Cross Curricular Lesson

Learning Outcome: 

Students will be able to paraphrase text and information read aloud.

Content Area Standards: 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.2
Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NBT.A.2
Read and write multi-digit whole numbers using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form. 

Activities

 Reading: During our reading block, students will read a passage a day about the 7 Wonders of the World from readworks.com. One of the passages will be the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt.  They will do a close read of the passage. To practice paraphrasing, they will read the passage once and highlight a important word from the passage. They will read it again a second time and highlight another important word. They will read it one last time with gestures. Then, they will use the two highlighted word in their paraphrase. They will share their paraphrase with their partner. Their partner will then paraphrase what their partner said; this will ensure that the partner is listening closely. 

Math:  Students will be working on Egyptian numeral system during Number Corner (Bridges in Mathematics curriculum). Egyptian numeral system is based on the scale of ten, which is the same system we use. The students will be noticing patterns on the calendar each day as the number increases by 11 a day. Students will notice that a "staff" represents a 1 and a "heel" represents a 10, and a rope represents 100. They will be asked to make predictions on what the next days number will be based on the patterns they observe. They will need to add the numerals such as 8 heels and 11 sticks, which help them better understand the base ten model.  

Pre-Assessment

Students will be given a passage and asked to paraphrase it. Before handing out the passage, I will let the students know that this pre-assessment does not affect their grade, but to try their best. It is OK if they turn in a blank paper. Also, I will purposely not tell them what paraphrasing means because I want to know if they understand that academic vocabulary. 

Learning Product/Presentation/Expression

& Post-Assessment

Students will be writing brochures about the "8th Wonder of the World" where they will use words and pictographs. Pictographs are used by Egyptians as a symbol for a word or phrase. They will embed these pictographs in their brochures. They will try to persuade others to visit their "8th Wonder of the World." They will also need to include the cost of their admission on their brochure to visit their 8th wonder using the Egyptian number system.  Their partner will then read their brochure and practice the paraphrasing strategies that we have worked on all week. The partner will be responsible for presenting their partner's "8th Wonder of the World" in front of the class. The person who created the brochure will be analyzing and critiquing their partner to determine if they did an adequate job at paraphrasing their brochure. They will be checking to if their partner is sharing all of the information in the brochure and using different words then they wrote in the brochure, but keeping the correct information. 

Teaching Reflection (How to improve)

While this lessons is full of fun activities, I think it could be improved with a classroom transformation to improve the student's intrinsic motivation. I could also add more content areas if I make this a longer unit. I will play the part of a flight attendant as the kids travel the world starting in Giza, Egypt as we practice paraphrasing literature and ending in Brazil rounding the numbers of the 10 highest water slides around the world!  We could watch videos of the water slides and be sure to buckle up due to the extreme turbulence. I'll never stopped playing the role of flight attendant!

To make my classroom resemble a airport and airplane, I will turn my tables into rows and cover the sides with white long paper. I'll put a symbol in the middle and write flight 12 (classroom #). I'll also put blue paper at the front and cover it with clouds. The background music will be airplane sounds that I found on YouTube. 

 
Before they get on the flight, I'll have a table outside my door that says baggage claim where they'll put their backpacks and pick up their boarding pass and passport (both templates are free from Pinterest). I'll call the class in by making an announcement that is similar to an airport... "now boarding, Rodriguez airlines flight 12 to Giza, Egypt."  I'll shout it from a cone with my door slightly cracked. Then, I'll walk out in an outfit that looks similar to a flight attendant greeting each passenger and "checking" their passport as they enter.

Then, I played a short film on Giza, Egypt that I found on YouTube to get them hooked.  After the video, the kids will do their close reading on the 7 Wonder of the World passage from readworks.

 
During writing, we will watch a video of school lunches around the world which I also found on YouTube. They'll have to write an opinion paragraph on which one they would choose to eat and why.

As I excuse them for recess, I'll keep character by thanking them for flying Rodriguez airlines. These activities will definitely increase their intrinsic motivation as students are often intrinsically motivated when the activities are enjoyable, exciting, personally relevant, and challenging.

In addition to working on the base ten model for math, we could practice rounding as we watch a video of the tallest roller coasters around the world that I found on YouTube. They'll first watch it once to see it through without me stopping it. During this time, I'll pass out "refreshments" (popcorn and water) and I, of course, will walk the aisle asking them if they'd like popcorn or water. The second time we watch the video, I'll pause it after each roller coaster, so they can round the number. Also, they can practice rounding by watching a video of how far kids travel to school around the world; this video also shows how kids traveled to school. The kids will be shocked how some kids get to school.  

The Cone of Learning

"Dad, how do I make your Italian dressing again?" These are famous words I always ask my dad when we visit him. He always tells me and then does it for me. Ultimately, I end up forgetting because we only remember 50% of what we hear and see. Our students are victim of this same thing if we never allow them to explain things to us and provide them with hands on experiences. A famous quote by Confucius, "I see and I forget. I hear and I remember. I do and I understand," is essential for teachers to remember when designing their lessons and activities.

Keeping that in mind, in a lesson about Native American's, I would have the lesson objective be to design and build a replica California Native American (Ohlone) Tule House. I would provide the students with pool noodles, tape, ribbon (to use a ties), and paper that looks like wood. To embed the vocabulary into the unit, the students will refer to the part as its real name. For example, if they are connecting the tule with ribbon, they will call it willow branches instead of ribbon. I will have each part labeled, so the students know. Below is an example of what it would look like once built.

As the student design and build the Tule House, they will be collaborating ideas about best methods for constructing it. They will need to defend their ideas for why they think it will be the best way to build the structure. They will need to work together with their teammates and agree upon how to build it. They will come across obstacles, and will need to figure out as a team how to move forward with the goal of building the Native American home. They will experience what the Ohlone people went through when developing their villages. 

They will be presenting their Tule House to the other 4th grade classrooms where they will share their experiences from building. They will talk about what materials they used, how they constructed it, the obstacles they encountered, and reflect on their favorite parts of the activity. They will then display the house in the library for students to use a quiet reading space. 

It is clear that this lesson includes hands on activities in which the students are the ones doing and talking. If we want student's to remember lessons, we need to make them student centered where they are actively taking the role of talking and doing. They become the teachers. Otherwise, if teachers are the only ones doing the talking and students are only listening, they will quickly forget everything that was taught.  Looking back, if I really want to remember how to make my dad's famous Italian dressing, I need to be the one to make the dressing while he assists by answering any questions I have. I should also be telling him about each step so that I am both doing and saying because according to Edgar Dale, "We tend to remember 90% of what we SAY and DO!" Clearly, watching my dad isn't helping me learn and my students won't learn by just watching me. I'll end with, the person that is doing the talking is the one doing the learning. 

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

An event in my schooling in which I was inspired to perform was in my college debate class. She did something very simple but most college professor failed to do. She greeted me and my colleagues at the door everyday. Even more than that, she greeted us all by name. When I felt like a "number" in my other college courses, I felt like a important person in Ms. Peterson's class. She also learned about our weekend activities and would ask about them before class started. For example, I played softball in college, and she always asked how it was going and said specifics like saying which team we played. She truly cared about us. It definitely didn't go unnoticed, even 10 years later.

A time when I felt completely deflated was in my sophmore biology class. The teacher taught through only lectures and note taking, which is not ny preferred method of learning. Also, he was not connected to his students. He was, in fact, quite the opposite. I remember coming hom crying to my mom about how rude and mean he was. I remember he say, "Don't take chemistry next year because you will fail. Did you not learn anything?" Those words are still so clear to me today. He made me feel incapable, but looking back, he was the problem. I didn't try after awhile because I didn't want to listen to him. In a Ted Talk by Rita she says, "Kids don't learn from people they don't like!" That is so true! I loathed this teacher, so I refused to listen to him. To restore my faith, I had many talks with my mom. After that, my chemstry teacher, Mr. Woo, turned out to be the complete opposite of Mr. Bowen. I quickly learned and even loved chemistry. Mr. Woo taught us with hands on lessons and always provided us with positive praise. He immediatly restored my faith in science teachers and my ability to be successful in science. 

As a teacher, I will be sure to always put relationships first! The students won't remember all the lessons I taught, but they will remember how I made them feel. I will greet each of my students at the door and by their name just as my teacher did for me. I will praise them daily for all of their improvements. I will avoid teaching through only lecturing as many kids don't learn this way. And I will remember that if a student isn't getting something it is likely the way I am teaching it. I need to reach them a different way, even if that means just flipping a number line from horizontal to vertical. One student might better understand the increase in numbers if it goes up vertically. 

Project Based Learning

The following lesson plan is for a 3rd or 4th grade class. It is a Gold Standard Project Based Learning lesson that focuses on Webb's Depth of Knowledge. Additional, 21st century skills are embedded in the lesson.

First, I will transform my room into the four major regions of California. The students will enter the classroom that has been transformed into Rodriguez' Rockin' Restaurant where they'll catch their own food. Here is an image of the transformed room:

Since this is a "restaurant," I will greet my patrons (students) outside of my room. Students will read the menu: facts about the different food found in each region. They will then select their entree of choice (Whale from the coast, prickly pear from the desert, or grasshoppers from the mountain region). This will determine the kids groups. This will help get the students connected and excited about what is to come. I also dress up completely as a chef to play the part.  

Now that the students are engaged and eager to learn, I will break this lesson down and explore how it ties together with Webb's Depth of Knowledge and Gold Standard Project Based Learning. 

Background:

Students will be learning about Native American food from our four major regions. In the coast region, students will be catching fish with nets in my son's pool. They'll enjoy goldfish during their meal. ;) In the desert region, they will eat prickly pear from the cactus. They will carefully take the prickly pear from the cactus, rub it in sand, and hold it in the sun to dry it out in order to make it last longer. While they visit the mountain region, they will fill holes with water (blue paper) and move the grasshopper into the hole using sticks. Their last stop will be the valley, where they will gather acorns and mash them to make soup. 

LEVEL 1 (Recall)
After the student's read the menu, they will have to recall which region served the food of their choice. If they forget which region a particular food came from, they will need to locate it in the text in order to state it to me, their server. Based on their selection, they will enter the room and hunt or gather their food depending on the region.

LEVEL 2 (Skills & Concepts)
After visiting each region and participating in each of the tasks, they will be taking what they learned and writing a compare/contrast essay about the different foods found in these regions. On each of the things they hunt or gather, it has a sentence stem that they will need to include in their writing. For example, if they catch a grasshopper with "in contrast to" on it, they'll need to include this in their writing piece. 

LEVEL 3 (Strategic Thinking)
The student will then critique the way the Native American's obtained food in their regions. Students will investigate other ways and possibly better ways to obtain food in these regions. They students will utilize their laptops to research and determine what materials are available in each region. They will then develop a logical argument to persuade others to try their new methods of hunting or gathering food. They will share their opinion and persuade their peers in a iMovie video. 

LEVEL 4 (Extending Thinking)
They will then design a plan and create the tools needed in order to prove their theory. A variety of supplies will be available for kids to create their plans. 

RUBRIC:
Level 1: Below Grade Level
Level 2: Approaching Grade Level
Level 3: At Grade Level

	3	2	1
TOPIC	Fully introduces topic and includes the region and name of food.	Vaguely introduces topic or alludes to which region and/or food.	Does not introduce the topic.
OPINION/REASONS	States both an opinion and supplies a reason for the opinion.	States opinion or a reason for the opinion.	Does not state an opinion or reason for the opinion.
CONTENT	All facts about the region and materials are true.	Some true facts about the region and materials are true.	No facts are true.
CLOSURE	Provides a sense of closure related to the topic.	Provides a sense of closure that is unrelated to the topic.	Does not provide a closure.
CAMERA/IMAGES	Video is steady and focused.	Video has some unclear scenes and blurry images.	Video quality is poor and unclear.
SOUND	Very little background noise.	Some background noise.	Background noise is distracting.

 

Learning with Mrs. Rodriguez

Who Am I?

My name is Kelly Rodriguez. I am 31 years old and a mom to two amazing kids. My son Lucas is 4 and my daughter Chloe is 2. I recently moved from the Bay Area, where I was born and raised, to Roseville, California where my husband and I bought our first house.

I have taught 3rd grade for the past two years in Cupertino Union School District. I have absolutely loved every minute of it! Through these past two year, I have found that I am passionate about creating engaging and challenging lessons where students flourish both academically and socially. In my class, I utilize Whole Brain Teaching strategies to engage my students. And if you walked into my room, you would likely see kids singing and dancing, as I think students learn so much through music. Lastly, I set the stage to engage, by transforming my classroom. You might see my room one day set up as the four major regions of California and then a restaurant the next day where I am teaching fractions. A quote that Chris Pombonyo, Seminole County Teacher of the Year, has stuck with me and transformed my teaching which is "You want your students to come in on Monday talking about your lesson from Friday."

How do I Meet the Needs of Diverse Learners in the Classroom?

In order to meet the needs of all students, I incorporate whole brain teaching strategies that include all parts of the brain: auditory, visual, and motor cortex. In addition, I use a lot of G.L.A.D. strategies. One method I have used that has shown to be beneficial is lesson sketch. This is where I read a section of passage and the students make a mental image and then transfer it to a picture on their whiteboards. I frequently stop to allow students to draw what they hear me read. At the end of the passage, the students teach their partner what I read while using their pictures to help support them. While using this strategy, I can support my English Language learners by showing them a picture to help them. They can they draw a picture that helps them remember what they saw and heard. I used this method a lot during science and social studies.

How Does my Personality Affect my Relationship with Students?

I see myself as very caring and open. My students got a chance to learn about me and my family during morning meetings; where I spoke openly about my life. I would tell funny stories about my evenings and also about Chloe, my daughter, refusing to sleep the night before and driving hours to get her to sleep. They felt connected to me and were in turn comfortable with opening up with me, whether they were talking about failing a belt test in karate, going camping with their family, or telling the class about their grandpa that passed away. Through laughs and tears, we shared it all.

Learning Styles Results

It is clear from the results shown below that I have a very strong preference for action and reflection, which is likely why I chose to implement whole brain teaching (lots of gestures), music and dance (gestures to go with the lyrics), and classroom transformation/ project based learning that are hands on in which students really get into the content. I realize that my teaching and learning style has affected my teaching because I am drawn to learning/teaching this way. While it's a little embarrassing to say this, I have had to teach myself many third grade concepts, and in order for me to understand them so that I can teach them, I do it by using my learning style. Thus, when I go to teach it, I find the best way is the way I learned it. I know that not everyone learns best from this style, so I am mindful to do follow up lessons that suit other students needs and learning styles.  

Results for: Kelly Rodriguez


      ACT      X                                            REF
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- -->

      SEN              X                                    INT
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- -->

      VIS              X                                    VRB
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- -->

      SEQ                  X                                GLO
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- -->