*Assignments marked with an asterisk/star (*) denote that the assignment is a Key Block Assignment. These assignments are created to prepare you for student teaching. Key Block Assignments are a part of each of the 5 block courses, but only require one completed assignment for the entire set of block courses. You will need to turn the Key Block Assignments into all block professors on Canvas and for all courses.
All assignments must be typed unless otherwise specified.
ELA Specific Assignment Descriptions
Picture Book Assignment
Picture books are an excellent way to teach content and create an inclusive learning environment where all students feel welcome and represented. For this assignment you will need to find six picture books that can be used in an elementary school classroom and write a brief review for each book. Your six books must meet the following criteria:
Book 1: A picture book that can be used to teach a social-emotional skill (e.g. taking turns, managing anger, treating others kindly)
Book 2: A picture book that highlights an underrepresented population in children's literature (e.g. picture books featuring students of color, LGBTQIA students, students with differing physical abilities, etc.)
Book 3: A picture book that teaches a basic concept in language arts (e.g. grammar, spelling, writing, etc.)
Book 4: A picture book that can be used in social studies (e.g. a picture book about the Great Depression)
Book 5: A picture book that can be used in math (e.g. a picture book that teaches about perimeter)
Book 6: A picture book that can be used in science (e.g. a picture book that teaches about the water cycle)
After you have found your six books, please fill out a table (template provided) in which you include the title and author of your book, a photo of the cover, an estimation on what grades this book is appropriate for, the skill/population addressed in the book, and a brief summary of the book for each book on your list.
Phonemic Awareness Assignment
Phonemic awareness is foundational to learning to read, write, listen, and speak. However, many phonemic awareness lessons are not very engaging or interactive for students. In this assignment you will work with a group to design a phonemic awareness activity for children that effectively teaches a phonemic awareness skill and that properly engages students. You will first, check which phonemic awareness skill your group has been assigned. Then, create a list of 30 questions/tasks that relate to your assigned skill for the teacher to read out loud to the students. (Make sure you include the correct answer). (Example: "Say 'cat' without the /c/" Answer: 'at'). Next, design an engaging strategy/approach for students to answer the questions (example: phoneme picture Bingo) and provide detailed instructions. Finally, be prepared to teach your strategy to your classmates during class.
Phonics Assignment
Phonics instruction is an essential part of literacy instruction in elementary schools. However, while often taught in a whole-group setting, it is also important to pay attention to the individual needs of students and to curate assignments specific to their learning needs. This assignment focuses on how to ascertain which areas of phonics a student might be struggling with and how to design learning experiences to support that student in mastering the identified content area.
Step 1: Chat with your mentor teacher to identify a student in your practicum class who is struggling with reading and who you could administer a phonics screener to.
Step 2: At a time agreed upon by your mentor teacher, administer the phonics screener.
Step 3: Upload a photo of your completed screener scoring form with any additional notes you took during the assessment.
Step 4: Identify a key area of focus for your instruction with this student. Clearly identify which phonics skill the student needs practice with (just choose ONE skill - select the most basic skill that the student did not demonstrate mastery in). Put together a list of 10 questions (with answers provided) that you could use to help this student practice that skill.
Step 5: Describe an engagement strategy you would use to help make your practice questions more enjoyable for your student (i.e. a game, a movement technique, music, art, etc.). Make sure that your instructions for how to complete this strategy are clear and concise. Please also make sure that you have all of the necessary materials for this strategy as you will be sharing your work with some of your 3460 classmates.
Comprehension Assignment
Using meaningful strategies to support student comprehension during reading is essential. This assignment is designed to help you think through the supports you can provide to students before, during, and after reading to aid their comprehension.
Step 1: Select a reading passage from your practicum school’s ELA program (Wonders, CKLA, etc.). Your passage should be a small chunk of the entire story/article provided.
Step 2: Describe two specific strategies you would use before reading to build a student's background knowledge/prior knowledge and to teach 3-4 relevant tier 2 vocabulary words from your passage.
Step 3: Describe 2 specific strategies you would use to support student comprehension during reading (think visualizing, cause and effect, annotating, chunking, main idea and details, inferences, etc.). It should be clear how the specific strategies you create relate directly to the specific passage you choose.
Step 4: Describe 2 specific strategies you would use to support student comprehension after reading. These strategies should help the students to respond to the text and to go deeper into skills such as analysis, evaluation, and creation.
Step 5: Choose ONE strategy from ONE section (before reading, during reading, and after reading) to practice teaching to the class. Prepare any necessary materials for the activity. Make sure that you have printed copies of your selected passage for the class to use and refer to during your teaching.
Chapter Book Assignment
Chapter books allow children to explore the world around them and help students to develop and deepen their literary skills. For this assignment you will need to find a "middle grade" chapter book to be used in 4th through 6th grades (see criteria below) and complete the information included in the provided table/template for each chapter of the book. Please follow the steps below to complete this assignment.
Step 1: Select your book! Please select a "middle grade" chapter book that could be used somewhere in the 4th through 6th grade range. Your book must be a minimum of 250 pages long. Your book should be engaging and appropriate for the specified grade level. Please do not pick a book that you have already read. Use this as an opportunity to explore the amazing and growing world of children's literature!
Step 2: Complete the provided table for each chapter of your book You can copy and paste the provided table/template into your own word processor or recreate it yourself (but make sure that all column and row titles are the same!). I recognize that many children's chapter books have very short chapters. If you would like to clump multiple chapters together in the table below, you are welcome to do so. However, please make sure that you are grouping chapters together in logical sections and that each cluster of chapters is a reasonable amount to cover in a day with students. Please clearly identify the title of the book, the author of the book, and the grade levels the book could be used in. For each chapter, provide a brief summary, discussion questions, and vocabulary words to emphasize.
Step 3: Write a brief summary When you have finished your book, please write a brief summary of 5-6 sentences for your book. Paste your summary above the table.
Big 5 Assignment
With your group, create a music video that outlines the 5 main parts of literacy instruction known as “The Big 5.” Make sure to accurately describe each component of literacy instruction and provide a strategy that you could use to teach each component. Be sure to upload a copy of your video and a copy of your lyrics in your submission.
Language Arts Specific Lesson Plan
For this assignment you will create a lesson plan that you will use to teach a writing lesson in your practicum classroom. Your lesson plan must provide instruction on a short, text-based writing task that your students will complete. The text utilized for this writing task must be grade-level appropriate and the writing task must be either a narrative, opinion/persuasive, or informational piece. Your lesson plan must provide clear instructional strategies to support both student comprehension of the text and student writing development. Along with your lesson plan, please provide the text that you utilized as part of the writing task, a sample high, medium, and low student response to the writing task, and the rubric that you used to evaluate student writing.
Grammar Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to create interactive mini lessons on grammar topics and to gain familiarity with an online teaching tool that can increase student engagement.
Part 1: Create an interactive PearDeck presentation that you could use with your students that teaches a specific grammar principle (e.g. homophones, contractions, parts of speech, comma usage, etc.). Your presentation must provide both instruction and practice opportunities and must utilize at least two different interactive tools.
Part 2: Create a 4-day Mentor Sentences plan to use with your students. You must provide a teacher answer key and a student graphic organizer for each day of your plan, according to the Mentor Sentences structure discussed in class.
Writing Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to gain experience with the writing process used in elementary schools and to practice publishing student work. In class, we will draft three different writing pieces for each genre of elementary writing. You will select one of these pieces to take through the whole writing process, through to publishing your work for your classmates. You may choose to publish your work physically (through printing, lamination, and binding) or digitally (through Storybird or other online publishing programs).
Key Block Assignment Descriptions
Block Expectations Quiz
Students will take a short quiz to assess their understanding of the expectations for all 5 Block courses taken during their practicum.
Lesson Plan Expectations Quiz
Students will take a short quiz to assess their understanding of the expectations for the weekly lesson plans they will submit to their 5 Block courses.
Weekly Lesson Plans
To effectively teach children, teachers must intentionally plan and show professionalism by being prepared. This assignment needs to be turned in as a PDF. Using the SUU lesson plan template, students will submit a minimum of two lesson plans that they will teach each week in their practicum placement. Lesson plans will be submitted to a different Block class each week (see the provided schedule). Lesson plans must include a measurable objective and an assessment that aligns with the objective. Plans must be broken down into detailed 5-minute increments.
The lesson plans need to be detailed enough for someone else to follow who cannot see the teacher’s manual and who does not know the learning needs of the students in your class. The same lesson plans will be counted in all 5 Block courses at the end of the semester. Adjustments are accepted if resubmitted for a better score in a timely manner (within one week).
Dispositions 1 and 2
Being professional, prepared, and having a positive attitude are important attributes of an effective teacher. A minimum of 2 disposition evaluations will be filled out during the semester by the student and/or the professors. If concerns arise, a conversation with the block professors will occur and further disposition evaluations will be filled out before being recommended to move forward in the program. *Scores are subject to change throughout the semester based on student disposition. For this assignment, you will download the reflection form and honestly reflect on your dispositions this semester.
PLC Attendance
For this assignment, you will work with your mentor teacher in your practicum placement to attend and participate in a grade-level Professional Learning Community (PLC). You are required to attend at least one PLC with your grade-level team and to fill out a reflection form about your experience.
Video Self-Reflection
Being observed and getting feedback is a good way to evaluate how you are doing as a teacher. It is just as powerful to watch yourself teach and honestly reflect on your strengths and areas that can be improved on. For this assignment, you will check out a Swivl camera from SUU and film yourself teaching a lesson to the whole class (no small group lessons will count). You are not allowed to film yourself teaching in Iron County School District on a personal device. You must use an SUU device. After you have filmed yourself, you will send the video to at least one block professor. You will watch the video and do an observation on yourself by filling out the Video Self-Reflection form (located in the module). Look for what you are doing well and where improvements could be made. Make sure you include 7+ different strategies you are effectively using and 3+ different areas you could improve on. You will also fill out the chart and adjustments/goals in this document.
There are three documents/files you will upload for this assignment.
1) Upload the Swivl link to the video of you teaching, make sure the access settings allow us to view the video (try this before you film yourself in front of children)
2) Upload the complete lesson plan on the SUU Daily Lesson Plan template that you used to teach your recorded lesson (if this is one of the weekly lesson plans, you still need to submit it again with this assignment)
3) Upload a completely filled out Video Self-Reflection document
Mentor Feedback
Arrange for your mentor teacher to observe you teaching two separate lessons to the whole class (no small group instruction). You must provide a typed lesson plan (in the SUU Daily Lesson plan format) to your mentor teacher before you teach each lesson. After teaching each lesson, both you and your mentor will provide a written reflection of your lesson. You will submit both the observation/reflection forms and the lesson plans to Canvas. The score for the assignment will be based on the observation forms and the mentor's evaluation of your professionalism and disposition.
EL ED Block Professor Observations
As Block professors, we will observe each of you during practicum experiences. We do these observations to help you gain new strategies and to learn how you can become a more effective teacher. Multiple professors will perform observations during practicum experiences. Observations will take place during each practicum experience (Iron County School District, George Washington Academy, and Canyons School District). A debrief will occur and professors will give feedback after each practicum. The observation forms must include your reflection each time you are observed by a Block professor. While the professors will arrange the time they observe you in the two practicums that take place away from Iron County School District, you will need to arrange a time for one of the Block professors to come to observe you in your Iron County School District placement. You must provide a typed lesson plan (in the SUU Daily Lesson Plan format) at least 24 hours before you teach the lesson. Email is preferred, but you can also turn in a hard copy. You must have a minimum score of 15 to pass this assignment. If there are concerns, the Block professor will discuss setting up another observation time.
Practicum Time Log
The purpose of this assignment is to complete the required hours in all three practicum placements to effectively prepare for student teaching and to eventually lead your own classroom. It is your responsibility to successfully complete the time required in all three practicum experiences. Keep track of your time daily on the practicum time log and have your cooperating teacher/mentor teacher initial each day. Scan or take a clear picture of your completed practicum time log with your mentor’s signature and upload it to all 5 Block courses.
Final Block Reflection Paper
The purpose of this assignment is to reflect on the instruction you observed and taught during your practicum experience and to reflect on your overall practicum experiences. There are three parts to the Block service-learning practicum reflection paper. Use the template provided and complete all sections.
Part 1) Create a reflection paper about your practicum experiences, comparing and contrasting the different instructional strategies you observed during your three practicum experiences. Make sure you include strategies for ELA instruction observed or used along with curriculum practices. You also need to include the notes you took on the different approaches to each component of the Big 5. Observe student engagement during learning time and how teachers manage different behaviors and learning styles during ELA. Reflect on your teaching time in ELA, what went well, what you need to work on, how you solved problems or changed how you taught and/or managed to teach each content area in your assigned classrooms. At the end of the three practicum experiences, you will write a compare/contrast reflection paper, which will include observations and experiences teaching ELA.
Part 2) Reflect on how you changed your instructional strategies based on students' needs, demographics, or the school culture of your practicum experiences.
Part 3) Explain how you will use what you learned about yourself during your block practicum experiences to improve your instruction moving forward.
Required Extra Co-curricular Activities
You will spend 2 - 2.5 hours in an assigned practicum setting on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. There will also be two separate week-long experiences you must participate in during the term.
Practicum Experience/ Service Learning Project
A significant university-wide focus for SUU students is to become actively involved in service-learning experiences that will enhance their career choices and provide service to the community. This class will provide pre-service teachers with the opportunity to serve Utah public schools by taking over classrooms that will, in turn, allow classroom teachers to take part in professional development within their school districts or schools. SUU students will be allowed to put into practice many of the strategies and skills that have been addressed as part of their methods courses. They will be in charge of the classroom experience for two separate weeks in two separate schools and school districts outside of Iron County.
Upon completion of each of the three practicum experiences, students will meet one-on-one with the professor to discuss the success of the experience as well as areas to improve. Students will also be required to complete a written reflection of their practicum experience. Class discussions will also reflect on the valuable service to the communities. Students will also reflect on the teaching profession as a career choice based on these classroom experiences.