Lesson
My lesson is made for third graders following a unit on
biographies where students had already chosen an important person and wrote a
biography on that person. The lesson is
to teach students how to choose important events in a person’s life to include
on a timeline. First, we would have a
discussion on how you could tell if an event was important or if it was
supporting. We would do this by using a
person that no one in the class used for their biography. Next, using an iPad on the document camera I
would show the class how to create the timeline using the events we found
together using the app Popplet. I would
show them how to take a picture and put it in the timeline. Then, we would add some events together. I would guide students by doing it on the
document camera and students would do it on their iPad along with me. As students become comfortable with what to
do, they will be allowed to work on their own.
Students that need extra help will join me in a small group to work
together until they feel comfortable.
Once everyone is working on their own, I will be able to walk around and
assess students on their progress and redirect students who are off track. Students will present their completed
timeline to the class and I will assess their final project.
Implementation
I was not able to implement my lesson in a classroom like
I wanted. I was able to adjust it a
little to do with a sixth grader that I nanny for. For the lesson, we chose to do the entire
lesson with Harriet Tubman. We looked up
some information online and printed off a few reliable sources to use. Next, we discussed how to determine what an
important event in someone’s life is as opposed to a supporting event. She was able to do this with very little
guidance. We only had one iPad, so first
I showed her the app and how to add events and take pictures to put in the
timeline. She caught on very quickly and
was able to work on her own after two examples.
As she was working I was able to see how easy it was for her to complete
the timeline. She worked on it all in
one day, since I was there all day, and completed it all. If she would have had to do it over a few
days she may have needed a few reminders on how to use the app, but I am not
sure of this. Overall, this lesson went
very well. Since it was extremely easy
for her to complete, I think it would be much more appropriate to do with third
graders like I planned.
Reflection
The goal of
this lesson was for students to learn what an important event is to use on a
timeline. With this knowledge students
were to create a timeline using an iPad.
The assumptions were that the students would know how to navigate an
iPad by using a touch screen and that they would know how to take
pictures. This assumption was correct in
my implementation; she knew exactly what to do.
An
affordance was that I showed her how to use the app and had her try it with
me. I showed and told her what to do and in the future this will benefit
both the visual and auditory learners, just like it benefited her. Constraints I can see occurring are that
students could become caught up in taking pictures and exploring the app and
forget what they need to be doing to complete the assignment. Since this was a one on one lesson this was
not a problem at all.
Constructivism
will be taking place by allowing students to ask questions and learn from each
other about timelines and the technology.
This did not occur during my implementation because it was only one
student. Behaviorism did occur because as she was working I gave her
praise for doing a great job. It will also occur, in the future, at the
end when students share their completed timelines with their peers and
myself. This positive feedback will encourage them to be engaged in
future assignments.
Technology
plays a supporting role in this lesson. Since the goal of the lesson was
for students to find important events and then create a timeline, the
technology is there to help them see it visually. The advantage to using
this technology is that students will be much more engaged in the lesson than
if they were to just draw it out with paper and pencil. The only
disadvantage I can see is if students get too caught up in taking pictures or
just really cannot get the hang of using the technology because then the lesson
will be lost. My goal is to not have them so focused on learning the
technology, but on using it to help with their timeline.
This lesson
fits well in the school curriculum and is intended enhance the learning of
biographies. It is a requirement for all third graders to complete a
non-fiction writing piece, which is the biography. The timeline is being
used to enhance this curriculum by having students display the information in a
different way.
All learners
are expected to use what they learned about what important events in someone’s
life would be and then put them into a timeline. For students that are
ELL, I will provide extra support in teaching what a timeline is. I will
offer support to all learners who struggle with the technology and/or assignment
requirements. I did not have to do this
in my implementation.
Teachers and
students needed to know how to use an iPad and work with a touch screen.
Teachers need to know how to use the app and be able to problem solve for
students if they come across difficulties. Lastly, both the teacher and
students need to know how to take a picture.
I assessed
her by checking in to see that she was on the right track as she was
working. I also checked her finished
project in the end. I would have done
the same thing in a larger setting.
She really
enjoyed using the iPad to create the timeline.
She liked being able to take pictures to put in the timeline. Since she did not have trouble with the
content of the lesson, I cannot say whether or not the technology would have
been influenced by the technology. I do
think by using iPads, it makes the lesson more engaging and would expect to see
that students would understand the content.
