Lesson Plan Using Five Technologies

Grade Level: 4^th

Content Area: Social Studies, Language Arts, economics and health

Going West: The Oregon Trail

Learning Goal: Students will learn about what it was like to travel the Oregon Trail and why many chose to travel the long journey to Oregon.

Technology Standard: I couldn’t find the technology standards :(

Technologies Integrated: Smart board, assessment clickers, podcast, Oregon Trail computer game, and an online discussion forum.

To get students interested in the Oregon Trail I would have students listen to podcasts about the Oregon Trail. I would then have students report to the class about interesting facts they learned from the podcast. In addition, I would further discuss with the class why people chose to travel the Oregon Trail and some of the dangers they endured along the way. A few topics that I would highlight in my discussion would be sickness, famine, drought, disease, death, and scarcity, environmental hazards, Indians and hope for a prosperous future.

Activity # 1

Allotted time: 30 minutes each day for a week

For the next activity, I would most likely have to reserve a computer lab at my school. I know my future classroom will have a small amount of computers. This activity calls for numerous computers. I would break students into small groups and assign each group a computer. Each group would represent a wagon train that is about to make their way to Oregon. I would have students play the Oregon Trail game on the computer. At the beginning of the game there is a section where students and their wagon train must enter their name, age, and occupation. I would let students choose whatever they want for this section.  Students are then given a budget at the beginning of the game to purchase supplies for the long journey to Oregon. I would have a class discussion on necessities and wants. As students and their wagon trains encounter problems along the trail, I would have students write in journals about what happened on their journey to Oregon.

Activity # 2

Allotted time: 30 minutes each day for a week

 I would set up some type of online discussion forum (like Moodle) where students could write about their experiences on the journey to Oregon.  In addition, I would require each student to write a response to at least three of their peer’s writing entries. Peer responses could include sharing a similar experience, give a recommendation on how to solve a problem, provide information on a given topic, share something they learned and etc.

Activity # 3

Allotted time: 45 Minutes

I would show students a map of the Oregon Trail on the smart board. I would talk about important features on the map. Students would then create their own map of the Oregon Trail on the smart board.  The map would include a compass rose, major rivers and lakes, the Pacific Ocean, mountains, cities, historical landscapes, states, and trading posts. On the smart board I would project a blank map of the states pioneers had to travel through in order to reach Oregon. During seatwork time, I would have a table group come to the smart board and add different features to the map. This activity would be done during individual work time and not as a whole class. I don’t want to put students on the spot. By having groups come up one at a time during individual work time, it helps to lower students’ affective filters. Each student would be required to add one thing to the map. I would continue to have groups add things to the map until all the features on the map had been labeled. Once the map was completed, as a whole class we would analyze and make changes/add/ take things off the map if needed.

Activity # 4

Allotted time: Depends on length of videos

I could show students different videos or YouTube clips about the Oregon Trail. I could have students take notes on the video or fill out a graphic organizer. At the end of the videos, students could do a pair share with a classmate on what they learned from the video.

Assessment

Allotted time 20 minutes

At the end of the unit I would access students by giving them a quiz on the assessment clickers. On the smart board I would write the options to my questions.  Students would then choose an option and enter that option into their clicker. My questions would cover the following topics: sickness, famine, drought, disease, death, scarcity, environmental hazards, Indians and geographical questions. The quiz would give me an insight on what students learned from the unit, as well as the subject matter they didn’t fully grasp. If students score poorly on the quiz, I will have a class discussion on the material they are lacking knowledge in.  

Lesson Plan for Using ipods and ipads

Grade Level: 1st 

 In an ideal world I would have a class set of ipads and ipods. If I didn't have access to a class set, I would have students work in pairs or small groups. Students would take turns doing activities on the ipods and ipads. I would give my students signals on when to switch turns using the devices. To make sure each student is actively learning, I would have a worksheet that students would fill out while waiting their turn for the devices. The first application I would have my students explore would be the ABC Lite application. On this application students learn the sounds that each letter of the alphabet makes. I would have the student quietly repeat the sound to themself. In this application there is a story. Students would engage in the vocabulary building activity . In this application students learn about rhyming. Secondly, I would have students explore the Trace Words application. In this application students get the opportunity to strengthen their writing skills. The application provides a path for each letter of the alphabet that students trace with their finger. Third, I would have students use the application called, 8 Men Who Discovered the World. In this application I would have students apply their writing skills that they practiced in the previous application. Students would write a postcard on their ipod/ipad to another classmate (In the application there are directions on how to write a postcard). I would assign each student a classmate to write to. This would prevent the chances of students’ feelings getting hurt. In addition, I would have students read the story on this application that talks about explorers who made discoveries on our planet. Students would learn about the explorers and get to see the different kinds of things that explorers wrote about. This application comes in different languages which would be very beneficial for my ELL students. In this lesson plan students would learn how to operate an ipod or ipad, learn the different sounds of the alphabet, practice their writing skills, build their vocabulary, practice finding words that rhyme, learn how to write a postcard and learn about famous explorers.

   In my opinion, I would rather do these types of activities on the SMART board. If you did these types of activities on the SMART board, you would have more control over the material children are learning and you can easily watch to make sure that students are staying on task. With the ipods/ipads I feel like students could get off task very easy, because there isn’t direct supervision.

Podcast Class

I enjoyed searching through iTunes for different podcasts. Prior to this class, I had only used iTunes for the music on my iPod. I was a little disappointed when I wasn't able to find useful podcasts that I could use as teaching aids in my classroom. However, I did find some amazing music that I could use in my classroom to teach geography. Creating a podcast is something that is new to me. I'm currently making a podcast of the alphabet. It will have the sounds that each letter of the alphabet makes, as well as pictures of animals. I found Garage Band interesting.

Smart Board and Fake Website Search

I love the idea of using clickers in my future classroom. The class that I'm student teaching in uses clickers, so I now have a better understanding of how to use them. After students have been tested, my teacher saves their results and then prints out their results. She then shows the print outs at conferences so that student's guardians can see their child's progress throughout the year.

Last class taught me that I have to be careful when gathering information from the internet. There are numerous websites that give false information. The last thing I want to do is teach my students false information. In addition, it's important that I share with my future students that there are websites that will give false information. I need to share with them the characteristics of a false website.

Working With Google Earth

  For starters, I think that Google Earth is one of the coolest applications that I have ever seen! If I'm 21 years old and think the application is the cat's meow, then I can imagine how excited younger students would be to use the program. In my current social studies class, my teacher said that she had used Google earth in one of her elementary classrooms and the kids absolutely loved it. I think it's a great opportunity for students to view their world. The activities that you can do with Google Earth are endless. Last but not least, it's free which is always good with today’s economy.

Third Week of Tech Class

Last class, I learned how to use iMovie. Prior to this class, I had never used a movie making application before. I thought it was fairly easy to use. In addition, I learned about the cool effects that you can add to a clip or video. The two videos that we watched in class made me think about different ways that I can spice up my teaching, in hopes to catch my student's interests. I have had numerous teachers where all they did was lecture. I don't ever want my future students to have to go through what I did. Learning should be fun and interactive.

Second Day of Class

Last Friday, I learned something about myself. I learned that I have a tendency to always believe what I see, when something is said to have some validity. I don't question things like I should in order to get the surface of what I'm investigating. I know that a lot of information out in the world is skewed and as a future educator it's important that I give my students valid information. In addition, I learned how to use the photo shop on a Mac computer. The photo shop that we used in class is very different from the photo shop that I use on my home computer. I found it confusing, but I'm sure that with practice I will get the hang of it. As they say, "Practice makes perfect!"