MacLean,+Kelly

Kelly MacLean November 2, 2008 ** Lesson Plan on Researching the Civil War ** ** With the Tennessee Electronic Library ** This lesson plan is for the media specialist at Stewarts Creek Middle School to teach eighth graders how to use the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL) to study the Civil War for a social studies project. Before I teach this lesson, I will need to find out what the students know about the TEL and what search engines they would usually use to find information when they research. For my Needs Assessment, I pre-assessed all of the 8A mini-school at SCMS to find out these questions. Here are the results:
 * __ Pre-Assessment __**

(Ask, MSN, Yahoo) || || From these results, I have determined that the eighth grade students do not know how to use the TEL and most have never even heard of it. Therefore, there is a need for this lesson. __** //__ AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners __// 1.1.8  Demonstrate mastery of technology tools for accessing information and pursuing inquiry. 1.1.5  Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of accuracy, validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context. 3.1.6 Use information and technology ethically and responsibly. //__ Social Studies TN Standards for 8th Grade __// 8.5.tpi.27. research the political, social, and economic impacts of the Civil War on the West, the South, and the North and submit reports to the class. 8.5.tpi.7. diagram causes and consequences of major American conflicts such as the Revolutionary War and Civil War 8.5.spi.6. classify the characteristics of major historic events into causes and effects (i.e., exploration, colonization, revolution, expansion, and Civil War). Instructional Objectives __** ** A-Audience: ** -The learner will be an eighth grade social studies student at Stewarts Creek Middle School and will be working on a project dealing with the Civil War. ** B-Behavior: ** -The learner will use the TEL to research a specific topic on the Civil War. - The learner will comprehend and analyze this information in order to write a three-page research paper on their Civil War topic. - The learner will create a project to include in the eighth grade Civil War Museum to present to the rest of the students in the school, as well as their parents on parent night. ** C-Conditions: ** -The learner will find numerous articles from the TEL in the Kids InfoBits database, the Junior Edition database, or the Student Edition database, read these articles, and cite these articles in their research paper. -The learner will read these articles during class on the laptop computer they have been assigned. ** D-Degree: ** -I expect 100% of the students to see the benefits of TEL and use a combination of TEL and Nettrekker to search for information for their research paper/project. -I expect 100% of the students to use the TEL in other research projects they encounter throughout the year. Remote control mouse Projector and screen || Desktop or laptop computer with internet access Paper & Pencil to write down information found while researching Headphones || **__ Set Induction __** As students come in, they will have a Bellwork question to complete: “What do you think makes a good web page? What do you think makes a good search engine?” I will give students approximately five minutes to list the qualities they think make a good website and search engine. I expect answers such as: easy-to-read text, pictures, organized layout, factual information, search box, not too many ads, colorful, etc. This is when I will introduce TEL as a great database where you can find really cool information in a great, easy-to-find layout on the projector screen.
 * When researching for a class paper or project, which search engine do you use? || Google-97 || Nettrekker-13 || Other-8
 * How reliable and accurate do you feel like the results are for your preferred search engine? || Not at all-1 || Moderately reliable- 77 || Very reliable-40 ||
 * I am familiar with TEL. || Disagree-18 || Don’t Know- 96 || Agree- 4 ||
 * I have used TEL. || Disagree-35 || Don’t Know-79 || Agree-4
 * TEL would provide more reliable results that my preferred search engine. || Disagree-20 || Don’t Know-95 || Agree-3 ||
 * __ Standards/Goals
 * __
 * __ Materials, Media, and other Resources __**
 * Teacher Resources ||  Student Resources  ||
 * Desktop or laptop computer with internet access
 * __ Instructional Sequence __**
 * 1) I will first back up to where students will find TEL and log in. I will have students write the password in their composition notebook where they will keep information they research.
 * 2) Students will be following along on laptop computers, so I will walk around the room and help as they login, until they get to the screen with the list of databases.
 * 3) I will focus on KidsInfoBits, Junior Edition/Student Edition databases and have students write down these names as the databases to try for this particular assignment.
 * 4) We will first explore KidsInfoBits, so I will have it up on the screen and students will have it on their screen. I will give students about five minutes to explore the database for any information they would like to look up. Then I will guide them to look up information on the Civil War as I walk around to help. I will show them on the projector screen how they will get to information on the Civil War by clicking on his
 * 5) Next, I will instruction students to go back to the database list, and then go to Junior Edition and/or Student Edition.. I will again allow time for students to “play” in the database, looking up information to see what each of the different sources will produce. I will then have them narrow their search to their Civil War topics.
 * 6) I will continue to help students explore and research information on the Civil War. If any questions are asked that would benefit the whole class, I will use this teachable moment to show the whole class on the projector. The students will learn more if they are doing it themselves.
 * __ Closure __**

Towards the end of the hour, after students have logged off the computers, I will ask some general questions to create some discussion. I will ask: -“Do these sites have pictures?” -“Do these sites have colors?” -“Are these sites and search engines organized?” -“Do Kids InfoBits and Student Edition have search boxes?” -“Do these sites have factual information?” -“Did ads pop up on the computer as you searched?” As students inevitably answer “yes” to these questions, it will help add validity in the students’ minds since these were qualities that they said good web sites and search engines must have. Then I will ask students to share some information they found on the Civil War and tell the class were they found it. After several students have shared, we will discuss how accurate that information is. This will help show students that the information on these sites is reliable. Finally, I will remind students that their teacher will take them to the computer lab again tomorrow and that all of the log-in information for TEL is on my library website. Students will continue to learn to navigate the TEL database as they continue using it. This particular eighth grade social studies class is the inclusion class. That means that twelve students in their class have learning disabilities and receive accommodations during class instruction. For these students, I had already typed out the website name, the password, and the names of the databases because one of their accommodations is that they get notes printed out for them. Sometimes these students cannot comprehend information and write it at the same time, and sometimes they cannot read the information they wrote down. Another accommodation that is provided is that all of the articles on KidsInfoBits have an audio program that reads the articles to them. The special education teacher in the class with these students guided the students on how the play the audio. Some students learn technology more quickly than others, so this is why I did not insist that all students research at the same pace. This allowed for the technology-savvy students to search at a quicker pace and the students that weren’t as comfortable received more help from me and the special education teacher. Since I have not actually taught this lesson, I do not have results of the post-assessment. If I were to actually teach this lesson, however, I would give the same group of students the exact same survey again. This time, I would expect that more students would see TEL as reliable and would be familiar with it. Again, I have not actually taught this lesson, so I have nothing to reflect on necessarily. I expect the lesson to work with eighth grade students, so I’m not sure if I would change anything at this point in time.
 * __ Adaptations and Extensions __**
 * __ Assessment __**
 * __ Reflection __**