Monster Lesson
Heide Fry
Language Arts/5th Grade
Links to Files Associated
with This Lesson
Content
Area Objectives Addressed: Descriptive Writing
Language
Arts:
Technology
Objectives Addressed: E-mail, word processing, scanned images
·
Effectively blend
available technology with appropriate language and audience awareness
·
Select and use
appropriate technology devices
·
Model ethical and safe
behavior relating to security, privacy, passwords, and private information
·
Work with more than one
software application at a time
·
Recognize
telecommunications as a way to share information electronically
What was the process that your students went through to complete this
lesson?
This project was completed in conjunction with a “buddy” classroom
through the use of e-mail. Students
from my class were randomly partnered with an e-mail “buddy” from another
fifth grade classroom within the district.
The descriptive writing and e-mail correspondence was primarily completed
on an individual basis, with the exception of ESL students in the other
classroom receiving the aid of a translator.
How did you monitor student
progress?
This lesson had several components
that worked well as natural checkpoints. The
monster drawings were completed and handed in prior to any instruction on
descriptive writing and before the students knew what they were to be used for.
This insured the students’ creativity wouldn’t be hampered by their
desire to keep their descriptive writing to a minimum.
The descriptions of their monsters were due before they could go online
and meet their e-mail buddy. This
activity had an extremely high interest level due to the e-mail buddy component,
and so there were no problems keeping the students on task.
Self-editing came next and was quite successful because they knew the
description of their monster was the only thing their buddy had to go on. The students loved trying to draw their buddy’s monster
from the descriptions they received, and started realizing that they should have
included more details or stated some things more clearly in their own
descriptions. They anxiously awaited the drawing generated from their
descriptions to see how well they described their monsters.
Self-assessment and peer assessment were a natural and painless step in
the progression of this lesson.
Was there a template or an
example that students were expected to follow?
There was no template or example
for the students to follow. In fact, the students created their monsters prior to any
instruction on descriptive writing and before they knew what the monster would
be used for. We didn’t want to
hamper the creativity of some of the students who may not have been so detailed
in their drawings if they knew they would have to write about all the details.
How much time did you dedicate to this project?
Total: 3 weeks
Daily (approximate): 40 minutes
How was the final product presented?
The final product was the comparison of the student’s drawing as
compared to the drawing done by their buddy.
The student corresponded with his/her buddy to assess how effective the
description of the monster had been and what might be done to improve upon it.
Who was the audience for the final product?
The audience was primarily the student and his/her e-mail buddy, but, the
kids were often pretty excited about how close the drawings were coming out, or
thought it was funny if the drawings were completely different, so they shared
them on a small scale and on an impromptu basis with their neighbors.
What prior knowledge was
required on the part of the students in order for them to be successful in this
project? (Include curriculum and technology knowledge)
This was an introductory lesson on descriptive writing at this grade
level. The monster descriptions
were written after instruction had been given on using compare/contrast, sense
words and exact and specific words. The
students had participated in an activity where they wrote a description of black
and red licorice.
The students know the proper hand and body position for keyboarding and
are fairly proficient with word processing.
They were not familiar with Pegasus, our e-mail software,
including opening e-mail, attaching a document, and sending e-mail.
The students also received instruction on scanning, sizing and saving
pictures.
Resource Management
What was the student to computer ratio?
There are six networked computers
to 32 students in my classroom.
How did you schedule your
students’ computer time?
Center rotations were used to
allow approximately 30 minutes of computer time for a group of six students at a
time to e-mail their buddies while the rest of the class was involved in other
descriptive writing activities. The
other centers were designed to integrate descriptive writing into math and
science.
What was the location of the computers and other technology equipment used by students?
The computers are located along one wall and are all networked with
access to the Internet and e-mail. I
also have one stand alone computer that has the scanner connected to it.
How would you suggest beginning
teachers obtain computer resources for their students? (Knowing some of your
strategies would be valuable for our pre-service teachers.)
Take advantage of grant opportunities.
Rate the level of access for students to use computers/other technologies as they needed --high, medium, low
Medium. The level of access
is pretty good here at Andrus. Students
receive a half hour of computer instruction in the lab each week, and we have
projectors and a smart board to allow for effective whole-class instruction.
Rate the level of supervision required for students during the project, specifically for computer and other technology use –high, medium, low
The level of supervision required
when students are online is high. It
is paramount that teachers are vigilant in order to protect their students’
safety. Center rotations also raise
the level of supervision required as there are multiple activities happening at
one time.
What hardware was required for
your project?
6 computers, monitors, projector, printer, scanner
What software was required for
your project?
Pegasus, Word, Adobe Photo Deluxe
What kind of assessment did you use for this project? (Include a copy if
you can.)
Students
assessed their own descriptive writing based on its effectiveness, and they
peer-assessed each others’ writing based on effectiveness.
What categories did you assess? (I.e.: content, screen design, depth/breadth, etc.)
The descriptive writing was
self-assessed based upon the effectiveness of conveying an accurate description
of the monster.
How does the product that you
submitted compare with other students’ products for this same project?
The products submitted are
quite typical of the products produced in this lesson.
What
did you like best about this project?
The best part of this project was
somewhat serendipitous as it was quite unexpected. Upon receiving the e-mail
descriptions from their buddies, the students began to first assess his/her
buddies’ descriptions as missing important details, or that it wasn’t
written in an organized or clear manner, and then began to realize that they may
have made some of the exact same errors in their own descriptions.
It was a lesson with high value due to self-discovery instead of the
usual teacher feedback!
What did the students like best about this project?
They really
enjoyed the e-mail buddy aspect of the project.
It added a dimension of getting to do something “real-world”.
Rank the level of student involvement in this project –high, medium,
low
Student involvement was high! The
interest level was off the charts as they anticipated the response from their
e-mail buddy.
Rank the level of student interest in this project –high, medium,
low
The student interest level was high. Receiving
the monster drawing generated from his/her own description added an element of
anticipation that was extremely motivating.
Would you teach this lesson again?
I would definitely repeat this lesson, and even allow more time for
students to offer feedback to their buddies.
It would be wonderful to repeat the process so the students could
demonstrate what they learned from the first time through!