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=Lesson Plans=

Annotated Lesson Plan Form



Name: LaTisha Davis

= A. Description of Lesson Plan =


 * Academic Subject(s):** Language Arts


 * Grade Level(s):** First Grade

c. Engage in conversation to understand what has been read d. Answer simple question (who, what, when, where and how) in writing e. Respond to text by drawing, speaking, dramatizing, or writing
 * Standards Integrated into the Lesson Plan:**
 * __Maryland__** **__State__** **__Standard 1.0 General Reading Processes__**
 * Indicator 4. Use strategies to demonstrate understanding of text (after reading).


 * //__National Educational Technology Standards for Students (2007):__//**

b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats **//.//**
 * 1. Creativity and Innovation **
 * //Indicator://**
 * 2. Communication and Collaboration **
 * //Indicator://**


 * Learning Objectives for Lesson Plan:**
 * Students will work independently and in groups in order to be able to:**


 * retell main characters, setting, and plot of //The Relatives Came//.
 * retell the events of the story in sequential order.
 * identify important components of the computer(keyboard, monitor, printer, etc).
 * use the Kid Pix program to put together a multimedia presentation which retells the story.


 * Featured Technologies**
 * 18 Computers (Computer Lab)
 * 18 Flash Drives (each student has one and it is kept by the teacher in the classroom)
 * 1 Printer (Computer Lab)
 * Kid Pix Program (on each computer)
 * Projector (In the computer Lab, For Teacher Modeling on how to illustrate a part of the story using Kid Pix.)

> >
 * Other Necessary Materials:**
 * Pencils
 * Paper
 * Completed Story Map from previous lesson (for teacher modeling of story map, reminds students how to complete their story map)
 * 18 8 1/2 x 11 Story maps (for student use)
 * Prerequisite Student Skills**
 * The students will need to have prior knowledge of how to operate the computers, such as turning them on and opening the desired program.
 * They should be comfortable with using the keyboard and clicking and dragging objects with the mouse.
 * The students should be familiar with Kid Pix program in order to be able to complete their individual work in order to make their group presentation.
 * Students will need to understand parts of a story, (plot, characters, setting), which should be taught prior to completing this type of lesson.

This lesson is a culmination activity about comprehension, being able to recall and explain a story and identify key parts. It will show what the students have learned and what they may still need to work on. We will read and discuss the story, //The Relatives Came//, as a class. After the discussion each student will receive their own story map to complete. Students will then be divided into 2 groups of 4 and 2 groups of 5 to discuss their thoughts of the story and decide which part they wish to illustrate on the computer using the Kid Pix program. They will each create an illustration and use them together to create a presentation for the class using the slide show feature within the Kid Pix program. The students will save their slide show and present it to the class, in the classroom via the LCD projector. This lesson will be in the final section of the Comprehension Unit.
 * Brief Overview of Lesson:**


 * Teacher To Teacher:**
 * When breaking your students into groups make sure to choose students with varying academic and technological abilities. This way you can have them work together to solve any issues that may arise before they have to ask the teacher. I call this method "ask 3 before me".
 * Make sure the Kid Pix program is loaded onto each computer in the computer lab.
 * Allow children time prior to a lesson of this nature to practice using the Kid Pix program and its functions.
 * Be sure to talk to children about proper computer etiquette if your computer lab is internet accessible.


 * Procedures/Activities: **
 * Begin the lesson by activating students' prior knowledge of families. Invite them to answer question such as:
 * Who is part of your family?
 * What are relatives?
 * What is an extended family?
 * What special names do you use for your grandparents?
 * When and why do relatives get together?
 * 1) Read the story to students.
 * 2) Discuss with the story with the students as a class. Allow them to talk about the beginning, middle and end of the story. Also have them discuss the plot, settings, and characters.
 * 3) Place the large completed story map from a previous story in a central location that everyone can see.
 * 4) Explain to the students that today they will be completing a story map for //The Relative Came//, just like the one posted, done as a whole class. Tell them that they can look at this example if they get stuck while working.
 * 5) Hand out the individual story maps and make sure the students know that this is an independent activity. Allow the students 20 minutes to complete their story map.
 * 6) Collect all papers after the 20 minute time limit. (use your discretion as to whether certain students may need more time)
 * 7) Split students into 2 groups of 4 and 2 groups of 5. Each group should consists of students with varying academic and technological abilities. Let the children know that they should work within their groups to solve any problems that may come up. Once they've tried as a group, then they may ask the teacher for help. The students will take 5 minutes to discuss their favorite parts of the story and each person in the group will choose a part to illustrate using the Kid Pix software.
 * 8) The teacher can now hand out the flash drives.
 * 9) The class will now go to the computer lab in order to complete their illustrations.
 * 10) Once all students are seated, review the parts of the computer. Remind students that just like in our story, where the letters worked together to make words and sentences, the computer has many parts that work together. Circulate the room and ask students to name random parts of the computer: mouse, monitor, etc.
 * 11) Using the LCD project in the computer lab, demonstrate on the computer how to add a text box on the Kid Pix program prior to letting students begin, so they will be able to narrate their picture. By using the LCD projector everyone will be able to see your explanation. They will still need guidance with it, but this will help. I would also review the use of the actual drawing tools and stamps that they will use for making their illustrations.
 * 12) Let students open the Kid Pix computer program by clicking the Kid Pix icon on the desktop. This will take them to where they can paint their picture. Have students add their text box and type the event first.
 * 13) Remind students that their illustration needs to match their text just as it does in a storybook.
 * 14) After all the illustrations are complete, each student will save their illustration. This should be done as a whole class, while the teacher models on the large screen.
 * 15) Next model how the students can put their illustrations together in one slide show. Then the students will put their illustrations in order in the slide show area of the Kid Pix program using only one of the group members computers. This will be a task that will most likely need a lot of assistance so be sure to circulate the room at this time. Once they have all been placed in order, instruct the students to save the entire assignment.
 * 16) Remind the students to collect their flash drives and you may take them back to class.
 * 17) Let each group present their slide shows in the classroom using the classroom laptop and LCD projector. (assist students as needed).
 * 18) For closing, gather all students together in the classroom for discussion. Topics can include:
 * Why comprehensions is important
 * How they feel about this assignment
 * What problems did they have
 * How they were able to solve them on their own
 * Did they enjoy working with their groups


 * Student Assessment and Evaluation**
 * Student will receive a grade on their individual story maps, which will assess their understanding of the main characters, setting, plot, and sequence of event in the story //The Relatives Came//.
 * Students will be assessed informally by questioning and observation, individually and within their groups. How well they are able to retell the story will let me know if they understood it.
 * Students will also be assessed informally by the questions asked prior to the actual lesson in the computer lab.
 * The group presentations will be used to asses how well the students are able to put together a multimedia project sequencing the events of //The Relatives Came//.
 * Improving comprehension is a year-long task. Assessments will be given throughout the year to the progress of each individual student.

B. Analysis (Rationale)

 * Rationale for Activities**

Integrating technology into one of my lessons has always seemed to be an intimidating task that had to be done in addition to all my regular lessons. However, I have learned through my reading in this class that if done properly, it should be a somewhat easy task when integrated into your normal instructional day. In fact, according to the CARET project (Roblyer and Doering 2010), studies show that one way technology works best is when integrated into the typical instructional day. So instead of trying to have a lesson solely based on technology, I decided to use technology in my Reading/Language Arts block. The main goal of this lesson for Reading and Language Arts was to meet the Maryland State Standard: Use strategies to demonstrate understanding of text. I chose several different ways to achieve this goal. Our goals were to be able to retell the main characters, setting, plot, and events sequentially. To achieved this goal the students read //The Relatives Came// as a whole class and had a discussion about the parts of the story and the events in the story. This activity falls in line with indicator C, engage in conversation to understand the text. The students were then given individual story maps that allowed them to show what they knew about the story. If completed correctly, the students should have been able to identify the main characters, plot, setting, and place events in order sequentially, which falls in line with indicator D, answer simple questions (who, what, when, where, how). Our next task was to be able to identify the important components of the computer. This was done by an informal question and answer session during the computer lab time. This is a technology assessment for the students. I felt that this activity was important because it shows me what the student know and don't know about the computer. It gives me ideas to use as future technology lessons, and assesses what they remember from previous lessons. The final task was for the students to create their illustrations of different parts of the story individually and put them together as a group for presentation. This task meets two of the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (2007): Creativity and Innovation and Communication and Collaboration. The children were able to create original works as a means of personal and group expression, which hit indicator B of standard 1. They also interacted with one another, collaborated in group discussion and published their final presentation using digital media. They were able to communicate their ideas effectively to their peers during group presentations. The last two tasks hit indicators A and B of standard 2. I chose this activity for my students because I felt the opportunity for a real world connection of family would allow them to enjoy the lesson and retain the concept more. I know that everyone has different types of families and given the opportunity to share would excite my students. My students love to share stories about what happens in their lives, especially with their families. My class is made up of student with varying academic abilities, which is why I chose to pick the groups carefully. I wanted to make sure that ability level varied so that they would be able to help one another out during the entire assignment. This assignment can be used with all academic levels. The levels will determine how much assistance the teacher will need to give throughout the lesson. I chose to put the activities in the current orders because I feel this was the best way to meet the desired objectives. As a teacher, I feel that it is important to create the objectives and allow the objectives and student needs to drive the lesson. These lesson also matches my philosophy of teaching, in that all students can and will learn an objective, given they are allowed to learn in their learning style. This lesson is focused on the spatial and linguistic learner, which is students who either learn best through pictures or words. The story //The Relatives Came// is an awesome picture books, that through its pictures and words can reach both the spatial and linguistic learner. By allowing the student to express themselves through Kid Pix, I am allow the spatial learner to show what they know, the best way they know how. The story map is more geared towards the linguistic learner, allowing them to use their words to express what they know. I believe that all of my student have the potential to do well and continue to grow in their ability to comprehend. According to the National Reading Panel (NRP), a group formed by Congress in 1997, "Reading comprehension is very important to the development of children's reading skills and therefore to their ability to obtain an education", which is why I felt the objectives in this lesson are important. I chose to merge my comprehension lesson with technology in order to help my students improve their comprehension skills while enjoying the use of technology.

Technology is everywhere, restaurants, airports and especially schools. A students ability to use technology effectively will allow them to be productive students and overall people. My lesson allows students to show what they know by using a computer illustrator. This helps the student who may not quite be able to put into words what they know. For example, many of my students come from homes where English is their second language, so sometimes it is hard for them to formulate sentences to convey their understanding. Being able to use the computer to show what happens in the story allow them to be just as efficient in explaining as another student who speaks English at home. I do believe that the some of this lesson's objective could have been achieved without technology, however, for some students learning to read and understanding comprehensions is not always an easy task, which is why I believe the use of technology greatly improved their chances of being successful in this lesson. For example, according to Roblyer and Doering (2010, p 14) there are a number of reasons why technology should be integrated into teaching, one of which is to motivate students. I believe the use of computers in this lesson helped to hold the students' attention and allowed them to create a multi-media project which they could be proud of.
 * Explanation of Technology Integration:**