$ Contextual Information My classroom is located at the end of the hall on the first floor of the F Building.

This building contains mostly freshman and sophomore classes. My classroom seats 33 students in four rows of eight or nine desks facing the teacher's desk in the front. My classes are English II onors but they contain !ust as many" if not more" #th graders and $%th graders. My &th period class contains the ma'imum number of 33 students. (s for students with special needs" the alert for &th period is a student who is allergic to hay. In my 3rd period class I ha)e two students with an IE* for dysle'ia. They are to be gi)en e'tra time on tests" large print tests" and dictionaries to use on tests. (s was mentioned before" I ha)e onors classes and thus do not ha)e as many students on IE*'s as a normal class would. owe)er" I do ha)e se)eral E++ students whose first language is ,panish. For them I will need to take that into consideration when I grade their writing. There are se)eral students who are e'tremely shy that would not feel comfortable speaking in front of class. I will refrain from calling on those students in class but will rather allow them to enter themsel)es into the con)ersation. -ther than wanting to talk to those around them when they are not supposed to" my students do not ha)e any ma!or beha)ioral issues. The school I am at has been emphasi.ing the use of technology in the classroom lately. They recently ga)e the teachers i*ads for /hristmas and are e'pecting them to find ways to integrate them into their lesson plans. Because of this I will look for e)ery opportunity I can find to use some form of technology in my lessons. 0hether it is an online )ideo" cell phone use to research in class" or an i*ad app" I need to use technology to satisfy this district's e'pectations. Step 1: Planning 4.1.1: Goals and Student Background

4 In this lesson" I taught about writing concluding paragraphs. I felt that this was an important lesson because according to my cooperating teacher" the number one thing that students failed to do on the ,(* writing was pro)ide a conclusion. I had also seen the struggle with writing conclusions in the writing assignments that I had pre)iously gi)en. I made this a single lesson because it would be too much for them to take in if I had taught it in a lesson with introductory and body paragraphs. My content standard is appropriate because it speaks of con)eying 1information clearly and accurately through the effecti)e selection" organi.ation" an danalysis of content1 2//,, #3 $%.0.45. (lso" subtitle F under that standard reads" 1*ro)ide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or e'planation presented.1 This was e'actly what my lesson did. I demonstrated how to write a conclusion that appropriately supports the information that is contained in the rest of the essay. My learning goals are appropriate because they address that the students should not only know what a concluding paragraph should contain but they should also demonstrate how to write one. My students' prior knowledge and background information influenced my planning process initially because it was a lesson that they desperately needed. I had noticed from other writing assignments that they turned in that most of them did not understand the importance of ending their writing with a conclusion. Those that did put in a conclusion did not understand how to write an effecti)e one. I had pre)iously taught on writing introductory and body paragraphs so I planned to use that information to support the teaching of conclusions. 4.1.2: Instructional Strategies I will use different research3based instructional strategies to help engage the students in different areas. For content area language I will use summari.ing and note3taking. I will be using

different terms that are associated with writing such as 1thesis"1 1summari.e"1 and 1conclusion.1 ,ome of these terms may be on the *ower*oint presentation or they will be used in by me as I discuss the *ower*oint with the students. I will re)iew what they mean and ha)e the students write them in their notes as needed. I will use comparing and contrasting to engage my students in critical thinking. I had pre)iously taught introductory paragraphs and they offer a stark contrast to concluding paragraphs. For in6uiry I will use 6uestions. ( great way to get students to think in an in6uisiti)e way is to model it for them and ask them open3ended 6uestions about the material. This could be done in a way that relates what we are learning to something pre)iously learned 2introductory paragraphs5. Modeling will be used to integrate reading within the content area. I will ha)e them read a model concluding paragraph. This will be used to demonstrate how to put to use the information they learned on conclusions to use. ,ummari.ing and note3taking will help the students learn because they will hear these terms used in authentic speech and they will ha)e the terms in their notes for future reference. /omparing and contrasting concluding and introductory paragraphs will enhance my teaching skills because it will allow me to practice using prior knowledge when teaching. It will impro)e my students' learning because it allows them to see a differing structure alongside of the one they are learning and thus helps cement it in their minds. (sking open3ended 6uestions will enhance my teaching skills by allowing me differentiate instruction on the fly by asking appropriate 6uestions that suit the situation. It will also impro)e the students' learning by pro)iding 6uestions that will prompt higher le)el thinking. Modeling will impro)e students' learning because it will demonstrate to the )isual learners the way to put to use the information that they !ust learned. 4.1. : !esson "cti#ities

& The acti)ity that is the main focus of the lesson plan is writing a concluding paragraph. I printed off a fi)e paragraph essay for each student that had an introductory paragraph" body paragraphs" but is missing the conclusion. First we will read the essay and talk about the different parts. (fter that I will ha)e the students indi)idually write a concluding paragraph for it. -nce e)eryone is finished writing I will ha)e them e'change papers with their neighbor to see how their classmates wrote it. Then I will take )olunteers to read their conclusions to the class and I will make comments as needed. I will ha)e the students peer edit the papers because I anticipate that their will be some 2many5 students that will not follow directions and write it how they want to. This way they will ha)e classmates that will be able to correct it and would gi)e the ones reading other ideas of how to write the conclusion. I will monitor student learning while they are writing by walking around the classroom making sure that the students are on task and helping out where needed. 7uring the *ower*oint presentation I will monitor student learning by asking 6uestions. By asking group 6uestions" I can gauge how well they are understanding what I am teaching and I will know if I need to go o)er something again. The work samples that the students submit will be the concluding paragraphs that they will write. This assessment is in the procedures of the lesson plan. I chose to ha)e the students write a concluding paragraph because simply learning about writing one from a *ower*oint is not the same as actually doing it. a)ing the students put the knowledge from the *ower*oint to use immediately will cause that new information to be much more real than if it was simply presented and set aside. Step 2: Implementing t$e Plan 4.2.1: Instructional Strategies

: In this lesson I taught on writing conclusions. ence" I was able to use content are language in many different instances. (t the beginning of the )ideo clip I used the terms 1thesis statement"1 1introductory paragraph"1 and 1body.1 In this case I was refreshing the students on what we had learned about writing introductions and body paragraphs in order to prepare them to learn about conclusions. I use those three words in many different situations throughout the lesson and I belie)e that they were used effecti)ely. 8ather than referring to the paragraphs as 1paragraph one"1 1paragraph 4"1 and so forth" we were using content area language that referred to specific paragraphs. I also used the words 1theme1 and 1summary1 and the 39:% mark. In this case I was talking about different things that could be done in the conclusion. These words effecti)ely allowed us to think about what could be written in the concluding paragraph. (t the beginning of the )ideo I asked the class a 6uestion that had them recall information that we had learned about how the thesis statement and body paragraphs are related. (t the 39$: mark I ga)e the class a 6uestion that they should ask themsel)es to help guide their writing of concluding paragraphs. (t around the #9&% mark I used the instructional strategy of comparing and contrasting. I had taught them that introductory paragraphs were to be shaped like a funnel. That is" they were to go from being more general to more specific. ,o here I contrasted that pre)ious learning with conclusions which I said are to be shaped like a triangle9 they are to go from specific to general. I compared the introductory and concluding paragraphs by saying that they both contain the thesis. I also contrasted the two paragraphs after a student asked if the conclusion is simply the introduction written backwards 2$%9$:5. From this I was able to e'plain that the conclusion mentions the main points whereas the introduction does not. Being able to compare and contrast what I was teaching with pre)ious learning helped the students be able to think about it without it being a completely foreign concept.

> (t the $393: mark I ask the students se)eral 6uestions that engage them in critical thinking. I had handed out an essay that was missing a conclusion and we were analy.ing the introduction. I started out by asking" 1 ow does the author grab our attention;1 (fter the students answered that our attention was grabbed by a 6uote and I read it I asked" 10hat does the 6uote ha)e to do with the paper;1 (sking this 6uestion allowed the students to think critically about what connection the essay had with a seemingly off3topic 6uote. Thinking critically about the way that this author started his<her essay allowed the students to learn different ways of grabbing the reader's attention at the beginning of introductory paragraphs. I pro)ided a model essay in a handout that included an introductory paragraph and three body paragraphs. (t $49&: I had a student read aloud the introductory paragraph and at $&93: I had a student read the first body paragraph aloud as well. The second and third body paragraphs were read after this clip ended. I took )olunteers since I did not want to force someone who was uncomfortable to read for the class. This class had many students that liked to read aloud so it was not a problem to get )olunteers. (fter each paragraph was read we then discussed how the author constructed each paragraph. 4.2.2: Interacting %it$ t$e Students The central method I used to monitor student learning during the lesson was 6uestioning. =ow most of the 6uestions in this )ideo clip were actually re)iewing student learning from a pre)ious lesson. This clip contains mostly notes so I started by assessing student learning from the pre)ious lesson before going forward to the new material. This 6uestioning guiding my instructional decision making during the lesson in that it showed me if I needed to re)iew the pre)ious lesson further or if they were ready to proceed. I also monitored student learning by obser)ing how engaged the students were with the discussion and note3taking. I also monitored

? their learning later in the lesson when I walked around while the students were writing their conclusions. I also had them )olunteer to read their paragraphs to the class so I could see how they did and make comments on them. (s I !ust mentioned" I had the students )olunteer to read their conclusions to the class so that I could monitor their learning. owe)er" this also ga)e me the opportunity to gi)e them feedback in front of the whole class. I ob)iously did not force anybody to read their paragraph and I did not gi)e any harsh feedback to anyone who )olunteered 2I ga)e mostly positi)e comments5. But what this did was allow the rest of the class to hear what I thought of se)eral student paragraphs. By gi)ing feedback in front of e)erybody the rest of the class could apply what I said to their own paragraphs. (s was mentioned earlier" I asked 6uestions in order to monitor student learning. owe)er" I also used it to induce critical thinking. (sking 6uestions and ha)ing the students respond a)oids ha)ing the lesson turn simply into a lecture. This turns it into more of a discussion. I tried to be friendly and in!ect humor whene)er possible into my speech. ,tudents are more apt to pay attention if they are not listening to a condescending tone but rather an approachable one that is not threatening. Therefore I tried to keep my tone con)ersational. For non)erbal communication" I used my hands e'tensi)ely to add emphasis or clarity. For e'ample" at $&94:" I pointed to my head when I talked about thinking and mo)ed my hands to emphasi.e the path their introduction should take from the attention grabber to the thesis statement. I also used my hands multiple times to gi)e them a )isual of a funnel 2introductory paragraphs5 and a pyramid 2concluding paragraphs5. I also communicated to them non)erbally by putting space between myself and them. If I would ha)e stood right beside a student when I talked it may ha)e

A seemed uncomfortable or threatening to them. ,o my pro'imity also communicated a nonthreatening message. 4.2. : Classroom &anagement (t the beginning of the )ideo I called the class to order my raising my right hand and calling out" 1/an I ha)e e)erybody's attention;1 This was a classroom3management strategy that I commonly used during my time of teaching. By then they knew that when I raised my hand it meant to stop talking and listen to me. I had made it a habit to ask for their attention rather than demand it initially. owe)er" if I had asked se)eral times to no a)ail then I would resort to commanding their attention. The class on the )ideo was a well beha)ed class. They were e)en better beha)ed on this day because I had a )ideo camera set up in the front. There was also a lady from the office who was sitting in my desk because my cooperating teacher was sick. Both of those new en)ironmental dynamics likely contributed to their e)en better than unusual beha)ior. owe)er" I also took steps to manage beha)ior by keeping the lesson going at a decent pace. I did not ha)e any down time between slides or acti)ities that would ha)e been fertile ground for misbeha)ior. @eeping the students engaged with 6uestions and taking notes also kept them focused on the lesson. The strategy of keeping the lesson going at a good rate engaged the students by not gi)ing them time to daydream or think of a way to disrupt the class. This was the third time I had taught this lesson that day so I was becoming 6uite good at eliminating the down time by then. I am sure that the first time I taught this lesson that day it did not go this well. (lso" I engaged the students by ha)ing them read the e'emplary essay. I had not thought of taking )olunteers to read in class as being classroom management but in)ol)ing them does help with beha)ior. ,tudents tend to listen more if it is one of their classmates speaking rather than the teacher. I also thanked

# 2$394%5 the students when they read. Being courteous and respectful to the students models good beha)ior" encourages the students to beha)e" and promotes a positi)e learning en)ironment. Step : Student 'ork 4. .1: Student 'ork Two students that we will call Focus ,tudent B$ and Focus ,tudent B4 submitted concluding paragraphs that we will e'amine. They were gi)en the introductory and three body paragraphs to an essay on cats. The assignment was then to write a concluding paragraph for the essay. Focus ,tudent B$ began her essay restating the thesis statement. ,he did a good !ob of putting it in different words. The rest of the paragraph until the last sentence is a restating of the main points of the paper. That was also what I said to do. ,he finishes her paragraph with a call to action which again was what I wanted. Focus ,tudent B4 also began by restating the thesis" finished with a call to action" and re)iewed the main points in between. In both work samples" the basic structure or framework was what I asked for. owe)er" the paragraphs were not perfect as they contained some punctuation errors" a misspelled word" and a contraction. Each paragraph" though far from perfect conclusion" demonstrated that the students understood the basic structure of conclusions. Each paragraph had the elements as I asked for them so it can be assumed that these two focus students achie)ed the lesson goals. They e)en demonstrated the learning of pre)ious lessons' goals as neither paragraph had a personal pronoun. I could tell in certain areas that the students reworded the sentence to a)oid their natural inclination to use 1you1 or 1we.1 owe)er" the goals of this lesson were to learn the parts of conclusions and to then use that information to write effecti)e conclusions. (s I mentioned earlier" the work samples showed that they learned the parts of concluding paragraphs. (s for the second goal" they demonstrated a strong start towards writing conclusions that effecti)ely remind the reader of what he<she read and wrap up the writing in a professional manner.

$% I did not sit down with each student to discuss their paragraphs. Thus" other than the ones who )olunteered to read their paragraph in class I did not gi)e any further feedback. owe)er" I am sure that as I was gi)ing feedback to the ones who read me their work these two students were listening to me and applying what I was saying to their paragraphs. ,oon after I taught this lesson I had the students a full essay for me. (fter I graded those papers and wrote comments on them would ha)e been when the students would ha)e recei)ed feedback concerning conclusions. *erhaps I should ha)e gi)en them more indi)idual feedback this lesson but I figured that they would ha)e plenty of more chances to demonstrate conclusion writing in the near future. Step 4: (eflecting 4.4.1: (eflection The learning goals as stated from the lesson plan were9 1,tudents will learn the different parts of a concluding paragraph1 and 1,tudents will use that knowledge to write effecti)e conclusions.1 I did not collect all of the concluding paragraphs from the students to grade because I wanted this to be an acti)ity rather than an assessment. I took )olunteers to read their paragraphs so that I could get a sampling to determine how they were doing. owe)er" their writing 2including conclusions5 was to be assessed the following week when I had them write a persuasi)e essay. I graded the organi.ation facet of the paper on a scale of one to four. -rgani.ation would include many things with the concluding paragraph being a large part. The students did )ery well on this part as they scored an a)erage of 3.>. -n a pre)ious paper that they had written for me they had only a)eraged a 4.$ on organi.ation. That score" especially with the impro)ement from the first paper" tells me that the learning goals of the lesson were achie)ed. 8e)iewing introductory paragraphs and comparing and contrasting them with concluding paragraphs went well. I belie)e that the students were able to grasp what they were to do with conclusions once they saw them alongside introductions. The notetaking went well also because

$$ it kept the students on task and ga)e the information to use later. My interactions with the students went well also. Most of it was based on asking 6uestions as we went along. (s it is shown on the )ideo" e)ery time I asked a 6uestion I had plenty of students willing to answer. The students seemed positi)e towards myself and what we were learning. For the classroom3 management strategies" I belie)e that what I did do was effecti)e because the outcome was positi)e. They stayed on task and there were really not any beha)ioral issues. I belie)e that keeping the lesson mo)ing and eliminating the down time contributed to that. owe)er" if in the future I were to teach this lesson to a more spirited group of students I would need to do more than !ust regulate the pace of the lesson. If I were to teach this lesson in the future I would come prepared with some e'amples to make my points rather than attempting to come up with them on the spot" stumbling o)er my words" and ending up with poor e'amples. *erhaps also I would add a short peer re)ision time where they would read each other's paragraphs and make suggestions for impro)ement based on what they !ust learned. This way I could make sure e)erybody recei)es feedback without ha)ing to take them up and grade them. I would rather gi)e a grade for what they did when they write an entire essay.