Standard Four: Rationale Reflection

Artifacts: Expert Study; Cross Curricular Intensive Design

Topic/Title: Greek Mythology Research Paper; English Language Arts
Mini-Unit
Medium: Microsoft Word; Google Docs
Technology Used: Microsoft Word; Internet Research; Primary Sources
Both of my chosen artifacts demonstrate my competency in
Standard Four: Middle Level Content Knowledge because each of them
provide evidence of my understanding of English Language Arts and
Social Studies content for instruction. My Expert Study was completed
on my final research paper for Dr. Howard Giskins World Literature
course to demonstrate my depth of content knowledge in Social
Studies. This research paper required me to delve deeply into Greek
Mythological history to learn about both the literary aspects of
mythology and traditions in the time period. Within the expert study, I
used my research paper to dissect and evaluate my own content
knowledge at the time to determine areas of strength and areas of
necessary growth. I created a plan of action in order to deepen my
knowledge and how to apply that understanding to my classroom
experiences. This artifact not only demonstrates my content
knowledge, but also my ability to reflect upon and apply my content
knowledge in an academic setting.
In my Reading in the Content Areas course, my colleagues and I
collaborated to develop a series of lessons to explore different types of
writing. The specific gallery walk activity was designed to help

students to analyze narrative, persuasive, informational, and

entertaining texts. We created expert folders compiled of examples of
each type of writing for learners to explore. This unit was designed
based on writing essential standards for middle grades students. The
Cross Curricular Intensive Design project demonstrates my ability to
implement a variety of lessons on any number of Language Arts
related subjects, which emphasizes content knowledge and my ability
to teach the subject.