Lesson 5 Writing and Unscrambling Sentences about Minnesota History Using Wordle

Lesson #5

Writing and Unscrambling Sentences about Minnesota History Using Wordle

Purpose or Language Learning Objective

Students are finishing a unit on Minnesota history. The purpose of my instruction is for students to present information they know about Minnesota history to another student and to assess fellow students’ knowledge about Minnesota history. The purpose is also for students to practice typing sentence accurately on a computer keyboard, to practice unscrambling words into complete sentences, and to practice speaking complete sentences out loud to their peers.

Lesson time: 30 minutes

Student group: 6^th grade intermediate to advanced

Lesson details

• During the last month or two students have been building their knowledge of Minnesota history, both during social studies and during ELL time. This activity will be part of a culminating set of lessons in which students will demonstrate what they have learned.
• In a previous class period, students will have written out 10-15 complete sentences in their own words describing facts about Minnesota history. Ex. “The fur trade was a reason why Europeans first came to Minnesota.”
• Students will work with a partner. Each student will have a laptop.
• I will demonstrate how to use Wordle, and I will model how to complete the activity using the SMART Board.
• Students will each privately type one of their 10-15 sentences into Wordle. Once finished, students will click “Go.”
• Students will show their laptop screens to one another, then one at a time each partner will try to unscramble the other sentence, forming the complete sentence that the other student wrote. They will speak their answer out loud to their partner.
• Students will continue to do this, one sentence at a time until they are finished with all their sentences. More advanced students could type in two or three sentences each time, making the unscrambling more challenging for their partner.

Review/Analysis

How will you use this resource to meet the needs of your instructional purposes?

Wordle is easy to use, does not require a student login, and is very engaging for students. It offers them an authentic way to practice keyboarding skills and it provides a simple, one-button option for sentence scrambling. Student will find, for this activity, that the technology will not be complex and will not get in their way. The skills of keyboarding and unscrambling sentences will definitely take center stage as the technology disappears into the background.

Why is this topic, information or content appropriate for the lesson you plan to create (e.g., level of authenticity, relevance to target language, register, accuracy, interest level, and motivation)?

These students are still perfecting the skill of writing complete sentences with subject and predicate and supporting features like adjectives and adverbs. Wordle will help them take their complete sentences and use them in an authentic way. It is also important for these students to comprehend the information about Minnesota history they are learning in social studies class. Therefore, spending time learning the content and checking for understanding will help the students succeed in their mainstream classroom.

What handouts or directions will you provide students to focus learning and adapt this resource for your instructional resources?

I will demonstrate how to use Wordle on the SMART Board and will address any questions that come up. I will tell them that the assignment is to type their sentences into Wordle exactly as they are written in their notebooks. I will make sure students know that the idea is not to confuse or trick their partner, but to present their sentences to their partner with the ultimate goal of teaching them some facts about Minnesota history. I will also tell them that in some instances their partner might misspell a word or have some errors in sentence structure. It will be important for the partners to support each other and to work together so learning occurs in a constructive way.

What are the potential problems, either language based or technical that you may need to troubleshoot or prepare for?

Students may have some sentence structure errors or misspellings in their sentences. Or, students may make some mistakes while they are typing in their words. As I stated above, the concern would be that students might get angry or frustrated at one another due to the fact that the mistakes make it difficult or impossible for the other partner to unscramble the sentence correctly. Again, dealing with this ahead of time will hopefully create an environment between partners that is supporting and helpful.

Lesson 4 Online Exercises

Lesson #4

Vocabulary Practice with Quizlet Using Words from the Book Two Old Potatoes and Me

Purpose or Language Learning Objective

Students are learning about the plant cycle as part of a science unit. The purpose of my instruction is to help build vocabulary, specifically vocabulary that pertains to parts of the plant cycle, and to help build understanding, comprehension and appreciation of the plant cycle. This activity is an introductory activity where students will begin to learn 10 new vocabulary words.

Lesson time: 30 minutes

Student group: 3^rd and 4^th grade moderate to advanced

Lesson details

• I will explain to students that we will be reading the book Two Old Potatoes and Me together as a class. We will build on our knowledge of the plant cycle and learn some new words and concepts.
• I will present the 10 vocabulary words to the students on our SMART Board. I will read the words aloud and ask students to repeat them back to me.
• With a partner, students will discuss the 10 words and work together for about 5 minutes to see if they know the meaning of any of the words.
• With a partner, students will then use laptops to access the Quizlet flashcard set I created. I will tell them ahead of time that I do not expect them to know very many of the words, and that the activity they will be doing online is not a quiz. They will not get penalized for wrong answers, and they will not get rewarded for correct ones. This activity is simply intended for them to begin to learn these new words.
• Quizlet Flashcard Set - Two Old Potatoes and Me
• Students will go through each flashcard one at a time using Quizlet, looking at the “definition” first and the “term” second. Before they flip the card from the definition to the term, students will be told to look at the vocabulary words on the SMART Board and to try and make an educated guess about which word matches the definition. Together, the two students should agree on what they think the correct word is, say it to one another, then flip the card to the term to see if they were correct.
• Once the students have had a chance to complete all the flashcards, we will read the story together perhaps using this link:
• http://vimeo.com/6494411
• I will ask students to specifically listen for the vocabulary words while the story is being read.
• Following the reading of the story, I will refer one last time to the list of vocabulary words and ask students if they can give me definitions using their own words.
• On upcoming days, students will continue to work with their new vocabulary words, completing other activities on Quizlet including “Space Race,” “Scatter,” and “Speller.” We will also spend time rereading the story and analyzing the concepts presented in it.

Review/Analysis

How will you use this resource to meet the needs of your instructional purposes?

I will use Quizlet to introduce the new vocabulary words, to allow students to “work” with the words using many of the quiz/game functions it provides, and I will use the “test” function of Quizlet to do a summative assessment at the end of the lesson. 

What handouts or directions will you provide students to focus learning and adapt this resource for your instructional goals?

I will project the vocabulary words using our SMART Board. I will inform students that we are learning vocabulary words specific to the plant cycle and that can be found in the story we will be reading together. I will tell them that some of these words might be new for them, but that they probably will have heard a few of them before. I will remind students that for today’s assignment it is not important that they become experts in these words. We will be studying the words, and the concepts to which they are related, all week. Today students will just be discovering the words and their definitions.

Are the format, organization, design and language level of this resource appropriate for your instructional goals?

Quizlet is appropriate for my goals. I actually find it to be an excellent resource, one that students can learn quickly and that they find engaging. It lends itself well to the learning of new words, and for the practicing and mastering of words as well. The beauty of Quizlet is you can adapt the resource to meet the language level of your students. Almost all the content the students see is content you created. And it’s very easy to use. As long as you can instruct students how to find the appropriate flash card set, they should have no problem using this resource. I see Quizlet as being appropriate for students as young as 2^nd grade. Oh, and you can download flashcards onto iPads or iTouches as well, making this resource very flexible.

What are the potential problems, either language based or technical, that you may need to troubleshoot or prepare for?

My guess as to the potential problem with Quizlet is that students are going to want to jump immediately into the more engaging aspects of the program. I will need to instruct the students to just click through the flashcards one at a time like my directions call for, and to not advance into any of the games located below the flashcards. I will also remind students that they will have plenty of time in the days to come to play these games.

Lesson 3

Lesson #3

Key Word Notes Using National Geographic Video on Sea Turtles

Gulf Turtle Eggs Relocated

Purpose or Language Learning Objective

Students will practice the skills of listening and viewing for information, distinguishing more important words from less important words in an informational video, writing information in their own words, and recalling information from a video by speaking with a partner. The larger purpose is for students to increase comprehension and retention while listening to and viewing informational videos.

Lesson time: 30 minutes

Student group: 5^th and 6^th grade advanced

Lesson details

• Students work with a partner, each receiving a key words note template sheet.
• I will describe to the students the concepts of key words - that they are words, not full sentences. Key words are the words you feel are most important to describe or summarize the content of the video. There are not right and wrong answers, just educated opinions.
• We will watch the video together as a class. I will have divided the video into four, 1-minute to 1 ½ minute chunks. We will watch each “chunk” then pause the video.
• Each student selects 3-4 words from each video “chunk” either during the video or when the chunk is finished and writes those words in the corresponding box on their template sheet.
• Partners share the words they selected and why they selected them.
• Students repeat the process with the next three chunks.
• When the entire video is finished, partners share an oral summary of the video using their key words.
• Individually, students write one or two sentences in the bottom box of the template sheet to summarize the video.

Review/Analysis

How will you use this resource to meet the needs of your instructional purposes?

The particular video I chose from National Geographic will help meet the instructional purposes of my lesson because it is a good length (appx 5 minutes), it is about a topic that will be engaging for 5^th and 6^th graders, and because it provides English in multiple formats including narration and on-camera interviews.

What handouts or directions will you provide students to focus learning and adapt this resource for your instructional goals?

As stated earlier, I will spend time discussing the concept of “key words” with my students prior to doing this activity. I will also inform them that the video contains some fairly advanced vocabulary, and that they may not understand everything from the video. I will tell them to focus on the images and information they do understand, and to try their best with the few challenging vocabulary words and concepts. And again, in terms of handouts, I will give each student a key word notes template on which to enter their information.

Are the format, organization, design and language level of this resource appropriate for your instructional goals?

For the most part, this National Geographic video meets the needs of fulfilling my instructional goals. It’s an engaging, short video that makes it perfect for a key word notes activity. However, the language level will be a little high for my students. Some words and concepts are presented that they may have difficulty with. But I feel overall the concepts and the language are appropriate for these students.

What are the potential problems, either language based or technical, that you may need to troubleshoot or prepare for?

Again, as I mentioned before, there will potentially be words or concepts the students might not understand. This, however, could lead to follow-up activities where the students spend more time learning those words and concepts. I am also a little concerned that because this is the first time the students will be doing a key word notes activity that they might not fully grasp the idea of “key words.” Because of this I will do some explaining at the beginning of the activity, and I will also do a follow-up activity the following day in which students share their key words with me and the rest of the class. This way I can check for how well the students understood the activity and can modify it or explain it further for future key word note activities.

Lesson 2

Lesson: KidBlog

Purpose or Language Learning Objective

Students will use KidBlog to write their academic and personal goals for the week. Students will build on skills of organization of thoughts and writing. Students will begin to learn how to use a Blog.

Lesson time: 1 hour

Student group: 5^th and 6^th grade advanced

Lesson details

• Explain that this will be the first of many times that students will access KidBlog to enter their goals for the week. This will be a consistent, weekly activity.
• Explain that students will be required to create a blog entry detailing their goals for the week. Students must write a minimum of five complete sentences. They must write two academic goals for the week and a statement describing why they are choosing those two goals. They must write one personal or social goal and a statement describing why they are choosing that goal. I will provide them examples of both academic and personal/social goals.
• Explain that the next day, students will be writing a thoughtful response to a classmate regarding their goals. Explain that I will provide them with directions on how to do this tomorrow. Use this time to remind students that they are writing their goals for an audience. They can expect that their goals will be read by several classmates, therefore they must write goals that are clear and easy to understand.
• Explain the course content for the week. Tell students that we will be reading a short book about hurricanes. Explain that we will be creating tree maps together to process and apply our learning from the book. Tell students that their academic goals should relate to the course content for the week.
• Demonstrate how to access and use KidBlog.

Review/Analysis

How will you use this resource to meet the needs of your instructional purposes?

KidBlog will function well in having students develop the routine of writing on a consistent, weekly basis. They will also get practice in thinking and organizing their thoughts, reading authentic texts (other blog entries), and developing good habits of thoughtful, constructive critiquing.

Why is this application and format appropriate for the lesson you plan to create (e.g., level of authenticity, relevance to target language, register, accuracy, interest level, and motivation)?

In my experiences using KidBlog with students (non ESL students), it has been a very successful resource. Students learn how to use the resource quickly, and they quickly develop the ability to use the tool independently, and with very little guidance. I feel KidBlog is very appropriate for this lesson because not only is it easy to use, but it is very engaging and motivating for students. They enjoy writing for an authentic audience and they love giving and receiving feedback from peers.

Are the format, organization, design and language level of this resource appropriate for your instructional goals?

KidBlog is designed to be a blogging tool for elementary learners, so I believe this is an excellent resource for ESL students. The design of the website is clean and not cluttered with extraneous information or advertisements. It is a very simple website to use from a student’s perspective, and also very easy to manage from a teacher’s perspective.

What are the potential problems, either language based or technical that you may need to troubleshoot or prepare for?

I do not envision a great deal of potential problems with the use of Kid Blog. I can point to two potential issues, however. One is more of a logistical issue, and that is just to remind students that we are using this tool for an academic purpose and they should not use the tool as a way to “chat” or discuss personal matters that do not pertain to class. The other issue is to make sure that when students post responses to one another’s blog posts, that they should not check the box to “Make this comment private.” Explain to students that all blog posts and responses must be public and shared with the entire class. 

Three Billy Goats Gruff - Compare and Contrast

Lesson

Students will complete a lesson that will help them continue to build their skills of comparing and contrasting.

Students will:

• View two versions of stories online that are takes on the “Three Billy Goats Gruff” story, viewing each twice if necessary for more complete comprehension.
• Complete a “double bubble” thinking map to compare and contrast the elements of each story.

Directions

• Talk briefly with students and give them the directions for the project. Tell them that one of the websites (Storyplace) will require some typing and will provide them with written words and spoken words. Tell them that the other website (Youtube) will only provide spoken words and will require them to be attentive listeners. Also inform students that in the Storyplace story, some of pages have sentences that are spoken aloud but some of the pages will have sentences that are only written and will require them to read them independently.
• Tell students to have a notebook or piece of paper with them to jot down one-word “key words” from each story as they are listening and reading. Students already understand the concept of key words, but remind them that key words are the words that are most important in the story, the words that help define with the story is about. Instruct students to write only about 6-8 key words for each story, so that they do not get bogged down in note-taking while they are trying to listen to the stories.
• Students will view the story (twice if necessary) “Dinos Rock” from the Storyplace website - http://www.storyplace.org/eel/other.asp
• Students will then view the story (twice if necessary) “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” from YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO-5KgcfHmI
• Following the completion of listening to each story, students will complete a simple “double-bubble” thinking map in their notebook or on a sheet of paper. Students will be told to limit their maps to between 8-12 bubbles. Students will have previous experience with “double-bubble” maps, but remind them that the purpose of these maps in to compare and contrast two things. Students will be told to use their key words in their bubbles, if appropriate, or just as a way to jog their memories.

Review of Website Resource

Story Place

Story Place is an adequate, but not excellent, resource for online interactive stories. I do not find it terribly easy to navigate, especially from its home page. When I use this resource I link students to the specific stories rather than to the home page because I have found that students often cannot find the specific stories easily on their own.

One of the best things about Story Place that makes it unique and sets it apart from other subscription sites like Tumblebooks, is the interactive features that ask students to type in names of characters and to choose which characters will participate in the stories. I have found this to be a big selling point of this website because students feel like they are helping to create the stories.

A potential problem with the Story Place website is the fact that stories alternate between words on the screen that are spoken out loud by a narrator and words on the screen that are not spoken aloud. I feel this leads to some confusion for students because they often sit and wait for all the words to be spoken aloud to them or think that the website is not working properly. Another frustration with this is I believe many students can comfortably understand the portions of the story that are read aloud to them, but then struggle with the portions that are not. It creates a sort of odd-ball leveling process, making the stories not really perfect for students at any level.

The content is appropriate for my lesson because it tells a simple story to students who are readers, but who still need help comprehending stories. It does this by presenting students with pictures, printed words and spoken words. I also love how the story Dino Rocks is like a fractured fairy tale in that it tells the Billy Goats Gruff story but in a modern fashion that kids will relate to and have fun with. It makes for perfect compare and contrast material.

First Blog Post

Currently I am not an ESL teacher, though I am licensed in that area, but rather a technology coach for Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion. My hope is that in 2013 I will transition to an ESL position in my district, Eden Prairie, preferably to an elementary ESL position. The demographic of ESL students in Eden Prairie is largely Somalian, though we have Latino students and some students from Southeast Asia, Asia and other African countries as well. The percentage of students needing ESL services varies from school to school, which I'm sure is true in most districts. Our schools to the east and north have the highest percentage of ESL students, while our schools in the south and west have the fewest. Right now I believe our elementary schools have anywhere from 2-4 full-time ESL teachers. And I believe that number continues to increase as the population in Eden Prairie ages and more immigrant families move in.