Kelly+Sell

Telling the Digital Story ||||  Related Lessons: Discovering the Author Improvement through Collaboration || 4A2c: Compose to inform using relevant support and appropriate organizational structures while maintaining an objective perspective (Maryland State Department of Education, 2007b) Maryland Technology Literacy Standards for Students: 4B1b: Present ideas and information in formats such as electronic presentations, web pages, graphic organizers, or spreadsheets that are appropriate to a specific audience (Maryland State Board of Education, 2007b) || 2. Communication and Collaboration 4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making (International Society for Technology in Education, 2011) Instructional Objectives: __Unit:__ We will create a movie in order to explain how one author’s life influenced his or her writing. __Lesson:__ We will express our new-found knowledge of our author through digital storytelling. || Evaluate student comfort level with Movie Maker and PhotoStory. || 10 minutes  ||||  Warm-up: Sit with your partner. Open and watch the movie at My Documents/S drive/Sell/8th/E.A. Poe. Write down one thing you liked, one thing you disliked, and one question you have. Be prepared to discuss. || // Language of Literature //anthology, computer with projector, computer for each student pair, author biographies from media center, sample movie, sample storyboard, storyboard organizers || Introduce the final step of the unit: creating the movie. Show students the storyboard that was used to create the movie. Discuss the decisions students will need to make as they work on the storyboard: images, captions, narration, music, and transitions. Hand out project rubric and review. Hand out storyboard organizers. Ask for a volunteer pair to share some of their initial ideas; model how to turn one or two ideas into storyboard panels. ||^  ||  Homework: Locate images and music for movie. (Students without Internet access at home can work on this step during homeroom or before/after school.) ||^   || 10 minutes ||||  Warm-up: Ask for student volunteers to share a completed storyboard. Hold a quick question and answer session to explain how to translate these ideas into a movie. || // Language of Literature //anthology, computer with projector, computer for each student pair, author biographies from media center || 10 minutes ||||  Warm-up: Log on to the network. Switch workstations with another student pair. Review their movie; write down one element that you like and one suggestion for improvement. Leave these at the workstation. Share some observations; answer questions. || // Language of Literature //anthology, computer with projector, computer for each student pair, author biographies from media center || Informal evaluation through observation and questioning. Circulate as students are developing storyboards and creating movies to provide assistance and answer questions as needed. Accommodations and Extensions: Provide specific accommodation as indicated by IEPs. Most students are familiar with either Movie Maker or PhotoStory from their required Introduction to Technology course. Those who need more thorough instruction will work in a small group with the teacher or an aide while other students work on their movies. Gifted and Talented students who finish early may assist with troubleshooting less proficient students. Back-Up Plan: Internet access is not critical to the storyboard development segment of the lesson. Should we experience Internet problems during the movie creation segment, students will spend a class period in a peer evaluation session to provide each other feedback on their storyboards. || __Day 2:__ Exit slip: Evaluate what still remains to be done on your movie. What resources do you need (images, music, etc.)? Are there any problems you can’t seem to overcome? __Day 3:__ Submit your movie to the teacher drop box. Evaluation will be based upon the following rubric. || meaning. || Some errors in writing interfere with meaning. || Many errors in writing interfere with meaning. ||    ||  9-11 = B  ||  6-8 = C  ||  £ 5 = Re-do and resubmit. || ||
 * =  Daily Lesson GAME Plan 3   = ||
 * Lesson Title:
 * Grade Level: 8 ||||  Unit: Who and Why?  ||
 * == GOALS  == ||
 * Content Standards: Maryland State Curriculum
 * ISTE NETS-S
 * == ACTION  == ||
 * Before-Class Preparation:
 * During Class ||
 * Time ||||  Instructional Activities  ||  Materials and Resources  ||
 * __ Day 1 __
 * 10 minutes ||||  Discuss warm-up.
 * 20 minutes ||||  Students will begin to develop storyboards. (Based on progress, another day may need to be dedicated to this step.)  ||^   ||
 * 10 minutes ||||  Daily wrap-up: Answer questions and remind students of next steps.
 * __ Day 2 __
 * 30 minutes ||||  Students will work on creating their movies.  ||^   ||
 * 10 minutes ||||  Students will complete exit slip.  ||^   ||
 * __ Day 3 __
 * __ 40 minutes __ |||| Students will work on creating their movies. (Based on progress, another day may need to be dedicated to this step.)  ||^   ||
 * == MONITOR  == ||
 * Ongoing Assessment(s):
 * == EVALUATION  == ||
 * __Day 1:__ Informal evaluation based on storyboard progress.
 * ||  ||  **  4  **  ||  **  3  **  ||  **  2  **  ||  **  1  **  ||
 * **// Required digital storytelling elements //** || All elements are present (images, music, narration, transitions).  ||   ||   ||  Elements are missing.  ||
 * **//Content//** ||  Movie describes the author’s life and clarifies how events affected his or her written work. Explanation is exceptionally clear and insightful.  ||  Movie describes the author’s life and clarifies how events affected his or her written work. Some information is unclear or confusing.  ||     ||  Movie lacks sufficient development of either the author’s life or the connection between events and writing.  ||
 * **// Mechanics (written and spoken) //** ||  No errors—exceptional clarity  ||  Minor errors do not interfere with
 * **// Grade //** ||  12 = A
 * // Note: // After movies have been assessed, students will be given the opportunity to share their movies with their classmates. They will complete a final reflection to evaluate their own learning during this unit. ||

Improvement through Collaboration |||||||| Related Lessons: Discovering the Author Telling the Digital Story || 4A7b: Use various information retrieval sources (traditional and/or electronic) to obtain information on a self-selected and/or given topic. Maryland Technology Literacy Standards for Students: 3B1b: Use technology tools to exchange ideas with individuals or groups outside of the school community || 2. Communication and Collaboration 3. Research and Information Fluency 4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making Instructional Objectives: __Unit:__ We will create a movie in order to explain how one author’s life influenced his or her writing. __Lesson:__ We will collaborate with other students in order to extend our knowledge of chosen author. || Confer with other district eighth grades teachers to set expectations for collaboration. Set up author blogs as necessary; share with other teachers. Follow blogs. || 10 minutes |||||||||||| Warm-up: Pair up with your partner. Retrieve your organizer from your folder and review the sites you have found for your author. Rate your sites by usefulness. (If you are using an electronic organizer, cut and paste to put your sites in order by usefulness. If you are using a paper organizer, number your sites.) || //Language of Literature// anthology, computer with projector, computer for each student pair, author biographies from media center ||
 * = Daily Lesson GAME Plan 2 (Week 6) = ||
 * Lesson Title:
 * Grade Level: 8 |||||||| Unit: Who and Why? ||
 * == GOALS == ||
 * Content Standards: Maryland State Curriculum
 * ISTE NETS-S
 * == ACTION == ||
 * Before-Class Preparation:
 * During Class ||
 * Time |||||||||||| Instructional Activities || Materials and Resources ||
 * __ Day 1 __
 * 10 minutes |||||||||||| Open discussion on progress so far. Explain to students that today they will continue their in-class research but will also take the first step in collaborating with eighth grade classes at other county middle schools: at the end of class, they will post their top two sites to a blog. Over the next few days, we will review the resources recommended by other students. We continue our collaboration by responding to other students, providing feedback and sharing resources.

Model how to access the blogs they will use. (Blog links are housed at My Documents/S drive/Sell/8th/Author Blogs.)

Students will follow the links to find the list of blogs. They should find their author and double click to open the blog they will use.

Post on overhead a reminder of the days goals and procedures; remind students to note time remaining before they will need to complete their exit slip. While students are working, hand out copies of the evaluation rubric for blog work. ||^  || 10 minutes |||||||||||| Warm-up: Take a Procedures/Goal sheet from the desk by the door. Read it as your computer logs on. · Procedure: Check your author blog; read any posts you find there from students at other schools. · Procedure: Follow the links and make notes about your reactions. (Can I use this blog? Is it reliable? Does it provide information I haven’t encountered yet?) · Procedure: Use your notes to write a response to posts from other schools. · Goal: Respond to at least two non-STMS blog-mates with helpful comments and/or suggestions. Discuss warm-up; answer questions. || //Language of Literature// anthology, computer with projector, computer for each student pair, author biographies from media center || 10 minutes |||||||||||| Warm-up: Log on to the network. Today is the final day for in-class research and blog responses. Check your blog to see what your blog-mates have posted. Continue the conversation as needed. Discuss warm-up; answer questions. || //Language of Literature// anthology, computer with projector, computer for each student pair, author biographies from media center || Informal evaluation through observation and questioning
 * 20 minutes |||||||||||| Students will continue research, adding to the organizer they began on the first day of the unit. ||^  ||
 * 10 minutes |||||||||||| Daily wrap-up: Answer questions and remind students of next steps; students will complete exit slip. ||^  ||
 * __ Day 2 __
 * 40 minutes |||||||||||| Students will work on blogs and continue research as time allows. ||^  ||
 * __ Day 3 __
 * __ 40 minutes __ |||||||||||| Students will work on blogs and continue research, adding to the organizer they began on the first day of the unit. ||^  ||
 * Note: Although this lesson appears to occur over three consecutive days, these days may need to be spread out over a short period of time to allow blog-mates at other schools time to post their own links and responses. The intervening days would be appropriate times for reviewing print material, writing lessons, citation review, or lessons on Web sites evaluation. ||
 * == MONITOR == ||
 * Ongoing Assessment(s):

Accommodations and Extensions: Provide specific accommodation as indicated by IEPs; direct ELL students to use Google Translator; encourage GT students to search for the author’s blog or Amazon.com page for additional information.

Back-Up Plan: should we experience Internet problems, I will substitute one of the related lesson listed above (“Note”). ||
 * == EVALUATION == ||
 * __Day 1:__ Students will post two links about their author to the appropriate blog.

__Day 3:__ Students will respond to posts made by blog-mates.

Evaluation will be based upon the appropriateness of blog posts and responses; see rubric that follows. || || ** 2 **  ||||  ** 1 **  ||
 * || ** 4 **  ||||  ** 3 **
 * **// Blog posts //** || Posts exceed the required number.

Links are appropriate. |||| Posts meet the required number.

Links are appropriate. || Posts do not meet the required number.

Links are appropriate. |||| Posts do not meet the required number.

Links are not appropriate. ||
 * **// Blog responses //** || Posts exceed the required number.

Reponses are exceptionally helpful. |||| Posts meet the required number.

Reponses are helpful. || Posts do not meet the required number.

Reponses are helpful. |||| Posts do not meet the required number.

Reponses are not particularly helpful. || |||| 9-11 = B   ||  6-8 = C  ||||   £ 5 = Re-do and resubmit. ||
 * **// Mechanics //** || No errors—exceptional clarity |||| Minor errors do not interfere with meaning. || Some errors in writing interfere with meaning. |||| Many errors in writing interfere with meaning. ||
 * **//Grade//** || 12 = A

Discovering the Author |||| Related Lessons: Improvement through Collaboration Telling the Digital Story || 1E1a: Critically listen to, read, and discuss texts representing diversity in content, culture, authorship, and perspective, including areas such as race, gender, disability, religion, and socio-economic background. 4A7a: Identify, evaluate, and use appropriate sources of information on a self-selected and/or given topic. 4A7b: Use various information retrieval sources (traditional and/or electronic) to obtain information on a self-selected and/or given topic. 4A7c: Use a systematic process for recording, documenting, and organizing this information || 3. Research and Information Fluency 4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making Instructional Objectives: __Unit:__ We will create a movie in order to explain how one author’s life influenced his or her writing. __Lesson:__ We will conduct research in order to learn about a chosen author’s life. || Create template for organizer Locate online resources Create a project web site with objectives, explanation of process, and resources Check out author biographies from media center; print additional biographical material from Internet Create movie about Poe’s life || 10 minutes |||| Warm-up: How do you choose topics for your writing? Think about a story you have read this year, either in-class or independently. (Browse through your anthology’s table of contents if your brain needs a reminder.) What might have inspired the author to write about the topic?
 * = Daily Lesson GAME Plan 1 (Week 5) = ||
 * Lesson Title:
 * Grade Level: 8 |||| Unit: Who and Why? ||
 * == GOALS == ||
 * Content Standards: Maryland State Curriculum
 * ISTE NETS-S
 * == ACTION == ||
 * Before-Class Preparation:
 * During Class ||
 * Time |||| Instructional Activities || Materials and Resources ||
 * __ Day 1 __

Students will share responses. Encourage students to think about the fact that writing does not occur in a vacuum; outside events constantly influence what and how authors write. || //Language of Literature// anthology, computer with projector, computer for each student pair, author biographies from media center ||
 * 15 minutes |||| Show a short, teacher-created movie about E.A Poe’s life. (This will provide a model for the first section of the digital story that students will create in lesson three.) Lead discussion about how the events of the author’s life influenced his writing.

Give students a brief overview of the unit; explain that by the end of the third lesson they will be the expert on their author, able to demonstrate how life experiences affected his or her writing. Pair students and direct them to the unit web site where they will read the timeline that details the goals for each day, the lesson objective, and the process they will follow.

Students will copy unit due dates into their agenda books. Brainstorm possible sources for author information (A&E Biography, author web sites or blogs, Amazon author pages, fan pages, print biographies); remind students of the importance of verifying information found on the Internet. ||^  || 10 minutes |||| Warm-up: List one thing you learned about your author. List one question you are still trying to answer. Did you find any sites that might be useful to the whole class? Share. (List any helpful sites students mention on the board.) ||^  || Informal evaluation through observation and questioning
 * 15 minutes |||| Students will decide upon their author and begin locating sources of information. Students should use the organizer template to guide their research. ||^  ||
 * 10 minutes |||| Daily wrap-up: Answer questions and remind students of next steps; students will complete exit slip. ||^  ||
 * __ Day Two __
 * 30 minutes |||| Students will continue research, adding to the organizer they began on day one. ||^  ||
 * 10 minutes |||| Daily wrap-up: Answer questions and remind students of next steps; students will complete exit slip. ||^  ||
 * == MONITOR == ||
 * Ongoing Assessment(s):

Accommodations and Extensions: Provide specific accommodation as indicated by IEPs; students may use printed organizer rather than typing; direct ELL students to World Book Kids (simpler language) and Babel Fish (Web page translation); encourage GT students to locate primary sources (author interviews, magazine/newspaper articles, reviews)

Back-Up Plan: Students can conduct research using print biographies || __Day 2:__ Student pairs will put their organizers in the teacher drop box on the common drive. (This is preliminary work, not a finished product. Students will be assessed on the relevance of the material they have located.) ||
 * == EVALUATION == ||
 * __Day 1:__ Exit slip: Students will list their chosen author, why they chose him or her, and two Web sites they found that look promising.