Re-Purposing
Technology Lesson Plan – Final Refleciton
CEP
800: Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology
Exploring
Non-Fiction and Other Informational Media Sources
Teacher:
Erika
Rochow
Content
Area: English
Language Arts
Technology:
Time
for Kids Online Interactive Issues
Grade
Level: 2nd
Length
of Lesson:
30 Minutes
Description:
My
lesson was an exploratory lesson on non-fiction texts using the Time
for Kids Online, interactive editions. The purpose was to show
students how to find information on a topic using multiple forms of
media. I did not make changes to the lesson since posting it in
module 5.
Implementation:
I
implemented this lesson during an intervention period that I run with
my teaching partners. We mix the students up from the 3 classrooms
and pull them into different groups. Half of the students go into
the computer lab and half of the students stay back in different
groups to do close readings of non-fiction texts in small groups.
After 30 minutes we switch, the students in the computer lab go to
small group close readings the other half go into the computer lab.
The
students are second graders from 3 different classrooms. The
students have a wide range of reading levels and there are many who
struggle. The lesson itself went really well. The students were
highly engaged and they seemed eager to explore the different forms
of media within the article I chose for them. They worked through
the article with little difficulty because of the tools that the
technology offers.
This
was the first time the students had been in the computer lab this
year so the main difficulties were getting logged onto the website.
Their computer skills are limited and they have a hard time following
multiple directions. Once they were logged in and working through
the article, it was easier to help them with the icons and tools that
they were using because the issues came up at different times.
Reflection
The students met my
learning goals for this particular lesson quite well. I'm still
wondering if they will be able to apply what they have learned to
other experiences with non-fiction, but for this lesson, they did
well demonstrating their mastery of the goals that were set for them.
For this lesson, I had three learning goals related to non-fiction
reading. One goal was that students will be able to identify the main
topic and retells key details in a non-fiction text. Students will
also be able to connect and describe individuals, events, ideas, or
pieces of information in a text. Finally, students will be able to
determine meaning of vocabulary phrases relative to topics or
subjects. I was confident in my assumptions about their knowledge.
I thought the lesson would engage and support this group of students
in a meaningful way.
During my lesson, the technology that was used allowed students to independently access more complex content than they otherwise would have been able to on their own. Videos, Audio, Pop Up Screens help them gather and understand information. A constraint of this technology is that it can only be viewed using certain web browsers. Learning took place through exploration. The students could navigate the article and the media as they wished with minimal direction from me besides teaching them how to use the different tools. Constructivism was present in this lesson because the students were integrating new knowledge with their existing knowledge. The lesson was hands on and experiential, allowing the students to develop the knowledge that was presented on their own and make connections. There was not evidence of behaviorism in this lesson but I'm hoping they develop and condition their skills in order to apply them to other experiences with non-fiction.
Non-fiction
reading is being pushed in curriculum across the district. This
lesson works as a partner to support the 6 shifts of the common core.
Hence, the lesson supplements the ELA curriculum for my district and
because it is non-fiction at a second grade level, it also
supplements the science and social studies curriculum. In terms of
non-fiction reading; the lesson also enhances a student's ability to
navigate text with the features that the technology offers. The main
difference among the learners involved in this lesson is reading
ability. Many of these students are at risk readers and this lesson
supported them fully by offering the content in different reading
levels and also by providing different media forms and audio as
sources of information. Teachers who are interested in this lesson
and in using technology like this need to be aware that the
technology offered by Time for Kids is only supported on the Google
Chrome and Safari browsers. This particular piece of the puzzle
caused some issues when preparing to teach the lesson because I had
to go to administration to see if I could download the browser
software. It can serve as an independent, a small group, or a whole
class teaching experience if the supported browsers are available.
The
students had guiding questions to think about as they explored the
article online. At the end of their active engagement we has a class
discussion that focused on those questions. Before we switched groups
during the block, the students applied what they learned on a
non-fiction blurb. They were to search for the main topic and mark
it as well as other main ideas in the non-fiction piece.
Technology
plays a huge role in this lesson. The advantages of the Time for
Kids technology are that it offers learning experiences on many
topics that all learners can access. The audio piece is very helpful
for students who struggle or who are just below grade level in
reading. Another advantage is that the technology offers non-fiction
experiences at different grade levels. I expected students to
understand that they can gather information about a topic from more
than just one source. I also wanted them to use it in order to
understand that they have access to content that is more complex than
what they are used to. The students were really excited about using
this technology. They were excited to explore. This was their first
time in the school's brand new computer lab, no one had to share a
computer, and they all got their very own set of headphones which
made the experience all the more real and fun for them to jump into.
Students were making sense of the content because they were having
fun with the technology. Allowing students this young to explore
content the way that the Time for Kids website allows is engaging
and meaningful for them. They were able to explore and collect new
information on their own terms and make sense of it with guiding
questions and they liked it. The technology made reading fun for
students who usually view reading as hard and impossible. They were
able to make sense of the content with the technology because the
technology made the content make sense.
