Lesson Plan Implementation

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Click Here to View Lesson Plan

    In first choosing a topic for my blog, I knew I wanted to do something surrounding what I am most passionate about, helping my struggling readers. As I began learning about the many aspects of digital and web literacies, my first overarching thoughts were about how complex they truly are. My focus was on the understanding of why web inquiry was so difficult for students and the intricacy of cognitive and literacy skill required. Then I started to think about how I could begin to support my students with web literacy when they already struggle with traditional reading skills.  However, my mindset soon shifted in reversing this relationship. What if I used the benefits of personal digital inquiry to help build their foundational reading skills? This is the idea I centered my research and my lesson implementation around.

    I chose to follow the QUEST framework (Dobler & Eagleton, 2015) because it highlights the skills and practices of personal digital inquiry I feel are most valuable for my fifth grade students. The more I have learned about the complexity of each component of web literacy, the more I have understood about the importance of each individual aspect that contributes to inquiry. This framework provides students with instruction, guidance, and practice with the individual components, focusing specifically on the abstract cognitive skills that are required.

    My students have already been engaged with internet inquiry this year, so I have observed strengths and weaknesses that helped shape my choices for this unit. First of all, they are much more engaged when they are interested in the topic, which is why I left the topic of inquiry open. I did plan for focusing on choosing a research question because in general they have struggled to reign in their focus. I have seen that overall, they are able to choose relevant search terms. For this reason, I wanted to concentrate more on how searching different databases (bounded vs. unbounded) yields different results.

     I have seen the greatest struggle my students have is the ability to evaluate the reliability of websites, so I focused a lot in this area. Especially during our current social climate, being able to determine the accuracy and objectivity of information is crucial in being an informed citizen. I also carefully considered the format of the graphic organizer I wanted them to use to record the information they found. I wanted an easy way for them to record the source, pick out important information, and immediately make connections with their thoughts surrounding the information they found.

     In the last few years I have tried different platforms for students to use to present information; iMovie has consistently been the easiest and most functional option. It allows students to utilize a variety of media, text, and effects. They demonstrate pride in what they create and gain self-efficacy from sharing with their peers. In the current digital atmosphere, video creation is the most authentic and relatable mode of communication for my students.  For all of these reasons, I chose this platform as the means for them to present their information.

    My group member pointed out a few oversights I had in my plan. I had woven social practices into my lessons, however I did not directly state them in the objectives. I added these in so that a novice teacher would be able to easily identify the skills in the unit. Additionally, though I planned for students to share their presentations, but did not explicitly state that in plans at first. Having my group mate point this out helped me see the importance of being clear in these types of instructions.

    The timing is really challenging right now in planning when to implement this unit. This unit will take at least two weeks to complete. I will be in school this coming week, but our entire grade level will be at camp the next week, then we are out of school the following week for Thanksgiving.  At this point, my only option is to implement this unit the week of Nov 30th and Dec 7th.

 

References
Dobler, E., & Eagleton, M.B. (2015). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. The Guilford Press.

  

Comments

  1. Sally BeachNovember 9, 2020 at 8:56 AM

    I like your clear description of how you tied this to your student needs. I'm looking forward to your post on how it went!

    ReplyDelete

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