Goal-directed Instructional Design Plan – Vocabulary Building
Author – Michelle Fairley
1.
A problem or a need
The educational need for this vocabulary building activity is to help the student increase
their vocabulary and be able to transfer it to their writing.
The goal for this lesson is for students to be able to use vocabulary that creates
visualization for the reader; instead of just telling the reader what they want them to see.
2.
A real-world performance
The learning objectives address the need for building vocabulary in order to communicate
effectively through written communication using more descriptive vocabulary. It is
important to use effective descriptive writing when writing business letters, newspaper
articles, job applications, etc.
3.
An instructional objective
a.
b.
4.
Use a web based thesaurus to identify synonyms.
Incorporate the use of a thesaurus into a previously written fictional story to make
the writing piece more vivid and descriptive.
A set of essential content
The students need to understand how to use a thesaurus, the basic writing process, how to
evaluate and revise pieces of writing, as well as basic keyboarding skills and how to use
Word as a basic word processor.
5.
An evaluation consisting of a test or observation
There are two activities in this lesson that can be used for evaluation.
1. The students will be given a “Commonly Over Used Word,” and required to make a
poster, in Microsoft Publisher, identifying synonyms for the given words.
2. The students will take a previous writing piece and apply the usage of a thesaurus to help
them create a piece that allows the reader to picture what the student is trying to say.
6.
A method to help participants learn
The method that will be used to deliver the content will be through examples of writing
pieces that “tell the reader” and “those that show the reader.” These pieces will be used
as a topic of discussion on how writing can be boring or intriguing. Students will first be
exposed to writing pieces with little detail and asked to discuss what would make the
sample writing pieces better. The overall conclusion should be that the pieces need more
detail to make them exciting. There also needs to be a discussion on why vivid or
detailed writing is important in everyday life and how it might be used in their future.
Each student will then be given a “Commonly Over Used Word” to create a poster,
creating a word wall, to use as a reference during the evaluation of their own writing
pieces. This poster will consist of the given word and then 7-10 synonyms that could be
used in place of the given word. After, the class word-wall is created students will then
choose a previously submitted writing piece to reevaluate. The final product will need to
be typed and submitted through Google docs.
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Motivation:
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Meaningfulness: The activities will allow student to better engage their audience.
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Pleasant consequences: The students will feel more confident about their ability
to write
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Novelty: Curiosity will be gained by introducing a writing piece that has little
detail. The students will become curious as to what can be done to fix the piece.
Socialization
Peer editing allows for collaboration and an opportunity for the teacher to become part
of the collaboration and sharing of ideas.
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Audience
o
Age: Middle School Students
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Skill level (including technology skills): Advanced Language Arts students with
proficient writing skills, but varied technology skills.
o
Prerequisite knowledge (including technology background): Basic knowledge
of Internet searches, basic knowledge of Word, basic grammar knowledge,
and basic knowledge of how a dictionary works.
Technology Needs
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Students will need 3-4 class periods in the school computer lab
Students will need access to Microsoft Word and Publisher to create poster and to
type the final draft of the paper.
Students will need internet access to submit paper through Google docs.
Teacher and/or students need access to a Color printer to print posters.