Barbara Palmer Worksamples
11/27/05
RDG 589
Cyberlesson Reflection
I implemented my cyberlesson on the book Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson to a small group of fifth grade students. Two were students in special education that I service. One student is labeled Gifted and Talented. The other student is labeled with a learning disability.
The unit I developed that goes with the cyberlesson flows nicely with my school district’s social studies and language arts curriculum. In Social Studies we discuss communities and diversity. The Underground Railroad really helps teach students what life was like for African Americans living in slavery, and taking a risk to live their lives freely. Additionally, in language arts the students are able to describe, interpret, reflect, analyze, and evaluate the text in order to extend their understanding of the story Sweet Clara and The Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson.
Additionally, I found the cyberlesson to be a new and exciting way for the students to take in this new information. The students enjoyed getting to use the computer to gather information. I also found that allowing the students to explore and get background information deepened their comprehension on the story and about that time in American History.
However, one frustration that I did have with implementing this cyberlesson was that it was very time consuming. It took about one week to implement the cyberlesson, spending about 45 minutes each day to implement the entire lesson. I was thinking that the cyberlesson should only take about two-three days at the most since it was done in a guided reading format, but because of all of the extra learning activities it turned out to take much longer than anticipated. Therefore, the next time I teach a cyberlesson I will not give quite so many graphic organizers and spend more time exploring and gaining information through visiting websites with more multimedia such as movies and music. I would plan to have only one written assignment for that days lesson versus two or three. Essentially, I feel that doing this would make the written tasks that much more meaningful.
In conclusion, I am very pleased with the student’s understanding of the story after completing this cyberlesson. Exposing our students to new ways of learning especially by using technology is extremely important. I feel that the cyberlesson is part of the future of teaching reading and will plan to incorporate other cyberlessons into my teaching.