Lesson 1: Blog Phase 1 -Designing Instruction

Click here for my lesson.

I tried to organize my lesson beginning with movement and rhythm so students would be instantly engaged and they could get energized and ready to learn. Brain science shows that the brain works better with exercise. From there I drew on previous knowledge to get students thinking, and asked them to make some hypothesis. The research was to help them learn on their own as independent learners, and the creation of the diorama was supposed to expand on that as they produced a project from the knowledge they gain. I wanted them to reflect on their learning in a group setting, and to learn from their classmates in the end. The lesson was really designed to use all aspects of the research based learning I hear about in my own classes.

The research and artistic components of the lesson address higher order thinking skills. Research promotes investigation and independent thinking. They had to think about what kinds of facts they were looking for as well as the best strategies for finding them. The artistic component was a non-traditional way of expressing their understanding of the content. It uses divergent thinking as opposed to a test with definitive answers.

There was not a lot of technology in my lesson. It was not appropriate for this lesson, so I did not add in unnecessary components. I did use a youtube video for the song and dance component of the lesson. Giving students visuals is important, and I used youtube to fullfill that. The song and movement were also research based and again, the youtube video covered those two items.

My lesson did not address safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology. It did not address digital etiquette and responsible social interactions. Nor did it address global awareness and digital-age communications. None of these were applicable in my lesson. It did meet the diverse needs of students through learner-centered strategies and equitable access. There were many different aspects of this lesson that met the needs of all types of learners. The entire lesson is student run and teacher facilitated. The youtube video addressed three types of learners through technology and demonstrated a useful technological tool for learners.