Assessing Prior Knowledge
The classroom setup was that of a technology class, where each student had their own computer at their work station. There were a total of 8 students in the class, 7 girls and 1 boy in a college level technology class. The students prior knowledge and individual differences in experience and background may affect their learning differently. Different learning styles may also effect learning in the classroom. The teacher should acknowledge this and include a variety of teaching methods throughout the class to reach all learners. The teacher should also use a summative and formative assessment to examine what the students have learned during a unit or specific lesson.
Planning Instruction
The goals of this lesson were based on different levels of Blooms taxonomy. They were intended to challenge the students thinking and encourage them to demonstrate their knowledge through technology. The goals were also intended to allow creativity and give the children a chance to create work that was meaningful to them. Through the use of technology students created individually unique projects that reflected the objectives of the lesson. The technology used in the lesson were chosen before hand to compliment the goals being taught. The students were then allowed to use those chosen programs within the context of the lesson any way they chose. The goals in this lesson were based off of the Arizona State Standards for the specific grade level being taught. The goals included the student comprehendending the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar, create a sequence of 5 events using technology and the story, and recreate the cover of the story using their own creativity and imagination.
Designing Instruction
The goals of this lesson were teach a language arts standard for 1st grade and integrate technology to enhance the lesson. Learning objectives were met by reading a story orally, using powerpoint, kidpix, and teacher made sequencing cards. The lesson began with a group activity that introduced sequencing using a set of events that most children are familiar with. It was then followed by a powerpoint slideshow that sequenced the events of the example in a logical and orderly manner using technology. The teacher then read the students The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle instructing them to pay close attention to what happened in the story. The students then returned to their desks to create their own slideshows based on 5 events from the story. They also used Kidpix to create their own version of the cover of the story based on what they thought it should look like.
Instructional Decisions
This lesson was a technology based language arts lesson that focused on a constructivist approach to learning. Modifications were not needed for this particular class, but could be easily made to meet the needs of individual students who may have special needs. All modifications made should still reflect the goals of the lesson and allow the student to understand the concept being taught and reach success. If modifications were made they should be based on individual student needs and abilities and include the technology being used.
The technology used encouraged students to be creative and explore own their own within the discipline taught. The lesson was centered on learning through hands on experience and student centered learning. It was also important that the students stayed on task and used the technolgy appropriately. The teacher walked around the room and monitored this throughout the lesson.
Assessment
The students learning was assessed through the use of summative and formative assessments. Anectodal records were taken by the teacher to record each students individual abilites and where they were stuggling during the lesson. A summative assessment was completed based on a teacher created rubric to determine if students met the learning objectives. The rubric was directly aligned with the lessons goals that the teacher intended for the students to meet. Using the rubric the teacher was able to determine where the students succeeded and struggled on their individual projects. The rubric was posted online prior to the lesson so students knew exactly what was expected of them.
Analysis
Students were held individually accountable for producing a project that reflected what they learned based on the lesson objectives. Criteria included following directions, comprehending a stroy read aloud, correctly sequencing events from a story, and accurately portraying through text and pictures the plot of the story. Each student in the class met the intended objectives as the teacher had planned. However, this was a first grade lesson taught to a college level course and all students should be able to master a 1st grade concept. If this lesson were taught to a primary level class all students may have not met the objectives as intended. The teacher should determine where students struggled in the lesson and plan accordingly. If students struggled in similar areas that objective may need to be retaught in a different context. The use of assessment may also help the teacher determine if objective goals were met by providing accurate results of learning.
Reflection
Although the college students met the specific learning goals I am not sure that a 1st grade class would have had the same results. The intended use of technology with in the language arts context may have been to advanced for 1st grade students. They would need a lot of practice with the programs before doing this lesson. I also feel that it would be beneficial to include a story map for students after reading the story. This would allow the students to see a concrete example of events in the story and not have use their memory to remember the whole story. I think that it would be very difficult for them to listen to a story and then directly transfer that information into a powerpoint presentation. Before using this lesson I would introduce sequencing using developmentally appropriate activites and practicing the idea of sequencing.
