Valis FINAL Unit Plan 1

Information Literacy Unit Plan

Name: Kaitlyn Valis

A. Description of the Information Literacy Unit Plan

Language(s): Geometry

Topic(s) of Unit: M.C. Escher An Artist and a Mathematician

Proficiency Level(s): Honors or Regular Geometry

Grade Level(s): 9-11 Grades

Standards Integrated into the Unit Plan (not information literacy standards):

Student Content Standards (e.g., national, state, or district)

CCSS.Math.Content.HSG.CO.A.2: Represent transformations in the plane using, e.g., transparencies and

geometry software; describe transformations as functions that take points in the plane as inputs and give
other points as outputs. Compare transformations that preserve distance and angle to those that do not
(e.g., translation versus horizontal stretch) (Common Core Standards, 2014).

CCSS.Math.Content.HSG.CO.A.5: Given a geometric figure and a rotation, reflection, or translation, draw

the transformed figure using, e.g., graph paper, tracing paper, or geometry software. Specify a sequence
of transformations that will carry a given figure onto another (Common Core Standards, 2014).

Learning Objectives for 5-Day Unit:

Students will be able to identify rigid transformations including translations, rotations, and
reflections.
Students will be able to perform transformations on coordinate planes.
Students will be able to utilize information literacy skills to acquire information about the
personal and professional life of M.C. Escher.
Students will be able to present the information about M.C. Escher in a professional and
engaging way.

Information Literacy Objectives:

Students will decide on the option (essay, presentation, or art) for their M.C. Escher project and
determine what information/keywords are important to the research process.
Students will use the library resources and database search strategies to locate personal and
professional information and resources about M.C. Escher.
Students will evaluate the information they find and keep organized notes with relevant
information that is synthesized for presentation of the material.
Students will use the option they choose to present in a clear and professional way their
information, opinion, and/or argument regarding M.C. Escher.
Students will cite their sources using MLA citations including written information as well as
images of Eschers work.
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Students will reflect on the research process and evaluate their own research skills as well as
their presentation of the information.
(Iowa City Community School District, 1998)

Prerequisite Student Skills:

Students should have basic geometry knowledge regarding lines, angles, and shapes. It is
important when learning about the work of Escher to have a basic understanding of dimensions
and transformations.
Students will not need extensive knowledge of transformations or tessellations because the
teacher will be discussing that in class as a part of the unit.

Materials:

Databases to search
o Biography Reference Center
o JSTOR
o Oxford Art Online
Website Resources
o The Official M.C. Escher Website
o Tesselations.org
o ARTstor
Supporting Worksheets
o Search Strategies Worksheet
o Identifying Keywords
o Keyword Brainstorm (See supporting resources)
o Template for Resource and Research Notes (See supporting resources)
Possible Presentation Tools
o Prezi
o Glogster
o VoiceThread
Citation Tools
o EasyBib
o Noodle Tools

Brief Overview of Unit:

This unit on M.C. Escher is an opportunity for students to work on a cross-curricular activity that brings
together mathematical concepts and art. Students will learn that there are more similarities than
differences between the two disciplines. Students will be guided through and learn important research
strategies while learning about Eschers life and work. There is also an opportunity for students to
present their findings in a variety of formats including a presentation, an essay, or a piece of art.

Teacher To Teacher:
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This is a great unit to introduce students to the way that mathematics is integrated into every aspect of
life, including the arts. It is also a great opportunity for students to engage in the research process and
improve their information literacy skills in the math classroom. As in most information literacy activities
it is important to remember that students have a wide range of experiences and knowledge. It is
important to scaffold and guide students through the process by setting up structured checkpoints.

Procedures/Daily Activities

Day One

1. Introduction/Warm-up: Class will begin with a warm-up where students are given an opportunity
to share what they already know about transformation (reflections, rotations, translations, and
symmetry). Students will be given an opportunity to share in their own words and drawings.
Students will share their ideas with a group of 3-4 students and will come up with a quick way to
show/explain it to the rest of the class. Student can draw pictures, cut out shapes, etc. The
teacher should be walking around to ensure that they are describing the correct transformation.
At least one person in the group should have a general idea of what these are. Each group will
share with the class and the teacher will have an opportunity to clarify any misconceptions.

2. Direct Instruction: During this time the teacher will give direct instruction about transformations.
Students will take notes on the definitions as well as examples of each type of transformation.
Students will not only be able to identify the different transformations, but they will be
introduced to the coordinate representation for constructing transformations on a coordinate
plane. Also during this time the students will be introduced to the idea of tessellations and they
will be shown a few examples of tessellations, including those of M.C. Escher. The teacher will
walk the students through the process of creating their own tessellation. This will only be an
introduction so students will probably only have 3-4 figures traced and drawn by the end of
class. The Nibbling Method worksheet (see supporting resources) should be handed out and
used as a guide for the process of creating a tessellation.

3. Homework: Assigned and due next class, students will be to do a few practice problems involving
coordinate transformations. These will come in the form of a worksheet where students will be
transforming figures using the coordinate representation as well as the identifying the
coordinate representation using an image of the transformation. Transformation Homework
Worksheet

4. Ticket Out the Door: Students will be given three images on the board and they will have to
identify which is a translations, rotation, and reflection. Lastly, the will be asked to perform a
specific transformation on a figure on the coordinate plane also shown on the board.

Day Two

1. Recalling knowledge from class before: In class, students will do a short warm-up on the
concepts that were discussed the day before. Students will be asked to share what they learned
by drawing transformations using coordinate notations and identifying transformations from
images using coordinate notation.

2. Introduction of Project: Next the teacher will introduce the project and timeline. There are three
options to the project which will allow for students to choose what best fits their strengths.
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Students will learning differences can pick the options that best fits their learning needs.
Students will spend two days researching in the library and the final day will be for
presentations. See the prompts and rubrics for specific details about each of the options.
a. MC Escher Project Prompts (See supporting resources)
b. MC Escher Project Rubrics (See supporting resources)

3. Project Options: Students will take some time to brainstorm which option they would like to do
for their project. Remind students that each option has a research component and that they will
all be researching M.C. Escher and his work, but they will present their new knowledge in
different ways.

4. Information Seeking Strategies: Lastly, the teacher should discuss/review with students good
research strategies for finding and locating good, reliable information. This could be done with
the classroom teacher, or the teacher could seek out the help of the media specialist for
support. During this time the teacher should review with students finding print resources in the
library and electronic resources using databases available to the school. The teacher could even
ask the media specialist to create a LibGuide for the students with possible reliable sources to
begin their search with.
a. The resources and research databases below should be available to students. These can
either be included in a LibGuide or included on the teachers website

i. Databases to search
1. Biography Reference Center
2. JSTOR
3. Oxford Art Online
ii. Website Resources
1. The Official M.C. Escher Website
2. Tesselations.org
3. ARTstor

5. Brainstorming Search Keywords: Using what students already know about transformation,
tessellations, and Escher have students brainstorm in groups their possible key words that they
will use to search. Students groups should be coinciding with the option that they chose since
they will have slightly different focuses for their research. This would also be a good time to
teach students about Boolean operators and how they might be useful. These key words should
be written down and given to the teacher at the end of the class for review and to ensure that
students have these during the next class for research.
a. Use the resources below to help students organize their brainstorm of terms and
introduce Boolean operators. The graphic organizers and charts will be very helpful for
students with accommodations to help them organize their ideas and plan accordingly.

i. Search Strategies Worksheet

ii. Identifying Keywords
iii. Keyword Brainstorm (See supporting resources)

Day Three
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1. Students should meet in the library for class. If the library does not have a computer lab
attached with enough computers for each student then they will have to take turns using the
computer for electronic research.

2. Accessing Information: The day before students brainstormed possible keywords to use in search
as well as the Boolean operators. Now it is time to put them into action. Student should find a
variety of resources to use for their project. Students should start with the databases and sites
recommend on the teachers class website. The teacher should also suggest to students that
they find at least 5-8 resources assuming that some of them they will not actually use.

3. Documentation of Resources: While in the library students will also start a word documents with
notes on the resources that they find including reference numbers and links to websites that
they have found. The teacher should also encourage students to save files of articles in a folder
for organizational purposes.
a. Template for Resource and Research Notes (See supporting resources)

4. Ticket Out the Door: At the end of the class period students will be required to hand in or email
their notes/citations of the resources that they have found so far. Students should be made
aware of this at the beginning of class so that there can be accountability for the work that they
are doing. The teacher can keep track of the progress the students have made and give any
suggestions and feedback the next day.

Day Four

1. Students should meet in the library for class.

2. Use & Synthesis: At this point in the unit plan most students should probably have found a
variety of resources that they can use for their project. Now it is time to engage with the
materials. Depending on which option the students chose to do for their project would make a
difference for the type of information that they are extracting from the materials. If the student
is focusing on presenting the artistic work of Escher then they will be collecting a variety of
images (and their citations) and recording notes about the pieces, like when it was created and if
it can be included in a particular style or category of his work. If students are writing an essay
they should be focusing on finding examples of both his mathematical contributions and his
artistic contributions. They should also be looking for and pulling out different arguments for
whether he was a mathematician or an artist to support their own argument. Lastly, for the
tessellation piece students should focus on finding a brief overview of his biography and works,
but should focus mainly on the techniques that Escher and others have used to create pieces of
art using the tessellation technique.

3. Citations: Today students should also start creating their formal citation page using MLA 7 th ed
citation guidelines. Students can use NoodleTools and EasyBib for help with their citation page.

4. Ticket Out the Door: At the end of the class period students should be reminded that this was
the last day to work on the research in class. They should be reminded also of the resources that
are available to them outside of class (library, media specialist, LibGuide) and they should also be
reminded of the due date for their project. At the end of class students will be given a small
sheet of paper for them to plan and organize how they are going to spend the rest of their time
before the due date. Do they need to do more research? Do they simply need to synthesize the
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information to present? Do they still need to create the formal work cited page? A specific plan
should be created with dates included. This does not need to be turned in at the end of class,
but should be emailed to the teacher before midnight of that evening.

Day Five (maybe more than one day)

1. Day 5 will actually happen approximately 3-4 days from Day 4 to allow students time to complete
their presentations and art pieces at home. The class will continue with the next topics on the
syllabus but the teacher should be mindful of the amount of homework that is given, because
students will be completing their projects at home.

2. Presentations: On this day students will have an opportunity to present what they learned to the
rest of the class. Students who chose to complete the art piece will have their art displayed in
the hallway. Student who chose the essay option for the project will have the option of giving a
1-2 minute overview of the argument that they made, but this is not a requirement for the essay
option. Lastly, students who decided to create a presentation will be presenting their findings
using PowerPoint, Prezi, or another presentation tool. Depending on the number of students
who choose the presentation option this might actually take two days. Students presenting will
be encouraged to share their favorite works of Escher and explain why in their presentation to
have an aspect of individuality. Since all the presentations will be on the same person this could
be boring if they all focused and talked about his biography.
a. Prezi
b. Glogster
c. VoiceThread

3. Reflection: On the last day of presentations students will each receive a reflections
worksheet/rubric for them to take home and complete that will ask them to reflect on the
process and evaluate their own work. The teacher should look at these for discrepancies of
expectations and to make the lesson better in the future.

Student Assessment and Evaluation

The teacher should use the attached rubrics in the supporting resources to assess students work

B. Analysis of Information Literacy Lesson Plan

The activities in this lesson were purposefully chosen to develop students information literacy skills.
Each step of the process allowed students guidance from choosing their specific focus, to finding and
evaluating information, and lastly to the presentation of the information that they found. It is important
for students to understand the process in a structured environment so that they understand each step
and its importance in the process. The unit plan establishes activities and opportunities for students to
develop their understanding of transformations and tessellations, as well as their information literacy
skills.

First, I purposefully chose to spend the first two days of the lesson in the normal classroom because I
wanted to make sure that the students had the appropriate background knowledge to fully understand
the relevance of the project to Geometry class and to their lives outside of class. Understanding the
background information about transformations is key to understanding how M.C. Escher created many of
his art pieces and many of his contributions to the mathematical community. I also wanted to have the
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students full attention while I was explaining the project and requirement and giving them time to
decide and brainstorm about their options and possible search techniques. The library can be very
distracting sometimes because it is new and different, so I wanted to make sure that any questions were
answered ahead of time and that they had plenty of time to brainstorm before the process of
researching began.

Also, during the time outside of the library the teacher has an opportunity to discuss and work
through some information seeking strategies. I felt like it was important to cover this information
whether students have prior knowledge of these strategies or not. These skills need to be practiced and
reinforced every time students are searching for information using a variety of resources. During this
time it is important to discuss various search techniques as well as possible starting points for resources.
Also, the students are purposefully working on Boolean characters on Day 3 while in the library
because these are best learned in an environment where students are allowed to test out different
keywords and determine how useful different words might be. As students are finding information the
Boolean operators are helpful in narrowing or broadening the search. In addition, by having students
email the teacher their notes/citations at the end of Day 3 there is accountability for staying on task
while in the library and also the teacher can review the information that night and give the students
feedback about the information they found and how they are organizing it for use later. This is also a
great way for the teacher to check for reliability of resources and give feedback on this to the students.

Lastly, the presentation of the material is one of the most important aspects of this process. Being
able to communicate ideas and knowledge to others in a professional and clear way is a very important
skill for students to develop. Giving students time in class to begin to plan and organize how the
information will be presented is important so that students can ask for help and seek advice. Giving
students a few days on their own to work gives them ample time to bring their research and work
together in their choice of presentation platform. Students that choose the art piece need enough time
to create their art, those writing the paper need time to synthesize their argument, and those presenting
need time to organize their ideas in a visually appealing and informative way. The whole process is very
important to building information literacy skills in students and taking time to reflect on the process is
also key to students understanding. Encouraging students to think about what was helpful and what
wasnt is important to building their own unique skills and strategies to help them in their future.

This cross-curricular unit plan is very important and fits perfectly into the curriculum of the course
and the mission of my school. Transformations are a key topic that is covered in any Geometry course
and it helps students to understand how shapes and figures can be changed and adjusted. It also helps
to build students visual skills as well. Furthermore, information literacy skills should be skills that every
teacher is working to develop in their students; it is not only the role of the English department to do so.
This project fits right into the goals that I have for my students and the skills that I want them to have as
they leave my class.

In addition, this unit is very appropriate for the students that I teach and the environment in which I
teach. High school students must take ownership of their own learning and it is important that the role
of the teacher should be one of guidance and support for this project. Students need to figure out on
their own which strategies and techniques work best for them. Although the teacher needs some direct
instruction when it comes to information literacy skills, much of the process should be student driven.
This also allows students to work at their own pace and seek out as much or a little help as necessary.
Most of my students have resources at home to be able to finish any part of the process during the 3-4
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days of independent work time outside of class. This will also give those students doing the art piece
time to finish up their own tessellation and make it as artistic as they want.

The school environment that I teach in values the arts in every aspect of our students
education, so incorporating our work with transformations and a discussion and research about art and
M.C. Escher are perfect for exposing our students to a variety of experiences. My school also values the
unique characteristics and interest of each of our students. So although all students are researching the
same main topic, they are able to pick their specific focus that shows their own strength particularly in
the presentation style. This allows for differentiation and creates different opportunities for students to
succeed.

C. Reflection on Unit Lesson Plan

Your Learning about Information Literacy:

Information literacy has never been something that was on the forefront of my curriculum
development or instruction. As a math teacher I dont frequently have students research or write essays,
but this past year I incorporated a project that involved some research and presentation aspects. Before
this course and creating this unit plan I made a lot of assumptions about what my students already knew
and assumed that they already had many of these information literacy skills. Throughout the
development of this lesson plan I learned it is important for the teacher to guide each of the steps of this
process. Previously I did not give students time in class to complete research; I had them complete it all
at home or on their own time. This did not allow me an opportunity to guide the students and give them
feedback on the process. The product is not the goal in this lesson, the process they use to get there is
when meaningful learning happens.

Previously, with the help of the media specialist and some of my colleagues I was able to create
appropriate prompts, guidelines, and rubrics for the activity. The activity did have a reflections piece
where students were to evaluate themselves and their work. Another important aspect of the process
that I had incorporated before was the citation of resources. Although I required citation I did not give
much guidance or support for this process other than it had to be in MLA format. I was also very lenient
when grading this portion of the activity and did not emphasize the importance and seriousness of the
matter of citing their sources.

Incorporating knew ideas and strategies to our teaching can be scary sometimes, but it is
important to always be challenging ourselves. Some of the new strategies that I incorporated into this
unit were to give students enough time for choosing the direction that they were going to go with their
research. Allowing students the appropriate time to brainstorm ideas about how they would represent
their information and the focus of their project allows for reflection on their strengths and discernment
for how they can incorporate those strengths into the project. Also, allowing students time to brainstorm
possible keywords with their peers will allow students to be more prepared when they begin to use
library resources for research.

Finally, the structure and accountability of the process was new for me. Before I had left students
on their own in the research process and gave them no support or guidance throughout the process.
Other than a few reminders that they needed to be working on their project at home, I gave them no
help with managing their time with the activity. By requiring students to turn in their working notes and
bibliography I would be able to ensure that students were working on task in the library and help them
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to plan accordingly to finish the project by the due date. Also, by looking at students notes and sources I
would be able to give timely feedback that could help support them in the process. Again, allowing
opportunities for meaning learning through the process.

This unit is a stretch for me because I have never taken an entire class to the library for research
or guided students through the process of finding information, evaluating it, and presenting it in a
professional format. Like previously mentioned the only research project I did before gave students no
support throughout the process and only gave them feedback at the end in the form of a completed
rubric and grade. Managing students in the library as they work individually will be a new experience,
but I believe that I structured the unit and lessons in a way that supports on task behavior and learning.
Setting up guided opportunities for brainstorming, evaluating, and presenting make me involved in the
whole process which is a new experience for me.

The next time I do a lesson similar to this one, I would want to consider developing a project that
allows students to pick their own topic of study. For this unit although each student was choosing their
focus for their study of tessellations and M.C. Escher the options were very narrow. I would want to
create a lesson where students were able to pick a topic that was of interest to them that related to the
prompt. This would allow for more diversity in the presentations and hopefully engage the students
more in their research because they choose it. If students were picking individual topics then they would
have less support from their peers because they couldnt use the same or similar keywords and
resources. Their work would be more independent.

Annotated Citations:

Common Core Standards. (2014). Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org/.

The Common Core Standards were used to establish standards and expectations that the lesson meets.
This lesson used mathematics standards from the High School: Geometry section of the standards. By
establishing the standards that the lesson is associated with there is accountability for what students
should know or be able to do after the lesson.

Iowa City Community School District. (1998). Developing an information literacy plan. (Ed. M.J.
Langhorne). New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.

The Developing an Information Literacy Plan was used as a guide to establish the structure of the process
from defining the topic and locating the information to evaluating and presenting the information. This
framework was used to establish a clear process to the research.

Math-Drills.com. (2013). Two-step transformations. Retrieved from http://www.math-

drills.com/geometry/two-step-transformations_004.pdf.

This worksheet is being used as a homework assignment after Day 1 of the lesson to support and
reinforce the different transformations that the students learned about in class.
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Reynolds Library. (2014). Online search techniques. Retrieved from

http://library.reynolds.edu/internal/handouts/searchstrategy.pdf.

This Online Search Technique worksheet walks students through the identification of keywords to use in
searching for information. They use keywords to establish phrases that students will type into the search
engines. The worksheet also has a table with visuals to help students understand how Boolean
operations can be used to narrow or broaden the search.

Tessellation Project Directions. (n.d.). What to do to create your own tessellation. Retrieved from
http://cf.linnbenton.edu/mathsci/math/mcdowep/upload/Tessellation%20Project%20Directions
%20Mth%2097%20New%202013.pdf.

This worksheet is used as a reference in Day 1 when students are creating their own mini tessellation. It
walks students through the steps and gives them a short glimpse into the process. For those who choose
to do the art piece this is a great resources along with YouTube videos and other resources.

The Big 6. (n.d.). Location and access 3.1: locate sources. Big 6 Basics. Retrieved from
http://infotech.spsd.org/Secure/MS/IdentifyKeywords.pdf.

This resource is a worksheet used to help students identify keywords and synonyms that they might be
able to use to help them find resources and information to support their project. This worksheet should
be used in the brainstorming time before students go to the library for research.

D. Reflection on the Semester

Throughout the semester I feel that I have grown and learned a lot not only about the effective
integration of technology into the classroom, but also about media and information literacy. As
educators we want our students to be ready to succeed in the world and skills to do so have drastically
changed as technology has transforms how people interact and communicate. Not only has the way that
students communicate their ideas changed, but the way that they find information and discover new
things has also changed. As educators we need to be mindful of how our students communicate as well
as understand what type of communication skills they will need in their future. We also need to better
understand how finding information has changed and what we need to do to better prepare our
students for this change.

One of the most important ideas that I learned this year was that teachers need to guide students
through the process of finding and evaluating information in a variety of formats. I think as teachers, and
especially high school teachers, we assume that our students know the appropriate research process and
how to critically evaluate material. We assume they have the maturity and the skills to determine valid
information. What I discovered throughout this course is that this is not the case. These are skills like any
other that need to be taught, practiced, and modeled. Students need opportunities to investigate and
opportunities to practice determining the validity of the information as well.

Furthermore, these skills need to be developed and practiced in every subject level. This is not only
the job of the media specialist or the English teacher. Any time students are researching or presenting
information they need to walk through the process of brainstorming, finding information, evaluating,
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sharing, and citing. No matter what the circumstances students must cite the information and sources
they use properly. Teachers also need to model this behavior in their planning and teaching. For me
many of the activities where we developed and worked on our own information literacy skills were very
helpful. By putting ourselves in our students shoes we can know what works and what doesnt and what
strategies might be helpful in the process.

Some of the activities that were particularly helpful for me were the position paper and the group
WIKI activity. The position paper helped me to know how to defend the use of a particular technology in
the future. I hope at some point to be in some kind of leadership position with regards to technology and
in that position I would have to be able to defend the use of particular technology. Usually there is some
cost or time commitment involved in the use of technology and being able to defend with research the
use of that technology is an important skill to have. Also, I had never created a WIKI before and through
the group activity I was able to learn how this could be an effective tool in the learning process. I could
use a similar activity with my students to not only have them present information effectively online, but
be able to work together with others in groups either in person or virtually. Being able to work together
with others is one of the most important skills we can teach our students and in our changing world that
also means working with others through technology as well.

One of my goals for this upcoming year is to implement more opportunities for students to develop
their information and media literacy skills. As a math teacher I often do not do activities that involve
research and formal presentation, but last year I started to incorporate more of these activities into my
curriculum. What I realize is that there was not enough structure and scaffolding to the process. The
topics were engaging and rubrics were used for assessment, but the process of researching and
presenting the information was completely on their own. I would consider incorporating lessons on the
research process to be included and spending more time in class for research so that I could guide
students through the process. In the past, I never wanted to take the time in class to do these projects
because of other content that I felt like I needed to get through, but I see now the importance and
relevance of these skills for my students and I will work to incorporate these ideas more.

In conclusion, this semester has been a wonderful opportunity for me to not only to practice my own
information literacy skills, but to develop strategies for teaching and guiding my students to develop
their own skills. The reading and discussions were engaging and allowed me to take a closer look at what
I think my students need to know and the skills they need to have in the future for success. My goal is to
prepare them with the skill they need to be citizens that seek out information, develop solutions, and
communicate their knowledge effectively to others.