UbD Reviewing and Utilizing Stem Definitions

Alton Middle School

Darren Lameres Language Arts Class (7th Grade)

Stage 1 Desired Results

ESTABLISHED Transfer
GOALS Students will be able to independently use their learning to
Identify words that properly use stems
Genavieve Berger Utilize their understanding of stems to comprehend unfamiliar words
Alton Middle School Meaning
Language Arts UNDERSTANDINGS ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
November 14, 2017 Students will understand that Why might it be important to be familiar with stem
Being familiar with stems can help them definitions?
Correcting Sentence understand unfamiliar words How might you use this knowledge in the future?
Structure and Finding
Acquisition
Typos
Students will know Students will be skilled at
The meaning of at least 10 stem words Using their schema to acquire new knowledge in
The importance of being familiar with stem regards to stems and stem words
definitions Using their understanding of stems to interpret
How understanding stem definitions can help unfamiliar stem words
them to recognize unfamiliar words
Stage 2 - Evidence
Evaluative Criteria Assessment Evidence
Can the student articulate the PERFORMANCE TASK(S)
meaning of each stem from memory? Student survey at the beginning and end of class
Can the student use their OTHER EVIDENCE:
understanding of stems to recognize Students group standing in comparison to others
unfamiliar words? Students participation in group work

Stage 3 Learning Plan

 Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction
COLLECT RELEASE FORMS
1. Setting the tone 3 minutes
Introduce self. (Ms. Berger or Miss Genavieve)
Go over objectives, essential questions, and agenda. 2 minutes
Explain raising hand for silence. Why is it important to keep our voices low when working in groups? 1 minute
2. Pre-assessment 3 minutes Students are asked to stand if they know the meaning of the stem. Repeat for each stem. 3 minutes
3. Getting into groups 4 minutes
Students are grouped with other students in their assigned seating area (3 groups of 6, 2 groups of 5) 2 minutes
Groups spend time creating group identity/team name. 1 minute
Students decide team roles: 1 Scribe, 2 ChromeBook users, and 2-3 flash card arrangers. Students are encouraged to collaborate.
1 minute
4. Activity 1 Reviewing stem words 5 minutes
Students match the stem words with the definitions. They should do this from memory first.
Groups who match all of their stem words correctly get a point on the board.
5. Activity 2 Finding examples 10 minutes
ChromeBooks can now be utilized. Students work to find as many examples of stems as they can. The words should use the stem
correctly. If the student can explain how the word properly uses the stem, the word will be accepted. The scribe should write the
examples of stem words. 6 minutes
Got It, Need It. Explain the rules of this game. Group by group, the students will give stem examples. If their group has a
word that no one else does, they get a point. If other groups have the word they do, those group gets points. The team that offers
the room does not get a point if other teams have their word. 4 minutes
6. Activity 3 You know these words! 10 minutes
Ill put an unfamiliar word on the board that requires the students to use their understanding of stems to analyze it.
The students get 2 minutes to create a definition for each word and use that word in a sentence. At the end of 2 minutes, the
students will share their definition and their sentence for one stem. Repeat for each unfamiliar word. Emphasize that the students
know these words! Each team who comes up with a correct definition and sentence use of the word gets a point. The
ChromeBooks should not be used during this activity. The scribe should write down the definitions and sentences.
7. De-grouping 2 minutes
Students will move their desks back to rows.
8. Formative assessment 3 minutes
This will be done in the same fashion as the pre-assessment. If there is time, the students will answer the lessons questions in a
whole-class share-out.
Reflection

1. What were you hoping your students would learn from your lesson?

The students are learning different stems throughout the schoolyear. They do this, for the most part, independently. Darren
has not really explained the relevance of knowing stem words, but understanding prefixes, suffixes, and roots can help the kids
with their reading comprehension and to do well on their SAT/ACT tests. With my lesson, I wanted to give the students the
opportunity to apply their schema to unfamiliar words. My hope was that they would be able to use their understanding of
stems to recognize strange words. For example, the students learned the meaning of the stems rect and fy. Therefore, they
can easily uncover the meaning of the word rectify. I wanted the students to understand that their knowledge of stems can
lead them to recognize unfamiliar words that knowing stems is not useless knowledge.

2. What did your students learn from your lesson? How do you know (what specific assessments did you put in place)?

Because Darren is constantly giving the students worksheets, I didnt want to assign them any written work during my lesson.
Instead, I asked the students to stand if they knew the meaning of certain stems at both the beginning and the end of class time.
This class, unlike the one before it, seemed to be very unfamiliar with the 10 stems they learned yesterday. I think that the
activity I asked them to participate in aided their understanding and memorization of stems. However, I can tell that many of
them are still struggling with their comprehension of stems. When we moved into the unfamiliar word portion, I believe that a
lot of them started to realize that they can utilize their schema in order to define somewhat complex words. For a 40-minute
lesson, I think the kids got all that they could get out of it. I wish I had more time to scaffold their learning to work with
them over a couple classes or, better yet, an entire schoolyear. But they have not learned to think critically, and those skills
arent created in a day. Asking them to get into groups, delegate tasks, collaborate, and complete a multitude of tasks in a
strict time limit was a lot for them to focus on.

3. What did you intentionally do to meet the learning needs of your students? Did they work? How do you know?

The lesson was differentiated in a couple of different ways: learning profile, readiness, and process. Students were grouped
with others of different comprehension levels. They were asked to work together in order to correctly match flashcards and to
come up with definitions and sentences for unfamiliar stem words. This lesson was geared towards visual, bodily-kinesthetic,
auditory, and interpersonal learners. Students manipulated colored flashcards, collaborated with classmates, and dialogued
 throughout the class time. Based on the student survey, the lesson appealed to a lot of different learners. I asked the students
to rate the lesson with a thumbs-up, side-thumb, or thumbs-down. I got an almost 100% thumbs-up response from the kids. I
saw no thumbs-down. From what Ive seen, Alton Middle allows students very few opportunities to work together. I think the
change of pace and structure engaged the students as well as involved them in their learning.

4. Is there anything you couldve done better to meet the learning needs of your students? Explain.

Ive realized throughout the semester that teaching one independent lesson doesnt often yield incredible student results. It
usually takes a unit, a quarter, a semester, or a schoolyear to teach something really worthwhile. While I saw a definitive
increase of student engagement, involvement, and inspired learning during the course of my lesson, I dont know that they
came away with the in-depth understanding that I mightve hoped for. I recognize that there were not a lot of ways to adjust
my 40-minute lesson in order to leave them with a deeper understanding except for giving them some metacognitive time
(which I was overlooked this time around). However, Im happy with the overall experience. The students seemed to really
enjoy working together, competing against each other, and changing the structure of the normal class session. In my teaching
career, I look forward to working with regular groups of students and creating a class culture that is supportive of in-depth
learning.