Utilizing Technology in Lessons

This blog is about a lesson that does not have students use technology in preparing their assignment. Below you will find the lesson that does not have technology integrated.  This lesson is geared to the Middle school environment therefore they should be getting hands on experience with technology.

Lesson Plan with no Technology:

#114. Creating a Colony

Social Studies, level: Middle
Posted by Nancy K. Graham
Tyler Street Christian Academy, Dallas, Texas
Materials Required: posterboard, basic Colony concepts, classroom space
Activity Time: 1 to 2 weeks
Concepts Taught: 13 original colonies, writing, brainstorming

For this activity, begin after you have introduced the basic ideas of the Thirteen Original Colonies. After you have discussed several new colonies, assign the students this project to be done in correlation with the Unit. Assign students to groups of 3 or 4. Present a criteria sheet containing the following assignments: Colony charter, rules, flag, manufactured product, a map showing their journey, and a diary of the trip. Have members assign parts to be done within the group. Assist the class each day with one of the assigned parts. Have students prepare for turning a section of the room into a colony. When the work is finished, allow students a day in class to set up their own colonies. The students will learn group cooperation as well as experiencing how it felt to be a colonist. If room permits, allow students to keep displays up and allow them to work in them for a while. It's amazing how they like having their own place to study!!!

Lesson Plan Website link:

http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/114.html

New Lesson plan using Technology:

The Materials section does not mention any technology or internet research therefore students would have to draw and hand write their assignment.  I would add internet research and a word processing program to this assignment.

The part that I would change to this lesson plan is the “criteria sheet” the assignment would need to be researched by using real pictures.  The pictures would need to be printed out and placed on the poster board. The best place for this would be using clip art or a database that does not infringe on copyright laws. There are several databases that our school has so that students can obtain pictures legally.  This is a great way to get students to start learning how to search for topics using databases and get accurate pictures to match concepts. I would also add, that the diary of the trip must be typed and printed out.  This also gives students an opportunity to use word processing tools, such as Microsoft Word, and how to modify fonts and use colors. Basically their poster board would not have any handwritten information.