Throughout this course you will be creating a lesson that will be incorporated into a week-long unit for the benchmark assignment.

Select a grade level 1-8 and a corresponding grade-level exemplar text from the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects, found in Appendix B.

Select three Common Core, Arizona, or your state’s ELA standards, one relating to each of the following:

• Reading text (literature or informational)
• Writing
• Speaking and listening

Using the Backward Design model, and one of the standards you selected, begin to plan your mini-unit by identifying the big ideas and essential questions for your unit. After establishing the content and skills-based learning objectives toward which students should be working, create one formative and one summative assessment to determine student understanding of the material and ability to demonstrate the skills outlined in the learning objectives.

Complete the following sections of the “COE Lesson Plan Template”:

• Lesson summary and focus
• National/State learning standards
• Specific learning targets/objectives
• Teacher notes
• Formative assessment
• Summative assessment