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Chelsea Meyer
Content and Diagnostics
Content Text Set Reflection
22 November 2014
Content Text Set Reflection: Quality Indicator 5
The Content Text Set that I created pertains to Quality Indicator 5. This indicator states
The pre-service teacher uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students
development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
The first Performance Indicator within this Quality Indicator is: the pre-service teacher
selects alternative strategies, materials, and technology to achieve multiple instructional purposes
and to meet student needs. The first element that I am going to discuss is my use of alternative
strategies within my content text set. One strategy that I employed was the use of activities to
enhance and build vocabulary. I created various word activities pertaining to habitats that would
require students to examine new words, discover their meaning, and apply the meaning in a new
context. This strategy would allow students to actually learn the new words, as opposed to just
memorizing definitions. I also employed the use of various notetaking strategies. A few
examples are: a graphic organizer, Cornell three column organizer, and developing questions
pertaining to the texts. By teaching students these strategies early on, the students will later be
able to apply the notetaking strategies in future classes. The teaching of the notetaking strategy
followed by the implication of the strategy demonstrates Vygotskys Zone of Proximal
Development. As students gain experience with the practice, the notetaking strategy will move
from their instructional level to their independent level. Once the notetaking strategy itself is in
the students independent level, students will be able create more thorough and practical notes.

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Additionally, my use of various types of texts displays how different types of materials
can enhance learning. In my content text set, I explicitly used magazine articles, childrens
books, and chapter books. I also asked students to do their own research on different credible
websites. The different materials will allow me to better differentiate to the needs of my students.
For example, the World Wildlife Fund provides a credible website that talks about different
habitats around the world. However, the technical terminology of the webpage may prove to be
too difficult for some of my students to read. In response to this, I also introduced the book I See
A Kookaburra!: Discovering Habitats Around the World. This is a nonfiction book that is set up
like a childrens book. The wording and pictures of the text would allow for students of a lower
reading level to comprehend the story. From the story, they would become aware of the various
habitats around the world.
Furthermore, I think that the incorporation of technology would be beneficial for
students. In my Content Text Set, the students were required to use computers for the
Performance Task. This gave them experience with brainstorming, pre-writing, and finalizing on
the computer It also showed them how to use the technology that the computer provides in order
to best support their learning needs. Additionally, I provided online resources with which
students could research the topic and the vocabulary words associated with the topic. The online
resources would show students just how much information is at their disposal. When students are
asked to do online research, they are required to synthesize a large amount of information in
order to accomplish their goal. This is great practice for students to have.
Next, the second Performance Indicator is: The pre-service teacher engages students in
active learning that promotes the development of critical thinking, problem solving, and
performance capacities. This Performance Indicator was also met through my Content Text Set.

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Active learning allows student to become more engaged, creates relevance for students, and
allows students to develop better thinking capacities. I addressed critical thinking multiple times
throughout my Content Text Set. First, the students were asked to do a word sort that required
them to distinguish the meaning of words from a book. This employed their critical thinking
skills because it required them to evaluate the meaning and use of the word. Additionally, the
students were asked to read a text (Bringing Back the Birds) and answer various questions
about the text. This activity was called Question Answer Relationship. The QAR method
consists of In the Text and In Your Head questions. The In the Text questions involve
students using lower level thinking skills. They simply require looking through the text for the
answer. However, the In Your Head questions require students to employ critical thinking
skills. These questions ask students to use what they learned and apply it to a real world
example. The questions that I used for this activity required students to both think critically and
problem solve because they were asked to relate the reading to a real-world example that they
knew of. Creating in-depth questions was my way of incorporating a few of Blooms higher
levels of thinking. Because both of these activities required students to do more than just answer
simple questions, the students were asked to analyze and evaluate their responses. This
encouraged higher-level responses.
I also included an activity in my Content Text Set that required students to demonstrate
their performance capacities. Specifically, I incorporated a Performance Task into my Content
Text Set. The first activity required students to discuss a characters actions and then answer
constructive response questions over the text selection. These constructive response questions
required students to apply what they had learned/understood from the text to answer the
questions. The complex questions required students to answer in detail and back up their

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responses with appropriate details from the text. This portion was assessed through a rubric.
These questions take into account Bruners Constructivist theory because they require students to
adapt new knowledge to what they already know. By incorporating old and new knowledge,
students are better able to understand the topic.
The second task required students to write a letter to the mayor concerning habitat
conservation. This was a similar action that the character from the story took. In contrast, the
students were required to use a web source as well in order to strengthen the content of their
letters. This task required the students to do a pre-writing activity, write a draft, and revise a final
copy. The research required students to find relevant information with which to persuade the
mayor to help them protect the owls. This assignment allowed students to demonstrate their
understanding of letter formatting and persuasive writing through a performance task. This task
was also assessed by a rubric. The rubric allowed for the variation in student answers while
ensuring that students were still meeting all of the learning goals of the task.
In conclusion, Quality Indicator 5 specifically pertains to providing a variety of
appropriate materials from which the learning experience will be enhanced. I believe that the
texts and activities that I chose would allow students to better understand habitats, animal
behaviors, and elements of conservation. By providing students with a number of different types
of texts and activities, students will become more active learners. The students will be curious
about the topics, interested in what is coming next, and engaged in the learning process.