Planning Instruction With Mastery in Mind

(PL-1, PL-2, PL-3, PR-5)

• Deconstruct the standards to determine the content to be taught, level of rigor (verb), specificity, vocabulary and variation. Pay close attention to the Knowledge and Skills as well as the Student Expectations (SE's) that students should master. Examine language skills needed to master the content, and consider the ELPS that will need to be addressed.
• Review district planning documents (Scope and Sequence, Planning Guides, Master Courses, and Lead4ward Field Guides).
• Review district-adopted resources to enhance your content knowledge. Ask yourself, “By the time the bell rings at the end of class, what will students know and be able to do?"

• Visit Lead4ward to access instructional resources such as the IQ Released Test. Match the standard to the question, highlight vocabulary in the question, make notice of key concepts, and annotate the process students must use to be able to answer the question.
• Plan for ways to address common misconceptions.
• Utilize data to inform your planning. Visit OnTrack, the A4E dashboard, or other student data trackers to ensure that instruction is appropriate to the level of student needs.
• Utilize the Know Your Students, Know Your Standards protocol to determine gaps and plan for mastery of standards.
• Use Planning Guides or Master Courses to review and create teacher exemplars of student work that will serve as a model for mastery.

• Gather lesson resources that address the specific skill and content within the TEKS that students will master. Consider the level of rigor, specificity, and variation.
• Read and annotate the Planning Guides or Master Courses.
• Consider the amount of time it will take for students to execute the assigned task so you can plan accordingly.
• Plan questions for students in advance, using question stems for support, in order to check for understanding.
• Gather lesson resources that address the language skills within the ELPS and review considerations for Specially Designed Instruction (SDI).

• Utilize scaffolds to support all students and to ensure entry points for engagement in the lesson.
• Include additional questions that will support comprehension of text or mastery of tasks. For example, "Do I need to add a read aloud/think aloud?" "Should a glossary or visuals accompany a reading?" "How might I provide an environment for structured conversations?" "What additional scaffolds are needed to support writing?" "Do I need to create/modify response stems?" "Have I created a teacher exemplar?"
• Determine which supplementary aids and services are appropriate for Students with Disabilities (SWD).
• Visit Literacy Routines and Linguistic Accommodations to include other strategies to support English Learners.

• Use your content/cross-functional team as a support system to learn strategies to embed into the lessons.
• Practice the execution of lessons using an AT-BATS protocol with your colleagues.
• Collaboratively analyze formative assessment data and student work samples in order to inform future lesson plans that will address the needs of all learners and provide proper interventions if needed.