Laurie Bryant FRIT 7730: Practicum Semester Candidate as Instructional Partner Spring, 2012 Research Pathfinder: Historical Georgia

Figures

Title of Unit

Historical Figures in Georgia History

Grade Level

2nd Grade

Identify Desired Results Georgia Performance Standards: SS2H1: The student will read about and describe the lives of historical figures in Georgia history. a. Identify the contributions made by these historical figures: James Oglethorpe, Tomochichi, Mary Musgrove (founding of Georgia), Sequoyah (development of a Cherokee alphabet), Jackie Robinson (sports), Martin Luther King Jr. (civil rights), and Jimmy Carter (leadership and human rights). ELA2W2: The student writes in a variety of genres. The student produces informational writing that: a. Captures a readers interest. b. Begins to sustain a focused topic. c. Includes the appropriate purpose, expectations, and length for the audience and genre. d. Adds facts and details. e. Uses organizational structures for conveying information. f. Uses graphic features. g. Uses a variety of resources (encyclopedia, Internet, books) to research and share information on a topic. r. Uses appropriate capitalization and punctuation at the end of sentences. National Educational Technology Standards: #2 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. Students: 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 formats. c. Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems. AASL Standards: Standard 1: Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge. Standard 2: Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge. Standard 3: Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society. Standard 4: Pursue personal and aesthetic growth. Skills 1.1.4 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions. 1.1.9 Collaborate with others to broaden and deeper understanding. Dispositions 1.2.3 Demonstrate creativity by using multiple resources and formats. 4.2.1 Display curiosity by pursuing interests through multiple resources.

Responsibilites 1.3.1 Respect copyright/intellectual property rights of creators and producers. 1.3.5 Use information technology responsibly. Self-assessment 1.4.2 Use interaction with and feedback from teachers and peers to guide own inquiry process. 1.4.4 Seek appropriate help when it is needed. 2.4.3 Recognize new knowledge and understanding. Understandings: Students will understand that Informational/nonfiction texts contain facts. Technology can be used as avenues to collect information and share information with others. Collaboration with peers can produce successful results. Students will be able to Use collaboration skills. Use technology to collect information and share information. Use book and online resources to locate relevant information. Essential Questions: Overarching Questions: 1. What do you find in a nonfiction text? 2. How can you share information with others? 3. Where can you gather facts and information? 4. What are some ways to work effectively with a partner? Assessment Evidence: Performance Task: Students will create a Power Point slide newspaper article as an investigative reporter for the Bulldog News. The informational article will include, after researching book and online sources, the contributions of a historical Georgia figure along with the birthdate and the date of death, if applicable, and any other interesting facts. Students will present their slides/newspaper articles at the conclusion of the unit. Criteria will be created on a checklist along with the students selfassessments and peer assessments. Topical Questions: 1. What is a fact? 2. What technology can be used to share information? 3. What online source can be used to collect facts? 4. How should people act when working together on a project/task? Other Evidence: Observations: The teacher will make observations of collaboration skills among project teams. The teacher will use this as an informal assessment. Discussions: Students will join the teacher in question/answer sessions during the mini-lessons throughout the unit. The teacher will use this as an informal assessment. Research/Source Sheet/KWL Chart: The graphic organizers will aid in students collecting and organizing information in order to produce a more effective and interesting performance task.

Learning Experiences Day One: 30-45 minutes 1. The teacher will begin with a hook strategy by asking studentsIf you wanted to learn more about a person who lived in the past, where could you look? What does the word contribution mean? 2. To engage background knowledge, students will be led into a discussion of previously learned material by asking what they already know about nonfiction texts. Students will be shown a fictional book and a nonfiction text. The teacher will ask the students what they notice as differences between the two texts. 3. The students will be introduced to the Learning Targets for todays lesson. 4. The students will be introduced to a KWL chart. The teacher will model how to complete the KWL chart by showing students on a flip chart and by reading a nonfiction text. The KWL chart will be explained and modeled in steps to aid in understanding. The teacher will then assign partners to collaborate and research their historical figures. The teacher will explain that some people from the past have made contributions to Georgia, and they are to find during their research what contribution was made by the historical figure. Before the students are allowed to begin reading and researching, the partners will decide which Georgia figure they would like to learn about. Since students will be required to look for specific information, the W in the KWL chart will have questions already in the column. 5. To make sure the students understand how they should act with their partners, the teacher will have a discussion about collaboration and sharing in the research process. 6. The students will be allowed to use book sources on the first day of research. Day Two: 30-45 minutes 7. The teacher will meet with the students on the rug and ask them to share the previous days experiences of gathering information. 8. The students will review with the teacher the Learning Targets. 9. The teacher will give the students a research/source sheet and explain that students can use this in addition to their KWL charts to collect information. A brief lesson on why sources need to be documented will also take place. The students will be given opportunities to ask questions and discuss the research/source sheet. The collaborative pairs will continue their research with topic books and with Social Studies Trailblazers. 10. The teacher will monitor and help students as needed. Day Three: 30-45 minutes 11. Students will gather at the rug as a class. To create engagement, the teacher will show a newspaper to the students and ask if they know what it is and what it is used for. The teacher will explain that newspapers are also a type of informational text and that they will become reporters for the Lavonia Bulldog News. They have been completing investigative research for the newspaper and now they will be writing an article for the newspaper about their historical Georgia figures. 12. The teacher will show the students a newspaper template. Students will be shown how to type within the template and other features that will be needed to complete it. The template will be the cumulative task after all the research has been completed. The template is a Power Point slide, so students will get the opportunity to enter their information and picture on a slide.

13. After showing the students the performance task, the teacher will show via the Smart Board, a research pathfinder, Historical Georgia Figures, created with Glogster and Sqworl. The teacher will navigate around the web poster and show students how to use the pathfinder so they may continue their research using an online source. Students will be given opportunities to ask questions during the lesson. 14. The teacher will share with the students a checklist that will be used as their summative assessment. Day Four: 30-45 minutes 15. The students will be taken to the computer lab to continue their research process using the pathfinder. The computers will be previously bookmarked with the pathfinder to make navigation easier. The teacher will monitor and help as needed. 16. The newspaper article template will be loaded onto the computer desktops. If students complete their research, they may begin working on their newspaper articles while in the computer lab. Before leaving the computer lab, the teacher will load the newspaper articles onto a flash drive, so students may work on them in the classroom, if desired. 17. At the conclusion of the unit, students will self assess their projects using the criteria checklist and will also peer assess. Following the assessment, a brief discussion will follow about how to present the performance tasks. The teacher will engage the discussion by letting the students ask questions about the next days presentations. Day Five: 30-45 minutes 18. The students will gather on the rug to follow up on the previous days activities. The teacher will explain that when everyone has finished their Power Point slide newspaper article, they will have the opportunity to share them with the class as newspaper reporters. 19. At this time, the students will have time to finish their performance task. 20. At the conclusion of the unit, students will complete the checklist assessment. If needed, students may require another day to finish their Power Point slides. Learner Analysis After careful consideration of who I would like to work with on the collaborative unit, I decided on a 2nd grade teacher at my primary site. Mrs. Myers has previously taught Kindergarten and now teaches 2nd grade. She has been recognized as Teacher of the Year for our elementary school, as well as being chosen as our Teacher of the Year for the county. I felt very confident in choosing Mrs. Myers to work with because she is an outstanding teacher who conveys a professional attitude and demeanor among her peers. She has a fun-loving personality and she does not mind helping her peers when the need arises. She rises to the challenges of teaching and always has excellent test scores, all the while showing love and compassion to her students. When we met for our first planning time on the unit, we discussed the basis for our unit, the information literacy area of weakness of her 2nd graders. She told me that the 2nd graders did not take the CRCT last year because of the state reducing the testing requirements of the lower grades. Since we didnt actually have any testing data to help target a weak information literacy skill, I went by the teachers

observations to identify an area to target. Mrs. Myers said that her students are very weak in research and technology skills. She told me that she wasnt sure how much instruction had been given to her students the previous year in these areas, but she could tell it was very limited because of the lack of knowledge of many of the standards related to these areas. We decided to focus on research skills and a technology skill that would be appropriate for this age group. In order to design the unit, I had Mrs. Myers give me some background on her students knowledge and skills along with the demographics of her classroom. Classroom Demographics: 18 students (2 African-American, 16 white) Special Needs: Speech (2), 504 (1), EIP (2 reading, 2 math), SST (1) Knowledge Level: The vocabulary is very weak, so using nonfiction texts helps to expand the vocabulary base. Vocabulary acquisition is a targeted goal. Skills Level: Skills in technology are very weak and research skills are very limited. There has been some previous exposure to these two areas, but it has been to a minimumit has not been a focus. The reading levels among students range from 1.5-4.0. As a result of this information, we decided to center the unit around a Social Studies standard about historical Georgia figures with the targeted weakness of research and technology skills. Mrs. Myers has taught this unit before, but has not integrated technology and has only used book sources for the research. Since they are beginning the informational genre with texts and writing, we felt like we needed to stay within what the pacing guide has directed. We will use skills that are appropriate for this age group and will use tools that the students can easily adapt to fit their performance task needs. A pathfinder and nonfiction texts will be utilized to aid in the research skills and a Power Point slide will address the technology skill. With both of us delivering the unit, it will help in providing additional support for those students in her classroom who have special needs and will help in meeting accommodations stated in their plans. Placing the students in project teams will also help those students who need additional help with more extensive tasks. References Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Historical Georgia Figure Research/Source Sheet Names________________________ and ________________________ No.________ Who did you research?______________________________________ When was he or she born?__________________________________________ Where was he or she born? _________________________________________ If he or she is no longer living, when did this person die?_________________________ Contributions: How did this person help his or her community? 1. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 2. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 3. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Facts: Were there any other interesting facts about your person? 1. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 2. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Sources: Where did you find this information? Book: __________________________________________________________________ Website: ________________________________________________________________

Historical Georgia Figure Informational Writing Checklist Name_______________________________ Learning Target

My writing piece was interesting to read. _____

self
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peer

I stayed on my topic throughout the article.

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My piece was not too long, not too short, but just right.

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_____

I used facts and details about my topic. I had a clear beginning, middle, and end. I used transition words. I had a graphic feature, a picture, to go with my article. I used more than one resource to get my information. I used capital letters where they are necessary. _____

_____ _____

_____ _____

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

I used commas and ending punctuation correctly _____ in my article.

_____

I cooperated with my partner during this project.

_____

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KWL Chart Names: ________________________________ Date: __________ K What I Know W What I Want To Know L What I Learned

This is a JPEG of the Power Point newspaper article that students will use to place their researched information. Students will become investigative newspaper reporters for the Lavonia Bulldog News. Students will publish their articles and present to others when the unit is completed.