Common Core State Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4.C
Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses),
both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise
meaning, its part of speech, or its etymology (Common Core State Standards, 2020).
Objective 1

1. Students will be able to correctly pronounce a word and give its meaning with the use of
   a dictionary, word glossaries, and thesauruses.
   Strategies
   i. Guided learning- the teacher, will, through direct instruction, explain to the learners how
   to use different learning materials to get a word’s pronunciation, its meaning as well as
   other details such as its etymology.
   ii. Cooperative learning- students will in small groups practice word pronunciation and use
   different learning materials such as dictionaries, thesaurus, and glossaries to define the
   words. Within their groups, learners will state which part of speech the word belongs to
   or its etymology.
   Objective 2
2. Students will be able to read words correctly and demonstrate an understanding of their
   meaning through constructing sentences
   Strategies

i. Students will construct sentences using the words provided to them after correctly
defining them and identifying their categories.
ii. Students will provide a list of words with similar meanings to the ones they were given;
they will do so within their groups.
The above strategies are engaging to diverse learners. First, the instructor will, through
direct instruction, guide students on how to go about with the tasks. The teacher will use
examples to show them how to use the dictionary and other learning materials provided above;
one can identify the pronunciation of a word and its correct usage. Another strategy entails the
use of cooperative learning, where students will work in groups and carry out assigned tasks. The
strategy will favor students who work best in groups or through discussions with their peers.
Also, learners who missed out on some details during direct instruction will get social support
from their peers. Students are able to translate language used by the teacher to “student
language” for each other during the discussion, and this fosters learning. This is specifically
important when dealing with second language learners (McGroarty, 2013). It helps foster
intrinsic motivation as learning in peer groups is more self-directed as opposed to direct
instruction. Individual learning through constructing sentences using learned words, will help
students engage in more self-directed learning. The different strategies applied to help achieve
the set objectives favor diverse learners. Since learners learn through diverse strategies, applying
a wide variety helps meet the learning needs of diverse learners within the classroom.

References

Common Core State Standards. (2020). English Language Arts Standards » Language » Grade
9-10 | Common Core State Standards Initiative. Corestandards.org. Retrieved 6 August
2020, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/9-10/#CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.L.9-10.2.
McGroarty, M. (2013). The benefits of cooperative learning arrangements in second language
instruction. NABE journal, 13(2), 127-143.