Kayla Mache Jackson

FRIT 7231 Instructional Design

Dr. Hodges
Fall 2015

Identification of Learning Problem

The students in my sixth grade English language arts classroom are all between the ages
of 10 and 12. The student population at my school, Southeast Bulloch Middle, is not very
diverse, and I have no students who are considered ELL (English language learners). However, I
have many students who are SPED, have 504 plans, or have been placed on a POI tier. These
students receive all of the necessary assistance as written in their file.
As we finished our first essay of the year this past week and I have begun grading these
essays, I have realized that the greatest challenge for all of my students is using evidence to
support their claims within an essay. This learning problem presented itself in many forms:
Roughly 25% of my students failed to include any evidence when evidence was needed. Another
25% of students included evidence, but the evidence they chose did not support their claims.
Five percent of my students used evidence, but presented no claim for the evidence to support.
Throughout the year, we will work through all of these issues until we reach the desired
objective, where my students can use evidence from a text to support a claim.

GOAL
Students will be able to use evidence successfully to support their claims in an essay.

Learner Analysis
The learners in my class are typical preteens. They enjoy talking more than listening, and
often groan when it is time to get started on classwork. Where my students differ is in their levels
of motivation. Many of my students try their best in my class, and even if language arts is not
their favorite subject, they listen to what I have to say and realize the importance of what I am
teaching. However, there are a few with very little motivation. These students require constant
redirection and repetition of directions for what we are doing.
However, there seems to be no correlation between the students motivation levels and
which students struggle with correctly identifying and using evidence to support their claims in
an essay. In fact, there are no distinct characteristics that all of my struggling students share. I
have students who are flagged as being on tier three of the Pyramid of Intervention that struggle
with evidence, but I also have students struggling who are not on the Pyramid of Intervention at
all. I have students who are considered gifted that provided excellent evidence, while many of
my inclusion students also showed grade-level appropriate understanding of the skill.
Upon entering the sixth grade, students have had very little prior experience with using
evidence. Fifth grade standards deal with using evidence somewhat, but the sixth grade standards
target this particular skill. Therefore, it is not any surprise that so many of my students are
struggling. I know that using evidence is a skill we will continue working on throughout the year,
but before the writing and reading assignments get tougher, I would like to make sure that my
students understand not only how to identify and use evidence, but the importance of it.

Task Analysis
When it comes to learning how to use evidence when writing an essay, the what and the
how of the skill are equally important. While it is impossible to use evidence if you do not know
what evidence is, the best method for learning how to use evidence is through the practice.
Therefore, for this task analysis, I have combined aspects of both a topic analysis and a
procedural analysis. The topic analysis components are used to teach students what evidence and
claims are as well as why they are important, while the procedural analysis shows them the
proper steps to take when looking for and using textual evidence.

Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Along with my role as the developer of this learning task, I will also be the subject matter
expert (or SME). I have earned a bachelors degree in Middle Grades Education, with a
concentration on English language arts and mathematics. During my time in this program, I took
30+ hours of content courses aimed primarily at teaching students to analyze text and write
narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive writing. Many of these classes, as well as
classes within the education program, required me to conduct research and provide my own
evidence to support my reasoning and thinking. My years of personal practice and instruction
from masters in the subject matter have sufficiently prepared me to teach this content to students
at the middle grade level.
1. Identifying Your Writing Topic
a. What is this essay going to be about?
i.
Before you can begin looking for evidence for your essay, you need to know what your essay is
going to be about.
b. What information do you need to know in order to complete this assignment?
i.
Start thinking about what information you need to know in order to write this essay.

ii.

For instance, if you were writing an essay on the differences between a book and its film version
(movie), you would need to know what things happened in the book and what things happened in
the film.
c. Often, your topic is given to you in your instructions or by your teacher.
2. Making Your Claims
a. Before you can start finding evidence, you must decide what your claims (arguments or opinions
you will be discussing in the essay) are.
b. Starting with your broad essay topic, think of three or four more specific arguments you could
make about the topic.
c. For instance, if you are writing a character analysis about Vinny from The Ravine, you would
make claims about Vinnys personality traits. You might say that he is clumsy, shy, proud, or

scared, based on what you know from the story.

3. Identifying Your Resources
a. What books, articles, etc. will you be using to find evidence?
i.
Start looking for resources that will provide evidence to back up the claims you have made. A
good source for finding resources based on your topic is Galileo.
b. Do these resources focus on your specific topic?
i.
Make sure that the resources you find are on topic- if you are writing an essay on the feeding
ii.

habits of a blue whale, a book on dolphins will not be of use to you.

Sometimes, a resources will be useless to you. It may have information unrelated to your topic,
or it may be on topic but include information that you have already found. In that case, there is
no need for you to use that resource in your essay.
4. Finding Evidence in Your Resources
a. Find information in these resources that you can use to backup your claims. The information you
find is your called your evidence.
b. Make sure that the evidence can be matched up and used to support one of the claims you have
made. It should be specific to the information your claim covers.
c. For instance, if you are writing an essay about the effects of video games on children and you
find an article about the effects of many types of technology on children, the portion on video
games would be much more useful to you than the portion of the article about text messaging or
television.

5. Putting Your Evidence in Your Essay

a. Does your claim have evidence to support it?
i.
Make sure you include specific evidence from a reliable source (such as your textbook) to
ii.

support all of the claims you make in your essay.

If you do not provide evidence to support your claim, it makes your essay weaker and your

reader is less likely to believe or side with what you have to say.
b. Does your evidence have a claim to support?
i.
Evidence that is random or misplaced can also weaken an otherwise strong essay.
ii.
Make sure that your evidence has a claim to support. Throwing a random quote from a book,
article, etc. into a paragraph with nothing for it to support is NOT how you use evidence.
Anytime you use a piece of evidence in a text, it should always be supporting your claims or
ideas.

Learning Objectives
Terminal Objective 1: Students will be able to define evidence and claims.
Enabling Objectives:
1A. The students will be able to define evidence and explain the purpose it serves.
1B. The students will be able to define claim and explain what purpose claims serve.
1C. The students will be able to explain the relationship between evidence and claims.

Terminal Objective 2: Students will be able to identify evidence to support their claims.
Enabling Objectives:
2A. The students will create their claims based on the topic of their essay.
2B. The students will identify and keep a record of evidence from reputable and scholarly
sources to support their claims.

Terminal Objective 3: The students will be able to use evidence effectively in an essay.
Enabling Objectives:
3A. The students will be able to correctly introduce evidence within an essay.
3B. The students will be able to cite evidence correctly within an essay.

Assessments
Assessment 1:
In this assessment, students will be reading a short article entitled Two Days with No
Phone and completing an accompanying activity. In the activity, they are asked to read the
article and answer questions, using textual evidence to support their answers, or claims. Since
our school is big on the use of Google, this assessment will be provided to the students via my
Google Classrooms. The assessment supports my first learning objective by having students
create claims, identify evidence to support those claims, and, for some of the questions, explain
how the evidence they identified supports their claims. Also, the students are required to explain
why their claims/evidence qualify as claims/evidence based on the definition of claims/evidence.
This will prove to me that the students know what evidence and claims are, can identify them,
and know how the two are related. (accompanying resources found under Appendix A)

Assessment 2:
In this assessment, students will be choosing a topic on which to write their
argumentative essays, then creating claims and identifying evidence based on the topic they
choose. They will record their claims and evidence in a Google Doc that will be turned in
through Google Classrooms. This assessment supports my second learning objective by having
students create their own claims based on a topic of their choosing, as well as having them
research the topic and find sources that will support those claims. (accompanying resources
found under Appendix B.)

Assessment 3:
In this assessment, students will begin writing their essay on the topic they chose in
assessment #2. Using the document they created, the students will write their essay, being sure to
include the claims they created and the evidence they found. They should use this evidence to
support their claims, and be sure to cite their sources. The students will type their essay on a
Google Doc through Google Classroom. For the purpose of this assessment, the main focus here
will be the students abilities to introduce their claims based on their topic, and their abilities
supporting said claims with the evidence they located. This will be reflected in the rubric for this
assignment. This assessment will satisfy my third learning objective by showing me my students
abilities using their knowledge of claims and evidence. (accompanying resources found in
Appendix C.)

Content Sequencing and Instructional Strategies

Sequence

Description

Objective

Define evidence and claims.

1A, 1B

Explain the purpose of evidence and claims in writing.

1A, 1B

Explain the relationship between evidence and claim, and

1C

how they are used together in writing.

4

Create claims based on a certain topic.

2A

Identify and record textual evidence in a portfolio that you

2B

can use to supports those claims.

6

Create citations for evidence that will be used in the essay

3B

(both in-text citation and Works Cited page citation)

7

Effectively introduce evidence into an essay to support

3A, 3B

claims, and use citations correctly.

Step
1

Category

Strategies

Fact a. The teacher will provide students with an in-depth description of

evidence and claims using a Google Slides presentation posted to
Google Classroom.
b. The students will paraphrase the definitions for both evidence and
claims using their own words, recording their new definitions in their
own Google Doc. They will title their Google Doc in the following
format: FirstIntial_LastName_Notes. They will use this Google Doc

to record their notes throughout the unit.

2

Concepta. Students will read the short expository essay Strange Habits of
Famous Writers. In this essay, the evidence is provided in bold print,
so students can easily identify it. Using the evidence that is provided
and their prior knowledge of what a claim is, each student will
explain why the author used each piece of evidence. Once they have
done so for each piece of evidence, they will use what they have
learned about using evidence to explain what purpose evidence serves
in writing. They will record their answers in their Notes page on
Google Docs.
b. Using their prior knowledge of what a claim is, students will identify
the authors claims in the article Strange Habits of Famous Writers.
After theyve finished, they will explain what purpose claims serve in
an essay. This will all be recorded in their Google Docs Notes page.
("Strange Habits of Famous Writers")

Concept

Students will complete the Two Days with No Phone assessment.

They will read the article and answer questions, using textual
evidence to support their answers, or claims. Since our school is big
on the use of Google, this assessment will be provided to the students
via my Google Classrooms. The assessment will have students create
claims, identify evidence to support those claims, and, for some of the
questions, explain how the evidence they identified supports their
claims. Also, the students are required to explain why their
claims/evidence qualify as claims/evidence based on the definition of

claims/evidence. This will prove to me that the students know what

evidence and claims are and can identify them, and will demonstrate
for students how the two are related.
4

Procedure

In this assessment, students will be choosing a topic on which to write

their argumentative essays from the provided topics, then creating
claims and identifying evidence based on the topic they choose. They
will record their claims and evidence in a Google Doc that will be
turned in through Google Classrooms. It will be labeled
FirstInitial_LastName_Claims.

Procedure

Students will begin gathering evidence to support the claims they

produced based on their topic. They will record all of their evidence
and where they found it in an evidence portfolio through Google
Docs. The Google Doc will be labeled
FirstInitial_LastName_EvidencePortfolio.

Principlesa. Students will watch the video MLA Citations- Dont eat yellow
and rules snow They will record notes in their Notes Google Doc.
b. Using what they have learned from the video, the students will create
Works Cited citations for the evidence they have found. They will
Procedure

also create in-text citations for each piece of evidence. This will be
recorded in the Evidence Google Doc.

Procedure

Students will begin writing their essay on the topic they chose. Using
the notes they have taken and documents they have created, the
students will write their essays, being sure to include the claims they
created and the evidence they found. They should use their evidence

to support their claims, and be sure to cite their sources. The students
will type their essay on a Google Doc through Google Classroom.

Differentiation
To differentiate for these lessons, I have given the students choices for their essay topic.
This way, students can choose topics on their intellectual level and of which they have some
prior knowledge. I also can differentiate the complexity of the assignment by providing another
more challenging list of topics for my more gifted writers. Allowing students the opportunity to
choose what topic they will write on gives them more intellectual freedom. I have also
differentiated by providing instruction using multiple strategies, including presentations and a
video.

Instructional Design Summary

Gaining the Attention of My Learners
In this unit, I will gain the attention of my learners by connecting the lessons and
activities to their lives. I have chosen videos, activities, and assessments that will appeal to their
sense of humor (such as the Don't Eat the Yellow Snow video that teaches citations or the
Strange Habits of Famous Writers article), and given them choices for their writing prompt so
that they can write about something that they will enjoy and feel passionately about. All of these
things will help me gain the learners attention and, more importantly, help me keep their
attention.

Informing Learners of Their Objectives

Since students will be completing their work for this unit through Google Docs, this is
how I will inform them of the learning objectives they should be achieving as they complete an
assignment. More specifically, I will list the objectives that correspond with an assignment in the

description for each lesson. This way, students will be aware of what they should know when
they have completed an assignment.

Activating Prior Relevant Knowledge

For this particular skill that we are working on, students have very little prior knowledge.
While they have written (condensed) essays before, they have not been asked to provide or cite
evidence. However, as the lessons build on one another, Ive built in ways to activate the students
prior knowledge from earlier lessons. For instance, the Strange Habits of Famous Writers
lesson will activate students prior knowledge of what claims are as they learn how to identify
and make claims. Also, the Two Days with No Phone assessment will reactivate their prior
knowledge of what both claims and evidence are, and will give them guided practice with
making claims and supporting them with evidence.

Delivering Content to Learners

All of my content will be delivered to my learners through Google Classroom. Here, I can set up
each individual lesson, give instructions and assistance, and provide links to any other supports
that are needed. My students have prior knowledge of Google Classroom and how to operate and
navigate it, so it will make the process go smoothly for them as well as make it easy for me to
keep up with their progress.

Instructional Sequencing

Sequence

Lessons and Assessments

Objective

a. The teacher will provide students with an in-depth description 1A, 1B

of evidence and claims using a Google Slides presentation
posted to Google Classroom.
b. The students will paraphrase the definitions for both evidence
and claims using their own words, recording their new
definitions in their own Google Doc. They will title their
Google Doc in the following format:
FirstIntial_LastName_Notes. They will use this Google Doc
to record their notes throughout the unit.

a. Students will read the short expository essay Strange Habits

of Famous Writers. In this essay, the evidence is provided in
bold print, so students can easily identify it. Using the
evidence that is provided and their prior knowledge of what a
claim is, each student will explain why the author used each
piece of evidence. Once they have done so for each piece of
evidence, they will use what they have learned about using
evidence to explain what purpose evidence serves in writing.
They will record their answers in their Notes page on Google
Docs.
b. Using their prior knowledge of what a claim is, students will
identify the authors claims in the article Strange Habits of
Famous Writers. After theyve finished, they will explain
what purpose claims serve in an essay. This will all be
recorded in their Google Docs Notes page.

1A, 1B

Students will complete the Two Days with No Phone

1C

assessment. They will read the article and answer questions,

using textual evidence to support their answers, or claims.
Since our school is big on the use of Google, this assessment
will be provided to the students via my Google Classrooms.
The assessment will have students create claims, identify
evidence to support those claims, and, for some of the
questions, explain how the evidence they identified supports
their claims. Also, the students are required to explain why
their claims/evidence qualify as claims/evidence based on the
definition of claims/evidence. This will prove to me that the
students know what evidence and claims are and can identify
them, and will demonstrate for students how the two are
related.
4

In this assessment, students will be choosing a topic on which

2A

to write their argumentative essays from the provided topics,

then creating claims and identifying evidence based on the
topic they choose. They will record their claims and evidence
in a Google Doc that will be turned in through Google
Classrooms. It will be labeled
FirstInitial_LastName_Claims.
5

Students will begin gathering evidence to support the claims

they produced based on their topic. They will record all of

2B

their evidence and where they found it in an evidence

portfolio through Google Docs. The Google Doc will be
labeled FirstInitial_LastName_EvidencePortfolio.
6

a. Students will watch the video MLA Citations- Dont eat

3B

yellow snow They will record notes in their Notes Google

Doc.
b. Using what they have learned from the video, the students
will create Works Cited citations for the evidence they have
found. They will also create in-text citations for each piece of
evidence. This will be recorded in the Evidence Google Doc.
7

Students will begin writing their essay on the topic they

3A, 3B

chose. Using the notes they have taken and documents they
have created, the students will write their essays, being sure to
include the claims they created and the evidence they found.
They should use their evidence to support their claims, and be
sure to cite their sources. The students will type their essay on
a Google Doc through Google Classroom.

Providing Feedback
The best way to provide feedback to students in Google Classroom is through comments,
whether or it be on a their actual Documents or in the comments sections under each lesson or
assignment. If it is individualized feedback, provide specific feedback through comments inside
of a students Google Doc is best. This allows you to highlight what a student has done well or
needs to revisit and leave a quick comment of praise or critique. However, if there is something

that multiple students seem to be misunderstanding, I can leave a comment on the assignment or
lessons link so that all students will be able to see it.

Differentiation and Universal Design for Learning

To differentiate for these lessons, I have given the students choices for their essay topic.
This way, students can choose topics on their intellectual level and of which they have some
prior knowledge. I also can differentiate the complexity of the assignment by providing another
more challenging list of topics for my more gifted writers. Allowing students the opportunity to
choose what topic they will write on gives them more intellectual freedom. I have also
differentiated by providing instruction using multiple strategies, including presentations and a
video. This incorporates the Universal Design for Learning by allowing students of all
intellectual levels, including, but not limited to, students with disabilities as well as those with
accommodations, to learn the content successfully and efficiently.

Formative Evaluation Plan

I have chosen Vickki Carter, one of my co-workers, to be the subject matter expert who
will evaluate my instruction in this activity. She is a veteran teacher and the department head for
the English Language Arts department at my school. I seek her advice regularly, and she is
always more than happy to help. She teaches 8th grade language arts currently, but has taught
many grade levels and has knowledge of what is expected for each grade level. Below is the
survey I will provide for Mrs. Carter to rate my instruction:
Content Appropriateness and Accuracy
Do the instruction and materials
1. Provide the students with grade-level appropriate and accurate information?
Never

Sometimes

Always

2. Meet grade level standards?

Never

Sometimes

Always

3. Address and thoroughly answer the key questions provided?

Never

Sometimes

Always

4. Effectively evaluate student knowledge?

Never

Sometimes

Always

Completeness
Within the instruction
1. Are objectives met?
Never

Sometimes

Always

2. Do links to online materials work?

Never

Sometimes

Always

3. Are the necessary materials provided for student access?

Never

Sometimes

Always

Usability/Appeal
Are the instruction/ materials
1. Overall easy to use?
Never

Sometimes

Always

Sometimes

Always

2. Easy to access?
Never
3. Easy to navigate?
Never

Sometimes

Always

4. Aesthetically appealing to the user?

Never

Sometimes

Always

I have also created a survey for my students to complete when they have finished the
instruction. By having student complete a questionnaire, I can gather information to inform my
formative evaluation for future classes. The students can tell me if any of the activities or
materials were difficult to understand. I can find out which lessons and activities were the most
meaningful to them, what they liked best, and what could be taken out or changed. I can also use
these surveys, along with the students final assessments, to find out what concepts they
understand and what they are still struggling with. Below is the survey I will provide via Google
Forms in the same Google Classroom where their instruction will take place:

Student Questionnaire
1. How long did it take you to finish this unit in total?

2. What did you think about the materials you were asked to read/watch? Were they
interesting/appealing?

3. Was it easy to find and access things on the Google Classroom?

4. Was there a topic that interested you provided in the writing prompts? If not, what is another
expository essay topic that could have been included?

5. Did you like or dislike the online approach to learning in this unit? Why?

6. What did you like most about this unit?

7.What would you change about this unit?

Appendix A

Two Days With No Phone Activity- This hyperlink leads to the activity that students will be
completing for assessment #1. No rubric or answer key is provided for this assessment as
students answers will vary.

Scholastic Activity- Assessment #1was adapted from this Scholastic activity.

Appendix B

Creating Claims and Identifying Evidence Activity- This hyperlink leads students to the
directions for the assessment #2, where they will be choosing as writing topic, creating their
claims, and identifying evidence that supports those claims.

Writing Prompts- The writing prompts used in this activity were found here.

Appendix C

Essay Details- This hyperlink leads students to directions for creating a Google Doc to write their
essays on, as well as the rubric they will be graded on.