Standards and Backwards Mapping

Overview 

In this blog post I will be discussing Standard RL.2.3 from the California Common Core State Standards. Starting next month, I will hopefully be teaching second grade in the Campbell Union School District. 

Standard: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. 

I have chosen to use this standard for the development of my unit because I feel that this was a standard that really had an impact on me as a student. I felt that my teachers really applied this standard in a way that was a benefit to me and I hope to do the same for my students. One of the key things that my teachers did was to make the lessons fun. At this grade level I was always extremely excited to come to school and reading was my favorite subject. I feel that the use of group work, visuals, worksheets and teacher participation really help to understand this standard from different learning capacities. Below, I have outlined three different ways to apply this standard using proficiencies, assessments and activities. 

Application of Standard 

Proficiency 1 - The student will be able to describe characters. 

Learning Activity - Student will describe a character by using a graphic organizer. Student will be given a worksheet (Character map) and will then name the main character in the story and describe the character by answering questions in each section. 

Assessment: Teacher evaluation to help understand if student is meeting the standard. 

Proficiency 2 - The student will identify similarities and differences between characters. 

Learning Activity - Students compare characters using a graphic organizer. Students will work in teams of two and be given a worksheet (Character map). Students will name the two main characters and write specific character attributes under the names of the characters. They will then write the shared characteristics between the two figures. 

Assessment - Teacher will evaluate a presentation given by each team of students. 

Proficiency 3 - The student will be able to identify story elements. 

Learning Activity - Student will record story details using a story grammar organizer. Student identifies and writes the setting, characters, problem, events and solution on the sheet provided. 

Assessment - Students will be quizzed and the teacher will evaluate the results.