EMBEDDING TECHNOLOGY in CONTENT LESSONS

Overview using SAMR:
I chose the lesson having to do with Lord of the Flies because I teach that novel. I liked the idea that the lesson focused on theme as students struggle with themes all the time. Hence, my objective. I thought that if I were to teach this lesson, I would separate the leadership and theme aspects into two separate lessons. My trusted confidants, Jody and Christel, encouraged me to include quotes and theme topics as a source of support in the modification and I obliged as it was a great suggestion. I had to read the original lesson multiple times to get an idea of what the teacher was truly looking to get out of students. It was overwhelming, the amount of objectives which was one reason I chose to narrow my objective to focus on the theme.

(S): I also chose to use the Google Group because that is something that I would have done anyway, have a conversation, but decided to embed technology (Google Group) in the lesson to expose and develop these skills for students. 

(A): However, it also allowed them to be more thorough as they had to respond to two other students in the discussion forum/group. I think this gives students who do not communicate verbally, a voice, a chance to display their thoughts that they would not otherwise have done. 
(M): Also, many times students give answers in verbal discussion but lack the ability to actually respond TO what the person said. 

(R): Requiring the responses and quotes forces students to keep the discussion alive as opposed to just stating their thoughts.

EMBEDDING TECHNOLOGY in CONTENT LESS ONS

TECHNOLOGY-BASED LESSON DESIGN                     

YOUR NAME: Monica Hayes

Lesson Title: Discussing Themes in Lord of the Flies Grade/Level: 10

Lesson is part of this unit/topic:Power and Justice Length of this lesson: 84 minutes (one period)

WHAT TO TEACH: STANDARDS, GOALS, OBJECTIVES

STANDARDS from these sources: CCSS:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.D Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. Content Area: Identify and analyze the theme of a story. ISTE:. Communication and collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

Lesson Objectives/Learning Targets  (You may use UBD Essential Questions) These should be more specific than the standards from the sources listed above, and focus on important learning outcomes. Include at least 3 levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy with at least one aligning with Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. In the group, students will summarize chapters and create theme statements. (Bloom’s Knowledge, understanding, and evaluating) Students will compare themes to events and themes in real world. (Bloom’s Evaluating) Students will access Google Group (Bloom’s Application)

HOW TO TEACH: METHODOLOGY, PROCEDURES, RESOURCES

Instructional Plan/Lesson Design: From initiation to closure How will you set up your environment, introduce, and begin your lesson? Students will summarize chapter 5 in groups 3-4. I will have students log into Google using a Chromebook and access the Google Group for our class. I will model this process first. I will have students respond in the group to the following prompt: “After reading chapter 5, discuss a theme topic or two that you think was evident in the chapter. Provide evidence to support your thinking.” Students will then respond to at least 2 other classmates posts. They must provide additional support to their classmate or suggest a different theme topic that fits their answer. Using a quote to support two other posts will be acceptable answers. After this is completed in the Google Group we will convene whole group in the classroom and brainstorm on the board theme statements that fit this novel based on the conversations and answers provided in the Google Group. Students will then respond to the following prompt in a Google Doc: “Create a theme statement for Lord of the Flies. Support with evidence from the novel. Compare your theme statement to something in today’s world. Students will share their document with me. How will you present to students the specific knowledge and skills they need to develop? We will have been discussing other chapters throughout the reading of the novel and have been highlighting certain events and qualities that reflect certain theme topics (leadership, power, good vs. evil, for example). Students are also well-versed in Google as we use it often. After the students complete their learning activities, how will you close/summarize the lesson? I will have some students share their connection to today’s world that they discussed in their final document and close with the idea that there is always a struggle for power, leadership, etc.

Student Activities What are their roles, responsibilities, and actions? Will they collaborate or work individually? How will they be engaged in meaningful activities? Students will read, communicate, collaborate, work collectively as well as individually. They will use technology to engage. See above lesson plan activities.

Technology and Other Resources What technology or other resources will you recommend/choose? Explain your rationale, and how it aligns with your objectives. Students will use Chromebooks, Google Group, Google Docs to collaborate and communicate. This aligns with the objectives as they are supposed to be discussing and creating themes for the novel. They will simply be using technology as their main medium of discussion, as opposed to verbal discussion.

Differentiation How will you differentiate to accommodate learning styles and abilities? Theme topic lists will be provided for struggling students as will quotes from the novel so they can comment on others’ posts. I will circulate during summarizing discussion to clarify events. Students who did not read will be able to get a summary from others. I will be involved in the Google Group Convo so I can monitor all student comments and discussions. Any student who is challenged by the reading can listen online to the audio version and join the conversation when they are done listening.

ASSESSMENT: HOW WILL YOU KNOW WHAT STUDENTS ARE LEARNING AND HAVE LEARNED

Formative and Summative Assessments. How will students show their learning? You DO NOT need to include the actual assessment, but DO need to explain your strategies and rationale. How will you use which formative assessment to check on progress during learning? The formative assessments are the summary discussion and Google Group conversation. I can monitor that as I will be involved just as students are; commenting on the discussion. What will you do in response to the formative assessment data? I will post the theme statements in the brainstorming portion of the lesson. This allows all students to have a “word bank” to choose from for their summative assessment. What type of summative assessment will you give the students? How will you measure and report their learning? Students will write a response in Google Docs and share with me. Their response will be graded based on accuracy and depth of elaboration.

Additional References and Resources

Tech/CCSS Crosswalk: https://www.k12.wa.us/EdTech/Standards/edtechcoresubjects/CCSS-Crosswalk.aspx

Teaching About Technology: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/Bloom%27s%20quicksheets.pdf/296456574/Bloom%27s%20quicksheets.pdf

Week 1; Marzano and Hattie's Strategies are the Bridge to the Future.

Week 1’s assignment was reflective and informative. My district was really into Marzano when we started unwrapping standards about ten years ago so I felt really good when I was familiar with many strategies. However, I learned from out chart that there are many ways to incorporate these using technology! I liked the idea of the Haiku Deck and Google drawing that Josh and Jody shared for non linguistic representation strategy.

I feel as if the integration of technology can assist teachers in making summative assessments align with the common core. For example, using wiki or Google docs to assess summarizing and note taking is much more efficient and effective than it could have been ten years ago when these technologies did not exist. The same can be said for many for many of the non linguistic representation ideas others posted. This alignment is important because it allow teachers to access and get to more students in a shorter amount of time. Hence, allowing more time for teachers to teach, re-teach, and engage with students instead of grading assessments.

Marzano and Hattie’s strategies are simply good teaching. They are good for the CCSS because they promote independent thinking, an important aspect of the CCSS and 21st century learning skills. Collaborative learning and self-assessment are strategies that will allow students to communicate and develop autonomy as they progress through their k-12 years of school. By employing these strategies at a young age and developing their effectiveness as students grow, we can build employable adults. Using effective questioning strategies will help develop independent thinkers that will allow students to utilize these strategies on their own once they are in college and the work force. These are all goals of the common core and using the Marzano and Hattie strategies are the best practices to reach our goals.