Reading

Analyze Learners

General Characteristics

        The students in Mrs. Smith's 7th grade class are from 11 to 12 years of age.  The 22 students enrolled in the class consist of 11 girls and 11 boys.  The students come from middle to high-income neighborhoods and own home computers with Internet access.  Students are "digital natives" and are comfortable using technology at home and in the classroom.  

Entry Competencies        

The students are able to:

• Create, edit, and save word documents
• Navigate the Internet
• Perform basic online research

Learning Styles

        Most of the students have visual learning styles and perform better with graphics, images, and other visual demonstrations.  The students are comfortable with technology and use it often in class for research and various projects.  Generally, the students are creative and like to share individual projects with the class.

State Objectives

(3)  Research and information fluency. The student acquires, analyzes, and manages content from digital resources. The student is expected to:

(A)  create a research plan to guide inquiry;

(B)  use and evaluate various search strategies, including keyword(s) and Boolean operators;

(C)  select and evaluate various types of digital resources for accuracy and validity; and

(D)  process data and communicate results.

(5)  Digital citizenship. The student practices safe, responsible, legal, and ethical behavior while using technology tools and resources. The student is expected to:

(A)  understand and practice copyright principles, including current fair use guidelines, creative commons, open source, and public domain;

(B)  practice ethical acquisition of information and standard methods for citing sources;

(6)  Technology operations and concepts. The student demonstrates a thorough understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. The student is expected to:

 (N)  integrate two or more technology tools to create a new digital product.

OBJECTIVE: The seventh grade English students will demonstrate their knowledge of copyright laws and incorporate the information into a media presentation such as Prezi that they will present to the class.

Select Methods, Media, , and Materials

1. Methods: Teacher-centered and Student-centered

    Teacher-centered strategies will be used to present the objectives for using copyright laws to students.  Student-centered strategies will be used to research the internet for copyright laws and fair use. The students will be working in small groups. The ARCS model will be used to address student motivation. Students’ Attention will be gained by using the internet and Prezi to present information. Relevance will be achieved by reflecting on copyright laws for future research. Confidence will be reinforced by using the internet and technology.  Students will gain satisfaction by personalizing Prezi presentation.

2. Technology and Media: The lesson will use laptop computers with internet connection, websites for copyright laws, Prezi presentation, a flash drive, a projector, projector screen, and MS word.

Assess for Appropriateness:

*Alignment with standards, outcomes, and objectives.  The websites provide the information need for students to meet the TEKS objectives requiring the students to be able to present and demonstrate their knowledge of copyright laws.

*Accurate and current information. The websites chosen contain accurate and current information on copyright laws.

*Age-appropriateness language. The websites are written at a level appropriate for middle-school students.

*Interest level and engagement. The Prezi presentation will allow students to personalize their presentation.

*Technical quality. The websites have superior technical quality.

*Ease of use. The websites and Prezi are user-friendly and do not require any initial training.

*Bias free. The websites are bias free.

*User guide and directions. The Prezi software is moderately easy to use.  The students will ask each other, the teacher, or the librarian for help with technical difficulties.

3. Materials: Teacher-produced student assignment sheet that asks students to apply their knowledge by locating a copyright work from their category.

Utilize Media, Materials, and Methods

1. Preview the material

In order to make sure the software age appropriate, grade appropriate, usable, and valid for the lesson and objectives being taught. Evaluating the media will also raise any red flags (e. g., is any training going to be required? Is an extension cord going to be necessary?). In our case, if we are going to use Prezi, we need to find out if the students know how to use it.

1. Preview all the websites we will be using such as http://www.cyberbee.com/  or  http://www.loc.gov/teachers/copyrightmystery/#/copyright/  we had mentioned in our discussion.
2. Preview teacher’s presentation, to check for comprehension, etc.
3. Preview students’ presentations before allowing them to present.

2. Prepare the material

1. Prepare the necessary equipment: making sure they are working and accessible for students to use.
2. Prepare the handouts and rubrics using MS Word.

3. Prepare the environment

1. Set up the classroom so that students will have easy access to the computers and internet.
2. Make sure that there are enough computers in the classroom for students.
3. Check that all computers have access to internet.
4. Check that there is access to Prezi on the internet. Sometime IT department is "block happy".
5. Prepare a dropbox for students to submit their final presentation assignment.

4. Prepare the learners

1. Present the objectives for this lesson. Distribute handout and rubric.
2. Using a projector, conduct a class discussion about copyright, fair use, free speech, public domain, file sharing, piracy, plagiarism, infringement etc. Give the students an overview such as what is copyright and its history. Explain how they can take this information and use it. Explain how to research for copyright information, and how they will be evaluated on their findings. According to Megan, we can divide students into groups and assign a different copyright category.
3. Quick lesson on using Prezi.
4. Review how to use Boolean operators to search for information.
5. Review expectations for the presentation assignment.

5. Provide the learning experience

1. Quote from the web "Teaching is simply high theatre. Showmanship is part of the facilitator’s job. Teaching and learning should be an experience not an ordeal." Since students were divided into group to research their part, students can show off their Prezi presentation and at the same time teach their classmates their section. As part of the evaluation (Priscilla), students from each group are to create test questions from their presentation, and they can even grade their section of the test. This allows students to be accountable for their learning. (This is something I learned from a STEM conference.)

Finally, always have a backup plan because technology may fail that day.

Require Learner Participation

Overview of assignment –

Students have been assigned one of four categories commonly found online which are protected by copyright laws. Using pre-assigned credible sources, they will research the copyright laws associated with their category. Students will then present their finding in the form of a prezi.

3 Class periods – (45 minute class periods)

Day 1: students will be introduced to the assignment, given their prospective groups and determine which team members are responsible for which roles.

Day 2: students will research & collaborate on findings

Day 3: Groups create their presentation

Evaluate & Revise

Evaluation methods for each of the following are included:

1.  Student Performance – The rubric will be used to assess student work. The student will provide content with accuracy; answer questions about copyright laws, use graphics related to copyright laws, ensure there are no misspellings or grammatical mistakes and gained an understanding of copyright laws.

Content and Layout:

Poor

Fair

Good

Excellent

1. Was the website easy to access?
2. Was the website user friendly?
3. Was the information understandable?
4. Was the amount of time given appropriate?
5. Was the website helpful?
6. Did the website provide useful information?
7. Would you use this website again?