Planning & Preparation

Throughout my practicum experiences, I have learned the value of implementing effective planning practices to create respectful, inclusive environments for student learning and development. For my personal teaching practice, I found implementing unit plans in advance with a clear plan aligned with explicit learning intentions worked well for guiding my instruction. Through using formative assessment practices embedded within the implementation of the unit plan, I was able to adapt and accommodate my lessons to meet the needs of the diverse learners in the classroom.

Here are some examples of the unit plans I created in my practicum experiences:

English Language Arts Unit Planning

I taught a Grade 2 poetry unit during my Educ 490 practicum, inspired by Adriene Gear’s “Powerful Poetry” guide. In preparation for teaching the unit, I prepared a variety of visuals, poetry resources, and created a booklet to support students independent writing practice. Below are a few examples of the resources I created in preparation for teaching this unit. Enjoy!

Included below is the full Grade 2 Poetry Unit:

Language-Arts-Poetry-Unit

Below is an example of the Poetry Journal I created to guide student’s writing:

Poetry-Book

The following visual supports I prepared in advance to support instruction of my ELA Poetry Unit.

Science Unit Planning

I prepared a Grade 2 Science unit on Water Conservation, where students had the opportunity to build their own rain catcher to measure the amount of rainfall over a period of days. Students then reflected on the amount of rainfall recorded in relation to the amount of water used in daily life, such as in the classroom and at home. Students concluded their findings by brainstorming a variety of ways to conserve water in their daily life. Here are some examples of preparation and planning I implemented prior to teaching the unit.

Below is the full Science Water Conservation Unit:

Science-Water-Conservation-Unit-2

Below is the Water Conservation Booklet I created to support students learning:

Water-Conservation-Booklet

Numeracy Unit Planning

In preparation for my Educ 490 practicum, I prepared a unit on 2D and 3D geometric shapes. Students had the opportunity of exploring shapes in a variety of activities, including constructing their own 2D and 3D shapes with paper and play dough, as well as exploring common shapes found within the classroom, the outdoors, and in the community. Here are some of the visuals and activities I prepared in advance for this unit. Below you will also find a link to the full unit plan!

Included below is the full Grade 2 Geometric Shapes Unit:

Grade-2-Geometric-Shapes-Unit-2

2D and 3D Shapes Assessment

Here is a sample of a 3-point rubric I created for the Grade 2 Geometric Shapes unit I taught. The summative assessment tool was useful for sharing with students and parents/guardians about their progress and development in their numeracy learning. To create my rubric, I followed the same language used at my practicum school to support clear communication.