Boston University
SED EN503: Lesson Design & Instruction in the Humanities Classroom
Fall, 2013
Mondays 4-7 PM
(Wednesdays 8 AM – 2 PM)
SED Room 208
Instructor
Professor Scott Seider
SED Room 240
seider@bu.edu
(617) 353-3223
Office Hours: By appointment
Course Objectives
The big goal of EN503 is for students to develop proficiency in lesson design, unit planning and
research-based instructional delivery practices.
The essential question of EN503 is “What does good instruction look like?”
The learning objectives for EN503 around lesson design and instructional delivery are listed
below. Specifically, students will be able to:
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Develop SMARRT aims and criteria for success (CFS) for a lesson
Open a lesson.
Deliver an effective lecture, teacher think-aloud and cognitive apprenticeship
Utilize visual instruction plans
Incorporate high-ratio techniques into instruction
Effectively guide independent practice
Close a lesson
Analyze Exit Ticket data to inform subsequent instruction
Design an effective unit plan
Required Text
Calkins, L., Ehrenworth, M. & Lehman, C. (2012). Pathways to the common core: Accelerating
achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Attendance & Make-up Work
We have fewer than 40 hours of class time. Only a genuine emergency or highly contagious
disease should prevent you from attending class. In such cases, please contact me ASAP and in
advance of the class you will miss. Power point presentations for each class session will be
available on the EN503 Blackboard site. If you miss a class, choose the 15 slides from the class
presentation that you believe to be the most interesting, engaging or provocative and reflect upon
each in a well thought out paragraph (i.e. 15 paragraphs in total) that synthesizes the content with
the assigned reading for that session. These paragraphs should be emailed as an attachment to the
instructor prior to the next class meeting. If you are tardy to class (or need to leave early), please
follow this same procedure using several of the slides presented in your absence.
Pre-Practicum
All MAT students enrolled in EN503 will participate in a 75-hour pre-practicum experience that
translates to approximately one day each week spent observing and assisting at a public middle
or secondary school. For the month of September, MAT students will carry out their weekly
observations as a cohort on Wednesdays at the Boston Green Academy (an in-district charter
high school in the Boston Public Schools located in South Boston). After MAT students’
internship sites have been identified, they will carry out the remainder of their visitations at their
respective internship sites. Students will be responsible for keeping a “Contact Hours” sheet—
signed off on by an official from the school site—that documents the pre-practicum experience.
Syllabus at a Glance
Class
Topic
9/9 Course Intro
The Common Core
9/16 Aims/Lesson Components
Warm Up/Opening
9/23 Closing/Exit Ticket
9/30 Explanation
10/7 Modeling/Investigation
Reading Due
ELA Common Core
Standards (pp. 1-77)
Linkon Chap 2
Calkins et al. Chaps 4-5
Calkins et al. Chaps 6-7
Rosenshine, Clark
MT Opening
MT Closing
MT Reflection
10/15 Guided Practice/
No reading
MT Explanation/Modeling
10/21 Independent Practice
Questioning Practices &
Ratio
10/28 Questioning Practices &
Ratio
Assessment I
11/4 Unit Planning
Assessment II
11/11 Enter-Explore a Text
11/18
11/25
12/2
12/9
Analyze a Text
Leading Discussions I
Leading Discussions II
The Job Search
Major Assignment Due
MT Reflection
Wiggins & McTighe
Guskey
Draft of Lesson Plan #1
Calkins et al. Chap 9
Lesson Plan #1
Milner Chap 5
Flannery O’Connor
Smith, Beach
Beach, Jen, Pollock/Carter
Calkins et al. Chaps 10-11
Big Unit Goals & Assessment
(draft)
MT Explore-Analyze
MT Reflection + Lesson Plan #2
Mini-Unit Plan + Lesson Plan #3
Assessments
Assignment
Points
Opening/Closing
Explanation/Modeling
Enter-Explore/Analyze
30 (5+5+20)
35 (5+20)
30 (5+5+20)
Lesson Plans (3)
Mini Unit Plan
24
45
Warm Ups, Exit Tickets &
Quote-Comment-Question
2 points each
Micro-Teaching & Reflections
Summative Assessments
Weekly Assignments
Pre-Practicum Site Visit Field
Notes (MAT’s only)
5 points each
Statement on Students with Disabilities
The School of Education at Boston University is committed to equal access for students with
disabilities. If you have a specific disability and require accommodations in this class, please let
me know early in the semester so that appropriate accommodations can be made. You must
provide me with a letter of needed accommodations prepared by the Office of Disability
Services. Contact information for that office is as follows: (617) 353-3658 V/TTY
or access@bu.edu. All discussions and written materials will be kept confidential.
Statement on Academic Integrity
The pursuit of knowledge can proceed only when scholars take responsibility and receive credit
for their work. Recognition of individual contributions to knowledge and of the intellectual
property of others builds trust within the University and encourages the sharing of ideas that is
essential to scholarship. Plagiarism, that is, failure to properly acknowledge sources, written or
electronic, used for verbatim quotations or ideas, is a violation of academic integrity. Each
student is responsible for learning and using proper methods of paraphrasing and footnoting,
quotation, and other forms of citation, to ensure that the original author, speaker, illustrator, or
source of the material used is clearly acknowledged.
Supplementary Readings (Posted on Blackboard Site)
Beach, R., Thein, A., & Webb, A. (2012). Teaching to exceed the English language arts common
core state standards. New York: Routledge.
Blythe, T. et al. (1998). Teaching for Understanding Guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Clark, R., Kirschner, P., & Sweller, J. (Spring 2012). Putting students on the path to learning.
The American Educator, 1-11.
Curtis, R. (2011). Achievement First: Developing a teacher performance management system
that recognizes excellence. Aspen, CO: Aspen Institute Education & Society Program.
Goldberg, L. (2013). Herbivores and literavores: Argument and appetite in the classroom.
English Journal 102(6), 40-45.
Guskey, T. (2002). Computerized gradebooks and the myth of objectivity. Phi Delta Kappan,
83(10), 775-780.
Jen, G. (1999). Who’s Irish. New York: Random House.
Jones, F. (2008). Tools for Teaching. Los Angeles, CA: Fred Jones Publications.
Lemov, D. (2010). Teach like a champion: 49 techniques that put students on the path to college.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Linkon, S. (2011). Literary learning: Teaching the English major. Bloomington, IN: Indiana
University Press.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (2011). State Curriculum
Frameworks Incorporating the Common Core Standards. Retrieved on August 10, 2012 from
http://www.doe.mass.edu/candi/commoncore/
Milner, J., Milner, L., & Mitchell, J. (2012). Bridging English. Boston, MA: Pearson.
O’Connor, F. (1955). A good man is hard to find and other stories. San Diego, CA: Harcourt.
Pollock, M. (2008). Everyday antiracism in schools. New York: Free Press.
Rosenshine, B. (Spring 2012). Principles of instruction: Research-based strategies that all
teachers should know. American Educator, 12-20.
Smith, M. (1989). Teaching the interpretation of irony in poetry. Research in the Teaching of
English, 23(3), 254-272.
Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2001). Understanding by design. New York: Prentice-Hall.
Pre-Practicum Site Visit Questions to Guide Field Notes
Week #1 (9/2-9/6): Content
EN503 Question: How do you see the common core coming up in the work students are being
asked to do?
EN501 Question: The Common Core is heavily focused on text complexity. What do you see
students’ reading? Do you think it’s rigorous?
Week #2 (9/9-9/13): Teacher
EN503 Question: What evidence do you see that today’s lessons fit into a larger unit plan or
curriculum plan? Speculate on where this unit (or year) is going.
EN501 Question: Do you see any evidence that the teacher has support in place for students who
might read at different levels?
Week #3 (9/16-9/20): Student
EN501 Question: What dimensions of diversity do you see in relation to the work that students
are doing?
Week #4 (9/23-9/27): Task
EN503 Question: What tasks does the teacher utilize to figure out what students know?
EN501 Question: What do you notice about student engagement as students work on these tasks?
Week #5 (9/30-10/4): Teacher
EN503 Question: How does each teacher you observe open the lesson? How does the ensuing
lesson relate to that opening?
Week #6 (10/7-10/11): Student
EN503 Question: How well are the students able to understand the direct instruction portion of
the lesson?
EN501 Question: How well are students understanding the texts they are working with?
Week #7 (10/14-10/18): Teacher
EN503 Question: What type of guided practice do you see?
EN501 Question: Do you see the teacher giving guidance about how to work through the text?
Week #8 (10/21-10/25): Student
EN503 Question: What do you notice about how students have been prepared to enter the text
they are working on?
EN501 Question: What do you notice about how students are prepared for the language they will
encounter in the text?
Week #9 (10/28-11/1): Task
EN503 Question: To what extent does the learning task offer students a strategy for analyzing
texts going forward?
EN501 Question: What do you notice about the “rigor” of the texts students are reading?
Week #10 (11/4-11/8): Teacher
EN501 Question: What types of collaborative learning do you see taking place?
Week #11 (11/11-11/15): Teacher-Student-Content-Task
EN503 & EN501 Question: What opportunities are there within the lesson for students to
perform differently?
Week #12 (11/18-11/22): Teacher-Student-Content-Task
EN503 Question: To what extent do you observe meaningful discussion taking place?
EN501 Question: To what extent does the lesson connect to students’ on-line literacies or outof-school literacy preferences?
Week #13 (12/2-12/6): Student-Content-Task
EN503 & EN501 Question: How do you notice data being used to inform instruction?
“MEAT AND POTATOES” LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE #1
SMARRT AIM
What is your objective?
CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS.
Describe, briefly, what student success on the SMARRT Aim would look like
CONNECTION TO THE COMMON CORE
Cite the state standards with which this lesson plan aligns
WARM UP
OPENING
EXPLANATION/MODELING/INVESTIGATION
How will you explain/demonstrate all knowledge/skills required of the objective, so that students begin to actively internalize
key points?
GUIDED PRACTICE
How will students practice all knowledge/skills required of the objective, with your support, such that they continue to internalize the key points?
1. INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
How will students independently practice the knowledge and skills required of the objective, such that they solidify their internalization of the key points prior
to the lesson assessment? 
When and how would you intervene to support this practice? 
How will you provide opportunities for remediation and extension? 
How will you clearly state and model behavioral expectations?  Why will students be engaged? 
5. CLOSING (5 min.)
How will students summarize and state the significance of what they learned?
TICKET TO LEAVE How will students practice what they learned? 
Rubric for Lesson Assignments
Components
Aim
0 pt
2 pts
4 pt
1-2 of the following
Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant, Rigorous,
Tied to a Larger Goal
Several of the following
Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant, Rigorous, Tied to a
Larger Goal
All of the following
Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant, Rigorous, Tied to a Larger
Goal
Criteria for
Success
One of the following
Describes attributes of
successful product or
performance
Focus on product/performance
in defining success
Will provide precise data about
students’ understanding
Two of the following
Describes attributes of successful
product or performance
Focus on product/performance in
defining success
Will provide precise data about
students’ understanding
All of the following
Describes attributes of successful
product or performance
Focus on product/performance in
defining success
Will provide precise data about students’
understanding
0 pt
1 pt
2 pt
Warm
Up/Opening
1-2 of the following:
Reviews warm up
Connects new to known
Reviews objective/expectations
Share assessment
1-2 of the following:
Restate the objective
Give feedback on performance
Preview next day’s lesson
Assign homework
Issue exit ticket
Includes several of the following:
Reviews warm up
Connects new to known
Reviews objective/expectations
Share assessment
Includes several of the following:
Restate the objective
Give feedback on performance
Preview next day’s lesson
Assign homework
Issue exit ticket
Includes all of the following:
Reviews warm up
Connects new to known
Reviews objective/expectations
Share assessment
Includes all of the following:
Restate the objective
Give feedback on performance
Preview next day’s lesson
Assign homework
Issue exit ticket
Closing/Exit
Ticket
0 pt
2 pt
4 pt
Explanation/
Modeling/
Investigation
1-2 of the following:
Key points align with Aim/CFS
Key points “sticky” through
repetition/visuals
Presentation is succinct
Explicate purpose of key points
Checks for understanding
Common misconceptions
Board = Paper
Name the Steps
Several of the following:
Key points align with Aim/CFS
Key points “sticky” through
repetition/visuals
Presentation is succinct
Explicate purpose of key points
Checks for understanding
Common misconceptions
Board = Paper
Name the Steps
All (appropriate) of the following:
Key points align with Aim/CFS
Key points “sticky” through
repetition/visuals
Presentation is succinct
Explicate purpose of key points Checks
for understanding
Common misconceptions
Board = Paper
Name the Steps
Guided
Practice
None of the following
Activity scaffolded effectively
High thinking/participation ratio
One of the following
Activity scaffolded effectively
High thinking/participation ratio
Both of the following
Activity scaffolded effectively
High thinking/participation ratio
Independent
Practice
None of the following
Clear directions for IP
Substantial “at bats”
Timely feedback
One of the following
Clear directions for IP
Substantial “at bats”
Timely feedback
Both of the following
Clear directions for IP
Substantial “at bats”
Timely feedback
____/24
Micro-Teaching
Micro-teaching typically runs 12-15 minutes. Each person takes his or her turn as teacher while
everyone else plays the role of students. It is the job of these ‘pupils’ to ask and answer questions
realistically. It is the job of the ‘teachers’ to involve the "class" actively in this way.
When finished, the students conducting the class have a moment or two to react to their own
teaching. Then everyone else joins in to discuss what they saw that they especially liked. Finally,
the group may mention just a few things that the practice teachers might try doing differently in
the future. The lesson plan for micro-teaching should always have a clearly stated objective and
then focus on either introduction of new material (i.e. explanation) or guided practice (i.e.
application). The reflection assignment should be approximately 3-4 pages in length.
Rubric for Micro-Teaching Opening
Components
MicroTeaching
0 pts
2.5 pts
5 pts
1-2 of the following:
Follows warm up protocol
Reviews warm up
Connects new to known
Reviews aim/agenda
Reviews expectations
Includes several of the
following:
Follows warm up protocol
Reviews warm up
Connects new to known
Reviews aim/agenda
Reviews expectations
Includes ALL of the following:
Follows warm up protocol
Reviews warm up
Connects new to known
Reviews aim/agenda
Reviews expectations
Rubric for Micro-Teaching Closing
Components
MicroTeaching
0 pts
2.5 pts
5 pts
1-2 of the following:
Restate the Aim
Give feedback on
performance
Preview next day’s lesson
Assign homework
Issue exit ticket
Several of the following:
Restate the Aim
Give feedback on performance
Preview next day’s lesson
Assign homework
Issue exit ticket
All of the following:
Restate the Aim
Give feedback on performance
Preview next day’s lesson
Assign homework
Issue exit ticket
Rubric for Micro-Teaching Explanation
Components
MicroTeaching
0 pts
2.5 pts
5 pts
1-2 of the following:
Key points align with Aim/CFS
Key points note purpose
Key points note misconceptions
Key points “sticky” through
repetition/visuals/guided notes
Presentation is succinct
Checks for understanding
Board = Paper
Several of the following:
Key points align with Aim/CFS
Key points note purpose
Key points note misconceptions
Key points “sticky” through
repetition/visuals/guided notes
Presentation is succinct
Checks for understanding
Board = Paper
All (appropriate) of following:
Key points align with Aim/CFS
Key points note purpose
Key points note misconceptions
Key points “sticky” through
repetition/visuals/guided notes
Presentation is succinct
Checks for understanding
Board = Paper
Rubric for Micro-Teaching Modeling
Components
MicroTeaching
0 pts
2.5 pts
5 pts
1-2 of the following:
Several of the following:
All (appropriate) of following:
Introduces key points or steps in
a process before beginning
modeling
Uses Think-Aloud to link back
to key points
Anticipate likely confusions and
take on those confusions in the
Modeling
Reviews key points after
finishing modeling
Introduces key points or steps in
a process before beginning
modeling
Uses Think-Aloud to link back
to key points
Anticipate likely confusions and
take on those confusions in the
Modeling
Reviews key points after
finishing modeling
Introduces key points or steps in
a process before beginning
modeling
Uses Think-Aloud to link back
to key points
Anticipate likely confusions and
take on those confusions in the
Modeling
Reviews key points after
finishing modeling
Rubric for Micro-Teaching Investigation
Components
MicroTeaching
0 pts
2.5 pts
5 pts
1-2 of the following:
Several of the following:
All (appropriate) of following:
Teacher tells students what
they’ll be investigating
Teacher tells students what
they’ll be investigating
Teacher tells students what
they’ll be investigating
Students observe/describe/
organize/compare
Students observe/describe/
organize/compare
Students observe/describe/
organize/compare
Students hypothesize/predict/
categorize
Students hypothesize/predict/
categorize
Students hypothesize/predict/
categorize
Teacher clarifies students’
findings & offers deductive
rules/principles/defs.
Teacher clarifies students’
findings & offers deductive
rules/principles/defs.
Teacher clarifies students’
findings & offers deductive
rules/principles/defs.
Students practice applying these
rules/principles/definitions
Students practice applying these
rules/principles/definitions
Students practice applying these
rules/principles/definitions
Rubric for Micro-Teaching Reflection
Recommended Length: 2-4 typed, double-space pages, 12 point font
Components
What went
well
1 pts
Vague or
incomplete
description of
positive aspects of
micro-teaching
3.5 pts
Clear description of positive aspects of
micro-teaching
And
Evidence effectively cited from video or
lesson plan to support description
5 pts
Detailed description and analysis of positive
aspects of micro-teaching
And
Evidence effectively cited from video or
lesson plan to support description
And
What was
challenging
Vague or
incomplete
description of
opportunities for
improvement
Clear description of negative aspects of
micro-teaching
And
Evidence effectively cited from video or
lesson plan to support description
Evidence effectively cited from class sessions
and/or readings to support analysis
Detailed description and analysis of negative
aspects of micro-teaching
And
Evidence effectively cited from video or
lesson plan to support description
And
Implications
for teaching
Vague or
incomplete
description of
implications for
teaching
Clear description of plans for ‘next time’
Evidence effectively cited from class sessions
and/or readings to support analysis
Detailed and thoughtful analysis of
takeaways for ‘next time’
And
And
Evidence effectively cited from video or
lesson plan to support description
Evidence effectively cited from video or
lesson plan to support description
And
Mechanics
Distracting
grammar, usage or
spelling or errors
2-4 grammar, usage or spelling errors
Evidence effectively cited from class sessions
and/or readings to support analysis
Reflection effectively proof-read and
virtually error-free
______________ / 20 pts
Mini-Unit Plan Assignment
Your culminating assignment for EN503 is to develop a two week unit on a text or texts. Please
follow the guide below to aid your development of this unit. You will have the option of
submitting drafts of the various components of the unit plan over the course of the semester
A. Big Unit Goals
a. What are your ultimate goals for what students should know and be able to do
at the end of this unit?
b. Show how each of these big unit objectives connects to one or more of the
Massachusetts Common Core Standards
B. Essential Question(s)
a. What is an engaging and provocative question (or questions) you can share
with your students to guide their exploration of this text or texts?
C. Cumulative Assessments
a. Design two cumulative assessment that you will use to assess whether or not
your students have demonstrated mastery of (several or all) of your big unit
objectives.
i. Design a test on which you explicitly note how particular test items
align with your big unit objectives
ii. Design another type of assessment with a rubric that demonstrates how
the assessment aligns with your big unit objectives
D. Unit Calendar
a. Break down your big unit goals into 10-15 daily lesson aims
b. Decide on the sequencing of these aims and plot them onto a unit calendar so
that the lessons form a logical and powerful sequence
i. Does it make sense to parse your larger unit into mini-mini-units?
c. For each of these days, share a bullet point or two about readings, resources or
instructional activities that you might use to inform this lesson
d. For each of these Aims, show which big unit objective (or objectives) it
addresses
E. Lesson Plan
a. Provide a detailed lesson plan for one lesson with this unit.
i. You do NOT need to create the supplementary materials for this lesson
plan
ii. Your lesson plan SHOULD be detailed enough that you could teach
the lesson using only this plan as your guide
F. DVD Commentary (Optional)
a. Through the “Comments” option under Tracked Changes, feel free to offer
any exposition or explanation that you feel would be useful to a reader of your
lesson plan
Rubric for Mini-Unit Plan
Big Unit Goals &
Essential Question
Cumulative Assessments
Unit Calendar
5 pts
10 pts
15 pts
1-2 of following
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Rigorous
Tied to Common Core
All of following
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Rigorous
Tied to Common Core
All of following
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Rigorous
Tied to common Core
Tied to provocative, engaging
essential question
Will provide partial insight
into students’
understanding of Big Unit
Goals and Daily Lesson
Aims
Will provide precise data
about students’
understanding of Big Unit
Goals and Daily Lesson
Aims
Will provide precise data about
students’ understanding of Big
Unit Goals and Daily Lesson
Aims
AND
Opportunity for rigorous,
intellectual and creative
thinking
Included Aims are
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Rigorous
Included Aims are
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Rigorous
Tied to Big Unit Goals
Included Aims are
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Rigorous
Tied to Big Unit Goals
AND
Organized in a logical, powerful
sequence to maximize learning
Sub-Total: _____/45
Lesson Plan (see rubric on prior page)
Sub-Total: _____/24
TOTAL: _______/69