Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Week 13 Assignment

1.       When I was in sixth grade, my teacher introduced the unit of the five ancient civilizations in social studies by making it into a project for us. There were five groups (one for each civilization) and each group have time to work in school and at home teach the class about their civilization. Each group had to present a tri-board which included the civilizations dress, history, culture, and language. Each group also had to put on some kind of skit of game to teach the information to the class and then create a song with some information and share that with the class as well. I still remember some of the songs until today!

2.       Based on this lesson and other well designed lessons I have come across, I have noticed some things that are built into these lessons which make them such great lessons. First, it is interactive; it involves a lot more than the teacher lecturing and the students taking notes. What makes these lessons engaging to students is when there are multiple activities going on in the lesson like visual, auditory, and hands on activities. Last, the lesson has to be somewhat challenging but not too difficult for the students because a lesson that is too easy the students will get bored and a lesson that is too difficult is frustrating for students and they tend to give up.

3.       The school which I taught in has a yearly social studies or science fair. I think that this is a great opportunity for teachers to implement lessons with the characteristics of the best design. In is very educational and the students feel good about themselves and motivated for such projects because they have something to present to others which they know is a product of their hard work and effort.

4.       Some characteristics of a well-designed lesson are:

·         interactive

·         multiple classroom activities

·         use of ICTs

·          lesson is challenging yet not too difficult

Tuesday, May 2, 2017


Instructions for using Google Maps or Google Earth:

·        If you are using google maps, you can use any browser and just type in google maps

·        If you want to use google earth, chrome is the recommended browser. Type in google earth and then click download.

·        Once you have either google maps or google earth opened click in the search box (magnifying glass symbol) to put in each of the five ancient civilizations (you must do one at a time).

·        Once google maps/earth takes you to your destination you may need to zoom in or out to see its location.

·        Students should notice how each country is settled around a body of water (usually identified by its blue color.

·        Students should write down the name of each body of water that corresponds to each of the five ancient civilizations.

·        Although it is not a requirement, students can play around with the features of google maps/earth to find more information about each place and to learn more about this digital tool.

Explore and Enjoy!

 

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Edmodo is a fantastic tool that can be of great use for teachers and students. Whether taking an online class or not, Edmodo is very beneficial for the classroom, especially though for online students. Teachers can post all their class materials such as assignments, pictures, and quizzes, on their page and the class can link onto the teacher's page and access all the information needed at any given time. In addition each students can create their own group and allow their peers to join their group which allows for a lot of class collaboration.
As a teacher, I would use Edmodo as an extension of class. This means that everything we learn in class I will then post on the website so that students can use it if they forgot their learning materials at school or if they forgot what the homework assignment was they can check it up online.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Google Maps/ Google Earth Lesson Plan

Your name: Shaindy Schwartz

Grade Level: 6

Title of the lesson: The Five Ancient Civilizations

Length of the lesson: 50 minutes

 

 

Central focus and central technology of the lesson (The central focus should align with the CCSS/content/ISTE standards)
 
Key questions:
     what do you want your students to learn?
Students will learn about the five ancient civilizations
     what are the important understandings, core concepts, and skills you want students to develop within the learning segment?
Students will gain an understanding about how geography/topography effects early settlements.
Knowledge and skills of students to inform teaching (prior knowledge/prerequisite skills and personal/cultural/community assets)
 
Key questions:
     What do students know, what can they do, what are they learning to do?
Students know how to research information on their own to learn about new topics, not they are learning how to read and interpret maps.
     What do you know about your students’ everyday experiences, cultural backgrounds and practices, and interests?
Students enjoy learning new things especially new digital tools.
Common Core State Standards/Content Standards/ ISTE Standards (List the number and text of the standard. If only a portion of a standard is being addressed, then only list the relevant part[s].) Common Core Learning Standards for ELA and Literacy)
 
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7
Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
ISTE Standards
1.Creativity and Innovation
d. Identify trends and forecast possibilities.
3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry.
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
d. Process data and report results.
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making
d. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.
6. Technology Operations and Concepts
Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems and operations.
b. Select and use applications effectively and productively.
d. Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.
Support literacy (traditional literacy, domain specific literacy, or new literacy) development through language (academic language)
 
     Identify one language function (i.e. analyze, argue, categorize, compare/contrast, describe, explain, interpret, predict, question, retell, summarize or another one appropriate for your learning segment)
     Identify a key learning task from your plans that provide students opportunities to practice using the language function.
     Describe language demands (written or oral) students need to understand and/or use.
 
Vocabulary
     General academic terms: analyze, argue, categorize, compare/contrast, describe, explain, interpret, predict, question, retell, summarize or another one appropriate for your learning segment
     Content specific vocabulary (i.e. equation, variable, balance, evidence, claim, inquiry)
Discourse
     Text structure, message, conversation, discussion
 
Note: Consider range of students’ understanding of language function and other demands-- what do students already know, what are they struggling with, and/or what is new to them?
 
Students will interpret maps to understand certain concepts and be able to express their understanding in an oral and written fashion.
 
Learning objectives
·         Students will learn about the five ancient civilizations
·         Students will learn the effects of living near a body of water
·         Students will learn how to use google maps and/or google earth
·         Students will learn how to read and interpret maps
 
Formal and informal assessment (including type[s] of assessment and what is being assessed)
 
     Explain how the design or adaptation of your assessment allows students with specific needs to demonstrate their learning. Consider all students, including students with IEPs, ELLs, struggling readers, and/or gifted students.
 
Formal- teacher will collect and grade students’ assignments
Informal- Teacher will float around the class while students are working are their assignments.
Instructional procedure: Instructional strategies and learning tasks (including what you and the students will be doing) that support diverse student needs. Your design should be based on the following:
     understanding of students’ prior academic learning and personal/cultural/community assets
     research and theory and technology affordances
     developmental appropriateness
Consider all students, including students with IEPs, ELLs, struggling readers, and/or gifted students.
1.    Teacher will begin the lesson with a question/assignment: Use Google Maps and/or Google Earth to understand why the five ancient civilization began/settled where they did.
2.    Teacher will show students on the smartboard how to use Google Maps and Google Earth.
3.    Students will have time to use computers provided in the classroom to do their assignment.
4.    After using Google Maps/Earth, students will write jot down answers to the question then they will write a paragraph on the subject.
5.    Students will hand in their paragraphs to the teacher.
6.    Teacher will go over the answer to the assignment using Google Maps/Earth with the class.
7.    Teacher will conduct an informal class discussion about why the five ancient civilization all settled around a body of water.
Instructional resources and materials used to engage students in learning.
·         Smartboard
·         Computers
·         Google Maps
·         Google Earth
Reflection
     Did your instruction support learning for the whole class and the students who need great support or challenge? yes
     What changes would you make to support better student learning of the central focus?
I would not make any changes for I feel that the central focus is well supported in the lesson.
     Why do you think these changes would improve student learning? Support your explanation from evidence of research and/or theory.