Grounded Technology Lesson Plan

 

 

Subject Area: English Language Arts - Reading

Grade Level: 4th Grade

 

Learning Goals

Standards: 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.7: Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.9: Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures

• CCSS.LAFS.4.RL.1.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

Learning Goals:

• Students will be able to work in small groups to read stories and then create visual representations of those texts to share with their peers.

• Students will be able to compare and contrast the themes of two Cinderella stories from different cultures.

• Students will be able to summarize a story, including important details, that they have read.

 

Pedagogical Decisions

• Eight Corresponding Continua:

  • Primary Focus of Interactions: The focus in this lesson plan is on student-centered learning. During the lesson there will be student-led literature circles, peer discussion, and student sharing. The teacher will act as a facilitator during this lesson.

  • Type of Learning: Learning in this lesson plan will be convergent, as students will be working in literature circles to come up with conclusions and products.

  • Prior Knowledge: Students will be using their prior knowledge of technology and elements of narrative texts to assist them in this lesson. Students will have experience with many of the activities done in this lesson but will be getting the chance to put them into practice in small groups.

  • Depth of Understanding: In this lesson plan deeper knowledge about the content, compare/contrast, and different cultures will be constructed.

  • Lesson Plan Length: This lesson plan would probably take the entire language arts block. In order to provide students with an appropriate review, time to complete their podcasts and Venn diagrams, and share with their peers, students would need the full ninety-minute block.

  • Structure of Learning: Somewhat structured learning will be appropriate for this lesson plan. Students will receive guidance in what activities to complete and on what elements should be included but will be given freedom in how they structure their podcasts and what type of Venn diagram they use.

  • Student Grouping: Students will be placed in small groups as they work in the literature circles. During the beginning and end portions of the lesson students will come together as a whole group for discussion and sharing.

  • Additional Resources: Multiple additional resources, such as computers and the SmartBoard, will be used in this lesson plan. 

 

Activity Types 

• Opening

  • Pre-Reading Activity: Activating Background Knowledge

    • Class will discuss “theme” and different types of themes

      • Students will be invited to add their ideas to the SmartBoard document

      • Teacher will facilitate discussion by asking prompting questions and allow students to build off of each other’s answers

    • Class will then discuss two recently read stories  and the themes that were compared and contrasted between the texts

      • The teacher will pull up an already made Venn diagram onto the SmartBoard for the class to refer to

        • Student will have contributed to the Venn diagram in the previous lesson

      • The teacher will give students time to review the themes found in the compared stories and discuss them

  • Rationale: I have chosen to activate background knowledge by having students create a collaborative document on the SmartBoard. I decided to do this because it will give students the chance to share their ideas and record them, which allows their peers to see and remember those ideas. Additionally, recording them will allow students to compare and expand upon ideas as they are put up on the board. This will help facilitate a well-developed and thorough whole-group discussion and review.

 

• During

  • During Reading Activity: Literature Circles

    • Students will move into prearranged peer literature circles

    • The teacher will explain the expectations for the assignment

      • The type of details that should be included in the podcasts and Venn diagrams

      • The etiquette for using the technology

    • The teacher will have Cinderella stories from different cultures that students can chose from to read and then compare and contrast

    • Students will each have a role to play in the literature circle

      • Leader, reader, podcast recorder 1, podcast recorder 2, Venn diagram typer

    • After reading each story, students will create a podcast on the computer with a summary of the story

    • Once the students have finished reading both stories and recording their podcast summaries, students will use computers to create Venn diagrams online

      • Students will compare themes and cultures in the stories

  • Rationale: I have chosen to use student-directed literature circles to give students the chance to take responsibility for their learning. By giving students roles they will each be important in the reading and discussing process. Using podcasts as a way to summarize the stories will provide the groups an easy and accessible way to explain the texts to their peer. Additionally, using online Venn diagrams will provide students will a visual of similarities and differences between each group’s paired texts.

 

• Closing

  • After Reading Activity: Sharing

    • Students will be brought back to a whole-group format

    • Literature circle groups will share their podcasts will their peers

    • Groups will also display their Venn diagrams on the SmartBoard for their peers

      • The group will discuss the similarities and differences they found between the stories they read

  • Rationale: I chose to use sharing as the after reading activity because it gives students a way to share all of the hard work they have done. It also allows different groups to see the ways their peers approached the assignment. Finally, it gives groups the opportunity to share interesting stories and information about different cultures with their peers. Using the podcasts and online Venn diagrams during the sharing will help all students better understand the similarities and difference between the stories each group read.

 

Assessment Strategies

• Formal: To formally assess students the teacher will review each group/s podcast summaries of the books. The teacher will look to see if they included important details and comprehensive summaries of the stories. Additionally, the teacher will look at their Venn diagrams and evaluate the things they compared and contrasted between the two culturally different stories.

• Informal: As students are working the teacher will be walking around to each group to ensure they are working appropriate. The teacher will ask questions to gauge student involvement and understanding.

 

Tools/Resources

• Materials: computer (with Internet), SmartBoard, various versions of Cinderella from different cultures, paper, pencil,

• Links to Prior Knowledge: Students will need to be very comfortable with computers and typing. They will need to be familiar with how to use the audio recording software on the computer in order to record their summary podcasts. They will also need to know how to navigate the Internet in order to be able to find and utilize a Venn diagram for the compare/contrast of stories. Finally, students need to be comfortable writing on a SmartBoard.

• TIM Rationale: This lesson plans falls under the collaborative adaptation section of the Technology Integration Matrix. The teacher allows students to independently use technology, which makes it adaptive. The students are working in literature circle groups during this lesson, which make it collaborative.