blobertblogkey

Final Project Lesson Plan

2008-07-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

www.bitstrips.com

Post 2: Social Issues Comic Strip Assignment Overview

2008-07-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

Post 1: Social Issues Comic Strip Introduction

2008-07-26T21:06:00.001-07:00

Click on the strip to enlarge...

Post 7: Social Issues Comic Strip Student Survey

2008-07-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-26T17:05:00.001-07:00

Rubric: Social Issues Comic Strips

Post 3: Social Issues Web Resources

2008-07-26T13:07:00.001-07:00

1. School Violence/Bullying/Gangs:

A. National Youth Violence Prevention:
http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/facts/gangs.asp

B. National Youth Gang Center:
http://www.iir.com/nygc/

C. National School Safety and Security Services:
www.schoolsecurity.org/training/school_gang_training.html

D. Student Voices Speakout:
http://student-voices.org/discussions/discussion.php?DiscussionID=467

E. National Campaign to Stop Violence:
www.dtwt.org/student-voices

F. Anti-Gang Video:
http://www.truveo.com/tag/anti%20gang

2. Anti-Drug Sites:

A. Dare:
www.dare.com

B. Marijuana facts for Teens:
www.drugabuse.gov/MarijBroch/Marijteens.html

C. National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information:
//ncadi.samhsa.gov

D. National Institute on Drug Abuse:
//teens.drugabuse.gov/facts/index.asp

E. Childrens' Advocacy Project:
www.cap4kids.org/new_york_city/parent_handouts/teen_resources.html

F. Addiction Search: Treatment resources:
www.addictionsearch.com/treatment/NY/new-york.html

3. Teen Pregnancy:

A. National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
www.thenationalcampaign.org

B. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry:
www.aacap.org/page.ww?name=When+Children+Have+Children§ion=Facts+for+Families

C. T.P. in NYC:
www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/fhs/tpreport.pdf

D. Factsheet:
http://www.getthefactsny.org

E. NYTimes two-part article:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04EEDD1F3FF934A35750C0A9629C8B63

F. Planned Parenthood:
www.plannedparenthood.org

4. Environment/Pollution:

A. Edutopia article:
http://www.edutopia.org/service-learning-citizen-science

B. Greenpeace:
www.greenpeace.org

C. Sierra Club:
www.sierraclub.com

D. EPA Kids' Club:
www.epa.gov/kids

E. National Resources Defense Council:
http://www.nrdc.org

F. The Green Belt Movement:
http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/a.php?id=20

5. Video Game Addiction:

A. Wikipedia Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_addiction

B. MSNBC Article: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19354827/

C. Autism-like symptoms:
/dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/04/22/video-games-autism.html

D. "Game Over" documentary:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=18joS1IP2oc

E. Site name says it all:
http://www.videogameaddiction.net/

F. American Psychological Association:
www.apa.org/science/psa/sb-anderson.html

6. Nutrition:

A. Federal perspective:
http://www.nutrition.gov

B. Cooking tips for teens:
www.mealsmatter.org/CookingForFamily/Planning/article.aspx?articleId=41

C. Colorado State University: What should teens eat?
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/COLUMNCC/cc970626.html

D. Article on Nutritional Fears:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23466006/

E. Obesity: Obesity Society:
http://www.obesity.org/

F. Bulimia: First hand account:
www.womenshealth.gov/faq/Easyread/bulnervosa-etr.htm

Post 5: Social Issues Comic Strip Examples

2008-07-25T21:37:00.001-07:00

Here are some examples of strips I created. Remember that you will want to create a minimum of 9 panels for your story. Click to enlarge:

*extra credit* Can you write a dialogue for this first comic?

Slam Dunk

2008-07-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Students,

Manga can be a great way to learn about characterization and improve your English ability through the fast-paced action and image support of a Japanese comic book.

"Slam Dunk" is a very popular comic that takes place in a junior high school a lot like ours. Do the characters seem familiar to you?

Your challenge is to read the first issue of "Slam Dunk" that can be found at this link:

http://www.onemanga.com/Slam_Dunk/1/03-04/

When you have finished the reading, please do two things.

1. Make a list of 10 words or phrases that are unfamiliar to you.

2. Create a complete list of characters from volume 1 and try to describe their a) personalities b) motivations c)goals and d) challenges that stand in their way

a prize will be given to the writer with the best descriptions. Any questions can be answered by me at robert.gaulke2007@gmail.com

Here's a link to the anime version of a latter comic:

Embedding Assignment

2008-07-09T21:05:00.001-07:00

ESL Blog Reviews

2008-07-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

www.china232.com "Fun English Lessons"

A podcast by two Canadian brothers in Shanghai. Technically well-made, the instructors usually deliver a skit based around a familiar situation. They intone their words clearly at a moderate pace often repeating key phrases and vocabulary.
Their dialogue was short and used a minimum of idiomatic expressions with good follow-up:

Their current featured podcast focuses on idiomatic expressions concerned with "staying out late"-
e.g., "Why haven't you been picking up?"

Both teachers are thorough in their explanation of idiomatic expressions used, but do not appear to possess the depth in background to connect to other linguistic concerns.
"trying to reach you for the past three hours"

Their site features a discussion board with some lesson follow ups, but few extension activities.

I think my intermediate students might find this site occasionally useful, but as the focus seems mostly EFL, it would be of limited to use to beginners or advanced students.

http://www.archiecomics.com/podcasts/

Archie Comics/ESL/Podcast

This is a combination comic strip/podcast with a full explanation and activity set related to a three panel daily Archie comic strip.

After a full explanation of the strip by the narrator, a vocabulary bank is given with a series of comprehension questions. The entire script is read by one narrator at a medium pace. There is an attempt to dramatize the dialogue, without additional voice talent.

I think the presentation is thorough and well-executed and might work well with beginning students unfamiliar with North American customs or culture.

Fun with ESL Blog

http://esljo.blogspot.com/2007/05/esl-podcast-first-day-of-school.html

This Blog features a video podcast, with an episode about the first day of school in an American high school. The video is an interview between an ESL instructor and a student with a transcription following pauses in the conversation.

As this appears to be the instructor's first attempt, they should be commended for making this resource available. There are not other activities associated with the video besides a graphic representation of a student's schedule. The video's attempt at humor may not be understood by ESL students, but might make a teachable moment in its explanation.

As the site looks to be over 1 year old and not very active, I would not recommend it for my students' use.

Hi

2008-06-30T19:34:00.001-07:00

Hi, This is my blog. I'll be posting lots of interesting things here about my class at Fordham. Won't you join me here? It'll be fun.