Lesson Reflection Phase 2

1. Instructional Decisions/Teaching (InTask Standard #9)

• During my lesson, my peers were engaged in the technology but they wished that the technology I chose had worked differently. I also think I should have familiarized myself more with the Storybird portion of my lesson as opposed to the Kidspiration part which I focused more on. 
• My peers created some great stories including beginnings, middles and ends with creative cover pages. They had fun using their creativity to make these stories. They completed all my objectives and they maintained all the standards. 
• If I taught this lesson again I would make sure to be completely familiar with the procedural parts of the Storybird website instead of just familiar with the way the story creating part of it works.  

2. Mechanics:

• The technologies that I used was Kidspiration for story mapping and outlining and Storybird for the story creating. 
• The technologies used were used by the students by starting with Kidspiration and outlining their story and then they used Storybird to take the outline to create and illustrate their story. 
• My lesson was within the correct time frame because the students had enough time to experience the technology but also to get the content of the lesson. 

3. Assessment of Learning (InTast Standard #6) 

• Digital artficats

• From what my peers created, they were successful in the checklist of what they were able to create in the time allotted. They made cover pages and started their stories with a beginning and a middle, with more time I know that they would have been able to continue their stories and finish the end. 
• I felt that my lesson was successful overall. I thought that it went really well, my peers seemed engaged in what they were doing and I felt that they understood the technology. I wish I knew more about the procedure for using Storybird but now I know that I need to be familiar with all parts and aspects of the technology before teaching it. 
• My individual reflections support this because I have said I feel confident in the lesson that I planned and that I thought that it would really be an interesting and engaging lesson. 
• My classmates said that I was prepared and that they liked the lesson but that they wish that the technology was different because they wished that they could have the ability to add their own illustrations instead of the ones that come with the program that you have to choose from. 

4. In this lesson I learned that anything that you could want to do with students in the classroom can be achieved by using technology. I also learned that there are a lot of ways to use technology in the classroom that is more than just the obvious of using iPads and smartboards. In future lessons I will be more aware of what technology is out there and know that I can use it to enhance my lessons and use them to support individual student needs. 

Storyboard Technology Lesson

I. RATIONALE:

The reason for teaching this lesson is to integrate technology into the writing curriculum for second grade.

Standard:

Write narratives in which they recount a well‐ elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure. (2.W.3)

II. OVERVIEW

Grade Level: 2nd

Subject(s): ELA

Topic of Study: Story Writing

Time Allotment: 10 – 30 minute lesson blocks

Block 1 – Paper and pencil brainstorming and brainstorming with a partner

Block 2 – Kidspiration planning basic

Block 3 – Kidspiration planning more details

Block 4 – Story writing

Block 5 – Story writing

Block 6 – Story writing

Block 7 – Story editing/typing

Block 8 – Story editing/typing

Block 9 – Story illustrating

Block 10 – Story wrap up

Standards: Write narratives in which they recount a well‐ elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure. (2.W.3)

Objectives: I want students to be able to know the components of a story and be able to use those components to create a story and use a combination of technology and creativity to make a product that they can be proud of.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

Procedure:

1.    Teacher will read students a few children’s books, pointing out the different components of the story along the way.

2.    Students will brainstorm ideas on paper for a story that they would want to create.

3.    Students will discuss their ideas with a partner, fleshing out more of the details in the process.

4.    Using Kidspiration, students will use the story mapping capabilities to create a storyboard with the basic components of their stories in a graphic outline form.

5.    Teacher will sit with each student and conference while the others are in their planning stages

6.    Students will then use their detailed Kidspiration storyboards to write their stories, including the components of a title page, dedication page, beginning, middle and end.

7.    Teacher and aides will edit students writing.

8.    After papers have been edited, students will use the tool Storybird to begin to type their stories.

9.    Students will use the illustrations available to them in Storybird to illustrate their stories

10. Students will publish their books and will present them at an open house for families and friends to appreciate their work as a community.

Technology Integration:

Students and teachers will use the tools of Kidspiration and Storybird to enrich this lesson.

Differentiated Instruction: Describe how you will differentiate the instruction for each of the following:

• Cognitive delay - I would use a different technology like Pixie that is more friendly to students with non-reading cognitive delay.
• Gifted – Due to the nature of this assignment, gifted students can challenge themselves as much as they want to and they have the freedom to use their creativity to create whatever product their imagination can
• ELL – For students who are learning English, context is one of the most important tools for learning. For those students, I would encourage them to write their stories with however much detail they feel comfortable with, making sure to really embed their vocabulary and ideas in context.

IV. ASSESSMENT

Procedure:

For assessment I would create a checklist that I can use to assess whether the students have included all of the components of a story in their Storybird finished product. Success on this assignment will be based on whether the components are included, not based on the content.

Instruments:

The checklist will look like this:

• Title and Cover Page
• Dedication Page
• Beginning
• Middle
• End
• Illustrations
• Typing
• Temporal Words
• Use of Kidspiration
• Use of Storybird

IIV. MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

In this section include any examples you have created for the students, resources (software, web links, books, crafting items, etc.) and other necessary items

• Children's book for modeling an example of a story
• Paper and pencils for brainstorming
• Kidspiration for story mapping
• Storybird account for creating the finished product
• Computers with keyboards for using Storybird
• Parent and Aide involvement to help with the creation of the final product
• Use of a community space for a presentation night

Lesson Writing Refelction

Assessing Prior Knowledge and Planning Instruction:

• Prior to the lesson, students need to know what a story is and the components of a story (characters, plot, etc.).
• This will be assessed by talking to the kids in a discussion and having them all review these components with the teacher.
• The information I will use in the planning process is the information that they have all been exposed to stories and reading and that they know that stories have characters and a plot. 

• The content of this lesson should be taught at this grade level because second graders have been exposed to stories since Kindergarten (or before) and so they know the basics of stories but they are advanced enough to be able to create their own story and be able to express that story in words.
• My objectives are for students to know the more advanced components of a story (beginning, middle, end, title) and to use technology to realize this in a completed story product. This related to the standards because the standards talk about writing a narrative and recounting a well-elaborated event. My objective is to write a story using all of the parts of a story through technology. 
• The lesson will be taught toward the beginning of the school year in the end of September or early October, after the students have been exposed to more literature, but early enough to know that we can continue to grow and learn more from this lesson. 

Designing Instruction:

• The instructional methods I have described are using a combination of whole group and individual instruction. I try to limit the whole group aspect to only discussion and introduction because it is so much more valuable for students to have the emphasis be on individual instruction and independent work. 
• In my methods classes, it is stressed how small group and individual conferencing is so much more important than whole group, so I tired to limit the whole group time in my lesson. 
• By challenging the students in an independent way, it means that they can use their imaginations and creativity to push themselves. By giving them complete freedom, it encourages their critical thinking because they have to solve problems by themselves and they have to work through the story and the various idiosyncrasies that come with writing a story. 

Planning Assessment:

• The assessment aligns with the standards and objectives of this lesson because by using a checklist, I can make sure that the students have included all of the advanced components of the story and that they understand the standards and the objective of the lesson. 
• The assessment makes sure that the students have all the advanced components without judging or limiting their creativity. 
• The assessment doesn't really assess the higher order thinking skills, but just by completing the assignment, which the checklist does address, they will have to use higher order thinking skills. 
• The assessment shows that the individual student needs were met by the fact that the checklist includes all parts of the assignment and the story, and through completing this product it means that they went through a process of individual conferencing and attending to their individual needs.  

How does your lesson meet each of the ISTE NETs Standards?

1. My lesson meets the facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity standard by giving students a free and open way for them to explore their own creativity and bring their creative ideas into a tangible product. 
2. The students will be using two different kinds of technology and they will be exposed to many kinds of technology during the lesson. 
3. During the lesson, I will model for the students how important technology is in our society. I will stress the importance of how our society is becoming reliant on technology and how being technology literate will be a skill that will help them with the rest of their lives. 
4. I will be meeting all of the needs of my students by modeling the best ways to use technology by staying on task and making sure that the students know what is appropriate and what is not. I will also be using learner - centered strategies by having a lot of individual conference time and making sure that the students get equal time with the technology. My students will be able to explore ideas of cultural understanding and global awareness by using their imaginations and having discussions with peers about their stories.