TPE 10: Instructional Time
_Scope and Sequence
The personal narrative writing unit for my 3rd grade class has taken 3 months to complete. Their stories are pulled from their experience on the class beach trip. There are so many aspects to high quality writing that we needed to choose mini-lessons carefully. In choosing we considered several different factors. Firstly, we looked at the students' rough drafts and looked for areas needing improvement. My master teacher knows from years past that 3rd graders need a lot of practice adding details into their work. We will have lessons on details throughout the year but by starting near the beginning of the year, we have time to let the curriculum spiral and give them plenty of practice. During the unit, we adjusted the plan based on the progress the students were making and the types of reoccurring problems. We did not want to have a mini-lesson each day of the week; the students needed time to work on their stories. The placement of work days verses lesson days depended on our observations of student work. We had a general structure for this unit and certain goals but our speed and path through it was entirely dependent on student progress. |