Submitted by: Caroline Wheeler
School: Varina High School
Summary
Urban legends fascinate, disturb, and ultimately entertain all of us—students and teachers alike. The Urban Legends lesson bridges the study of legends, one of the major tenets of world literature, and modern folklore. For many students, the stuff of literature and the stuff of real life seem worlds apart. An extension from traditional legends and mythology units of study, this online research based lesson plan provides students with an opportunity to connect literature to everyday life and enables students to use technological skills and approaches to explore, understand, and evaluate the different types and purposes of modern, urban legends. Students will gain deeper insight into the similarities of literature of different cultures and eras and will develop more relevant understandings of the cultural and social functions of oral literature. The Urban Legends lesson is designed to foster and promote students’ approaching and ideal information fluency skills. In addition, this 21st Century lesson also promotes group communication and collaboration. Using understandings gained during from their research, students will create an innovative 21st Century product to showcase understandings and criticisms to less informed, more gullible peers.
The Urban Legends lesson, inspired creative thinking, by allowing them to discover that it is OK not to believe everything they hear and encourage creative risk taking. Students had to go outside of their comfort zones to create a 21st Century product to showcase their findings.
TIPC Ratings
Approaching – This lesson plan encouraged me and my students to rely on modern technology to promote Approaching Research Skills and Information Fluency. The Urban Legends lesson that I designed provided my learners with an opportunity to solve a specific authentic task: to verify the validity of one specific, student selected urban legend. During the introduction portion of the Urban Legends lesson, I modeled and explained appropriate research strategies–an approaching research and information fluency skill. By modeling appropriate research strategies, I gave my students avenues to help guide their research and evaluation of modern Urban Legends. Students then used 21st Century tools to assemble, organize, and powerfully display information found during the research process.
Approaching — This lesson requires students to not only complete the authentic task, but to also critically and meaningfully engage in the material. Students will gain deeper insight into the similarities of literature of different cultures and eras and will develop more relevant understandings of the cultural and social functions of oral literature. Students had to apply digital tools to apply concepts learned to the purposes of literature in the larger world.
Approaching – Students are provided with the communication tools through the School Space Discussion Board. Students are encouraged to communicate purposefully through responses, editing, and reflection without direct supervision within and beyond the classroom. Communication occurs as necessary while working towards developing their unique, personal statement. Reflection occurs as students communicate with each other through the discussion board and have the ability to view their peers with a new outlook.
Ideal/Target – By using this lesson students were able to develop, facilitate, and assess a learning environment where my students’ creativity and innovation were unlimited. While the lesson website served as model for student research, it allowed students to work beyond the assignment parameters. The presentation portion of the project especially supported student Ideal/Target Creativity and Innovation because they had to synthesize their new knowledge to create meaningful, original products of their own design. These students jumped head first into creating their presentations. Some members of the class, were less comfortable with the technology, but the class really came together as a community, helping each other and collaborating within and in-between learning groups. The results were not only creative, but inspiring as well. The finished products were showcased on School Space and HCPS Link for all students and parents to see.
Student Artifact
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Contents:
- LESSON PLAN
- STUDENT ARTIFACTS
