Technology Lesson Plan CEP 800 November 2, 2013

Lesson title: Diseases and Biotechnology Introductory Vocabulary Prepared by: Amy Benson Grade/Subject area: 8th Grade Science Technology used: iPads Length of lesson: 3 class periods (3 hours total) Lesson Ojectives North Carolina Standard Course of Study Clarifying Objective: 8.L.1.1 Summarize the basic characteristics of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites relating to the spread, treatment and prevention of disease. Student Friendly Objective for this Lesson: I will be able to explain important unit vocabulary terms in my own words and draw pictures to represent each of them. Essential Questions What are the key vocabulary terms we are going to work with during this unit of study? How can I define these words in ways that my peers would understand (using my own words)? What images can I draw to depict the meanings of these vocabulary words? How could I explain my images?

Lesson Summary Day 1: Students will take handwritten notes about new vocabulary terms. Students will record the words and their teacher-given definitions. At the end of the class period, the teacher will introduce the paper slides project, show an example and allow students to break into groups to begin discussing their plans. Day 2: Students will work in their small group of three to develop their own definitions for the new vocabulary words. Students will also draw pictures to go along with each word. As definitions and pictures are completed, students will develop a script for what they will say on their paper slides video. Day 3: Students will first practice recording their video and then actually record it. Students will upload their recorded paper slides video to the teachers Edmodo site and watch their classmates. Materials iPads (1 per small group of three) Internet access

Vocabulary powerpoint Student vocabulary notes YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf6L1PTG3p4 Colored strips of paper (for grouping purposes) White paper Colored pencils/ markers/ crayons Lined paper (for script writing) Pencil

Lesson Procedure Before Teacher will begin class with a warm-up activity- all seven new vocabulary words (disease, microbiology, microorganism, unicellular, prevention, treatment, antibiotics) will be displayed on a slide, students will be asked to write down anything they already know about how the words are connected to each other Students will then record each word separately on a lined piece of paper Teacher will provide students with definitions for each word; students will record definition As students record definitions, teacher will discuss, describe and elaborate on the definitions Teacher will answer student questions After definitions have been recorded, teacher will begin describing the paper slides movie assignment

During After Teacher Background Information: A paper slides video is a series of hand drawn slides that include original artwork. Each slide is described and elaborated on by the audio component. The slides are pulled by hand to reveal the next slide. Teacher will discuss what a paper slides movie is and show an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf6L1PTG3p4 (this clip is a paper slides video about how to make a paper slides video- serves the purpose of explanation as well as inspiration) Teacher will explain guidelines and discuss what students need to include in their paper slides video (definitions in their own words and pictures for each word) Students will each pull a slip of paper, those with the same colored paper will work in a group together Students will move to sit with their groups Teacher will again restate and display the guidelines for the project on the board Teacher will answer student questions Students will begin working together to come up with definitions, pictures and a script for their paper slides movie Once students have slides for all 7 vocabulary words, they will practice their movie several times After practicing, students will record their paper slides movie on an iPad and save it

One student from each group will login to Edmodo, go to the teachers page and upload that groups paper slides video Students will then watch at least three other groups paper slides videos and leave a comment (from their entire group) on the video post

Evaluation Discussing Organizing Writing Vocabulary Technology

Assessment Teacher will watch all paper slides videos and assess understanding of vocabulary words using a rubric. The depth of explanation of key terms and use of visual aids as support will be reflected in the final grade. Modifications Students will be working in small groups to encourage collaboration Students will IEPs and LEPs will work in groups with higher level students and English speaking students to answer questions Multiple learning styles will be addressed, students will interact with words visually and linguistically; students will get to choose within their group which piece of the project theyd like to work on so that they can work to their strengths

Creating the Lesson Plan 1. Content: What is the content you are teaching and what are the big ideas? What are the challenging concepts that students struggle with or are difficult to teach? Consider your state standards (GLCEs or HSCEs) as you develop the essential questions you are trying to address. The lesson I will be teaching is an introductory lesson to a new unit of study: Diseases and Biotechnology. This unit has many big ideas and will take several weeks to complete. The big ideas covered throughout the entire unit include the basic characteristics of microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites) and how each is related to the prevention, treatment and spread of disease, the big differences between epidemics and pandemics, genetic information and modification in biotechnology, careers in biotechnology, agricultural implications and ethical issues raised by genetic modification, and economic benefits to North Carolina through the use of biotechnology. I have always found that many students struggle with fully understanding the vocabulary used in the science classroom. Oftentimes, the words we use in science class have different meanings in other subject areas (for example: to most people the word theory means a proposed, unproven idea about something, whereas in science, a theory is a tested explanation that explains why something happens. Scientific theories can be used as fact.). This proves to be challenging when beginning a new unit,

because students must first understand the terms being used in order to understand the big ideas being taught. For this lesson, I will be focusing on teaching the meanings of seven new vocabulary words: disease, microbiology, microorganism, unicellular, prevention, treatment and antibiotics. Understanding these words is the first stepping stone in this unit. Below you will find the state objective this lesson works towards, as well as a student friendly objective for this individual lesson and several guiding, essential questions. North Carolina Standard Course of Study Clarifying Objective: 8.L.1.1 Summarize the basic characteristics of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites relating to the spread, treatment and prevention of disease. Student Friendly Objective for this Lesson: I will be able to explain important unit vocabulary terms in my own words and draw pictures to represent each of them. Essential Questions: What are the key vocabulary terms we are going to work with during this unit of study? How can I define these words in ways that my peers would understand (using my own words)? What images can I draw to depict the meanings of these vocabulary words? How could I explain my images?

2. Pedagogy: What pedagogical strategies are you using and why? What theories of learning inform your strategies? What learner characteristics did you take into consideration? There are several effective pedagogical strategies for teaching vocabulary present in my lesson. First and foremost, I am pre-teaching vocabulary words before my students experience them in the broader contexts of the unit. It is important to remember that some of these words will be brand new to my students and they should be defined and discussed to help students develop an understanding. Pre-teaching these words also allows my students to connect the new vocabulary to their prior knowledge. After defining the words together in class, students will be broken up into groups to begin working on their paper slides video project. For this project, the students will interact with the new vocabulary words in several ways. They will also experience repeated exposure to the same vocabulary words. Students, especially younger students, need to hear and use words several times before they truly become a part of their vocabulary. Creating a paper slides video will provide my students with multiple opportunities to use the new words in both their written and spoken forms to increase understanding. The visual component of the paper slides project will be pictures of the words themselves as well as images that represent the meaning of the word. This is often referred to as the keyword method, as the image functions as a clue to help connect the word with its meaning. The auditory component of the paper slides project will be a restructured definition of the word. The students will be required to explain and define the vocabulary word in their own terms, using their images to help if they choose.

This is another pedagogical strategy. Oftentimes, science vocabulary materials are challenging for students because there are too many unfamiliar words to them. To be able to better comprehend the words and explain them to others, my students will restructure the definitions, substituting challenging words or phrases for easier synonyms. Being able to paraphrase the teacher-given definitions increases connection making and will show me how much my students truly understand. A constructivist theory of learning has helped to inform my strategies in that my students will first receive and hear the definitions of the new vocabulary words from me (the teacher) and then I will take a step back and my students will assume more of the thinking load as they work to find a new way to present them. I will be moving around the room to provide guidance and assistance, but the students are ultimately working towards accomplishing the task on their own. The original teacher-given definition serves as the scaffold that students will use to help create their paper slides videos. This lesson also incorporates a high level of cognitive learning. This theory includes memories, visuals, movement, and many other types of learning styles. Having students draw pictures and use a different means of presentation speaks to these multiple learning styles. The embodiment theory stresses the importance of motivating students to remember information by understanding it instead of just memorizing it; that is one of the goals of making paper slides. Using the iPads to film the slides also makes the learning more enjoyable, this will help them to form strong memories about how they learned their vocabulary words. Lastly, this theory encourages teachers to use technology effectively to vary the pace of the classroom. Since I have not used the iPads before and I myself have only attempted a paper slide video one time before, this will certainly be a change of pace for my students and will hopefully engage them more just because it is different. In developing this level, I took many learner characteristics into consideration. I have mentioned the Multiple Intelligences theory many times throughout this course, and it will again come into play here. I considered the types of learners I have in my classes; my students are each unique and have their own primary learning style. I tried to create a project that will speak to and engage as many of those learning styles as I can. My visual learners will enjoy creating the visual images, whereas my linguistic learners will enjoy restructuring the definitions. My hands-on (kinesthetic) learners will even have the opportunity to move around while pulling the paper slides and maneuvering the camera. Using the technology is also highly engaging and I am hoping that it will peak the interest of many learners in my classroom. I also know that I have a large group of ESL students in my classes. Most of them are fluently bi-lingual, but may still struggle understanding science terms that have different meanings in other areas. Affording my students the opportunity to work in small groups (no more than 3 students) will allow those students the opportunity to get inside the head of their peers and have people to ask their questions to. What one student may not understand on their own, they are likely to be able to work out in a small group. Working in groups also allows students to have more of a choice in which part of the project they primarily focus on (for example, my visual learners will have the opportunity to do most of the images). 3. Content & Pedagogy: How do these particular strategies help you teach the content mentioned above? Why choose these strategies over other approaches? Are there any technical or physical constraints that figured significantly into your choices? There is a strong relationship between content comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. Students have to know and understand what words mean in order to understand the big ideas and the content they are connected to. The strategies I have chosen to use have proven effective in the past to

connect new vocabulary words to their meanings so that they can be understood in context later on in the unit. Pre-teaching the vocabulary words will allow my students to make connections between their prior knowledge and new information. This will also give us a chance to not only define the words as a group, but discuss them as well. Repeat exposure to vocabulary words has also proven to lead to lasting understanding of terms. I once read that it takes between five and ten repetitions to commit something to short term memory, and 50 to 100 repetitions to commit something to long term memory; preteaching knocks out more of those necessary repetitions. As my students work through this vocabulary lesson, I want them to develop deep webs of meaning. To achieve this goal, I have decided to ask my students to re-define each vocabulary term in their own words and draw a visual that helps depict it. Doing these things may help to increase student engagement with words but it will also highlight the relationships between the words. It is also important to note that not all learners are linguistic and providing an opportunity to illustrate the terms offers a nonlinguistic way to demonstrate vocabulary mastery. There are several other approaches to vocabulary instruction that I have chosen not to take. Countless research has shown that having students look up and memorize definitions of new vocabulary terms is not effective. Though dictionaries are helpful during writing, having students look up definitions on their own and record words they do not yet know is not likely to result in a true understanding of the term. Additionally, rote memorization of said definitions does not demonstrate understanding. At best, it shows that students are able to parrot back what was given to them. Lastly, I have chosen to ask my students to rephrase the definitions in their own words instead of using the word in a sentence because it has been shown that assigning this type of task before studying the word results in little understanding of the meaning. I do not teach any students with physical disabilities (I do have a student on crutches, but this wont inhibit his use of an iPad), and so the only other constraint that figured into my choices is my high volume of students with IEP and LEP plans. Because of the large number of specialized education plans that I have in each of my class periods, I decided to allow students to work in small groups of three to complete this assignment. This allows for variation in learning styles (students can focus on the part of the project they like the most) and collaboration. In working with other students, those students that struggle with vocabulary will be able to pick the brains of their classmates. They will be able to accomplish the task with the help of their peers. My students whose primary language is Spanish will be able to work with bilingual students who can help translate (even better than I can, since I dont speak Spanish). Additionally, I only see my students for one hour each day, so working in groups will help accomplish the task in less time, I am estimating two or three class periods. 4. Technology: What technology will you be using and why? Is the use of this technology absolutely necessary to achieve your objective? That is, would be impossible to teach the lesson without it? Remember that content specific technology (e.g., probes, graphing calculators, Geometers Sketchpad, United Streaming videos) are used to teach a content-specific concepts, whereas content-general technologies (e.g., Flash animation, Web 2.0 technologies) may facilitate deeper understanding by allowing students to manipulate information, explore a network of ideas, and investigate multiple representations of material. I will be using iPads during this lesson. They are not absolutely necessary to achieve my objective, but I feel they bring a unique addition to the lesson. I believe that the iPads themselves are an example of a technology that could be both content-specific and content-general. iPads are multi-functional and

have so many apps and features; it really is all about how you choose to use them. In my lesson, the iPads will function as a content-general technology. I will incorporate them into my lesson in a way that allows students to access deeper levels of information and manipulate information using features. The first feature of the iPads that my students will use is the camera. They will record audio and video of themselves moving and describing their paper slides videos. Using the iPad makes this so simple; the camera feature is very user friendly, includes both audio and video recording software, and is all controlled by the touch of one button. The second feature of the iPad that my students will be using is the internet. They will log in to Edmodo right from their iPad, and then upload their video file to my Edmodo page. This can all be done with a few taps on the iPad. Using the iPad makes this easier because my students do not have to switch technologies. There are other options for how this could be done. Students could have recorded their videos using digital cameras or flip cams. However, in order to then upload the videos to my Edmodo page, they would have to eject the data from the camera and transfer it to a computer; it requires several more steps. Additionally, I considered not having my students record their videos at all, simply having them show their paper slides under my document camera and talk to the group. I do not think this would be as effective since the presentation could not be replayed or recreated, and many students struggle with public presentation and projecting their voice in front of the class. As I mentioned above, the iPads are not necessary, but they add something extra to the paper slides presentations that will help develop deeper understandings of the unit content. 5. Technology & Pedagogy: How does the technology you have chosen fit with your pedagogical strategies and theories about learning? What types of learning strategies are employed by the technology? Using the iPads fits with the pedagogical strategies I plan to use in several ways. Research has shown that repeat exposure to vocabulary words leads to lasting understanding. Allowing students to create, save and upload a short video that incorporates all their vocabulary words allow them to watch the video as often as theyd like. There is only so much time in a school day and I can only do so many vocabulary activities in class before we have to move on, but having the videos permanently housed on my Edmodo page means they can be easily accessed from anywhere there is internet. This allows students to connect to their vocabulary words outside of the walls of my classroom. Additionally, creating a video about the vocabulary words allows my students to interact with the words in their written, spoken and visual forms. To create a successful video there will need to be both audio and visual, which allows my students to think about the many ways a word can be represented and discussed. This will help to develop relationships between the words and create deeper webs of understanding. Using the iPads incorporates a high level of cognitive learning. One of the goals of making paper slides videos is to motivate my students to remember the meanings of their vocabulary words through deep understanding, not simple memorization. This embodiment learning theory incorporates memories, visuals and movement to create lasting understanding. Multiple learning styles are incorporated in this project because it includes visuals (drawing pictures) and a new mode of presentation (recorded audio/visual video). Using the iPads to film the slides also makes the learning more enjoyable, this will help my students form positive memories about how they learned their vocabulary words. Using technology to vary the pace of the classroom is encouraged by this learning theory and using the iPads to create the final project does just that. Using the iPads employs many learning strategies. These projects will be collaborative; students will work together with other students to create and upload their final project. While creating their project

they will have the opportunity to think together and discuss things they do not understand. They will then also be able to assess their work and their classmates work by easily accessing the projects on my Edmodo page through the iPad. This type of metacognition is not always easy to include in every lesson and will hopefully make a lasting impression and create deeper understanding. Finally, using the iPads will create a higher level of motivation and engagement with the activity. Deep learning strategies occur when students are engaged in the learning process; engagement is a way to positively influence students to learn. One of my goals for this lesson is to make learning new vocabulary a bit more fun, and that will lead to deeper understanding. 6. Technology & Content: How does your choice of technology help you teach the "big ideas" and address the essential questions underlying the concept your lesson addresses? The vocabulary words that I will teach during this lesson are necessary for students to know and understand all the way throughout the entire unit (about 5 weeks long). I almost always begin a new unit with pre-teaching the important, key vocabulary that will be entwined throughout the unit, but I have always found that students are not engaged with learning the words when they are simply writing them down on paper. This has been a struggle for me because I want my students to have fun in my classroom but I also want them to truly understand the meaning of the vocabulary words. The lack of motivation leads to a lack of understanding. Using the iPads allows for several opportunities for deep and lasting understanding. I will still pre-teach the words as I have in the past, but then my students will have a social opportunity to work with the words in a small group. There is also a choice element of this project. Students will choose how they want to represent the words, who will do the talking and drawing and how they want to describe the words. Using the iPads to make paper slides movies gives my students an opportunity to interact with their vocabulary words and important big ideas while being creative at the same time. 7. Assessment: What do you want your students to know, and how will you know when they know it? How will you assess what students have learned? What role does technology play in these assessments? I want my students to know the meaning of the seven new vocabulary words introduced at the beginning of a new unit. I want my students to be able to understand the context in which the words are being used as we work through the unit. I will know that my students know this when they can successfully define the terms in their own words and use a visual support to explain their definitions. Upon successful completion of the paper slides project, my students will have developed their own definitions of each term and drawn pictures to go along with each of them. I will be able to assess this by watching and listening to their paper slides video as it is uploaded to my Edmodo page. My students will also be able to watch and assess each others projects. This type of assessment would not be possible without technology. In order to upload a video to my Edmodo page, the students must be connected to the internet. In order to create the video in the first place, the students must have access to some type of camera or recording device. Technology plays a critical role in production and saving of these projects, we could not do it without the iPads.