Lesson+Analysis+&+Assessment

=Lesson Analysis & Assessment=

PART 1: Lesson Analysis
__Content Area/Topic__: Social Studies/Places around the world

__Title of Lesson__ (hyperlinked): Wish You Were Here, []

__Intended Audience__:3rd Grade

__My GPS for which I would adapt this lesson__: SS3G1: Students will locate major topographical features around the world.

===Give a summary of the strengths (2+), weaknesses (2+), and the changes (2+) you would make to tailor this to your class.===
 * ==The lesson...== || ==Indicators== || ==Your Review Comments== ||
 * Works toward appropriate goals. || * Content and technology standards are mentioned.
 * Standards seem appropriate to grade level and content area.
 * Objectives align with standards.
 * Tasks focus clearly on obtaining the objectives. || This lesson plan brought up the idea of making post cards on the computer and sending them by e-mail to their classmates, rather than making them by hand. Although there were no GPS listed, because it was out of state, I was able to find some that would be appropriate for this lesson. The GPS I found was SS3G1 which is that the students will locate major topographical features around the world. In order to meet this standard, the teacher should talk about places around the world and show pictures or videos for the students before they decide where they would want to take a trip and why. Although there were not many ideas in using technology for this lesson plan, it was a topic in which there can be many uses of technology. ||
 * Requires the use of higher order thinking skills and "new" literacies. || * Students are asked to do more than memorize or understand.
 * Media, visual, communicative, technological, mathematical, and/or other nontraditional literacies are addressed. || I believe that this lesson plan did require use of higher order thinking skills, because the teacher had to of talked about the many different places around the world before they decide where they would like to take a trip. This allows them to be critical thinkers, because they have to think why they would go there, what draws there attention to this place and why. This plan did use some technology, but there is not much that is designed to use new literacies. ||
 * Integrates the learning goals. || * Communication
 * Production
 * Critical Thinking
 * Creativity
 * Content
 * Problem-solving
 * Inquiry/research || Communication is involved in this lesson plan, because with or without the use of technology the students are sending these post cards to the other students in the classroom. Students will produce a post card of the place where they would like to go on a trip and tell why they picked that place. Critical thinking is important in this acitivity, because the students must know certain things about differenet places, such as the weather, population, language, etc. Creativity is very important for this lesson, because they have to draw an illustration of the place they want to go. They must use problem-solving skills so that they can figure out if that is a safe place to travel to. They should also do some research on that place to find out important information, like what clothing to bring, is it hot or cold, etc. ||
 * Includes a variety of resources. || * Students have choices of materials at different levels.
 * Materials are available in a variety of modes (e.g., graphics, sound, text, video) and media (e.g., books, films, photos, computer). || This plan calls for visual materials so that the students can see what these different places look like before deciding on taking a trip there. So the teacher should have websites pulled up or pictures for them to look at, althought the lesson plan does not state that. The lesson plan does not state anything about videos, or sounds either, but it I were doing this lesson I would be sure to show videos, images, etc. So that my students could get a feel of the environment. ||
 * Engages all students actively in authentic tasks. || * Students have roles/tasks to perform throughout the lesson.
 * Connections are made between the task and real life.
 * Students must actively search for answers to essential questions. || Each student does have a role to perform in this lesson. They should each come up with their own place to visit around the world. Connections are definitely made between this activity and the real world. Although their "trip" is fake, they learn a great deal about the palce they would like to go and can read about the others students "trips" to learn more about their places. Athough there were no essential questions in this lesson, I would create some such as what is the environment like in that area, and the students would be required to research the questions to answer them. ||
 * Uses technology effectively, efficiently, and as a learning tool. || * The technology makes the task more authentic.
 * The technology makes the task easier to accomplish.
 * The technology helps the students learn faster than without it.
 * The technology is secondary to the content and goals. || The technology that was brought up in the lesson plan does not make it more authentic to me. When I think of post cards I think of hand written notes that are mailed, not e-mailed. Althought it would make the task easier to accomplish, because it woud get to the other person alot faster, I would not use the e-mailing idea for this lesson, but rather still have the students hand write it. I think that the students would learn the same information rather they typed up or hand written. However, if I taught this lesson I would show pictures and videos of places around the world, and in this case technology would help the students to learn alot more.The technology used the way this lesson brought up would be secondary to the content goals of this plan. ||
 * Addresses the needs of a variety of students, including ELLs (English Language Learners) and students with physical or other challenges. || * All students can access task instructions.
 * All students can access task materials and resources.
 * Students have different ways to accomplish the same objectives. || All students should be able to think of a place they would like to go and if they can not write because of physical disabilites then they could go to the teacher and describe the place they would like, but the lesson plan did not have any alternate ways of teaching it. All students should be able to access a computer and type, but if not they could tell it to a classmate and the classmate could type it up for them. Although this lesson plan did not state the different ways of accomplishing this lesson, there could be many ways to go around it, but still learn just as much as the other students . ||
 * Includes appropriate assessments. || * Assessment is aligned to the standards and objectives.
 * Assessments are fair for all students and not based on one ability (e.g., writing).
 * Assessments allow students to show what they know/can do rather than what they cannot. || There is no standard for assessment given in this plan, although I believe that the teacher should consider showing and talking about the many different places around the world which would meet a standard. This assessment is based on either writing, or typing so it is not really fair for students who are not able to use their hands. This assessment does show that every student can accomplish it, because there is no right or wrong answer. ||

__Strengths__: I did like this lesson plan and thought it was a good idea to use to teach students about the many different places around the world in a fun manner. It would be boring to just describe places around the world and them take notes on it. However, this lesson plan made it fun for the students, because they could imagine what it would be like to actually be there by describing it in a post card for the other studetns to read about. I like that they do not only write about the place, but they also draw an illustration of the place, which uses creativity and I believe that creativity is very important.

__Weaknesses__: There were weaknesses in this lesson when it comes to technology. It said if the students have e-mails then they can send them electronically. Not every student is going to have an e-mail and it would be unfair for some to be allowed to use the computer and others not. I also do not like the idea of setting up e-mails for those that do not have one, because some parents do not like their children having e-mails, especially at such a young age. I also think that this lessson plan did not use enough technology. I think that videos, pictures, and certain webites would have greatly increased what the students learn in this lesson.

__Changes__: The changes that I would make in this lesson, is that I would have a list of questions for the students to answer about the place they want to go to. Therefore, I would make the students have to go through books that I would bring or search on the computer about the place they want to go in order to research it. I would also show videos and have websites pulled up descibing the places before they pick where they want to go, that way they can see it visually and figure out if that would be somewhere that they would want to travel to.

PART 2: Assessment

 * Assessment #1:**Formative


 * **Assessment Method** || **Purpose** || **When Used** || **Instrument (**include written, attached, or hyperlinked on this page**)** ||
 * //Question and Answer in the Lesson// || As a teacher, I need to know if my students are understandig the lesson. In order to do so, I would ask questions at the begnning of the lesson and they would have to do research to answer these questions. I would provide a worksheet with questions that they will need to answer about the place they would like to visit. By doing this, I would be assured that they atleast learned the main facts about their place. || At the beginning of the lesson || [|Questions.rtf] ||

Goody Gumdrops 1.) What was I supposed to accomplish and how?
 * Assessment #2:** Summative Peformance Assessment
 * **Assessment Method** || **Purpose** || **When Used** || **Instrument (**include written, attached, or hyperlinked on this page**)** ||
 * //Rubric// || This will serve as a guide for my students. They can look back at this rebric when they are unsure of what to do next or how to do it. This rubric will make it easier on me to grade their work, because I will have a guideline to go by, and it will be fair for the students, because they will be able to understand how to get a certain grade and why they did or did not get the grade they would have liked. || At the end of the lesson || [|rubric.rtf] ||

I believe that the purpose of this lesson analysis is for us to delve deeper into a lesson plan to see if it meets all the requirements of a lesson plan and includes a variety of different resources. It is also meant to help us learn how to make changes in lesson plans and to accommodate everyone's intersest. It is doind so by having us list the weaknesses in the lesson plan and change it to make it better for the students.

2.) What did I learn (growth/progress)?

I learned that there is more to a lesson plan than just thinking up a cool activity. I learned that you have to keep in mind that students are at different levels or may need accommodations, so that the teacher should always be prepared. I also learned that technology is an important aspect to add into a lesson plan. Also, I learned how to make changes in lesson plans to make them more suitable for certain ages.

3.) What should I have done differently?

I should have looked over at least five different lesson plans to discover which would be best for this activity.

4.) Why is this artifact important to my targeted career?

This artifact is very important towards my career, because as a teacher it is important to be able to examine your lesson plans and find your strengths and weaknesses so that you can make it better.