Final Project Lesson Plan

Social Issues Comic Strip Lesson Plan:
for 7th grade English Language Learners

Aim/Objective: Swbat create a series of comic strips about a social concern, producing characters and story lines that reflect an understanding of issues involved and analyzing prevailing attitudes and approaches taken.

NYS Learning Standards addressed:

Standard 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for information and understanding.

Standard 2: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for literary response, enjoyment, and expression.

Standard 3: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for critical analysis and evaluation.

Standard 4: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for classroom and social interaction.

Standard 5: Students will demonstrate cross-cultural knowledge and understanding.

Prior Knowledge/Motivation: Students will have previously studied elements of drama and story construction in their literacy classes as well as having some introduction to social issues.

Materials/technology used:

web research activity
bitstrips
rubric
surveymonkey
blogging
imovie
youtube


Procedure: The unit will be delivered in three sessions, with opportunities for students to work collaboratively outside of class hours on the class blog.

Session 1: Introduction of tools and materials

The instructor will review the concept of social issues/ellicit student background knowledge through informal discussion/brainstorming. Once a list of topics has been generated, students will be asked to focus on issues that they feel strongly motivated by.

If an enthusiastic response is not immediately forthcoming, instructor will browse the various links of resources on the blog, focusing on first-person accounts in an attempt to emotionally engage the class.

If there are adequate facilities, students would be permitted to choose their topic and engage in the web research activity, working with partners or groups of 3's (ELL's) to answer questions posted on blog. If computer facilities are limited, the assignment becomes homework as students are paired to ensure equal access to the internet.

Assessment: students must log onto the site and post their results.

Session 2: Use of Bitstrips

Once a majority of the students have completed the webquest, the instructor will present a brief introduction to Bitstrips and allow the students to develop a familiarity with the tool. Working in groups with a worksheet, students will construct characters and a plot involving the social issue they have chosen.

Students will be introduced to the web-based rubric for the project at this point.

Assessment: The instructor will engage in mini-conferences with the groups throughout the second session to answer technical questions and to ensure that students remain on task.

Session 3: Publishing and Evaluation: Students will embed their finished products on the class/teachers' blog for evaluation. Students will then rate the products of their classmates with Surveymonkey. These results will then be taken into consideration with the rubric to arrive at a grade for the project.

Reflection: The challenge for the instructor will be not allow the students to become distracted or dispirited by technical setbacks. Also, proper pacing of the lesson will be crucial as both the students' social needs at this age and their relatively underdeveloped sense of empathy will be significant hurdles to overcome in guiding them through the content of the lesson.

Productive conferencing and teacher student rapport will be key as the instructor negotiates with the pairs or groups of learners during the substantial amount of minimally supervised class-time. Additional mini-lessons addressing technical issues may have to be created as this project could easily telescope into a month-long session depending on the interest and competence of the class.

Upon further reflection, this instructor feels that the hardest task will be the one that the teacher has the least control to negotiate. That would be the students' earnest engagement with the issue. As the capabilities of the internet and the freedom of project-driven learning concentrate a considerable amount of power in the hands of the student, the instructor is placed in a somewhat obscure position to evaluate the students' learning experience– the student can too easily outstrip the instructor's expertise in an area of their own choosing. For this reason and because of other constraints, it becomes critical for the instructor to cultivate the profile of a learning coach or counsellor and to gain their students trust so as to more accurately assess the learning experience. What the instructor loses in authority might be made up for in emotional security.

Post 6: Link to Bitstrips

www.bitstrips.com

Post 2: Social Issues Comic Strip Assignment Overview

Post 1: Social Issues Comic Strip Introduction

Click on the strip to enlarge...

Post 7: Social Issues Comic Strip Student Survey

Click the link to rate the comics:

Click Here to take survey


Your classmates responses will be taken into consideration, along with the rubric when the teacher formulates your grade.

Post 4: Social Issues Web Research

Dear Students:

Your challenge is to chose one social issue to research.
Gather as much information about the issue as possible, using at least three resources.

You should be able to answer the following questions about the social issue you have chosen:

1. What is the issue? What are its causes and treatments?

2. Who does it directly affect?

3. How is it a "social problem"? How does it affect your life?

4. What is your experience of the issue?

You should be able to answer the following questions about your information source:

1. Who created the websites you're using?

2. Do you feel the creators of this site gave a balanced view of the issue? Why or why not?

3. Did you find that it answered all your questions?

4. What question do you still have about this issue?

When you have finished, send your answers as "Reader Comments" to this post.

Post 8: Rubric for Social Issues Comic Strip