Lesson Plan Outline EDUC 540

Stacey Diapoulis Lesson Plan Introduction Lesson topic: Fossil Exploration Length of Lesson (estimated): One 90-minute content block VA Standards of Learning (content and technology)

Content: 2.5 The student will investigate and understand that living things are part of a system. Key concepts include a) living organisms are interdependent with their living and nonliving surroundings; b) an animals habitat includes adequate food, water, shelter or cover, and space; c) habitats change over time due to many influences; and d) fossils provide information about living systems that were on Earth years ago. Technology: C/T K-2.4 Plan and apply strategies for gathering information, using a variety of tools and sources, and reflect on alternate strategies that might lead to greater successes in future projects. A. Identify information in various formats. Recognize that information may be presented as printed text, electronic text, audio, video, or images. C/T K-2.6 Communicate effectively with others (e.g., peers, teachers, experts) in collaborative learning situations. B. Recognize tools useful for communication. NETS*S Standards for Teachers Standard 1. Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. a. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments Standard 2. Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the Standards.

Lesson Plan Outline EDUC 540

d. Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards, and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching. Lesson Overview In this lesson, the students learn about fossils and why they are important to us. This lesson will essentially answer the two main questionsWhat is a fossil? and Why are fossils important to us? The students will first watch a short iMovie (4 minutes) to be introduced to the concept of fossils. This video will interactively discuss what fossils are, provide some examples with numerous pictures, and discuss why they are important to us. Furthermore, this video will mention that the students will take on the role of a paleontologist and explain what that entails. Next, to get in the mindset of a paleontologist, students will get in partners and Meet a Paleontologist online via the iPads. After exploring the Meet a Paleontologist page on National Park Service Online, we will join in a circle and have a class discussion. Next, in table groups, students will be presented with various fossils that they can sort any way they would like to. They will complete a Concept Map on the Kidspiration Maps app on the iPads and we will rotate around each group to view their classifications. Lastly, students will apply their research by making a fossil of their very own. There will be multiple crafting materials provided for the students to choose from. As a reflection activity, they will share on KidBlog the name of their fossil and what it tells us about the past or future. I will take pictures of the students making their fossil and post in on the Class Blog to show parents and families! I will also make sure to post the iMovie on the class website in the resources section for students to use to study for the unit test. Learning Objectives Understand what are the broad generalizations the students should begin to develop? Content Students will: Understand what a paleontologist does Understand the origin of fossils Identify fossils found in Virginia Know what are Do what are the the facts, rules, specific data specific thinking behaviors the students will gain students will be able to do through this lesson? through this lesson? Content Students will: Classify the different types of fossils provided Explain the importance and use of fossils Recognize that fossils help learn about the past and predict the future Content Students will: Identify the similarities and differences of the real fossils provided in order to classify them Design and construct their own fossil using information given throughout the lesson

Lesson Plan Outline EDUC 540

Technology Students will: Understand that information can be presented in various formats of technology Communicate effectively with others in collaborative learning situation

Technology Students will: Utilize various means of obtaining information (iMovie, websites on iPad) Explain the importance of sharing collaboratively via the blog

Technology Students will: Identify the ways we used technology in the lesson Use the computer to write their reflection on KidBlog

Materials and Advanced Preparation Pre-Lesson Computer with iMovie program to make iMovie for content Various crafting materials including construction paper, yarn, cotton balls, glue, scissors, tape, foil, plastic wrap, popsicle sticks Reserve iPad lab cart (if not already provided in the classroom) On each iPad, pull up the National Park Service website for students During Lesson SmartBoard (to present iMovie) Projector Atleast 12 iPads for classmates to work in partners KidSpiration Maps app set up on iPad and on my computer on SmartBoard (to model) Computer Camera (to take pictures for class blog) Baking sheets (to place fossils on) Fossils provided by school Teaching and Learning Sequence Introduction/Anticipatory Set (10 minutes) Before the lesson begins, I will get the computer and SmartBoard set up so that it is prepared to show the iMovie at the beginning of the lesson. The iMovie will have been opened first thing in the morning to ensure that it worked properly. I will set out all of the fossils with baking trays at various tables throughout the room. Each table will have about 20 fossils to sort. At the back table, I will lay out the construction paper, scissors, glue, tape, yarn, cotton balls, foil, plastic wrap and popsicle sticks for students to choose how to make their fossil. The students will only be allowed to choose four materials to make their fossil.

Lesson Plan Outline EDUC 540

Students will begin content block seated at their respective tables. I will call students to carpet based on whose table is the quietest. Students will bring nothing to the carpet except themselves. Once all students are called to the carpet, I will spark an opening discussion by asking, Has anyone heard of a fossil before? I expect to see some hands raised and I will call on three students to respond. I anticipate answers mostly regarding dinosaurs and bones. Then, I will tell students, Today, we are going to learn about fossils! We get to be paleontologists. Then, I will ask students, Does anyone know what a paleontologist is? I will wait for responses, but if nobody responds, I will tell them we will find out in this short movie clip! Before I start the iMovie, I will remind students which way their body should be facing and how they can best listen to the content and interact with the iMovie. Next, we will play the movie on the SmartBoard and I will pause at each question to allow the students to interact with the question. I will allow no more than two responses for each question mostly for time reasons. After the movie, I will ask students to do a Think-Pair-Share with a partner about new facts they learned about fossils and examples of fossils. Then, we will share as a class and I will have four partner groups share aloud. To transition into the next activity, I will tell students to close their eyes and get into the mindset of a paleontologist. They will pretend that they are researching fossils. However, before they fully become a paleontologist, they need to meet some paleontologists!

Lesson Development Meet a Paleontologist Activity (20 minutes) While students are still seated at carpet, I will have them get in partners. Then, I will explain how the students are going to meet paleontologists today! We will discuss how, although we cannot meet them in person, technology allows us to meet them on the internet! I will pull up the National Park Service website on the SmartBoard to model for students how to use the site. I will show them how to go to the National Fossil Day page to Meet a Paleontologist. I will tell students that they need to take notes in their science notebooks on a paleontologistwhat they do and why they love fossils. To provide an example, I will click on the first paleontologist on the list and write bullets on the white board of things I could say about this paleontologist. (This will take a total of 5-7 minutes) Then, as I hand out iPads to the partner groups, they will return to their tables with their partner, science notebook, and a pencil. They will be assigned two paleontologists to introduce to the rest of the classroom. As students work at their tables with the iPads and their partner, I will walk around the room monitoring iPad use and research. I will also ensure that students are taking sufficient notes to report back to their classmates. I will ask questions such as, Why do you think she wanted to have this job? Or What do you find most interesting about him? After 15 minutes of research time, I will have students put the iPads back on the cart and we will join on the carpet to meet our paleontologists. As the partner groups

Lesson Plan Outline EDUC 540

introduce their paleontologist, I will pull up the picture on the SmartBoard for students to see. To transition into the sorting activity, I will ask students, Now that you have met paleontologists, are you ready to be one yourself? I will allow for a few questions regarding how to classify or research but, for the most part, they can choose how they would like to classify their fossils.

Fossil Sorting (20 minutes) Before students return to their tables, I want to model for them how to use the KidSpiration program to make a sort. I will pull up KidSpiration on my computer and provide an example for the class, such as sorting the class by hair color. I will carefully go through the steps of making a sort on KidSpiration Maps. Students will return to their tables and work with their entire table, not the partner they previously had. Each table will have about 20 fossils to sort on the baking sheet (to prevent making the table extra dirty). I will walk around the classroom and ask students how they are sorting their fossils and monitor their progress. As I monitor the classification and check on the groups, I will pass out iPads to the tables that have showed me their sort. Before I give the iPad to the group, I will ask them how they can make sure everyone works together on the iPad. I will also ask them how they can share the iPad. Next, they will make a sort of their fossils on KidSpiration. Students will type in the categories and choose the amount of groups they want. Then, they will choose images that relate to the fossil or make a small image of their own for each sort. After each table has finished sorting, the class will walk around the classroom and view different sorts. Then, we will have a short discussion sharing what we noticed about these sorts. I will make it clear that there are many ways to sort it and that it is ok if everyone chose to do it differently (if that was the case). Finally, after the discussion, students will put all iPads away in the cart and plug them in to ensure that they are being charged. Make Your Own Fossil (20 minutes) While students are still seated at their table and all of the iPads are put away in the cart, I will tell students, Now that we have met paleontologists and classified fossils, we now get to make our own fossils. I will write the rules on the board for the fossil making--the fossil must have a name and you must tell us why it is important. I will have tables go back separately to pick four materials each to use to make their fossil. As students make their fossils, I will circulate around the classroom. I want the students to be directors of their own learning so I will not provide a lot of help with the fossil making. When students finish making their fossils, I will have them write a paragraph about the name of their fossil and why it is important for us to study. If the parent of the student signed the permission form for their childs photo to be taken and displayed, I will take pictures of the students working and the student work to post on the class blog for parents to see.

Lesson Plan Outline EDUC 540

Closure (20 minutes) After all students have written their paragraph about their fossil and had it edited by me, I will have them take it home for homework and type it up on KidBlog. If the students do not have access to computers, I will make sure that they use the computers in the classroom to type it up the next day. At the end of the class, for about 10 minutes, students who wish to share their fossil will share with the class. I will ask for volunteers to share and explain their fossil. However, before I do this, the students will clean up their work environment and put all extra supplies back on the table. After sharing, I will ask students if they still have more questions about fossils. We will discuss as a class why it is important to study fossils and where we can find fossils around the world. I will also ask them what ways we used technology to learn today. I expect to hear a lot of answers from the National Park Service website to the iPads.

Assessment Throughout this lesson, I will be both informally and formally assessing all students. Informal assessment of students will be through the discussions that we have after the iMovie, after they classify the fossils and then again for a final time at the end of the lesson. The classification of the fossils concept map on Kidspiration Maps will also be a form of assessment. Students will safe their concept maps on the iPad. The formal assessment for this lesson is the artifact that they make (their own fossil) and their blog post on KidBlog. Along with making their fossil, all students are to write a paragraph on KidBlog about their fossil. This will serve as an assessment to see how they applied the content they learned to their actual fossil.

Research Basis In todays technologically advancing society, it is imperative that we, as teachers, implement technology into our everyday instruction. There has been much research done on the benefits of using technology to engage students in the classroom. Before starting to implement different technologies in the classroom, it is important to know the best practices for doing so. Teachers should make sure that the use of technology aligns with the curriculum; that the use of technology is purposeful. Using technology simply for show is not effective (2010). I used technology in my lesson to supplement the learning. The iMovie was used for content for an introduction and the Kidspiration Map was used to apply knowledge they learned while working hands-on with the fossils. Throughout my lesson, I also made sure that I was acting as a facilitator of my students learning rather than the director. I wanted the students to take control of their own learning. Acting as a facilitator is especially important when incorporating technology into the lesson. When technology is used in the classroom, students play an active role in their learning instead of sitting back and being given the content from a textbook for lecture. When using common technology in the classroom--such as smart boards--the students can interact with the content they are learning (OHara, 2010). The use of the Smart Board in my lesson was mostly to display the iMovie and model to the students. However, the students used the iPads extensively to interact with their learning.

Lesson Plan Outline EDUC 540

My lesson consisted of iPad use in two activitiesthe Meet a Paleontologist activity and the Fossil Sorting activity. Although not all schools and teachers are fortunate enough to have a classroom set of iPads, they are still usually available through the computer lab to rent. Most schools are moving towards providing iPads for their school rather than laptops. Educators wonder if iPads can possibly replace laptops and even serve as a more motivational tool for learning. Right now, laptops will be important but it seems as if the trend is moving towards tablets. The iPad is beneficial to use in the classroom because it is very fast and easy to use. For this lesson, I used an app on the iPad, Kidspiration Maps, to assess the students. Aside from the iPad, I also used another form of technology to assess students through KidBlog. Technology is a wonderful tool to use when assessing students formally and informally. (APA citations listed below in References)

Lesson Plan Outline EDUC 540

References Apple (2013). iMovie (Version 2.0) [Ipad Application Software]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com "An iPad in Every Classroom: Teacher Tested, Student Approved!." Wired Educator. WordPress, 15 Apr 2012. <http://wirededucator.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/an-ipad-inevery-classroom-teacher-tested-student-approved/> Best practices for using technology in the classroom. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.cidde.pitt.edu/ta-handbook/teaching-technology-1 Inspiration Software Inc. (2014). Kidspiration Maps (Version 1.2) [Ipad Application Software]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com Meet a paleontologist. (n.d.). National Park Service. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from, http://nature.nps.gov/geology/nationalfossilday/kids O'Hara, S., Pritchard, R. (2010). What is the impact of technology on learning? Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/what-impact-technology-learning/ Student learning objectives (SLO) action verb list. (n.d.). Eastern New Mexico University. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http:www.enmu.edu/academics/assessment/faculty Virginia Department of Education (2012). Standards of learning. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://doe.virginia.gov

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