Lesson Plan Project - Verb to be

The final project of Design and Use of Instructional Technolgy was the creation of a lesson plan which included technology-based activities. I will share with you the whole project, so you can have a global idea of what were the objectives and goals of this project.

INTRODUCTION

For this project the population chosen was students from fourth grade of elementary school; who are, on average, 10 years old. Their English level is very basic, they have a low beginner knowledge level on the language. The class that is supposed to be taught is a two-lesson class, which means that is for 80 minutes.

The topic I chose for this lesson is verb to be in simple present form. It will be taught the positive and negative, questions, and short answer forms of this grammar structure. This lesson will be mostly based on technology, but the “normal” methodology of board and markers will also be used to give the explanation.

The lesson plan is divided into stages that are: review on previous knowledge, warm-up, introduction, explanation, practice, production, and review and closure. In every one of those stages, there will be one activity with its objectives, contents, materials, timing, and evaluation.

The technology used in this lesson plan is the best as possible, according to what I personally learned from the course of Design and Use of Educational Technology and the implementations done throughout the quarter. The activities are not completely based on technology because I think there must be a balance between technology and common resources.

TYPES OF INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY CHOSEN

For this lesson plan, I decided to get some support from different technological resources, this is the list of those websites used to plan and carry out this lesson:

·         Busyteacher.org: this website is from my show & tell post, here I found job vocabulary flashcards for the review of previous knowledge. (Virador) (BusyTeacher, n.d.)

·         Powtoon: this website is for making presentations and videos. I used it for making an introductory video to the topic. Then, that video I created, I uploaded it to YouTube. (Powtoon, n.d.) (YouTube, n.d.). These are the links to the videos:

http://www.powtoon.com/show/bc1x1lKbX9C/verb-to-be-examples-beginner-level/#/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08G6GA_GXH8

·         Crossword Puzzle Maker – The Teachers’ Corner: this website is for designing word puzzles (The teachers corner, n.d.)

·         Storybird: it is for designing digital books and stories. (Storybird, n.d.)

·         Rubistar: this is a great tool for creating rubrics for assessing and evaluating learning. (Rubistar, n.d.)

ACTIVITIES

MATERIALS

CONCLUSIONS

In this final project from the course Design and Use of Educational Technology, the contents learned through the quarter were put in practice in a meaningful way, planning a lesson with different technological resources and websites that were studied in class. Even though technology facilitates a lot of things, having a lot of options was really difficult because I had to choose just some of the websites because there is not enough time to apply all in just one lesson plan, even when most of them were great. I think that a lesson should not be fully based on technology, students still need other methodologies were notebooks and pens are used. Also, the teacher can´t rely completely on websites because what would happen if there is no internet access that day, or if there a power cut that day.

According to an article in Education.com portal, it is easier to keep students reviewing topics on their smartphones, tablets, or laptops by including apps or websites where they learn through games. The students spend more time on task if they have to use technology to study or to make homework. The younger generations are always willing to incorporate technologic resources in their daily life routine, and if education goes hand in hand with it, then it will be a total success. Also, having the help of technology in class can assure equal opportunities for everyone to learn because almost every learning style is somehow included in these kind of modern tools. (Cleaver, 2014)

The benefits of using technology in class are uncountable, such as:

“It can keep students focused for longer periods of time (…), it makes students more excited to learn (…), it enables students to learn at their own pace (…), and it prepares students for the future (…)” (Huneycutt, 2013)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cleaver, S. (2014, September 15). Technology in the Classroom: Helpful or Harmful? Retrieved December 9, 2014, from Education.com: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/effective-technology-teaching-child/

Huneycutt, T. (2013, October 8). Technology in the classroom: The benefits of blended learning. Retrieved December 9, 2014, from National Math + Science Initiative: http://www.nms.org/Blog/TabId/58/PostId/188/technology-in-the-classroom-the-benefits-of-blended-learning.aspx

Powtoon. (n.d.). Verb to be examples - beginner level. Retrieved December 9, 2014, from Powtoon: http://www.powtoon.com/

Rubistar. (n.d.). Rubistar. Retrieved December 9, 2014, from http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=NewRubric&module=Rubistar

Storybird. (n.d.). Storybird. Retrieved December 9, 2014, from http://www.storybird.com/

The teachers corner. (n.d.). Crossword Puzzle Maker. Retrieved December 9, 2014, from The Teachers Corner: http://worksheets.theteacherscorner.net/make-your-own/crossword/

Virador, R. (n.d.). Jobs Flashcards. Retrieved December 9, 2014, from BusyTeacher: http://busyteacher.org/21006-jobs-flashcards.html

YouTube. (n.d.). Verb to be examples - beginner level. Retrieved December 9, 2014, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08G6GA_GXH8

Web2 - 4 Languages Teachers

Professor Dagoberto shared with us this link, where teachers can find a lot of different tools to apply in the classroom.

It was a forum and we had to choose 3 of them and use them. The ones I chose were:

1. For All Rubrics https://www.forallrubrics.com/
2. Inkle Writer https://writer.inklestudios.com/
3. Flash Card Machine http://www.flashcardmachine.com/

I actually used only 2 of them because Inkle Writer was kind of difficult and boring to use, and the results were not as I expected, so I decided not to implement it. But the other 2 websites I did use them.

For All Rubrics
This website helps you create all kind of rubrics or checklists for several subjects or objectives. It also provides with sample rubrics that you can modify or use as a guide to create your own. Creating a good rubric can take too much time, that most time teacher DON´T have, and this tool minimizes that looong time.
I have done a rubric and a checklist with this tool to assess my student on Oral Presentations  wit a rubric and Writing Projects with a checklist.

Flash Card Flash

You can create sets of flashcards and then you can print them, take quiz on the contents of the flashcards.

You can share a public link to the flashcards where people can study them and then they can take a quiz about those flashcards.

http://www.flashcardmachine.com/machine/?read_only=3125213&p=a89e

This tool is very helpful when you teach a beginners group because they need to learn a lot of vocabulary but it can not be taught in the same way, so providing the students with flashcards is a great way to diversify the instruction method.

Examtime

On the forum "Show & Tell", Milagro shared a very useful website, which is Examtime. Here you can create c-maps or mind maps, create tests or quizes, create flashcards, create notes.

I have used the mind maps creator which allows you to set a background, and give ANY form you want to your c-map. I have worked with this mind map tool along this quarter for creating the homework c-maps from my Psychology course. Mila told me about it and it has been of a lot of help because it is easy to use it and it helps the people who are visual learners. I am one of that kind of learning style so colors, shapes, graphics, cmaps, and so on, are so helpful to learn better and easier.

These are the mind maps I´ve created with Examtime: (they are in sequence according as I have been making them). So you can notice the changes I´ve had. The more I use it, the more I am better at it.

https://www.examtime.com/es/p/1318589

https://www.examtime.com/es/p/1447973

https://www.examtime.com/es/p/1612193-Constructivism---Meaningful-Learning-mind_maps

https://www.examtime.com/es/p/1660767

https://www.examtime.com/es/p/1730232

The mind maps are a great tool for students to study. Sometimes they don´t know how to study for a very hard test, or they have a lot of contents and they have to summarize it so they can study and learn it correctly. There is when cmaps are one of the technological tools they can have access to because it is FREE and easy to use.

Powtoon

In this entry I´m going to write about this wonderful tool, Powtoon. It is awesome to create videos or presentations.

You can find like templates from which you can start making your own video/presentation, or you can start to do it from blank. If you are bored of using Prezi or Power Point, this is a great option to have some changes in your presentations.

Powtoon is great for making animated videos. If you are just starting to create your own videos for the classroom (introduce yourself, welcome from vacations, introduction to a topic) you can create them in this website and your students will totally love the product of this. The videos are of a high quality and you can upload them directly to Youtube (which is great nowadays). You can add backgrounds, transitions, animated cartoons, props, text with different effects, and more)

I implemented this tool with my brother (17 years old) and he found it easy to use after a little explanation. Then, he explored the website and created this video:
http://www.powtoon.com/show/dszGu2JFPxd/sebas-introduction/

Then, I had to create a lesson plan for two of my courses in the university and I used Powtoon to make an introductory video to the topic, which was Verb to be in simple present form.
This is my video:
http://www.powtoon.com/show/bc1x1lKbX9C/verb-to-be-examples-beginner-level/

Field Trip to Fundación Omar Dengo (FOD)

On October 28th (Week #8) we had a field trip to Fundación Omar Dengo in San José. This non-profit organization whose main objective is to develop people capacities, but they try to do it through innovative educational proposals, supported on the use of new technologies.
Their website address is: http://www.fod.ac.cr/

This foundation was created back in 1987, and since that moment they have been improving the education in Costa Rica through the use of technological resources and new different programs adapted to our public educational system.

I have been in two of their programs: Laboratorios de Informática Educativa, and Empresa Labor@. These two programs are available almost on every school and high school of Costa Rica, giving access to students to computers, internet access and technological resources to have a more complete education. Laboratorios de Informática Educativa are available on primary and secondary school. They first introduce students with the correct use of a computer, then they start teaching some tools like Micromundos (MM) or with the use of Internet.

Empresa Labor@ helps students with entrepreneurship abilities so in the future they know how to deal with issues related to the manage of a company. With Labor@, my classmates and I created a company that sold articles made from recycled materials. We had to work weekly on that 6-months project who had very good results because we had guidance from our teacher, a woman from FOD, and we also received feedback from other students who were in other Empresa Labor@ projects.

Busy Teacher & School House Technologies

For October 15th. we had to look for websites or technological tools that would be useful for teachers. I decided to share BusyTeacher and School House Tech.

The first website is www.busyteacher.org . Here you can find several resources, such as:
* Articles
* Lesson Plans
* Flashcards
* Worksheets
* Free: word search maker, word scramble maker, double puzzle maker.
Also, if you want to get some of the ESL books, creative prompts, or bundles, you can go to http://store.busyteacher.org/ and buy those resources that are specially made for ESL classrooms.

The other tool I chose was School House Technologies ( http://www.schoolhousetech.com/ ), which is a website where you can download software for making vocabulary worksheets, making Tests, and even creating your own bingos.

This second tool is so useful when you can´t find what you specifically need, so if you don´t find it already amde, then you can create it and adapt any other material that you saw but it does not fit the requirements of what you need.

Zunal & ReadWriteThink

In this entry I´ll be writing about two great websites: Zunal & ReadWriteThink.

Zunal(http://zunal.com/) is a great website for creating Webquests that are a great tool to encourage students to use technology for learning through the use of Internet.
There are some main parts that MUST be in a webquest, such as: a description or introduction, task tab, process tab, evaluation tab, and conclusion tab. This page is great for making lessons or courses online. You can upload any kind of file or links to online resources that will be used in that lesson or course.

I created my own Webquest for the Basic English Course that I teach. I upload there some files so they can review them after class and prepare for the next classes.
http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=258380











Then, the other website that I mentioned above was ReadWriteThink.

It is SO helpful when you run out of material for your class, or you have to give an extra lesson that you didn´t have planned. You can go to the "Classroom Resources" tab and select "Student Interactives" for games and activities or you can select "Lesson Plans".
The resources and activites available can be chosen by type, grade, theme, topic, or learning objective.

The students will have fun because they will learn through games and dynamic activities. The teacher will be relieved that she or he can has that trick in case she or he needs some extra help with a big group or when students are so energetic that they have to do something that keeps them busy.
The link for such a powerful and awesome website is.........:
http://www.readwritethink.org/

Voki & VoiceThread

Welcome to the Voki & Voicethread entry!!

 


These two websites were useful, but I can´t come up with an idea of how to implement it meaningfully.
Voki allows you to create a kind of icon or cartoon that speaks and tells whatever you put it to say, you can choose if you want a female or male voice, and you can also choose the accent.
My Voki, was a Welcome Voki, for putting in a webpage or in a presentation to make it more interesting.

Check this:
http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=10372456&height=267&width=200

<object height="267" width="200" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0" id="widget_name"><param name="movie" value="http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/vhss_editors/voki_player.swf?doc=http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/php/vhss_editors/getvoki/chsm=128e5d8e7f895a516b0c5babed4d42bf%26sc=10372456" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="width" value="200" /><param name="height" value="267" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed height="267" width="200" src="http://vhss-d.oddcast.com/vhss_editors/voki_player.swf?doc=http%3A%2F%2Fvhss-d.oddcast.com%2Fphp%2Fvhss_editors%2Fgetvoki%2Fchsm=128e5d8e7f895a516b0c5babed4d42bf%26sc=10372456" quality="high" allowScriptAccess="always" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" allowFullScreen="true" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="widget_name"></object>

Then, Voicethread was more useful because you can create and promote blogs and posting comments with this page. It is really good because you can add text, voice, or even video with is great!!! The writing, and the speaking skills are involved. Also the students can socialize with these threads that are created here. It was kind of difficult for me to understand how to use it but then it was incredibly fun and interesting. It can be used for blogs, or presentation, instead of using the common and normal Power Point or Prezi.

Here is my Voicethread, you can take a loot in this link:
https://voicethread.com/new/share/6114665/

From these two websites, I´d rather use Voicethread.

Storyjumper & Zooburst

During the course, we have been using and exploring different websites that might be useful in the future as teachers. These two websites are for applying the writing skill of students. They are creative and enhancing. Students will definitely have fun with them.

Storyjumper is very similar to Storybird, but here you can change the sizes of the pictures, and you can actually upload YOUR OWN PICTURES; isn´t it great?

Students from elementary and high school will love to share stories through this tool because they can individualize them as much as they want. If they like rock, they can add rock-related things, if they like fairytales, they can upload tiaras and crowns, etc.
It is a good way to let the students be active and decide how to implement the technology. You, as teacher, can give the guidelines, such as "X" minimum pages, these topics are not allowed: ....., or you must write about "X", but after that, students can be creative and they can show their awesomeness.
I actually did a story, check it out:http://www.storyjumper.com/book/index/16438762

Then, we also used Zooburst. It is kind of nice but the quality of pictures and pop-ups isn´t.

It is more adequate for Preschoolers or from 1st to 3rd grade. Small kids will like it, but for sure teen agers or more grown-up kids won´t.
I did my own 3D story, check it here:

http://www.zooburst.com/book/zb01_541a323fa17a2

Storybird

The first week of the course we studied this very useful, and nice tool, Storybird.

The website is: http://www.storybird.com/ You can read as many public stories as you can, but you have to register to be able to write a "longform book"which is multi-chapter, a "picture book" that is multi-page, or a "poem" that is only for a single image.

I prefer this tool for the written assignments because it is user-friendly, eventhough it doesn´t let you to upload your own pictures. You have to use the ones that are already there. It is easy to explain how to use it, and easier to use it by yourself. Feel free to explore this tool!!

First, I actually created my own story here: http://storybird.com/books/ramdomland/ Then I explored all the website to get to know it better. After that, I implemented this one with my friend, who is learning English in a Language Institute, but they are focused on the oral or spoken part of the language. I asked him to use this and write a story about whatever he wanted. He had some grammar mistakes, and his punctuation failed a little, too.

This link will take you to his story:
http://storybird.com/chapters/charlies-trip/

I explained him how to deal with the most important features, and how the stories are supposed to be done in this website.

I felt happy with the final product because he did it very well and he actually asked me for more help after that.