Cyberlesson reflections
This cyberlesson was developed for a colleague’s first and second grade class for a science unit on weather. We co-taught the cyberlesson and my colleague provided extensive background information on the students’ interests, prior knowledge, and reading ability.
We decided to implement the cyberlesson in a whole group lesson and in learning centers. Initially, I gathered all students in front of the smartboard and introduced them to the cyberlesson. We navigated through each of the slides and talked about how to move back and forth between the links and the cyberlesson, how to print, and how to close a link. The cyberlesson was implemented in the same sequence as it is noted on the integrated unit template; it was the second weather activity after making a weather collage. After the introduction, students worked in pairs at learning centers. Each pair was carefully chosen, with one very strong reader and one reader who might need some support. We differentiated instruction for some students by providing the book on tape. We used a class set of books and the students read the book together and worked on each activity together. Therefore, each work sample represents the work of two students. In addition, since the rubric was one of the last slides, we printed this out and posted it near the computers so students would be able to see exactly what we were expecting.
Students seemed to thoroughly enjoy the project. I repeatedly heard students asking if they could work on the cyberlesson. A big incentive was that they could go on the internet during the Beyond Reading activity. Students liked working on the computer and many of them were familiar with PowerPoint presentations. Some comments were, “I like it because we get to read a good book,” and “I like it because we get to go on the internet.”
One of the obvious strengths of this project was the high level of interest on the students’ part. Students were extremely engaged during this project. After reading through many other cyberlesson reflections from past semesters, I decided that breaking up the cyberlesson into a learning center activity would be the best use of class time instead of trying to finish it all at once. Although it took longer, it did not interfere with other classroom activities.
A weakness of this project was finding appropriate websites for first and second graders. It took me several days’ worth of hunting to find these weather websites. I was on the verge of creating my own web pages when I suddenly discovered the weather wiz kids website. Another weakness was the length of the book. Since the book was so long, it took students a while to finish the cyberlesson, although they were very engaged throughout the activities.
This cyberlesson supported student learning by providing an exciting introduction to weather and having students make and check their predictions for the book. Students were expected to think critically for the After Reading activity in which they compared and contrasted life in the town of Chewandswallow. Students were also able to practice questioning and inferencing, re-reading for understanding, and differentiating between fiction (the book) and facts (websites).
Some ideas I have for how I might have modified it:
· I might have chosen a different book. This book was very long and it took students a while to read it, so many pairs ending up reading at the computer in front of the During Reading activity slide.
Used this book but kept a schedule of what students should have accomplished each time they worked at that learning center. Perhaps on the