Assignment 1: Tiered Lesson

Name & Student Number: Sarah Gobbie 2120517

Curriculum (Learning) Area of Lesson: English - Literacy
Specific Topic of Lesson: Adjectives
Year Level: Year 1

Lesson Context
This lesson is the first lesson out of 6 in an english and literacy unit of adjectives. In these six lessons
students will identify, distinguish, write and share different adjectives in relation to the children's fiction book
The Gruffalo. In lesson one students will first be introduced to adjectives. This first lesson will prompt stu-
dents initial thinking about metalanguage and why we use it. Students will be read the big book The Gruffalo
and learn the different adjectives that describe the characters in this text. Students will continue on from this
lesson by gaining further exposure to adjectives. Students will be asked to use a number of adjectives they
know from the Gruffalo and use it in a sentence. Students will then brainstorm adjectives outside of the
Gruffalo and apply it to their life. I.e. I have a fluffy, brown dog at home. Students will begin to expand on
their adjective knowledge. Throughout this unit students will be asked to identify adjectives out of lists of
words which will include nouns and verbs. By the end of the unit students will be listening and discussing
stories at a level beyond that at which they can read independently. Students will be encouraged to link
what they read to their own experiences. E.g. applying their knowledge of adjectives to sentences outside
of the Gruffalo.

Learning Objectives:

Students will be introduced to metalanguage and how adjectives can be used to improve and aid nouns.
More specifically, they will be able to identify adjectives as describing words and use these describing words
effectively in a sentence.

Explore difference in words that represent people, places and things (nouns, including pronouns), happen-
ings and states (verbs), qualities (adjectives) and details such as when, where and how (adverbs). - ACELA
1452

As a result of engaging with the lesson, students will:

Understand that

Students will understand that effective words can describe a place, person or event.
 Know Be able to (do)

Students will be able to define an adjective.

An adjective is a describing word
Students will be able to use adjectives to describe a
Sentences can be made more vivid by add- character based on looks, feel and sound.
ing adjectives to them.
Students will form sentences using one, two or three
Adjectives are used to aid nouns adjectives.

Essential Questions (1-3 only)

What is the role of an adjective?

How and why are adjectives used?

Explicit and frequent reference to essential questions sends a powerful signal that a unit is about under-
standing, not merely the acquisition of knowledge and skills. (Wiggins, McTighe, 2011, p.73)
Pre-assessment of Individual Student Readiness

Pre assessment is the process of gathering evidence of students readiness and interests prior to begin-
ning a unit or series of related lessons, and then using that evidence to plan instruction that will better
meet learners needs. (Doubet and Hockett, 2015, p.59)

In the first lesson, students were given a worksheet with verbs, nouns and adjectives as a pre-assessment
(see appendix A). Students were asked to circle the adjectives. They were then asked to choose one
adjective and form it into a sentence. For those students who struggled with hand writing, cutting and
pasting was an option. From here students were differentiated into two groups in relation to their readi-
ness levels. Gruffalos and Mice. Readiness groups were labelled Gruffalos and Mice so students were
not aware of their ranking. This pre-assessment task was done before the planned lesson and was de-
signed specifically for the to see where students were at with their knowledge on metalanguage and
adjectives. It also took into account those students who felt they could hand write their sentences and
those who chose to cut and paste.

Pre assessment helps the teacher locate the area of the pool appropriate for each student as a unit of
study is about to begin. (Tomlinson, 2013)

Tier 1 (Gruffalos): These students worked independently and were able to correctly define what an ad-
jective is in their own words. They also circled all the adjectives on the worksheet and were able to hand-
write a sentence using these adjectives. It is evident from this worksheet that these students felt confident
with their knowledge on adjectives. Whilst the lesson is based around knowledge of metalanguage, an
aspect of it does include hand writing therefore this does need to be considered in the pre-assessment.

Tier 2 (Mice): These students are definitely on the right path when it comes to their knowledge on adjec-
tives. However, they attempted but did not correctly identify all the adjectives on the page. This shows
that they have not quite grasped the concept. Students who struggled immensely with their handwriting
and/or cutting and pasting skills also went into this group

Lesson Plan
Lesson Sequence Explanatory notes
Students to be seated on the floor. Reinforce the 5 Ls Tomlinson and Jarviss Pillars of Differentiation princi-
of listening. Lips closed, legs crossed, hands in lap, ples state that a students environment is a catalyst for
listening and looking at the teacher. After this, appro- learning (Tomlinson & Jarvis, 2009). Which is why it is
priately welcome students back into the classroom important to ensure that students feel happy and com-
thus ensuring students feel comfortable and safe. fortable in your classroom.

Begin by introducing adjectives to students. Students

will be asked if they have ever heard of an adjective Essential questions have been posed to get students
before. If the answer is yes, ask student if they can thinking about the big idea behind adjectives. This
explain to the class what it is. If the answer is no you helps ensure students are understanding the concept.
ask students to volunteer to demonstrate describing in
front of the class. Ask students why would we use ad- Allowing the students to be hand on is allowing them
jectives? how do we use them? If this doesn't prompt to use guided discovery. This means students are ac-
any discussion amongst students explain that adjec- tivating their senses to discover and create their own
tives are describing words and make sentences more adjectives. This helps students with different learning
exciting. styles. The fact that they can use their senses (touch,
feel etc) allows students to make sense or understand
Select one student to come up in front of the class. information in a way that potentially better suits their
Teacher is to wrap a blindfold around the student learning style. (Tomlinson, 2013).
(even an old tie) and then ask the student to reach their
hand into a bag filled with pre-prepared objects. E.g. Focussing on the students abilities and interests and
soft toy, slippery snake, pointy/sharp ball (dogs toy), structuring activities around this to assist their level of
fluffy feather etc. One student is to reach into this bag engagement in learning. (Jarvis, 2010, p.13).
and feel around. Ask the student to pick one item and
then describe what they are feeling.
Learning the parts of speech can be difficult for stu-
Whilst this is taking place discuss with students the dents, especially those with special needs. This is a
fact that adjectives are describing words. Say more visual and tactile approach to teaching adjectives
adjectives are words we use when we want to explain and it can help ensure students process what they are
what something is like For example, the dog is is learning easier and more successfully.
brown and fluffy. Do this with a number of students
until it seems that most have grasped the concept.

Consider that the students have now been sitting on This task was designed so students of different readi-
the floor for quite a while and it is time to for the inter-
ness were able to complete the lesson in different lev-
active part of the lesson. Explain to students that we
are going to be looking at the book the Gruffalo over els. I adjusted the writing aspect of the lesson based
the next few weeks. Students are to collect a piece of on the pre assessment and also had to take into con-
A4 plain white paper and head back to their desks. sideration what I already knew about their readiness
Once students are at their desk begin to read the levels in literacy. (e.g handwriting skills)
Grufflalo big book to students. Their task is to try and
draw the Gruffalo based on what they can hear being
described in the book.
Students may not finish this in one lesson but the next Most teachers instinctively adjust their teaching in re-
step would be to write a sentence describing their sponse to learner differences. During a whole-class
Gruffalo. E.g. My Gruffalo is .. Students can discussion, a teacher might adjust the difficulty of
choose their own word to describe. It does not have to questions directed to a particular students based on
be from the book. their perceived levels of understanding. (Jarvis, 2015,
p.166)
In terms of implementing the different tiers in to the
activity, students in the Gruffalo group (tier one) will The reason behind tiering the lesson at this particular
be asked to handwrite their sentence and use two stage was to cater for the different readiness levels of
OR three adjectives. My Gruffalo has fluffy fur and each child and to provide appropriate challenges for
and sharp teeth OR My Gruffalo lives in the deep them. The two tiers were designed to be the same for
dark woods etc. (See appendix B) all students, just at different stages of reading, writing,
adjective knowledge, scaffolding and planning.
Students in the Mice group have the options of cop-
ying a handwritten sentence by the teacher. Stu-
Essentially by the end of the lesson, all students should
dents will form their own idea for the sentence and have knowledge regarding adjectives and how to use
the teacher can write it down for them to copy. OR them in a sentence. Students were able to achieve this
students who aren't able to handwrite can cut and each with a different level of support.
paste pre made sentences with different adjectives
of their choice (see appendix B). This way students
are still showing critical thinking and their
knowledge based on adjectives and metalanguage.

(Depending on how efficiently/smoothly this goes (Use a timer to time your lesson to account for AD/HD
students may need to do this over two lessons) students) (Le Messier, M pg. 72, 2010)

Resources:

Pre assessment task Appendix A

The Gruffalo big book
A4 piece of paper
Bag of adjectives (used for describing)
Blindfold
Sentences for Mice group Appendix B
Assessment checklist Appendix C
Lesson Closure/ Check for Understanding
How will you know whether students have achieved your lesson objectives?
This lesson will be placed as the last lesson of the day so to conclude this lesson I will ask students
to start packing up for the day. As they are all gathered on the floor I will individually ask students to
come and collect their green reading folders on their way. As they leave I will ask students to use
two adjectives to describe someone or something in the class. By doing this I can make a mental
note of those students who struggled. To avoid any potential embarrassment in front of other class
mates I will prompt students who may need help. I plan to use exit cards throughout the unit to keep
a record of students progress. However, as students have been writing and drawing all afternoon
they may need a different outlet to show me their understanding. This is a form a formative assess-
ment and also less threatening for students. This formative assessment will help me to assess stu-
dents understanding of their work they completed today along with their interest in the topic. It will
be come extremely evident to me who grasps the concept and who doesnt. I also plan to look through
each students work and see their understanding and determine whether further explanation or scaf-
folding will be needed into the unit. This can be done via a rubric/checklist (See appendix C) A simple
checklist may help to determine whether the scaffolding is needed. This checklist will also make it
easier to check for understanding and provide feedback for the next lesson.

Assessment is appropriately seen as the process of observing student learning by collaborating with
students to collect and interpret data about their academic strengths and weaknesses, interests, and
learning preferences, with the goal of making decisions that benefit their instruction. (Moon, 2005,
p 226,227)

This checklist will assess for students understanding:

Verbal assessment:

The student understands how to use and adjective in a sentence

The student understands and is aware why we use adjectives

Review tiered work activities (checklist will also depend on the different tier groups)

The student hand wrote their sentence using an adjective

The student successfully copied my sentence onto their A4 drawing
The student has cut and pasted their sentence onto their drawing
The students sentence make sense
The student has successfully used the adjective
The student has used one or two adjectives
EDUC4720/1 EDUC9406 2017. Tiering format adapted from Tomlinson (1999)

It is often said that feedback is the breakfast of champions. All kinds of learning, whether on the practice field
or in the classroom, require feedback (McTighe, 2005, p.12)
 Explanation:
As this lesson will take place in the first term of the year I have noted that a majority of students writing
ability is low so the main focus of this lesson is knowledge and understanding in terms of speaking and
listening. However, as a component of this lesson does revolve around writing I have differentiated to
meet each students level of readiness. There are three particular students in the class that struggle to
write their name, therefore the cut and paste activity will ensure that their educational needs are still being
met. This also ensures that they are on the same page as the students who are hand writing their sen-
tences. Thus, each student should have the same knowledge and be able to use it in a sentence its just
the level of support that differs.A teacher who differentiates in response to students readiness variances
uses readiness-based assessment information to create tasks that are a little too hard for particular stu-
dents and establishes the support systems necessary to help them move forward to a new level of com-
petence. (Sousa, D & Tomlinson, C 2010).

The learning objectives for this lesson came straight from the Australian Curriculum but how the lesson
was delivered came from my thinking around the essential questions. These essential questions have
been posed throughout the lesson to get students thinking about the big idea of the lesson. The purpose
of essential questions is to reflect the key inquiries and the understanding goals of the unit and thus serve
to focus the unit and prioritise learning (Wiggins and McTighe, 2011, p.70) In this case, the essential
questions needed to be asked so students could grasp an idea of what is expected of them in this unit.
This understanding needs to be worked through with all students so they can learn new concepts and
apply them. This lesson is based around students using their abilities and skills (touch, feel etc) to create
their own understanding. This is backed up by Jarvis, when she states Focussing on the students abilities
and interests and structuring activities around this to assist their level of engagement in learning. (Jarvis,
2010, p.13) It is a different approach to learning adjectives and allows students to be interactive.

It should be noted that there is a lot to cover in one lesson. This decision was made because it is better
to over plan than to be unprepared and not have enough options to extend to all students. If students take
longer than expected or one particular aspect of the lesson works really well and you need to spend extra
time on it, the lesson can be split over two lessons. A lesson timer can be implemented for those students
with AD/HD who have genuine difficulty sustaining attention on tasks. Timers can help students to see
that those periods where sustained concentration is required are limited and will pass.Use them as a
visual prompt to help a student persevere that little longer (Le Messier, M pg. 72, 2010)

References:
The Australian Curriculum "Foundation To Year 10 Curriculum Filter By Subject And Columns - The
Australian Curriculum V8.1". Australiancurriculum.edu.au. N.p., 2016. Web. 1 Mar. 2017.

Doubet, Kristina & Hockett, Jessica A 2015, 'Constructing Useful Pre-assessments', in Doubet, Kristina
& Hockett, Jessica A, Differentiation in middle and high school: strategies to engage all learners,
ASCD, Alexandria, Virginia, p. 59

Jarvis, Jane 2013, 'Differentiating learning experiences for diverse students', in Hudson, Peter (ed.),
Learning to teach in the primary school, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Vic., pp. 56-
Pillars of Differentiation.

Jarvis, Jane 2010, 'Differentiating The Curriculum Or Just Good Teaching?', SERUpdate, vol. 20, no.
2, p. 13
Jarvis, J. 2015. Inclusive classrooms and differentiation. Learning to Teach in the Secondary School,
p.154

Le Messurier, Mark 2010, 'Inspiration to improve concentration and task completion', in Le Messurier,
Mark, Teaching tough kids: simple and proven strategies for student success, Routledge, London, pp.
57-77.

McTighe, J, & OConner, K 2005. Seven Practises For Effective Learning. Educational Leadership,
63(3), p.12

Moon, T. 2005, The role of assessment in differentiation. Theory Into Practise, 44, p.226-227

Sousa, David A & Tomlinson, Carol Ann. 2011, 'Mindset, learning environment, and differentiation', in
Sousa, David A & Tomlinson, Carol A, Differentiation and the brain: how neuroscience supports the
learner-friendly classroom, Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, Ind, pp. 17-43.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann & Moon, Tonya R 2013, 'Pre-assessment: Knowing Where Students Are as a
Unit Begins, Carol A & Moon, Tonya R, Assessment and student success in a differentiated classroom,
ASCD, Alexandria, Va., p. 28

Tomlinson, Carol Ann 2004, The how tos of planning lessons differentiated by readiness, in
Tomlinson, Carol A, How to differentiate instruction in mixed ability classrooms, 2nd edn, Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, Va, p.45

Wiggins, Grant P & McTighe, Jay 2005, 'Crafting understandings', in Wiggins, Grant P & McTighe, Jay,
Understanding by design, Expanded 2nd edn, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Develop-
ment, Alexandria, VA, p. 132

Wiggins, Grant & McTighe, Jay 2011, 'Essential questions and understandings', in Wiggins, Grant P &
McTighe, Jay, The understanding by design guide to creating high-quality units, ASCD, Alexandria,
Va., pp. 70- 73
 APPENDIX A - PRE ASSESSMENT

Chubby House Small

Feet Bumpy
Enormous

Mouse Yummy Smooth

Sticky Owl Tiny

Fluffy Juicy Sharp

Handwritten sentence:

OR

Cut and paste options (pick one):

My dog has teeth My apple tastes

My cat is very Katies milkshake is

 APPENDIX B - CUT AND PASTE SENTENCES

STEP 1:

1. My Gruffalo has
2. My Gruffalo is
3. My Gruffalo has a

STEP 2:

Nobbly Knees Slimey Small

Enormous Sharp Teeth Green Wart

Sharp Claws Orange Eyes Purple Prickles

Sharp Teeth A Black Tongue Tiny

APPENDIX C - CHECKLIST

Name: Activity:

Has the stu- Working to-

Mastered On track Struggled N/A
dent wards

Student can
define an ad-
jective

Student accu-
rately used
one or more
adjectives in a
sentence
Student accu-
rately cut and
pasted adjec-
tives in a sen-
tence

Understood
the role of of
an adjective

Demonstrated
confidence
within the ac-
tivity