Lesson Plan and CSO

I have chosen to do a Language/ Reading project for my lesson plan.  I will be doing the lesson on: 

Choosing One Word: Summarizing Shel Silverstein’s “Sick

Driving Question:  How can we use words to express our feelings?

The CSO For reading I will be using are:

RLA.S.2.1  

Students will apply reading skills and strategies to inform, to perform a task and to read for literacy experience by

·         identifying and using grade appropriate essential reading components (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, written application) and

·         selecting a wide variety of literature and diverse media to develop independence as readers.

RLA.O.2.1.2
identify and practice grade level appropriate sight words and reading vocabulary (e.g., high frequency words, homonyms, homophones, multiple meaning words, synonyms, antonyms).

The CSO for Writing I will be using are:

RLA.S.2.2.4

Writing

Students will apply writing skills and strategies to communicate effectively for different purposes by

·         using the writing process

·         applying grammatical and mechanical properties in writing and

·         selecting and evaluating information for research purposes.

 RLA.O.2.2.6

use conventions of capitalization in written composition (e.g., titles, initials, titles of written works, greeting and closing of a letter)

      

 

 

Web Quest (Efficiency Expert)

Grow School Greens:
Strengths: Good animation and great use of color.
Weaknesses: Time is of the essence and there is a lot of time wasted on preparation. There are steps that could be combined to make this process go faster.

Where is my Hero?
Strengths: Great use of color and pictures. The author gets right to the point and jumps in with the tasks. This activity also gives students a chance to be creative.
Weaknesses: There are too many things for the students to have to look up,some steps could be combined.

Unraveling the Underground Railroad.
Strengths: Great use of color and pictures. Great way to get the students ready for the adventure. Weaknesses: Again, there are too many processes and some could be combined to save time.

We All Scream for Ice Cream!
 Strengths: This is a great topic and will get the students attention. The steps are clearly laid out and combined so there won't be much wasted time.
 Weaknesses: The colors are a little bright and a lot of the process must be done at home.

Ancient Egypt.
 Strengths: I like that everything is on one page for the students to read and understand. All the information is clearly laid out for the students. I also like that there is only one topic for the students to focus on. Weaknesses: It may take the students some time to do all the research needed to make their brochure and this might give the students an opportunity to goof off a bit.

I felt the Grow School Greens  and We All Scream for Ice Cream were the best two WebQuests.  They would get the student's attention the best and keep them interested for a longer period of time.  They also had the best time management in the classroom.  There wasn't very much wasted time and what there was, the teacher could work around.  Both WebQuests give the children the opportunity to be creative and to think for themselves.

The worst two WebQuests are Ancient Egypt and Where is my Hero.  They both had a good message and the authors had good ideas, but I don't think they would hold the student's interests like the other three.  They waste way too much classroom time on research that could be done at home.

Best means the best way to keep the children interested while teaching them about a certain subject.  The students need to be interested and have fun with the project in order to succeed.  There is only so much time  alotted for certain subjects, so time management is very important.

Worst means how much time is wasted on going over instructions and doing research.  The students need to be engaged and interested through the whole project.  They also need to have the freedom to be creative when doing certain projects.

Story Bird

Mr Buggs Armstrong's First Day Adventures by jleech2201, jmorris2201 on Storybird

IPAD App

I found a really cool math program to help students learn factors which will in turn help them add, subtract, multiply and divide.  The program is called Math Blaster.  You steer the avatar and blast things out of your way.  When you come to a brain monster, you must solve the math problems in order to move onto the next level.  I think students would love this program because it is like a video game but it is still educational.  I would use this program to help my students understand that math can be fun.  So many times, kids are scared of math because they think it is hard and not fun but with Math Blaster, the kids will get to play games and learn at the same time.  This program will be really helpful when it is time for the students to learn their multiplication tables.  By the end of the school year, the students should be able to spout them off with no problems.  My friend's children used this program over the summer to brush up on their multiplication tables.  Math Blaster is a good program for all gradeschool children.       

Social-networking ban for sex offenders

This article has some very good points.  There is a new law prohibiting registered sex offenders from joining social-networking web sites.  They are also not allowed to leave messages on profile web pages that are visible to users.  This law is supposed to protect minors from people who troll these sites looking for victims to abuse.  The article states that this might not be the best idea.  The experts mentioned say that not very many of the minors hurt or abducted are caused by sex offenders who found them on the internet.  This article reminds people that registered sex offenders have rights too.  The article explains that there are different types of registered sex offenders and that some cases are not as bad as others.  The author is also worried that this law may give minors and parents a sense of false security.  I have a hard time completely agreeing with this article.  I try to put myself in the shoes of both sides, and while I agree there are many different types of sex offenders, I would not want someone convicted of hurting a child to be able to look at my child's profile on Facebook.  I don't think all sex offenders should be labeled the same, there are cases of a 17 year old boy having sex with his 16 year old girlfriend and then there are cases of 50 year old men forcing young boys to have sex with them.  If they are going to pass laws about registered sex offenders and social-networking web sites, then there needs to be a gray area because this is not a black/white situation.  No two cases are the same so no two convicted people should be treated the same or labeled the same.  I also think we do need to not only focus on teaching our children internet safety where sex offenders are concerned but also where bullying,harassment and impersonation are concerned.  Parents and teachers need to be aware of what their students are doing on the internet and be sure to enforce internet safety.

Wikipedia: Friend not Foe

I was shocked to learn that Wikipedia is blocked from all computers in the Warren Hills Regional School District. I don't really understand why they wouldn't want their students using Wikipedia as a starting off point when doing research. The article also talks about how Wikipedia has helped "dumb down" the research process. I would think it would help students when doing research. Having access to this information on line is easier than trying to look up the information in an actual book. I never thought about using Wikipedia to get students involved in online discussions. You could also get different perspectives on one certain topic. It helps students to learn to think "out side the box." I just wonder if there would be a way to limit who could post on Wikipedia and limit what kind of information they are putting on the site?


http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/wikipedia-in-the-classroom-tips-for-effective-use/

Orlando, John. "Wikipedia in the Classroom: Tips for Effective Use." Faculty Focus. (2010): 1. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. <http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/wikipedia-in-the-classroom-tips-for-effective-use/>.

Flag of the United States on Wikipedia

1. This article does not have any cleanup banners and already meets Wikipedia's standards. This article is very neutral and just states facts. The factual aspects of this article are not disputed. The article does not need any editing for spelling errors or grammar issues. The material is appropriate for an encyclopedia and it covers many aspects of flag etiquette. The article is up to date and has been verified by an expert. This article has footnotes as well as references.

2. This article is written in a clear and organized way. It has very neutral tones, the authors do not take sides, they just give the facts and all the facts are referenced. And the information reported seems to be complete with no gaps.

3. Reliable References:
General Service Administration
US Flag Facts
The Government Code

Possibly unreliable references:
London Olympics
Public Law

Definitely Unreliable references:
What's Hot at Fort McPherson

4. This article has a rating of a B and has a Top Importance rating. The main topic of discussion is the Civil Flag and what its purposes are. This article is very informative and I don't doubt its facts at all.

5. I feel this article is very reliable and very user friendly. It was easy to scroll down and find one particular aspect of the flag. It states facts and the facts are easy to check. This article gives plenty of references (78) so there are many places to follow up on the research.

Wikipedia

A. Wikipedia is a multilingual, web based encyclopedia project,operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. B. I agree with the article when it discuses how to trust its reliability when anyone can edit it. Wikipedia puts its trust in the wisdom of the crowds, which means, they trust the people to post what their research tells them is true. It is almost based on the "honor system" and they expect the general public to only post things that are true. C. Again, they put their trust in the crowds to be able to detect what is vandalism and what is true. D. Mr. Sanger left because he felt Wikipedia should give more authority to experts. E. If vandalism appears on a Wikipedia page, it will be red and highlighted so the proof readers can easily spot it. F. The statistics reveal that Wikipedia works and people all over the world are not only using it for a starting point for research but that people are also posting what they find during their research so anyone can have access to it. G. I think Wikipedia is so successful because it gives people information right at their fingertips and helps guide research. If you have a question concerning the topic you are reading about, you can post the question right on the discussion page and someone will help you understand and guide you to more information. H. I think if they start accepting advertising, that opens a whole new can of worms in terms of people thinking they are in charge and can change things. I. Wikiscanner can quickly expose the IP addresses of self-interested editing by prominent businesses and governments. This tool is basically used so people can't control what other people say about their business.