Developing a Content Lesson Plan for English Learners with Parent Involvement Strategies

Step 1: Obtain Demographic Information and Develop Parent Involvement Strategies

Education: Develop a Content Lesson Plan Following The Steps Below.

This is not just another lesson plan! You will prepare a content-based lesson plan/unit for English learners; however, this lesson plan/unit will reflect the academic needs of the specific population in your local area and it will include parent involvement strategies.

The content area can be math, social studies, science, literature, or any other non-language focus (i.e., not a lesson focused on developing listening, speaking, reading, or writing skills, as well as grammar/vocabulary, although any of those skills can be interwoven into the lesson). In a content-based lesson, language skills are developed through learning the content. You may create the unit for grade levels PreK-12.

Step 1:

Contact a local school and obtain the demographic information for its student population. Develop ideas for the types of parent involvement strategies this school/district should use based on its student demographics. Use the following link to help you in your research

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council This site links to the FFIEC Geocoding/Mapping System. You will be able to retrieve State, County, and Census Tract codes for street addresses or zip codes.

From the pull-down menu, select a year. Keep in mind that the data for the current year may not be available yet. It is best to select the previous year. Next, enter the address OR a zip code in the Search window.

The FFIEC Geocoding System typically uses the preferred USPS city name for a given zip code and does not geocode P.O. Boxes or Rural Routes. When an exact street address cannot be found, type in the zip code. The map will display the best guess location for the entered address.

Follow the below steps to properly geocode the location:

a. Select the “User Select Tract” box on the left section of the map screen

b. Zoom in and out to find the nearest cross street for the desired address. Click the mouse over this location to ensure a blue dot populates the screen.

c. The results will display in the "Selected Tract" information box on the left section of the map screen, and a blue dot will be shown at the location you selected.

d. To get demographic information for the selected tract, use the "Census Demographic Data" drop down menu located about halfway down on the left side of the map screen.

Step 2: Compare Demographic Information of Home County with Other Counties

Make sure to explore all tabs in the Census Demographic Data: Income, Population, Housing. Remember to take notes – you will use this information in your rationale for the lesson plan/unit.

Step 2:

Examine the Florida Quickfacts, the government's census website From this site, select the information for your home county and one of the larger Florida counties (e.g., Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Orange, Duval). Use the following questions to make comparisons/contrasts of the data:

1. How does your home county compare to the other county you selected?

2. What are the primary differences between the two districts: in population, in numbers of foreign born persons, the language spoken in the home, household income, etc.?

3. What contrasts did you notice about the numbers and distribution of ELLs/foreign born persons? Remember to take notes – you will use this information in your rationale for the lesson plan/unit.

Step 3:

Create a lesson plan/unit based on the demographic data you collected for your home county.

a. First, include a Rationale for the unit based on the information you collected from the FFIEC and Florida Quickfacts sites.

b. Explain how this lesson plan/unit will help ELL parents increase their children’s academic success and allow the parents to become more involved in the educational process.

The lesson plan/unit should use the SIOP model and include all of the SIOP lesson plan components below. for guidance in formatting your plan/unit. Use the following SIOP lesson plan components:

Content area Lesson title Background English language proficiency--Beginning, intermediate, or advanced Grade level Sunshine State Standards and Benchmarks Content objective Language objective Materials (attach any clip art files, handouts, or other print materials you reference in the lesson) Length of lesson

Procedures: -

Motivation (Introduction/Background knowledge)

Presentation (Presentation/Providing input)

Practice/Application (Guided Practice/interaction) 

Review/Assessment (Evaluation/output) 

Extension (Follow-up activities)

Your lesson plan/unit must also include:

1) An assessment of the students’ attainment of the content and language objective. Your assessment can be performance-based, a paper-and-pencil test, or any other creative option that you choose. If you assign points, include a rubric describing each evaluation criterion.

2) All clip art files, handouts, or other print materials you reference in the lesson plan or assessment.

3) A description of the teacher’s or the EL’s use of instructional technology, such as websites, apps, and other media.