Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETSSTemplate I
(More Directed Learning Activities)

Template with guiding questions

Teacher(s)
Name Jessica Chiddister

Position DSE Teacher- Literacy and Social Sciences

School/District Grady High School/Atlanta Public Schools

E-mail jchiddister@gmail.com

Phone 423-231-1778

Grade Level(s) 9th Grade

Content Area Literature and Composition (Small group for special education students)

Time line October 16th- November 2nd

Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and strategies do you
expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject area benchmarks? ) Please
put a summary of the standards you will be addressing rather than abbreviations and numbers that indicate which
standards were addressed.
Content Standards The 9th grade GSE ELA standards focus on students being able to recognize theme in a litera
the lesson in which students read the Story Nory lessons and recognize the theme. In addition
NETS*S Standards: The NETS*S focus on having students develop necessary technology skills to collaborate an
create their own narrative writings, which was completed in the final project. The students cr
also focus
created on students
to show theme.choosing
Also, theastandards
platform to show
focus ontheir project
students and communicate
working ideas.
on collaborative Thi
skills
variety of tools to present their projects. In addition, these standards
th focus on students
diums (including media). This project combines a variety of 9 GSE ELA standards; the assi having
to
thepractice ofimplementing these(DSE)
skills during the creation of their projects.
Overview (a short summary ofneeds special
the lesson or uniteducation students.
including assignment or expected or possible products)

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 Students will be studying theme in larger texts throughout this school year (Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet).
bodies of literature, I wanted students to practice recognizing theme in smaller bodies of literature, such as fables
through this lesson as they demonstrated their knowledge of theme on a variety of platforms as they created their

The task used variety of technology tools to help students synthesize ideas and create a presentation. To begin thi
groups of two on Story Nory. Story Nory provided stories with audio support. While reading, students completed
They will supported their conclusions with textual evidence and added their contribution to a class Padlet. The cla
stories read on the Padlet and discussed similarities.

After the synthesis of ideas, students then created their own short story in groups of 2-3 with a theme. Throughou
theme through the events. They used Google Docs to share ideas and to create a rough draft. This allowed them to
technology.

For the final product, the students had an element of choice in order to present their project. Students were able to
also had the option of creating an iBook on the iPad if they preferred.

Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care or
want to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or generate inter-
est about the topic? Additionally, what questions can you ask students to help them focus on important aspects of
the topic? (Guiding questions) What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring to this topic
and build on?) Remember, essential questions are meant to guide the lesson by provoking inquiry. They should
not be answered with a simple yes or no and should have many acceptable answers.

EQ: How does one determine theme in a short text?

EQ: What are some characteristics between various fables and myths?
EQ: What is the purpose of a fable?
EQ: Why are there similarities in themes from various fables and myths around the world?
EQ: How is textual evidence used to support a theme?

Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to generate new
knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)? How will you assess
what they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?) You must attach copies of your assessment and/or
rubrics. Include these in your presentation as well.

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 Students were assessed consistently throughout the project. Students were formatively assessed throughout the pr
pretest to understand if students knew how to determine theme in a writing assignment. Students were given a pre
needed to determine the theme using textual evidence. None of the students were able to produce satisfactory ans
to recognize it in smaller works of literature.

The next step in assessment included the information they produced on the Padlet with the help of a graphic organ
students understood how to determine theme in simpler texts on their level using Story Nory. Students completed
stories or using the audio accompaniment to determine the theme. Students were assessed on their understanding

The summative assessment was for students to create a project of their own using technology in which they devel
final projects were assessed with a rubric, which was given to students at the beginning of the project for expectat
education classroom, it was scaffolded to help students through the various stages of the project. The projects wer
to how they presented their final project (Prezi, Make Belief Comix, or Google Slides). Students were able to coll

Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resourcesonline student
tools, research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etchelp elucidate or ex-
plain the content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology skills should students
have to complete this project?)

Students had a variety of tools to help them throughout this project. At the beginning, students used Story Nory and
understanding of theme. The students then used Google Docs for development of their story in groups. Students had
foundation in the use of these tools. The Google Docs provided collaboration for students to work together during th

Students used a variety of web tools to complete their assessments (Make Belief Comix, Prezi, or Google Slides). F
went through each tool and demonstrated how to use them in class. In addition, I provided instructions and modellin
provided with a rubric to self-assess their final group project. They received both a hard-copy and a digital copy on

Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson? How can
you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)

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 Students have been reading fiction texts and doing shorter narrative writing assignments throughout the semester.
struggling with recognizing theme independently. In order to complete the final project, students needed to have a
has been a review from previous units). Before beginning the project, students were given a pretest to assess their
told to determine the theme using textual evidence as support.

In regards to technology, the students have been familiar with using technology throughout the year since the maj
Throughout the unit, students had practiced using the assessment tools and received demonstrations from the teac
the unit with using tools and developing ideas for the story. The formative assessment throughout the project dete
theme to create their own fable with a theme in a digital project.

Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and the use
of digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (Small groups, whole group, individuals,
classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the Internet while completing this
lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet lesson and explain how you will resolve or
trouble-shoot them? Please note: Trouble-shooting should occur prior to implementing the lesson as well as
throughout the process. Be sure to indicate how you prepared for problems and work through the issues that oc-
curred as you implemented and even after the lesson was completed.

The project took place in groups. Students could choose their group mates, and each group has three members wi
the desks in groups for easier collaboration during the final project. Throughout the project, they received assistan
tion, checks were conducted throughout the project in addition to scaffolding to ensure students were meeting eac
work was conducted in Google Docs, there was no need to worry about correctly saving information.

In order to ensure digital equity, I checked out a laptop cart so that all students would have access to devices. In a
assignment since many of my students do not have the resources at home. Our school does have bandwidth issues
However, it is usually reliable. In case of such an issue, I arranged with the library to have four backup computers
work on projects in their groups, yet they would have not been able to collaborate simultaneously using Google D
ble in case there were other technical issues.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities Describe the research-based instructional strategies you will
use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your role? What are the
students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the analysis, evaluation, or crea-
tivity levels of Blooms Taxonomy? How can the technology support your teaching? What authentic, relevant,
and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students complete? How will they build knowledge and
skills? How will students use digital tools and resources to communicate and collaborate with each other and
others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?

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 For instructional strategies, I used strategies to help assist special education students. None of the students in my
a 2nd grade level. As a result, I provide lower level reading material and audio supports to help aid their compreh
cause the text was on their reading level, and they could follow along with audio support. Also, I made sure to us
gies to help students in the various parts of the task.

The learning environment in this room will be a mix of teacher-centered and student-centered. I led instruction in
the students worked individually on the Padlet portion and the Story Nory in a student-directed setting in which I
group work as well. I assisted students when they had issues, but I tried to keep the setting student-driven on thei

For the final project, students had to create a project. As a result, students reached the highest level of Blooms T
dents used higher order thinking with the evaluation of the themes in the stories they read. The technology helped
the stories despite their reading levels with Story Nory. I was also able to provide students with choice in their w
students. The project required students to use collaboration skills to create a product to share with the class. This
well. The Google Docs allowed for students to collaborate and share information simultaneously. Throughout the
ing students through their progress.

Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process to accommodate various learning styles and
abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide extensions and
opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)

As a special educator, I work hard to differentiate instruction for students to help meet their various needs and abi
visual and audio. The students were provided with examples and modelling to help them understand concepts and
more of a break-down of material, so this provided them with the supports that they needed. Two of my students
tions for Story Nory. In addition, the project was differentiated because students could choose how to present thei

I helped students learn through monitoring their progress throughout the project. In addition, I also held mini-con
The project was also presented in chunks to keep students focused on each portion of the project and to assist as n
to check their work as it progressed.

As an extension
Reflection (Will thereactivity, I hadevent?
be a closing students
Will review
studentstheir peerstoprojects
be asked withtheir
reflect upon an informal
work? Willsurvey.
studentsStudents
be gave one po
improved.
asked to provide feedback on the assignment itself? What will be your process for answering the following ques-
tions?
In regards
Didtostudents
assistive technologies,
find students had
the lesson meaningful headphone
and worth to use with Story Nory. In addition, they had Speak I
completing?
which read to them
In what waysas needed.
was This effective?
this lesson reading technology allowed them to complete the lesson with more independe
What went well and why?
What did not go well and why?
How would you teach this lesson differently?)

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 Students seemed to really enjoy the lesson and were engaged in completing their own products. Although the stud
own story, the group setting allowed them to discuss and collaborate with more ease. The students took pride in th
with the class. Since the assignment was chunked, along with necessary supplementary materials such as graphic
dents were able to complete portions with more ease. In addition, the teacher checks were a helpful component to

One area I did not plan for was the amount of time it took students to become acclimated to the technology tools.
transferring the product to a digital medium took longer than expected. The groups using Google Slides did not ha
Belief Comix group took longer to complete their products as they were getting used to using the programs. When
more time for students to practice using the tools in my lesson overview.

Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience with im-
plementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson? Please provide
a quality reflection on your experience with this lesson and its implementation.

This lesson was a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge about theme using different creative out
creating their own stories; however, they were excited to use the various tools to present their stories. I was surpri
as the platform for their presentation. Many of the students said their group chose this setting because they liked t
said they were intimidated by the Make Belief Comix and the lack of choices it had to present characters. When i
vide an incentive, such as bonus points, for students trying innovative technology programs that they have not use
outside their comfort zone to try new presentation tools.

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