Lesson Plans

Standards-Based Outcomes (MDE):

English Language Arts:

I. Meaning and Communication

Content Standard I, 3: All students will focus on meaning and communication as they listen, speak, view, read, and write in personal, social, occupational, and civic contexts.

1. Integrate listening, viewing, speaking, reading, and writing skills for multiple purposes and in varied contexts. An example is using all the language arts to complete and present a multi-media project on a national or international issue.

IX. Inquiry and Research

Content Standard IX, 11: All students will define and investigate important issues and problems using a variety of resources, including technology, to explore and create texts.

2. Determine, evaluate, and use resources that are most appropriate and readily available for investigating a particular question or topic. Examples include knowledgeable people, field trips, prefaces, appendices, icons/headings, hypertext, menus and addresses, Internet and electronic mail, CD-ROM/laser disks, microfiche, and library and interlibrary catalog databases.

Social Studies:

V. Inquiry

Content Standard V, 1: All students will acquire information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets, and other sources, organize and present the information in maps, graphs, charts, and timelines, interpret the meaning and significance of information, and use a variety of electronic technologies to assist in accessing and managing information. (Information Processing)

1. Locate information pertaining to a specific social science topic in-depth using a variety of sources and electronic technologies.

World Languages:

Content Standard 8: All students will define and characterize the global community.

1. Utilize technology to communicate personal and public information across cultures.

Technology:

Content Standard 4: All students will be able to determine the appropriate technology to obtain, organize, manipulate, evaluate, and communicate information in any learning environment.

1. Apply technology to obtain, organize, manipulate, evaluate, and communicate information in any learning environment.

4. Describe how technology impacts information access, analysis, organization, and utilization.

5. Analyze and evaluate how advances in technology have increased the amount and immediacy of information accessible to society (e.g., telecommunications, interactive video technologies, computer-based technologies).

Content Standard 5: All students will be able to apply a systematic approach to using appropriate technology to solve problems and to enhance critical thinking, creative expression, and decision making skills.

7. Complete a research assignment using the technological tools available in the districts (e.g., Internet, multimedia, etc.).

Prior Knowledge

Students must possess PowerPoint and basic word processing or PageMaker skills.
Students must possess basic Internet skills.
Students can operate digital cameras and scanners.
Students can take digital images and insert them into word processing or PageMaker documents.
Students must possess basic writing skills.

Cue Set:

Many students are not world travelers and are aware only of their own cultures and immediate surroundings. Awareness and appreciation for cultural diversity does not exist naturally for most students.

The teacher begins by asking the students to write down the states and/or countries they have visited.
The teacher then asks the students who have traveled to share with the class how that state or country was different from their own ( i.e., diet/food, language, climate, housing, clothing, etc.).
The teacher then invites a foreign exchange student or a student’s family member to speak to the class about his/her native country and culture. Students have the chance to ask the person thoughtful questions which have been previously prepared.

Best Shot Instruction:

The teacher establishes a partner classroom for the purpose of an intercultural E-mail exchange prior to commencement of the project.

On an established day at the beginning of each week, small groups of two to four students design, create, and write weekly newsletters using word processing or desktop publishing applications.
Each newsletter is sent to an international penpal/keypal via the Internet.
The articles and graphics in the newsletters (with scanned and digital images) pertain to life as high school students in the United States and abroad.
The articles reflect the personal real-life experiences of the students (i.e., the first day as freshmen, making the basketball team, attending a school dance, the types of food served in the school cafeteria, etc.) as well as general cultural information (i.e., climate, types of housing, types of communities, types of shopping including malls, holidays and celebrations, etc.).
The newsletters contain graphics related to the articles and question and comment sections directed to the international penpal/keypal.
On an established day at the end of each week, individual groups present with PowerPoint or HyperStudio what they learned or found interesting about the other cultures.

Reteaching and Enrichment:

A classroom discussion takes place after each group’s presentation. In the discussions students compare and contrast our culture with those which are featured. They share their opinions about the advantages or disadvantages of each.
The class generates ideas for articles and questions to be included in the next week’s newsletters.

Review and Closure:

The group presentations and class discussions at the end of each week help to bring closure and demonstrate the students’ understanding of and appreciation for cultural diversity.

Assessment:

Formative Assessment:

1. The teacher observes student interaction with the software programs, use of the Internet, and use of peripherals.

a. The teacher observes that students can design newsletters which incorporate graphics.

b. He/she observes the students successfully E-mail this newsletter to their penpals/keypals.

c. The teacher observes that students can create PowerPoint presentations and share information and their opinions with the class.

2. The teacher observes that students can work cooperatively with their peers.
3. The teacher observes that students become self-directed learners.

Summative Assessment:

1. Students successfully complete newsletters once a week using correct grammar, spelling, and sentence structure.
2. Students display their acquired knowledge of cultural diversity through their weekly presentations and classroom discussions.
3. A rubric is designed for scoring the newsletters’ content and the presentations.

Note:

URLs you can use for establishing an international E-mail partner classroom:

http://www.iecc.org/

http://www.keypals.com

http://www.eduplace.com/projects/keypals.html

http://www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/ (geared toward younger students)

East Detroit Public Schools Lesson Design

East Detroit Public Schools
Lesson Design