School/District DeKalb County School System E-mail ms_victoriawilliams@yahoo.com Phone 848-MATH102 // 848-628-4102 Grade Level(s) 7 TH grade Content Area Social Studies Time line 3 weeks
Standards The intent of the standards is for students to be able to locate selected countries and major physical features in Southwest Asia using a world and regional political-physical map. The students will also investigate several major environmental issues in Southwest Asia while comparing it with environmental issues in their local area. They should identify the elements affect on the economy and population of their local area and Southwest Asia. Students should be able to provide background on the issues and their consequences. The students will explain how location, climate and distribution of natural resources have impacted population distribution and trade in Southwest Asian and their local community. While doing the aforementioned, students will understand the diversity of the cultures in Southwest Asia and their local communities. They will understand what factors make cultures unique and what factors differentiate them from other groups (Georgia Standards, 2013). For the technology portion the student will demonstrate creative thinking and apply existing knowledge to generate new ides or processes through a class blog on Weebly.Com. Students will use Weebly to format their personal portfolio while contributing to a class account for blogging purposes. Students will communicate and collaborate by interacting and publishing information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences while developing cultural understanding and global awareness. Students will use digital tools to gather evaluate and use information. This will require critical thinking and problem solving before making decisions. Prior to having access to the Internet students will demonstrate and advocate safe, legal and responsible use of information and technology while selecting and using applications effectively and productively. Students will transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies. There are connections to Language Arts and Economics but for the sake of emphasis, the main concentration will be on Social Studies and Technology (ISTE, 2012).
Content Standards SS7G5, SS7G6, SS7G7 NETS*S Standards: ISTE NETSS// 1.a,b,c,d-2.a,b,c,d-3.a,b,c,d-4.a,b,c,d-5.a,b,c,d-6.a,b,c,d
Page 2 of 5 Overview) Students will create an e-portfolio using Weebly.com. On their website they will insert an blog in which other students will respond to topics of discussions. Students will take short videos and photographs of their environment and share short videos through Videolicious on their class portal. Socratic discussions will take place on Voice Thread. All discussions on the students blog will be approved and facilitated by teacher. The end product for this lesson will be a student created video on Screencast, Podcast, Videolicious or IMovie. End product must explain and elaborate of difference in geographical locations, i.e. Southwest Asia, Georgia, St. Thomas. The activity for the student is to create a map with artistic mediums, then produce a video on the process of creating the map, the second portion is to locate designated features of Southwest Asia on the map then present themselves locating these designated areas in video format. Students will teach each other how to locate the designated areas of Southwest Asia via podcast, screencast or Videolicious. Students will continuously collaborate through blogs on topics related to standards associated to this lesson. Students will take quiz on Schoolology. Students from St. Thomas and Georgia will be in collaboration with each other, comparing and contrasting difference in their local communities via photographs, videos and blogs.
Essential Questions and Guiding Questions EQ How does location affect the economy, culture and development of an society? What are the different types of maps used to locate geographical locations? What resources are needed to locate nations on a map? How do water pollution and the unequal distribution of water impact irrigation and drinking water? How does the distribution of resources affect the development of a community and/or society? How does physical features affect the population in terms of where people live, the type of work they do and how they travel? Compare and contrast the various religions, customs, traditions and governments in Southwest Asia and your community. What is the definition of diversity and how does it apply to your community (Georgia Standards, 2013)? GQ Why does change always follow conflict? What cultural conflicts can you identify in your school or community? What cultural conflicts can you identify in Southwest Asia? How does society and government adapt to each others growing complexities? What jobs are available or unavailable because of the physical geography in Southwest Asia and your community? What are the reasons people move? How do opportunities change (jobs, food, homes, standard of living, clothes, etc.) depending on where people live? What are the elements that make up an economy?
Assessment Students will produce: 1. Students will research information pertaining to the development of videos, photographs and interactive collaborations via the web. 2. Creative maps of their community and Southwest Asia. 3. Essays pertaining research representing to topics associated to standards. 4. Videos, photographs pertaining to topic. 5. Periodic assessments will be contained in Schoolology. .
Students will choose whether to work as individuals or in groups. They will generate essays via blogs and take quizzes via Schoolology. Teachers, parents and peers will continuously observe students. Rubric attached to the end of the lesson.
Page 3 of 5 Material and Resources Material and Resources The following technologies will support student learning by allowing students to meet aforementioned standards. Student will have access to handouts and templates located in the following books, Georgia CRCT Coach, 7 th
Grade Social Studies Georgia Performance Standards and Georgia CRCT TEST PREP. Technology- IMovie, Weebly, Voice Thread, Screencast, Podcast, Videolicious, Schoolology, Mobil devices with cameras and internet access, laptops or desktops with cameras and internet access. The research sites include Google. The previous technology skills students should have is the basic knowledge of accessing the internet and manipulation of all Web.2 previously mentioned in this lesson.
Instructional Plan Preparation Preparation All students will have a pre-test and post test for this unit. Reading scores will be excessed via school portal. Previous CRCT data will also be examined for grouping of students. If students are within a range of 3 grade levels above or below there are no prerequisites to this course. Difficulties might arise for students who are reading 4 or more grade levels below expectations.
Management Management Classroom management derived from the Montessori methods. Students will use Ipads and computer labs. Students will work within the classroom, computer lab and independently at home. The class will be managed by placing students in small groups, whole groups and allowing some to work as individuals.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities The researched based instructional strategies used for this lesson are the Montessori methods of hands on instruction and the Flipped Classroom environment. The learning environment will support these activities because student will have unlimited opportunities to work at home and in the class. The student is the facilitator of obtaining new knowledge. Higher order thinking will be assessed in the students essays and oral presentations via video production. The authentic, relevant, and meaningful learning activities and task the students will complete are presented within the Voice Thread, Videolicious, IMovie, blogs and e-portfolios. Students will use all digital tools to communicate and collaborate with each other and others. The teacher through directives and observations of all activities will facilitate the collaboration.
Page 4 of 5 Differentiation Instruction will differentiate based upon content, process and product. Assistive technologies and resources will be used as need arise. Headphones will be used for assistive technology. Headphones will be attached to the computers and mobile devices to assist with the reading of resources. Map skills will be incorporated for the levels below standards and advance mapping skills for those above standards. All concepts will broad based allowing for assessments for all students. Instruction will address same concepts but the level of difficulty will be adjusted for each learner. Flexible grouping will be consistently used. Small or paired groups will follow all big- idea grouping. Pre-assessment is mandatory. On-going assessment of students growth will be continuous. Formal and informal assessments will be conducted. Products will be assessed in accordance to the rubric. Students will learn in collaboration with others and independently work. They will compare and contrast poetry, photography and essays independently generated. Including economics and government in with the theme of geography will incorporate extensions and enrichment opportunities.
Reflection The culminating activity will be the display and showing of videos and artwork produced. Students will not focus on standard based grades, but the meaningfulness and worth of completing the activities. Lesson will be implemented Fall 2014.
Closure: As for me creating this lesson, it was a challenge due to time constraints. I learned of my aunt who established a school in St. Thomas, which is still in effect. I made visit to the school and presented my idea. It has been accepted and I used the content of my summer courses to give guidance to the process of having the collaboration between students in St. Thomas and Georgia up and running by fall 2014. Again the challenge was time constraints. I was not able to absorb material in depth. I was in attendance at the ISTE conference 2014; I exposed myself to as much technological advances as humanly possible in five days, while testing the material. If I were to advise others to do the same I would extend the time allowed.
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Rubric:
4 3 2 1 Teamwork Students meet and discuss regularly. All students contribute to the discussion and all are listened to respectfully. All team members contribute a fair share of the work. Students meet and discuss regularly. Most students contribute to the discussion and are listened to respectfully. All team members contribute a fair share of the work. A couple of team meetings are held. Most students contribute to the discussion and are listened to respectfully. All team members contribute a fair share of the work. Meetings are not held AND/OR some team members do not contribute a fair share of the work.
Concept Team has a clear picture of what they are trying to achieve. Each member can describe what he or she are trying to do and generally how his/her work will contribute to the final product. Team has a fairly clear picture of what they are trying to achieve. Each member can describe what they are trying to do overall but has trouble describing how his/her work will contribute to the final product. Team has brainstormed their concept, but no clear focus has emerged for the team. Team members may describe the goals/final product differently. Team has spent little effort on brainstorming and refining a concept. Team members are unclear on the goals and how their contributions will help them reach the goal.
Equipment Preparation All necessary equipment/supplies are located and scheduled well in advance. All equipment (sound, light, video) is checked the day before the shoot to ensure it is operational. A backup plan is developed to cover possible problems with power, light, etc. All necessary equipment/supplies are located and scheduled a few days in advance. All equipment (sound, light, video) are checked the day before the shoot to ensure they are operational. A backup plan is developed. On the day of the shoot, all necessary equipment/supplies are located and checked to ensure they are operational. There may or may not be a backup plan. Needed supplies/equipment are missing OR were not checked before the shoot.
Research Note cards indicate that the group members developed questions about the assigned topic, consulted at least 3 reference sources, developed a position based on their sources, and correctly cited their sources. Note cards indicate that the group members consulted at least 3 reference sources, developed a position based on their sources, and correctly cited their sources. Note cards indicate that the group members consulted at least 2 reference sources, developed a position based on their sources, and correctly cited their sources. There are fewer than two notecards OR sources are incorrectly cited.
Blogs
!"#$% '()*+ Georgia Standards. (2013, January 1). Retrieved July 2, 2014, from Georgia Standards: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Pages/BrowseStandards/BrowseGPS.aspx ISTE. (2012). NETS for Adminstrators. Washington, DC, USA: Interantional Society for Technology in Education.
Digital Tools for Learning, Creating, and Thinking: Developmentally Appropriate Strategies for Early Childhood Educators: Developmentally Appropriate Strategies for Early Childhood Educators