Lesson Plan 1 Part 2

                 Have you ever watched a movie like this one?

Chances are, this format for storytelling is not one foreign to you. There are many parts to this way of presenting a story that makes it engaging for children, and sets it apart from traditional book readings. This is not only a great way to present a story to students, but a great way for students to write their own stories to present to the class. There are plenty of applications that can provide necessary software to create a movie like this one, but the most convenient and official looking format is through the use of iMovie, which is included in most Apple computers. 
        For my lesson plan, I'm going to have my students (classmates) create one of these movies using pictures from vintage children's books found on the blog by Burgin Streetman called "Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves" that can be found here. Each one of my students will receive a folder through Google docs including five caption -less pictures of the story, and one picture with the book's cover. They will be given approximately 10 minutes to type up captions to their pictures, creating a short summary of the children's book based on what they can see from the pictures and what they can assume from the title. The photos will need to be saved into the iPhoto application which can be achieved through a simple "drag n drop" technique. They will then go into the iMovie application on their dashboards, place the provided pictures in any order they choose, the story I'm using in iMovie as an example is "Miss Esta Maude's Secret" By W.T. Cummings":

          Students will then click the microphone button on the dashboard running horizontally through the middle of their screen, move the red perpenducular line over the frame where they want to start their narration, click, and then record what they want to say for the specified frame. 

         Chances are, what is recorded will go over the 4 second window automatically given to each frame, which will mean that students will need to adjust frame time according to the length of their recording. 

            They do this by selecting "Clip Adjustments" and expanding time to however long they need sound to go for the clip. They can also decide on how the picture is displayed, it can be moving, cropped, or a still shot of the picture. The can do this by clicking "Cropping, Ken Burns & Rotation."

         

Meeting Diverse Needs Of Learners Through Learner -Centered Strategies and Equitable Access

             Ms. Brown's (pseudonym) second grade ESL classroom had one addition, Lupita (pseudonym) half -way through the year. By now, her class was moving on to reading and writing full sentences in English, both as a class and individually. Ms. Brown had been working tirelessly the first part of the year to bring her classroom this far, and now, Lupita, who spoke fluent Spanish but not a word of English, was far behind the other students. During a writing exercise, where students read a paragraph together, then wrote down a response, Ms. Brown would sit Lupita at a table touching her desk, with a Leapfrog book and headphones. The books had colorful and descriptive pictures and text at the bottom. Lupita could touch the words or the pictures and listen to the English pronunciation and interpretation through the headphones. At times she would raise her hand, and Ms. Brown would come over, speaking to Lupita in Spanish to help her better understand what she was reading.     
            There are many available technologies today that can support the needs of all types of learners. Some include tablets, Smartboards, assistive technologies, interactive books and computers. Having one or more of these technologies available to students, not only makes a show of trust, but can help support learning in individualized instruction in a way that can be difficult to do in a room full of 30+ learners. Technology cannot replace the role of the teacher in the classroom, even if the teacher's role is to simply instruct students how to use them. At times, technology can better track the learning of the individual as well as send information to the teacher quickly about where students are. In the case of assistive technology, it helps student learning become as safe and equal as possible in the classroom community. Overall it can be used to help students achieve to their highest potential if used correctly.
              Soon, Lupita was able to communicate with her peers more confidently both in Spanish and English. She was able to catch up with her peers by doing individualized instruction without the fear of sounding "stupid" or becoming overwhelmed and intimidated. She also felt "special" in comparison to feeling "left out" because she was having fun using playful technology while others wrote in notebooks. The leapfrog also had its own center, so she was not the only student with access to it, and instead was instructed to other centers during rotations.  
               Technology is not a replacement for teaching, but a tool for teachers to use in order to make their classroom environments as safe and productive as possible. 

Global Awareness and Digital-Age Communication

          The internet, among opening up worlds of information and useful ways of sharing information, also provides ways to interact with people across the world. One living in a rural town in Pennsylvania can learn about things going on in a Zulu community in South Africa. Perhaps even more useful for education, American students can Facetime or Skype other students in Australia, or Tweet to their favorite authors, actors and scientists to ask questions, and be more informed. The digital age has destroyed the line that was once drawn between people who were nearly impossible to communicate with and the average student. This opens doors for students to hear more about what is happening currently in any place in the world, as well as building tools for networking and communicating with people across the globe.
           Fan mail, letters and phone calls was once the major way to get ahold of celebrities or recognized figureheads. In the digital age, any person with access to the internet may tweet direct insults, praise or questions to their favorite or least favorite celebrity. This knowledge can be used as classroom activity. For example, the famous artist Ai Wei Wei, in China uses his art as a way to protest the government. In a classroom activity during a unit on social activism, justice or even politics, students can work together to form a question for Ai Wei Wei through Twitter to learn more about his message and methods. It is not a guarantee that students will receive an answer from the artist (which can lead to other discussions such as internet censorship, or translation complications), but that is even an opportunity to work through the disappointments that often comes with this sort of outreach to celebrities. There is also a profound lesson in networking, which is how many, if not most, people secure a job and will secure jobs in the future. Learning to navigate the global digital age is a tool students can and will use for the rest of their lives.
         Another idea is having a classroom partnership with an English -speaking classroom overseas. The classroom can have one -on -one penpals, or the classroom can Skype each other weekly and learn more about the differences and similarities their lifestyles have. This will help students get involved and create a meaningful experience and relationships through digital communication. There are many ways one can go about creating a digitally literate classroom, but it is important to keep parents informed and engaged in their child's use of digital communication.