Original Instructional Plan

The Future Letter

Instructional Plan: The Future Letter

Level: English as a Foreign Language (EFL); College/University; General Requirements: About Publishing "Teaching Requirements of College English Courses" by General Office of Ministry of Education of China
Written Expression: Be able to accomplish general writing tasks, common practical writings, describe personal experiences, impressions, feelings and events, complete short essays of general topics with more than 120 words in half an hour. Have complete contents, clear main ideas, appropriate word usages, coherent sentences. Master basic writing skills.

Performance Objectives:
Content Objective 1. To write a future letter to a friend, a family member, a stranger or self
Language Objective 2. To learn the form of letter writing
Learning-Strategy Objective 3. To use graphic organizer to extend thinking

Warm-Up: Instructor says, “What do you wish to tell but you have no chance or courage to tell? An apology? A penitence? A secret love? Or an appreciation? Whatever you wish, now you have a good chance to release yourself and tell anything hidden in your heart. Today you will write a future letter to your friends, your family, yourself or any strangers you want to tell, keep the letter by yourself and post it after one year.”

Task Chain 1: Learn the Form of Letter Writing
1. Students choose their favorite color pencils, letter papers and envelopes given by instructor.
2. Instructor lectures how to write a letter by using heading, greeting or salutation, body, closing and signature and how to write an envelope.
3. Students follow instructor’s lecture to write envelopes and heading, greeting or salutation of letters.

Task Chain 2: Use Graphic Organizer to Extend Thinking
1. Instructor illustrates elements of graphic organizers and briefly lectures some basic graphic organizers to extend thinking in letter writing, such as mind maps, brainstorming webs and spider maps.
2. Students create their own graphic organizers according to their learning styles by following elements of graphic organizers to extend thinking on Work Sheet 1.

Task Chain 3: Write a Future Letter
1. Students use graphic organizers they create to begin to write future letters.
2. After finishing writing, students put letters into envelopes, keep future letter by themselves and post letters after one year.

Final Assessment: Students write letters to instructor for feedback to evaluate their letter writing, which include detailed answers to open-ended questions, “Did you express yourself clearly? Do you think the receiver will understand what you wrote? Did you feel released after writing this letter? Did it help you? Do you like writing letters? Describe this experience of writing a future letter.”

Teacher Interview on Grading Practices

Describe the Program/Site Visited
Advanced Reading is offered by San Bernardino Adult School as English as a Second Language (ESL) program for local adult students to enhance students' vocabularies, comprehension and speed, as well as other reading-related skills. San Bernardino Adult School was established in 1920 as a part of San Bernardino City Unified School District to provide quality, lifelong educational opportunities and support services that address the unique and changing needs of individuals in diverse multicultural community to local students. Shuping Wang is the instructor of this program, who has taught English in this school for seven years since 1997 she got her master degree of Teaching English to Speaker of Other Languages (TESOL) in California State University, San Bernardino. Before that, she had taught English in Taiyuan Technical Secondary School for five years since she got her bachelor degree of English in China.

Policy for Grading English Learners
The grading policy of San Bernardino Adult School is based on the evaluative grading system of Crafton Hills College. The following is the evaluative grading system used at Crafton Hills College.
1. Final Exams
The college requires final exams for students in all classes. Final exams for day classes are administered according to a final exam schedule. Final exams for evening classes are given on the last scheduled evening of classes. The final exam schedule can be found in the class schedule. Final exams at other than scheduled times are permitted only by petitioning the Office of Instruction and for circumstances clearly beyond the student's control.
2. Grade Changes
Individual course instructors are responsible for assigning grades. All grades are final. As per SBCCD Board Policy 5040, grades will not be changed for any reason or under any circumstances after 36 months from the end of the term in which the grade was assigned.
3. Grade Reporting
Students will be expected to award grades according to reasonable standards based on the requirements of the course. These requirements must be consistent with the official course outline. The evaluative grading system used at Crafton Hills College is standard:
A = Excellent
B = Good
C = Satisfactory
D = Passing, less than satisfactory
F = Failing
CR may be awarded for Credit (satisfactory or better) and NC for No Credit (less than satisfactory.) Students who request to be graded on a credit/no credit basis must file a petition to do so before the end of the fifth week for semester-length courses.
Non-evaluative symbols are also used. I is used for an Incomplete. Instructors who use this symbol must submit to Admissions and Records a course completion form indicating what assignments the student must submit to remove the "Incomplete" from his or her academic record. This form accompanies the roll sheet with final course grades submitted at the end of the semester. An “Incomplete” is assigned to allow for unforeseen circumstances, but it is not advisable to use the grade to prevent the student from receiving a low grade. The majority of students do not bother to complete the “Incomplete”. This must be completed within one year or convert to whatever grade instructors have indicated on the Incomplete Grade form.
Another non-evaluative symbol is the W, used to indicate a withdrawal from a class. Note that instructors cannot assign a W after the official drop date. Also, instructors cannot change a W to a grade after the fact.
The symbol RD (Report Delayed) may appear on a student's record to indicate that the instructor has not yet submitted his or her grades.
Instructors may record their grades on their Permanent Roster and submit it to the Admissions & Records Office or instructors may choose to submit grades on-line using Campus Central.
If a student asks for the privilege of credit by examination (granted on occasion by some departments), refer him or her to the Faculty Chair (Crafton Hills College, 2007).
4. Posting of Student Grades
The posting of student grades with easily identifiable personal indicators is in violation of the Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. However, there are acceptable methods by which instructors may voluntarily provide this service or benefit for groups of students without jeopardizing the student's right to privacy, including:
a. Instructors may post student grades by utilizing some derivative of a student's Social Security number - perhaps only the last three or four digits.
b. Instructors may post student grades by using their student ID.
c. Instructors may voluntarily agree to mail grades if the student provides a self-addressed stamped envelope.
d. Instructors may post grades on-line using the Gradebook program available on Campus Central. When students log onto Campus Central they will be able to access only their own grade, although they can see the class average as well. Workshops on the use of Gradebook are run periodically.
With respect to the reporting of grades, it is in the best interest of all concerned if all students in the group are treated alike.
The grading is the same to every student without exceptions, and it is not different according to ELD levels. The effectiveness of grading depends on the assessment methods. Shuping Wang tries to use varied assessment ways to make sure every student can get an equal opportunity to prove their performance. And the grades motivate the majority of students except a couple in the class (Crafton Hills College, 2007).

From Assignments to Grades
1. Connection between Individual Assignments and Grades
Students are graded largely upon their individual performance, for example, quizzes, the midterm and the final exam, short essays or projects, around 80%.
2. The Teacher’s Record-Keeping System
Shuping Wang gives quizzes to students in every class, grades them right after class and put grades on her grade book. She also checks to make sure students match the sign on sheets. So her grades are updated after each class and she does keep all the sign on sheets till the last session. She uses the computer to generate her grade sheets.
Focus Students
1. Interventions between Formative Assessments and Summative Grade Scores
Shuping Wang included both assessments: for formative assessments, she used informal observation during her presentation and student group work, quizzes, homework, teacher questions, worksheets, etc. For summative assessments, she gave unit tests, the midterm and the final exam, assign projects, term papers, etc.
2. Interventions to Improve Students’ Performance between Early Assessment and Final Grades
After students were done with the early assessment, Shuping Wang made sure she kept a copy of every student's results and was familiar with their levels, so in class she could use differentiated instruction and give more help to students whose early assessment was low. She paid attention to grouping when students worked in groups. She focused on improving the weak skills throughout the classes. Students’ final grades usually showed significant improvement.
In general, although the grading of San Bernardino Adult School is not different according to ELD levels, the instructors could adjust instruction according to students’ ELD levels. For example, teachers can provide more targeted teaching and practice by being aware of students' weak points in assessments of tests and exams.

Achievement of the Standards Reflect in the Grades of Individual Students
Based on students' entry and post assessment, almost all the students who have a high score in their final grades achieve satisfactory progress in standards. The teacher used varied assessment ways to make sure every student could get an equal opportunity to prove their real abilities.

Reference
Crafton Hills College. (2007). Part-Time Faculty Handbook. Retrieve December 2, 2009, from http://www.craftonhills.edu/Faculty_&_Staff/Handbooks/Handbook/Part-Time%20Faculty%20Handbook%20.pdf