ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

In completing an analysis of need for this instructional unit, I identified several gaps between “what is and what needs to be” in my classroom. The comparison between standards and achievement along with student assessment data and other sources helped me to determine what my students “know now and what they need to know.” This result is described below. As early as 1995 the Maddock Public School identified written language as an area of need. Results of standardized testing indicated that we needed a goal in our improvement plan to address effective communication. Our Target Goal states: The students will improve their ability to write quality sentences and paragraphs appropriate for their grade level. The expected outcome states as students are given a writing assignment; they will utilize basic mechanics rules, spelling and organizational skills when formulating sentences and paragraphs. The visitation team again in 2003 recommended that we continue working on this goal stressing the importance of developing a system to document successes. Our most recent data on the North Dakota State Assessment Test indicates that 34% of our fourth graders continue to perform below proficiency on the Reading portion of the test. Benchmarks reflecting the lowest scores were: Reading Standard 1: Gather and organize information. Language Arts Standard 5: Write for a variety of purposes. As No Child Left Behind requirements call for “continuous and substantial academic improvement for all students,” this unit will assure that the language arts standards will be strengthened. In previous 3rd grade classrooms, it has been my experience that the students have a high level of motivation for the study of volcanoes. In particular, Mount Vesuvius and Mount Saint Helens. Given recent events with the activity at Mount Saint Helens, it seems most appropriate to take advantage of this motivation and create a language arts-science unit

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: Students will understand how a volcano is “born” and the impact volcanoes have on people and the environment. Goal(s): Students will understand the effects of volcanoes on people, animals and the surrounding environment. Students will publish their findings in written form using quality writing skills.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: How are volcanoes formed? How do volcanologists determine a volcano is about to erupt? How have volcanoes affected the people, animals and the surrounding environment? Learning Objectives: Students will be able to create a model volcano and verbally identify the melted rock, gas, chamber, and lava as well as explain what is happening with their model. When presented with an example of a volcano type, (active, intermittent, dormant, extinct) students will be able to define orally or on paper the type with 100% accuracy. When presented an article on a natural disaster, students will be able to point out the parts of the newspaper article. (headline, byline, dateline, lead, caption) Given a volcano to research, students will be able to relate at least 10 details about the volcano and/or its effects as demonstrated through a written newpaper style article.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding? Matching activities, simple recall worksheets and traditional quizzes will be used to provide evidence of understanding. What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding?  Probing questions at the beginning of each section will be used. Examples: What makes a volcano dangerous? What do volcanoes do to the living things around them? Are volcanoes always dangerous? How are they helpful to the earth? Why or why would you not want to be a volcanologist? What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding? Students will create an article to report on a volcano. What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect? I will use observation of activities, student created rubrics with teacher help to assess their written work, and a checklist to assess knowledge during demonstration activities. Students will show their volcano model to others and be able to answer basic questions about their volcano and explain why volcanoes erupt.

Instructional Strategies

The students will use a combination of the inquiry-based and project-based strategies to answer the essential questions. The inquiry-based strategy will help them answer the questions, “What is a volcano?” and “What are some signs that a volcano may be about to erupt?” Students will use this information to assist them in the project-based learning strategy. Students will create a newspaper style article reporting on a volcano and the effects it had on the surrounding people and environment.