2.+Step-by-Step+Instructional+Strategies

Step-by-Step Instructional Strategies


 * Goals and Objectives:
 * Effective communication in the 21st century requires a high level of literacy in all subject areas in a variety of modes and for a wide range of purposes. Each school's students will develop reading and writing skills to enhance not only their achievement in grade school and high school but to assure continued success in their post-secondary education and career.
 * This means students will enhance their reading and writing skills while also developing their knowledge of geography and building communication skills.
 * As this project is collaborative, students will also learn skills that enable them to work cooperatively in group situations as well as instill a sense of personal ownership and responsibility in their work.


 * Essential Question(s): These are two authentic essential questions because they stimulate higher order thinking skills. The language of the questions can be understood at the elementary level as well as high school and incorporates literacy, geography, and communication skills.
 * Compare and contrast lifestyle differences between where you live and that of your penpal associations.
 * Analyze why these similarities and differences occur.


 * Three Classrooms' Collaboration Activity:
 * Through the interaction of the wiki site developed to host the results of The Great Mail Race project we will be able to chart our progress, discuss our experiences, and ask questions to clarify our understanding. Our classes will have to act as background pen pals in order to tier the learning experience and effectively execute the project. The students will be answering the through Skype interaction, wiki postings, and e-mail. The students will work to develop a "virtual" field trip of their lifestyles and cultures. The field trip will be able to be accessed by their pen pals while engaging in a Skype conversation. There will be a rubric for the students to complete during their field trip/conversation that will aid them in making the comparisons/contrasts of their lifestyles versus their pen pals' lifestyles. The students will be able to write about their findings on their wiki journals page and engage in further duscussions.
 * Each Classroom’s Collaboration:
 * The students will be divided into four groups. The groups will research and gather information about their school and the their state. Group one will research the state flag and draw a replica of the flag which will be uploaded to the wiki. The second group with gather factual information about the state such as the state bird, state capital, the governor's name, and any other important information the group thinks should be included on the wiki. Group three will gather information about the school such as school colors, mascot, principal's name, etc. Group four will be responsible for tracking the schools that have responded and presenting the information they have shared with them. All this information will be shared with the penpal school through the wiki. The teacher will maintain the wiki page and be responsible be keeping up with the schools that have responded
 * Equipment:
 * Computers with internet access
 * Skype account
 * Wiki page
 * Google maps access
 * Wall map
 * Art supplies
 * Research materials about the state you are in

>> 1. The first step of the lesson is to collect the addresses of schools from the other 49 states. This can be done by Google searches or by networking on teacher social sites to find willing participants. Depending on the age of students you are working with, this will either be the teacher’s responsibility to complete or the teacher can assign groups of students to locate schools on their own. >> 2. In each classroom, teacher will gage based on available access to computers how to manage the wiki site usage. If there is only one computer for students to use, groups will have to rotate turns to complete their assigned part. If there is access to more, the teacher can diffuse the responsibility. >> 3. Please be aware of any measures necessary to protect student identity. Depending on the information and pictures shared, students may need to have a permission slip signed by their caregivers. >> 4. Groups will need to be assigned at the teacher’s discretion (mixed ability always best). Each group will be assigned responsibilities. >> a. The groups will research and gather information about their school and their state. Group one will research the state flag and draw a replica of the flag which will be uploaded to the wiki. The second group with gather factual information about the state such as the state bird, state capital, the governor's name, and any other important information the group thinks should be included on the wiki. Group three will gather information about the school such as school colors, mascot, principal's name, etc. Group four will be responsible for tracking the schools that have responded and presenting the information they have shared with them >> b. Please view the instruction sheet designed for each group. Each teacher can direct students to resource sites to use based on their district’s usage policy and change the instructions based on classroom needs. >> 5. As information is coming in, a map will be posted on the wiki site. As a class, students will pinpoint where the incoming information is from. They will mark the map with tools and talk about the geography of the area based on map references and also discuss distance of the state from the home state. >> 6. As state information is collected, the teacher will assign smaller, new groups within the class will be formed. Each group will be in charge of presenting an assigned state’s information to the class in a unique way. Please see the **formative** assessment and rubric. >> 7. As information is coming in, teachers will create a study sheet of the information about each state. Depending upon the grade level, an assessment can be given to evaluate what the students have learned about each state and the geography aspect. Please see the **summative** assessment and rubric.
 * Step-by-Step Instructional Strategies:
 * ** Lesson Plan Instructions for Great Mail Race **
 * Summative Assessment Strategies: Summative assessment strategies are used to show the learning that has occurred throughout the entire project. The Summative Assessment will be a comprehensive overview of the students' understandings of the essential questions. The following strategies will be used for the summative assessment of this learning porject.
 * Summative Assessment Strategies:
 * Students will present the information that they have gathered to the class in a five minute presentation using a variety of methods for which they choose. The students can choose from the following choices for thier presentation:
 * Power Point Presntation
 * Skit
 * News Broad Cast
 * Game Show
 * Formative Assessment Strategies: Formative assessments assess learning as the learning is going on. A formative assessment is an assessment for learning. Formative assessments check for understanding of the lesson and serve as a guide for the teacher.
 * Formative Assessment Strategies:
 * Students will be interviewed and video recorded after they receive a letter from their pen pals. The video clip will be short, as they will be answering the basic questions that will summarize what they learned about their state/school pen pal. They will answer the questions on video clips that will be used in the completion of thier project (see summative assessment activities above). The students will be answering questions such as: what is the state bird? what does the flag look like? what is the weather/climate? etc. (see the data for the State and School Detectives assignments).