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__Final Reflection__ __//Reflecton on completed GAME plan://__ Throughoutthis course I have become very familiar with using the GAME plan for my ownlessons. (Cennamo, 2009) I also believethat this type of plan can be used easily with my students as well. I have gained a lot of knowledge with how touse this type of learning tool, and have found many ways to integrate it intodifferent content areas and projects. Ithink that having the acronym GAME makes it very easy for students to remembertoo. I am excited to use this particularGAME plan that I have developed for use in the English-Language Artscurriculum. Dr. Peggy Ertmer said thatone of the hardest parts about using Project-Based-Learning is coming up withthe guiding question. (Laureate Education Inc., 2009) I agree with this statement; however I feel that once theoriginal guiding question has been selected the project starts to formnaturally. At least it did for this one,and I hope that others in the future follow suit! AsI have become more and more familiar with the GAME plan format throughout thepast several weeks, I have also learned many ways to utilize technologythroughout each unit. Two tools that Ihave found to be very helpful and adaptable are the use of classroom blogs andwikis. These are both ways to keeponline journals of what the students are doing. Both of these tools can be used throughout the course of a project tohelp students share their ideas with their classmates and get feedback in anorganized manner. It is also another wayto share what they are doing and their process for accomplishing theirgoals. I really like the idea of usingblogs and wikis on a regular basis as we work through projects. Requiring students to record what they havedone throughout their project and how they have contributed to the group givesthem more accountability. I am also afirm believer in teaching students how to think and problem solve, working onpractice worksheets and in workbooks all the time just doesn’t provide them thatopportunity. I have learned that byhanding over some of the responsibility, the creativity, and the learning goalsto the students makes them much for connected to their learning. AsI worked on my own GAME plan lessons throughout the weeks I received some greatfeedback from my peers that helped me to revise my plan as I went. I hope that my students will also benefitfrom peer feedback the way that I did. My peers helped me to think through my plan carefully and see otheroptions or ideas that might also work for me. Not only did they help me with the creative aspect of my project, butthey helped me when I needed technical assistance too. This is something that I appreciatedthroughout my work efforts, and something that my students will benefit from aswell. I think it also helps students tofeel helpful and important when they can give feedback to a peer and that peerreally likes their idea and tries it! Sothere are a lot of opportunities for creative thinking, content learning,troubleshooting problems, giving feedback and guidance, as well as gettingfeedback and guidance.

__//Reflection on Instructional Practice://__ Throughoutthis course I have found numerous ways to integrate technology into meaningfullearning. There will be an immediateimpact on my instructional practice as the school year begins in the next fewweeks. I just had an interactivewhiteboard installed in my classroom at the end of last year, and I plan toutilize it frequently with my students. My goal is to start familiarizing my students with researching on adaily basis. Just as simple as findingthe answer to a question that a student asks, my students will start to realizethe correct way to research, and find specific information. I will also be introducing my students to ourclassroom blog at the beginning of the year and encouraging them to contributeand communicate with their teacher and peers through this tool. Agoal that I have set for myself is to work on a Problem-Based-Learning projectfor each quarter. I will come up with aguiding question that relates to another content area (math, English-Languagearts, science, or social studies) to engage students in self-directed learningusing the GAME plan format. I will bedoing these projects during our scheduled technology time, which means I willbe rotating between 3 classes with students all working on projects. This will take a lot of planning,preparation, and organization on my part, but I am confident it will be wellworth it. I am also excited to findways to collaborate with other classrooms and students using social networkingtools. I have already started workingwith ePals and finding other classes that would be interested in doing aproject with us. I know my students willbe excited to utilize email and talk to students in another state or anothercountry. As far as digitalstorytelling goes, there are limitless possibilities with this uniquetechnology tool. My students last year gota small glimpse into the world of Voice Thread, and loved it! They really jumped at the chance to sharetheir thoughts and ideas without having to worry about spelling, handwriting,and punctuation. They also loved seeingeach other’s work and being able to comment on their classmates projects. I would like to continue utilizing VoiceThread as a way to use digital storytelling in the classroom. Power Point is another option that mystudents have used in the past. At thispoint I want to try and stick to these two methods for digital storytelling sothat I can get more experience and expertise with these specific programs. Once I feel more comfortable with these Iwill definitely venture out and try other programs as well. Overall, I know thatusing Problem-Based Learning in my classroom will change the way that mystudents think. They have been programmedto follow directions and do what they are told, but they need to learn how tothink on their own. Taking more of afacilitator role in the classroom is sometimes hard for teachers to do. It is hard to hand over the reins sometimes andlet students make their own mistakes. However, it is so beneficial to the students to be able to learn in sucha free and open way. It changes theirperspective on school, on technology, and on their desire to learn newthings. Some students naturally havethat urge to learn more and more at school, but many are not so self-motivated. Using technology grabs their attention andkeeps them more focused on their goals, as well as teaches them important 21stcentury life skills.

Cennamo,K., Ross, J. D., & Ertmer, P. A. (2009). //Technology integration formeaningful classroom use: a standards-based approach//. Belmont, Calif.:Wadsworth.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program seven. Spotlight on technology: Problem-based learning, Part 1. [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD:Author

**__ GAME Plan (part 3) __** **__ Lesson Title: __**** The Dangerous Life of a ___ (DigitalStorytelling)__ **
 * Related Lessons: **__** sequencing events, uploading digitalpictures, using Voice Thread **__
 * Grade Level **__** : Third Grade **__
 * Unit: **__** Endangered Animals **__

__** GOALS: **__

ISTE Goals: __ __ NC English-Language Arts Standards: __ __ InstructionalObjectives: __ Students will create a digital story about theendangered animal that they have been researching. They will be creating this digital story infirst-person as if they are the animal. Students will be highlighting important events in the animals’ life, aswell as dangers to this animal. Studentswill use all of the information and research that they have found throughoutthis unit to prepare this final product.
 * 1) Students demonstratecreative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products andprocesses using technology. Students:apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, or products; create originalworks as a means of personal or group expression.
 * 2) Students use digitalmedia and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at adistance, to support individual learning and contribute to learning of others.Students: interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employinga variety of digital environments and media; Students communicate informationand ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media andformats.
 * 1) Respond to fiction,nonfiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluativeprocesses by: considering main character's point of view, participating increative interpretations, reflecting on learning, gaining new insights, andidentifying areas for further study.
 * 2) Conduct research for assigned and self-selected projects (withassistance) from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts,artifacts, people, libraries, databases, computer networks).
 * 3) Use oral and writtenlanguage to: present information in a sequenced, logical manner, discuss, shareinformation and ideas, recount or narrate, report information on a topic, andexplain own learning.

__ Before Class Preparation: __ Students will have already been introduced to a Voice Thread in previousactivities, and therefore have the ability to record their own voices whileworking with a partner. They have doneextensive research on their animals and are coming into this activity with avast knowledge of their animal and the animals’ experiences.
 * ACTION: **

__ During Class: __

(classroom) || Students will use their storyboard template to tell the story: The Dangerous Life of a ___ (their endangered animal). Students will sketch what pictures they want to use, and will write a small caption for each picture. Students may have 5-7 pictures in their story.__ || Storyboard template for each group, group members, pencils || (computer lab) || Now that groups have their written storyboard ready, they will take that with them to the computer lab. In the computer lab students will use their hard copy to help them search for images that they want to use in their digital story. They will be collecting all the images that they need for their Voice Thread story and saving those to a file on their computer. As students collect their pictures, they will also be writing their script for their Digital Story. || Each group’s written storyboard, computer lab, internet access, paper, clipboards, pencils ||
 * ** Time ** ||  ** Instructional Activity **  ||  ** Materials and Resources **  ||
 * 25 min. (classroom) || Teacher will guide students to create a storyboard to re-tell a story that they know well. Teacher will brainstorm with students how to pick 5-7 main events from the story that they can “capture” with a picture. Then to sketch the picture into the storyboard format, and write a small caption. || Interactive whiteboard, storyboard document to be pulled up on white board, markers, a familiar story book. ||
 * 35 min.
 * 45 min.
 * 45 min. (computer lab) || Students will now be creating their Voice Thread digital story. They will bring with them their storyboard, and their script. Students will upload the pictures that they have chosen, and record their voices to create a digital story about the life of their animal. || Microphones, computer lab, internet access, storyboards, scripts, pencils ||
 * 140 min. (20 min. presentations from 7 groups- done in the classroom) || This is the final product of this unit about Endangered Animals. After students have created their Voice Thread, they will be presenting their entire projects to the class. Students will be given the opportunity to share what their group has done to help their endangered animal, as well as share their Voice Thread that teaches their classmates more about the animal. They will also be given a short session for questions and answers from the presenting group. || Interactive whiteboard, internet access, and any other materials the group may use during their presentation. ||

Ongoing Assessments __ : Throughout this activity, I will be circulatingthe classroom helping with struggling groups, giving advice, suggestions, orencouragement to groups and individuals as they work on their digitalstory. I will be encouraging them toread fluently and with expression to really get their viewer to feel what lifeis like as their animal. Their completedVoice Thread project will be graded for content, creativeness, and fluency intheir reading. They will also beassessed on group work throughout the project and how each student contributedto the overall product. __
 * MONITOR: **

Accommodations and Extensions: __ Struggling studentswill be working with other participants in their group who can help them whenneeded. Some students may want time topractice their script through a whisper phone or in a separate room to focusinstead of practicing in the computer lab with all the other students. This will be provided if needed. Students who finish early may be asked tointerview each other and give us a special “behind the scenes” report fromtheir group. This activity would only beconducted if they are finished with the actual product and have extra time to work. __

Back-Up Plan: __ If the Voice Thread program is not working, students can also use PowerPoint to import their pictures as well as their audio recordings. If the microphones aren’t working or aren’tavailable students could type their captions instead of recording them. __

__** EVALUATION: **__

Lesson Reflections and Notes: __Thisis a new project for me, and since I have not completed it with a full classyet I don’t have any reflections quite yet. I am excited to give my students the opportunity to learn in such acreative and open-ended way. I hope tosee lots of great group work and students learning a lot from each other.__

__** GOALS: **__ ISTE Goals: __ __ NC Language Arts Standards: __ 1. Use word referencematerials (e.g., dictionary, glossary) to confirm decoding skills, verifyspelling, and extend meanings of words. 2. Conduct research for assigned and self-selected projects (withassistance) from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts,artifacts, people, libraries, databases, computer networks). 3. Identify (with assistance) the purpose,the audience, and the appropriate form for the oral or written task. 4. Produce work that follows the conventions of particular genres (e.g.,personal narrative, short report, friendly letter, directions andinstructions). __ Instructional Objectives: __ Students willresearch a person of interest who could help them with their project. They will be searching for people ororganizations that could help them with their project. They may be looking for an expert who can helpexplain something to them, a person in their community that could help them tofollow through with their plan, or even someone from an organization that theyjust want to share their project with. Once students have found the person they want to communicate with, theywill be planning, writing, and emailing a business letter to that person inhopes of a response. __ Before Class Preparation: __ Students have beenresearching animals and picked an animal to focus on helping. They have also come up with their own projectabout what they can do to help an endangered animal. Some groups may have decided that they willdo a fundraiser to raise money for a non-profit organization. Some may have decided to make some kind ofadvertisements about what the community can do to help their endangeredanimal. Others may be trying to buildsomething that they think will benefit their animal. __ During Class: __ **MONITOR:** //__ Ongoing Assessments __//__ : __ During this activity Iwill be continuously assessing students in how they are working as a team andcooperating. They know that during this project they will be giving themselvesa daily grade, and also reporting to their journal as to what they accomplishedeach day. Hopefully that will help students to be more responsible with theirtime. During the computer lab time I will also be constantly checking-in withstudents on how they are using their letter formats, making use of their WordProcessor tools (spell check, dictionary, thesaurus), and basic formatting.Students will also receive a score on their final letter. They will be given arubric before the letter-writing activity begins. The letter will be graded oncontent, conventions, and formatting. It is important for each group member towork together on their letter, and especially to look over it together at theend because the final letter will be scored for each group member's grade. //__ Accommodations and Extensions: __// Students who may finishearly will have the opportunity to add a picture to their letter. They willalso have more time to do extra research, or help to mentor other students whoare having trouble. As students are working with partners for this activity,there will not be any other accommodations for students needing extra help.Students needing extra help and guidance will be assisted by me or another peermentor. //__ Back-Up Plan: __// If for some reason wecannot get an email address for the person that a group wants to contact,letters can be typed, printed and mailed out. If we cannot use the computer labat all, students can re-write their letters in neatest handwriting and mail themout. __ Lessons, Reflections,and Notes __ : For this activity Icompleted it with 2 students that I have been tutoring this summer. We workedtogether to find a person they wanted to write to, and then they worked aspartners on writing their letter. They enjoyed using the computer, and told methat having the hard copy of the business letter template really helped them.They used it constantly as a guide; however did a nice job of making theirpoints clear and concise. They noticed lots of similarities and differences betweenthis format and a friendly letter format. I hope that this will go well with anentire class worth or students. My only concern is keeping all of the studentsfocused and working, instead of distracting each other.
 * GAME PLAN (PART 2) **
 * Lesson Title: **__** Asking for help **__
 * Related Lessons: **__** letter writing, persuasive writing techniques,editing your own writing, email etiquette **__
 * Grade Level: **__** Third Grade **__
 * Unit: **__** Endangered Animals **__
 * 1) Students apply digitaltools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students: plan strategies to guide inquiry; Students: evaluate andselect information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness tospecific tasks.
 * 2) Students use digitalmedia and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at adistance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning ofothers. Students: interact, collaborate,and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digitalenvironments and media; students: communicate information and ideas effectivelyto multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
 * ACTION: **
 * ** Time ** || ** Instructional Activity ** || ** Materials and Resources ** ||
 * 5 min. (classroom) || Teacher will talk to students about their community and ways to get others involved in their project. Each group has a different idea of how they are going to help, and each group has a different goal in mind. However each group is going to write a letter to someone who they think could help them in their endeavors. || none ||
 * 15 min. (classroom) || Students will have a short brainstorming session about different options of who they could reach out to help with their project. They will jot down some ideas to bring with them to the computer lab. || Paper, pencil, teams ||
 * 20 min. (computer lab) || Students will go to the computer lab and try to do some research to find an email address and name for someone that they could write to ask for help with their project. They may choose to write someone from a non-profit organization, they may want to write to their mayor, or to the principal of the school, or someone else who they think would be interested in helping with their project. Their goal for this time period is to come back with a name, and email address for someone in their community. || Computer lab, internet access, brainstorming paper, pencils ||
 * 20 min. (classroom) || Teacher will give direct instruction on how to write a business letter. Students will receive a sample template to use when they are ready to start writing their own letter. Students are familiar with the format used for friendly letters, and will be comparing and contrasting the two formats throughout this lesson. || Interactive whiteboard, sample business letter, template (hard copies for each group) ||
 * 40 min. (classroom) || Students will work together in their groups to write a business letter to the person they have chosen to ask for help from. They have already brainstormed what they are asking for and their purpose for writing. Now they will be working together to write a hard copy of their business letter making their points clear and concise. || brainstorm sheet, lined paper, sample business letter template, group members, ||
 * 40 min. (computer lab) || Now that students have a written copy of their business letter they will be going to the computer lab to type it up and email it to the person they have chosen. Students will be working on this project in groups of 4. So during this computer lab time, 2 people will work together at a time to type up the letter in the correct format. While those 2 are working on the letter, the other 2 in the group will be working on researching more for their cause. Halfway through, we will switch so that all members of the group get a chance to do both activities. All groups will reconvene at the end to review and edit their letter together. They will all be working together through the process of copying and pasting their letter into the email, and sending the email. || written copy of letter, group members, computer lab ||
 * EVALUATION: **

** __GAME PLAN (part 1)__ ** ** __Lesson Title:__ What can we do to protect endangered animals? **   **__ Related Lessons: __**** comprehension strategies,formal letter writing, author's writing purpose, using digital tools ** **__ Grade Level: __**** Third Grade ** **__ Unit: __**** Endangered Animals **
 * GOALS: **

__ I ____ STE Goals: __ __NC Mathematics Standards**:**__ __ InstructionalObjectives: __ Students will beplanning a project that will help endangered animals. They will first be choosing an endangeredanimal to focus their project on. Thenthey will research ways to help that endangered animal. Students may choose to advertise ways to helpsave their animal. They may decide on aproject that will help them raise money for a non-profit organization, or theymay come up with another way to help their animal. Throughout this project, students will berequired to write a letter to a professional, and also to create a digitalstory about their animal. However, whateach team decides to do to help that animal will vary between groups.
 * 1) Students apply digitaltools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students: plan strategies to guide inquiry; students: locate, organize,analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety ofsources and media.
 * 2) Students use criticalthinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems,and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students: identify and define authenticproblems and significant questions for investigation; students: use multipleprocesses and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.
 * 1) Develop flexibility insolving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation,estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil.
 * 2) Collect, organize, analyze, and display data(including circle graphs and tables) to solve problems.

//__ Before ClassPreparation: __// To begin this unit onhelping endangered animals, I will need to start by researching websites thatcould be beneficial to my students. I will look for various charities andnon-profit organizations that help endangered animals. I will also be lookingfor other projects that other kids have done before to help endangered animals.My hope is that by browsing some of these websites my students can get someideas for what they want to do to help. My instructions for my students will befor them to use these websites and resources to "spark ideas" fortheir own project with their group. Our goal is not to copy anyone else’sproject or ideas, but to use these resources as inspiration. As an educator I am trying to anticipate someof the ideas that my students may have, so that I can be prepared for thedirection that our projects may go. Some ideas that I think they might come upwith are: advertisements to save animals (posters, videos, postcards, etc.),raising money for a specific non-profit organization, or building some kind ofhome for a specific animal. I want each group to have the flexibility to decideon their own way to help and I want to be the facilitator to help make thathappen for them. However, not knowing exactly what they may choose to do makes thingsa little more difficult.
 * ACTION: **

//__ During Class __//// : //
 * ** Time ** || ** Instructional Activity ** || ** Resources and Materials ** ||
 * 30 min. (computer lab) || Students will be given a variety of websites to visit in order to come up with a plan on how they can help endangered animals. The websites will be given for each group to explore together. This will be time spent on researching, discussing, and deciding on a path to take for this project. || Group members, project journal (for jotting ideas) ||
 * 30 minutes (classroom) || Once students have done research and come up with their basic ideas, they will have to submit their group plan in writing. Students will be given a template to turn in before beginning their project. Students will be required to submit their goal, their intended outcome or result, materials needed, and steps to be taken. Once students have completed their template they will have a short meeting with me for their ideas to be approved, or for them to be given guidance and a chance to adjust some of their plans. || Project journal (with ideas), project template (to be completed), group members, pencils ||
 * TBD (teacher discretion) || Once students have come up with their plans, they will be breaking down their ultimate goal into smaller pieces. Each group will be working on slightly different ways to make a difference for endangered animals. These activities will be monitored by the teacher, and as they will all be quite different, they will require different amounts of time and different materials. || Materials and resources will differ by group ||


 * MONITOR: **
 * MONITOR: **

__ On-Going Assessments: __ As the differentgroups continue to work on their own projects, they will be checking in withthe teacher once a week to ask questions, monitor progress, and get any helpthat they need. Because this is an ongoing project, there will be requirementsto post to our class blog as a way to update other students on each group'sproject and what they are doing. Therefore groups will be able to read, giveadvice, and ask questions of their classmates and what they are doing. I havenever done a project quite like this before, so I will be learning from mystudents as they learn from me. __ Accommodations andExtensions: __ Careful considerationwill be given to the grouping of students for this project. I have decided togroup using a low/medium, medium/high strategy. I hope that this will help withthe lower students sliding by and the higher students carrying the group. Iwant some of my students who don't normally jump at the opportunity to be aleader, to get this chance during this fun project. My students with learningdisabilities will be carefully partnered in a group where they will be guided,instead of someone trying to do their work for them. Each student will bekeeping track of their own efforts in their journal. Each day that we work onthese projects, we will take about 5 minutes at the end to write in ourjournals about what each individual accomplished that day. This will help eachstudent to notice when they are focused and working with their group well, andwhen they may have wasted time or been a "distracter". __ Lesson Reflection andNotes: __ This is a big projectto attempt with a class of 28 students. For myself I will try to write notes in a journal as well, and will alsobe participating with the class in their class blog. I hope to gain a lot of insights from mystudents and also see their creativity shine through. I also look forward to seeing some ideas thatthey come up with that I hadn’t thought of myself. Top of Form
 * EVALUATION: **