ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

Students in our school have had limited instruction in the usage of the computer as a research tool, a means of communicating, and as a way to present information. As I’ve helped students make graphs of information for math or science projects or have helped them do basic word processing tasks, or assisted them in doing an internet search for information, I realize that there is a great need for our students to be taught how to use word processing tools and spreadsheets, as well as a variety of media resources to help them in the presentation of their projects and work. Additionally, less than 50% of our students have internet access at home and so may not know how to access information which would be helpful for their learning. A comment by a fourth grader two years ago when I was helping him seek information for his science fair project by doing a search on the internet provided a clue to the lack of opportunity our students have had to such resources. “Hey, is this the internet? I’ve never been here before!” It is my desire to provide our fifth and sixth graders with instruction to help them develop the skills they need to promote their own literacy in the area of computer and related resources. In order to “level the playing field” for our students in terms of opportunities to learn and to provide potential avenues for career opportunities, I believe it is essential for our students to be competent in the usage of current technology resources. Because our students have had limited previous instruction in the area of technology usage, I have considered the 4th grade benchmarks for technology in the area of Developing Products Using Media/Technology as a basis for determining which skills and competencies our students should be developing. Additionally I will be addressing 5th and 8th grade standards within the teaching of this unit of instruction. Because I wish to have this instruction respond to current needs of the students in regard to presenting their own work, I will be incorporating the learning into specific tasks they may need to accomplish in the areas of science and language arts.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: 1. I want my students to be able to utilize current technology resources to help them communicate, present information, and to find information which will be beneficial to them personally, academically and professionally. 2. Additionally, I would hope that they would come to a greater understanding of ethical, moral and legal usage of technology and put this understanding into practice.
Goal(s): 1. Students will develop their skills in using a variety of presentation technology resources.  2. Students will be able to search for information on the internet.  3. Students will understand the legal, moral and ethical usage of technology.

Questions Answered

Essential questions:1. What technology resources can students use to present materials which they need to develop?  2. What skills will enable students to be able to use various programs such as Microsoft Word and Excel?  3. What skills do students need to develop in order to utilize the internet to help gain information on a desired topic? 4. How can I help students develop an understanding of the ethical use of technology? Learning Objectives: 1. Students will use Microsoft Word to create, edit and format a word document. 2. Students will use Microsoft Excel to organize information in a spreadsheet, and to present the information in a chart or graph format.  3. Students will use search engines on the internet to search for information.  4. Students will use Print Shop or other graphics software to create a poster or greeting card.  5. Students will learn how to use a digital camera and how to transfer images to a document they are creating.  6. Students will create a Power Point presentation.  7. Students will understand and practice safe, legal, ethical and moral use of technology

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding? Students will be given a multiple choice test to determine their understanding of terminology associated with technology.
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? Students will respond to questions regarding legal, moral and ethical usage of technology by completing a word processing table which promts them to respond to given questions regarding their understanding of these issues.
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? 1. Students will create a word document which they compose, format and edit for a language arts assignment.  2.  Students will organize results of a science investigation on a spreadsheet which can then be presented in graph format.  3. Students will complete a web search on a topic related to their science fair projects which will be incorporated into their science fair project notes.
What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect?  1. Students will work in groups to develop a power point presentation on a given topic.  2. Students will edit and save a word document which is presented to them.

Instructional Strategies

This unit will utilize each of the strategies for learning as a means of helping to promote student learning. Students will use inquiry based learning when they are using search tools to locate information for their science fair projects. As they search for information regarding their topic for their project they will hopefully be finding some answers to questions which are of interest to them. Additionally, they will be given opportunities to use problem-based learning as they are given tasks to complete:  editing and formatting a given word document, organizing data on a spreadsheet and creating a graph of the information. The students will also need to integrate all the skills they are developing as they develop their science fair projects, thus addressing the strategy of project-based learning. By needing to incorporate skills of research, data collection and word processing into their science projects they will be extending their learning into a real life situation. Hopefully by incorporating these different learning strategies into this unit of instruction, the students will see the authentic applications of the knowledge and skills they are developing and such awareness will promote a greater level of learning.