Bowe

__**Tech Final Project**__ My project is a second grade social studies lesson. In this lesson, I will be teaching the students about Indian symbols and how the symbols are used to tell stories. I will be using the SMART Board to help me with my direct instruction because I will be going through symbols and stories with the students as a whole. The class will be staying in the classroom, but the students will be using the school's laptops. The students will be using the Paint program to create their own Indian story through the use of symbols, and they will be making their own Indian symbol also. I will hand out the directions for my students, and I believe that there might be questions, so I will be walking around the classroom making sure my students are focused and know what needs to be done.


 * __Grade:__** Second Grade
 * __Subject:__** Social Studies
 * __Concept:__** Using Indian Symbols to Tell Stories
 * __Technology:__** SMART Board, Paint Program

**‍__Objectives:__ ** Students will be able to recognize Indian symbols in order to tell a story by identifying with a cultural aspect important to most Indian tribes in Wisconsin. Students will be able to navigate the Paint program to complete their project. Students will be able to use Paint to tell an Indian story that demonstrates creativity by using the various brush sizes, colors, and shapes that Paint provides. Students will be able to use Paint to creatively design their own Indian symbol which demonstrates the students’ ability to critically think about design their symbol and plan out how they will go about drawing their symbol.

**__[|Social Studies Standard:] __** B.4.10 Explain the history, culture, tribal sovereignty, and current status of the American Indian tribes and bands in Wisconsin.

[|Technology Standard:] A.4.5 Use media and technology to create and present information - use draw, paint or graphics software to create simple signs, posters, banners, charts, visuals, etc. - plan a multimedia production using an outline or storyboard - create and present a short video or hypermedia program

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. **__Student Work Sample:__** __**Project Narrative:**__ To begin this project, I looked at the two lesson plans that I had completed for my field experience to see if I could work off of one them. I decided that I would be able to work off of the lesson where I taught students about Indian symbols and had them complete a project where they told their own story using Indian symbols. I did not incorporate technology into this lesson when I taught it to my field experience classroom, so I had to make changes and adapt the lesson to incorporate the use of technology. Instead of having the students draw out the symbols using colored pencil, I incorporated the Paint program so students can draw through the use of a computer program.
 * __ NETS Standards (for Students) __**
 * 1) Creativity and Innovation
 * 1) Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

The first piece of the project that I completed first was the lesson plan because I needed to adapt what I had to fit the four standards that I found that would apply to what I would be teaching. The Wisconsin Performance Standard that I found that applied to my lesson was a 4th Grade Social Studies/History standard. I also found a Wisconsin Technology Standard that applied to my lesson which was a Media and Technology Standard, in which students should have mastered this standard by the end of 4th Grade. Both of these standards I found at the Wisconsin DPI website, [|http://www.dpi.state.wi.us.][|/]. I incorporated two NETS Technology Standards for Students in my lesson plan, which was creativity and innovation and critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. After I had chosen the standards that applied to the lesson that I wanted to teach, I consulted our textbook for the portion on Bloom’s Taxonomy where I could use the information to help me write measurable objectives for my lesson. To make sure that I meet my written objective concerning the Wisconsin Social Studies/History Standard, I had gave the students an Indian symbol story where they had to write out what the symbols meant to figure out the story behind them. To make sure that I had met the Wisconsin Technology and the NETS Technology Standards for Students, I had the students complete a project where they had to draw out their own story through the use of Indian symbols by using the Paint program on the computer. With this, students needed to demonstrate their ability to use and navigate the Paint program through the completion of the project. The students would meet the creativity and innovation NETS Standard by being given the freedom to draw out their own story and incorporate their imagination into the story line and the Indian symbol they would make when they near the end of the project. After I completed this part of the project, I noticed that I had completed a bulk of the work that needed to be done, and I was left with the rubric, student work sample, student directions, and project narrative to be completed. I created the student directions sheet next because it is easier for the students to have a sheet to follow instead of continuously asking what the next step to complete is. This was an in-class project so I was the major resource for my students if they had questions or needed help. Because of the grade level I am teaching, my students did find the directions confusing or were not able to understand several of the words that were incorporated into the directions, and I needed to make sure that I answered their questions so that they were no longer confused. I then created the rubric using, [], where I choose the basic rubric for creating a multimedia project. I was able to generate a basic rubric, but needed to adapt it quite a bit to make sure that I my measurable objectives were being graded on and measured within the rubric. I needed to add my own categories because I needed to have specific categories based upon my lesson. For example, I created the categories: ability to navigate paint, story line, symbols used, and making of own symbol, and I needed to include my specific requirements under each category as well.

To create the Indian story that I wanted my students to write out the story to, I made my own story based upon the Indian symbol sheet the students would be given so that the students would have the sheet to look at. To create the two files that I needed to have uploaded to the computer to use on the SMART Board. I made sure that I scanned the hard-copies that I received from my cooperating teacher to the computer, so that I could open them up using the SMART Board. The engagement strategy that I had planned to incorporate into my lesson worked well. The students were excited about me asking them their input about the stories, and the students enjoyed the Indian symbol stories that I had created. With this, they took their energy and enthusiasm and put it into the project that I had the students complete after our discussion. The students were slightly confused on the directions sheet that I handed out to them, but since I was walking around the classroom, I was able to answer questions for those confused.

To complete my Final Project, I completed the student work sample of the project and wrote out the project narrative. I then made sure to incorporate all of my work into one document so that I would be able to share it with my professor and the rest of my classmates. This project was a great way to explore how the use of technology can be incorporated into a lesson to benefit the learning strategies of a diverse group of students. With this, it will be easier to incorporate the use of technology because I now see how technology can be used to differentiate instruction and used as a tool to encourage discovery learning.

**__Classroom Make-Up:__** I am the teacher of 14 second-grade students, and the ratio of girls to boys is fairly even. There are eight girls and six boys in the class. There is one Chinese student, one African American student, two Hispanic students, one Mong student, and one student has an IEP. I also have three ELL students in the classroom that I need to take into account when planning my lessons and instruction.

The students’ desks are organized into four rows of four desks facing the front SMART Board of the classroom. I have found that this is a beneficial way for me to organize the desks because I can freely walk around the classroom to manage my classroom. My desk is located in the front of the classroom on the left side facing the student’s desks. I am able to keep an eye on what the students are doing because I have placed my desk in such a way that allows me to do just this. My desk is in close proximity to my students’ desks so that I am able to quickly intervene or assist my students.

The classroom is quite large, and there is an open space dedicated for circle time or cooperative group learning activities. This space is located on the opposite side of the classroom so students can spread out throughout the classroom. I have incorporated bulletin boards around the classroom so the students are aware of classroom information and activities going on. I have six learning centers incorporated into the students’ school day, which I assign to them on a daily basis. There are four computers in the classroom that are available for student use, and I only allow one children to be on each computer at a time. With this, the class needs to go to the computer lab or use the schools’ laptops for projects that the entire class needs to complete.

We are about one week into the Native American unit that I have planned out to teach them. I figure that learning about Indian symbols and doing a project would appeal to most students because they are able to be hands-on and interactive. The skills that the students need are essentially to remember how to navigate the Paint program because I know that I have had the students do other work in Paint.

Here is my completed project with all of its parts: = = = =