Cyberlesson Description by Tami Raspanti
RDG 589
1. How did you implement your cyberlesson? (small group, whole group, posted on the Internet to be done at home, individually, as a learning center etc.)
My cyberlesson was created not only to meet a course requirement for RDG 589 as an opportunity to apply what we as master degree students know about teaching reading comprehension in a format that capitalizes on the availability of information available on the internet to enhance and compliment student learning, but as part of a district wide initiative to create a social students unit that would meet curriculum objectives associated with the specific content standard that deals with how people interact and effect the environment. This cyberlesson is one component of a unit that I created, with feedback from my colleagues, and will be made accessible to teachers of the other eight elementary schools in my district through its posting on a district intranet cite. I created it with the intention of implementing it in my third grade classroom as series of a whole group activities with differentiation for those students who needed additional support. The lessons followed a Directed Reading Activity format and included activities that reinforced the skills and strategies needed to read and understand nonfiction text. As part of the before reading activities, students took a scavenger hunt through the text Kids Care for the Earth by Gare Thomspon and identified important text features and their usefulness in aiding comprehension. Students then activated and built background knowledge by visiting a website that showed a short animated video on the topic of conservation. Several of the key vocabulary terms needed for understanding in the text were discussed in this video. As a prereading activity, students completed an anticipation guide which also incorporated key vocabulary concepts. This was then revisited after reading the text as a means to assess and clarify understanding. As a whole group, students actively listened as I read the text aloud. This mode was chosen because of the challenging readability level of the text for some students in my class and the fact that specific constraints with regard to accessibility of the internet in my school prevented me from using this text with a smaller group of students, specifically with regard to time management. The during and after reading activities allowed students to apply reading comprehension strategies and skills such as predicting, identifying important information, and explaining cause and effect statements. They then captured these thoughts in their journals/learning logs. They also responded to a statement relating to the main gist of the text by citing specific examples from the text as evidence to support it. As a culminating activity that went beyond the reading, students created posters on recycled grocery bags to demonstrate their understanding of what people can do to help conserve natural resources and positively effect the environment.
Cyberlesson Reflection
2. How did your students respond to the project?
Based on my students’ oral and written responses, as well as my observations of the small group discussions taking place around the topic of how people effect the environment, the majority of my students were able to comprehend and contribute both positive and negative ways that people interact with the environment. Most of my students received a score of 2+ or 3 on the scoring rubric for the lesson, which demonstrated that overall they understood the objectives and communicated the ways that people interact with the environment orally, artistically, and through written work. The students that received an overall basic understanding score of two for the most part either were not able to communicate their thoughts in writing (lacked the ability to write a complete sentence, and/or paragraph even with an additional supportive framework) or only gave one or two examples as to what people can do to help the environment. There were no students who had an overall score of 1 (needs improvement), therefore I would say that the lesson was a success and that the learning objectives were met.
Also worth noting is how I as a teacher responded and grew from the experience. One of the biggest lessons that I learned was the fact that any reservation I first had about using the internet to enhance understanding disappeared after implementation of this lesson. I found that the supporting websites helped to clarify and reinforce comprehension in a way that was motivating and effective. However, one aspect of the lesson that became a challenge was the ability to implement. This became an obstacle because of the lack of accessibility to the internet in my school. In order to execute the lesson in the least obtrusive way I used two different fifth grade classrooms when the students were at lunch and recess. During this forty minute timeframe, that often turned out to be more like thirty minutes because of scheduling conflicts, I executed the learning activities; albeit I felt somewhat rushed for time. The day of initial implementation was postponed because of me being in meetings/workshops during the allotted time period for several days. Then, because of rainy weather, the room was used for indoor recess, and on another occasion, detention. A drawback of being in this classroom setting was that students were not able to independently peruse the websites because the information was displayed on a large screen. However, this was necessary due to the fact that the library environment was not conducive to implementation, again because of time constraints and equipment accessibility. Therefore, I was limited in my ability to execute the lessons in a way that would have been optimal for my students. My students did find that going into the fifth grade classroom was exciting, and this coupled with the fact that the internet was involved, was motivating for my class. This was not a positive situation for everyone however, based on the fact that several of my students had a difficult time focusing and seemed too distracted by the new environment. Therefore, I chose to reinforce several concepts and do some of the reading in my own classroom on several occasions.
3. Strengths?
Overall I believe the topic was developmentally appropriate for my students and even though the text was a bit challenging, this cyberlesson was part of a unit and therefore it was not the first exposure students had to the vocabulary terms and concepts. I believe the interaction with the text and the discussion they participated in with each other were the strongest parts of the lesson. However, if you asked the students they would say they liked the website connections and the whole idea of using a computer to help them understand what they were reading.
4. Weaknesses?
An area that I felt was lacking in my cyberlesson was the fact that I hadn’t built in enough opportunity for discussion during the reading. Based on my students’ needs, I determined that I needed to reinforce certain concepts and at several points during the reading I stopped and provided think alouds to model strategies. I also asked questions of my students to help them better understand the important concepts. I then had them think and discuss their thoughts with a partner, or small group, and then share their ideas with the class. I did not initially integrate these questions and plan for the think alouds when I created my cyberlesson, but as I taught, I did feel it was necessary to reinforce some terms and provide scaffolding so that my students could make the necessary connections and integrate the new concepts into their prior knowledge base. Lastly, I felt a bit uncomfortable due to the fact that I was controlling the screen from the back of the classroom, and that the projection screen covered the chalkboard, which meant there was no access to equipment that I had been comfortable using, such as the overhead or chalkboard. This became a challenge when I found it necessary to draw a picture to provide scaffolding for a concept. Overall, aside from the situational factors of the environment and the necessary addition of the questions for discussion, I would say that the format was effective in terms of breaking down the learning activities and the support that the specific websites provided enhanced my students’ learning.
5. How would you modify the way in which you implemented the project to make it more successful?
If I were to do this lesson again, I would most likely teach it to a small group of students who are reading slightly above grade level and then choose a text that is a little less dense in terms of the related concepts for those students reading at or below grade level. In doing so I would also try to allow these students an opportunity to navigate through the lesson and the websites at their own pace on individual computers; and also provide more opportunity for enrichment. This is due to the fact that I had one student who had heard of a way to conserve energy that I wasn’t familiar with. At the time we were not in the fifth grade classroom, but I would have liked to have been able to direct him to a more challenging website that would help to broaden his breadth of knowledge on the subject. At the very least I think next time I would try to offer more of a variety of beyond reading opportunities so that those students who have solid background knowledge can research a related subject and add not only to their own learning, but share that information with their classmates to further enhance their learning.
In conclusion, the experience provided an opportunity for me to see the value of the internet in the classroom setting. It also helped me to build confidence and self-efficacy in myself with regard to integrating technology in a way that motivates and deepens understanding. I think one of the biggest take-aways from this process is that I can see how the concept of a cyberlesson may be used to differentiate instruction with regard to allowing those students who are able to work independently an opportunity to do so. I think the concept itself is very useful and motivating, especially for upper elementary and middle school students. I also believe it would work very well for theme related text, or with a fiction text that allows for a format similar to that of a literature discussion circle, like the Mississippi Trial text. Most importantly for me, I became excited about using the internet in my teaching. I do still believe it is a time consuming endeavor to undertake anytime you set out to gather information from the internet, and it probably would not be something I would be able to do often, but I do believe I would like to try it again in the near future.
6. Recommendations?
To teach this unit again I would try to do it in a small group setting, on individual computers, where the students can manipulate the mouse themselves. This would allow me to facilitate rather than be somewhat directive; which is the approach I felt was necessary in order for my whole class to understand this particular text. I would also go over the rubric expectations with the students prior to beginning the lesson. This is due to the fact that the rubric came at the end of the lesson and because I was a little caught up in the excitement of teaching it myself, I neglected to share the rubric or even explain what I was looking for to my students. Therefore, even though I used the rubric to assess understanding, the quality of work was not up to my expectations in some cases and the rubric was not as valuable of a tool.