Online Learning Module
Instructional Objectives:
We are learning parts of speech in our class the students will be practicing and reinforcing their
knowledge about nouns, verbs, and adjectives on an online learning module. Hopefully this experience
will get them ready for online classes in the future. By participating in the various activities in the
module they can fulfill the online learning as defined by the state of Michigan Department of Education.
They will also have an online research project about animals and they will be creating a Power Point
presentation.
Activities:
My Newcomer group’s technological experience is very limited so I created a Video Tutorial instructing
them to use the forum. I wanted them to be familiar with the process so they can be active participants
in our online class. In the first forum they will participate in will be participating in about Nouns, they
will have to define what a noun is and give some examples. As we are learning the different parts of
speech the students will use the educational games that I created to reinforce and practice what they
learned. As a final project they will have to research an animal of their choice and develop a Power Point
presentation. I tried to mix the activities between reading, writing, listening, playing, and creating so the
students can be exposed to the material in multiple ways. I will be with the students to offer my support
throughout the activities to make sure they are successful especially because they are beginners in the
language and the technology.
Activity # 1 Video Tutorial:
Instructional Objectives:
I teach a Newcomer Center in which all students have been in the country for one year or less. I have
been using technology in the center and this semester I will be using an online class "iLearn” to enhance
the teaching and learning experience. The district offers an online Learning Management System (LMS)
through Moodle that could be used to teach classes online, or it could be used to enhance and
substitute some of the learning that takes place in class with an online experience.
The objectives of designing this multimedia tutorial video are to familiarize students with the discussion
forum which is one of the means of communication we will be using in our iLearn class. Since my
students are not familiar with that feature the video tutorial will be very helpful, students can watch it
as often as needed. They can also access it from home and practice on their own to be able to
participate in online discussion forum.
Students will be able to follow directions and be able to post their response to the forum and post their
response to the forum.
Activity # 2 Online Communications
Objectives:
Students will be able to use a forum as an online communication tool to take part in a class discussion.
The students will share what they know about common nouns by posting it on the forum.
Rationale for Tool Used:
Since my students are third grade newcomers and they don’t have experience about online
communications, I will remind them to use the video tutorial that I created if they have a hard time
accessing the forum. I will create a new forum and I will name it “Nouns’ Forum” and ask them to
answer the prompt “what is a noun? Please give 5 or more examples.” I will point out to them when I
explain the assignment that they can review the lesson about nouns in section 3 of our online class
before they start their assignment. I chose a topic for the forum that everyone can participate in
whether they have been here a few months or a year, they can answer the question and give examples
or they can give examples.
I taught this lesson in many ways, since the language is new for all the students, we labeled
many things “nouns” in our classroom, we brainstormed nouns from outside the classroom and wrote
them on a chart paper, we completed some handouts about nouns, we used Kidsperation to complete
diagrams using pictures of nouns and labeling them, and the last part of that lesson is using this forum
to “verbalize” what they learned about nouns. The reason I chose a topic that we already covered is
because I want the students to use technology and feel successful by accomplishing the task.
Instructional Plan:
The forum that I created for our online learning will provide the students an opportunity to
learn a new way of communication. The forum is designed very carefully so the newcomers won’t feel
overwhelmed. The forum is a way for me to know who is able to “verbalize” what they know about
nouns. For the recent newcomers in the center, a list of few nouns will suffice and for more advanced
students they might be able to define the noun and give more examples. I will be providing feed back to
the students as a response to their forum entry letting them know if I have any questions or comments. I
am going to use the forum to respond to them to get them used to the idea of online communication.
Evaluation:
The students will be divided into 2 groups for grading. The first group who is capable of giving
one word answer will be graded using Dearborn Public Schools scale: M meeting expectations, D
developing and C concern. The second group who is able to give a definition and examples will also be
evaluated by the same scale but dividing the points between the definition and the examples.
Activity # 3 Deliverable: Student Choice Project Design Documents and Artifacts
I teach a newcomer group who is still in their early stages of acquiring the English language. The
students will practice what they are learning in class about nouns, verbs, and adjectives. I decided to use
ClassTool to create educational games that focuses on the specific skills that I’m teaching to reinforce
what the students are learning. I will upload the games to our online class so the students can have easy
access to it.
Michigan English Language Proficiency Standards
R.4.1.a Identify nouns and verbs (subject and predicates)W.2.1.b Use nouns (singulars and plurals),
verbs (singular or plural), pronouns, adjectives, adverbs in writing.
Michigan Educational Technology Standards
PK-2.RI.1. interact with Internet based resourcesPK-2.TC.6. understand that technology is a tool to help
him/her complete a task, and is a source of information, learning, and entertainment
Rationale for Tool Used
I decide to use ClassTool to create educational games that focuses on the specific skills I’m teaching, to
reinforce what the students are learning. I wanted students to have multiple exposures to the skills we
are learning in class and I thought it would be beneficial to the students to set up those games. Since the
students are newcomers and have very limited knowledge of the language I thought practicing trough
games would help them identify the nouns, verbs, and adjectives in sentences.
Instructional Plan
I have four students’ computers in class I will send the students in two groups. I will model to the group
using the Promethean board to introduce them to the educational games, and to explain to them that
they will be learning what is being taught in classroom as they are playing these games. Since I have a
small group of students I will debrief with them individually after each educational game they play using
their scores as one of the talking points.
Student Support
As I decided to use the educational games I kept in mind the level of their knowledge of the English
language. We will play the games on the Promethean board so the students would have an idea on how
to play the games. The language of the game is on their level and they will fell successful as they play it
and this way they will be able to meet the lessons objectives.
Evaluating Plan
After the students have a chance to play the educational games I will check their scores and I will give
them the attached quiz to identify nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
Activity # 4 Supported Research Assignment Design
Instructional Objectives
For this assignment the students will research animals. We are learning about Living Things in Science,
as we move through the unit the students will be learning about animals. They will have to know about
animal’s habitats, characteristics, what do they eat, and enemies. Students will be researching an animal
of their choice, they will be using the internet to research their animals and answer a set of questions
about it. Students will use Power Point to present the information they found from their online
research. Because of the different abilities of the students I chose this simple project because it allows
them to give a simple answer whether it is one word answer or few sentences for more capable
students and organize it on Power Point slides.
In the past I brought books about animals from the school’s Book Room for the students to use. We
have a great selection of informational books that the students can use to complete their projects. After
they write their report I use to provide them with a poster board to display their project on.
For this project students will be required to locate the following information about the animal they
chose:
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Animal’s characteristic
Where do they live
What do they eat
Their enemies
Interesting facts
Research Process
Day one: As we wrap up the “Living Things” unit, I will introduce them to the research project and ask
them to pick an animal from the list of animals I provided for them.
Day two: I will explain the research assignment and demonstrate how the search engine works and point
out the different options it has. I will also set a short cut for the following websites I would like them to
visit Wikipedia, National Geographic, and Animal Planet.
Day three: Students will be given time and the support to locate the following information from the list
of web sites I gave them.
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Animal’s characteristic (the way they look)
Where do they live(habitat)
What do they eat
Their enemies
Interesting information
Day four: The students will continue with their research with my support to gather the necessary
information to complete their tasks.
Day five: I will go over the reasons they will not be allowed to cut and paste the information onto their
Power Point slides and try to explain what plagiarism is.
Days six and seven: Students will have that time to create their PP presentation with the information
they gathered and I will be there to support them.
Day eight: Using the Promethean Board, students will be projecting the Power Points presentation and
sharing with the class the information about their animal.
Rationale for Tools Used
In my Newcomer Center students are not exposed to internet use, they use educational website for
specific skill. As second and third graders they need to be exposed to different technology modes to
meet Michigan Technology Standards. In this project the students will be exposed to Research and
Information Literacy to meet expectations of the Michigan Educational Technology Standards. With my
students limited skills in the English Language and technology I kept the project simple and straight
forward. As Limited English Learners I decided to limit the websites they can visit fearing they will be
overwhelmed with the amount of information that is available to them. I will provide support as well as
encouraging more advanced students to help other students.
Citation of References
I already touched on the topic and I provided more information than what the students were able to
comprehend. This time I will present a simpler version of how to cite the information they used. I will
explain again that we cannot use information right from the source without letting people know where
the information is coming from. I will also require them to list the sources they used from the list I
provided to get them used to the idea.
Benefits of Technology
As newcomers to the country they are at a disadvantage when it comes to technology and language.
Instead of teaching them how to use technology, I take advantage of projects and lessons that I teach
through technology. The students learn technology as they gain content knowledge. Students need to
know the benefit of using the web to gather information needed to complete a task. Furthermore the
students need to be exposed to different ways of locating information and online research is one of
them. Another advantage of using online research is the pictures that the web provides its helps
students’ especially low readers. The different pictures will create an imagery of what is being taught.
** I kept the instructions for the research project to a minimum because I would have to explain it
further in Arabic to them.