Lesson #2 - Phase I

I. RATIONALE:

I based this lesson off of several Arizona's College and Career Ready Standards. This lessons covers standards from the subjects of Language Arts/English and Technology.


II. OVERVIEW

Grade Level: 1^st grade

Subject(s): Language Arts/English (Language and Writing), Technology

Topic of Study: Parts of Speech

Time Allotment: 30 minutes

Standards:

• Language Arts/English
• AZ.1.L.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

1. Print all upper- and lowercase letters
2. Use common, proper, and possessive nouns
3. use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences (e.g., He hops. We hop.)
4. Use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (e.g., I, me, my; they, them, their; anyone, everything).
5. Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home).
6. Use frequently occurring adjectives
7. Use frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so, because).
8. Use determiners (e.g., articles, demonstratives).
9. Use frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., during beyond, toward).
10. Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imerative, and exlamatory sentences in response to prompts.
11. Write multiple sentences in an order that supports a main idea or story.

• Technology:
  • Strand 1: Creativity and Innovation – Concept 1: Knowledge and Ideas – PO 1: Evaluate information to generate ideas.
  • Strand 1: Creativity and Innovation – Concept 4: Original Works – PO 1: Use digital creativity tools to develop ideas and create a project.
  • Strand 6: Technology Operations and Concepts – Concept 2: Applications – PO 1: Understand keyboarding techniques when using the keyboard to type letters, numbers, and special key functions.

Objectives:

• The students will be able to discuss the various parts of speech as a class.
• The students will be able to complete an online Mad Libs story using the various parts of speech discussed.
• The students will be able to create their own Mad Libs story through an online website using the various parts of speech discussed.

Reflection: Assessing Prior Knowledge and Planning Instruction

Before this lesson, the students need to know the basics of working a computer. This is a review lesson, so prior to this lesson, the students will have already learned about each of the parts of speech in great detail. This lesson is mainly to help them be able to apply this lesson to the real world and stories. The only new part will be exploring the two websites that will help them apply what they have learned previously. The websites include one in which the students will complete prefabricated Mad Lib stories and the other is one in which they can create their own Mad Lib story. Before starting the lesson, we will have class discussion about parts of speech. From this discussion, we will make a list on the white board to represent what the students already know. After we go through the parts of speech presentation, we will add and/or take away items from this list, if we need to. I will then have the students go to the first website where they complete prefabricated Mad Lib stories. After completing a few stories and becoming comfortable with them, I will direct the students to the website where they can create their own story. I will remind the students to make sure their stories are school appropriate as I will be seeing and grading them. The content of this lesson is great for this grade level, because it is an introductory lesson. It also meets several of the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards for this grade and covers multiple subject areas. My objectives are based directly on these standards. This lesson would be taught after we discuss the parts of speech in great detail. This is just a review lesson that helps the students apply what they have learned. Also, I would like to spend the first month or so assessing the students on what they already know about using technology. During this time, I could also teach them some of the basics (working the internet, Microsoft Office/Excel/PowerPoint, etc.), if they do not know it.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

Procedure:

• Pre-assess the students by having a class discussion. Ask them what they already know about the parts of speech. Write their answers on the white board, no matter if they are correct or not.
• Show the students a PowerPoint that reviews all of the various parts of speech (noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, preposition, conjunction, article, etc.)
• Discuss if what we wrote on the board was correct or not. Ask if there is anything we should add or take off.
• Have the students go to the first website (www.eduplace.com/tales). Explain to them that they can pick any story listed. When they click on it, it will pop up with various blank boxes and what part of speech they will need. They will fill in these boxes with the appropriate part of speech (making sure it is school appropriate). They will then click continue and it will enter their words into the story they chose.
• Walk around and help as needed.
• Have the students do a few stories until they feel comfortable with the Mad Libs story style.
• When they are comfortable, direct them to the second website (www.wordblanks.com/mad-libs/create). On here they will write their own story. On the first page, there is a giant blank box. They will type their stories into this box. Remind them that their stories need to be school appropriate, because you will be reading and grading them. When writing their story, they must follow the criteria in the checklist below.
• Walk around and help as needed.
• When they have finished writing their story (and it has a title), they will click the continue button. This will take them to another page where they will start removing words and inserting blanks. They need to make sure that they label the blanks with the appropriate part of speech. Explain to them that the 'auto insert' button isn't always correct and they must double check it each time. They must follow the checklist below when completing this part of the lesson as well.
• Walk around and help as needed.
• When the students are done, have them screenshot their story, or email you the link, so that it can be graded.

Technology Integration:

• This lesson is filled with technology. The students will be using one website to complete prefabricated Mad Libs stories. In addition, they will be using another website to create their own Mad Libs stories. Both of these help the students become more comfortable using a computer and the internet, all while applying their new knowledge of the part of speech.
• I will be creating a PowerPoint that reviews all of the various parts of speech that the students are expected to know (noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, preposition, conjunction, article, etc.).

Differentiated Instruction:

• Cognitive delay – For students with cognitive delay, I will provide small group instruction if needed. I can pull these students to a table in the classroom and go in more detail about each of the parts of speech. As a group, we would do a prefabricated Mad Lib story together. I could then also help them with their stories, spending one-on-one time with students as necessary.
• Gifted – For gifted students, I can have them do the same activity. However, I would encourage them to write a more in depth story. I would also encourage them to find other parts of speech that we did not learn about as a class. They could incorporate some of these into their stories. And if they wanted to, they could create a poster for one of the parts of speech that they found using the Mac and iPad app called Glogster. If they choose this, they will present their poster to the class afterward.
• ELL – For ELL students, I could once again use the small group method that I mentioned using with students with cognitive delays. I could also provide Mad Lib stories in the child's native language. In addition, I could allow students to write their stories in their native language, or just have them do the best they they can in English.

Reflection: Designing Instruction (InTask Standards 7 and 8):

I am using these instructional methods, because it provides the students with hands on experiences. By teaching the material in many different ways (oral – discussion, visual – teacher PowerPoint, and hands on – completing Mad Lib stories and creating their own story) the children will more likely learn the information. The hands on, practice activities also allow the children to practice the material they were just taught. This reinforces the learning process. I am engaging the students in creative and higher order thinking by having them use the information they learned to complete and create their own Mad Lib stories. They must think about each of the parts of speech and then think about a word that falls in that category and enter it into the prefabricated story. When creating their own story, they have to pick out words that they are going to turn into blanks. In order to do this, they have to think about what part of speech that word is. Both of these apply to the child's higher order thinking.

IV. ASSESSMENT

• The students will be discussing the various parts of speech and reviewing what they learned previously in class. The teacher will assess who participates in this class discussion and note who does. Next, the children will go to the first website where they will complete at least one prefabricated Mad Lib story. When they are done, they will take a screenshot of the page and send it to the teacher to be assessed. They will then go to the second website, where they will write their own Mad Lib story. Again, when they are done, they will take a screenshot of the final page and send it to the teacher to be assessed. There will be very specific criteria for the story that they write. All of these will be assessed using the checklist below. They will be given this checklist before they begin, so that they know what is required.

Instruments:

• The students will be graded based on the following checklist:

Question	Answer	Points Awarded
Did the student participate in the class discussion about the various parts of speech?	YES / NO	/1
Was the student on task for at least 20 minutes during the activity time (while working on the prefabricated story and creating their own story)	YES / NO	/2
The student sent a screenshot/picture to the teacher of the prefabricated Mad Lib story they filled out (must show it completed).	YES / NO	/1
The student used the correct part of speech in each blank, at least a majority of the time.	YES / NO	/2
The student sent a screenshot/picture to the teacher of the Mad Lib story that they created.	YES / NO	/1
The student included at least two noun blanks within the story they created.	YES / NO	/2
The student included at least two pronoun blanks within the story they created.	YES / NO	/2
The student included at least two verb blanks within the story they created.	YES / NO	/2
The student included at least two adjective blanks within the story they created.	YES / NO	/2
The student included at least two preposition blanks within the story they created.	YES / NO	/2
The student included at least two conjunction blanks within the story they created.	YES / NO	/2
The student included at least two article blanks within the story they created.	YES / NO	/2

Reflection: Planning Assessment (InTask Standard #6):

I based my assessment checklist on the standards and objectives that were created. In some parts, I took the objectives word for word and put them in the checklist to make sure that they were covered. The assessment makes sure that the students understood the content taught about the parts of speech. This lesson requires them to correctly process this information in order to complete the prefabricated Mad Lib stories and create their own story. By having the students write their own story and leave blanks for specific parts of speech, it engages them in higher order thinking. The assessment lists the criteria of story and the specific parts of speech that the students need to include. The assessment demonstrates individual student needs, because it lists all of the criteria very specifically. This makes it easier for students that have difficulty focusing (like students with ADD or ADHD) to make sure that they met the criteria. The students can easily look at the checklist to make sure that they have covered all required aspects.




V. MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

• Whiteboard
• Dry Erase Markers/ Eraser
• Computer Lab
• Computers
• PowerPoint Software (or Prezi through the internet) – My PowerPoint can be found on Prezi at the following link: http://prezi.com/y7jbj9eqkhws/parts-of-speech/
• Internet
• Access to the prefabricated Mad Lib stories website at the following link: www.eduplace.com/tales
• Access to the website where the students will write their own Mad Lib story at the following link: www.wordblanks.com/mad-libs/create
• The checklist that will be used to grade the students' projects.

Reflection: How does your lesson meet each of the ISTE NETs Standards?

This lesson facilitates and inspires student learning and creativity, because they are writing their own Mad Lib story using the knowledge they have gained throughout the parts of speech unit. They can be as creative as they want when writing their story, as long as they meet all of the criteria listed in the checklist. This lesson provides digital-age learning experiences and assessments, because the students are able to apply the new knowledge they learned about parts of speech in order to create their own Mad Libs story. Also, by using an online application to help in creating their story, they are creating a digital-age assessment. The students model digital-age work and learning by creating their story and typing it into the online application that they go to. When completing this project, the students are expected to be safe, legal, and ethical. They are told several times throughout the lesson to make sure what they write is school appropriate, because the teacher will be reading and grading them. They are given the opportunity to work with and use various writing websites. However, the teacher will also be walking around, so they will know if a student is not using the website in a safe, legal, or ethical way. Using technology in lessons really helps in addressing the diverse needs of students and providing equitable access for all. Computers have the capability to be altered (contrast, magnification, color, etc.) so that all students can easily use them, no matter if they have a disability or not. Like mentioned in the safe, legal, and ethical section, the teacher will be walking around and can help promote responsible social interactions. The students can discuss ideas with their peers, but the teacher will be monitoring to make sure that the social interactions are positive, responsible, and project oriented. This lesson is great for developing cultural understanding and global awareness. Learning about the various parts of speech can help the students learn to read, speak, and write in English. Later in life, this could also help them in learning a new language, such as Spanish or Italian.