ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

In deciding to do this unit, it was important to consider the needs of my students. Most of my students have been living in the United States for a year or less. Many of them are coming from environments where a formal school setting was nonexistent. Prior to starting school in Fargo, they were given the Woodcock-Munoz Language Assessment. The scores from this test yield their ELL level as Level 1, the lowest of the 5 language levels. Besides the obvious need for English language acquisition, many of my students have had little or no experience with computers prior to this school year. There are many times during the school day when my students are not able to do the same work as their classmates in their mainstream classroom because the work is too advanced. I have suggested to the classroom teachers to let my students do some computer activities during these times. The teachers have expressed to me that the ELL students can not be trusted to work alone on the computers because of their lack of experience. I see the use of computers as highly motivational to these children. The lack of experience with computers causes frustration not only to the teacher but to the students as well. There is a great need for these students to be taught basic computer operation skills. Once the students have acquired these skills, it will open the door to the numerous technology and media resources available to help them learn to read, write, and speak English. I decided to focus the purpose of my unit on the English Language Arts Standards #1, Students engage in the research process; Benchmark K.1.1, and Standard #3, Students engage in the writing process; Benchmarks K.3.2, K.3.3, K.3.4, K.3.8, K.3.11 K.3.12 and K.3.13. This unit will also address the development of basic computer skills. I plan to assess these skills by having my students publish a My “I Spy” Book.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: I want my students to leave my classroom understanding the importance of writing and reading. I want them to understand that making a book is hard work, but the end result is something they should be proud of. I also want them to feel comfortable sharing their work and ideas with others, not just in a small group setting, but everywhere they go. Finally, I want them to see how computers and other media technology can make writing and reading even more enjoyable but there are specific rules and procedures that must be followed in order to be able to use them. Goal(s): Students will engage in the writing process by writing and illustrating one page of their own work that will be put into a group “I Spy” book using English conventions appropriate to their English Language Level. Students will demonstrate proper care and correct use of media and technology by following the rules and procedures of the computer lab.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: Why is it important to follow computer rules? How do you make a living book cd rom work in the computer? What types of things make an “I Spy” book fun to read? How will you organize your “I Spy” pages? How do you know if you wrote a complete sentence? How will you know if your sentences match your illustrations? Objectives: After 3 class discussions of computer lab rules and procedures (conditions), students (audience) will demonstrate knowledge of basic computer operation skills by turning on the computer, and entering and exiting Kids Pix, Comp. Ed, and Living Books. After participating in 2 shared reading lessons on number and color words followed by group graphic organization activities (conditions), students (audience) will practice matching color and number words to colors and numbers, using Comp. ED. Students (audience) will contribute at least one idea to a graphic organizer (degree) during a shared writing lesson, after investigating a variety of “I SPY” books looking for things that make them fun to read. (conditions) Using their knowledge of basic computer operations of the Kids Pix program (conditions), students (audience) will draw illustrations based on one pre-selected topic (behavior) with 100% accuracy. (degree) After participating in a shared writing lesson (conditions), students (audience) will write three complete “I Spy” sentences that connect to their Kids Pix illustration (behavior) with 80% accuracy. (degree) Using their knowledge of basic computer operations of the Kids Pix program (conditions), students (audience) will transfer their four previously composed sentences onto their illustration (behavior) with 80% accuracy. (degree) Students (audience) will organize and construct their own “I SPY” book (behavior) using their knowledge of concepts of print, (conditions) with some assistance from the teacher. (degree) After completing their “I SPY” books (conditions), the students (audience) will read their page of the book to others (behavior) with 100% accuracy. (degree)

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding? How do you know where the front of a book is? What is the name of a book called? What does the author of a book do? Where can you find his or her name on a book? What does an illustrator do? Is their name somewhere in or on a book? What kinds of things make “I Spy” books fun to read? What does a sentence have to have at the beginning? What does a sentence have to have at the end? What other things should a complete sentence have in it? What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding? What topic to do think would make an interesting page for out “I spy” book? Why? What are the rules of the computer lab? What will happen if you don’t follow the rules? Show me how to turn on the computer and use some of the programs. What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding? Students will be required to pick a topic to focus their illustrations on and then come up with four “I spy” sentences that will go with their illustrations. Students will be given the group’s book pages including their own and be required to give each a page number then organize them by page number. Students will then glue the pages into their book in the right order. After that they will make a cover and title page for their books including Title, authors and illustrators. What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect? Students will generate their own checklist about what needs to be done in order to have a complete published book. This is done in order to give them the responsibility of getting their work done and knowing what the teacher expects of them. I will also be doing a lot of observation while the students are working with each activity. When the book is completed, the students will take turns reading it to someone and then it will be placed in the classroom library for other students to read.

Instructional Strategies

My unit, is ultimately a project based activity, but in order to make their book my students will also engage in inquiry and problem based activities. I think that this unit will promote higher order thinking and learning in many ways. The students will be required to work together in a cooperative learning group in order to come up with the topics they will choose from to do their individual pages. I used an inquiry based activity in order to get the students to work together and brainstorm possible topics that they would like to use for their individual pages. A real “I Spy” book does not have the same illustration on every page. The students will have to realize that, talk about it and finally be able to compromise so that each student has a unique contribution to the book. Students will also use a group generated checklist to keep them intrinsically motivated to get the assignments done. I would consider this to be a problem based activity. The students will have to decide for themselves with some teacher assistance, what important things they must have completed in order to keep the project moving and get it finished. I see this as a “real world” connection because professional authors and illustrators have to work with deadlines all of the time. They also have to work cooperatively with other people. By completing this project, my students will get a little taste of what it may be like to be a “real” author or illustrator. I hope that by finishing the “I Spy” book, my students will feel empowered as writers. I hope this project will open their eyes to the world of reading and writing as something enjoyable for them and others around them. Instead of feeling like reading and especially writing as what teachers make them do at school.