Summary
A brief overview of the lesson including time spent, general content covered, and product created. Students have been reviewing parts of the sentence and learning phrases for the past week and a half. Students have used Wallwisher and Spaaze to create grammar pages. These websites allow students to share their work with me, peers and the web. This culminating phrase assignment, phrase poetry, requires students to apply their knowledge of phrases to create poems. Using the “Phrase Toolbox” as a resource (this is on Spaaze or Wallwisher), students will write poems that follow a certain grammatical structures. Students will write a minimum of three different patterns (three different poems) incorporating a different subject each time he/she write. Students will write about a characters or themes in literature we have studied this year (Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth). An exemplary page would reflect one of the themes within Buck’s The Good Earth such as social change in rural China, woman’s quiet power or the cyclical nature of life. We have also discussed the universal human experiences (marriage, children, poverty, sickness, etc). Backgrounds, pictures, music and other add ins should reflect these universal ideas. Students used the evaluation in the folder to evaluate the members of their group and themselves. We use this type of evaluation after all group work, so students are accustomed to their roles and being held responsible.
TIPC Ratings
This lesson is in the approaching range. Students had to locate and acquire information using resources we have used in class; the instructions stated the students could choose the tool for this project. Students could use any website or they could create their poem by hand. I have provided specific lessons for google doc, Wallwisher, Spaaze and Quizlet in class, but only two seem appropriate for this project. Also, students had to access youtube, images on the web, etc, and use advanced google searches to browse in order to create an appropriate reflection for their poem.
This lesson is in the approaching range. Students wrote poems as a class and in groups. We used the theme that women in China were subservient to men during this time. Students, in self-chosen groups, wrote poems about O-lan, young girls, and the uncle’s wife. For homework students wrote three poems on three different topics. During the observation, students worked in pairs on this assignment, but then shared their completed project with all four classes and posted them on the web for those outside of class to view, if they felt comfortable.
This lesson is in the approaching range. Students had to incorporate grammar techniques into original piece of poetry. Students had to identify the necessary phrase or clause in order to fit the model poem. Students also had to make their phrases fit their topic and mood. Everything on their wall had to be relevant to their poem in some way: the background, any images, words, fonts, music, and videos. Students had to be able to justify why every item was included.
This lesson is in the ideal/target range. This is my lesson’s strongest part. This assessment requires students to study grammar in an enjoyable, creative format. Students were able to choose between a web project or a “hands on” project. Students proved that they mastered the skills by creating a poem about a subject of their choice. They reflected on their roles as creative and innovative learners through the evaluation form.
