TPE 3: Interpretation and Use of Assessments

TPE 6: Developmentally Appropriate Teaching Practices

TPE 9: Instructional Planning

Overview: In this unit, students are required to read the autobiography of Melba Patillo Beals, "Warriors Don't Cry". This unit is for 8th grade and incorporates the themes of equality and civil rights as well as activities that address the content standards for 8th grade literature, math, and social studies. In this unit students are asked to make connections between different sources (poetry, the text, statistics of the 1950's, and civil rights issues- past and present) and integrate them into various classroom activities. This unit has a lot of mature content and requires students to really reflect on what they are reading and requires the teacher to make a conscious effort to debrief students and explain some of the mature themes that appear in "Warriors Don't Cry". 

Justification TPE 3: This unit requires the teacher to perform many informal evaluations throughout the course of 6-8 weeks, as well as formal assessments at critical learning periods. One assessment provided in this unit plan is for the lesson "Warriors Don't Cry: The Slow Progress of Civil Rights". The assessment used is a rubric for a compare/contrast essay. Students are given this rubric before writing so that they are fully aware of what is expected from them upon completion of their essay. Also, before turning in their essays for me to grade, they are asked to use the rubric to grade their own papers. When grading their final papers, I use their own self-assessment, the rubric, and my own observations to come up with their final grade. 

Justification TPE 6: This unit deals with many mature themes and issues that must be handled in a sensitive manner. Before teaching this unit, I make sure that students are aware and are sensitive to issues dealing with race, prejudice, and violence. Also, It is important for students in this age group to understand the basic principles of prejudice during the Civl Rights Movement and how it applies to their lives now. Because they are still developing their own self-identity and figuring out who they are, they must learn to understand the implications of racism, discrimination, and prejudice in our world today. 

Justification TPE 9: This unit clearly establishes short and long term goals for students throughout a 6-8 week period. Each activity is based on the California content standards and meets multiple, interdisciplinary standards. The unit's activities incorporate multiple teaching strategies, differentiated instruction, and scaffolding techniques. Also, this unit takes the abstract theme of "equality" and uses multiple activities to provide meaning and more concrete examples for students to get a better grasp on the struggles of African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement and to the present day. The unit is carefully planned where each activity builds on the other and provides new and meaningful information at appropriate times.