I use a variety of different instructional strategies to help my students learn the material, below are just a few of the different strategies from one unit that I wanted to highlight to show how I incorporate formative assessments, technology, differentiation, etc. into a lesson. Along with these , I utilize eClass for assessments and as a mechanism to share the different Google links.

DNA-RNA Unit

PowerPoint

For each unit, I have a PowerPoint and a Nearpod that I use. The powerpoint is mainly for student reference as I will upload that for them to utilize as needed for class and homework.

DNA/RNA PowerPoint

Nearpod

Nearpod is my main form of presentation. I find that it is interactive and allows me to collect constant formative data. I am able to incorporate activities, videos, quizzes, etc..

DNA/RNA Nearpod

Interactive Notebooks

I utilize interactive notebooks in both my resource and college prep classes. These notebooks contain two column notes that I have developed in which one side is guided notes and the other side is a check your understanding that allows me to do formative assessments during direct instruction. In resource classes, these are cut in half and taped to two sides of a page. In college prep classes, these are printed and stapled. These notebooks also allow me to meet accommodations for students that need material broken down into manageable parts and checking their understanding.

Here is a video of the two different versions I use for my resource and co-taught classes:

DNA/RNA Interactive Notebooks Overview

Differentiation Assignments

For this activity, students took a quiz on transcription and translation and based on that were assigned a either Tier 1 or Tier 2 for each the following day. They took the same quiz as an exit ticket after completing the tiered assignments. The link below includes all the mentioned resources.

Transcription/Translation Assign.

Trasket Ball Review

Students competed in teams to complete a trasketball review for DNA/RNA. Students got an opportunity to pick a question # and answer that question. Foam basketballs and a trashcan were used to earn bonus points for the team.

DNA/RNA Trashketball

DNA/RNA Lab

We conducted a DNA/RNA lab in which we used manipulatives of nucleotides to help students visualize transcription and translation.

DNA/RNA Lab