Ladder of Feedback

After going through this lesson a second time with differentiated instruction in mind as well as
considering the feedback of the course instructor I have noted some changes that can be made. First I
made a ladder of feedback to help structure my updates:

Clarify How is your lesson plan built to consider different student needs?
Value This is really creative and different. It covers the learning expectations
and ensures students will be engaged
State Concerns I think the lesson might be difficult for students with behavior
problems or physical challenges.
Suggest I suggest creating a classroom profile and ensuring a student with a
behavior difficulty and a student with a physical disability is
considered. The lesson will work well for other types of learners, but
you may find it challenging to accommodate the afore mentioned
students.

Classroom Profile
Grade 9 Academic Science 25 students
16 boys
9 girls
1 student with a physical disability –
muscular dystrophy
1 student with ADHD
Profile: student with physical dystrophy
Strengths: Weaknesses:
- Social Skills - Fine motor skills
- Expressive language skills – speaking - Personal care/self-help skills
- General Knowledge - Gross motor skills
- Language skills - writing
Accommodations
Instructional: Environmental: Assessment:
- Speech to text - Use of wheelchair - Computer software
software with spell check
- Computer software - Oral/multiple choice
- Copy of notes - Extended time for
- Text to speech assessment
software
- Graphic organizers
Profile: student with ADHS
Strengths: Weaknesses:
- Reading - Self-advocacy
 - Memory - Attention skills
- Cognitive - Self-regulatory
- Visual/Auditory learner

Accommodations
Instructional: Environmental: Assessment:
- Extra time to - Strategic seating plan - Word processing
processing - Stable classroom software
- Chunk work into - Daily schedule - Extra time to submit
smaller tasks - Transition Planning assignment
- Structured activities - Structured work - Prompts to return
- Use of computer space student to task
- Breaks
- Quiet seating
- Use of computers

Context of Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is created for a grade 9 science class – this one in particular is focussed on the academic
stream, but with minor modifications it could also be used in the applied stream. I have done an activity
very similar to this in my science class with great results. I’ve modified it to make it even better! In this
final version I also made some modifications to ensure there is differentiated instruction.

Lesson Plan
Date: Class/Group:
Time: 9:00-10:00
November 12-14, Grade 9 Science (SNC 1D) Room: N/A
2020
Topic:

Dissect a Garbage Bag! (3 lesson series)

Curriculum Links: Specific Objectives/Learning Goals:

B 1.2 evaluate effectiveness of government At the end of the lesson students should be
initiatives in Canada able to
General Capabilities:
1. Sort items into recyclable, reusable,
• Literacy – by writing a report showing hazardous waste, actual waste
their findings and solutions 2. Analyze effectiveness of school
• Numeracy – analyzing results recycling system
• Critical and Creative thinking – 3. Propose a solution to make school
developing a PowerPoint presentation waste management more effective
to share their results with students 4. Research various materials and their
ability to be recycled
Prior Learning: Resources/Materials required:

Students are expected to come to class with: 1. Heavy duty Gloves

1. Knowledge of recyclable, reusable, 2. Latex Gloves
compostable, and hazardous waste 3. Industrial Masks
2. Ability to use Excel, Word 4. Weigh Scales
5. Star Map templates
6. Random Garbage Bags Taken from
School
7. Computer Lab (for 2nd and 3rd day)

Lesson Steps
Procedure Comments
Catering for Diverse Students

There are several strategies in place for the various learners of the
classroom:
1. Students are paired in groups and can leverage each others
strengths – eg. Creative students take larger responsibility for
PowerPoint, Mathematical students are more involved in
analysis.
2. I have ensured student with ADHD is paired with a group of
stable friends who can help to keep him on track
3. Students that struggle with activities will be given additional
help, or parts of the assignment may be modified to make it more
attainable for them.
4. Student with ADHD and Muscular Dystrophy will be given an
extension for their assignment if necessary
5. During lab time students will be expected to remain in their seats
and groups will be dispersed to minimize disruptions (ie.
Students who are more boisterous have been split and their
groups are also seated further apart in the seating plan)
6. Student with Muscular Dystrophy will be given a tablet to record
for their group. It would be ill advised to have this student
involved in the sorting process. However, they will also be given
a table with a weigh scale to weight various items.

Introduction (10 minutes)

- Introduce the task to students:

- Part 1: dissect garbage bag and record results
- Part 2: input collected data into Excel and analyze
- Part 3: create a proposal/presentation to be more effective at
 waste management

Ensure computer lab has a well-defined seating plan which will ensure
students can stay on task

Ensure students are very clear on the expectations of the classes!

Lesson (40 minutes)

Activity 1 (40 minutes)

- Students are divided into groups of 3 students. (as prior

mentioned – strategic groups are created to ensure diverse
learners can succeed)
- Each group is given a garbage bag that has been filled from
random garbage cans though out the school – ensure appropriate
cans are collected
- Students are given gloves (both latex and heavy duty, as well as
industrial masks) which they should wear – nitrile gloves also
available in case of allergies
- Students then empty the contents of the garbage and record all
the results: they should weigh every item and document it; they
should also label the item, in their recordings, as a recycle item, a
reusable item, compost, a hazardous item, or an actual waste
item
- This will conclude the first lesson – see conclusion for first
lesson conclusion

Activity 2 (60 minutes) (work period time in computer lab)

- During these two classes students remain in their groups which

are strategically laid out.
- Students input all their findings from previous lesson into Excel
- They should make charts that show the number of items for each
category and the weight of the items in each category; the weight
of various materials (eg. steel, paper, plastic, organic)
- Students should do some research on the various materials to see
if they are recyclable, reusable, or compostable and how they can
be effectively recycled, reused or composted.

Activity 3 (60 minutes) (work period time in computer lab)

- Students create a proposal that could be presented to student

parliament of the school on how the school can more effectively
manage waste
 - Students create a PowerPoint presentation showing their
findings. They will not be presenting to the class but should
include speaker notes in their presentations.

Final Activity/Homework:
Students should be collecting necessary research at home to ensure their
proposal and PowerPoint is factual and accurate
Conclusion (9 minutes) – for first lesson only

- Exit Card: Students pick 3 questions of the following list and Make sure there are
write down the answer OR draw a picture – The questions will at last 9 minutes for
be put on a PowerPoint. the conclusion.
- Exit questions to consider: Evaluating the
- How surprised were you at the findings in your garbage bag? student’s work and
- Do you think this is only the case in our school? level of
- How effective are you (personally) at recycling? understanding is
- Now that you’ve seen what all ends up in the trash will you critical for
better consider how quickly you throw something out? preparing next
lesson!
Student with Muscular Dystrophy is always given copies of any notes in
class, including these exit card questions. They have the option to
complete this work on the computer.
Evaluation of Student Learning:

1. Where the students able to answer the questions asked in class, and did they seem to
react affirmatively?
2. Did the students engage/participate in the classroom activities?
3. Did the students participate in the conclusion activity and did their work demonstrate
understanding of the key concepts?
Self-Evaluation/Reflection:

Students Self

1. Were students well behaved in the 1. Did the lesson go as expected and
class? outlined by lesson plan?
2. Was the pace of the class appropriate 2. What did not go well?
for the students (keeping in mind 3. What did I do well?
various learning abilities)? 4. What could I improve on?
3. Are the students prepared to go to the 5. Did I deal professionally with the
next topic or is more time needed on students?
this one? 6. Did I treat each student with the
4. Do the students seem to enjoy the class? respect they deserve?
5. What is the class climate and is there 7. If students didn’t seem to understand
anything I can do to improve it? the content, are there other ways that
could be explored with to teach it?