Submitted by: Margaret Sharpe
School: Fairfield Middle School
Summary
This one block lesson is designed as a pre-reading activity for a novel. During this lesson, students are asked to create a press release about a novel and its author by utilizing research from accurate websites.
TIPC Ratings
This lesson asks students to think about how accurate websites are related to information about a novel. Students locate information and create a press release for the novel. The teacher provides for a very student-centered lesson and supports students as they acquire, evaluate, and apply information. Students are asked to choose their own tool to display the information in the press release. Students do not create questions to guide research.
Students work in groups within the classroom to complete the press release. Students are asked to determine their own roles to address the task. There was no reflection built into the lesson.
Students are responding to a central research theme around the novel. They have to create their own questions, such as, “what is the book about” and, “what is the author’s background” in order to create the press release. They are utilizing a range of digital tools. There was no reflection built into the lesson.
Students need to synthesize research, think critically, and work in groups in order to produce a product. The teacher is a facilitator in a creative environment, however much of the lesson is teacher-directed. There was no reflection built into the lesson.
