Rachel Sinton

EDUC450
September 24th, 2014
Setting and Context
Course: 10th Grade Pre-AP English
Teacher: Ms. Whitney
The School Community
Mission: "Building for a new generation"
Belief Statement for TVHS: Students will build skills to: achieve academic and career
goals; contribute to society; achieve an understanding of cultural diversity; achieve selfpride and confidence; and achieve learning as a lifelong experience.
Extracurricular: We offer what kids and parents say they want; nearly 30 statesponsored sports and more than 20 clubs (CHSSA) the most sports programs north of
120th Avenue in Denver lacrosse draws from several districts and schools as does
gymnastics, dance team and swimming; clubs include National Honor Society, anime
Japanese graphic novels, Harry Potter Club, salsa, games, long boarding, etc.; lots of
community service
Climate: We have an inclusive, friendly, welcoming environment with strong academics
and something for everyone. Those engaged in CHSSA activities and athletics are held to
high eligibility standards. Students/staff/community are service oriented: canned food
drive, adopt a family, Thanksgiving dinners, two blood drives. Classified staff is involved
at schools and in district committees.
(thompsonschools.org)
The community of Thompson Valley High School is based on relationships,
academic achievement, and school culture. From what has been observed, students have
a lot of passion and spirit for their school. For example, at the homecoming assembly, the
majority of the students were engaged, cheering, and present.
Thompson Valley School District is the 16th largest school district in Colorado and
Loveland largest employer. The student body of the entire district is has a current
enrollment of 16,226 students. Of those students, 75.3 percent identify as white, 19.6
percent as Hispanic, 1.2 percent as Asian, 0.9 percent as Black or African American, 0.6
as percent American Indian, 2.2 percent as two or more races and 0.2 percent as native
Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. Several organizations and programs are utilized in
order to accommodate the expanding ethnic diversity.
In regards to ELL and ESL students, the English Language Acquisition department
provides services to students who are linguistically diverse, are acquiring English as a
second language, or who are not fully proficient in English. The department offers before
and after school programs as well as advocacy and services throughout the school day.

The gifted and talented program is also implemented at TVHS to help meet
academic and social needs of proficient students. TVHS offers multiple classes to
prepare students for AP testing and courses.
TVHS recently switched to a new block schedule. On Monday, Tuesday, and
Friday, classes are 47 minutes long and on Wednesdays and Thursdays classes run on 90
minute periods with a 30 minute advisory period.
The Community of Loveland, Colorado
The total population of Loveland Colorado is 66,859. Located 50 miles north of
Denver, the city encompasses 35.43 square miles. It is the 13th largest city in the state of
Colorado. It is part of Larimer County and just south of Fort Collins.
Race/Ethnicity: White: 92.85%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 8.57%
American Indian/Alaska Native .69%
Asian: .83%
Black or African American: .37%
(2000 US Census)
The major employers of the city of Loveland are listed below.
Thompson School District....2,616
City of Loveland.......................................................639
Medical Center of the Rockies ................................ 953
US Engineering Co ...................................................466
McKee Medical Center..............................................940
Agilent Technologies.................................................384
Wal-Mart Distribution Center ...................................851
Hewlett-Packard .......................................................349
Wal-Mart Stores .......................................................785
Group Publishing......................................................336
Hach Chemical Company.741
King Soopers ...293
(http://cityofloveland.org)

The Students
There are thirty-five students in the classroom. Since this class is a Pre-Advanced
Placement course for 10th grade, the majority of the students are reading to learn and
actively participating during class time. To be placed in this class, it was required for
students to be recommended by previous teachers and educators. Due to this, all of the
students have similar developmental levels. Each of their needs and desires is to become
prepared for AP courses and the AP exam. Along with this, there is also a large

emphasis on preparing for the ACTs, which all students will be required to take in the
Spring.
The Classroom
The Physical Environment: Students are seated alphabetically in order to help Ms.
Whitney with organization and attendance. They are allowed to move around and work
with other students during group activities. The same students typically seem to work
with the same people every time which forms set groups within the class. Ms. Whitney
has decorated the classroom with various drawings, posters, and stories created by
students. She teaches multiple classes every day (creative writing, English 11, Pre AP
English 10, Mythology). For each of the courses she has a space on the whiteboard that
lays out the schedule and homework for that day. Ms. Whitney allows students to listen
to their iPods and have their phones out, which creates a laid-back mentality and
environment. She has a table at the front of the classroom where she keeps a homework
box (for in-work and out-work), a hall pass, and the worksheets students will be working
on that day. At the beginning of class, students are fairly in charge of turning in their
homework and picking up the worksheets before class starts and Ms. Whitney reminds
students to do this so everyone is prepared.
Rationale
For one of my lesson plans, I will be teaching a lesson on two literary terms that
the class has not yet learned or reviewed. As of now, Ms.Whitney has been teaching
literary devices and vocabulary words in order to prepare them for the AP classes and
exams. For instance, she has spent three periods discussing the differences and
correlation between mood and tone. The two terms that I will be discussing are
foreshadowing and idioms. I chose this specific instructional strategy because these two
terms have not been discussed in Ms. Whitneys class; however, they are very important
and abundant in literature. As of now, I am still unaware of how I will be teaching these
two literary terms because the lesson is not for a few weeks.