Simmons College Programs in Special Education (Moderate, Severe, Reading Specialist) Lesson Plan: Determining Importance in Lecture Note-Taking

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1 Simmons College Programs in Special Education (Moderate, Severe, Reading Specialist) Lesson Plan: Determining Importance in Lecture Note-Taking Lesson Plan #9: Margin Notes: Capturing Important Information in a Text Practicum Student: Robin A. Day-Laporte Date: 13 February 2012 Subject: Study Skills Grade Level: 11 Number of Learners: 8 Time of the Lesson: Period 1, 7:55 8:45 am Length of Lesson: 50 min Curriculum Frameworks Grade Level: 9-12 Subject: Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards Standard: 3. Demonstrate the ability to use technology for research, critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, communication, collaboration, creativity, and innovation. Page Number: 17 Publication Date: April 2008 G9-12: 3.8 Use online communication tools to collaborate with peers, community members, and field experts as appropriate (e.g. bulletin boards, discussion forums, listservs, Web conferencing). Grade Level: 11 & 12 Subject: English Language Arts & Literacy Standard: Speaking & Listening - (Comprehension and Collaboration) Page Number: 63 Publication Date: March a. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly

2 draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas. Standard: Reading Standards for Literacy in History/ Social Studies Page Number: 74 Publication Date: March Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole. 1. Purpose/ Objective/ Function As a result of this lesson students will demonstrate their knowledge of Margin Notes by: 1. Actively participating in a whole-group review on the skill of taking Margin Notes. 2. Working with 1-2 other classmates to use a variety margin note symbols to annotate important information in a text. 3. Individually recording what they have learned about the skill of taking Margin Notes. This lesson is at the tail end of a larger unit on Active Reading skills. The goal of the unit is to develop in students the ability to be strategic readers. Students are learning about skills such as two-column notes, highlighting, margin notes, and summarizing. Students are practicing these skills with high-interest and challenging material from PBS Frontline's The Meth Epidemic. 2. Pre-requisite Skills/ Knowledge For this lesson, a student must have numerous technology competencies, including the ability to: login to a collaborative course website participate in an online discussion forum locate documents stored on one's personal computer/ network open and make annotations (including highlighting and margin-note text boxes/ comments) to a PDF or ODT document save a document to one's personal computer/ network There are several pre-requisite participation skills needed for this lesson, including the ability of a student to: verbally participate in a class discussion actively listen and share one's own thoughts attend to whole-group instruction observe a model and ask relevant questions work cooperatively with other classmates groups of 1-2 other students Pre-requisite reading comprehension skills include the ability of a student to: distinguish between main ideas and key supporting details identify key information in a text A handful of informal assessments have informed the decision making and determination of what/ how to teach this lesson, including the following:

3 Evaluation of reading assignments: On several previous nights, students completed active reading assignments that demanded they read, turn headings into questions, and highlight the answer(s) to their questions. I collected and analyzed notes to ascertain each student's ability to take basic margin notes and highlight relevant information. Evaluation of student notes: Last week students took class notes on the active reading skill of Margin Notes. I looked over students' notes to ensure that they understood and captured (in writing) the most important aspects of this skill. 3. Schedule and Pacing 4. Materials Time Description Materials 1 5 min 7:55 8:00 Homeroom Announcements & Attendance Invite a student to read announcements Call in any missing students Copy of Announcements 2 5 min 8:00 8:05 Goal/ Agenda Share goal(s) for the day: We will demonstrate our growing knowledge of Margin Notes. 1. As a class... remember what we learned last week 2. With partners...use Margin Notes on HW article 3. Individually... write what you have learned An important note: Explain that we are going to do some 'low tech' activities today... to give us an 'attention' break from the computer and also to practice a new skill w/o the inevitable frustrations of technology. Review agenda: Review Practice Share/ Discuss 1-minute Essay Goal & Agenda written on the board 3 10 min 8:05 8:15 Review Prompt students to look around the room to see the questions on the wall. Instruct students to get out of their seats, stand by a question, read it aloud to the class, and then explain their answer. Discuss, clarify, and answer any questions as we go. Revisit Goal: We have (successfully) shared what we remember about Margin Notes from last week Review Questions posted around the room

4 3 20 min 8:15 8:35 Model & Practice Explain that we are going to practice creating margin notes with the article we completed for HW last night (Meth and the Body). As a whole class, brainstorm a handful of symbols that we can use when taking Margin Notes. Record symbols on big post-its on the white board. Project the HW article, read through 1 paragraph, and model using a handful of symbols to mark the text. Explain that students are going to work in small groups to do the same thing on their own. Divide students up into small groups of 2 or 3. Assign each group a different section of the article. Hand out materials, including a printed section of the article and post-it notes on which to record margin note symbols. State that students should also reference their HW from last night, where they highlighted key information in the text. This will help them to remember what they read, so that groups do not need to re-read every word of the text. Large Post-it Notes Article Meth and the Body projected onto whiteboard. Photocopied Text Small Post-it Notes Last night's HW opened up on computers Give students 15 minutes to work together, re-reading/ reviewing the text and adding post-it notes with symbols to the margins. While students are working, move around the room to check for HW completion (and assign any necessary HWMU) and ensure accurate use of margin note symbols. 4 5 min 8:35 8:40 Share/ Discuss Invite each group to share 1 or 2 margin note symbols that they applied to the text. Privately keep track of students' proficiency in the comment feature of Engrade. Answer any questions that came-up. Engrade up on my computer, but not projected to the board. Revisit Goal: We have (successfully) used a variety of margin notes symbols to mark up a text.

5 5 5 min 8:40 8:45 Closing Assessment: 1-Minute Essay Explain what a 1-Minute Essay is: We will take 1 minute to write down everything you have learned about our topic for today: Margin Notes. Share the purpose of the 1-minute Essay: To make sure all of us on the right track. Prompt students to log into Engrade and open up the 1- minute essay assignment. Project Engrade Assignment Project the directions on the board (Directions prompt students to consider WHAT, HOW, WHEN & WHY). Give students 1 minute (or so) to record their response as a 'discussion post'. As students finish, project and confirm that everyone's response has been received. Revisit Goal for the Day: We have (successfully) recorded what we now know about Margin Notes. Remind students that there is no HW tonight (Community Night). Explain where we are headed tomorrow: 1) We will take a look at our 1-minute essays to see that we're on the right track 2) We will move from paper to computer and independently use margin note symbols to mark up the electronic text Meth and the Body. 5. IEP Goals/ Objectives/ Benchmarks Student 1 (MB) will: Objective 1 Verbatim: Differentiate between main ideas and details in reading passages at her instructional level. Objective 1 Rewrite: Following direct teacher modeling, Student 1 will read multi-paragraph selections written at her instructional level and for each paragraph, identify one overall main idea and one key supporting detail, on 4 out of 5 occasions. Student 2 (CT) will:

6 Objective 2 Verbatim: Connor will locate information in appropriate textbooks, articles and literature with greater independence. Objective 2 Rewrite: Following direct instruction and with teacher prompting, student 2 will locate one main idea and at least one supporting detail in each paragraph of an article, on 4 out of 5 occasions. 6. Specially Designed Instruction Students 1 & 2 will need specially designed instruction in order to learn the content/ skills contained in this lesson. In particular: Content Content will be modified through the provision of key concepts and the accompanying elimination of extraneous detail. An alternative text, at an instructional reading level, will be provided. Methodology/Delivery of Instruction 1:1 and small group instruction multimodal approach cueing for language and attention teacher modeling structured, systematic approach to reading spiral appraoch explicit teaching of strategies Performance Criteria daily homework performance teacher-generated tests 7. Accommodations/ Adaptations Several accommodations or adaptations are necessary for students 1 and 2 to access this lesson. Accommodations include but are not limited to the following: provide non-verbal cues to help sustain focus provide opportunities for hands-on activities related to concepts allow use of a keyboard for written expression give clear and concise directions allow for discussion prior to and during reading activities provide frequent practice and review of skills, spiraling back to ensure retention of skills provide guided questions to aid comprehension provide prompts/ cues to aid personal organization supply a practice example before assigning independent work read grade level materials to her provide frequent, genuine praise 8. Possible Problems & Solutions There are several things that could possibly go wrong in this lesson. Here are a few:

7 Problem 1: A student has not fully completed last night's HW. Without a through reading of the article, a student will struggle to fully participate in the small group activity. Solution 1: Prompt the affected small group to work with a section of the article that everyone in the group has read and highlighted. Problem 2: A small group struggles to use their highlighting of the text to remember what the article is about. They find themselves confused, re-reading and unable to move to the next level of adding margin notes. Solution 2: Prompt group to select the section they understand the most, and then to work on 1 paragraph at a time. They can re-read it and then ask themselves what margin note symbols would work best in that paragraph. After 1 paragraph is complete, move on to the next paragraph as time allows. Problem 3: A student in unable to log into Engrade to complete the 1-minute essay. Solution 3: Write 1-minute essay on paper and turn-in (I can copy into Engrade later). 9. Lesson Closure At the end of the lesson, students will know that the lesson is drawing to a close by: Completing a 1-Minute Essay. Revisiting the third and final goal. Explaining where we will go next in our practice of the skill. 10. Assessment There are two evaluation measures built into this lesson: First, when the class shares how they used a variety of margin note symbols, I will keep track of each student's ability to identify a correct symbol and explain why it works in the text. I will record this info in the 'comment' feature of our class Engrade program. Second, each student will complete a 1-Minute Essay on Margin Notes. Student essays will be immediately uploaded to Engrade and I will have basic sense of who gets it and who doesn't. Later that day, I will read and analyze these essays to figure out my next step instructionally with each student. 11. Extension of the Lesson This lesson will be extended in a few key ways. Immediately: On Tuesday, students will practice taking electronic margin notes in the same text. On Wednesday, students will produce a written summary of the most important

8 information gained from reading, highlighting and taking margin notes on the article Meth and the Body. Longterm: Students will begin a research unit in which they are expected to read, highlight and take margin notes on a variety of electronic sources. Skills learned in this unit will be practiced with material of increasing difficulty and with increasing independence. 12. Attachments Meth and the Body Article (see attached) Review Questions (in table below) Lydi: What are Margin Notes? Connor: When do we take Margin Notes? Nikki: How are Margin Notes similar to or different from 2-Column Notes? Marcus: Why do Margin Notes help us better understand what we read? Darius: How can Margin Notes help us prepare for a test? Brittney: What can we do to bolded headings when we read? Hannah: What are some of the symbols that we can use when taking Margin Notes? Mariah: What makes Margin Notes an active reading strategy?