User:Alexandra

Alexandra Mazza - ETAP 623 Fall 2021 Student Return to: ETAP 623 Fall 2021 (Zhang) | Alexandra Mazza's Mini-Course

About Me

Hi, everyone!

My name is Alexandra Mazza. I graduated from SUNY Oneonta in 2018 with a degree in English and Adolescent Education, and I now work as a high school English teacher in Westchester, New York.

I have always wanted to be a teacher; I truly feel teaching is more of a vocational calling than a “job." Each year gets better and better as I gain more of an understanding of my own teaching style/practice. Speaking of, backward design and inquiry-based learning are the cornerstones of my curriculum development. I center each unit of study in my English classroom around one, overarching essential question that drives the unit. Rather than having one novel or text as the only vehicle for learning in my classroom, I try and bring in as many supplemental texts as I can to provide a variety of different voices/perspectives for my students. I have found that this has not only increased student engagement but also garnered greater success in my students’ ability to transfer knowledge and show me what they’ve learned in a variety of ways.

My Topic and Purpose

Course Overview:

During this course, students will:

1. Learn the three components that constitute a good essential question.

2. Select a unit in their curriculum where they feel their students are the most disengaged.

3. Take their understandings of the three components that constitute an excellent essential question and identify them within their selected unit.

4. Design an essential question that accounts for these three components.

5. Design a final, summative assessment that aligns with the essential question.

6. Vertically align each lesson within the unit to center around the essential question while also building towards the final summative assessment.

7. Learn how to research for/select supplementary videos/texts/podcasts/etc. and tie them back to the essential question.

Scope of Learning Outcomes and Content

Learning Outcomes:

Learners will design an essential question for one of the units that already exists within their curriculum.
Learners will identify the core text, core skills, and final, summative assessment their students need to learn within their selected unit.
Learners will backward design the unit, ensuring that each lesson is a stepping stone to the final assessment and relates back to the essential question they have created.
Learners will select at least three supplemental texts that further enhance/act as a layer of complexity to the essential question.

Needs Assessment

Instructional Problem: In education, we often blame unmotivated, disengaged students on various factors (i.e., classroom environment, supportive family environment, effective communication, collaboration, etc.). While all of these factors matter and influence student engagement tremendously, one area that needs to be addressed is how teachers are designing curriculum that is relevant and sparks inquiry, specifically, in the field of Secondary English Language Arts. Secondary ELA classes have been taught the same way for years and years, and the lack of relevancy to students’ lives is becoming more apparent and detrimental than ever. Therefore, inquiry-based learning needs to be adapted into secondary ELA classes to put students at the forefront of their own learning experiences, encourage discovery mindsets, and foster critical thinking.

Many teachers are either unaware of the benefits an inquiry-based/essential question approach to teaching English Langauge Arts can do for their curriculum, or resistant to changing their current practices. This lack of awareness/lack of adaptability is negatively impacting student engagement in ELA. So, in addition to learning how to use essential questions as a tool for engagement, participants will recognize why an essential question approach to teaching is beneficial for student engagement in their classrooms.

Explore Potential Instructional Problems: To be addressed during the study.

Goal: The overall goal of this mini-course is for teachers to take a unit that already exists within their curriculum and revamp it utilizing an essential question that will spark curiosity and inquiry within their students. Teachers will understand by the end of the mini-course how essential questions can breathe life back into ELA units that students often feel are “outdated” and “boring.”

Analysis of the Learner and Context

Analysis of the Learner: The targeted audience of this workshop is secondary English Language Arts teachers. Participants are college graduates who possess a degree in Secondary English Langauge Arts (Grades 7-12) & Education. In addition, these participants should have experience teaching either General Education English Grades 7-12, Special Class English Grades 7-12, or Integrated Co-Taught English Classes Grades 7-12.

Context of Instruction: Instruction will occur over the span of four lessons, each of which builds upon the previous lesson. Lesson 1 will introduce learners to the research behind essential questions and inquiry-based learning, according to Jay McTighe & Grant Wiggins. Learners will be asked to reflect on a unit of study they teach in their secondary ELA classroom where they feel student engagement is lacking. Lesson 2 will teach students the components that constitute essential questions and call for them to map out the skills, theme, and core text their selected unit embodies. Once students have mapped out the necessary skills, themes, and core text within their pre-existing unit, they will begin creating their essential question for the unit. Lesson 3 will introduce students to the concept of backward design and call for them to decide on their final, summative assessment for the unit. After this has been determined, students will need to reflect on how the lessons within their unit will act as “stepping stones” to getting them to the final assessment. The fourth and final lesson will call for students to explore potential supplemental texts/videos/articles/clips/podcasts/etc. that will provide depth and layer complexity to the essential question they have designed. The purpose of this is to continue fostering student engagement through inquiry.

Task analysis

Prerequisites: Participants work as an English Language Arts teacher in a secondary level educational setting (grades 7-12).

Supportive Prerequisites: Participants must be able to access and navigate the KNILT database and mini-courses. Participants must be able to navigate external websites hyperlinked within the KNILT database and mini-course.

Technical Requirements: Participants must have access to a computer and the Internet.

Unit 1: “Buying In” to Essential Questions

Unit 1 Objectives:

Participants will learn what inquiry-based teaching is/what essential questions are.
Participants will learn the research that supports the notion that essential questions enhance student engagement.

Unit 1 Activities:

Introduction to Essential Questions Video
“What Makes an Essential Question?” Table - Jay & McTighe
Reflection Journal #1: What does student engagement look like in your classroom? What is a lesson you teach where you feel your students are engaged? Why do you think this is? What is a lesson you teach where you feel your students are disengaged? Why do you think this is?

Unit 2: The Three Pillars of Essential Questions

Unit 2 Objectives:

Participants will identify the unit they would like to revamp utilizing the essential question approach.
Participants will learn the three “pillars” (core text, themes, and skills) of effective essential questions.
Participants will identify the three “pillars” in their unit (core text, themes, and skills).
Reflection Journal #2: Which unit do you feel as though you “lose” students the most? What is the core text of this unit? Why do you think this is?

Unit 2 Activities:

Reflection Journal #2: Which unit do you feel as though you “lose” students' engagement the most? What is the core text of this unit? Why do you think this is?
The “Three Pillars” of Essential Questions Video
The “Three Pillars” of Essential Questions: Interactive Note-Taking Worksheet

Unit 3: Designing an Essential Question

Unit 3 Objectives:

Participants will design an essential question for their chosen unit.

Unit 3 Activities:

Essential Questions “Sentence Stem” Worksheet
Essential Question “Engagement Check”
Reflection Journal #3: Does the essential question you have drafted relate more to students’ lives than the previous way you went about teaching? How so? What impact do you believe this will have?

Unit 4: Backwards Design + Essential Questions

Unit 4 Objectives:

Participants will design the summative assessment they want their students to complete at the close of the unit.

Unit 4 Activities:

Sample Assessments Ideas Video
“Selecting Your Summative Assessment’ Worksheet
Reflection Journal #4: How long do you anticipate this unit will be? How do you plan to make each lesson a “stepping stone” to getting your students to the finish line (your summative assessment)?

Unit 5: Threading the Essential Question Throughout the Unit

Unit 5 Objectives:

Participants will learn how to select supplemental texts to add layers of complexity to their essential questions.

Unit 5 Activites:

“De-Centralizing the Core Text” Article
“Supplemental Text + Essential Question” Checklist
Reflection Journal #5: Make a prediction: How will your students respond to your implementation of an essential question-based style of teaching? What are you most excited about in implementing this style of teaching into your practice?

Curriculum Map

Please click the photo to the right of the screen to access the Curriculum Map for this mini-course.

Course Units

This mini-course includes the following units. Click the title of a unit to go to its page.

Unit 1: "Buying Into" Essential Questions

Objectives:

Participants will learn what inquiry-based teaching is/what essential questions are.
Participants will learn the research that supports the notion that essential questions enhance student engagement.

Lessons:

Lesson 1.1: Introduction to Essential Questions Mini-Lesson
Lesson 1.2: Reflection Journal

Unit 2: The Three Pillars of Essential Questions

Objectives:

Participants will identify what constitutes the "three pillars" of essential questions.
Participants will identify the unit they wish to revamp and identify the three "pillars" of their unit.

Lessons:

Lesson 2.1: The Three Pillars of Essential Questions Mini-Lesson
Lesson 2.2: Selecting Your Unit to Revamp

Unit 3: Designing an Essential Question

Objectives:

Participants will identify what constitutes an effective essential question.
Participants will design an essential question for their chosen unit.

Lessons:

Lesson 3.1: Effective Essential Questions Mini-Lesson
Lesson 3.2: Designing an Effective Essential Questions

Unit 4: Checking Your Essential Question for Engagement

Objectives:

Participants will come to an understanding of how to ensure their Essential Question enhances student engagement within the curriculum.

Lessons:

Lesson 4.1: The Essential Question Engagement Check
Lesson 4.2: Sharing the Final Draft of Your EQ!

References and Resources

Cardenas, Amanda [MudandInkTeaching]. “Using Essential Questions as Unit Titles”, Instagram, Published December 5, 2020, from https://www.instagram.com/p/CIZ1Q3jhljK/.

McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (2013). Essential Questions Opening Doors to Student Understanding. ASCD.

Wiggins, G. (n.d.). What is an essential question? Authentic Education. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from http://www.authenticeducation.org/ae_bigideas/article.lasso?artid=53.