Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Inclusivity, Social Justice, and Technology Template

Name: Michelle Lopez

Instructions: Review the resources below and think of a lesson (within your discipline) that
utilizes multiples strategies from a culturally relevant framework. After reviewing the article,
fill out each area of the template. Make sure to save this into your Google Drive and submit a
link to this document when asked. We will discuss this further in class.

Culturally relevant pedagogy: h

ttps://goo.gl/XH7csR
Culturally relevant teaching practices (examples): h
ttps://goo.gl/C4ZxwU
Three tips to make any lesson more culturally relevant: https://goo.gl/T2MUbd

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you did not have any access to technology, think about a lesson (grounded in standards)
that can utilize culturally relevant teaching strategies. Answer each question below.

1. What is the grade level and subject area of your lesson?

Middle School Life Science
2. What standards is your lesson grounded in?
MS-LS1-1. Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells;
either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.
3. Provide a step-by-step framework for your lesson that explains how your lesson will
be carried out in detail.
Objective: Students will be able to identify what are the characteristics all living things on
earth have in common by comparing and contrasting living and nonliving things in pairs and
small groups.
1. Anticipatory Set: I will hand out a card to each student. The card will have written on it
something that is either nonliving or living. I will instruct students to stand up and find
someone who has a card with a living thing written on it if they received a card with
something non-living written on it and vice-versa. Once all of the students are
partnered up and one partner has a living card, while the other has a nonliving
card, I will ask them to sit together.
2. Guided Practice/Independent Practice: Once the students have sat down on their

seats with their partners, I will ask them to compare and contrast the two things they
had written on their cards. They will have to determine why they consider something to
be either living or nonliving. What characteristics make something be alive? As they
do this I will walk around the classroom and assist students. After about 5 minutes, I
will ask the pairs to find another pair and compare and contrast their lists. After
another 5 minutes, I will ask the groups of 4 to find another group of 4 and compare
and contrast their lists. I will tell them to defend each of their answers with their group
members.
3. Teacher Input: Once I believe the groups of 8 are done comparing their living and
nonliving things, I will call on a few students to share what they wrote. We will discuss
as a class whether we agree or not. If we agree, I will write the characteristic they
shared with me on the board. I will continue until I believe we have gathered mostly all
characteristics that make a thing be alive. If students are missing any key
characteristics, I will add it to the list and discuss it with them. I will also give them
examples.
4. Assessment: Exit Ticketa. What are three characteristics all living things on earth have?
b.
c.

What living things interest you the most and why?

What is something you do not understand about todays lesson?

4. Explain which portions of the lesson align to culturally relevant practices AND
provide a rationale that explains HOW these area are culturally relevant for a diverse
classroom that you might teach in the central valley of CA.
The portions of the lesson that align to culturally relevant practices are:
1. The students pairing up and forming small groups to have discussions: Many cultures
are accustomed to help one another, working in pairs or forming large groups from
small groups. For instance, Latinos and Asian Americans often take part in large
social events/gatherings in their communities to celebrate special events that are
highly celebrated in their countries of origin (Ex. Religious events, Chinese New
Years, Mexican Independence Day, Day of the Dead).
2. The students figuring out on their own characteristics of all living things on earth: The
students figuring out on their own the characteristics of all living things on earth,
before the teacher mentions any of them is culturally relevant, because it
demonstrates that the teacher thinks highly of the students and believes in them
enough to have them figure out things on their own. The teacher has high
expectations for the students and challenges them. Thus, just because the students
may be a minority the teacher does not look down on them and simply EDI the entire
lesson. The teacher is preparing the students for the future in that many jobs require
employees to get together and share and discuss ideas to figure things out on their
own.