Buffington

=Social Networking Lesson Plan=
 * (App 6)**


 * Lesson Title:** Responding to a class blog


 * Related Lessons:** Defining primary and secondary sources; creative writing; how to use a blog


 * Grade Level:** 7th grade


 * Unit:** Creative Writing


 * Goals:**
 * Tennessee Content Standards:**

GLE 0701.3.1 Write in a variety of modes for different audiences and purposes.

GLE 0701.3.2 Employ various prewriting strategies.

GLE 0701.3.3 Organize ideas into an essay with an introduction, developing paragraphs, conclusion, and appropriate transitions.

GLE 0701.3.4 Refine strategies for editing and revising written work.

0701.4.3 Focus on relevant information and/or theories.

0701.4.4 Distinguish between primary and secondary sources, defining the characteristics of each and evaluating each for their benefits and limitations.

SPI 0701.5.8 Make inferences and draw conclusions based on evidence in text.

SPI 0701.8.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the basic elements of plot: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution/denouement.

SPI 0701.8.2 Identify the author’s point of view (i.e., first person, third-person objective, third-person limited, third-person omniscient).

SPI 0701.8.9 Identify the kind(s) of conflict present in a literary plot (i.e., person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. environment, person vs. technology).

SPI 0701.8.11 Recognize and identify words within context that reveal particular time periods and cultures.


 * ISTE NETS -S**

__x 1. Creativity and innovation__ _x 4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making _x_ 2. Communication and collaboration ___ 5. Digital citizenship__

x 3. Research and information fluency ___x 6. Technology operations and concepts__

__**Instructional Objective(s)**: Students will build upon prior lessons exploring primary sources and the relevant time period for information in writing an original story based on the sources. In this lesson, students will respond to questions on the class blog and respond to two of their classmates’ entries regarding their story creation.__

__**Action**__

__**Before-Class Preparation:** Students are familiar with responding to a class blog so I will only need to post the question on the blog.__

__**During Class**__ __**Instructional Activities**__ __**Problem / question asked on the blog:** Reflect on what you have inferred from your investigation of the checks and the time period of the checks and answer the following questions. Who are the main characters in your story? Write a very brief description of them. What is the main conflict, or conflicts? Which type of conflicts are your characters involved in? Whose point of view is the story told from? Explain briefly the setting of your story.__

__**Time:** 10 minutes__ __Class opener: Students will collect their stories and take a laptop computer and be ready for instruction.__ __**Materials & Resources**: laptop computers from the mobile lab__

__**Time:** 2 class periods including responses to peers' postings__

__Students will be instructed to log in the class blog and to respond to the questions listed. Students will further be instructed to respond to two of their classmates entries with a question, comment, suggestion or compliment.__ __**Monitor**__

__**Ongoing Assessment(s):** I will monitor student work while they are blogging, offering guidance and assistance as needed.__ __**Accommodations and Extensions:** This assignment is open-ended so students will work on their own levels. Guidance will be offered to those students who need assistance with the technology of this lesson. Word walls are in place in the classroom with definitions of literary terms (conflict, types of conflict, setting, characters, and point of view). Extensions may be made with this assignment by having higher achieving students expand upon their responses to peers in the form of specific suggestions.__

__**Evaluation**__

__Students will be evaluated by the use of a rubric. The rubric will include assessment on how well they used information they learned about the time period in their stories. Students will also be assessed for their ability to make logical inferences based on the information on the checks. Assessment will also be made on how thorough their entries are and how well they respond to their classmates.__

**Problem-Based Learning Lesson Plan (week 5)** __**Lesson Title:** Creating a story based on primary sources (App 5)__

__**Related Lessons:** Defining primary and secondary sources; creative writing__

__**Grade Level:** 7th grade__

__**Unit:** Creative Writing__

**Goals:** __**Tennessee Content Standards:**__

__GLE 0701.3.1 Write in a variety of modes for different audiences and purposes.__

__GLE 0701.3.2 Employ various prewriting strategies.__

__GLE 0701.3.3 Organize ideas into an essay with an introduction, developing paragraphs, conclusion, and appropriate transitions.__

__GLE 0701.3.4 Refine strategies for editing and revising written work.__

__0701.4.3 Focus on relevant information and/or theories.__

__0701.4.4 Distinguish between primary and secondary sources, defining the__ __characteristics of each and evaluating each for their benefits and limitations.__

__SPI 0701.5.8 Make inferences and draw conclusions based on evidence in text.__

__SPI 0701.8.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the basic elements of plot: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution/denouement.__

__**ISTE NETS -S**__

x 1. Creativity and innovation ___x 4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making__ ___x_ 2. Communication and collaboration__ _ 5. Digital citizenship

__x 3. Research and information fluency__ _x 6. Technology operations and concepts


 * Instructional Objective(s)**: Students will explore primary sources and the relevant time period for information in writing an original story based on the sources

**Action**


 * Before-Class Preparation:** Collect examples of primary and secondary sources for students to identify. Create a handout containing copies of old personal checks of anonymous persons (found at an estate sale).

**During Class** **Instructional Activities**
 * Problem / question asked:** How can we use primary sources to write creatively based on authentic situations?

Class opener: The question on the board will simply be: “What are primary sources and how do they differ from secondary sources?” It is believed that students have some prior knowledge of primary and secondary sources. After a brief class discussion to ensure that students have some understanding of the terms, I will present various examples of primary and secondary sources and ask students to turn and talk to their partners - telling their partner whether the item is primary or secondary and how they know. Items presented include: an old letter from 1959; a book written about September 11, 2001; an American History textbook; old photographs; a diary dated 1915; a copy of the Zapruder film of the assassination of President Kennedy; an encyclopedia; an old washboard; and a supermarket tabloid.
 * Time:** 30 minutes


 * Materials & Resources**: items listed above


 * Time:** 2- 3 50 minute time periods

Students will be given handouts of copies of personal checks and a laptop computer. The checks are actual primary sources found at an estate sale and are dated between the years of 1903 and 1956. Checks are related to a real family. Students are to use the checks and any research they can do with the computer to try to piece together a story that the checks might reflect. They should take into account actual events during the time period and construct an original story based on world events and the individual checks. They must consider who wrote the checks, to whom the checks were written, and the amount the checks were written for. Intervals between checks will also serve as clues. All stories should have a clear plot and characterization should be evident. Students will first make a storyboard as a means of preparing to write their stories.

**Monitor**


 * Ongoing Assessment(s):** I will monitor student work while they are investigating the time period on the computer, moving around and questioning students as they work. On the first day of investigation, students will turn in an exit slip in which they write what they have learned about the checks and the time period. I will also ask them to write down any problems they are having with the project. I will review these slips and respond accordingly to individual students. I will also review storyboards and interview students during the process of their writing in order to check with them and to offer any guidance they might need.


 * Accommodations and Extensions:** The open-ended format of this lesson will lend itself to differentiation. Students will be able to work at their own levels in creating their stories. Some students will benefit from the use of a graphic organizer to gather notes about the time period and their inferences about the checks. Other students will be able to use the events of the time period and their own extended knowledge to add depth to their stories. Extensions of this lesson might include having students research the names of the people on the checks for any pertinent information.

**Evaluation**

Students will be evaluated by the use of a rubric. The rubric will include assessment on how well they used information they learned about the time period in their stories. Students will also be assessed for their ability to make logical inferences based on the information on the checks. Plot line will be a part of the rubric, as will be mechanics and grammar.