College of Southern Nevada

6/26/2020

Kylie Loomis
Position paper:
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those
who prepare for it today.” Proclaimed by Malcolm X, education is the future.
Without quality education what would our future look like? For starters, “quality
education” is much more than having students read from a textbook, copy down
vocabulary words, and then apply what they memorized with a standardized
test. Students must become more actively engaged in what they are learning in
order to become more interested, thus remembering more of what is being
taught. That brings me to how we can further engage students in learning in
order to put that information into long-term memory as opposed to short-term.
Thus in the future, they can use their education to become more productive
adults and create a better world altogether.
Short-term memorization does not lead to true retention. When a
student memorizes information from a textbook alone, this information gets put
into their short-term memory. While this may allow the student to get an A on
the test for that lesson, without constant retesting that information is lost after
the lesson is over. An alternative to this is more engaged learning. “The more
engaged a student is with new material, the better she’s going to remember it. A
great way to boost engagement is to present material in different media. This
also helps strengthen retrieval because it creates multiple contexts for the
memory.” Sara Briggs from informED points out that the use of different media
is a great way to keep students actively engaged in the subject at hand.
Technology is the key to actively engage students. Whether it be a simple
implementation like the use of powerpoints, online articles, processing their
essay on the computer, or something a bit more advanced like VR or artificial
intelligence; the possibilities are endless. Technology gives students the chance
to learn in a variety of ways. “Recalling information from lectures can be even
more susceptible to the fading effect. In a study on recall after listening to a
seminar, students forgot more than 90% of the points from the lecture after 14
days.” Briggs says. This is especially true for students who have a learning style
that is not auditory. Technology is a way we can show students the same
information visually or even hands-on. This helps students connect to lessons in
a variety of ways.
In conclusion, the use of technology in schools is critical in creating a
more sound future for us all. Children are the future. In order for children to be
successful in life, they need to be properly educated. It is our duty as educators
to use the resources available to us to give students the best education possible
so that they can be productive adults and create a better world for us all.

Identification of Standards:

The state of Nevada and the national technology standards are key in
implementing technology efficiently and effectively throughout our lesson plans
for students. Not only do the standards give some structure to how students
should be using technology with our guidance, but it also helps guide us on how
to use it effectively.
Each standard gives detailed guidelines on how different grade levels can
use various types of media to achieve different levels of understanding of
subjects being taught. For example: Using the “Creativity and Innovation”
Standard, “students will demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge,
and develop innovative products and processes using technology.”
Implementing the substandard 1A, at a 2nd-grade level will “use tools to
brainstorm and organize new ideas.” Meaning a 2nd grader would use
technology to organize their ideas. This could mean a student using software
given to them by their educator to organize their ideas on a graphic organizer
such as a bubble map. The use of these standards is the best way for educators
to use technology appropriately and effectively for the grade level they are
teaching.
With that being said, I plan to base my lesson plan on the endangerment
of elephants. My lesson plan is going to be geared towards the 5th-grade level.
Opposed to simply having students read from a text source and listen to a
lecture about elephants, I plan to use technology to give students a visual of the
majestic species, as well as the harm they face on an everyday bases. After giving
them a visual aid of the elephants in their natural habitat, they will read a couple
of different articles of the challenges they face and what rangers are doing to
help. Then, I plan to have them type out their own narrative suggesting they are
wildlife rangers helping elephants survive their harsh conditions, and then
present their stories to their groups of 4. This hits numerous parts of the
curriculum and puts their creativity to work as well. I will be following the
guidelines of Standard #4: “Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision
Making.” 4.C.5.1 - “Propose a solution to an authentic problem using collected
data and digital tools.”
In conclusion, I feel that the state and national standards for technology
given to educators to abide by are a fantastic way to regulate the efficiency of
media in schools. There are a variety of ways to use these standards to help our
students learn in the best ways possible.

Lesson Plan:

Elephant Rescue

Standard #4: “Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision

Making.” 4.C.5.1 - “Propose a solution to an authentic problem using
collected data and digital tools.”

This lesson plan addresses standards for learning Environmental

Science, Language Arts, and Communication.
Language Arts Common Core Standards addressed:
Reading: Students will take the information they read from the
articles given about elephants and wildlife rangers to explain their
interactions and why they are important for elephant conservation.
“Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more
individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or
technical text based on specific information in the text.”
Writing: Students will talk about the struggles elephants face and
ways they can help them as they are pretending they are wildlife
rangers, then correctly type out their narratives on a word
processing software. “Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general
observation and focus, and group related information logically; include
formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful
to aiding comprehension.”
Environmental Science: Students will learn about the
interdependent relationship of elephants and the wildlife rangers
trying to protect them from poachers. Elephants rely on rangers to
protect them, and rangers rely on elephants to keep ecosystems
intact.
Communication (Speaking and Listening): Students will learn vital
communication skills while they present their narratives to small
groups. This enhances social skills and well as public speaking. Once
presented, students will also take part in a group discussion
regarding their ideas to help elephants. “Come to discussions
prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on
that preparation and other information known about the topic to
explore ideas under discussion.”

Materials:
● VR Headsets
● https://www.conservation.org/stories/virtual-reality/my-
africa (downloaded to watch on headsets)
● https://elephantconservation.org/downloads/Lessons/Savin
g%20Elephants%20An%20Educators%20Guide%20to
%20Elephants%20and%20their%20Conservation-RFA.pdf
(Pages 6-11 printed out for each student to read)
● https://www.dw.com/en/in-kenya-rangers-turn-detectives-
to-protect-elephants/a-45373115 (printed for each student to
read)
● https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/collaring-elephants-
in-one-of-africa-s-last-great-wildernesses (printed for each
student to read)
● Computer or laptop
● Microsoft Word or similar word processor
● Printer
Suggested Group Size:
12-32 students total
(In groups of 4)
5-6th grade

Procedures:
1.) Begin by handing out each of the printed articles listed above
to each student.
2.) Distribute headsets with “My Africa” VR video pre-downloaded
and qued up.
3.) Allow students to read pages 6-11 of the first article listed in the
materials section. (encourage students to take note/highlight
anything they find interesting.)
4.) Have each student watch “My Africa.”
5.) Give students 30 minutes to jot down any thoughts they had
while watching the video and discuss amongst themselves
about what they just watched.
6.) Have students read the remaining two articles provided in the
materials section. (taking note/highlighting key points they
find interesting.)
7.) Describe to students the efforts and importance of the work
wildlife rangers are doing to protect elephants in their habitats
and in conservation areas. Tell them to put themselves in their
shoes, and to brainstorm ideas on how they can discourage the
poaching of elephants. (These ideas should include: getting
involved with local communities, patrolling elephants habitats,
taking custody of poachers, collaring elephants, etc.)
8.) Allow students time on the computer/laptop to write a ½-1
page long narrative of themselves as wildlife rangers fighting
for elephant conservation.
9.) Have students print out their stories.
 10.)Divide students into groups of 4.
11.) Instruct students to present their narratives to their groups.
12.) Have a class discussion about the ways they came up with to
help protect elephants.

Assessment:
This was my first education class so I have little knowledge of
how to assess projects like this. But I did find a writing grading rubric
online that can be used to grade the written narratives for this
assignment:
https://www.mtgilead.k12.oh.us/userfiles/1156/Classes/1658
4/Writing%20Rubric.pdf
I would probably give them a grade for their narratives, as well
as a participation grade for the reading, presentations, and
discussion.

Student Sample:

It was a bright sunny day in the savanna of Africa. I put on my

ranger uniform and hit the road in my team’s buggy. Along the way, I
saw gazelles, cheetahs, and many birds. But best of all, we saw a
beautiful family of elephants. We stopped to observe the elephants in
their natural habitat. They were eating grass and bathing in a pond.
The mother sprayed water all over her two babies until they were
squeaky clean! It was so cute watching them play together. It
reminded me of humans playing in a lake.
Everything was so peaceful, that is until a small group of
poachers arrived. They wanted to take the elephant’s trunks to make
ivory jewelry to sell. We had to help them! We jumped out of our
buggy and cut them off before they could reach the elephant family.
We told them they better get lost and leave the elephants alone! We
told them they would be arrested if they came any closer to the
family or any other animals ever again.
As a team, we scared the poachers off. And they never came
around again. The elephant family and the other animals of the
savanna continued to thrive and live in harmony thanks to our
efforts. At our next exhibition, we even noticed the elephant family
had another baby! To think, without us the family wouldn’t have been
able to grow.