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TopicQuest Lesson Plan

Title of Lesson:

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- 3-13)
B. With teacher guidance student will be able to listen to information to gain knowledge.  (GPS- English/Language Arts- Comprehension- ELA3R3)
 

Assessed Standards
Georgia QCC
A. Grade: 3rd grade
Subject Area: Technology Integration
Strand: Research
13 Topic: Research
Standard: Uses basic research techniques with teacher guidance.

Georgia Performance Standard (GPS)
B. English/Language Arts Performance Standard
Grade: 3rd grade
Comprehension
ELA3R3:  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. Paper for drawing
3. Crayons
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: "What's Bugging You?"   &  URL: http://www.valdosta.edu/~glthomas/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 insects.  List 2 or more questions that introduce students to your TopicQuest that establish a connection to students' prior knowledge by asking them:
1. "Have you ever read any books about bugs or insects?"
2. "Can you tell me what kind of insects that you are familiar with and what you know about them?"  
Today we are going to learn about insects by visiting websites on the Internet and we will do a fun activity.  I have made a special Web page for you.  (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 insects then you will pretend to be an expert for the National Bugs and Insects Organization and draw a picture describing different kinds of insects and characteristics and facts about that particular insect. 

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.  Can you compare and contrast the honeybee and bumblebee?
2.  What are some types of wasps and tell me some characteristics of each?
3.  Which insects can be harmful and how do you know which ones are dangerous?

Practice and feedback related to the PLO
Read mission project to students.  Explain to students that they are going to be experts for their private organization and find out more information about insects.   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.]

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. Select one of your students that needs special attention.  Describe the student in your class with special needs. (Do not use the student's real name.  You could refer to the student as "the special student.") 
A special student that I observed in the classroom that I was in was a little girl who had a learning disorder.  She was never diagnosed with any particular type of learning disorder but according to the teachers and my observations, the child always wanted to be alone.  She never  wanted to sit with the group during the learning sessions.  During lunch and playtime, she wanted to play alone.  I noticed the teachers doing this and I tried to take part in helping do the same thing but the teachers would ask her to sit in the front of the learning session with the children on the first row.  The teacher was usually right in front of the little girl and would question her frequently about their lesson.  This seemed to keep her attention a lot better than letting her sit in the back and not answering questions. 

2. Explain what you would add to this lesson plan to accommodate your special student?  To accommodate for this student in this particular lesson, I would maybe try to add some more active websites that were a little busier to keep her attention drawn to the learning session.  The websites that I have chosen do contain a lot of information and less fun things.  Children tend to be more interested in active and busy websites rather than informational websites.  I also would try to relate things to subjects that I knew were interesting to the child.

Comments & Reflections: For Electronic Portfolio Principle #1 Content and Curriculum: Teachers demonstrate a strong content knowledge of content area(s). Describe how your TopicQuest project is evidence that shows how you understand concepts of knowledge.  Also tell how you used the tools of inquiry to develop and implement your TopicQuest for your elementary students in your field classroom

1. Describe how you developed the mini-reserach TopicQuest lesson for your students.  Include your process of researching and selecting web sites for your pre-k/elementary students.

2. Comment on your teaching of how your TopicQuest lesson created learning experiences and activities that implemented the use a variety of resources and technologies. 

The TopicQuest lesson implements in several ways a variety of uses of technology.  TopicQuest enables the students to learn and move at a pace that they are comfortable at learning.  During the TopicQuest lesson, the students navigate on their own and use the computer and mouse to visit links of their interest.  The students that I had were very good and obviously had prior knowledge of the computer.  They required little or no guidance from the instructor.  After completion of our lesson, we had some extra time to play on the computer so I had the students experiment with the paint program.  Only one of the students was familiar enough with this program to paint a picture in a short period of time.

4. Examine and describe your teaching of this TopicQuest lesson.

I enjoyed teaching this TopicQuest lesson plan to my students.  I think I learned more than they did.  I was really excited about hearing their stories about the prior knowledge they already knew concerning our current topic.  When I asked the questions that I had prepared such as, " Have you ever read books on bugs or insects?" or "What do you already know about insects?",
the answers were really great.  This was a good introduction to get them motivated to learn and talk more about the subject at hand.  Each student had a story of their own that he/she wanted to share.  After the introduction, the students went onto the webpage created for them and visited each websites looking at the information.  After visiting each webpage, the students went to the mission and I carefully explained it to them.  I let them know exactly what I would be looking for in their work.  I provided them with an example of what I wanted by doing one of my own.  This gave them a better idea of what they needed to do.  We then ended with our discussion about what insects each one chose and the facts that each decided to list for the insects chosen.  Both students did so good that I had to choose both of them to be the experts at the Bugs & Insects Organization.  I let them know that only the best experts got in on jobs like these!

5. Give at least on suggestion that would lead to improving your teaching practices and student achievement.

I believe the one suggestion that could improve teaching practices and student achievement would be more visual aids depending on the lesson plan and the age of the children.  The person evaluating me made mention of this and I truly believe that this would only better the lesson.  Children who are smaller tend to lose attention fast if you do not have interesting visual aids or things that they can try out for themselves.  I think more hands on activities would be more beneficial.  If I ever teach this lesson again, I would like to have an example of the insects that we talked about.  If I couldn't have the real insect (dead), maybe I could have a toy that looked like the insect.  This way they can hold the object in their hands while gaining information about it and this would hopefully make the learning experience more meaningful for them as students.
 

This picture was drawn by a 3rd grader.  She chose 3 insects that interested her the most about our lesson. The 3 bugs that interested Sydney the most were the ladybug, the honeybee and the bumblebee.  She made a drawing of them, colored them, and wrote three facts about each to show that she had learned about each insect.  Text reads: Ladybugs have legs. They have spots. They have wings. Honeybees pollinate our crops. They make honey. They also live in colonies and hives. Bumblebees sting if disturbed. They are very big. They also have wings, are yellow and black.

This picture was drawn by a 3rd grader.  He chose 3 insects that interested him the most aftern learning about insects on the webpage that I designed for them to navigate.  Zachary chose to draw the black widow spider, wasp, and the grasshopper.  Although the grasshopper is not one of the insects I related information to, he drew his on conclusions about the grasshopper by observation.  He made the pictures, colored them, and listed three facts about each insect. Text reads: Black widow spiders have 8 legs. They are black with a red spot. They are dangerous. Grasshoppers are green. They have legs and wings. They are friendly. Wasps will sting. Wasps eat flies and other bugs. They have legs and wings.

Gina's Home Page

glthomas@valdosta.edu

TopicQuest Page