Seven Tech Integration Lesson Plans: Let the Voting Begin!

Last week I asked for readers to submit lessons that integrate technology for a chance to win a copy of Steven Johnson's new book, Digital Tools for Teaching. We had seven entries, and now it is up to you to choose the winning lesson.

Simply read over the lessons and vote for the one using the Google Form. Votes will be tallied this week and the winner will be announced in my next post on January 20th.

Lesson One: Beauty Through the Beasts

Age/Grade Range 3-8 Grade

Lesson Objective/Learning Goal:Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression. Recognize the differences among the genres of stories, poems,and plays

Description of LessonStudents must create a fable, using one of the morals discussed or an original moral. The fable must include at least two characters with opposing character traits that are evident to the reader.

Materials
1. Students need access to various fables, either online or in print.
2. Wiki page for each student with login information
3. graphic organizers to compare the fable to the fantasy.
4. graphic organizer to compare characters in a fable

Assessment Use of google docs for test on general characteristics of a fable.Online and oral presentation rubric developed through teach-nology.

Reflections Since this is my second year doing this lesson, I would continue to develop character traits with the students, comparing and contrasting using the Vennn Diagram. Other than that, I really feel this is a lesson that enables students to go beyond that which is a typical third grade reading and writing lesson. Through the use of technology the students really get to understand the revision process, what an advantage.

The lesson can be seen after January 3rd on NYLearns.org under Carol Frego

How would this person benefit from a copy of Digital Tools for Learning? Danielle, would love a copy of Digital Tools for Learning. Last year I taught a lesson on report writing using Glogster.edu. Danielle's son was in my classroom and was so impressed with the technology integration piece and how easy it was to use with third grade students that she decided to use it with her French classes.

Last year I also used the Wiki to teach a lesson on Fable writing.

Lesson Two: Paul Pevere's Ride Project

Age/Grade Range 3rd-5th Grade

Lesson Objective/Learning Goal:The students learned about Paul Revere and practiced reading Longfellow's poem so they could create a VoiceThread and participate in a Skype call with our buddy class in Kansas. View the complete lesson plan and rubric

Description of LessonMy students participated in a collaborative project with our Skype buddy class in Kansas. The complete lesson plan can be viewed here http://www.slideshare.net/plnaugle/paul-revereridelessonandrubric.

Materials We used our Promethean board, online resources, VoiceThread, Skype, and Blogger to complete this project.

AssessmentYes, I used a rubric to assess my students. I used http://rubistar.4teachers.org to create the rubric. View the rubric here.

Reflections I learned that having a mircophone worked better when making the VoiceThread. As I have used Skype more often I continue to learn how to use it better. I would also have had designated jobs for my students during the Skype call.

How would this person benefit from a copy of Digital Tools for Learning?

Nancy is currently teaching 4th graders and is our building PDRT (Professional Development Resource Teacher). She would benefit from this book as a way to help other teachers on our staff learn how to use digital tools. Nancy and I work closely together to plan break out sessions for our PD days at our school. Our teachers are slowly learning how to integrate technology into their lessons. I believe this book would help Nancy help us reach our goals faster.

Lesson Three: Word Masters Analogies

Age/Grade Range 12-14 (Middle School)

Lesson Objective/Learning Goal:Students were to create a 30-second movie to depict a vocabulary word, its meaning, and synonyms using the laptops.

Description of LessonA list of 25 words were provided to students for an upcoming vocabulary test on analogies. Each student was assigned one word to define and find pictures of synonyms on the laptop. The student then created a short, 30-second video to define the word, using words and pictures. Each video was then compiled into a class movie to review the vocabulary words before the test. The assignment was to be completed in two - 30 minute class sessions.

MaterialsLaptops and dictionaries

AssessmentStudents were assessed by the completion of their project, the length of the movie, the spelling and definition of the word, and pictures of correct synonyms in the movie. As the teacher, it was very easy for me to roam the classroom, provide assistance, and assess the project as the students were creating. The final assessment came with the pride and confidence the students showed upon completing the entire project.

ReflectionsNext time, I would provide previous examples and model the process of creating the movie before assigning it to the students. I would also have a few student "tech" helpers available to help other students, who are not as familiar with the software.

How would this person benefit from a copy of Digital Tools for Learning?

Mrs. Morris is a seasoned veteran teacher, who is well respected at our school. Although she is not comfortable with how quick technology is bursting at the seams of education, she is doing her best to embrace and utilize the tools that have been given to her in her classroom. This year, she is teaching pre-algebra to her students in the classroom, as well as live streaming and recording of the daily lessons. Mrs. Morris is an ideal candidate for this book and I am confident that she will share it with others, as well.

Lesson Four: Family Members

Age/Grade Range ESL Beginners

Lesson Objective/Learning Goal:
- To get students familiar with the pronunciation of family members
- To give students listening practice
- To promote pronunciation of the nouns related to family members
- To expose students to real life situations
- To expose students to real language
- To have fun while learning

Description of LessonStudents go to a Moodle Hub website where they have already signed and do the lesson.
In class (F2F), students are exposed to a fictitious story of two families.
The families are described separately so new vocabulary may be practiced and learned.
The whole lesson is divided in seventeen pieces or exercises to give students a chance to learn, practice, review, and assess.

MaterialsA whole lesson designed with EdiLIM (Editor de Libros Interactivos Multimedia/Editor of Interactive Multimedia Books).

AssessmentAssesment will be in the form of self-assessment, which is provided in the multimedia lesson.

ReflectionsStudents said more listening practice is missing. Therefore, a second part will be designed to fit learners' expectations.

How would this person benefit from a copy of Digital Tools for Learning?

He would follow the advice in the book to provide students with better opportunities for learing to take place.

Lesson Five: Surreal Animation

Age/Grade Range 7th Grade

Lesson Objective/Learning Goal:Students will learn about perspective drawing, Surrealism (Freida Kahlo and Salvador Dali), stop-motion animation, Photoshop, movie-editing (how to add sound, titles, and credits), and collaborating with others in a group.

Description of LessonThis project involves combining a traditional drawing assignment with a digital stop-motion animation project. Students have created 1-point perspective drawings from observation of the hallway, then after learning about Surrealism and artists who have used this, students use their hallways as the backdrop to create animations in Photoshop. This lesson combines history, math, technology, and traditional art for students to create collaborative videos and share them with others.

MaterialsStudents will use paper, pencil, digital cameras, Photoshop, Premeire Elements, and the Internet to create their animations.

AssessmentStudents are assessed on the following:
Reasonable Best Effort, added Music/Title/Credits, At least three objects animated, animation is surreal.

Students show their short films at the end of class and they are then uploaded to our blog for students to view and comment on later.

ReflectionsStudents enjoyed using their drawings as the backdrop as well as choosing their subjects. The surreal theme allows many variations with really no wrong way to go. To improve this lesson from the first time I taught it, I created a screen capture movie of the steps to allow students to go back and review materials as they worked. This allows for students to work at their own pace and revisit the tutorial for questions.

How would this person benefit from a copy of Digital Tools for Learning?

She is a first-year Visual Arts teacher who has done a fantastic job bringing art to life for her students. Mrs. Marshall would benefit from a copy of Digital Tools for Learning because she is always striving to find ways to deliver information to students and engage them in the process of learning. She is a great teacher who is focused on student learning and achievement.

Lesson Six: The Voki Project

Age/Grade Range 12-13 years

Lesson Objective/Learning Goal:To improve the speaking and writting skills in english language, using an avatar that is published in the classroom blog. There are specific lesson designed to use the avatar linked with the lessons of the grammar book we use.

Description of LessonThis is a project designed for all the course. The avatar is used to improve the writting and speaking skills of the students. There is a specific task for the avatar related to every grammar lesson of the program. Also the students can participate writting in the class blog and now I am implementing a tool for them to create a blog using the english language. There will be an "avatar journalist" every 15 days, that will be in charge to write news and lessons related to the english language in our country and city (Barcelona).

MaterialsThe voki website and our class blog.

AssessmentThe student were assessed in the use of the blog and how they could benefit using it. Also they were assessed in the use of the avatar technology.

ReflectionsStudents enjoyed using their drawings as the backdrop as well as choosing their subjects. The surreal theme allows many variations with really no wrong way to go. To improve this lesson from the first time I taught it, I created a screen capture movie of the steps to allow students to go back and review materials as they worked. This allows for students to work at their own pace and revisit the tutorial for questions.

How would this person benefit from a copy of Digital Tools for Learning?

I am Magda, a secondary school teacher. I teach english integrating the new technologies, and the book can be an important tool for my lessons.

Lesson Seven: Todo el Mundo Hace Juegos con Cuerda/The Whole World Plays String Games

Age/Grade Range 2nd-6th Grade

Lesson Objective/Learning Goal:Immediate: story sequencing and oral language fluency
Near-term: manual dexterity for keyboarding
Long-term: global empathy

Description of LessonThe teacher demonstrates and explains how to do a simple string game (e.g. the Karok Fish Spear from Northern California) and explains its cultural context. Instruction is repeated until at least 1/3 of the group has mastered the figure. Those with mastery are then enlisted as teachers of those who have not learned the figure. At the conclusion of the session, one or more students are given the opportunity to become the teacher at the front of the room, be recorded, and receive feedback from the class on their instruction.

MaterialsEnough string, yarn, or rug roving to give every student ~1 meter of cord to work with; video and still camera, sound recording equipment.

AssessmentThe mastery of the string figure is simple to observe. The story sequencing and oral language development objectives are assessed informally in the course of the instructional interaction. Empathy development assessment will require multi-year followup.

ReflectionsThe videos of students as instructors were a big hit with the class, and the feeling of mastery on the part of all students as they learned the figure was a palpable boost to overall confidence.

Preparing the videos for sharing with the class is time consuming and removes the teacher from direct participation. I might try to enlist an upper grade student helper to shoot the video.

How would this person benefit from a copy of Digital Tools for Learning?

She's a tech integration leader in our community and nationally, an artist and counselor, and will absorb and transform new input like this for the benefit of a wide net of students and teachers.

Use this form to submit your vote. Winners will be announce on January 20, 2011.