To implement technology into a
lesson plan, I used a former lesson plan from last semester. While this lesson
plan is structured for students to stay in their seats and work alone, I was
able to accommodate changes to make the lesson plan more fun and student
oriented. The teaching strategies and technology added to this lesson plan
allows students to work together with other students and technology to help
them understand Emily Dickenson and her writings better. Within this lesson,
students will be asked to identify and understand Emily Dickenson as a person,
and then apply what they learned about her to her poems. Then they will have to
cite and use textual evidence to support their claims of how Emily Dickenson’s
life related to her poems. Once they have a clear understand of Emily
Dickenson, they must determine a theme to her poems, which students must look
for on the Internet. (I’m nobody, who are you?? And Pain has an element of
blank). Then the students must be able to answer the why her poems seem so bleak
and negative, using prior knowledge learned in the beginning of the class.
First, students will be placed into
groups and work on computers to find a biography of Emily Dickenson. Once they
find a biography on Emily Dickenson, they will use Word Document and cite
characteristics of the poet. Once they have a good a good amount of
descriptors, they will find a citation website (like easybib, or citation
machine) and cite the website they were using. When they are completely
finished, they will present their findings to the class. When the students are
finished presenting their findings, they will be tasked with finding the two
poems I’m nobody, who are you?? And Pain
has an element of blank, on the Internet.
Once the students find the two
poems, they will read them out loud in their groups. The students will then
work together to figure out the main theme of each poem. Once they have a
general idea of the themes, they will present them to the class, in which I
will record their themes on the Smartboard, which will stay up for the remainder
of the class, to see if their themes changed, if at all. If themes are
repeated, I will put tallies next to them. If they have any questions about
their themes, I will be answering them during this time.
Once the students are cohesive
about the themes, they will use their prior information that they found on
Emily Dickenson to create a three to four pargraphs, on word document,
explaining the relation to her life and the poems themes. Within their groups,
students will choose a scribe, who will write the paragraphs. Once done, the
students will print out their paragraphs. Once printed, each other student,
will take turns editing the paragraphs, either to fix grammar, spelling, or
flow. They will then, rewrite their paragraphs, and edit them one more time.
Finally, students will then edit their final changes into their work, print out
a final copy, along with a works cited page, and hand it in, along with their
drafts.
Having completed this, they will
have completed the CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1, which is to cite textual
evidence to support an analysis of what the text says. Also,
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2, which is to determine a theme or central idea of a
text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text.
Finally, they will have accomplished CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 which would
have students understand how to analyze how an author’s choices concerning how
to structure a text. Using technology, students will be able to be creative and
innovative, and use their critical thinking, problem solving, and
decision-making skills. Students will be able to communicate and collaborate
with each other to bounce ideas off each other and edit each other’s work.
Using the computers effectively and productively, students will be able to
allowed to work on their research and information fluency.
After this lesson, students should
be able to make the connections between Emily Dickenson’s personal life and her
poetry. Using information listed in her biography, which they must search for
on the Internet, they will have a basic understanding of her life. Then
students will find her two poems and draw connections between them and her
life. Students then will be able to write cohesive paragraphs explaining their
connection to her personal life and her poetry, citing the information from her
biography and her poetry. They will write their paragraphs, editing them each
time, and finally hand it in with a works cited page. Students will then have
an understand of Emily Dickenson and her poetry.
Final Spreadsheet
Nice lesson plan Amanda. I loved how throughout most of the lesson students were working with each other to learn new material. I always loved lessons which were collaborative. Especially since school is a place where many students gather from different areas more lessons should be like yours, where it gives opportunities for students to learn from each other and not just from the teacher. I hope this is a lesson that you can give in real life when you are a teacher.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a lesson plan you should keep in mind when you're out working, as this sounds like it could be quite successful. There is a great emphasis on group work among the students, instead of a teacher simply lecturing every class period, which in the long run will ultimately prove to be more beneficial to the students in the class. The topic is an interesting one, as Emily Dickinson has proven to be an extremely influential writer, and her life's story is fascinating. Technology is prevalent in this, but it is not over-used, or thrown in simply so you can say that it is there, which is something that all of us will have to keep an eye on.
ReplyDeleteI know how so many students fear poetry. Emily Dickenson is my favorite poet. I understand her juxtaposition and contradicting lines can confuse most readers. I love how most of this lesson is geared towards group work. The best way to attack something that you fear is with peers. The people around you share the same fear and may have new ideas to add to the discussion. I love how you are taking a poet that students may see as words on a page and bringing her to life. You have the students connect her poetry with actualities and truths that have occurred within her life.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, you do an adequate job of explaining the technical (what students are doing and what technologies are used), but I'm left with questions about where you are intentionally making learning happen. For example, in the following excerpt from your blogpost, I'm left wondering how you are ensuring that students know how to access, analyze and evaluate:
ReplyDelete"First, students will be placed into groups and work on computers to find a biography of Emily Dickenson. Once they find a biography on Emily Dickenson, they will use Word Document and cite characteristics of the poet. Once they have a good a good amount of descriptors, they will find a citation website (like easybib, or citation machine) and cite the website they were using. When they are completely finished, they will present their findings to the class. When the students are finished presenting their findings, they will be tasked with finding the two poems."
In other words, simply placing students in groups or asking them to present their findings doesn't mean they are learning. There needs to be an intentionally and explicitness to your pedagogy that I don't yet see in your blogpost. Think about this as you move forward in your development as a professional teacher.
Additionally, I'd like to reframe for you the overall approach to technology integration, in contrast to how you begin your blogpost. You start by saying, "To implement technology in a lesson plan. . . " but that's not the approach of this course module. In other words, your approach needs to shift to, "To transform students' understanding of Emily Dickenson and her poetry. . ." and then explain how the specific technologies support your intentional strategies. Remember, it's not the technology that drives curriculum; rather, it should be the curriculum AND the pedagogy driving the uses (and non-uses) of technology.