REWARDING CLASS

As I finish up my classes for my Rank 1 certification, I began to think about the last 30 hours of graduate work that I have completed.  EDG 693 has to be one of the most rewarding classes that I have taken at NKU.  As I began this class let's just say I was a computer amateur.  I was able to use Microsoft Word and search the internet-pretty basic concepts.  Now, I feel confident enough to embed videos into my lessons and include Wikki classroom discussions with students and parents.

I never knew how easy it was to create a blog.  I do have a webpage that my district coordinator helped me design but now I can be completely indepedent.  Having a blog will be a great way for me to communicate the happenings in class.  This will also give parents a chance to voice opinions and give ideas about things happening with their children.

Next, our physcial education teacher is in charge of redesigning the practical living part of our Program of Studies.  One aspect of this new design is creating a service learning project for our school.  I am so excited to share with her my service learning project and I am so excited that I got so many wonderful ideas from my classmates.

Finally, locating co-educators in the area to assist with education outside of the classroom was such a beneficial project.  I feel like I have established some great relationships at the Cincinnati Museum Center and the Behringer Crawford Museum.  I am so excited to try the programs that each of these places provide. After completing this project I also found out that my father's place of employment is an active co-educator. Bavarian Trucking offers tours of their garbage landfill and talk to the children about recycling.  Who knew that I had another co-educator in my family??

This class has been one of the most rewarding experinces of my Rank 1 experience.  EDG 693 has provided me with the confidence to incorporate technology and actively engaging lessons in my classroom.  I can't wait for this school year to begin, so I will be able to show off some of my new ideas!

Exploring the World- Instructional Unit

Title: Exploring the World

Description of the students:
This plan was designed as a 1st grade Social Studies Unit.  Students will work collaboratively in groups to explore different cultures and geography around the world. This class has a variety of academic abilities.  Children range from gifted and talented and average learning abilities to having speech/language IEP's and developmental delay IEP's. 
Note:  This unit can be modified to accomodate grades 2-5

Description of the plan highlights:

- Students will take a pre-assessment  on the first day of the unit to check prior knowledge of countries and continents.

- Students will take a week long journey across the world.

-During class students will visit a new continent each day and learn about a specific country. 

-Students will learn about cultural differences between countries.

- Each day 4 activities will be set up around the room.  Students will work collaboratively in groups to explore each country.  Each day the activities will consist of: Art projects, Writing, Math Exploration, and Food Tasting.

- Students will take a group post assessment at the end of the unit to see how much new information they retained

- Students will host a Cultural Fair at the end of the unit to show off their new knowledge.

Key Learner Outcomes:

1.  Students will visit a new continent each day and learn about a specific country’s culture within that continent. They then will be able to locate their country/continent on a map.

2. Students will learn to work collaboratively in groups to complete specific tasks.

3.  Students will use their math, writing, reading, and artistic to complete specific tasks.

4. Students will be able to inform others about the various cultural aspects of each country they studied and inform others about which continent you can find each country.

5. Students will learn that are many cultures around the world.

How will I measure if the plan was successful:

- Family and friends will be invited to attend a Cultural Fair hosted by the students at the end of the unit.  At the fair the children will be divided into groups and each group will talk about one of the continent/ country they explored in class.  ( Food Tasting, Visual Art displays, etc.)

- Family and friends will be encouraged to ask children questions about each contient/country and will evaluate each group on their ability to answer questions.

- These results will help to indicate how well the groups worked together and how much knowledge they retained about their country/continent.

Survey for Cultural Fair Using a scale of (1-5) 1= lowest    5= highest Evaluate each group on their ability to answer questions about their country/ continent: 1. Brazil/ South America_________ 2. Italy/ Europe ________ 3. Japan/ Asia _________ 4. Egypt/ Africa ________ 5. Australia/ Australia ___________ 6. Antarctica/ Antarctica ___________ ** USA/ North America – we covered together as a class

        

 Post Assessment- Students are able to work in groups to complete this assessment

 

 - Students will be asked to work in groups to match a country with the correct continent and with a picture from that country.  They will then be asked to tell what their favorite country/continent was and why.

Grading for Post Assessment RP (Rapid Progress):  Students will be able to correctly match all continents, countries, and pictures together. -       Students will be able to answer which country was their favorite and why with specific reasons or examples studied in class. SP (Steady Progress): Students will be able to correctly match at least 4 out of 6 continents, countries, and pictures we studied together. -       Students will be able to answer which country was their favorite and why with only one reason or example from class. PH (Progressing with Help): Students will be able to correctly match at most 2 out of the 6 continents, countries, and pictures  we studied together. -       Students will be able to answer which country was the favorite on their own but needs help telling why. HD (Having Difficulty): Student is able to correctly match only 1 of the 6 continents, countries, pictures we studied together -       Student is not able to recall any of the countries we studied on their own

Collaboration with the Cincinnati Musem Center & the Behringer Crawford Museum

 Collaboration with the Cincinnati Museum Center
1301 Western Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45203

Co- Educator's Name: Amanda Bishop

Position: Home School Coordinator/ Learning Lab Instructor

Contact Information: (513) 287-7000 ext. 2378

 Amanda Bishop informed me of all of the wonderful programs that the Cincinnati Museum Center offers.

Programs Available:

1. Programs- on- Wheels:  This is a program that allows educators from the museum to visit your school and provide a more in-depth, “hands-on” approach of reinforcing a topic that you are learning about in school.  

http://www.cincymuseum.org/educators_researchers/educators/programs_on_wheels/

2. Teacher Resources:  On-line teacher guides of various topics that have been covered at the museum are available for downloading. http://www.cincymuseum.org/educators_researchers/educators/teacher_resources/

3.  Learning Labs: These programs take place inside the museum center and are available to preschool,elementary, middle, and high school students. The labs are concentrated in the subjects of Science, Social Studies, and Early Childhood Development.  These programs are designed around state standards and incorporate hands-on activities, games, and cooperative learning activities. http://www.cincymuseum.org/educators_researchers/educators/learning_labs/

4. Museums:  The Cincinnati Museum Center has various sites to visit

            - OMNIMAX Theater

            -Cincinnati History Museum

            -Duke Energy Children’s Museum

            - Museum of Natural History and Science

Instructional Plan:    Digging for Dinosaurs (grades 1-4)- Programs-on-Wheels
-provided by Amanda Bishop and the Cincinnati Museum Center

Things to do in my 1^st grade classroom before Programs-on Wheels comes to school:

-   Activate prior knowledge- Begin a KWL chart on dinosaurs

-  Read The Magic School Bus in the Time of Dinosaurs by: Joanna Cole

-   Research dinosaurs and chart their size relationships.  Include the dinosaurs that will be focused on Programs-on Wheels- Compsognathus, Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, T. Rex, and Brachiosaurus.  We will use the website www.kidsdinos.com to help us explore the world of dinosaurs

-   Look at a map/ globe and find locate places around the world where dinosaurs fossils have been discovered.

-    Talk about a paleontologist’s job:    
   

                                   

Video to be used in the Classroom: (retrieved from Teacher Tube)

Programs-on-Wheels:  Digging for Dinosaurs (60 minutes/ 30 students)

-Information provided by Amanda Bishop and the Cincinnati Museum Center

-Museum Educators will come to Arnett Elementary for Mrs. Eby’s  1^st grade class

- The educators will set up their program in the gymnasium

Objectives:

-    Students will uncover fossils on a dinosaur dig (uncover fossils in sand)

-    Students will discuss Cincinnati’s Ordovician Fossils

-     Students will learn how fossils are formed (Educators will make a cast of a fossil for the group to keep)

-    Students will learn and be able to touch fossils from the following dinosaurs:  Allosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus, and raptors

Culminating Activity:

Students will visit the Museum of Natural History and Science at the Cincinnati Museum Center.  There they will visit the Dino Hall.

Post Assessment:

-  After all activities are completed a post assessment activity will be given to evaluate the students’ knowledge of dinosaurs.

Assessment Directions:

-  Students will be divided into groups of four

-   Groups will decide on their favorite dinosaur and draw a picture of it. They then will write 1-2 sentences about their dinosaur.

-   Students will continue in their groups and write their own definition of the word FOSSIL

KY Academic Expectations:

Reading:

1.2 Students make sense of the variety of materials they read.

1.3 Students make sense of the various materials they observe.

1.4 Students make sense of the various messages to which they listen.

Science:

2.6   Students understand how living and nonliving things change over time and the factors that influence the changes.

Writing:

1.11 Students write using appropriate forms, conventions, and styles to communicate ideas and information to different audiences for different purposes.

Technology:

1.16 Students use computers and other kinds of technology to collect, organize, and communicate information and ideas.

6.3 Students expand their understanding of existing knowledge by making connections with new knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Program of Studies:

Science:

SC-P-BC-U-1

Students will understand that fossils found in Earth materials indicate that organisms and environmental conditions may have been different in the past.

Technology:

T-P-ICP-U-1

Students will understand that technology is used in all content areas to support directed and independent learning.

Resources Suggested by the Cincinnati Museum Center:

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs  by: David Norman

The Visual Dictionary of Dinosaurs  an Eyewitness book

Jack Horner, Living with Dinosaurs by: Don Lessum

Collaboration with the Behringer-Crawford Museum

Berhringer-Crawford Museum

1600 Montague Road-Devou Park

Covington, KY 41011

 

Co-Educator's Name: Tiffany Best

Position- Museum Tour Guide

Contact Information: (859) 491-4003/ info@bcmusuem.org

Instructional Plan:

This plan correlates very well with the Cincinnati Museum Center “Digging for Dinosaurs” Program

The Behringer Crawford Museum offers the program: Children’s Fossil Hunt

-After exploring the world of dinosaurs and paleontology with the Cincinnati Museum Center, this program would be a wonderful way to extend your students’ learning of fossils.

-Students will be able to travel to the Behringer Crawford Museum and go on a fossil dig

-Students will have the opportunity to dig in the dirt and find fossils to learn about history through pieces found underground.

-Students will learn the difference between fossils and rocks

-This program is very inexpensive ($4.00 per student)

Post-Assessment:

-After students attend the fossil dig they will be evaluated on their knowledge of fossils versus rocks.

-Students will be divided into groups of 4 and be asked to draw a picture of a rock and a fossil and explain the difference.

KY Academic Expectations:

Reading:

1.2 Students make sense of the variety of materials they read.

1.3 Students make sense of the various materials they observe.

1.4 Students make sense of the various messages to which they listen.

Science:

2.6   Students understand how living and nonliving things change over time and the factors that influence the changes.

Writing:

1.11 Students write using appropriate forms, conventions, and styles to communicate ideas and information to different audiences for different purposes.

Program of Studies:

Science:

SC-P-BC-U-1

Students will understand that fossils found in Earth materials indicate that organisms and environmental conditions may have been different in the past.