DRTAforUnitGrade4 StephenHawkingNontraditionalHero

Materials:StephenHawking,UnderstandingtheUniversebyGailSakurai,diversity
galacticbillboardandpapergoldstar.

Goals:
I. Tofosterstudentsreadingandcriticalthinkingbyusingapicturestorybiography fordevelopingareflectiveessay. II. Tohelpstudentunderstandresponsibility,diversityandtheeffectsofchoicesand actions. III. Tofosterstudentspracticeofwritinganopinionpiece. IV. Tofosterstudentspracticeofconductingresearchandexpandingknowledge.

Standards:BasedonInTASCPrinciple9andCommonCoreStateStandardsforthe
StateofMaine. WritingGrade4 #1TextTypesandPurposes
Writeopinionpiecesontopicsortexts,supportingapointofviewwithreasonsand information.

#7ResearchtoBuildandPresentKnowledge
Conductshortresearchprojectsthatbuildknowledgethroughinvestigationofdifferent aspectsofatopic.

Assessments:Toprovidefeedbackaboutthesuccessofthelessonandtoassessa
studentslevelofunderstandingandcomprehension. Formative.ConceptBrainstorming,discussion,previewandpurposesetting,read aloud,guidedessayformatwithquestions.

Summative:(1)WritereflectiveessayaboutStephenHawking

(2)Researchanothernontraditionalheroforclasspresentation.

Frontloading:Createanunderstandingofdiversity,responsibilityandeffectsof
choicesandactions. ConceptBrainstorming: Divideintofourgroups. Havestudentsbrainstormideasforthefollowingquestions: Whatisdiversity? Whatisresponsibility? Arediversityandresponsibilityrelated? Howcanapersonschoicesandactionsaffectdiversity? Introducingthegeneralizedquestionsareagoodstartingpointtogetstudents thinkingaboutandgatheringinformation. Discussion: Discussthequestionsgivenandhowtheydevelopedtheiranswers. Thispreparesthestudentstocriticallythinkaboutthetextandhowitrelatestothethemeof thelesson. PreviewingandPurposeSetting: I. Whataresomecharacteristicsofheros? II. Whatwouldbesomedifferencesbetweenatraditionalherovs.a nontraditionalHero? III. WhywouldStephenHawkingbeconsideredanontraditionalhero? ReadAloud: Teacherwillreadthefirsttwopagesandaskthegroupstowritedownwhat theyarethinkingandseeing. Groupsreportout. Studentsreadtherestofthebook. GuidedEssayFormat: Givestudentsahandoutwithaguidingthesisquestions. Givestudentsaformattedessay

Thisfostersastudentsformatknowledgeofwritinganessayandhelpsthem formulatedeveloptheirthesisandsupportingpoints.

Reinforcement:Fosteringcriticalthinkingbycreatinganopportunityforstudentsto
furtherinvestigatetherelationshipbetweenchoices,actions,responsibilityanddiversity. DiscussionandResearch: Groupsgetbacktogethertoexchangeanddiscusstheirthesisand supportingpoints. GroupsbrainstormotherpotentialnontraditionalHeros. Groupsreportout.

IndependentTaskDemonstratesastudentscriticalthinkingskills,abilitytowrite
anopinionpiece(essay)andconductasmallresearchproject. Homework: Towriteanessayeithersupportingornotsupportingthethesisquestionwithtwoto threesupportingpointsandaconclusion.Additionally,studentswillneedtoresearch anothernontraditionalherooftheirchoice.Thefirstandlastnameofthestudentschoice ofanontraditionalherowillbewrittenonagoldenstaralongwithonesupportingsentence ofwhythatpersonisanontraditionalhero.Eachstudentwillpresenttotheirclassmates theirchoiceofanontraditionalHeroandwhytheychosethatperson.Allofthestarswillbe pinnedtoagalacticdiversitybillboard.Practice,practiceandmorepracticebecause, somechildrenlearnbetterfrommakingmistakestherewillbeanoptionalopportunityfor studentstorewritetheiressayforabettergrade.

Reflection IntheprocessofcreatingthislessonplanIhavelearnedandtriedtofocusonabalanced approachforthecurriculum.Offeringoptionsforgiftedandtalentedstudentstobroadentheir knowledgeallthewhilehavingasensitivitytostudentswhoneeddeeperinstruction. Furthermore,Iamusingawidevarietyoflearningactivitiesaswellasindependentand collaborativework.Choosinganontraditionalherowasnotadifficultdecisionforme.I immediatelyknewIwantedtouseStephenHawkingasthetopicofstudybecauseheillustrates greatnesscanbeachievedinlightofdauntingpersonalandphysicalchallenges.Also,Ichose onlyoneofmanynontraditionalherosbecauseIwantthestudentstoresearchtheirown nontraditionalhero.Thissmallresearchexercisewillservetoreinforcethelessonandfoster theircriticalthinking.Ibelievetoacertaindegreeitistheteachersresponsibilitytoaugment

curriculumtomeettheneedsofstudents.Icertainlywillbeanadvocateincreatingdiverseand balancedcurriculumtomeettheneedsofallstudents.However,whenastudentsneeds exceedtheteachersabilitytoeffectivelyteachallhis/herstudents,thenIbelieveadditional supportisnecessary.Modifyingcurriculumcanbeseenashavinganegativeand/orpositive impactontheclassroom.Someindividualsfearthatmodifyingcurriculumwillleaveout mainstreamstudents,becausetheemphasisisfocusedonthosewhoexcelorneedextrahelp. Although,manyindividualsbelievestudentswillgainanimportantappreciationand understandingofdiversitybyincorporatingdifferentmeansofdeliveringalessonplan.Ididnot includethebonusartifact,becauseIcurrentlydonothaveMicrosoftPowerPointonmyiMac.In thefutureIwillcertainlybeutilizingtechnologyinmylessonplans.