Planning
Guide
Creating Learner-Focused
Schools
* Madison-Oneida BOCES- This document may not be
reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of the District
Superintendent or his designee.
| LU Title: New York Explorers
|
Author(s): Joanne Haier
|
| Grade Level: 4
|
School Address: Westmoreland,
NY 13490
|
| Subject Area: ELA/S.S./Tech
|
School Phone/Fax:
315-853-6191
|
CONTENT
KNOWLEDGE
| Declarative
|
Procedural
|
| Name the 5 early explorers of NY
and their affiliated countries
|
How to use the writing process to
express information
|
| Identify where the explorers explored
|
How to access information using
encyclopedias (print and online), reference materials, books (variety of grade
levels), internet sites, and literature.
|
| Identify the reasons for exploration
|
How to use a graphic organizer to record
information in a grid.
|
| Identify the results of the exploration
(land claims)
|
How to format information into a
multimedia presentation (PowerPoint)
|
| Identify the appropriate components for
a multimedia presentation (PowerPoint)
|
How to present a PowerPoint Presentation
orally.
|
| Differenciate important from
insignificant facts
|
How to design and use a rubric to
self-evaluate and make improvement plan.
|
ESSENTIAL
QUESTIONS
- What were the underlying causes and effects of the early exploration
of NYS.
- How do students apply reading, writing, listening and speaking for
critical analysis and evaluation of unfamiliar, informational and/or historic
fictional text?
- How do students use the opinions and reactions of teachers,
classmates and peers to evaluate personal interpretations of ideas, information
and experience?
INITIATING ACTIVITY
The teacher creates a PowerPoint presentation on the spot with the
input from the students. Students review the previous unit's declarative and
procedural knowledge and collect resources from that unit and the teacher
creates a unit that shows the possibilities of this program and the level of
proficiency expected. Teacher also demonstrates the skill of creating a main
idea from a text selection and supporting it with details. This presentation is
a broad and general overview of the unit.
Connection to State
Learning Standards
Content Area: ELA/S.S./Tech.
Level: 4
| Benchmarks: Read
unfamiliar texts independently to collect data, facts and ideas.
Identify main ideas and supporting details in informational texts.
Identify and interpret significant facts taken from maps, graphs, charts,
and other visuals.
|
|
Benchmarks: Use opinions
and reactions of teachers and classmates to evaluate personal interpretation of
ideas, information and experience.
|
| Standard: ELA Standard 1:
Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and
understanding.
|
|
Standard:
ELA Standard 3: Students will read, write,
listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
|
Unit Theme: New York Explorers
| Standard: S.S. Standard
3: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments and turning points in
the history of the United States and New York.
|
|
Standard:
|
Learning
Experiences
Declarative Knowledge
| What declarative knowledge should
studentsbe in the process of acquiring & integrating? As a result of the
unit, the student will know or understand…
|
What experiences or activities will be used
to help students acquire & integrate this knowledge?
|
What strategies will be used to help
students construct meaning, organize and/or store the knowledge?
|
Describe what will be done.
|
| The names and affiliated
countries of the 5 main explorers of New York. (Verrazano: Hudson: Dutch,
Champlain: French Cartier: French Cabot J&S: English) Where these explorers
explored. Why these explorers explored What was the result of the exploration
(land claims, etc.) Identify appropriate components for a multimedia
presentation
Differentiate important and insignificant facts
The names and affiliated countries of the 5 main explorers of New York.
(Verrazano: Hudson: Dutch, Champlain: French Cartier: French Cabot J&S:
English) Where these explorers explored
|
Reading: 2 fourth grade
texts and an 8th grade text, internet reports on each explorer, the
Encyclopedia Americana articles, and various literature sources.
Participating in an interactive internet search with class.
|
Construct Meaning: Use the
3-minute pause Use reciprocal teaching techniques. Summarizing, Questioning,
Clarifying Answer comprehension questions from texts.
Organize Knowledge: Use Graphic Organizer (chart) Chants and songs about
information
Conduct a search for needed information in a team setting independently.
Use of a mneumonic devise for practicing knowledge
|
Over several lessons, the
students read varying texts about the explorer. At first the teacher
demonstrates how to generate a main idea based on the text. The class takes
notes using PowerPoint by using this form (main idea and details) Then later
the students use printouts of slides to take notes. Students read for important
information and share their ideas. When people question their ideas they back
up their main ideas with details
Then, students create the information chart to record all the explorer
information on large butcher paper. Now as students are given various media
they read pair share at their tables and then share with the class for
recording on the class table. Each day students are exposed to different types
of media and are reading about a different explorer. Continue until the
recording table is mostly full.
As a class, teacher demonstrates how to use a search engine on the internet.
Students use a search engine rather than bookmarked sites to insure that they
are using current and active sites and to teach discrimination skills. Students
decide what piece of information to look for and how to narrow a search. When
search results respond then students decide which sites are most promising and
back up their predictions. Chosen sites are visited and reviewed. If they are
valuable they are bookmarked for later use, downloaded for inclusion in a
presentation or printed.
Students, for homework, create songs, chants or raps for the information.
Then present them to the class for clarification and refinement. Chants are
then used throughout unit to reinforce info.
|
Learning
Experiences
Procedural Knowledge
| What procedural knowledge will students be
in the process of acquiring & integrating? As a result of this unit,
students will be able to:
|
What will be done to help students
construct models, shape & internalize the knowledge?
|
Describe what will be done.
|
| Access information using
encyclopedias, reference materials, texts, internet sites, and literature.
Use a graphic organizer to record information
Format information into a multimedia presentation (PowerPoint)
Designing and using a rubric to self-evaluate
|
Construct model: teacher thinks
aloud while reading and recording information from reading passage. Shape
knowledge: provide a variety of situations in which student can use the skill.
Internalize Knowledge: check accuracy
Teacher demonstration Student practice independently and with teacher
guidance. Use of FAQ and common problem sheets
Point out common errors and pitfalls (being "too
easy", "too hard", "too general or specific",
etc.)
|
See first lesson above
declarative knowledge. Teacher demonstrates each skill to start the lessons and
asks students to refine her strategies. When students practice these skills
they will be using a wide variety of media at a range of reading levels. By
asking students to back up their information and answer peer questions,
students check for the accuracy of their reading.
After watching the teacher record information on the student created chart,
students then are able to give the new information in an acceptable uploading a scanned graphic.
Students create a rubric for a PowerPoint presentation. Then they view
several presentations to refine their rubric and discuss what their rubric can
tell about a presentation. Students orally list steps that presenters could do
to improve their presentations.
|
Learning
Experiences
Extending and Refining
| What knowledge will students be extending
and refining? Specifically, they will be extending and refining their
understanding of…
|
What reasoning process will they be
using?
|
Describe what will be done.
|
| Differentiating important
from insignificant facts regarding the explorer.
Identifying appropriate components for a multimedia presentation.
|
 Inductive
Reasoning
- Deductive Reasoning
- Error Analysis
Analyzing
Perspectives
Constructing Support
|
Students are assigned an
explorer and a team. Together they refine the information they have already
found as a class. They collect sites, pictures, graphics etc. through various
media. They are finding details to add to a presentation that will prove the
information that they collect is authentic. They will have to judge if
different media have reliable sources. (student reports vs. historic
organizations) And students will decide if the countries land claims are
substantiated and did the explorer find what he set out for. They add to the
class grid and make notetaking slides on paper for possible use later.
|
| Step 1
|
Step 2
|
Step 3
|
| What knowledge will students be
using meaningfully? Specifically, they will be demonstrating their
understanding of and ability to...........
|
What reasoning process will they be
using?
|
Describe student's products and
performances and the criteria for evaluation.
|
|
|
[ ] Decision Making
(selecting from seemingly equal alternatives or examining the decisions of
others)
[ ] Problem Solving
(seeking to achieve a goal by overcomming constraints or lmiting conditions)
[ ] Invention
(creating something to meet a need or improve on a situation)
[ ] Experimental Inquiry
(generating an explanation for a phenomenon and testing the explanation)
[ ] Investigation
(resolving confusions or contradictions related to a historical event, a
hypothetical past or future event, or to the defining characteristics of
something)
[ ] Systems Analysis
(analyzing the parts of a system and how they interact)
[ ] Other:
|
Products/Performances
|
| Criteria for evaluation
|
Rubric:
Key Questions:
What are the key elements, traits, or dimensions that will be evaluated?
Are the identified elements of equal importance or will they be weighed
differently?
|
|
Element #1
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Element #2
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Element #3
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Element #4
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Elements
Scale
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Responsibility: Following
Directions
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Information
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Teamwork
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Visual and Oral
Presentation
|
| Weights
|
X1
|
X1
|
X1
|
X2
|
| 4
|
Produces 8-12 slides about
explorer. Includes title and credit slides and picts.
|
Covers all of following
information: Name, country of origin, country sailed for, goal, area explored,
what found, outcome of exploration, ship name, dates, and other exciting
information
|
Team works as one unit
smoothly and independently.
|
Reads slides extremely well
and adds extra information to add interest.
Exceptional complete use of software.
Presentation is clear, concise, creative and entertaining
|
| 3
|
Achieves all but one of
above criteria
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Presentation covers all
topics from class chart. (see above)
|
Works together well, few
conflicts, shared responsibility
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Reads slides clearly and
loudly but offers no extras.
Clear readable slides with animation and/or sound effects
|
| 2
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Is missing 2 parts of above
criteria
|
6-7 topics from class chart
covered clearly
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Some problems and team
follows advice to keep working
|
Reads without expression or
is confusing in spots
Some of the pres. is sloppy or confusing
|
| 1
|
Produces a presentation.
|
4-5 topics from class chart
covered
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Many problems and team
needs a lot of help just to keep working
|
Hard to understand due to
volume or clarity
Little info. is clearly presented
|
NOTE: Rubric or other
performance asessment instruments may be used.
Constructing a Holistic
Scoring Tool
(Rubric or Activity Specific Key)
Key Questions:
* How many score points are needed to discriminate among the full range of
different degrees of understanding, proficiency, or quality?
Have You Considered These
Yet?
Learn to Learn Skills:
Teamwork, Public Speaking, Goal Setting, Using criticism
constructively
Assessment Modifications:
Each team had a member with home internet access, nonreaders were
paired with readers, every member had to have a role in the presentation based
on their skills, extra time available as needed, each group had equal access to
resources and time to prepare, use of aide to scribe or read as needed. Also,
this unit can be done without the software using poster presentations instead
of a software presentation. Also, any presentation software can be used.
Unit Schedule/Time Plan:
5 weeks:
-first week: introduction and text reading and comprehension questions.
-second week: research and record information, demonstrations
-third & fourth week: create teams, continue research and start
presentations
-fifth week: finish presentations, present, make improvement plan, edit and
perform again
Written Overview:
Students create a PowerPoint presentation based on an explorer's
history and impact. There are several key skills that are showcased in this
multimedia presentation. Students use multimedia resources already obtained to
create a presentation. These presentations are works in progress. At first
students are getting used to the technology and learning how to access and
manipulate information. Using teamwork, students assign jobs and refine
information to complete the task. Their work is monitored by the teacher and
other adult members of the class. Students reflect and check their progress by
using the student created rubric and participating in class discussions. Then
students use speaking skills to present many times. Each performance is used to
edit the presentation further. Students repeatedly use, say and write the key
information. They hear other groups perform regularly. They create an
improvement plan using the student created rubric and based on reactions from
their peers.