Keystone Project

LESSON PLAN

Name: Jiaye Yao

Subject: English Language Arts
Lesson Title: Who Am I?

Lesson Overview:
In this lesson, students will use the website of www.starfall.com to explore who they are. Through this game of “who am I”, students will master vocabularies to describe themselves and their living environment. This lesson will be taught to students are pre-k grade. The majority of students can understand and speak English. Several of them have difficulties in understanding and speaking English.  

Purpose of Lesson:
Students will learn new vocabularies and learn to describe themselves. Students will also learn new literacies of the Internet and computer.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.10
Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

New York State Learning Standards

Technology

4. Understands the operation of technology systems.

a) Uses input and output devices to successfully operate technology systems (e.g., keyboard, monitor, printer, vending machine).

5. Uses the knowledge of technology to increase learning.

c) Uses technology tools independently (e.g., instructional media games, digital cameras).

English Language Art and Literacy

1.     With guidance and support, participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about pre- kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and large groups.

a) Engage in agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).

b) Engage in extended conversations. c) Communicate with individuals from different cultural backgrounds.

4.  Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on pre-kindergarten reading and content.

a) Identify new meanings for familiar words and apply them accurately (e.g., knowing duck is a bird and learning the verb to duck).

ISTE Standards

2. Communication and collaboration Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media

b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and format

c. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media

Objectives:
1) Students will be able to describe themselves using appropriate words.

2) Students will be able to use computers to learn vocabularies and sentences.

Materials:

- Internet access

- Computers

- www.starfall.com

Anticipatory Set:
The instructor will show students how to use the game “Who Am I” on the starfall website. After demonstration, students will play in groups to describe who they are using appropriate vocabularies.

Procedure:

1. The instructor will group students into groups of two or three based on their language proficiency.

2.     The instructor will demonstrate how to use the computer and the website of starfall to play the interactive game of “Who Am I”.

3.     The students will be asked to explore the game by themselves in their groups.

4.     The instructor will offer supports whenever necessary

5.     The students will be selected to present who they are using the game.

6.     The students will be assessed by tests that evaluate their understanding and writing of vocabularies learnt in the game.

Closure
After all students have explored the game thoroughly, the instructor will pick two to three students to present using the game about who they are.  

Differentiated Instruction:
Students will be divided into groups based on their language proficiency and their technique ability. Students will be offered supports by others who are more advanced in language or technique. The instructor will also walk around to solve the problems from students and give them hand-on guidance.

Check for Understanding
During instructor’s demonstration of how to play the game, the instructor will ask students if they understand. During the hands-on practice by students, instructors will go around to check their progress and offer helps accordingly.

Independent Work:
The students will be tested on the vocabularies learnt in the game about “who they are” on their own.

Evaluation
Students will be graded using the rubric designed by the instructor in which they will be assessed by the use of technology and the master of vocabularies.

Implementation Report

Jiaye Yao

1. The outcomes of the implementation: student learning outcomes and technical procedure outcomes.

Nearly all students can follow the vocabulary demonstrated in the lesson. Nearly all students can describe their identity in the website of starfall with the theme of “All About Me”. Most of them are able to describe their themselves, their pet, body, the bathroom, kitchen and living room. Several students need more help because of their English language deficiency or their inability in using computer, or both. These several students need more one-to-one support.

2. The adjustments you had made to accommodate students with special needs.

In order to accommodate students with special needs, students were paired up on their language proficiency and technical proficiency. Those who are better at English language or technical skills are requested to demonstrate and explain to those who need help. Students with extreme English language deficiency are allowed to finish part of the online word game.

3. The adjustments you had made for the effectiveness of classroom management.

To effectively manage the classroom, the students were paired up so that they could help each other. I could walk around to see if any group or any student need further help from me. From time to time, I also asked how they perform and how they feel for the wording game. When they show they need help, I facilitated them with explaining the English vocabulary or showing them how to handle the website.

4. The questions asked by the students.

Some students asked how to let the game speak the words so that they can imitate and learn vocabularies. Some students asked what is the meaning of the words show on the game.

5. The problems students had encountered during the implementation process.

There are not so many problems encouraged during the implementation process. The lesson takes a bit longer than I expected that I have to cut some parts to make it fit the length. In addition, some students have problems in using the game for reading. But they learnt after I show them once.

6. The decision(s) you had to make on the spot to make the implementation easier and smooth.

One decision is that I have to cut some part of the lesson because it exceed the time requirement. Another is to pair students up so that I will have more time to walk around and help them solve the problems.

7. The feedback from the students.

The general feedback was positive. Students enjoy using the technology to describe who they are. This is interesting for them to learn vocabularies and sentences and interesting for them to learn new technology. They also enjoyed grouping up so that they can help each other.

8. The timeframe (was there enough time as you planned for).

The timeframe is a bit short for what I have planned for. Because in the beginning I need to solve problems of grouping up, it took some time. The description of living room has to be cut down.

9. What you learned from the implementation including proposed changes for future lessons?

Through this implementation, I learned that it is important to integrate technology into language art teaching. This is much more engaging and interesting than teaching vocabularies and sentences using traditional print literacies. It is more vivid and interactive. For future lessons, I would consider grouping students based on their proficiency in language and technology so that they can help and communicate with each other.

          Reflection

  The traditional print literacy is widely applied in education. It is the foundation for reading and writing in language art. Through reading the vocabularies and short stories on the printing materials, students gain their basic understanding of the world and gain knowledge about English language. This is also the most commonly used teaching pedagogies in the pre-k education. Graphic books are very attractive for children at this age because of their colorfulness.

            In addition, the traditional print literacy is also the most cost-effective way in teaching considering the teaching environment in various schools. Not every school is equipped with computers and the Internet. Not every teacher is fluent in using some new literacies. Even if in school the new literacies are readily available, it does not necessarily mean that students have similar accessibility to new literacies at home. Using traditional print literacies can cover nearly all students from various socio-economic status and schools of various financial state.

            But this is not to say that the new literacies are not important. On the contrast, it is becoming more and more essential component in education. New literacies can help students learn life lessons that can be used throughout their life. For example, the use of computer and the Internet can benefit their future in the workplace. In addition, new literacies can also bring more fun for students so that they can engage better and learn better. Using new literacies like video games or blogs, students can have fresh and unique interaction with the outside world. The visual aids in the video games and the first-person involvement can greatly enhance the learning effectives of students. Via blogs, students can learn from each other through sharing their brainstorming. This is helpful for innovation and critical thinking construction. 

Interview

 During this interview, it is reflected by the language arts teacher that new literacies are important in education. The new literacies can greatly improve the learning outcomes of students because such new literacies give them a sense of autonomy and more engagement. Through the engagement, students can learn how to think in a critical and innovative way.

For students at pre-k level, the language art teacher states that it is sometimes difficult to utilize too many new literacies because of their cognitive development level. However, visual aids, such as animation, YouTube videos, can be of great forms of new literacies in helping them during teaching. Children at this age really like animation since it is more interesting as compared to traditional print literacies. The sounds, images and vivid stories in the animation bring children into a complete new world. This is the world where children at this age really interested in. As such, it also becomes a good new literacy in helping them learn better.

According to him, the most commonly used new literacies in his classroom is the video and animation. Some of them are from the Internet. Most of them are about five to ten minutes in length. It is found that children tend to show more engagement and focus when animations and videos are played. This differs from the scenario when reading textbooks that some students easily get distracted by the sounds around. It is a good way to guide students at pre-k level through new literacies in the classroom. More kinds of new literacies will be considered to be integrated in the teaching.