Overview
In this standard, the teacher demonstrates an extensive knowledge of the core content and designs instructional experiences that move beyond a focus on basic competency in the subject. The teacher designs instruction that aligns with the West Virginia Content Standards and Objectives and maintains a standards-based approach to instruction. The teacher integrates media and technology in the classroom and implements teaching strategies that promote self-directed learning, problem solving, and collaboration.
Relevant Description
In this lesson, the students worked in pairs to research famous women throughout history. The objectives of the lesson were to discover women throughout history who broke traditional norms of women in their time and to explore the diversity of these women. Each pair of students had a laptop or iPad, and I gave them a website from The History Channel that provided them with a list of women and links to biographies. The students were to write at least 5 sentences about the woman of their choosing and decide who would say what in their presentation to the class. This lesson was presented as a part of the weekly reading story, which was about Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Content Standards:
21C.O.3-4.1.LS.1: Student identifies information needed to solve a problem or complete an assignment, conducts a search and prioritizes various sources based on credibility and relevance, retrieves relevant information from a variety of media sources, and uses this information to create an effective presentation.
21C.O.3-4.1.LS.3: Student, cognizant of audience and purpose, articulates thoughts and ideas accurately and effectively through oral, written or multimedia communications.
21C.O.3-4.3.LS.4: Student appreciates, accepts and works cooperatively with others, in both academic and social contexts, shares responsibility for continued improvement of the academic performance and climate of the school, and exhibits ethical behavior while working alone or communicating with others.
RLA.O.4.3.4: Create an age appropriate media literacy product that reflects understanding of format, characteristics and purpose.
RLA.O.4.2.14: Use strategies to compile information into written reports or summaries (e.g., incorporate notes into a finished product, include simple facts-details-explanations-examples, draw conclusions from relationships and patterns that emerge from data of different sources, use appropriate visual aids and media).
Reflective Analysis
This was the first time in which students worked with partners while I was placed in the classroom. As much as I wanted them to learn about famous women, I also wanted to see how they worked with others. This lesson was a success in terms of self-directed learning, problem solving, and collaboration. Students were responsible for their entire presentation; I simply gave them the "ground rules."
I believe the students were genuinely intrigued at the achievements of the women the class presented, which included Annie Oakley, Oprah Winfrey, Harriet Tubman, Sacajawea, and many others. These women all came from different eras, cultures, social classes, and they all accomplished such great things.
Every group worked well together and seemed to enjoy working on this project. The presentations were the tricky part. This class is unusually quiet, so getting them to speak to the class was a challenge. This was also a lesson in public speaking for them, which is a 21st century skill.
Plans for Improvement
If I were to do this lesson again, I would like to give the students more sources to use in their research. I designed this lesson to be completed in one reading class period, but they enjoyed the process so much, that I would like to expand the lesson into a bigger project.
Also, I would go over some speaking skills and develop a rubric for the presentations. “Rubrics provide students with helpful criteria for success, making desired learning outcomes clearer to them.” (Crooks, 1988; Wilburn & Felps, 1983). For this small assignment, I simply took an anecdotal record of participation to assign a participation grade. The opportunities to expand this lesson are endless.
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