Building Better Instruction Pondering Penguins & Other Themes

1. Building Better InstructionPondering Penguins& Other Themes Susan Bowdoin MSET 365 2/11/2006 Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

2. Listen to teachers as they plan their instruction and you’ll often hear them talk about “doing” topics… • “doing” apples in September • “doing” pumpkins in October • “doing” the 50 states • “doing” fractions or multiplication • “doing” Shakespeare • “doing” the Revolutionary War Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

3. Completing worksheets Filling in coloring & dot-to-dot pages Decorating bulletin boards with student-generated thematic material Eating thematic snacks Singing thematic songs Reading chapters in a textbook Giving a fact-based oral presentation Writing a paper on the collected facts But… what does “doing” these topics mean? Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

4. Worksheets Coloring pages Bulletin boards Snacks Songs Fact sheets Reading, writing about, and presenting facts Some of these activities are fun, others are necessary, but they focus primarily on lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. But what about Bloom’s? Why not use these topics or themes to push students to think at higher levels? Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

5. A real story A group of Kindergarten teachers were excitedly preparing for their January theme. They were “doing” penguins. Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

6. The teachers had been encouraged by the school principal to use technology with their students, so they went to their computer lab assistant and asked her to find web sites with printable penguin coloring sheets for their students. Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

7. After hearing this request, the computer lab assistant thought, “There’s got to be a better use of instructional time and computer equipment. What can I do?” Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

8. She thought about the skills primary students were expected to master. Among these were: • learning how to ask good questions • learning to take turns • using complete sentences to communicate with others • comparing and contrasting two similar things Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

9. She did some searching online and discovered several zoos in the United States had penguin keepers with email addresses posted on their web sites. http://www.stlzoo.org/yourvisit/hourspricesdirections.htm Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

10. She contacted the penguin keepers from three zoos to see if they would be willing to correspond with the primary students. The response from the keepers at the Chicago Zoo was even better than she’d hoped. Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

11. Not only were they willing to correspond with the students, they suggested setting up a videoconference so the students could actually ask their questions while hearing and seeing the keeper’s responses! http://www.biocomp.net/adbcam.jpg Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

12. The teachers and students worked for a week to prepare for the video conference. Teachers asked, “What do you already know about penguins?” Hey, that’s asking for prior knowledge! Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

13. Students made lists of what they already knew and what they wanted to know. Then they helped to write questions and practiced asking them in front of their peers. Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

14. On the day of the video conference, all the primary classes gathered in the library. A projector was set up so all the students could see the video image of the penguin keepers in Chicago. http://hepweb.rl.ac.uk/ppep/exhibits/Projector/projector_picture.gif Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

15. Students took turns standing in front of the camera and asking their questions. The Chicago penguin keepers responded immediately with answers and additional information which teachers recorded. Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

16. To connect the penguin investigation to something that would be more meaningful to students in New Mexico, the teachers brought in a guest speaker on roadrunners. Students used the same process to prepare for the guest speaker. Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery Southwest landscape image obtained 2/11/2006 11:31 PM from http://www.cibolaoutpost.com/images/moon-L.jpg

17. Students then used Venn diagrams to compare the birds. The teachers asked questions like: • What similarities do you see between the birds? What differences do you see? • Are the birds more alike or more different? • Which bird is best suited to where it lives? Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

18. Now you compare: Lesson 1: Theme-based activities including worksheets, coloring sheets, snacks, songs, and learning factual information on penguins. Lesson 2: Inquiry-based investigation of penguins including fiction and non-fiction, discussion with subject matter experts, analysis of information collected and comparison with a locally known bird. Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

19. In which lesson are higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy addressed?In which lesson are learners actively engaged in asking questions and discovering answers? Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

20. What role does technology play in the two lessons? Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

21. Lesson 1 Falls short because: • the focus is on lower level thinking skills • there are no stated goals or objectives or connection to Standards. Why do students need to know about penguins? • a weak use of technology Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

22. Lesson 2 • does a better job of focusing students on higher level thinking skills. • has a much stronger use of technology to support the learning process. Still falls short because: • there are no stated goals or objectives (though primary outcomes were considered in the lesson design.) Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

23. A well-constructed lesson is standards-driven + is focused by stated objectives and outcomes for what students will learn + contains a concrete plan for how student learning will be assessed Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

24. Objectives include: Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

25. Sample Objectives After participating in a video conference and a local presentation, students will be able to: • Create a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast penguins and roadrunners. • describetwo similarities and two differences between penguins and roadrunners. • determine which bird is best suited for survival in its environment. AudienceBehaviorConditionsDegree Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery

26. Your turn! Create an objective for one of the following: • adding double-digit numbers • learning the geographic regions of the United States • conjugating French verbs • writing complete sentences • explaining the scientific process Image obtained from: http://www.sethwhite.org/images/palmer2004/palmer%20scenery/antarctica%204.jpg 2/11/2006 9:43 PM Clipart images obtained from Microsoft Office Clip Gallery