Angela Scurti

EDUC 359

December 10, 2019

1. Did you achieve both your language and content objectives? How can you be sure?

 Our language and content objectives are as listed: Students will be able to identify key

vocabulary words, through the Backs to the Board game, that have to do with gangs in

general, and MS-13 gang specifically. Content: Students will be able to draw conclusions

about what they learned to debate the idea of gangs. I think my partner and I achieved

both of these because at the end of the PowerPoint we split the class up into two groups.

One half had to discuss reasons why people would join a gang and the other half had to

discuss why people shouldn’t join a gang. I felt that this was most effective in the aspect

that it went above the objective of just knowing what a gang is because it touched on the

why and how parts of it as well.

2. Do you feel you "immersed" the students in the vocabulary? Based on your assessment,

did the students have their own understanding of each of the vocab words?

Yes, I feel as though we immersed the students in vocabulary very well. One of our activities

was called, “Backs to the Board.” In this activity, students needed to get into pairs. As one

partner faces their back to the board (which they cannot see), the other partner writes one of the

vocabulary word on the board and tries to explain it while the back to the board partner tries to
guess it. When the word was guessed, the partners switched roles so the other partner could

guess the word. They did this until all of the words on the vocabulary sheet were guessed

correctly. Another time we incorporated our vocabulary into our lesson occurred during our exit

slip. Students were asked to write down one thing they learned and we asked to try to incorporate

the at least one vocabulary word into the responses.

3. Do you feel you had enough interaction, giving students the chance to apply the

language/content with other students? Why or why not?

I think we did a great job giving students the chance to apply the language/content with

other students. Both activities required students to break into either pairs or groups and

discuss and analyze multiple parts of the lesson that were talked about. Creating the

debate allowed all students to see perspectives of gang members and reasons why,

(although its morally incorrect), people would join gangs.

4. What are three aspects of the SIOP process that you find effective and truly need to be in

your lesson plans (especially if ELLs are present)?

I personally think many of the SIOP processes are effective and should be used, but the

three I find most effective are building background, lesson preparation and interaction.

For building background, I think this is important for any age group. Introducing an

unfamiliar topic to anyone can be hard and sometimes difficult to connect with. If we

give the audience an anticipatory set that allows them to think and connect to the real

world, it is proven that the topic will be better understood. Lesson preparation is another

important process. Practice what you are going to say and how you are going to say it is
 not only professional but it allows the audience to better understand the information.

Lastly, interaction is one of the most important parts of any lesson. allowing people to

generate ideas and socialize with others is a crucial part of learning. Students come up

with great responses and conversation when discussing with peers.

5. Looking back now that you've completed the lesson, what is one thing you would have

done differently? Why?

One thing I would’ve done differently is the power point section. Although the

PowerPoint was effective and is also a crucial part of spreading the information and

knowledge of the topic, I feel as though PowerPoints can often be tedious, repetitive and

can sometimes dis engage students depending on how long it is. Something we could

have done instead was a concept map or even share a book to reach young children

better. Because this was such a serious topic I feel like students might’ve appreciated

something more approachable.