Kcurrie Idd-2
Kcurrie Idd-2
Kcurrie Idd-2
Karen Currie
Background
development for third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers to support language development required
by the California Common Core State Standards. As the instructional coach, with an English
Language Development focus at Lakewood TechEQ Elementary School I will be providing the
training. The target audience is primarily veteran teachers, the exception being two first year
teachers. Five out of the eight teachers speak a second language, and understand the difficulty
acquiring language. The stakeholders are the Lakewood teachers, their students, their parents,
and the Sunnyvale Unified School District. Currently I teach two sessions of English Language
Development to the students in greatest need of this support. After teaching at this site for
fifteen years, my time now as a coach has uncovered the high number of students that were
promoted to middle school lacking a strong vocabulary base and limited English proficiency.
The site is promoting students that after six years of instruction are still not designated at fully
English proficient.
The objective of the instructional design is to create a module to provide an engaging and
motivating professional development for teachers to ensure students are receiving high quality
vocabulary lessons. (California Common Core State Standards, 2013, Language,p. 38). The
secondary learners will be the Lakewood TechEQ upper-grade students. The ethical
considerations are ensuring the course design meets the needs of the teachers and they are able to
transfer their knowledge when they design their own lessons. The major perceived constraint is
motivating teachers to complete the module on their own time. The general timeline for this
project will be at least three months in order to properly develop the module. Implementation
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will take place between February and March 2018. The two-part module will be broken up in to
two thirty minute sessions. The final self evaluation will be conducted over the first week of
April. Asynchronus e-learning will be the primary delivery model allowing teachers to complete
it at times that best fit their schedules. Coaching will be available as well for those interested in
the support. This support will be provided by the site based instructional coach that is assigned
to working with the upper-grade staff. Additionally, there is access to subject matter expert that
spends one day each month on campus. This expert is the coordinator of multilingual services
from the county office of education that has been contracted to support ELD instruction in the
district. This module will be comprised of short reading passages, an interactive videos with
embedded questions to process the material. Google Forms and Sheets will be used as the tool
for assessment of learning. A self-evaluation will be completed at the end of this module to
Analysis
Needs Assessment
year, 40 % of these students are second language learners. This group is our second largest
cohort, the biggest being socio-economically disadvantaged at 64%. Many of our students fall
into both groups, creating a significant number of children that need urgent support. My
experience spans fifteen years at my site, ten as a classroom teacher and five years as an
instructional coach. Now with a more global view, a sense of urgency has increased. When
working on coaching cycles with our upper-grade staff their dedication to continuous
professional development is evident, even with each new “focus” that is added to their plate.
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Last year the question was asked, “When will our plates be too full to add any more?”
Identifying high leverage signature practices that could be implemented across content areas has
potential to stop adding new requirements, and simply improve on current implementation.
Vocabulary and reading are a need in each content area, to ensure this was a worthy
focus, teachers were interviewed using a set of nine interview questions (appendix 1) and
allowed their responses to be recorded. I conducted the interviews of five upper grade teachers,
with varying years of teaching experience, ages, gender, and areas of strength. One additional
interview of our principal was conducted to see how closely her responses matched those of our
teaching staff. The one–on-one interviews took place over a 3 day span in their classrooms. The
ten questions started very open ended, then moved to a more direct approach. One question that
used the Likert scale, it asked them to share their level of understanding on several vocabulary
Stahls’ work highlighted what teachers have known for years, that there is a strong
connection between high levels of vocabulary and deep reading comprehension (F & P 2009).
The teachers interviewed all had a positive feeling about their language arts instruction. They
were all able to correctly identify their unique strengths and for the most part, pin point their
areas of need. Most of them mentioned the need for improved vocabulary development. The
teachers recognized the need for improvement, and many shared a lack of understanding of how
When looking at their areas of strength, it was interesting and encouraging that three out
of five teachers specifically identified two components that were new last year with support
embedded while it was rolled it out. Our teachers are very motivated by student growth and look
at data frequently in data teams, and in the professional learning communities every six weeks.
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Their positive experiences with training last year could be built upon this year to further their
recommend this for many reasons. First of all, the five upper grade teachers that were
interviewed for the needs assessment had a very limited knowledge of the topic. They did have
some scattered prior knowledge and are ineffectively using structures right now. This
acknowledges they value the instructional minutes that are dedicated to it as part of their
program. Additionally, the staff regularly participates in trainings and this has been a very
successful model. There is a real community of learners that are eager to improve their skills,
and are highly motivated by student growth. The school wide goal is to reclassify all of our
English Language Learners by they time they complete fifth grade and move on to the middle
school.
Equally important, the resources required are readily available. We have curriculum and
supplies that will be used in the training. The instructional coach position currently is funded to
offer training and support classroom instruction. These sessions will greatly impact students in
their performance on our district benchmark assessments, CELDT or ELPAC test for English
Language Learners, and the CAASP test at the end of the year. (short term impact) On a larger
scale, the students would have the necessary skills to keep on their path towards higher education
The gap is being caused by three major factors. The largest gap is due to the student
population being comprised of 40% second language learners. While these students are
incredibly hard working, with a hunger for learning, they need to have structures in place to feed
their needs. An additional factor is that approximately 50 % of the students come from homes in
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which the highest level of parent education is high school. The parents often don’t have the
knowledge of how to help their kids at home or are unaware of the importance of their support.
Finally, with a large population of students that fall into the low socio economic status category,
many parents work two jobs leaving little, to no time to work with their kids at home or involve
their children in meaningful after school activities. While teachers cannot control any of these
underlying issues, they can make an impact by using the precious instructional minutes
intentionally and strategically by infusing vocabulary strategies throughout the day. The limited
knowledge and experience the teachers currently have with best practices in this area, the needs
To summarize, data and staff interviews both indicate that not only is vocabulary
instruction an immediate need, it is also something that teachers are motivated to work on. Due
to the high costs of using substitute teachers to allow for teachers to be released for training, the
use of a virtual classroom is an excellent alternative. Giving flexibility, having videos at their
fingertips, and focusing on one structure at a time are all additional advantages of using the
virtual classroom over a release day for face-to-face training. This short module will be
appropriately portioned and intentionally sequenced to increase the likelihood of it going into the
learners’ long-term memory (Stolovitch & Keeps, 2011). As teachers begin to go through the
training module, informal and formal observations will be completed to see the progress in
classrooms. An option for a formal coaching cycle alongside the module will be available for
those that request it. The current third and fourth grade students will have their data tracked for
the next twelve months to monitor student growth and compare it with previous years.
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Learner Analysis
The learners will be the eight upper-grade teachers at Lakewood TECH EQ. This group
of teachers are all fully credentialed, two have Bilingual CLAD certification, and they all have
development during the school year and over the summer is common in this group. One teacher
is currently pursuing her National Board Certification, with the goal of completion this spring.
Six out of the eight also serve on various leadership committees in our district, bringing a wealth
of expertise to this project. The learners have a strong collaboration within grade level teams as
well as in an upper-grade cohort. Similar in age and stage of life, most are married with children,
they have family obligations out side of the school day. There is common prep time at each
grade level that facilitates teamwork and high levels of efficiency. They are highly motivated,
The site is in year three of a professional development contract with the county office of
education focused on English Language Development (ELD) instruction. Because of the focus
on ELD, looking at vocabulary instruction will go hand in hand with the- long professional
development plan. It should in many ways support the work they are already dedicated to. They
are all Google Certified Educators and use Google Classroom with their students. The high level
of technology experience they posses make them especially capable of engaging in this
Context Analysis
This module can be completed in the environment that each learner prefers. This will
allow flexibility for the learner to determine the time and place they feel they can be the most
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productive. For those with small children at home, accomplishing the training after hours at
school may be the best decision, where others may find they have more quiet space at home. The
teachers all have school provided MacBook’s and Ipads to use in order to complete this training.
There are many advantages of this learning program. First, the self-paced design allows teaches
to move at a speed that fits their classroom need and teaching style. Second is the use of vitural
classroom, all of the teachers completed Google Certification using online learning, so they are
familiar with how this project will work. Next is the sequence of assignments, teachers
completed a learning style survey in order to best design instruction that is suited to their
preferences. The order in which the components are listed meet the information they provided on
their survey to match as close as possible for the majority of the group. Each assignment is
intended to build on each other, to deepen knowledge and application as they work through the
series. Next is the timing, applying this training in March was intentional. It is the longest
month, with no staff development days or holidays that take away from instruction. The last
advantage of this project is the instructional coach is assigned to the site full time and will be
There are a few constraints that have been addressed in the design of this training. The
school day is already impacted with required minutes of instruction in many content areas. The
strategies being introduced in training should be applied directly to what is already being taught,
so it will not require additional time to include. There will however, be an increased need for
planning to ensure that the vocabulary word selection can be applied across content areas. This
planning would be most effective done as a grade level team. To support facilitating this group
planning time teachers will be encouraged to designate thirty minutes each week to meet and
determine the words that will be selected. The teachers participating in this module are all
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located in the upper grade wing of the elementary school. This level of proximity supports
teacher collaboration during the school day and for any after school time they dedicate to this
work.
Content Analysis
The content developed for this training is to improve vocabulary strategy instruction in
upper-grade classrooms at Lakewood Tech EQ. Data from state Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortiom and STAR Literacy benchmark assessment both show the need for this instruction.
After conducting the needs assessment, teachers and the site administrator all agreed there was a
need for professional development for the teachers and they are eager to learn new ways to
support. This training will introduce one research-based method that has shown strong success
rates when implemented in schools with similar student demographics. Teachers will be
responsible for understanding how to use the method effectively. Furthermore, teachers must
develop a foundational understanding of tier two and tier three vocabulary words. Having a
mastery level of understanding the differences between the two is critical when it is time for
them to begin selecting words for their instruction. The second component of the training will be
teachers applying what they learned in the first session to their own classroom needs. They will
focus on their own materials and content to complete implementation of the new strategies.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.4
and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a
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range of strategies. Teachers will watch a short video of the Frayer model
able to label the graphic organizer with correct headings and complete the
organizer with a provided word and score 90% or higher to show mastery of
the content.
Teachers will learn the three tiers of academic vocabulary words. There will
be an explicit focus on tier two and tier three words. For this module, teachers
will read, watch, and complete a sorting activity to practice the skill. They will
take a short quiz to show mastery of this concept. Our ELD standards tell us
Teachers will compile a list that contains one tier-two word in each subject (ELA,
Math, Social Studies) and five tier-three words that can be infused throughout the
day for the upcoming week. This should be a total of eight words that instruction
Teachers will add their selections in a Google Sheet for others to see and make
comments on.
Teachers will prepare their Frayer Model graphic organizers either through
When the modules have been completed the expectation will be that teachers utilize their new
knowledge about academic vocabulary and implement the Frayer Model in their classrooms on a
consistent basis. Grade level collaboration would increase the effectiveness of this process as
teachers switch kids for certain activities. Having grade level determined words would ensure
that students are being held accountable for their meaning and inclusion in their language
production.
Design
Learning Objectives
Teachers will work to meet two terminal objectives. These objectives are both examples
of the cognitive domain and the affective domain. The first terminal objective pulls primarily
from the cognitive domain, requiring comprehension, synthesis, application, and knowledge.
Teachers will comprehend new information through the reading and the videos, synthesizing
both parts of the learning, then relying on their new knowledge to apply it to their curriculum and
classroom setting. The second terminal objective relies more on the affective domain, using
organization, receiving, and responding. Teachers will organize their lessons and curriculum in a
manner that supports the new knowledge acquired in module one as they go through the process
of academic word selection. They will be receiving information from grade level partners that
are working to collaborate as a team, then responding to each other through Google Sheets to
provide feedback in order to refine original plans. There will additionally be two enabling
objectives to support the first terminal objective and three enabling objectives to support the
Terminal Objective: From memory teachers will be able to accurately describe the
difference between tier two and tier three words and can apply the words to the Frayer
o Enabling Objective: Teachers will be able to sort a provided list of words into two
o Enabling Objective: Teachers will be able to apply one of the provided words to
the Frayer Model graphic organizer and complete all four sections with 100%
accuracy.
Terminal Objective: Teachers will be able to review district provided math curriculum
and independently select one tier two and 5 tier three words for instruction in their
identify one tier-two words, one from an upcoming lesson in the math program.
identify 5 tier three words that they can apply to multiple subjects throughout the
day.
o Enabling Objective: Independently teachers will apply the selected words to the
instruction that takes place in their classrooms 100% of the school days in March.
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Test Instruments
The first module is designed to provide new learning for the teachers completing the
course that they will apply in module two. There are two distinct lessons in module one, each
lesson will be assessed through embedded tests that the participants will complete at the
conclusion of that lesson allowing teachers to focus on one part at a time. The quizzes will be
created and administered in Google Forms, which the teachers are all comfortable using. These
quizzes will include questions that require short answer, check boxes, and multiple choice.
Including short answer opportunities will allow for personalized responses on critical portions,
and the checklist and multiple choice options will be used for examples and non-examples of the
content of the lesson. Feedback will be provided within 24 hours of completing the quiz to
The second module will be assessed using Google Sheets. Examining the words the
teachers have selected for their tier two and three words will demonstrate their level of
understanding. If all words selected match the criteria, then they have shown mastery level
understanding.
class using Google classroom. This asynchronous option allows for full time professionals to
access course materials at the most conducive time to meet their needs and work through the
modules at their own pace. Each participant is a Google Certified Educator and is able to use
these systems with ease. The content will all be created through the Google Suite. Teachers all
have Google accounts through our district that can be easily accessed for this purpose. The
videos will be shared through YouTube, Readings will be shared through Gmail and in Google
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Slides, collaborative sharing will take place through Google Sheets, and quizzes will be
The instructional strategies used and activities participants will go through are detailed
below in the agenda. The theory that was used as a basis this module is the constructivist
learning theory. As teachers move through the videos and readings in module one they are
certain to think about what they already know about vocabulary instruction, whether it be their
current practices or theories they learned about it their teacher education program. In module
two, they will engage in more active participation and allow them to build on their prior
Agenda:
Module One:
Topic/ Task Description Resources
Introduction Explain the objective of the YouTube Video, 5 minute
course, the reason for its creation,
the potential effects their students
will experience as a result.
Share the syllabus for the course
Frayer Model Pt. 1 See a classroom applying the YouTube Video, 3 minutes
Frayer Model effectively
Frayer Model Pt. 2 Read through crucial elements of Google Slides, 5 minutes
implementation of the Frayer
Model
Quiz 3 question quiz, check box and Google Forms, 5 minutes
multiple choice
Three Tier Model Introduce the tiers of academic YouTube Video, 3 minutes
vocabulary
Word Study Reading Assignment, four Google Docs, 5 minutes
paragraphs outlining the
differences and nuances
Quiz 4 question quiz, two short Google Forms, 4 minutes
answer, one check box, one
multiple choice
VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION IN UPPER GRADES 15
Module Two:
Topic/ Task Description Resources
Introduction Explain the second module Classroom Update, 2
minutes
Curriculum Dig Review an upcoming math lesson Fisher & Frey Guiding
and a social studies or science Questions Outline
lesson. Select the highest value Provided Google Sheet, 15
tier two word in each subject, minutes
record it in Google Sheets
Curriculum Synthesis Identify 3 tier-three words that Tier-three word list
span all academic areas and Google Sheets, 5 minutes
record those in Google Sheets
Feedback Review the entry of your peer Google Sheets, 5 minutes
and give feedback on their word
choice
Next Steps Share next steps for Email, 3 minutes
implementation with course
administrator
Module One
1. Welcome Video that explains the course, motivates participants, outlines expected
3. Record Frayer Method model lesson, edit and add captions, post to YouTube,
4. Google Slide deck detailing critical components of Frayer Model best practices (one slide
Module Two
All deliverables will be added to the Google Classroom to allow students to have easy access
to their coursework. Moving from design to development will require a few basic
considerations. First of all, keeping the videos to the time allotted in the agenda to ensure that
each module is completed within the projected timeframe. Next, ensuring the videos being
created meet the objectives of the course and provide ample support for learners, without
providing unneeded details. Finally, formulating assessment questions that measure if the
Development Plan
In order to meet deadlines and keep costs at a minimum, the instructional coach who is
already paid will create the lessons and videos will be created on the school campus. The
Welcome video and introduction to module two can be recorded after school, using our
Padcaster set up ensure a professional production. The model lessons can be self recorded during
a class session with current students as the learners in the classroom. The sessions can be
recorded during the school day, followed by editing outside of the school day. These video
components should take approximately 5 hours, which includes time for script writing, lesson
VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION IN UPPER GRADES 17
planning, and ample editing time. The creation of the slide deck and documents needed
(syllabus, word study assignment, Google sheet template) are estimated to take approximately 3
hours. The quiz and rubric will be the final component and are estimated to take no more than 2
hours to develop, keeping the development time frame at roughly 11 hours total. One week will
be allotted to allow a district coach to go through the training and provide feedback before
opening the training to staff. The challenges to consider are using a live classroom to capture the
model videos. Due to the unpredictable nature of working with students, there may need to be
recordings done more than once. When editing video there can also be production complications
that require extra time if they arise. These can consist of, but are not limited to, volume
irregularities, color adjustment, and additional cuts needed. If these issues arise students may
need to participate in a lesson for a second time and the possibility of more time would be
Product Timeline
Implementation Plan
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Due to the nature of this asynchronous online class, there is no instructor required to
from the quiz at the end of module one, that has a clear understanding of the information
presented virtually in this module of the course. In the second module, an administrator needs to
monitor input on the Google Sheet, then score the entry of each teacher using the rubric that is
provided. Because they are assessing information that the classroom teacher has determined
using their own curriculum, for the second module the administrator should possess a strong
understanding of the two tiers of academic vocabulary. They also should have experience with
upper-grade students and standards to ensure the words being selected are appropriate for the
class they will be implemented in. The learners in this course need to have competent skills
using Google Classroom and the Google Suite of products. They will be interacting with a
Evaluation
Formative Evaluation
Formative evaluation will be provided in at the end of module one after learners complete
the quiz. They will receive a written feedback responding to their short answers which will
either confirm they are on the right track or give corrective feedback, with the opportunity to
retake the quiz to improve their score. Once they have determined they are satisfied with their
quiz score that will become their final grade for module one, or summative evaluation. For
module two learners will receive feedback on their Google Sheets entry from a peer. After they
review the suggestions of their coworker, they have the opportunity to adjust their entry.
Summative Evaluation
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Summative data will be collected at the end of each module. The quiz will provide data
to indicate if the learners were able to master the information they learned through video and
reading materials. The Google Sheet will serve as the summative component of the second
module. Examining both data points will provide the designer with information that details what
pieces may need to be adjusted moving forward to better support teachers if this training is
offered again. The email detailing next steps will support instructional coaching moving
forward and preparing additional models based on other vocabulary strategies and deepening the
References
VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION IN UPPER GRADES 20
Echeverria, J., Richards-Tutor, C., Chinn, V., & Rateleff, P. (2011) Did they get it? The
role of fidelity in teaching english learners. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (54) 6
doi:10.1598/JAAL.54.6.4
Pinnell, Gay Su & Fountas, Irene C. (2009), When Readers Struggle Teaching That
Works: Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Reiser, R. A. & Dempsey, J.V. (Eds.) (2012), Trends and Issues in Instructional Design
and Technology. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Schuth, E., Kohne, J., & Weinert, S. (2017) The influence of academic vocabulary
knowledge on school performance. Learning and Instruction, (49). Retrieved from: https://www-
sciencedirectcom.library2.csumb.edu:2248/science/article/pii/S095947521730052X
Stolovitch, Harold D. & Keeps, Erica J. (2011), Telling Ain’t Training, 2nd Edition.
Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training & Development
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Appendix A:
Teacher Information:
Male / Female Years experience: _______ Years at the grade level: ________