Reading 589
1. How did you implement your cyber lesson?
My first grade class implemented the Earth Day cyber lesson I created. There are 20 children in my class. The first graders always enjoy the Social Studies unit on Earth Day. This lesson gave me the opportunity to really expand on earth day, and to introduce recycling, as well as the problems of pollution, endangered animals and the rain forest. The students worked cooperatively in small groups to complete the pre-reading poster and the Internet games. I read the story whole group, and had the children complete the story map, Venn diagram and Postcard independently.
2. How did your students respond to the project?
My students loved this cyber lesson. They were very enthusiastic about learning about recycling, and how to save the planet and the endangered animals. I think children naturally want to have responsibilities, and need to be provided with information in order to succeed at it. My students really did a terrific job on their pre-reading activities. Their posters came out great and were displayed in the hallway. Further, they enjoyed working together on the computer and playing the “clean up your world recycling games.” During reading they were to complete the story map. I was pleased with how much this activity provided them with the opportunity to be involved in the story and to listen and follow it carefully. The children have been exposed to Venn diagrams many times during the year. They were, therefore, very familiar with the concept. You can view their work samples by pressing CTRL+click on the activity above.
3. Strengths?
I think the biggest strength of this cyber lesson is that it was used to expand on a subject that is very interesting to children as well as being a part of the first grade curriculum. Their prior knowledge was activated, and they were able to apply what they knew in completing the activities in the cyber lesson. The activities also enabled them to expand their knowledge about our earth, and the problems it faces.
4. Weaknesses?
The main weakness in this cyber lesson is the lack of student accessibility to computers. I have two computers in my classroom, which the children share. The computer lab in my school needs to be updated so that all of the computers hook up to the Internet. Currently, they do not.
5. How would you modify the way you implemented the lesson to make it more successful?
I was very happy with how the lesson was implemented. The one way I would modify it, however, is not in my control. Having the children share the two computers in the classroom made it very difficult. I had two or three working on each computer throughout the week.
6. Recommendations?
I was very happy with the timing of the cyber lesson. We worked on it over a four-day period, for about 45 minutes each day. The lessons were as follows: Day 1: Pre reading activity (poster and Internet games), Day 2: During reading activity (story map), Day 3: After reading activity (Venn diagram), Day 4: Beyond reading activity (Postcard). I would recommend allotting four days for completion.
Also, having the children work cooperatively while creating the poster, and independently working on the story map, Venn diagram and postcard really worked out nicely and I found that all of the children learned and felt successful.