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Signs of Spring!

Title of Lesson:  Spring Is Here! 

Primary Learning Outcomes (PLOs):
The primary learning outcomes to be achieved with this lesson include:
A. With teacher guidance student will be able to use the computer to research topic information on the Internet. (QCC- Technology Integration- Research- K10)
B. With teacher guidance student will be able to listen to information to gain knowledge.  (GPS- English/Language Arts- Comprehension- ELAKR6)
 

Assessed Standards
Georgia QCC
A. Grade: K
Subject Area: Technology Integration
Strand: Research
10 Topic: Research
Standard: Uses basic research techniques with teacher guidance.

Georgia Performance Standard (GPS)
B. English/Language Arts Performance Standard
Grade: K
Comprehension
ELAKR6:  The student gains meaning from orallly presented text. 
a. The student listens to and reads a variety of literary and informational texts and materials to gain knowledge and for pleasure.

Materials and Equipment:
1. Have example of your mission project to show students
2. White construction paper, with four sections on it:  (1)feel (2)see (3)smell (4)hear for them to draw their pictures on
3. Crayons and markers
4. Pencil & paper (to make notes for lesson plan assessment and reflections)
5. Modification of a  lesson developed by Dr. Diane L. Judd  
 

Technology Connection:
Technologies that will be used in this lesson include:

• Computer with Internet connection. 
• Students will use computers to research information on the Internet.  
• Copy of my TopicQuest Web page included with this lesson plan. 
• TopicQuest Web page Title: Spring Is Here! & URL: http://www.valdosta.edu/~bnbrett/topic.html

Procedures:
Step One: Introduction
Have a small group of students go to a computer.  Explain to students that you are going to use the computer to find out information about Spring.  List 2 or more questions that introduce students to your TopicQuest that establish a connection to students' prior knowledge by asking them:
1. "What time of the year does Spring come?" 
2. "What things do you think of when you hear the word Spring?"  
Today we are going to learn about Spring by visiting websites on the Internet and we will do a fun activity.  I have made a special Web page for your class.  (During discussion have students turn around away from the computer to interact.)  Spring is a very important season for us.  Not only is Spring important this year, but every year after that.  Spring time is usually when flowers start to bloom, trees start to get their green leaves back, the temperature warms up, and vegetables start to grow.  We need Spring to help us eat the vegetables that grow in the gardens.  We need the warm sunshine that comes with Spring to bring back bright green leaves to trees so we will have oxygen to breathe.  We need the grass to grow full and green so the cows have something to eat so we can have milk to drink and meat to eat.  Spring is not only helpful to human beings, but also to the animals and the plants that human beings use.

Estimated Time for Step One:
5 minutes

Step Two Teaching the Primary Learning Outcomes:
(Have students sit at the computer where they can control the mouse and computer.)  (Explain to students the process of the lesson.)  The students will view some different websites about Spring.  After viewing a particular website that shows how to use the differnent senses to detect signs of Spring.  After given a sheet of white construction paper that has four sections on it - each section with a different sense - will draw pictures of how that sense detects signs of Spring.       

Check for understanding
Have students explore and discuss the information in each of the 3 pre-selected websites.  Ask students guiding questions about the important concepts in each of the visited websites.   List three or more questions.
1.  What time of year does Spring come?
2.  Can you list some different things to show that Spring has arrived?
3.  What kind of different flowers do you see during Spring time?

Practice and feedback related to the PLO
Read mission project to students.  Explain to students that they are going to go to a pre-kindergarten classroom and explain to the pre-kindergarteners some different signs of Spring.   Tell the students that the information that they will need to complete their mission project is listed and connected in the mission activity.  Visit website for information for mission project.  Discuss the information in the linked website in the mission activity with the students to emphasize interesting and important information students will need to complete mission project.

[Students will write (or dictate to teacher) information to be included in the articles and draw pictures for the mission project.  While students are completing mission project, teacher will observe students and give assistance when needed.]

Signs of Spring! Spring is here and it's almost time for the end of the school year!  You're getting ready to go into 1st grade.  Imagine that you are recognized for being good all year long.  You get to go into the pre-kindergarten classroom and help the teacher teach the children a lesson!  The pre-k kids have just started learning about Spring.  All of a sudden, one of the pre-kindergarten children asks you to explain how they will know when Spring has arrived.  Using the link that explained how our five senses help us figure out when Spring is here, draw some pictures explaining how we know that Spring has arrived!

Mission Steps 1.   Read and discuss the selected informational website, Spring Is Here. 2.  As you visit the website, think about if you've ever noticed these signs of Spring before. 3.  After given a white piece of construction paper with four sections on it:  (A)FEEL, (B)SEE, (C)SMELL, and (D)HEAR, you will draw pictures of the things you feel, see, smell, and hear during Spring! 4.   Give the drawing to the teacher, and make sure you can tell him or her the pictures that you drew about Spring!

Step Three
Closure:
Have students discuss their mission project and information they found on the Internet.  Tell students that your topicquest page is on the Internet and they can visit the website at school or home.  Explain to students that you are going to put their pictures and information on the Internet and they will be able to share their mission projects with their friends and family.  (If possible teacher should take brief notes during the lesson and concluding discussions to be added later to the assessment and reflections in lesson plan.)

Estimated Time for Step Three:
5 minutes

Assessment:
A. Technology Integration 
Student will be assessed through observation while using the computer with teacher guidance to do research on the Internet for topic information.

Assessment Rubric

B. English/Language Arts
Student will be assessed through observation and oral discussion to evaluate if student with teacher guidance is able to listen to information to gain knowledge.

Assessment Rubric

Accommodation: 
Links for Accommodations for Special Students
1. The student that I have selected has been identified as SLD, which is Specific Learning Disability.  Describe your student and his or her needs.  My special student does not speak much, so I may have to do one on one questions with her.  She is perfectly capable of doing the Mission Activity by herself, but as far as the group discussion goes, she may need a little more encouragement in answering questions.  

2. To accommodate my student with SLD, I may give her a couple of options to choose from when I ask her a question instead of requiring her to give me an answer on her own.  I would also ask group questions such as "Has anyone ever noticed that there are more flowers in the Spring time than in the Winter time?", which would be an activity in which she could participate by either nodding her head or raising her hand to show that she has noticed more flowers in the Spring. 

Comments & Reflections: For Electronic Portfolio Standard #4 Multiple Instructional Strategies )
1. a. Comment on your teaching of how your TopicQuest lesson created learning experiences and activities that implemented a variety of instructional strategies.  My TopicQuest created learning experiences for my children because I taught them some things that I didn't even know about spring.  It was fun that I actually learned some different things about spring while forming this lesson plan.  The main instructional instrument I used was a computer with internet access.  It was kind of difficult to implemeent a variety of instructional strategies since we were mainly on the internet but I used different methods and scenarios for the children to learn some new things about spring.

    b. Describe what your students did (evidence) as a result of your  TopicQuest learning activities that implemented a variety of instructional strategies.  At the beginning of my TopicQuest, the children listened to me say a few things about spring.  Then I told them that they needed to research as much information as possible about spring for a project they would have to do at the end of the lesson.  I had two children at the computer during this lesson.  While conducting the lesson, the children would switch seats and control the mouse to use the computer which allowed them to complete the activities.  They also became familiar with the space bar, back button, and backspace key.  After the children finished all their computer activities, they then went to a table and worked on their project I had told them about earlier.

2. a. Comment on your teaching of how your TopicQuest lesson encouraged students' development of critical thinking and problem solving.  In the lesson, the children had to think about different things about Spring.  If I asked them a question that they didn't know the answer to, I would tell them to use the web page to find the answer.  They had to navigate on the computer to find out where the information they needed was stored.  They also had to think of different ways a person could tell that spring was here.  They also used problem solving technique to figure out that it (normally) does not snow in the spring, especially not here in Georgia.  They also used their problem solving technique to figure that if the leaves start to fall off the tree in the Fall when it starts to get cold, then the leaves will probably start to come back on the trees in the Spring when the weather starts to warm back up.

    b. Describe what your students did (evidence) to show how your TopicQuest lesson engaged them in critical thinking and problem solving.  To show that the children understood the lesson and took something away with them from the lesson, they went to their table and they pretended that because they were such good students, they got the privilege to go to the pre-kindergarten classroom and help the pre-kindergarten teacher learn different ways that you can tell when spring has arrived.  They were given a sheet of white construction paper divided into four squares.  Each square had a different sense listed at the top of it.  They were HEAR, SEE, SMELL, and FEEL.  Under each square, because most pre-kindergarteners cannot read yet, my children were to draw pictures of things that they HEAR, SEE, SMELL, and FEEL during spring time.  They also previously visited a website that listed how the senses helped you identify that spring was here.  Every picture that the students drew in the individual box must correlate with that sense. 

3. Examine and describe your teaching of this TopicQuest lesson.  I thought I did a good job teaching this lesson.   I was very enthusiastic about the assignment.  I asked the children lots of questions throughout my lesson and when a time came up that they misunderstood what I was saying or did not quite have their information correct, I would stop and correct them.  The two children that did my lesson were very well behaved and did an excellent job with the lesson.  I did not have to enforce any rules of discipline with them.  I made sure throughout the whole lesson that they had a good understanding of what I was teaching and made sure they responded to the different activities in the lesson.

4. Give at least on suggestion that would lead to improving your teaching practices and student achievement.   To improve my teaching practices I would continue to find fun activities, as well as educational, for my children to do to keep them actively engaged in the lessons being taught.  To improve student achievement, I would make sure that all my students had a firm grasp of the material being taught.  I would also pay attention to the individual needs of my students and configure my lesson plan around their needs as much as I could.
 

This is a picture drawn by a kindergartener student.  After given the paper, he was asked to draw pictures of things he would feel, see, smell, and hear during spring time.  He said he feels the warmth of the sun on his arms and the rain drops on his skin when it rains.  He also said he feels like playing baseball in the spring.  He said he sees lots of butterflies, bees,  green leaves on trees, and green grass.  He smells flowers in the spring time and sometimes the rainy mist in the air after it has rained.  In the spring time he hears birds chirping, frogs croaking, and different insect and animal sounds.

This is a picture drawn by a kindergartener student.  After given the paper, she was asked to draw pictures of things she would feel, see, smell, and hear during spring time.  She said that during the spring she feels the warmth of the sun, the rain from the clouds, and lady bugs that land on her arms.  She said she sees lots of birds in the skies that come back from migration, trees with green leaves, green grass, and butterflies.  She said she smells flowers in the spring time.  She said that during spring she hears bees buzzing, frogs croaking, and different insect sounds.

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bnbrett@valdosta.edu

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