Week 12

Assignment #1:

Reflection of the Websites:

Storytelling is a traditional way for kids to learn language. I believe that every child has the experience of listening to mommy or daddy telling a story before going to bed. It is the same after kids going to school, teachers will do share reading with the whole group of students and show them the model of what language is. And technology saves teachers a lot of work in doing this, also technology provides much more resources to students. Digital storytelling is a very effective tool for students to learn language by themselves. Besides reading, the tool also gives students a chance to think and write. Language learners are able to create their own stories online. Technology is a great way to help students learn to solve problems and put students of various learning abilities on the same level so that teachers don’t have to be aware of everything. Then it becomes more important task for teachers to be equipped with computer skills. From gathering ideas to publishing, teachers need to know every step of the process. 

In my future teaching, I would like to use iPad and Smart Board as my technological tools. There are a bunch of applications on iPad that will help students with learning. Students can learn at school and also practice at home since iPad is a very portable gadget and easy to handle. Smart Board is becoming more and more common in our classrooms. It is an excellent tool to do instruction and make classroom an interactive learning environment.


Lesson Plan

Candidate’s Name: Jingyi Yuan

Grade Level: Grade 6

Title of the lesson: Wars Influenced the United States

Length of the lesson: 50 mins

Central focus: Integrating technology into learning.

l  Ideas and thoughts from peer discussion l  Information from research l  Prior Knowledge related to the topic

Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.7 Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7 Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

Support literacy development through language (academic language) Vocabulary ●     General academic terms: analyze, compare/contrast, describe, explain, interpret, question, retell, summarize or another one appropriate for your learning segment ●     Content specific vocabulary Sentence Level ●     Sentence structure, transitions/connectives, complex verb tenses Discourse ●     Text structure, message

Learning objectives: 1.    Students will learn more about main wars in American History. 2.    Students are able to seek information on the Internet with computers. 3.    Students will learn to analyze an event with cause, process and result. 4.    Students will learn to cooperate with each other to achieve learning goals.

Formal and informal assessment: Students will be evaluated based upon their understanding of the event in their final presentation and also their comments which represents their personal thoughts.

Instructional procedure: 10mins First, students are asked to watch the video on the following website. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY9zHNOjGrs&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s This video is about civil war and it is an interesting beginning of the class which will engage the students. 5mins  Students can choose one of the following wars to work on. (The War of Independence, Civil War, Second World War, The Cold War, Korean War, Afghanistan War and Iraq War.) They can share their opinions with their peers. 5mins  Once students have decided their topic, they are asked to answer the following questions according to their topic. 1. What is the cause of the war? 2. How long does the war take? 3. What is the result of the war? 4. Your personal thoughts. Students begin to research materials on the Internet. 25mins  Students start to work on their own topic according to the questions raised above. Teacher will walk around to check each students’ working progress. 5mins  Wrap up. Make a conclusion of the whole class. Presentation is required at the end of the lesson and they should make comments on each other’s work.

Instructional resources: Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY9zHNOjGrs&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s  http://americanhistory.about.com/library/timelines/bltimelineuswars.htm Materials: Computers Internet Paper Pencils

Reflection: l  I should provide students with a model of writing structure so that they can refer to what good writing is. l  For struggle students, I will be assisting them while others are working on their own.