Evidence
This year I did not have a traditional class. I am a learning strategist and my role this year was to give extra support to struggling readers. Everyday I would meet with my second, third, fourth, and fifth grade groups for 30 minutes each. Each group had four to six students. I did have an enrichment second grade group that met with me for more challenging work four days a week. Access to technology determined who I could test out my blended learning activities with. Many of my second grade enrichment group students had access to computers at home, but we had little access to them during the time I had them. I decided to try out some of the lessons and activities I created with my fifth grade group. We had access to a computer lab during their group time for a while before the SBAC prep and test took over.
Edmodo-Pony Express
My fifth grade group had never used Edmodo before. Before I could start any content heavy activities I needed them to get comfortable using Edmodo, because that would be our home base where I would attach links to their activities. Over the course of four weeks I had the students sign up and start practicing on Edmodo. I had them take a few simple polls ("What is your favorite special?" and "What is your favorite food?"). During this time we were also finishing up reading "Pony Express Dreams" by Cynthia Mercati. This is a nonfiction story about a girl that dreams of becoming a Pony Express rider in a male dominated profession. I also had them answer some comprehension questions from the book into our Edmodo group to get extra practice with submitting responses. They had to redo a lot of their early responses because they were not using complete sentences. After we got through the basics of Edmodo we started the Pony Express activities.
The standards we covered were:
H.3.5.4 Students will explain how technologies in U.S. history changed the way people lived.
G.5.5.6 Students will derive geographic information from photographs, maps, graphs, books, and technological resources.
Throughout these activities the students had to explain how the Pony Express and the telegraph helped changed the way people lived. These activities were completed over a few days, because I only had these students for 30 minutes each day. In that 30 minutes I only had about 15 minutes to dedicate to these activities.
We started the activities with a meeting in our small group. We discussed how to access the activities in Edmodo and we wrapped up our story, "Pony Express Dreams." We discussed what we had learned about the Pony Express. Then I had them complete a simple assignment using Kagan's Rally Coach where they had to take turns answering questions about the Pony Express.
The standards we covered were:
H.3.5.4 Students will explain how technologies in U.S. history changed the way people lived.
G.5.5.6 Students will derive geographic information from photographs, maps, graphs, books, and technological resources.
Throughout these activities the students had to explain how the Pony Express and the telegraph helped changed the way people lived. These activities were completed over a few days, because I only had these students for 30 minutes each day. In that 30 minutes I only had about 15 minutes to dedicate to these activities.
We started the activities with a meeting in our small group. We discussed how to access the activities in Edmodo and we wrapped up our story, "Pony Express Dreams." We discussed what we had learned about the Pony Express. Then I had them complete a simple assignment using Kagan's Rally Coach where they had to take turns answering questions about the Pony Express.
The next activity was for the students to watch a video lecture that I created at Educreations.com.
https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/the-pony-express-brief-overview/29059326/?ref=link&s=tMlEeM
The students watched the brief video about the Pony Express. I included the link in their Edmodo group.
https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/the-pony-express-brief-overview/29059326/?ref=link&s=tMlEeM
The students watched the brief video about the Pony Express. I included the link in their Edmodo group.
After the video they clicked on a link in Edmodo to an activity I created in Google Docs. The students had to answer yes or no questions, and when they highlighted the second column the answer appeared.
Their next assignment was to go to Edmodo and answer the following question, “Explain why or why not you would be a pony express rider.”
The final activity was to choose a given topic and create a poster. The first topic was to show the different means of communication used then and how they are similar and different to the means of communication today. The second was to show how the Pony Express and the telegraph changed the way people lived. Below is the rubric I used to grade their posters.
The final activity was to choose a given topic and create a poster. The first topic was to show the different means of communication used then and how they are similar and different to the means of communication today. The second was to show how the Pony Express and the telegraph changed the way people lived. Below is the rubric I used to grade their posters.
First I had the students score themselves with the rubric and send it to me in Edmodo. I looked over their evaluations and made changes if I thought it was necessary. Below is a student that gave herself full points, but I had to adjust the eye contact score.
Differentiation
All of my students in this fifth grade group were academically very similar. I did not have to differentiate the activities very much. I did allow them to have more freedom when it came to the poster activity. They could type up paragraphs, write blurbs, and/or use pictures. If I did this activity again I would give my students more options for activities to meet their preferred learning styles. Some of the students could watch a video lecture, while others researched a website. Now that I am more proficient with some of these tools, I would also let my students choose how they created their final projects. They could create a poster, create a Voki, make a Powtoon video, or make an infographic.
Reflection
This mini unit lasted two weeks long. The students accessed the online content using desktop computers in the computer lab. None of my fifth graders had Internet or computers at home. We did all of the work at school during our group time. The students were really engaged in the content, and loved using the technology. Their teachers told me that they were happy that the students were completing assignments online, because they were getting extra practice for the SBAC test.
Next year my position will be different. Instead of one small group per grade level I will be working will all of the fifth graders. I plan to use what I learned from this mini unit and expand it for next year. I really liked using the teacher created online lectures, and I plan to use those again next year. Next, year I am really going to have to focus on differentiation, because I will have all levels of learners. It will take more planning, but I feel the students will get a lot out of the work we do.
Next year my position will be different. Instead of one small group per grade level I will be working will all of the fifth graders. I plan to use what I learned from this mini unit and expand it for next year. I really liked using the teacher created online lectures, and I plan to use those again next year. Next, year I am really going to have to focus on differentiation, because I will have all levels of learners. It will take more planning, but I feel the students will get a lot out of the work we do.