ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

I have identified the technology needs of a special needs student that I work with. I will collaborate with the technology and language arts standards to achieve successful learning of “basic technology skills”. I have examined “what is and what needs to be” for this particular student. Working with this student one to one, I have become aware of basic computer skills that are lacking. The special learning style of this student requires her to have repeated exposure to new knowledge in order to reach a mastery level. Also, the one to one instruction allows for intervention and repeated individual attempts. In order to use our school computer server each student needs to know their own user name and password. This student needs repeated practice to master this skill. This student also needs to be closely monitored to achieve success.  Because I am aware of how important computer skills are in a school, home, and social setting, I believe it is very beneficial that I start working one to one with this student to get her well on her way developing and using “basic” computer skills and than branching off from there. Then turning this learned knowledge into a fun presentation to share with her peers will be very motivational and boost her self esteem. I will help the student master skills by focusing on the standards from English Language Arts (2003) and Library/Technology Literacy (2003).

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding:  I want the student to know how to operate the computer independently at a beginner level and see how a computer is a useful tool for sharing knowledge.
Goal(s): 1. The student will understand the beginning basic elements of computer usage. 2. The student will apply the beginning basic elements of computer usage.  3. The student will demeonstrate computer usase through a presentation.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: 1. How is a computer turned off and on? 2. How is information saved on a computer? 3. How is the school’s server used for storing information and how can a student get their information after it is saved? 4. How can a student print information or present information to share with others? 5. How can a computer help a student share what was learned with other people?
Objectives: 1. The student will be able to turn the computer on and off without assistance.  2. The student will be able to use their user name and log in without assistance.  3. The student will be able to save and open a file with assistance.  4. The student will be able to print a document without assistance.  5. The student will be able to organize thoughts and words using kidspiration for a powerpoint slide show with assistance.  6. The student will be able to take a picture with a digital camera, use a scanner, and insert pictures into a slide show with assistance.  7. The student will be able to highlight text, select a font, color, and size for text.  8. The student will be able to produce a slide show to share with peers, with teacher assistance.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding?  Performance observations of the student.  1. Demonstrate with daily recall of prior knowledge about previous lessons.  2. Score the rubrics available.  3. One, rubric is the teacher evaluation and the second rubric is a self evaluation by the student. (These have been made using rubicstar.4teachers.org)
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? Oral assessments (Oral questioning and then application).  I will use higher level thinking skills appling a job and then discuss what could be the alternative if it was done incorrectly.
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.  Daily computer lab application.  2. Observation of demonstation skills performed independently, without teacher assistance.  3. Evaluation of the amount of teacher assistance is needed vs independent work ability. What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect? 1.  Final slide show presentation.  2. A printable version of slides to transform into a book.

Instructional Strategies

This lesson is project based, inquiry-based and problem-based. The student will apply computer skills on a daily basis by starting the computer, inserting user name and password, opening a file, saving changes, and shutting down at the end of the session (objectives 1,2,3). The student will explore the errors that occur when computer skills are not used properly and will be exposed the problems that arise and problem solve how to fix the problem. Hopefully an error experienced one day will be a learning experience for the next day. The slide show will be a story/movie titled “My School Friends” (objective 5,8). The student will select a background, font, size and color that will be uniform for the whole presentation (objective 7). The student will insert a class picture, with assistance by scanning their school’sclass picture (objective 6). The student will use the digital camera to take photos of her teachers and classmates that coincide with the text of the slide show (objective 6). Each day the student will add a new slide to the presentation and when it is completed a midi clip will be inserted,with assistance. A simple slide transition will be used for the whole presentation. The student will practice reading the information on each slide for the final class presentation. The student will print the slides to publish her personal story (ojective 4).