson?
5.5 – Describe the sequence of steps in the lesson in the following table. General lesson sequences may be more directive (e.g., ITIP) or open (constructivist). Whatever design is used, the lesson needs to be explicitly outlined. (+45) Points here will depend on clarity, organization, and applicable Marzano strategies.  Blog reflections are scored separately.Complete the following table: Provide an estimate of time. List the sequence of the various learning experiences in the lesson. Include specific strategies from Classroom Instruction that Works, R. Marzano
Time	Learning experiences
10 min                                             5 min       25 min           10 min	Review targets and assessments for the new Unit: The Causes of The Revolutionary War.  Students write the targets, essential questions, and assessments in their notebook as I create a poster to check off as we go along the unit.  As we do this we asked the students to circle which targets they think will be the most useful information, and which assessments they would like to do the most.  This will be revisited at another time when students give us ideas on how they can personalize their goals for individual learning.  This idea is represented on page 95. Of the Marzano text when he states that goal setting must be specific, but also flexible to provide students with the sense that they are in control of their own learning (Marzano, 2001). Targets- I will… *know the main people and events that lead to the Revolutionary War *know and understand what a revolution is and how studying the American Revolution helps me to understand past and current revolutions. *be able to analyze and interpret historical materials including primary and secondary sources *be able to analyze multiple causal factors and form a position on an issue. Essential Question: Was it right for the American Colonists to fight for their Independence from Britain? Assessments: Weekly ticket to leave Powder Keg Summary: key events that lead to the Revolutionary War Cornell Notes Research another revolution Persuasive Essay Post Test Vocabulary words into the word wall (this is done in their US History notebook): This is modeled at the same time on the doc camera using vocabulary sheets with pictures that correlate to the word.  Vocabulary Words: Revolution and Radicals.  Students copy the meaning of the word into their word wall with a small picture that represents the word in their own perspective. Pictorial narrative:  A picture of the similarities and differences between the American Colonists and the Englishmen is drawn on a large poster using color-coding for each category as an ELL strategy.  This picture coordinates with a T-Chart students create in their notebooks.  T-Chart is also modeled on the doc camera as we go along.  As Marzano states, graphic organizers enhance student understanding and ability to use their knowledge.  This was also done with his suggestion of doing comparing and contrasting when he says that a teacher should do this as a highly structured task (2001) Ticket to leave.  Students must analyze information learned and make predictions about coming events.  Students first turn and talk to their neighbor to discuss the question and analyze the poster that we have created together during the lesson.  This coincides with Marzano’s technique of cooperative learning in his “face-to-face promotive interaction” strategy.  He states that when students are helping each other learn they create accountability and interdependence (p. 85, 2001).

 

Reflection:  This lesson was a successful one in that it may seem that we were trying to cover too much information, but we have taught lessons that were similar to this in the past, so students are ready to do what is expected now that we are in the second semester.  We have done Targets and Assessments, pictorial narratives, vocabulary with pictures and tickets to leave many times in the past, so the transitions were smooth and quick, and the students are already moving forward in creating their pictures and charts in their notebooks without scaffolding each step along the way.

My mentor teacher like to scaffold what students write in their notebooks very carefully, and makes a great effort to be certain they are writing everything down correctly.  We model note taking on the doc camera as we go along in the lesson and they are to write exactly as we do in their notebooks.  For some of these students this can be a very routine and easy task for them, but for others it is incredibly challenging because of their different skill levels.  I can see that many of the students that are higher level learners find this mundane and get frustrated by how slowly we must go to include all of the students.  This unit we are going to use a gradual release for all students for them to take notes on their own and assess how students do on their note taking skills.

My mentor teacher uses pictorial narratives often in her class, and students have expressed in Unit reflections that these help them remember the information when they are taking the tests.  One student told me that she can see the poster in her head and when she is taking her post-test she can close her eyes and remember the picture that we hang on the walls during the unit as we go along.  This picture was a large poster and on one side there was a drawing of what an Englishman would have looked like at this time, and on the other side there was a picture of what a colonist would have looked like at this time.  We highlighted similarities and differences in the categories of appearance, children, religion, government, and the role of women in these two places.  Each category was highlighted in a different color.  Students often express to me that highlighting the pictures in different colors is especially helpful, because it helps them categorize  these comparisons in their minds.  When we refer to the poster often we will say, “remember when we talked about the role of women in our picture in red?”.  This consistent reminder has helped some of our visual learners in particular.

The ticket to leave was very interesting when I went through their answers to our questions which was: 1. What were the main differences between these two groups of people and 2.How do you think the differences between these two groups of people may have lead to the Revolutionary War.  We had not discussed this in our class, but we were asking them to think critically and to come up with some inferences about our lesson.  Many of them focused on religion being the main cause of the war.  Others thought that the role of women was a larger part of why the war started.  I realized looking at their exit ticket and then reviewing the poster again that the second question was not a fair question in relation to the poster.  The poster did not discuss taxes, or laws, or how the British were trying to control the colonists’ lives, it merely looked at the similarities and the differences.  It was fair to ask the question, but they would have had to rely on their prior knowledge to answer that question correctly.  It was good to see the students take a guess at question number two and their answers did show that they were listening to lesson and trying to relate it to the question.