Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Design Document for Lesson Plan

Name: Macayla Tyndall

Grade Level: 2
Concept/Topic: Celebrating Differences: Special Needs and Special Gifts
Length of Lesson (in minutes): 40

Learning Objectives: What are your learning objectives? (What new understandings will the
students have as a result of this lesson? Make sure learning objectives are measurable.)

Students will be able to explain what makes them unique and what we can learn from
differences.

Under which standards from North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NC-SCOS) do these
learning objectives fall?

Essential Standard: 2.C.1 Understand how various cultures influence communities.

Clarifying Objective: 2.C.1.1 Explain how artistic expressions of diverse cultures contribute to
the community (stories, art, music, food, etc.).

Essential Standard: RL.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and
how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

Key Tasks/Activities: What are the key activities or tasks that you plan to use? What is your
rationale for why you have selected these particular tasks/activities to meet your learning
objectives?

The teacher will start by passing out two half sheets of paper to each student. The students will
be color one of the sheets using only one color, and then be instructed to use the entire crayon
box to draw whatever they want. Ask the students which one they would want to hang up at
home or which one they think is more beautiful. The students can “Think, Pair, Share” their
pictures with a partner and the teacher can call on a few students to share with the group. One
rationale with starting with this activity is to show students that if we were all the same life
would be boring. The hope is to challenge the idea of “normal” and make the point that
differences do not make people undesirable, but beautiful.

The teacher will read aloud the book Uniquely Wired by Julia Cook. The teacher will ask
questions throughout the reading of the book to make it a discussion activity. The potential story
questions are as follows:
Page 9: What is something you could talk about for hours that you enjoy?
Page 16: Why does Isaac wear headphones? Do you like a lot of noise?
After page 19: Do you flap your arms like Isaac when you are nervous or upset? What makes
you feel better? (Turn and Talk)
Page 25: How are we the same as, or similar, to Isaac?
End: Did you learn any lessons or special gifts from Isaac?
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

The reason for selecting this text is because it talks about a boy who shares with the audience
that being different comes with many gifts. As he responds to the world in ways that look
unconventional, he teaches that we can learn from people that are different than us. The reading
should help develop or build on students’ understanding of how differences make us unique.

Students brainstorm qualities that make them unique, and choose one quality. Pass out a precut
hand to ever student and give them the sentence structure of “Something unique about me
is______.” I selected this final activity because I wanted students to embrace the ways that they
differ from their classmates and see these things as learning opportunities. The teacher will put
all the hands on a large poster and this will show our community of differences that we can
celebrate.

Anticipating Students’ Responses: How do you anticipate that students will respond to your
planned activities/tasks? This does not mean their response affectively, but instead their
response academically (e.g., What prior knowledge or conceptions might they bring? How do
you think they will approach or solve the task(s)?). When necessary, please insert images of your
handwritten anticipated approaches/strategies. Be specific - use your anticipated responses to
help you plan your questions in the lesson plan.

Student may respond with the previous misconception that being different is not “normal” and
that differences are not a good thing. I anticipate the students to respond to the coloring activity
by them saying that having more colors made their picture beautiful. By applying the text and
activities to students’ lives, students will hopefully engage with excitement. The students show
interest any time that they get to share something about themselves with the class, so I anticipate
this with the unique something they get to share on the hand.

Responding to Students’ Responses: Describe how you will provide scaffolding for students
who are stuck, and describe how you will extend the thinking of students who have a firm grasp
on the target content/objectives.

Scaffolding:
 “Think, Pair, Share” can be used to allow English Language Learners to develop ideas
and confidence before sharing out with the class. We can take this opportunity to pair
students of different academic levels to help them both benefit from interacting.
 If students are stuck, I can include visual aids such as their pictures they colored in order
for them to connect what we are talking about to a real-life situation or image.
 I will give an interactive read aloud to expose students to new vocabulary and connect
that will the character in the book.

Extension:
 Students will work on a classroom action plan where the class will partner up with a
“buddy” with either a younger student or a student with intellectual or developmental
disabilities.
 They will explain in what ways they are the same as Isaac in the story.
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Development of Practices among Students: Which disciplinary practices does your lesson aim
to develop? (e.g., “construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others”, “develop
and use models”) How do the task(s) develop the target practice(s)?

The disciplinary practice I want to students to develop is comparing the emotions that Isaac goes
through with their own personal experiences using textual evidence to support it. Students will
work in pairs to answer questions and ask questions using who, what, when, where, and why
sentence starters.

Assessment: Describe your assessment plan for the targeted learning objective(s). What specific
data/information will you use, and how will that data/information tell you that the students
have/have not met the objective?

The teacher will listen to the whole and small group discussions to formatively assess students’
thinking during and after the read aloud. Students will answer and ask questions using who,
what, when, where, and why sentence starters.

Students will use the sentence structure of “Something unique about me is_______” to respond
at the end of the lesson on the hand cut-out provided. The teacher will paste the hands on a poster
to demonstrate their classroom differences and have students restate why our differences are
beautiful

Vocabulary/Language Function: Define vocabulary that students will need to know in order to
access the content and goals of your lesson. Be precise and careful with your language. Please
attend to three types of vocabulary:
● Content vocabulary (e.g., obtuse, molecule, civil rights)
● Academic language (e.g., represent, model, compare)
● Key non-content vocabulary that is necessary to understand the task/activity

 Unique- being the only one of its kind

 Disability-
 Compromise-finding middle ground between two extremes in a disagreement
 Autism- refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social
skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication
 Behavior- the manner of acting or conducting yourself

Classroom Management Plan: Explain how you will motivate students to engage in the lesson,
how you will set and enforce expectations, and how you will ensure that transitions are smooth
and efficient.
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

For the read aloud and hand activity, students will be seated on the carpet so all students can see
the white board when copying down the sentence structure. This also creates a better space for
discussion to take place in either small or whole group.

Before the read aloud begins, the teacher will have the students raise their hands and remind the
class what the expectations are for the read aloud. By having the students remind one another of
what is expected, the students will be more likely to stay seated quietly and engage in discussion
when asked a question by the teacher.

Clear instructions will be given before any transition is made in order to create a smooth
movement from one activity to the next. The students can complete transitions with their
imaginary bubble being held in their mouth, which is an effective tool teachers use to have
students stay quiet.