Assignment #4

Click here to view my lesson plan.. Students will go to an online Mad Libs resource and create their own Mad Libs. They can print out their completed story and the teacher could post it on the wall. Click here for the link the online Mad Libs.
I based this lesson on tools that are available in my classroom at Northshore. It would be great to have a Smart Board for this lesson-but Northshore does not have one. The tool that I would need for this lesson are computers for each student. There would not be a need for any programs and previous set up would not be required. Students would simply need to go to a website to do the activity.
Using technology for this activity would give students the opportunity to do a fun activity online. Mad Libs is a fun activity but it is still educational. It changes the learning environment in that students take responsibility for their learning. They decide if they are going to do their best at the project or not. The lesson becomes learner-centered because they are not sitting and listening to the teacher but are discovering things for themselves. The teacher will be watching the students interact with the material.
The challenges that I could see happening are that students may have difficulty finding the websites and following directions. This does give students the opportunity to work on their listening skills and learn how to follow directions. The teacher could hand out typed directions so that she would not have to keep answering the same questions over and over again. The teacher should circulate the room and ensure that students are doing what they are required to do.
This assignment covers NETS for grades PK-2:
1. Illustrate and communicate original ideas and stories using digital tools and media-rich resources. This fits in to my lesson in that students are using their own adjectives, nouns, etc to complete an online story. Students can also print out their work when they are finished.
4. In a collaborative work group, use a variety of technologies to produce a digital presentation or product in a curriculum area. This can be applied to the lesson because students will use the provided website to produce a "digital presentation" or what has been taught in class- the role of adjectives in a sentence.
7. Demonstrate the safe and cooperative use of technology. Students will be responsible for going the website provided and will earn the teacher's trust by following the rules for proper Internet use. Students will be expected to cooperate and follow regulations instilled by the computer lab and by the teacher.