By: Brielle Ferraro         Standard: Comprehension and Collaboration- Collaborative Discussion

1. 1.5 PK.A "Participate in Collaborative Conversations with peers and adults in small and larger groups."

2. Subject: English and Language Literature Grade Level: 4th Grade

3. Objective #1: Students will develop proficient communication skills in order to properly and fully discuss selected topics with excellent speech and engagement abilities. The main focus is to master communication skills at the grade level targeted (4th grade).

4. Objective #2- Students will have the ability to pose questions that are appropriate and extensive to the given topic for the material being taught.

5. Objective #3- Students will develop the patience and respect to wait until they are directed to speak. While learning to wait students will comprehend and listen to others speak (turn-taking).

6. Whats the Big Idea?  Students will learn to be active listeners. They will also learn the meaning of what they are hearing by questioning, reflecting, answering, and evaluating the information. The speakers (students) then can communicate information to the audience clearly and effectively. They will also learn how to create appropriate and meaningful questions based on a specific topic which is very necessary for proper language and conversation development.

7. Scaffolding Strategy #1- It is important to reflect back on previously learned material especially when teaching about conversation development. It is important to ask the students what have they learned from previous conversations. Who have the students held conversations with? Can they think of a positive benefit from communicating with someone through speaking. It is important to reflect back on previous knowledge when teaching about conversations and speech because students are not initially starting to speak in 4th grade, they have learned to communicate many years prior.  So using a scaffolding skill like this one can be very beneficial and allows the students to remember past experiences speaking and conversing with others. This will in all help them develop their speaking skills further by connecting to the beginning of the skill. This strategy helps to establish objective one to begin the initial conversation building techniques.

8. Scaffolding Skill #2-For Objective #2 its main focus is to understand how to formulate questions. A very effective Scaffolding strategy for this objective would be to create a graphic organizer that indicate's different aspects of the question development such as, who is the question being directed at? What content is being targeted in the question? Why is the question being posed?Organizing the question components in a graphic organizer helps departmentalize the objectives elements.

9. Scaffolding Skill #3-In order to satisfy objective #3 it would be very helpful to incorporate small groups into the classroom curriculum. This will help instill that when discussing information in a small group it is very important to initiate turn taking. Small group's also help to create respectful environments for those that are speaking. It is a good idea to practice these speaking skills in a smaller group rather than larger group so students can feel more comfortable and focused. This scaffolding strategy is working in small groups.

10. I think it is a very appropriate age to focus the learning objectives around communication, collaboration, and speaking abilities because this is the primary age when students are starting to expand their relationships with their peers, teachers, and family members. They are starting to grow up and really understand the importance of proper communication and the impact it has on our relationships and achievements. I firmly believe that at the 4th grade level students have the readiness ability to fulfill all three of the learning objectives set in this unit for the given PA Standard, "Comprehension and Collaboration, Collaborative Discussion".