Tag: 20-A13

For my final project I decided to create a kindergarten lesson on needs vs wants. I started with the learning target: K.4 Distinguish between personal wants and needs. This website uses many different technology tools to help students better understand the material. Students are given information on wants and needs in the forms of text and videos and are asked to reiterate the information they learn using different platforms. The use of the first technology, a quiz on google slides, allows for the teacher to see if the students understand the material from the video. This section is a pre-assessment as the actual teaching of the material does not come until the next page. Students are given multiple opportunities to share their thinking with the teacher and, in one occasion, the class. The use of multiple assessments and activities allows the teacher to have a better understanding of where each student is individually and give individualized feedback.

I chose to use Google Sites as my main technology tool and platform because I believe it is an easy tool to use that allows for me to structure my content in any way I want. When creating my lesson I strived to make it easily accessible and easy to navigate as I am teaching younger students. This platform can allows for content to be broken up into pages, so students do not get too overwhelmed with the amount of information being presented and can take their time doing the assigned activities. In addition to using Google Sites I used Google Slides, Google Forms, and Padlet to create instructional activities and assessments to aid the information being presented. The use of Padlet gives students who may need a little more assistance a chance to see examples of their classmates’ work and encourages all students to participate in discussions by having a shoutout section. My goal from using these tools and platform is that students learn the material in an easier, and hopefully more accessible, way than with just traditional teaching.

Featured Image by Mohamed Hassan on Pixabay

An important part of teaching is creating a positive classroom environment where students can feel safe taking risks, feel that their opinions are respected, and that they are a valued member of the community. In order to do this, teachers must work to be culturally responsive in everything they do. For my final project, I created a website designed to provide a platform for students to not only learn about “culture” as a concept, but dive deeper into their own culture, as well as learn about their classmates’ cultures and what makes them all unique. The goal of this lesson is to encourage a culturally responsive classroom: one where the teachers and the students have the ability to know and understand one another on a deep level in order to best communicate and relate, and create a safe and supportive classroom environment.

This website was designed for a 4th grade class, and is comprised of a series of activities which the students will work on at home, as well as in class. It could be used at any point in the year, but my idea would be to use it at the beginning of the year (ideally some time within the first month of school) as a way to build community and form relationships that will serve the teacher and the students for the rest of the year. This website will help the teacher to better understand their students, what makes them unique and how they view the world, therefore allowing them to teach in the most effective and relevant way to each student. It allows them to individualize instruction and encourages empathy for each student. It will also allow the students to get to know one another on a deeper level, and will encourage an environment of peer-to-peer support and connection, as well as immense socio-emotional development.

I used Google Sites because I felt that it best lended itself to the variety of activities that I was planning on having the students accomplish, and it allowed me to collect various other technology resources into one organized space. Using a website also encouraged a sense of sharing that I feel is integral to this unit. I wanted students to be able to read one another’s stories and get to know each other on a deeper level, and having everyone’s culture in a shared space allows them to do this. The students can access the website from anywhere, allowing them to not only share their stories with their peers, but with their families as well. Doing this project with technology also allowed me to create a diverse set of activities that would engage all learners. For example, using Flipgrid as a way to have students communicate their feelings about the project allows those students who may struggle with communicating their ideas in writing to flourish and still share their story. This kind of diversification is what the project is hoping to encourage, and promote. By using a website, students have the chance to connect and share their stories in a way that encourages diverse communication of ideas amongst peers in an authentic and sincere way.

Featured Image by Prawny from Pixabay

For my final project, I created a lesson using Google Sites. This lesson is for second grade and has students compare and contrast fairytales by specifically looking at the character of the beast. It addresses the following two standards: 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7

Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.9

Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.

The use of technology in this lesson enhances the learning goals by providing a space for students to visually compare and contrast animals that are seen as “beasts.” Simply saying the word “beast” or “serpent” will conjure a different image for different students based on their experiences and the context that they have heard those terms used in. By searching each of those words and sharing the images I found, the class has a visual common ground to discuss from. Whether they might classify those animals as beasts or not, seeing that someone linked the concept of “beast” to that animal can provide space for discussion and learning about other people’s understandings and how that might influence the creation of a character in a fairytale. 

I chose to use Google Sites as my platform for this lesson because it allowed for the necessary content to be organized. All the necessary resources and instructions for teaching this lesson can be found on the website. The website itself is designed as the lesson and the lesson plan with everything the teacher needs visible on the website or accessible via hyperlinks and embedded video. I created this website with the idea that I would teach with it and use the website as an instructional aid. However, this website could easily be transformed into an online learning experience for students to complete at home should there be inclement weather conditions or if I were teaching right now in this time of quarantine. The use of Google Sites also made it very easy to link my additional resources (websites, Google Docs, Google Slides, and EdPuzzle). In addition to the practicality of Google Sites, incorporating Google Slides as an additional technology piece allows for a fun and different way for students to be creative in designing a creature to play the “beast” in their own version of the story. At the same time, I would leave open the option to draw their beast by hand (and then I would help them upload a picture) so that my students can create and share their beast character in the way best suited to them!