Chapter 5 NTeQ Lesson Creation Comments
*These responses correspond to the NTeQ Lesson Plan in chapter 5 on pages 120-122. Use this
and my responses to each section to evaluate the lesson you created in chapter 5 on the Lesson
Plan section of page 125. Keep in mind all I wanted you to do was type the 10 steps of the model
and address each one.
Objective:
By the end of the lesson, the students will list and describe key events of the Civil Rights
Movement. Here, you simply need to be straight to the point. What exactly do you want your
students to learn from the lesson?
Computer Functions:
Word processing will be used to list and describe the key events of the Civil Rights Movement.
Notice, they simply tie the program to the lesson. For example, since the objective says ‘list and
describe,’ this is probably best done through word processing. Thus it matches the program. You
do not want to ever simply force computer usage into a lesson, if it doesn’t fit, don’t use it! So,
they identified what program will be used and tied it back into how it will help accomplish the
objective.
Specify Problem:
The main thing here is to try and develop a problem that is ‘real-world’ based and one that the
students can relate to. Notice they say here that ‘our class has been asked to create memorial
booklets for the library.’ Creating scenarios for the problems often works well too. Often you can
simply tweak one minor thing and it will be in their context. For example, let’s say you are doing
a lesson in science where they must identify liquids and solids. Instead of simply listing some
and having them match them or tell whether they are liquids or solids (traditional teaching
method) you may instead tell them to think about their refrigerator at home and identify 5 of
each in it. This puts it in their context.
Data Manipulation:
Word processing will be used to edit and revise the information to be included in the final
booklets. Here you simply take the computer functions section a step further. What functions of
word processing (as you identified in the computer functions) will be used to accomplish this.
Notice they mention it will be used to ‘edit and revise’ information for the booklets.
Results Presentation:
Simply identify what the students will be presenting as evidence of what they have worked on.
Be sure you don’t have them working for days on a project that you do not even have them
present. This would not make much sense. This is the overall. Notice on page 121 they have
them presenting their memorial booklets.
Before Computer Use:
This is where you simply plan what they need to have done prior to going to the computer. This
saves time, gets their mind going toward what the project and better prepares them for computer
time. You may want to provide them a sheet of instructions for this step to be sure they have
everything completed that you want completed prior to getting on the computer. You may also
need to provide them instructions on how to do something. This is somewhat of an organization
step too so that they are prepared to go straight to work once they get to the computers. This can
help prevent lag time on the computers as you may only have a limited number of computers in
your classroom and thus need to maximize their time there.
During Computer Use:
Again this is just about having a clear cut plan for them once they get to the computer. They
should be prepared and know exactly what they are doing once they are there.
After Computer Use:
There should also be a clear cut plan for what the students will do once they are finished at the
computer. This is a good time for reflection! This allows them to digest what they have just done
and maybe complete their project. You may want to provide a Think Sheet that presents them
with questions that help them further synthesize their results.
Supporting Activities:
Notice in the lesson one thing they have them doing is watching a video. This step is a good way
to utilize the upper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. This can be a time of reinforcement in which
you present them with outside samples of what they have done. This is also a good time to cross
curriculum lines and show students how this relates to other curriculum areas or other real-world
situations.
Assessment:
It is difficult to not mention the use of a rubric on this step. In our chapter 5 lesson we created, I
do not intend for you to spell out the rubric completely. On page 122 you will see they have
mentioned some areas they intend to assess in the rubric. All I expect you to do here is mention
what you plan to assess. Obviously you plan to assess the project so you would mention that.
But, what else will you be assessing? Are you assessing their Internet search skills throughout
the project? What about their public speaking skills (if you have them present it to the class)?
Many things you may assess besides the simple content area. If you in elementary, you may also
assess how well they work in groups or participate. There are several things to take into
consideration here which is what makes the need for alternative assessment imperative.