In this activity, you will post a practical classroom activity that implements Universal Design for Learning. Based on your assigned principle (found in the course activity directions), post a comment in the appropriate blog post by Friday. Be sure to sign your blog entry.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Principle #1 - Presenting Lesson Content
Each member of Team A should post at least one way that a teacher uses flexibility in presenting lesson content, and gives students options for how they learn.
My activity is for a K-2 grade classroom. This lesson teaches or enhances instruction in phonics and basic reading skills. Traditionally, a teacher who wants to monitor the speed and accuracy of sound and/or word recognition would sit down individually with a student with a passage or book and use a timer or clock to determine the number of correct sounds or words per minute for each student. A low-tech method of differentiating would be to make coded flash cards, or individualize worksheets for lower achieving students, or have pre-primer or more challenging books or passages for higher achieving students. To provide students with the same type of text or images presented in the flashcard, worksheets or books and passages, computer assisted instruction (CAI) could be used as an alternative, more hi-tech method.
One program that teaches phonics and reading skills to all ages of students continually and monitors a student’s speed and accuracy as the student works through each lesson is Autoskills (http://www.autoskill.com/). The teacher sets an accuracy goal in the program for the student―the number of sounds or words per minute that the student must master. At the most basic level, the student, using headphones, hears the sound of the letter and then chooses which of three letters presented has that sound. For example, the program makes the sound of the letter k as this screen appears. The student uses the mouse to choose the correct letter. If the student makes the correct choice, a checkmark appears over the correct letter. If the choice is incorrect, an X appears over the correct letter. In either case, the program then quickly moves to the next letter. The program gives the student 50 sounds and measures the amount of time the student takes to identify them. The number of sounds the student correctly identifies divided by the number of minutes is the measure of correct sounds per minute. The program graphs the information for the student and then prints a copy of the student’s errors for the teacher.
When the student reaches the goal the teacher has set, the program moves the student up to the next skill level. When the student has mastered the phonics, he or she will see word games and puzzles, a maze for comprehension, and a library with stories and comprehension questions.
Programs such as this one are used more for at-risk students and students with disabilities in middle and high school and with adults to improve reading skills.
I need to look into AutoSkill. Another tool might be to use digital recording devices. Several of our teachers are using them for looking at reading fluency. They can listen to the student read the passage over and over plus you can easily store the reading as an MP3 and add it to a digital portfolio. It is a great way to see progress overtime. Great ideas!
I watched a lesson today that took place in a second grade classroom. The Gifted Resource Teacher was presenting a whole group lesson on tangrams. This hands on lesson incorporated language arts, math and technology. The gifted teacher began her lesson explaining about tangrams. She used a PowerPoint presentation to do this. She then read Grandfather Tang’s Story. This is “a folktale with a twist: Tompert uses tangrams, a traditional "visual aid" employed by Chinese storytellers, to spin a tale about two shape-changing fox fairies. Seven "tans" (standard-sized pieces of a square) are arranged and rearranged to represent various characters in the story” (Amazon Review). As the she read the story, students arranged tangram pieces on the SMART Board. Students were able to see how each character in the book was created using the seven tangram pieces. When the story was finished, the gifted teacher handed out individual packages of foam tangrams and let the students explore at their desks. After 10 minutes of exploration, she passed out a packet of shapes for the students to try and complete. This lesson presented information in many ways, verbally, kinesthetically and visually. The students were quite engaged and really enjoyed the activity. A website to the virtual library of manipulatives was also provided to the teacher for follow up in the computer lab or in the classroom.
Grandfather Tang's Story - http://www.amazon.com/Grandfather-Tangs-Story-Dragonfly-Books/dp/0517885581/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233871489&sr=8-1
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vLibrary.html
The activity that I once observed involved life cycles in a 1-2 classroom. The teacher used a UnitedStreaming video to introduce students to the lifecycle of a butterfly. The teacher and students then discussed the differences/similarities between the human lifecycle and that of a butterfly using a Venn diagram and a whiteboard. She proceeded to read a book, which described the life cycle of a butterfly (I cannot remember the name but I’m pretty sure it was a DK book). Students then moved to one of four centers where they demonstrated what they had learned. The first center involved students using various art materials to create the 4 stages of a butterfly’s life. The second center involved students using the computer and Kidspiration to create and label the life cycle of a butterfly in the correct sequence. The third center was a writing center where students authored and illustrated their own butterfly book (there were many butterfly books at this center for students to use as resources including books on tape and headphones). The final center involved matching pictures of the various butterfly lifecycle stages with the correct label (picture of an egg matched to the word egg). This center also included the life cycle of a frog and a dragonfly (extension of learning). To finish the lesson students had a choice as to which product they wanted to share with the class.
One of the challenges of teaching a lesson like this is having parental help at the various centers, which this teacher did have. Another challenge is having technology rich ways of presenting the information to students (computers, projector, subscription to UnitedStreaming, Kidspiration software, etc.).
Using Grandfather Tang's story is a great way to introduce tangrams to students. I could see using UnitedStreaming as another means of introducing this concept to students. These short instructional videos provide background knowledge in a format that appeals to many of our digital natives.
I've never heard of Autoskill before but it sounds interesting. It is important to have intervention programs in place for students that need them but it is also important that they don't take the place of good teaching. One of the obstacles that our district ran into (before our current superintendent) was that teachers were using intervention programs for their entire class whether the students needed it or not (one size fits all). We have worked hard to use data to identify struggling students who would benefit from an intervention program and provide their teachers with the tools that will help these students succeed.
Linda, I like the butterfly activities. This shows how using multiple intelligences allows students to revisit the same information in 4 different ways without loosing thier attention. I think the transfer of the information to other areas of science will be better served using this type of approach. Transfer and retention of concepts is such a big part of learning. This goes for the tanagram activity as well.
As I was thinking about this assignment, I had a flashback to an assignment/unit that I co-created during my MAT program and the expanded version I created for the NTTI (National Teacher Training Institute). The requirements for both included making the unit accessible to all students. The unit was entitled Where in the World? and introduced high school students the mathematics and science behind GPS and how GPS is used to help locate people and things on Earth. You can find it at http://www.wgby.org/edu/lessonplans/ntti/2002/where_in_the_world.pdf.
After completing our readings for this week and reviewing other posts, I have come up with some ways to improve this unit to make it more in line with UDL. I am limiting my comments to content delivery, but I hope to rewrite the entire unit at some point in the near future to integrate these ideas and newer technologies.
The unit begins by having the students watch a couple of video clips from the NOVA episode titled Lost at Sea - The Search for Longitude. This video has closed captioning and a transcript is available from the program website. I know that some PBS programming is available in descriptive television format (I believe that is the correct term), but I'm not sure about this particular program.
The unit continues through a webquest that I created. The main content window is accessible to students meaning that there are descriptive tags for all pictures and Flash videos. The text can be blown up in size through the browser (IE works best, but it does work in Firefox too). It is also possible to print this content off and use it in hard copy.
One thing that I would change would be update the surrounding content that links my webquest with the rest of the bigger project I created with my classmates. At the time none of us knew how to utilize the accessibility features in Flash. I do now and would like to redo some of the other features in the website to make them more accessible to all students.
Most of the web sites that the students use to complete the various tasks in the webquest are accessible. There is at least one that is not and I would find a replacement site that is before using this webquest again.
The unit includes an opportunity for students to work with actual GPS units. This gives students an opportunity to get up and move around. Instructions for using the device are not included in the webquest as each device is a little different. This would be left to the individual instructor to help students learn to use the device. Many manufacturers have websites with videos and simple written instructions to help them learn how to use the device. Before using them with the students, it might be necessary to develop these instructions into other formats to make them more accessible.
I had a lot of fun working on this project when it was originally created. Revisiting it for this assignment has reinvigorated my interest in updating it, along with a couple of other webquests I created. Something to work on when I'm done with this program I guess.
What a great learning experience for students. It sounds like this is the kind of lesson that would definitely keep kids interested as well as provide them with real world experiences.
Did the school provide the GPS units or did your students bring them in?
I've used a very similar lesson with students ranging from 2nd grade up through middle school. Tangrams, both physical and virtual, have a very low entry level for students to explore, but also have virtually no ceiling. This enables this activity to be readily differentiated based on the student's own abilities and inclinations, without providing vastly different materials.
The idea was that either the school would have a set and/or students would bring them in from home. The school at which I was teaching at the time had a 4 or 5 plus I have my own which made it easy to split the students up into small groups. On top of that, the school doesn't need to buy the video as most local PBS stations have a free video lending library of their programming that schools can borrow or they can tape it off-air for classroom use for free.
I really enjoyed looking at your "original" webquest and the materials you created. The fact that it can be reinvigorated with 21st century learning skills, UDL accessibility features, and new technology, demonstrates the thoroughness with which you wrote the original. It is really great! I'd love to see the "new and improved" version when it comes out!
15 comments:
My activity is for a K-2 grade classroom. This lesson teaches or enhances instruction in phonics and basic reading skills. Traditionally, a teacher who wants to monitor the speed and accuracy of sound and/or word recognition would sit down individually with a student with a passage or book and use a timer or clock to determine the number of correct sounds or words per minute for each student. A low-tech method of differentiating would be to make coded flash cards, or individualize worksheets for lower achieving students, or have pre-primer or more challenging books or passages for higher achieving students. To provide students with the same type of text or images presented in the flashcard, worksheets or books and passages, computer assisted instruction (CAI) could be used as an alternative, more hi-tech method.
One program that teaches phonics and reading skills to all ages of students continually and monitors a student’s speed and accuracy as the student works through each lesson is Autoskills
(http://www.autoskill.com/). The teacher sets an accuracy goal in the program for the student―the number of sounds or words per minute that the student must master. At the most basic level, the student, using headphones, hears the sound of the letter and then chooses which of three letters presented has that sound. For example, the program makes the sound of the letter k as this screen appears. The student uses the mouse to choose the correct letter. If the student makes the correct choice, a checkmark appears over the correct letter. If the choice is incorrect, an X appears over the correct letter. In either case, the program then quickly moves to the next letter. The program gives the student 50 sounds and measures the amount of time the student takes to identify them. The number of sounds the student correctly identifies divided by the number of minutes is the measure of correct sounds per minute. The program graphs the information for the student and then prints a copy of the student’s errors for the teacher.
When the student reaches the goal the teacher has set, the program moves the student up to the next skill level. When the student has mastered the phonics, he or she will see word games and puzzles, a maze for comprehension, and a library with stories and comprehension questions.
Programs such as this one are used more for at-risk students and students with disabilities in middle and high school and with adults to improve reading skills.
Retrived from:
http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/computeraided_reading.asp
Anita,
I need to look into AutoSkill. Another tool might be to use digital recording devices. Several of our teachers are using them for looking at reading fluency. They can listen to the student read the passage over and over plus you can easily store the reading as an MP3 and add it to a digital portfolio. It is a great way to see progress overtime. Great ideas!
I watched a lesson today that took place in a second grade classroom. The Gifted Resource Teacher was presenting a whole group lesson on tangrams. This hands on lesson incorporated language arts, math and technology. The gifted teacher began her lesson explaining about tangrams. She used a PowerPoint presentation to do this. She then read Grandfather Tang’s Story. This is “a folktale with a twist: Tompert uses tangrams, a traditional "visual aid" employed by Chinese storytellers, to spin a tale about two shape-changing fox fairies. Seven "tans" (standard-sized pieces of a square) are arranged and rearranged to represent various characters in the story” (Amazon Review). As the she read the story, students arranged tangram pieces on the SMART Board. Students were able to see how each character in the book was created using the seven tangram pieces. When the story was finished, the gifted teacher handed out individual packages of foam tangrams and let the students explore at their desks. After 10 minutes of exploration, she passed out a packet of shapes for the students to try and complete. This lesson presented information in many ways, verbally, kinesthetically and visually. The students were quite engaged and really enjoyed the activity. A website to the virtual library of manipulatives was also provided to the teacher for follow up in the computer lab or in the classroom.
Grandfather Tang's Story - http://www.amazon.com/Grandfather-Tangs-Story-Dragonfly-Books/dp/0517885581/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233871489&sr=8-1
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vLibrary.html
Heather H. (ATS Webmaster)
The activity that I once observed involved life cycles in a 1-2 classroom. The teacher used a UnitedStreaming video to introduce students to the lifecycle of a butterfly. The teacher and students then discussed the differences/similarities between the human lifecycle and that of a butterfly using a Venn diagram and a whiteboard. She proceeded to read a book, which described the life cycle of a butterfly (I cannot remember the name but I’m pretty sure it was a DK book). Students then moved to one of four centers where they demonstrated what they had learned. The first center involved students using various art materials to create the 4 stages of a butterfly’s life. The second center involved students using the computer and Kidspiration to create and label the life cycle of a butterfly in the correct sequence. The third center was a writing center where students authored and illustrated their own butterfly book (there were many butterfly books at this center for students to use as resources including books on tape and headphones). The final center involved matching pictures of the various butterfly lifecycle stages with the correct label (picture of an egg matched to the word egg). This center also included the life cycle of a frog and a dragonfly (extension of learning). To finish the lesson students had a choice as to which product they wanted to share with the class.
One of the challenges of teaching a lesson like this is having parental help at the various centers, which this teacher did have. Another challenge is having technology rich ways of presenting the information to students (computers, projector, subscription to UnitedStreaming, Kidspiration software, etc.).
Heather,
Using Grandfather Tang's story is a great way to introduce tangrams to students. I could see using UnitedStreaming as another means of introducing this concept to students. These short instructional videos provide background knowledge in a format that appeals to many of our digital natives.
Anita,
I've never heard of Autoskill before but it sounds interesting. It is important to have intervention programs in place for students that need them but it is also important that they don't take the place of good teaching. One of the obstacles that our district ran into (before our current superintendent) was that teachers were using intervention programs for their entire class whether the students needed it or not (one size fits all). We have worked hard to use data to identify struggling students who would benefit from an intervention program and provide their teachers with the tools that will help these students succeed.
Linda, I like the butterfly activities. This shows how using multiple intelligences allows students to revisit the same information in 4 different ways without loosing thier attention. I think the transfer of the information to other areas of science will be better served using this type of approach. Transfer and retention of concepts is such a big part of learning. This goes for the tanagram activity as well.
As I was thinking about this assignment, I had a flashback to an assignment/unit that I co-created during my MAT program and the expanded version I created for the NTTI (National Teacher Training Institute). The requirements for both included making the unit accessible to all students. The unit was entitled Where in the World? and introduced high school students the mathematics and science behind GPS and how GPS is used to help locate people and things on Earth. You can find it at http://www.wgby.org/edu/lessonplans/ntti/2002/where_in_the_world.pdf.
After completing our readings for this week and reviewing other posts, I have come up with some ways to improve this unit to make it more in line with UDL. I am limiting my comments to content delivery, but I hope to rewrite the entire unit at some point in the near future to integrate these ideas and newer technologies.
The unit begins by having the students watch a couple of video clips from the NOVA episode titled Lost at Sea - The Search for Longitude. This video has closed captioning and a transcript is available from the program website. I know that some PBS programming is available in descriptive television format (I believe that is the correct term), but I'm not sure about this particular program.
The unit continues through a webquest that I created. The main content window is accessible to students meaning that there are descriptive tags for all pictures and Flash videos. The text can be blown up in size through the browser (IE works best, but it does work in Firefox too). It is also possible to print this content off and use it in hard copy.
One thing that I would change would be update the surrounding content that links my webquest with the rest of the bigger project I created with my classmates. At the time none of us knew how to utilize the accessibility features in Flash. I do now and would like to redo some of the other features in the website to make them more accessible to all students.
Most of the web sites that the students use to complete the various tasks in the webquest are accessible. There is at least one that is not and I would find a replacement site that is before using this webquest again.
The unit includes an opportunity for students to work with actual GPS units. This gives students an opportunity to get up and move around. Instructions for using the device are not included in the webquest as each device is a little different. This would be left to the individual instructor to help students learn to use the device. Many manufacturers have websites with videos and simple written instructions to help them learn how to use the device. Before using them with the students, it might be necessary to develop these instructions into other formats to make them more accessible.
I had a lot of fun working on this project when it was originally created. Revisiting it for this assignment has reinvigorated my interest in updating it, along with a couple of other webquests I created. Something to work on when I'm done with this program I guess.
Kris,
What a great learning experience for students. It sounds like this is the kind of lesson that would definitely keep kids interested as well as provide them with real world experiences.
Did the school provide the GPS units or did your students bring them in?
Heather,
I've used a very similar lesson with students ranging from 2nd grade up through middle school. Tangrams, both physical and virtual, have a very low entry level for students to explore, but also have virtually no ceiling. This enables this activity to be readily differentiated based on the student's own abilities and inclinations, without providing vastly different materials.
Linda,
The idea was that either the school would have a set and/or students would bring them in from home. The school at which I was teaching at the time had a 4 or 5 plus I have my own which made it easy to split the students up into small groups. On top of that, the school doesn't need to buy the video as most local PBS stations have a free video lending library of their programming that schools can borrow or they can tape it off-air for classroom use for free.
Kris,
I really enjoyed looking at your "original" webquest and the materials you created. The fact that it can be reinvigorated with 21st century learning skills, UDL accessibility features, and new technology, demonstrates the thoroughness with which you wrote the original. It is really great! I'd love to see the "new and improved" version when it comes out!
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