LESSON 4 DEVELOPING INSTRUCTIONAL PLANS FOR MOTHER

TONGUE INSTRUCTION
Lesson Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to:
 Unpack the students in the curriculum guide;
 Determine the nature of competencies;
 Identify topic or content of instruction;
 Select assessment strategies; and
 Plan learning experiences.

Instructional Materials Needed: Mother Tongue Curriculum Guide

Learning Activities:
I. ACTIVATE
On your own, answer the following questions. Then, discuss with a partner.
 How do you use the content of the DepEd curriculum guide on MTB-MLE?
 How do you teach the content of the DepEd curriculum guide on MTB-MLE?

II. ANALYZE
Apparently, the curriculum guide serves as teachers’ blueprint for planning and designing the
curriculum. It should not be taught as is. It contains standards which are broad guidelines for student
achievement. It will be your job to interpret these standards using unpacking strategies.

Unpacking means extracting the component knowledge and skills required by a standard in order to
understand the learning expectations and can clearly articulate those expectations to students and
parents. Unpacking serves three purposes: (a) to establish focus of standards and competencies, (b) to
link standards, competencies, and teaching, and (c) to contextualize teaching.
Examine the figure below on unpacking standards and competencies in the curriculum guide.

Analyze the Standards

Determine the nature of

competencies (Knowledge,
Skills, Values)

Identify Topic or Content

Select Assessment Strategies

Plan Learning Experiences

Select/Design Instructional
Materials

Figure 1: Strategies for Unpacking Standards and Competencies in Curriculum Guide

You may observe that the model utilizes backward design of instructional planning. Recall the
insights you gained from the previous lesson on backward design.

Step 1. The first step in the figure involves analysis of the standards. Standards articulate what a student
should be able to know, understand, and do by the end of the year, and they set equitable benchmarks
across classrooms and schools.
 Read the discussion below on the various types of standards stipulated in the curriculum guide.
Content Standard Performance Standard
 Answer the questions, “what do students  Answer the question, “what do we want
want to know, be able to do, and students to do with their learning or
understand?” understanding? “ and “ how do we want
 Defines what students are expected to them to use their learning or
know (Knowledge: facts and information), understanding? “
and what they should be able to do  Defines the expected proficiency level
(process or skills) with what they know  Products and/or performances as evidence
 The meanings or understanding that they that students can transfer or use their
construct or make as they process the learning in real-life situations.
facts and information
Types of Standard
Learning Area Standard
(This defines the broad outcomes for MTB-MLE learning area.)

Example: Use Mother Tongue appropriately and effectively in oral, visual, and written communication in a variety
of situations and for a variety of audiences, contexts, and purposes, including learning of other content subjects
and languages, demonstrate appreciation of various forms of literacy genres, and take pride in one’s cultural
heritage.

Key Stage Standard

(This defines the specific outcomes for key stages such as K-Grade 3, Grades 4-6, and Grades 7-10.)

Example: K-Grade3- by the end of Grade 3, students will enjoy communicating on their first language on familiar
topics for a variety of purposes and audiences using basic vocabulary and phrases, read L1 texts with
understanding, and create their own stories and text in their L1.

Grade Level Standard

(This defines the specific outcomes for the language domains in each Grade level.)

Example: Kindergarten- the learner demonstrates skills and strategies in phonemic awareness, alphabet
knowledge, sound-letter correspondences, decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension as they enjoy listening and
responding to a variety of texts in their Mother Tongue.

Read carefully the curriculum guide. Copy the examples of standards on the table below.

Content Standard

Performance Standard

Learning Area Standard

Key Stage Standard

Grade Level Standard

III. ABSTRACT

In triads, perform the rest of the unpacking process by following steps to 2-7 below. For steps 2-
3, use the template below.

Competency Domain Nature

Step 2. Examine the competencies by determining the target language domain.

The five macro skills (reading, listening, speaking, writing, and viewing) are further categorized into 12
domains in the MTB-MLE curriculum.
 Oral Language (OL)
 Phonological Awareness (PA)
 Book and Print Knowledge (BPK)
 Phonics and Word Recognition (PWR)
 Fluency (F)
 Composing (C)
 Grammar Awareness (GA)
 Vocabulary and Concept Development (VCD)
 Listening Comprehension (LC)
 Reading Comprehension (RC)
 Attitude Towards Reading (ATR)
 Study Skills (SS)

Example:
Competency Language Domain
Talk about oneself and one’s personal experiences Oral Language (OL)
(family, pet, favorite food)

Step 3: Determine the nature of competencies (knowledge, skills, and values)

The target of the competency maybe knowledge (conceptual and factual understanding), skills
(ability to perform or demonstrate linguistic skills and activities), and values (appreciation for language,
development of right attitudes and dispositions).

Example:
Competency Language Domain Nature
Talk about oneself and one’s Oral Language (OL) Skill
personal experiences (family, pet,
favorite food)

For steps 4-7, use the template below.

Competencies Topic/Content Assessment Learning Materials

Experiences

Step 4. Determine the topic or content and time allotment.

The target competency contains specific topic or lesson. The first column of the curriculum guide
“Quarter/Week/Theme” provides clue to the topic at hand.

Competency Language Domain Nature Topic

Talk about oneself and Oral Language (OL) Skill Talking about oneself and
one’s personal other topics
experiences (family, pet,
favorite food)

The curriculum guide provides the minimum standard for the Filipino learners. The time allotment in the
first column of the curriculum guide proper also serves as the minimum duration of learning the topic.
Our learners may acquire or develop the target competency much ahead of the expected time.

Time Allotment Competency Language Domain Nature

Quarter 1, Week 1 Talk about oneself and one’s Oral Language (OL) Skill
personal experiences
(family, pet, favorite food)

Step 5. Select assessment strategies.

The most important principle to remember when selecting assessment strategies is constructive
alignment. It is the “coherence” among the learning outcomes, assessment, and learning experiences in
an educational program.
 Constructive Alignment

Learning outcomes

Learning experiences Assessment

Spady uses “matchmaking” as synonym for alignment. He explains that alignment basically
means the “perfect match” of four things, namely:

1. What is important for the learners to learn;

2. What we teach them;
3. How we teach them; and
4. What we assess when we ask them to perform.

Indeed, the backward design approach makes teachers consider the objectives or competencies
of the subject first. These competencies embody the knowledge and skills teachers want their students
to have learned at the end of the subject.

Once the competencies have been established, the second stage involves consideration of
assessment. The backward design framework suggests that teachers should consider these overarching
competencies and how students will be assessed prior to consideration of how to teach the content.

Example:
Time Allotment Competency Language Domain Nature Assessment Strategies
Quarter 1, Week 1 Talk about oneself and Oral Language (OL) Skill Individual and
one’s personal collaborative speaking
experiences (family, activities (self-
pet, favorite food) introduction and
completing sentence
stems)

Clearly, the verb used in the competency provides clue as to the type of assessment strategies
to be used in the classroom. In the example, the target competency involves the ability to speak the
target language; the assessment therefore, should provide the learners the opportunity to use the
language in oral form.

Step 6. Plan Learning Experiences.

Make sure to match the learning activities with learning outcomes. Examine the table below.

Target Competency Learning Activities/Experience

Recognize that printed text has meaning  Look at pictures of familiar scenes and say

(Focus on Whole Language/Meaning)
Recognize letters of the alphabet, tone marks, and
other language features
(Focus on Parts of Language/Accuracy)
what they mean
 Take part in Shared Reading Activities
 Use books independently, turn pages in
correct order, pints to and talks about
picture
 Read short simple stories with picture
 Read/say the sound of letters in isolation
 Read/sound out short words in isolation
 Write the letters of the alphabet
 Read and write own name correctly

Step 7. Design Learning Materials.

Tomlinson (2003) indicates that effective language materials:
 expose the learners to language in authentic use;
 help learners to pay attention to features of authentic input;
 provide the learners with opportunities to use the target language to achieve communicative
purposes;
 provide opportunities for outcome feedback;
 achieve impact in the sense that they arouse and sustain the learners’ curiosity and attention;
and
 Stimulate intellectual, aesthetic and emotional involvement.

IV. APPLY
On your own, choose one competency to unpack. Identify assessment strategies, learning
experiences, and materials aligned with it. Complete the table below with your answers.

Content Standard

Performance
Standard
Competencies Topic/Content Assessment Learning Materials
Experiences

Lesson Synthesis:
What are the benefits of using backward design in instructional planning?
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How do you feel about our week-long plans? Is it feasible? Can you implement your plan?
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UNIT SUMMARY
In this unit, you learned about the important principles and guidelines in instructional planning
in general and mother tongue instruction in particular. You also learned and practiced curriculum
unpacking strategies. It is hoped that you can now understand the various elements of the curriculum
guide and you can articulate these elements with competence and confidence to your peers and
students. Unpacking strategies enable us to unravel the wondrous gifts inherent on our own curriculum
guide and equip us to contextualize our teaching.