Week #9 Keystone Draft & Article review

    Assignment#1 Read the article, The Impact of Using Blogs on College Students' Reading Comprehension and Learning Motivation, and reflect on the article read on your blog. (Nov. 8, by midnight) 

     Assignment# 2 Use the Initial draft for final keystone.doc guide, Talk to the ELA teachers to get inputs from them and  work on the draft keystone lesson implementation and evaluation project. Share the draft on Blackboard Discussion Board. (due Nov. 7, by midnight). NOTE: Guidelines, rubric, and sample project are in the Assignments Folder.

Assignment #1: 

According to the article The  Impact  of  Using  Blogs  on  College  Students’

Reading  Comprehension  and  Learning  Motivation, authors Hsu and Wang have highlighted the effectiveness of instruction and correlation of reading performance to college success after gathering results from a study that was conducted with results indicating that using blogs positively correlated with higher retention rate. With technology being introduced in classrooms, the evolution of computer technology and networks has shaped the way individuals retain and learn information and the nature of literacy and literacy practices. The term ‘new literacies’ is defined as new forms of literacy made possible by digital technology developments. New literacies that arise from new technologies include blogging, text-messaging, social networking, Google Word Document, podcasting, videomaking, and audiomaking. Thee digital technologies furthermore extend our communication abilities, meeting the needs of different learners, and increasing engagement within classrooms compared to traditional literacy practices. With the proposed 3D model and using the framework for literacy and technology research, it was concluded that students should have the opportunity to research information from multimedia resources in combination to written text, students should handle enhanced volume of information, and students should compose messages in print and digital format. More importantly Instructors should adapt social-constructivist strategies to promote collaborative-learning experiences among student peers and to increase motivation. When it comes to using blogs in classroom settings to support college reading instruction, blogs have the advantage of having distinguishing features such as setting the blog private or public, be cited or linked to public, or categorized, in addition, the use of blogs enhances social interaction which strengthens communication skills and write to real peers.    

Draft of Keystone:

Summary

Central focus of the lesson

 This lesson allows children to explore and demonstrate their understanding of how students learn about cause-effect relationships during a shared reading of the book and then complete a cloze exercise that uses context and initial consonant clues. Students will then be able to create an account on Blogger to upload thier Scratch Jr. and allow peers to comment on each other on the blog as a way of integrating new literacies in the classroom.

Grade/Level

Grade 1, Grade 2

Time Frame

Total of 5 class periods/days

Subject(s)

Language Arts (English), Technology

Topic(s)

Students learn about cause-effect relationships during a shared reading of the book with the help of using context and initial consonant clues.

Understandings

Students will be able to 

1. Practice oral skills by presenting their retelling of the story to a peer and by presenting their own version of the story to the class using Scratch Jr.
2. Demonstrate their comprehension of cause-effect relationships by creating a personal story that follows an identifiable such relationship

Knowledge and Skills

Prior Knowledge: 

1. Familiar with using Scratch Jr.

Performance Task

• Teacher will Read If you Give a Mouse a Cookie.
• Teacher will distribute and discuss the cloze activity 
• Students learn about cause-effect relationships during a shared reading of the book and then complete a cloze exercise that uses context and initial consonant clues. 
• Students will complete the Story Circle Handouts in sequential order
• Students will write their own version of If you Give a Mouse a Cookie using Scratch Jr. and following the rubric guidelines during presentation.
• Students will showcase their story to the class.

Assessment/Rubrics

1. Observe student ability to predict text through observation during class discussions in  Days 1, 2, and 3. Take anecdotal notes.
2. Collect and grade the If-Then Handouts. You will evaluate these for the use of correct cause-effect relationships.
3. Assess each student's knowledge and interpretation of the cause-effect relationship through the student's own story using the rubric. These stories should present clear examples of cause-effect relationships using "if..., then..." statements that make sense to the reader.
4. Use the rubric during presentation.