In the spirit of continued testing, I have developed a more specific prototype of a lesson based on a 5th grade social studies lesson on the US Constitution and the judicial branch. It is my hope to use an LMS, like Schoology, to guide students through blended learning eventually, but because I am currently on maternity leave, its use is currently limited to me. Instead, I have put the lesson together via BlendSpace. I could email students this link or place the following link on my website.
This lesson is an example of a creative solution to my problem of practice for efficiently and effectively planning lessons and assessments that include Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that help guide individual student learning styles and needs. To do this, it includes learning goals, pictures, videos, articles, interactive activities, and a quiz developed through Google Forms.
Please view and/or participate in the lesson by clicking the following Blendspace link:
I would love any and all suggestions, feedback, and questions to help me with further development and testing. Thank you!
I posted comments right in Blendspace. Here is a summary:
ReplyDelete-Allowing students to identify words that should be defined involves them in their own learning. Perhaps they could work collaboratively to develop a glossary with definitions.
-Have students take a screen shot of the certificate at the end of the game and share it with you in a document, perhaps a Google Doc.
-It is great to include QuickReads articles. The reading level might be difficult for some fifth graders, especially those with print based disabilities. You might want to make sure you have some sort of text to speech capability.
-provide a link to an online venn diagram creator for the compare/contrast activity for the three branches. Ask students to take a screen shot of the completed diagram and share it with you.
-The web quest is very involved. Some of my students would get "lost." They might learn a lot whilst lost, but some sort of increased structure would be needed for those with executive function issues.
-Isn't it fun to create lessons like this?
Thanks for those great comments! I answered them in Blendspace too. I changed the directions slightly so kids will now have to take a screen shot and send that to me, as you suggested above. Text to speech capability is very important for UDL! I definitely will have something available for students, even if it's just a screen reading program. Love the Venn diagram idea! I see doing this as follow up or closure to the three branches lessons. Thanks for your feedback on the webquest. Maybe it can just be an optional activity for students who want a little extra practice. Yes, creating lessons like this is so much fun. I love doing it, and I love watching kids enjoy learning. So rewarding!
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ReplyDeleteI thought that your goals of your lesson were clearly identified and what the questions that the students will be able complete at the end of the lesson were also clearly identified. Students need to know what they are and what they to complete so they can have a direction in which to concentrate on. Keeping the students goal orientated is key factor in having the students motivated and engaged in the learning process.
Having the Key Vocabulary for the students is a good start of the lesson. As with many of my ELD students they do not have the background knowledge that many of the English students have. Being able to bring the vocabulary in the classroom and build upon it will assist both ELD and English students.
I thought that your choice of videos was wonderful. The video for the Article III brought the formal language down to informal language so the students could understand the meaning of the article. Sometimes the formal language such as in the Constitution can confuse students and they will miss the actual meaning. The video with the interactive situation I thought would increase the students’ engagement and also can be a discussion starter for either whole group or small groups.
I did not see a section for discussion either whole group or small group in your lesson or I may have overlooked it. I think that if you incorporate oral discussion it will assist with the learning process and also assist with the students hearing different opinions of other students. Discussions are a great tool for students as long as the environment is created such as guidelines need to put into place beforehand.
Thank you! I made the lesson so it could be accomplished online, so the discussion will be the comments students put on Blendspace at the end. They are to write something they learned and a question about the judicial branch and answer 2 peers. Any vocabulary or questions not answered will be addressed in the next class. Do you think I need to add discussion anywhere else? Do you have a suggestion where you'd put it?
DeleteThanks again!