Instructional Technology

Themes Across Time: 

Themes taught in a piece of historical fiction like Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry have the potential to feel outdated. Using the theme strategy I created (link to the lesson here), students determined a theme from the selection, used District online research resources, and pulled evidence both from the text as well as the real world to prove the theme was accurate.

Create Your Own Poetry Lesson:

One of my all-time favorite uses of Google Docs' collaborative feature is the lesson plan templates groups use to analyze a poem, write questions and answers about the poem, and present a lesson complete with a media connection of some kind. On the day of presentation, the students present the lesson to the class working as a team to be the teacher and I observe and help out where needed, using the lesson plan they have created to monitor. It is a wonderful way for students to have ownership and be an authority on a genre that students tend to feel the least confident in! Example from one of my groups here. 

Expository-Narrative Accuracy Project:

In 7th grade, it is crucial students understand the difference between the two genres they will soon have to write. Third 9-weeks, I have my students create a lesson I devised that requires students to read a novel and an expository text that is connected to the novel in some way. For example, a student who read The Lightning Thief as a narrative then read an expository text on Greek Mythology. Using textual evidence, students created a multimedia project determining the accuracy of the narrative. The example here includes the video component on the last slide. 

Webquests:

With Webquests, I endeavor to challenge and skill-build. Left dissatisfied by many pre-made webquests, I work on creating a rigorous experience. In my Utopia/Dystopia webquest, students learn how to utilize electronic dictionaries; analyze video, poetry, and art; research real-life Utopian communities; and use a discussion board to create and debate about rules that would be needed to create a utopia. 

TED Talks:

A culminating research product for my students' STEM-centric persuasive unit can be found here. Student samples are not available outside of district due to privacy laws but contact me if you are within district.