TopicQuest Lesson Plan

Name: Erin Brantley
School/Mentor Teacher: Dewar Elementary School
Grade Level:  Pre-K
Subject Areas: Language Arts, Technology Integration & Art
Date Taught: 
Total Duration of Lesson: 45 minutes

Title of Lesson:
Hitting Grand Slams with Our Five Senses

Primary Learning Outcome (PLO):
 The primary learning outcomes to be achieved with this lesson include:
A. With teacher guidance students will be able to use the computer to research information on the Internet.
 

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

Materials and Equipment:
1. Bandana to use as a blindfold.
2. Cherries
3. Hair Brush
4. Paper bag
5. VHS tape
6. Tooth Brush
7. Banana
8. Orange
9. Computer with the Internet
10. Pencil & paper (to make notes for lesson plan assessment and reflections)
11. Modification of a  lesson developed by Dr. Diane L. Judd
12. Crayons (for children to illustrate what they felt)
 

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


Procedures:
Step One: Introduction
Have two students go to a computer.  List 2 or more questions that introduce students to topic of the five senses that establish a connection to students' prior knowledge by asking them the following questions:
1. "Have you ever heard anyone talk about the five senses?"
2. "Can any of you tell me what some of the five senses are?"  
Today we are going to learn about the five senses by visiting websites on the Internet and we will do a fun activity to learn more about the five senses. (Give explanation of importance of lesson to students' lives today or in the future.)  I have made a special page about the five senses for your class.  (During discussion have students turn around away from the computer to interact.)

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.)  After we visit several websites about the five senses then you will pretend to be participating in a homerun derby.  Whoever can get the most correct responses during the challenges has the most homeruns scored. We will also be drawing a picture of what we learned today.

Check for understanding
Have students explore and discuss the information in each of 3 or 4 pre-selected websites.  Ask students guiding questions about the important concepts in each of the visited websites.  (Save "Five Senses" website to use in Mission Project.)  List three or more questions.
1. What do our five senses help us do?
2.  How would losing our sense of hearing or sight affect us?
3.  What sense helps us to know what a banana looks like?

Practice and feedback related to the PLO
Read mission project to students.  Explain to students that they are going to be part of a homerun derby.  Explain to them that the only way that they can score is by answering questions about the senses correctly. 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, "Hitting Grand Slams with Our Five Senses".  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 for the challenge answers for the mission project.  While students are completing mission project, teacher will observe students and give assistance when needed.)

Scenario Mission
Imagine that you are playing in a homerun derby.  In order to score a run, you successfully pass each challenge. Each of these challenges has to do with your knowledge of the five senses.  Before we begin, let's review the web site about the five senses and then we'll be on our way to the batter's box.  Questions may be asked and challenges may deal with hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, or tasting.  Remember, to move to home plate each of you must first focus on getting your questions or challenges correct!  Get your "sensing" cleats on and lets get started!  Good luck!

Mission Steps
1.  Have each student blindfolded.  Stand at one end of the room in a particular area (art, blocks, etc.) and let them guess what area you are in.

2.  Go outside of the classroom and call each student out of the room individually.  Blindfold the student and have them taste a food.  Have them hold their nose as they are tasting the food.  See if the student can guess what the object is without seeing it, touching it, or smelling it. 

3.  Show the students an object and tell them to pay close attention to what the object looks like.  Let both students see the objects up close.  They may pass the object to each other to get a better look at it.  After a few minutes, hide the object and see if the students can draw the object that they saw. 

4.  Get a paper bag and put several different objects in it.  Get both students, individually, to put their hand in the bag and feel the objects.  See if the students can tell what the objects are without seeing them.  For an extra challenge:  let the students draw the objects that they felt.

5.  Go outside of the room and call both students out, one by one.  Blindfold the student and have them smell an object.  See if they can guess what they are smelling without seeing it or touching it.


6.  As the students complete each challenge, ask them to tell you which sense they were using during the challenge.

7.  At the end of the lesson, have the students draw a picture of which body parts the five senses are involved with.  Review the challenges with them if they have trouble deciding which body part was used so that they can relate the senses to experiences.  Tell the students that since both of them did so well they were both winners!


Estimated Time for Step Two:
30 minutes

Step Three
Closure:
Have students discuss their mission project answers, pictures, and information they found on the Internet about the five senses.  Tell students that your topicquest page is on the Internet and they can visit the website at school or home to learn more about the five senses.  Explain to students that you are going to put their pictures 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 & Art K-10
Student will be assessed through the use of the computer with teacher guidance to do research and find information for the mission project.

Assessment Rubric:

Performance
Levels		 Indicators
0
 Student is not able to use the computer with teacher guidance to do research on the Internet for topic information.
1
 Student is able to use computer with a great amount of teacher guidance to do research on the Internet for topic information.
2
 Student is able to use computer with some teacher guidance to do research on the Internet for topic information.
3
 Student is able to use computer with little teacher guidance to do research on the Internet for topic information.

Student Performance
Level		 Describe the Students' Evidence that Illustrate their Achieved Use of Technology Performance Level
1

2


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:

Performance
Levels		 Indicators
0
 Student is not able with teacher guidance to listen to information to gain knowledge.
1
 Student with  teacher guidance is able to listen to information to gain little knowledge.
2
 Student with teacher guidance is able to listen to information to gain some knowledge.
3
 Student with teacher guidance is able to listen to information to gain much knowledge.

Student Performance
Level		 Describe the Students' Evidence that Illustrate their Achieved Language Arts Performance Level
1

2


Accommodation:
Links for Accommodations for Special Students
1. The student in my class with special needs has severe ADD (attention deficit disorder).  He has trouble staying on track and paying attention for even a short amount of time.  This student often stares into space and very rarely completes any of his assignments in class.

2. When giving directions for the computer assignment, I would make sure to go over the directions an extra time with the special needs student.  I would also make sure that he had plenty of time during each station to answer the questions.  I would pay close attention during the lesson to make sure that he was staying on track and doing the assigned work.


Reflections: (For Electronic Portfolio Standard #1 Knowledge of Subject Matter)
1. a. Describe and give examples of how your TopicQuest lesson created learning experiences and activities that made subject matter meaningful for your students.  My students loved this activity because it was something different.  They enjoyed using the computer to learn about their five senses.

    b. Describe and give examples of how your TopicQuest lesson illustrated your understanding of content and tools of inquiry.
The TopicQuest lesson illustrated my understanding because I was able to use examples to explain what the five senses were and how we used them everyday.  I aslo had some facts on my webpage that made it evident that I knew what I was talking about.

    c. Describe and give examples of how students were engaged in learning and responded during your lesson.
The students got very excited and really wanted to play the various games about the five senses.  Their eyes lit up because it was a type of learning that they typically do not get to use.

  2. Describe and give examples of how the students achieved the assessment of your lesson. Give the achievement level (satisfactory or unsatisfactory) for each assessment for each of your students.
Satisfactory for both students.  They acheived being able to tell me what all of the five senses were.  They told me how they could use their senses on the farm.  They told me things that they felt in the bag and they told me what noises I made from the farm.

    A. Technology Integration:
Student assessed through observation while using the computer with teacher guidance to do research and find information for the mission project.  
        Student One:  Student One was very excited about the lesson.  He was able to find the back button on computer and he was very well able to click on the different senses on the website.  He was excited about the games that we played and completed each area with 100% accuracy.
        Student Two:  Student Two was also excited, and she had a very easy time with the computer,as well.  She described the fruits and vegetables that she felts in the bag in detail letting me know that she was very well educated on what we were talking about.  She also told me the five senses.
 

3. Describe what you would do differently and why if you taught this lesson again.
I would not do this lesson while the other children were at recess!  My children were wanting to run outside the entire time.  They did end up getting playtime, however.  I would also allow more time for my lesson so that we would be able to play more games to test their knowledge of the five senses.
 


Example of TopicQuest Scanned Pictures & Comments
Topic Example by Erin Brantley

flowers by Jessica
Art by McKenna

This picture was drawn by a Pre-K student.  She told me that she picked the bright red apple off of the tree at the farm.  She also drew pictures of several flowers.  She chose to draw the flowers because we talked about when flowers grow on the small green stems before the vegetable grows in the garden.

This is a picture by a Pre-K student.  She said that this was a picture of an apple that grows on a tree.  She also included a picture of herself sucking honey from a honeysuckle flower.  She said that one of the red round objects was a tomato that she picked off the vine.