This lesson is for : Grade 2:
Summary
Our class began by setting a purpose for writing to Famous Americans. We all agreed we wanted to write to Famous Americans that have inspired and motivated us to be better leaders in our school, home, and community. Being a Leader in Me school, we felt it was important to collaborate with Famous Americans who have impacted us to be role models in “all that we do and all that we say”. The students formed their own groups, created norms for synergizing together, and decided what Famous American they would like to write to. Students used digital tools to record facts researched on their Famous American. Students used a variety of sources to research their Famous American, including books and the internet. As a group, they decided if they wanted to compile all of their research, notes, and drafts of their letter in a Google Doc and/or a Padlet. Once the research was completed, the groups began using that information to write a letter to their Famous American. Each group, wrote a draft and edited various copies until they felt satisfied with their delivery and incorporated all information needed, such as inviting their person to our school’s Leadership/Career Day. Throughout the process, students had opportunities to explore skills their Famous Americans have done, such as the group writing to President Obama had the chance to practice coding and referenced about their experiences in their letter. The students really wanted to make their letters stand out from others, so they decided to create a short movie clip to include as a URL at the bottom of their letters. The clip involved the groups writing a script, memorizing lines, filming it, and editing their clip in Movie Maker. The students even learned how to make their clip into a URL link. Lastly, the students finalized their letters with various fonts, colors, and pictures to really demonstrate their creativity and thoughtfulness on their final product. The letters were then sent out and the students are eagering hoping for a response or appearance from their Famous Americans.
TIPC Ratings
Research & Information Fluency
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: My students formed their own groups, norms and expectations, and selected the Famous Americans that have had an influential impact on them as rising leaders. Students opted to use Google docs and/or Padlet to conduct their research on their Famous American. My students created their own questions and selected specific areas in which they wanted to find information on about their Famous American.
To do the research, students used a variety of sources, such as books and websites. Through the research, students found similarities and differences their Famous Americans been through to get to such success. Students learned how to cite a variety of sources that was used to research their Famous American.
Communication & Collaboration
Rating: Approaching – Explanation: To start the project off, the students formed their own groups, norms, and selected their Famous American that impacted them to be great leaders in their school, home, and community. The groups then picked the digital tool they preferred to use for recording their research, such as Google Docs and/or Padlet. Students split up the roles each person would take while working in their group, so there was a recorder, leader, speaker, and everyone researched. This really empowered the students and gave them a purpose within their group. They felt like their opinion mattered and worked well with each other by synergizing to complete the tasks for the project. Students created their own questions to ask their Famous American and worked together to use that information to create a letter to their Famous American. As they collected information and began writing their letters, the students really wanted to make their letters stand out from others who were sending letters in as well. To expand on their letters, the students worked together use the WebCam to take pictures, as well as write, edit, and create a URL link to a Movie Maker video that was added to their bottom of the letters. The students really took the lead and helped each other with editing and publishing their video clip. My class was uplifting each other as groups were filming and making final tweaks with their video clips.
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: At the beginning of the project, each group was asked how Famous Americans have impacted their life and helped motivate them to be leaders. Many students were interested in Famous Americans that were in popular culture or most relevant to what they are most interested in. A couple of students had a big interest in Mikael Hed, who created Angry Birds. They were really interested in how he got involved in programing and creating the various levels in the program. Other students were really influenced by a performing arts program we have at our school called SPARC, so they wanted to write to Famous Americans who are on television or on the radio who sing, dance, act, and perform in front of large audiences like they will have to do.. Each group created a facts sheet about their Famous American and wrote down evidence to show the various steps they went through to become such prominent leaders. Once the groups worked together to collect the facts, they began generating questions they wanted to gather more information related to becoming a well-known leader in society, in regards to their Famous American. Students found that they are doing very similar activities that relate to their specific Famous American. The students believed that this project helped empower them to be leaders in their group, as they took on roles and felt knowledgeable of various programs used to make the letters stand out from others. The students really grew during this project and were eager to dive into content using more critical thinking skills.
Creativity & Innovation
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: Throughout the project, the students were very eager to write letters to their selected Famous Americans. The students were worried that their letters would not make it to the President’s desk or through the piles of fan mail sent to their Famous Americans. To help make sure that did not happen they began brainstorming ways to make their letters innovative and stand out from others. Students thought it would be unique to send a short video clip to their Famous American, so we were trained on creating a short movie through Movie Maker. The groups truly blossomed in this area as they creatively picked colors, fonts, transitions, and ending credits for their movie clip. Students used checkthis.com to create a URL link to include at the end of their letters. Another way the groups thought their letters would be unique from others was by adding a picture of themselves on the letters and/or our school symbol. The students really enjoyed using various templates for letter writing to add their own style to deliver information to their Famous Americans. The groups all used a variety of technology by incorporating the Webcam, Movie Maker, Google Docs, and Padlets to collect pictures, research, and various drafts of their letters. The visually appealing products really showed how much time, effort, and creativity each group put into making their letter the best it could be. The students were eager to try and get their Famous Americans to come to our school’s Career and Leadership Day. The theme is Leaders of Today and Trailblazers of Tomorrow, which is how the student’s viewed their Famous Americans. Each group felt that a response or even the possible appearance of these various Famous Americans would be a powerful learning experience for Harvie Elementary School and its students.
Student Artifact
Lesson Materials
