Day 12 (Thurs, 2/16) 7th Grade Social Studies Lesson Plan: The Ship of the Desert Objective: Students

will describe (comprehension) what the environment is like within the desert and apply (application) themes of geography to create (synthesis) their own ship of the desert. Afterwards, students will compare (analysis) their creation to the real ship of the desert, the camel. Finally, students will explain (comprehension) how camels have adapted to fit their environment. Goal: A.8.1 Use a variety of geographic representations, such as political, physical, and topographic maps, a globe, aerial photographs, and satellite images, to gather and compare information about a place A.8.7 Describe the movement of people, ideas, diseases, and products throughout the world A.8.8 Describe and analyze the ways in which people in different regions of the world interact with their physical environments through vocational and recreational activities Materials Needed: Overhead sheets/markers Textbooks Notebooks Writing Utensils Introduction - 15 minutes Have students close all open books on their desks. Have them picture themselves in the desert. Assist students by beginning to describe a desert. Allow a minute or two for students to create a mental scene. Have students open their notebook and label one page Desert. Give students one minute to write down as many words as possible to describe the desert. How many words did students come up with? What examples do they have? Have students return to their mental scenes; again, assist them in creating a mental picture. Tell students they must now figure out a way to cross the entire desert. Steps for Instruction - 60 minutes Today, the students will use one theme of geography to determine a way to cross the desert. Have students identify what the fives themes are. If students are stuck, have them copy the themes into their notebooks. Circle Movement How do goods, ideas, and people get from one location to another? Their job is to design a ship that allows movement throughout the desert. In pairs, they will create a ship on overheard paper according to the instructions. Allow students some time to work in pairs on their ships (approximately 20 minutes).

Have several groups share their designs. Applaud students for their creativity and ingenuity, but inform them that a ship of the desert already exists. Display the transparency of the camel and discuss. Hand out work sheets to students, and explain that they will be discovering how the camel has adapted to fit its environment. As individuals, students should work on the attached worksheet. Strategies for Students This lesson employs visual, verbal, auditory, and kinesthetic activities. In addition, students will move back and forth from whole group, small group, and individual work, making the lesson more engaging. Students will also have the opportunity to pair with students of varying levels and abilities. Closure - 15 minutes Remind students that they started off with a problem. How does one cross a desert. Using two themes of geography, they were able to find the solution. What themes did they use? What was the solution? Why are camels best suited to navigate the desert? Assessment Students will be formally assessed on comprehension and analysis within their ship of the desert worksheet. Students will be informally assessed throughout discussion and their ship designs.

ALVERNO COLLEGE

SUPERVISING TEACHERS ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT TEACHER

Candidate Name: Stephanie Rudnicki Date: 2.16.12 School: REAL School Racine First Nine Week Placement: 1st Evaluation_X_ 2nd Evaluation__ Second Nine Week Placement: 1st Evaluation__ 2nd Evaluation__ Grade: 7 24 students Subject(s): Social studies

Planning and Preparation (AEA: Conceptualization/Diagnosis WTS: 1, 2,

3, 4, 7, 8, 10 - DISP: Respect, Responsibility) Demonstrates knowledge of content through fluid delivery. Prepares for activities and lessons. Chooses and creates learning experiences based on appropriate goals and objectives that connect with the assessment. Designs instruction based on assessment of student strengths and needs, learning styles, & learning differences. Creates short-ranged and long-term plans linked to student needs & abilities. Adapts plans to encourage student progress and engagement. Learns about students families, culture & community to connect instruction to student experiences. ____Inadequate ___Emerging __X__Proficient ____Distinctive

Evidence (Candidate) This class session is a lesson that continues the study of African environments. Your objectives included describe, apply, create, compare and explain. Your plan is complete, engaging and directs students to higher order thinking.

Classroom Environment (AEA: Coordination/Integrative Interaction WTS: 1, 2, 3, 5 DISP: Respect, Responsibility, Reflection)

Evidence (Candidate and Student) Strong use of signals and the wait time needed to get every kids attention so you can speak. Quiet Coyote? Cool. You engaged them immediately with the question of the day. Was the question easily viewed by all? You watched the time and were ready to help kids move into another activity while some finished the first one. You directed them with comments and questions, easing the kids who needed time to complete the question activity into the concepts. Your directions are clear, you anticipate student thinking and give them the details they need in advance. There was one comment by a student that garnered chuckles

Reflects a positive emotional connection between teacher and students. Offers genuine praise to students. Students connect to one another by smiling, sharing and helping. Respects each child as an individual. Supports students as they work independently and collaboratively. Manages transitions efficiently. Monitors classroom and takes a proactive stance to behavior management issues. Organizes, allocates, and manages resources of time, media, technology and space. Manages student attention by engaging them productively in learning experiences. Maximizes amount of class time spent in learning by creating and communicating clear expectations and procedures for behavior.

form some. You diffused the issue quickly by empathizing with the student and then explain your thoughts in the same vein. A really withit response. You used cold calling to engage students at random. The movement that you maintain around the room while you led the discussion is very effective. Your voice comes from different places and your presence next to kids even in the back of the room helps with proximity control. You gave a time reminder at 11 minutes but how many heard it? The one minute warning was also hard to hear. At the end you gave many directions: for labeling papers, handing them in etc. Then you mentioned returning the room to normal which meant moving desks. That started immediately. Was that timing satisfactory? Your final activity was to remind kids what to write in their planners and about tomorrow. Another good practice.
____Inadequate ____Emerging __X__Proficient ____Distinctive

Instruction (AEA: Communication, Coordination, Diagnosis, Integrative Interaction WTS: 1,2, 3,4,5, 6,7,10 DISP: Respect, Responsibility, Communication)

Evidence (Candidate and Student)

Presents content in developmentally appropriate way by relating content to previous lessons. Consistently demonstrates enthusiasm and purposely creates meaningful learning opportunities. Models and supports active listening, interactive discussion and thoughtful responses in reading, writing & other media. Challenges and supports student thinking by using: different types of explanations o various levels of questioning and discussion techniques o techniques that repeat and/or extend student responses o a variety of modalities (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)

. The main ideas/questions of the lesson were posted. You began the discussion about deserts with a very effective visualization exercise. The kids responded by closing their eyes and letting their minds go with your description. You immediately had them write their ideas. Writing to learn excellent! You directed students to write the 5 themes of geography. Did they have enough time to think and look up what they needed before you began to write the themes on the board? You shifted from the discussion to an activity to be accomplished in pairs. You read the guide sheet to students to ensure that each one understood the requirements. After you read the guide, there were many questions, which you fielded evenly and completely not always easy with 7th graders. You gave a distinct time limit for the design activity. Good practice: gets them to get to it right away and keeps them focused to get it done. You also gave time reminders at 11 and 5 minutes. The 5 minute one included a reminder to check the requirements to make sure everything was included. You also gave a one minute warning with details for completion. The shared problem solving was very interesting with these kids. Good thinking. Did the examples you gave set them up for trying to design a vehicle instead of thinking more creatively? That may be okay because it helped make your point later. Your recap of the lesson was very effective in bringing out the main points, the problem, the solution and the reinforcement of the theme.

Focuses student attention on lesson objectives. Actively engages students in meaningful learning. Adjusts instruction to meet student needs, including special education and ELL, and to address learning styles, in order to enhance learning. Makes an intentional effort to promote oral language and encourages use of advanced language. Varies role in instructional process (instructor, facilitator, coach, audience) in relation to content, purposes of instruction and needs of learners. Communicates with sensitivity to cultural and gender differences.

____Inadequate

____Emerging

_X___Proficient

____Distinctive

Assessment (AEA: Diagnosis/Integrative Interaction WTS: 2,8,9,10 DISP: Reflection, Communication)

Evidence (Candidate and Student)

Provides timely & specific feedback to learners. Involves learners in self assessment. Focuses the students attention on the process of learning rather than just getting the correct answer or finishing an activity. Makes appropriate use of information acquired from assessments, colleagues, caregivers, and students themselves to identify and meet learning needs. Maintains accurate records of student performance and communicates progress to students, parents & colleagues. Monitors impact of teaching on student learning, modifying plans and instruction accordingly. Reflects on own performance in relation to student learning and WI teacher standards.

This would have been a great opportunity to keep a simple chart of behaviors and observations. You could note the collaborative language you hear so that can be reinforced with examples later. You could also keep informal track of on task behavior to use to complement the kids who have a hard time staying with the job to its completion. You could also track the vocabulary you hear as kids work to give strong examples of their use of high level terminology. Use each opportunity to record behaviors and use of academic language. Whats the accountability for the design activity? Did everyone participate equally? There was an individual component at the end with the camel worksheet. Is that all thats needed?

____Inadequate

____Emerging

__X__Proficient

____Distinctive

Professional Responsibilities (AEA: Communication/Integrative

Interaction WTS: 7,9,10 DISP: Collaboration, Responsibility, Communication) Demonstrates professionalism through timely completion of work for Classroom_____ Seminar_____. Demonstrates professionalism through regular attendance, arriving on time: School________ Seminar _____ . Relates professionally and effectively with cooperating teacher____, staff____, and supervisor____ (including initiating conversation, and problem solving). Consults professional literature, colleagues & other resources regarding education and well-being of students. Establishes respectful and productive relationship with caregivers, as possible. Attends all faculty, grade level meetings, in-service training, Open House, Parent Teacher Conferences.

Evidence (Candidate and Student)

You seem to have a positive relationship with JoAnne. You continually conduct yourself in genuinely mature and professional ways.

Overall Performance: ____Inadequate

____Emerging

__X__Proficient

____Distinctive