Meeting a Real World Need: Textbooks

Lesson Plan:
Goals: students will be able to use technology to persuade viewers to donate to help solve a real world problem which means students will need to create a successful presentation using a digital storytelling or augmented reality resource of their choice, students will write an effective persuasive essay to use as the foundation of their presentation, and students responsibly and effectively use research to support their opinions in the persuasive essay and presentation.
Challenges: The challenges that exist include getting approval to purchase or acquire the various digital storytelling and augmented reality applications for the iPads. A possible solution is seeking approval for students to bring in their own tablets or using my own personal devices to record presentations during writer’s workshop. In addition, students could create a voice thread in lieu of a presentation if need be.
Other challenges that exist will be the extended amount of time struggling learners may need to complete the literacy parts of the project so this can be alleviated through extra small group instruction.
Materials: A class set of iPads, computers, headphones, assessment rubrics, paper, pencils
Timeframe: 2 weeks.
Whole Group reading lessons 8-8:30 daily. Lessons will include introducing rubrics, Class Dojo self-monitoring strategies, how to complete research, note-taking skills, use of specific apps on iPads, how to make a strong presentation, group collaboration rules, and how to provide feedback to peers.
Between 8:30-9:50 students must complete Imagine Learning and receive supplemental reading instruction during this time but the remaining 40 minutes will be dedicated to completing to various aspects of the project including research, unfinished writing, selecting a technology tool and completing the presentation.
Between 10:20 and 10:40 students will be given a whole group lesson on how to complete the persuasive writing using their research as support and the rubric will be discussed. Students will have from 10:40 to 11:10 to write independently and conference one on one with the teacher.
Common Core State Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.1
Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g.,because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.5
With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.6
With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.7
Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.8
Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.1.A
Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.5
Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
Unit Concept Development:
Teacher will model how to research using kidrex.org during whole group instruction. Students will research benefits for having multiple texts in the classroom and take note of the benefits to include them into a persuasive writing asking for donors to donate to the school to help students gain more texts in their classes.
Students will research in pairs during Daily 5, excelling students will partner with Tier 2 students. The teacher will research with Tier 3 students in small group. Students will have 2-3 days to research.
During the whole group writing period the teacher will model how to construct a persuasive writing to appeal to potential donors. Excelling students will need to include 6-10 benefits in their writing while Tier 3 students will include 4. As students work on writing teacher will conference with students and help Tier 3 students in small group as needed. Teacher will help students to refer back to the rubric as a guide.
Students will be given 4-5 writing sessions to complete the writing.
When writing is complete teacher will brainstorm various presentation apps that could be used with students. Teacher will model how to use top 3 apps students are interested in. High achieving students will independently watch tutorials while struggling students will receive step by step instructions in small group.
Teacher will model example presentation to students using these top 3 apps chosen the next day.
Teacher will present a rubric to students clarifying each component that needs to be included in the presentation including a voice recording of reading one or more of the persuasive writings, a visual component (i.e. clip art, characters, or students using a stimuli to activate their recording of the presentation such as with Aurasma). Presentations should be clear, demonstrate the benefits of having multiple texts in the classroom, and communicate why students believe donors should donate to the school and possible texts they would desire and why.
Students will complete presentations in groups of 2-4 as assigned by level of need.
Students will view each other’s presentations via the SMART Board and use a peer feedback rubric to evaluate the works.
Presentations will be shared online to encourage donations to the school via site such as donorschoose.org or gofundme.com.
Assessment methods: Students will be assessed using a rubric for their presentation, their Daily 5 behavior and progress as they work on their project, and a rubric for their persuasive writing. Each rubric will be discussed with students and act as guide as they complete the project. In addition, for the writing students will receive self and peer editing checklists.
The teacher will have formal and informal meetings with students during small group times and writer’s conference times to discuss the research, writing and presentation portions of the project.
Students will assess each other’s work using the presentation peer rubric.
Student’s will also have their behavior assessed using Class Dojo.
Student Collaboration: Students will work together to share research and also when creating the presentation. Students will also edit their writing with a peer. Students will make the decision as to whether to select the writing to read from the group that they feel is the most effective or combine all writing for the presentation. Students will also assess the presentations with rubrics.
The teacher will collaborate with students in small groups and during writer’s conferences.
Managing Technology: Students will be able to use iPads from the class set of iPads to complete their research during Daily 5 stations. There is a designated spot in the room where students work with iPads. Four iPads are complete with keyboards. Since students all have different rotations during Daily 5, this ensures everyone will have at least 20 minutes to research each day.
During writing, students will also be able to research on computers as needed, from 10:40 to 11:10, in case they did not have time during Daily 5.
As students complete the presentations they will again use the iPads during their daily 5 rotation times, allowing them at least 20 minutes each day. Additionally, students will be able to use the iPads during writing as needed. The teacher will monitor use of materials as the iPad area is next to her teacher table. Students using computers will also receive 20 minute rotations to ensure all 24 students have a combined time of 40 minutes of technology use daily if needed.


Technology Standard Evaluation I will determine whether my students have meet the following standards: demonstrates competency in communication and collaboration, indicator a, interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media, and d, contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems. I will assess indicator a through using the presentation rubric discussed in the assessment section and also by meeting with students to discuss their collaboration and which application they wish to choose and why to publish. I will assess indicator d using that same rubric and having team members evaluate one another’s contributions to the group. In addition, their final product will demonstrate whether or not students understood how persuading donors to contribute to our school will help alleviate the deficit of books in our classroom through the way students presented their findings. I will measure student competency in research and information fluency, indictor c, evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks by conferencing with students about the research sources they used and evaluating the accuracy of these resources through the writing rubric I will use and also through the presentation rubric. I will also conference with students during writer’s workshop and small group to understand why they chose the resource they did in their presentation. I will measure competency in critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making, indicator b, plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project through the presentation rubric as well. I will also have students offer feedback on whether they thought the presentations would encourage people to donate to our cause to alleviate our real world problem.
I will assess my own role in NETS-T standards through reflection on the lesson, peer feedback, student feedback in the form of discussions and surveys, and student work samples. The standards and indicators I am looking to achieve are: facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity, specifically in indicator b, engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources. I will reflect on the success our projects had in actually raising donations for books at our school and reflect on ways to make it more successful. I will assess modeling collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments through having my student’s complete surveys on what they learned through the project. I will assess my role in designing and developing digital age learning experiences and assessments, specifically indicator a, focuses on designing or adapting relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity, again through reading responses to my students’ surveys and reflecting on student work samples myself and with my peers. Also I will be evaluating my progress on modeling digital age work and learning, specifically in indicators b, c, and d: collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation, communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats, and model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning. My evaluation of these indicators will be based on whether our project was received and inspired donors to help our cause and through analysis of the student work samples. If student samples did not meet expectations; that means my modeling of the digital age work needs improvement. I will assess digital citizenship and responsibility, indicators b and c, address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources, and c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information. This will be assessed through discussions with my students and evaluating their surveys about how they should conduct themselves online. If they report appropriate behaviors I will know they understood the lessons.