A presentation by professional development coordinators at the Arlington Education and Employment Program (REEP), of the Adult Education Office within Arlington Public Schools. It includes needs assessment and unit planning techniques and tools, for instruction guided by the language and life skills objectives of the REEP Adult ESL curriculum (www.reepworld.org).
1. Unit Planning REEP All Staff In-service September 12, 2009 REEP PROGRAM Clarendon Education Center 2801 Clarendon Blvd., Room 218 Arlington, Virginia 22201 Phone (703) 228-4200 FAX (703) 527-6966
17. Motivation Why? Presentation What? Practice How? Application What if? Build & Analyze Experience Provide Information Practice Apply & Share The cycle of learning in a single lesson is the same cycle that occurs in a unit.
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26. Another way to look at a unit… PRESENTATION PRACTICE PRESENTATION PRACTICE PRESENTATION PRACTICE MOTIVATION APPLICATION
5 th in a series of in-services of meeting all students needs in a multi-level classroom – all multi-level in 1 or more ways
In-service planned to include the 4 stages of the learning cycle Color coding
End: 10:05 Debrief with mind map (doctor’s visit, health) 1. Lg skills: speaking, listening; functions- describe illness, symptoms, duration, etc; ask for clarification Vocabulary: Structures: simple present; present perfect; questions 2. Other health situations
End: 10:10 Transition: talk about needs assessment Discuss question at table with partner – 2 minutes ________________ Debrief: 2 minutes Elicit responses; write on flipchart; compare to next slide
End: 10:10 Compare to elicited responses
End 10:20 (5 min discuss; 5 min debrief) With a partner at your table, discuss the following questions about your experience with needs assessment at the level you teach. Talk about what has worked and why you think it has worked- What are the characteristics of the activity that make it work at your level? Examples from Curriculum: picture questionnaires, mind mapping, learner-generated questionnaires, information grids, and vote with your feet. Debrief: Tools and characteristics – compare to next slide
End 10:20 Appropriate: e.g. not a written questionnaire for level 100. Learning purpose as well as an information gathering purpose . It is important that neither teacher nor learners perceive needs assessment as a waste of learning time. Learners should be actively practicing and using the target language while collecting and analyzing data. Practical :Many activities do not require a great deal of preparation or processing time. Processed with the group: When there are differences in expressed needs and goals, then negotiation and compromise must occur. For learners to understand the purpose and value of needs assessment, the information gathered must be applied in obvious ways during the course so that learners feel that their needs are being met.
End: 10:25 Transition: focus now on unit needs assessment, i.e. done as you are beginning a new curriculum unit Unit Needs Assessment – same reasons discussed using some of the same tools, activities, and processes discussed BUT Initial Needs Assessment to select units of study for a cycle va. Unit needs assessment – focus varies by level Slide Transition to Nancy: demonstration of unit needs assessment for 100-250
Think back to our last in-service (January at JEFF with Dr. Violand-Sanchez). We spent the majority of that in-service discussing learning styles. What do you remember from that discussion? Diverger —perceives information concretely and processes it reflectively. Needs to be personally involved. Assimilato r—Perceives information abstractly and processes it reflectively. Forms theories and concepts. Enjoys traditional classrooms. Converger – Perceives information abstractly and processes it actively. Needs hands-on experiences. Needs to know how what happens in the classroom will help them in real life. Accomodator– Perceives information concretely, and processes it actively. Functions by acting and testing experience. Learns by trial and error. (according to a study that Dr. Violand-Sanchez conducted with APS ESL students, 40% were Divergers)
Need to go through all four stages to meet the needs of all four learning styles.
During the motivation stage, the teacher taps into students' background knowledge and students analyze their experiences. If students lack experience in the concept being discussed, the teacher creates an experience for the students and they analyze that experience. Motivation activities could include group discussions, information grids, video clips, personality or habit "quizzes."
During the motivation stage, the teacher taps into students' background knowledge and students analyze their experiences. If students lack experience in the concept being discussed, the teacher creates an experience for the students and they analyze that experience. Motivation activities could include group discussions, information grids, personality or habit "quizzes."
This is the time the teacher introduces new information. Presentation activities could include, short explanations, presentations of language structures, readings. Presentation can make use of realia.
This is the time the teacher introduces new information. Presentation activities could include, short explanations, presentations of language structures, readings. Presentation can make use of realia.
During practice, the teacher provides a variety of practice activities that allow the students to work with the new language and information. Practice activities could include, information grids, writing activities (draft stages), worksheets, songs, cloze activities.
During practice, the teacher provides a variety of practice activities that allow the students to work with the new language and information. Practice activities could include, information grids, writing activities (draft stages), worksheets, songs, cloze activities.
Students apply language and information in a novel situation. Application activities could include, student projects, oral presentations, and "published" writing pieces.
Students apply language and information in a novel situation. Application activities could include, student projects, oral presentations, and "published" writing pieces.
Although the four stages build on each other, as the diagram illustrates, movement through the unit isn't always linear. It's normal to go back to previous stages as skills are built. (refer to today’s agenda)
Here’s an alternative way to conceptualize it; you start with motivation (the small doll) and build as you move along though the unit. Each new stage contains elements of the previous stages.
You saw and planned unit needs assessment activities and used guided questions, resources, and tools to sketch out a unit incorporating the four stages of learning. In your class, conduct a unit needs assessment, sketch out and teach the unit incorporating the four stages of learning using tools and activities you learned about at the in-service or your own. Use the following questions to reflect on the experience. Briefly describe the unit needs assessment process and tools you used. Did the activity go well? Is there anything you would do differently? Describe how you planned your unit following the needs assessment. What questions were helpful to consider? What resources did you consult? What tools did you use to sketch out your unit? How did the unit go? Did you make any adjustments to your plan? What were they? Why were they necessary? How did conducting the unit needs assessment and doing initial planning help you? What challenges and questions do you still have about unit planning? Briefly describe any assessments you used during the unit. What did you learn from them? Did your approach to individual lesson planning change in any way when working through this unit? *****Please bring this worksheet and your unit sketch to the March In-Service*****