Phase 2: Reflection on Lesson

INSTRUCTIONAL DECISIONS/TEACHING

• Overall, I think that the activity went really well.  I had some trouble with a student loosing their work and not being able to fully complete it, but everyone else was able to complete their work and actually put some effort and thought in it.  I did have some complaining throughout doing the activity and a student telling me "this is too hard for the grade level" but it met the standards and everyone else enjoyed it.

• I was able to keep aligned to my standards and objectives.  During the activity every stayed on task and it seemed to keep their interest for the whole hour.  I made this activity take up most of the hour to keep everyone interested and engaged.  They were also teaching themselves about a topic that came from an overarching topic, which was part of my objectives.

• Modifications that I made during the lesson was to not have the students keep a word document containing added information from their timeline presentation.  There simply was just not enough time for that.

MECHANICS

• Technologies the teacher used was the SmartBoard.  Technologies the students used was their personal computers.

• Technologies that I used for the teacher was the SmartBoard.  I just used this to show the students how the timeline maker would work.  Students then just used their personal computers to conduct the research and make their timeline.

• Yes, my lesson was within the 60 minute time frame.  The students had plenty of time to do their activity and I had them wrap up a couple minutes early so a student could present their work.  If I had a little more time, I would have had all of the students present their timeline, but it was not needed.

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING

• Digital Artifacts:

• Two out of my three students were able to successfully complete the assignment.  The only reason the third student did not fully complete it is because she kept closing out of it without saving it.  Regardless, they all did what they were supposed too very successfully with what was turned.

• I believe I had success in teaching this lesson.  There was not a lot of lecturing, it was more the students working on the activity so they could later on teach each other.  I think this is a more effective way to teach instead of just lecturing them on each topic.  Based on the responses, all my students enjoyed doing this too! 

Lesson II: Phase 4 Materials and Resources

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline_2/

Word Document

Lesson II: Phase 3 Assessment

ASSESSMENT

Procedure:

• I will assess my students by looking over their project through observation.  As long as the students have picked a country to research their government system and have at least 10 points on their timeline, they will be successful.  They also have to present to the class and assess the other students on their project.  I will use the student assessment to determine how the student did.  
• I will have a checklist to make sure the students research a government system from a specific country, have at least 10 points about it with some pictures, and that they presented to the class.

Reflect on...

• This assignment aligns with the standards and objectives of this project because it will show me if the students accomplished what they were supposed to learn.  All of the standards and objectives are components of the project.
• The main part of the assessment that demonstrates the students understanding is their presentation to the class.  They will be able to tell everyone about it and teach them about that government system along with showing me what they have learned through this assignment.
• This assessment involves higher ordering thinking because they have to present their information to the class and explain what they have learned.
• This assessment demonstrates that the individual needs of the student were met because if their assignment needs to be adjusted, then they can do so accordingly.  Also if the students has a cognitive delay or is an ELL student, they do not need to present to the class if they do not feel comfortable or capable of doing so.

Lesson II: Phase 2 Implementation

IMPLEMENTATION

Procedures:

1. I will gather the students in a whole group and start a class discussion.  We will talk about different countries around the world and if anyone knows the different government systems that they use (i.e democracy for the United States).
2. I will then discuss that each student will need to pick a country to research their government system to then create a timeline.
3. I will show how to use the timeline creator and how to plot events on it.
4. Each student will need to find 10 main events to put on the timeline that leads up to today's date.
5. When I send the students back to their seats, I will have them start the research aspect of the project.
6. As they find different information that they might find useful, they will write them down in a Word Document.  They can also save pictures to use.
7. Once the students has found at least 10 items to put on the time line, they can then go into the timeline creator and start putting their information in.
8. Once all of the students have finished their timelines they will then share with the whole class.
9. The students will then evaluate each other and write what they liked and what the student could do to improve their project.

Technology Integration:

• Students will be using the Internet to research their topic and find pictures of different events.
• Students will use organize their information in a Word Document. 
• The timeline creator (an online tool) will be used to create their timeline.

Differentiated Instructional:

• Cognitive Delays: Students with cognitive delays can use pictures to represent their information and possibly write a couple of words to describe it if they can.  They do not need to present if they are not capable or comfortable doing so.
• Gifted: Gifted students can use more than 10 points to research and compare one government system to another.
• ELL: ELL students can use pictures to represent their information and possibly write a couple of words to describe it if they can.  They can also research the government system from their home country so it is something familiar.  They do not need to present if they are not capable or comfortable doing so.

Reflect on...

Designing Instruction:

• I am using the instructional method I described because I want my students to be very independent with this project.  This is their way to show me what they know and what they have learned.
• My instructional methods align with best practices because I think students should have project-based learning.  When students are creating something on what they know, the information stays with them longer.
• I am engaging the students with higher order thinking because they have to decide what to research and then have to conduct the research themselves.  They can also pick a country they know nothing about and research their government system.
• My integration of technology supports best practices because this activity is very individualized to the student.  The student can pick what to research and add whatever valuable information they want.  They will be using this activity to teach the other students about a particular government system.

Lesson II: Phase 1 Overview

OVERVIEW

Grade Level: 3rd

Subject: Social Studies

Topic of Study: Timeline of different governments systems from different countries 

Time Allotment: 60 minutes

Standards:
      AZ Social Studies Standards: 

• Strand 2: World History Concept 1: Research Skills for History PO.1 Use timelines to identify the time sequence of historical data.

      Common Core: 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.5
  Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.7
  Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.8
  Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).

Objectives:

• Student will be able to pick and conduct research on a different countries form of government.
• Students will create a timeline based on the the research they have conducted to show the progression of a certain government.

Reflect on...

Assessing Prior Knowledge:

• Prior knowledge that the students will have is an idea of what chronological order is (I will go more into depth with this project).  They will also know about different countries around the world to pick from.  They will also have a understanding of different government systems that we have been learning about, but this will be their first research project on it on the topic.
• I will assess their prior knowledge during the discussion that we have in the beginning of the lesson.  If the students seem unclear about any of the topics I ask about, we will have a further discussion.
• I will use this information in the planning process because if I feel that the students are unclear on a certain topic (like different countries to pick from), I will review different countries they can research and what they need to be researching.

Planning Instruction: 

• This content should be taught at this grade level because in third grade, students are utilizing informational texts to pick out the key information and create a product showing those details.
• The objectives align with the standards because they are picking a country to research to find out more about their government system and then creating a timeline about the important events.
• This lesson will be taught more towards the middle of the school year after we have discussed different countries and their government systems.