Week 11: Google Earth Assignment (Social Studies Lesson Plan)

Where is Class 227??

Grade: Any

Time: 45 minutes

Subject: Social Studies

Materials:

- Interactive whiteboard or display facility

Aim: Where in the world is Class 227?

 

Do Now:  If you were dropped off in the middle of no where, what are some clues you would look for to figure it out? How can those clues help you?

Goals:

Students will organize information using context clues to find what country they are in

Students will analyze information the country they are in and how context clues helped them come to their conclusion

Students will synthesize information about the country they are in and how context clues led them to that country

Objectives:

Students will be able to use context clues use Geogessr.com to figure out where they are in the world

Procedure: 

- Answer Do-Now

- Teacher demonstrates how geoguessr.com works

- Students will break into groups of two and use one laptop per group

- Students will take turns using geoguessr.com and try to find out where they are.

- Students will compare and contrast the two places that they found. 

- Exit Slip 

Essential Questions:

- How well do you know the world?

- How can we use technology to learn more about our surroundings?

- How can we use technology to learn more about the surroundings in other countries?

- What can we use to identify different places?

Assessment: 
-   Student discussion and participation
- Hand-out collected

Standards: ISTE
1.a
2.a, c, d
3.b
4.d
5.a, b, c, d
6.a, b

(geoguessr.com is powered by google earth)

Week 10: Assignment 2

My teaching philosophy when it comes to technology is that the more the students get to use it the better. In the world where technology is continually growing and taking over a majority of the time that children spend using it, not having any in the classroom is almost primitive. By having students exposed to technology in a more professional setting, we are preparing them for the "real" world. It's in the classrooms that they can learn the proper way of using the computer for a scholarly way, compared to using it as purely a source of entertainment. It's difficult to show a student at home why the wiki that they have decided to source isn't a reputable, but in the classroom you can show not just one student, but the whole class how to pick proper websites for research.
Since bullying is at it's all time high, and with social media playing a big part in not just physical abuse that a student might encounter, but for verbal abuse as well, integrating technology and constantly demonstrating what it means to be a good digital citizen, and starting at a young age is a good thing. Especially when the teacher can censor what goes on, and can address could be problems and diffuse them before anyone gets hurt or suspended.
What I'm most interested in, as a music teacher, is that students are being creative. We use a lot of technology in my class, and I always tell them that I just want THEM to be proud of what they've created. I want all my students to walk away with something that can say they made, without any help of the teacher. Music is universal, but it is not universally liked. So if they like it, that's all I care about.

Week 9: Assignment 2.

 Lesson Plan #1

Music Theory

Aim: How can we create a drum beat for our second project?

Do Now:  What do you want the drum beat of your song to sound like?

Goal:

• Students will be able to organize information about different types of drums
• Student will be able to analyze information about different types of drums
• Students will be able to synthesize information about different types of drums

Objectives:

• Students will discuss what they want their drum beats to sound like
• Students will use the application GarageBand to create drum beats
• Students will take turns creating drum beats using the Hip Hop Kit or the Rock kit in GarageBand

Procedure:

• Students will discuss with their group members what they want their drum beat to sound like
• Students will work in pairs to create a demo drum beat
• Students will begin to understand how to use better use the application GarageBand

English Common Core

W.11.12-4

W.11.12-5

W.11.12-6

Lesson Plan #2

Music Theory

Aim: How can we record our Auras and present our rhythms to the class?

Do Now:  Practice clapping out you rhythm with your partner if you have already recorded your poem. If not, practice reciting your poem for the recording.

Goal:

• Students will be able to organize information about the poems and how to create an aura.
• Student will be able to analyze information about poems and how to create an aura.
• Students will be able to synthesize information about poems and how to create an aura.

Objectives:

• Students will be able to create Auras using the iPad
• Students will create original poems about a famous composer

Procedure:

• Collaborate with partner 
• Students will recite their poem
• Students will create an Aura using the iPad
• Students will clap out their assigned rhythms using ta

English Common Core

W.11.12-4

W.11.12-5

W.11.12-6

Lesson Plan #3

Music Theory

Aim: How can we create a poem for our “Auras”

Do Now: Brainstorm ideas with your partner on what you want to write about for your poem on your composer

Goal:

• Students will be able to organize information about the poems and form
• Student will be able to analyze information about poems and form
• Students will be able to synthesize information about poems and form

Objectives:

• Students will be able to identify rhyming schemes and stanzas
• Vocabulary: Stanza, Rhyming scheme

Procedure:

• Collaborate with partner  (5 minutes)
• Reading of a poem (5 minutes)
• Mini Lesson on rhyming schemes and stanzas (10minutes)
• Students will begin writing their poems (20  minutes)
• Exit Slip (5 minutes)

Filled, with sound, only of the soul.
Thou, purest of thought shall whole.
Through, tones of life,
Thy story shall be told.

Surrounded by life's purest of melodies, 
and the wretched stench of dark wasteful weight.
Thou, shalt grasp with all strength, 
To try and seize a, pure, hope-filled fate.

Deaf, no sound, except ringing of the ears,
Similar to the bells of hell.
To cry! Such sorrow filled tears,
for so many long years!

Yet, the beauty of light will always return,
especially when, 
Thou, is in thy worst of turns.

The peace that is felt, 
And the sanity that is held,
Will be the guiding light,
When, Thou, cannot see.

The dark forces will not prevail, 
as to a conquering triumph of hell.
Thou, shall prevail!
Through, purity and sound.

OH, the pain thou has suffered!
Tormented!, Mutilated!, Humiliated!
What souls feel in hell,
Thou shalt feel in a life.

Though, the blessings received,
Far exceed,
Any waste! Any weight! Any pain!

Through the tones of life,
All beauty shall be found,
And, in the end,
All beauty will be sound!

English Common Core

W.11.12-4

W.11.12-5

W.11.12-6

 Lesson Plan #4

Music Theory

Aim: How can we add instruments to our drum beats?

Do Now: When you think about the end product of your song, what instrumentation do you hear?

Goal:

• Students will be able to organize information about what types of instruments will work in their songs

• Student will be able to analyze information about what types of instruments will work in their songs by

listening to loops/creating their own melodies

• Students will be able to synthesize information about what types of instruments work with their songs to

complete their projects

Objectives:

• Students will understand what instruments work with their drum beat

• Students will apply their previous knowledge of loops to add different instrumentation

• Students will apply loops/ create melodies to the songs they are creating in GarageBand

Procedure:

• Students answer the do now individually

• Students collaborate with their group and share out what instrument they think will work best with the song

and why.

• Students will use the laptops to demonstrate what instruments they think should be incorporated with their

song

Questions to ask while walking around:

- What was your thought process when you decided on that/those instruments?

- How has adding that instrument helped with the overall sound you are looking for?

- How have your ideas about your end product changed between last week and this?

- Has adding a new instrument helped with your creative process or has it caused you to change your mind

about how you want your song to sound? Why?

-

ISTE Standards

1.b

2.a, b, d

4.b

5.b

6.a, b

Music Blueprints

- Use music technology to create music.

- Utilize instruments and technology to create and present original work.

- Create and perform an original piece of music that employs standard notation using composition software.

Lesson Plan #5

Music Theory

Aim: What are loops?

Do Now: What problems are you facing while creating your drum beat?

Goal:

• Students will be able to organize information about loops in GarageBand

• Student will be able to analyze information about loops in GarageBand

• Students will be able to synthesize information about loops in GarageBand

Objectives:

• Students will understand what loops in GarageBand are.

• Students will learn how to use the loops in GarageBand

• Students will apply loops to their songs they are creating in GarageBand

Procedure:

• Students will discuss with their group members the problems they are having creating

their drum beats in GarageBand

• Students will add loops to their songs to help create their original songs

• Students will add a layer on top of the loop they have chosen in order to keep the sound

original.

ISTE Standards

1.b

2.a, b, d

4.b

5.b

6.a, b

Music Blueprints

- Use music technology to create music.

- Utilize instruments and technology to create and present original work.

- Create and perform an original piece of music that employs standard notation using composition

software.

Week 7: Assignment 1

Stage 1: Identify Desired Results:
What essential Questions will be considered?
-What plants do you see around your neighborhood?
-What plants do you have in your house?
-What different types of plants exist
-How to plants form?
-Are seeds living things?
-What is pollen?
-What is the role of pollen?
-Do plants have "parents"?
-What are the layers of a seed?

Students will understand that . . .
-There is a plant life cycle.
-Each stage is important to the life cycle of plants
-The importance of a seed.
-The way a plant reproduces.
-Compare the similarities and difference between a plant life cycle and an animal life cycle

Students will know . . .
-Plant life cycle.
-The importance and role of pollen.
-How plants can exist in different temperatures.

Students will be able to . . .
-Identify the different parts of a plant.

Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence:
What evidence will show that students understand?
Students will dissect a seed, to learn about the different parts of a plant. After they understand the layers of a seed they will then plant their own seeds. They will keep a daily log of their plant. They will start with how much soil they used, how deep they rooted the seed, how much water they feed the plant and where they placed it. After that, they will be in charge of their plant. Making sure that they water it. During the experiment, they will have to log what they observe. Are there days when the soil is dryer than others? Why do you think that happened? Does different amounts of water effect the plant growth?

Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences:
After about a month, and hopefully the plants have started to grow, students will be put into pairs. They will compare and contrast their notes between their friend to see if there is a different. Did on e plant grow faster than the other. Why? What did your peer do differently than you?
Students will chart their data in the way that they think is best. And then the class will walk around and review what the other students have done.
Afterwards, the students will take part in a whole class discussion, and share their findings. 

Week 8: Rubric as an Assessment Tool

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1618692/

(I apologize for being so far behind, I'm hoping to be caught up with everything by Monday the latest)

Rubrics in a K-12 setting are very important. Not only for a teacher, but for the student as well. I know that I have often gotten excited about a project and strayed from what the teacher was looking for, and having a rubric is what brought my projects back on task. I find that they are also helpful for when parents are reviewing their child's work, and helps them understand the grade their child received at the end.
I like how this article referred to a rubric more as a checklist, making it more understandable to students that they have to go through their work and check to make sure that they have all of them in order to receive the highest grade. It also is very clear cut what the teacher is looking for. The article makes reference to the idea of a "private curriculum" or that "hidden curriculum," having a rubric means that a teacher cannot grade a student on things that aren't on there.
It also brings out that a teacher can use a rubric to not only grade a student on what they have learned, but what they already knew about the topic at hand.

"In this case the prompt is a challenge in which students are to respond to the statement, “Plants get their food from the soil. What about this statement do you agree with? What about this statement do you disagree with? Support your position with as much detail as possible.” This assessment prompt can serve as both a preassessment, to establish what ideas students bring to the teaching unit, and as a postassessment in conjunction with the study of photosynthesis."

What I find is a benefit of a given students assignments instead of exams, is that you can properly assess what they know. A test is only geared towards the good test taking students, where as a assignment with a rubric allows students to express what they know in the best way they know possible. As a teacher we want to see specific understandings reached, but who are we to judge HOW a student can show that. Rubrics give students just enough freedom, without letting them run wide. The only downside is that it takes time to grade everyone on what they have learned, whereas the exam is straight cut and dry and can be graded by a scantron machine. 

Week 7: Assignment #2

Design your own Science lesson plan using current science learning standards: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/scirg.html. Your lesson will need to determine a grade level and choose specific standards when designing your lesson. Please include learning materials (links or book titles, or helpful resources) and rubric for evaluation (if you mention one in your lesson).

Lesson Topic: Learning the Density of an item
Grade Level: 7
Materials: Cylinders, Honey, Oil, Vinegar, Water, Peanuts, Corn Kernels, Marbles

Aim: How can we determine the different densities of liquids and select items?

Do Now: What do you think have the highest density and what do you think has the lowest density out of the following: Water, Oil, Honey, and Vinegar. Why do you think that?

Goal:
Students will analyze information about the density of liquids and select items (peanut, corn kernel, marble).
Students will organize information about the density of liquids and select items (peanut, corn kernel, marble).
Students will synthesize information about the density of liquids and select items (peanut, corn kernel, marble) through experimentation.

Objective:
Observe and describe properties of materials, such as density, conductivity, and solubility.
Determine the density of liquids, and regular- and irregular-shaped solids

Procedure:
Go over Do Now
Introduce the different liquids.
Pour liquids into a long tube and have students see how the different liquids will separate to show the different densities. (High density sinks)
Students will work in pairs to determine the different densities of items given to them. 
Students will share out their findings to the class. 

Science Standards:
3.1a Substances have characteristic properties. Some of these properties include color,
odor, phase at room temperature, density, solubility, heat and electrical conductivity,
hardness, and boiling and freezing points.
3.1h Density can be described as the amount of matter that is in a given amount of
space. If two objects have equal volume, but one has more mass, the one with more
mass is denser.
3.1e Aliquid has definite volume, but takes the shape of a container.