Settling the Colonies
A WebQuest Activity for 5th Grade
Standards:
History-Social Science
5.3 Students describe the cooperation and conflict that existed among the American Indians and between the Indian nations and the new settlers.
5.4 Students understand the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era.
Listening and Speaking
1.0 Students deliver focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relate to the background and interests of the audience. They evaluate the content of oral communication.
Big Idea/Essential Question:
People move to improve their lives or because they are forced and in doing so, they adapt to the geography of their environment and establish systems of government for order and group survival.
Instructional Objective:
Students will be able to describe the similarities and difference of the various colonies by completing a WebQuest activity which involves researching information pertaining to: geographical characteristics, availability of natural resources, the role of religion, native people, slavery, and economic conditions.
Instructional Materials:
Computer and internet access
Student research worksheets
Construction Paper and Crayons
Grading rubric for class debate (available on WebQuest teacher page)
WebQuest Link:
http://questgarden.com/author/preview.php?u=56025&l=56025-071012094251&a=&p=introduction&pt=student
Student Materials:
Research Worksheet
Pencil/Paper for debate notes
Instructional Input/Guided Practice:
1. Introduce students to the 13 colonies by showing the map provided on the WebQuest.
2. Explain to students that they are going to be divided into three groups (New England, Middle, Southern colony cluster) and they will each represent a single state in their colony cluster.
3. Explain that they have the opportunity to rewrite history because they will prepare for a debate about where to place the capital. Through their research, they will compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of their colonies and prepare to defend their state at The Great Debate.
4. Bring the WebQuest up and walk the students through the introduction, process, and task portions which will explain in detail what the students need to accomplish.
5. Hand out the research worksheet and point out that there are relevant websites linked to each state under the process page that will help them find useful information.
6. Depending on the amount of computers in your class, allow groups of students 15 minute time increments to research their individual states. (This may be spread out over a few days depending on the resources available)
7. Remind students that they need to be preparing for The Great Debate and need to collect as much information to support their state as they can.
8. Have students meet with their Colony Cluster and using a pro/con list, decide which state they will be supporting during The Great Debate.
9. Give students time to write down potential debate questions and defenses.
10. Check in with each of the three groups and make sure they are prepared for the debate.
11. Once the Colony Clusters have decided on a state, have groups create the flag representing their chosen state out of construction paper and crayons.
12. For the debate, have one colony cluster stand at the front of the room with their flag, and field questions from the other two colony clusters. Rotate until all colony clusters have presented their reasoning for being the best location for the capital.
13. The winning state can be selected in two ways: 1) classroom vote or 2) based on the presented material, the teacher decides which colony cluster presented the best case. A grading rubric for research findings and debate criteria are available under the Teacher Page on the WebQuest.
Closure:
Help students connect the trials and tribulations of the settlement of the 13 colonies to the process they experienced by preparing for the class debate.
Assessment:
A grading rubric for individual research findings and debate criteria are available under the Teacher Page on the WebQuest.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Katie McIntosh- ESA
ESA - Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
Vygotsky maintained that children follow adults’ examples and gradually develop the ability to do certain tasks without help or assistance. He called the difference between what a child can do with help and what he or she can do without guidance, the “Zone of Proximal Development.” According to Vygotsky, a classroom that makes the best use of all of its students’ ZPDs includes a teacher that acts as a scaffold.
The concept of scaffolding is the assistance that helps children complete tasks they cannot complete independently. The idea is to assist without denying the student’s need to build his or her own foundation. The challenge for the teacher is to find the optimal balance between supporting the student and pushing the student to act independently.
Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development can be applied to third grade instruction. For example, to effectively scaffold a student, the teacher should stay one step ahead of the student, always challenging him or her to reach beyond his or her current ability level. If third graders were asked to write a three-paragraph story about a personal experience, the teacher could model how to begin the first paragraph with a topic sentence. To effectively scaffold students within their ZPDs, a teacher should also have an awareness of the different roles students and teachers assume throughout the collaborative process. For example, students could be asked to write a cinquin poem about winter on the computer. The teacher might allow the students to put any kind of computer graphics on their paper, but the teacher would assist the students enhancing the vivid vocabulary in the poem. In addition, the classroom should be set up in such a way to foster group work and student collaboration in order to allow students to take on the role of instructor with their peers as they master the skills at hand.
Erikson's Theory Applied to Middle Grades
According to Erikson’s theory, through age 11, children are in the Industry versus Inferiority stage where children try to establish a sense of self-worth. Beginning in adolescence, Erikson believed that children are in the Identity versus Identity Confusion stage where they are trying to figure out who they are and how they can act as many different roles (child, student, friend, brother). Therefore, students in sixth grade and middle school are transitioning from the Industry versus Inferiority stage to Identity versus Identity Confusion stage. They will be struggling with developing a sense of self worth so they need lots of positive reinforcement and they need to feel successful and accomplished. Peers are also becoming more important in students’ lives as they figure out who they are. Students may feel more self-conscious so group or paired work will help relieve some of that anxiety.
An example of an activity that Erikson would say would be appropriate for this age group would be conducting a poll on who the students want for president and then grouping them by who they voted for. Each group will research their candidate and their candidate’s position on various topics. Then they will form an argument about why everyone else should vote for their candidate and present it to the class. In another lesson, students studying Ancient Greece were given a chance to go back in time and live in either Sparta or Athens. Students then had to get into their city-state groups and list the pros and cons of their city-state. As a group they could come up with changes they would like to make to their cities to improve the quality of life for citizens. In both of these activities, students are working together so they are given a chance to feel successful as a part of a group.
An example of an activity that Erikson would say would be appropriate for this age group would be conducting a poll on who the students want for president and then grouping them by who they voted for. Each group will research their candidate and their candidate’s position on various topics. Then they will form an argument about why everyone else should vote for their candidate and present it to the class. In another lesson, students studying Ancient Greece were given a chance to go back in time and live in either Sparta or Athens. Students then had to get into their city-state groups and list the pros and cons of their city-state. As a group they could come up with changes they would like to make to their cities to improve the quality of life for citizens. In both of these activities, students are working together so they are given a chance to feel successful as a part of a group.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences claims that individuals have multiple forms of intelligence as opposed to a general intelligence. He proposed 8 different forms of intelligence.
Linguistic
· Sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, and meaning of words and the functions of language
· Poet, journalist
Logico-mathematical
· Sensitivity to, and capacity to detect, logical or numerical patterns; ability to handle long chains of logical reasoning
· mathematician
Musical
· Ability to produce and appreciate pitch, rhythm (or melody), and aesthetic quality of the forms of musical expressiveness
· Instrumentalist, composer
Spatial
· Ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately, to perform experience in the absence of relevant stimuli.
· Sculptor, navigator
Bodily-Kinesthetic
· Ability to use the body skillfully for expressive as well as goal-directed purposes; ability to handle objects skillfully
· Dancer, athlete
Naturalistic
· Ability to recognize and classify all varieties of animals, minerals, and plants
· biologist
Interpersonal
· Ability to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, temperaments, motivations, and intentions of others
· Therapist, salesperson
Intrapersonal
· Ability to discriminate complex inner feelings and to use them to guide one’s own behavior; knowledge of one’s own strengths, weaknesses, desire, and intelligences.
· Person with detailed, accurate self-knowledge
v All of these intelligences show that no child is going to learn the same as everyone else within the classroom. It is imperative to use a variety of methods and teaching skills in order to reach all levels of intelligence. Use music, art, movement, and math throughout all lessons in order to gain an understanding from students whom may not comprehend if taught through direct instruction, worksheets, or some other means of intelligence.
Linguistic
· Sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, and meaning of words and the functions of language
· Poet, journalist
Logico-mathematical
· Sensitivity to, and capacity to detect, logical or numerical patterns; ability to handle long chains of logical reasoning
· mathematician
Musical
· Ability to produce and appreciate pitch, rhythm (or melody), and aesthetic quality of the forms of musical expressiveness
· Instrumentalist, composer
Spatial
· Ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately, to perform experience in the absence of relevant stimuli.
· Sculptor, navigator
Bodily-Kinesthetic
· Ability to use the body skillfully for expressive as well as goal-directed purposes; ability to handle objects skillfully
· Dancer, athlete
Naturalistic
· Ability to recognize and classify all varieties of animals, minerals, and plants
· biologist
Interpersonal
· Ability to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, temperaments, motivations, and intentions of others
· Therapist, salesperson
Intrapersonal
· Ability to discriminate complex inner feelings and to use them to guide one’s own behavior; knowledge of one’s own strengths, weaknesses, desire, and intelligences.
· Person with detailed, accurate self-knowledge
v All of these intelligences show that no child is going to learn the same as everyone else within the classroom. It is imperative to use a variety of methods and teaching skills in order to reach all levels of intelligence. Use music, art, movement, and math throughout all lessons in order to gain an understanding from students whom may not comprehend if taught through direct instruction, worksheets, or some other means of intelligence.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
According to Piaget’s theory, there are three stages that school aged children encounter. The first years of elementary school, kindergarten and first grade, children are experiencing the preoperational stage of development. This stage lasts from 2 to 6 years of age. In this stage, the usage of symbols is crucial to learning. Students associate words with mental images and gestures. It is difficult for students at this age to distinguish appearance from reality and to take other points of view into consideration. The most common terms to describe children in this stage are egocentrism and centration, which mean that they have trouble understanding anything outside of their viewpoint.
The next stage of development encompasses ages seven to eleven, or grades one through six. This stage is known as the concrete operational phase. At this period in development, children are learning how to take others opinions and viewpoints into account, known as decentration. Their levels of thinking also increase to include logic, categorization, and reversibility. At age 8, children begin to understand conservation, a term used to explain that properties of an object will remain the same even if altered, such as shape or container. For example, if you pour water from a cup into a vase, there is still the same amount of water; it has only changed to the shape of the new container. At higher grades, classifications and serial orders become a large part of their thinking requirements. Gained in the concrete operational stage, classifying can help students to retrieve information from previous knowledge and apply it to the task at hand. This form of thinking is especially important when it comes to solving difficult math problems, analyzing literature, or simply memorizing facts.
The final stage, according to Piaget, that children experience is known as the formal operational stage. This phase includes children at age 12 and caries them into adulthood. For grades seven and eight, junior high, the most common theme that children are struggling with is personal identity. In this point in life, children are learning to make logical connections and chained reasoning which is important in higher level thinking. They also learn the important skill of deductive reasoning and are able to answer and understand hypothetical problems. At these grades, logic and reference to previously learned information is crucial. The development at this age allows for greater understanding of difficult problems in all subjects.
The next stage of development encompasses ages seven to eleven, or grades one through six. This stage is known as the concrete operational phase. At this period in development, children are learning how to take others opinions and viewpoints into account, known as decentration. Their levels of thinking also increase to include logic, categorization, and reversibility. At age 8, children begin to understand conservation, a term used to explain that properties of an object will remain the same even if altered, such as shape or container. For example, if you pour water from a cup into a vase, there is still the same amount of water; it has only changed to the shape of the new container. At higher grades, classifications and serial orders become a large part of their thinking requirements. Gained in the concrete operational stage, classifying can help students to retrieve information from previous knowledge and apply it to the task at hand. This form of thinking is especially important when it comes to solving difficult math problems, analyzing literature, or simply memorizing facts.
The final stage, according to Piaget, that children experience is known as the formal operational stage. This phase includes children at age 12 and caries them into adulthood. For grades seven and eight, junior high, the most common theme that children are struggling with is personal identity. In this point in life, children are learning to make logical connections and chained reasoning which is important in higher level thinking. They also learn the important skill of deductive reasoning and are able to answer and understand hypothetical problems. At these grades, logic and reference to previously learned information is crucial. The development at this age allows for greater understanding of difficult problems in all subjects.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Learning Theories
Learning Theories
Piaget’s theories of equilibrium- using schemes:
The foundation of this theory is based on the idea that people have an intrinsic need for understanding, order, and certainty. Piaget describes this need for understanding as the drive for equilibrium. For example, when we can explain new experiences, we remain in equilibrium; when we can’t, our equilibrium is disrupted and we are motivated to reestablish it. When our thinking advances as a result of regaining equilibrium, development occurs. To achieve and maintain equilibrium, people use two related process: organization and adaptation. People create schemes in order to reach equilibrium. Equilibrium must be maintained with new experiences through the processes of accommodation (scheme modified) and assimilation (stimulus modified).
Vocabulary Terms:
Equilibrium: A state of being able to explain new experiences by using existing schemes.
Schemes: Actions or mental operations that represent our constructed understanding of the world.
Organization: The process of forming and using schemes.
Adaptation: The process of adjusting schemes and experiences to each other to maintain equilibrium.
Accommodation: A form of adaptation in which an existing scheme is modified and a new one is created in response to experience.
Assimilation: A form of adaptation in which an experience in the environment is incorporated into an existing scheme.
Instructional Activities:
· Keep the developmental needs of the students in mind when designing and implementing instruction.
· Use social interaction to help students verbalize their developing understanding.
· Design learning experiences as developmental bridges to more advanced stages of development.
· Provide concrete experiences that represent abstract concepts and principles.
· Provide students with developmentally appropriate practice in reasoning.
Learning Preferences and/or Styles:
The concept of learning style has at least three implications for teachers. First, it reminds us of the need to vary instruction, since no instruction strategy will be preferred by all students. Second, it suggests that we should help students understand how they learn most effectively. Third, awareness of learning style can increase our sensitivity to differences in our students, making it more likely that we will respond to our students as individuals.
Many descriptions of learning style distinguish between deep and surface approaches to processing information. Deep-processing approaches result in higher achievement if tests focus on understanding and application, but surface approaches can be successful if tests emphasize fact learning and memorization. Students who use deep-processing approaches also tend to be more intrinsically motivated and self-regulated, whereas those who use surface approaches tend to be more motivated by high grades and their performance compared to others.
Learning Styles: Students’ personal approaches to learning, problem solving, and processing information.
Learning Styles: (students’ learning preferences vary)
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Tactile
Piaget’s theories of equilibrium- using schemes:
The foundation of this theory is based on the idea that people have an intrinsic need for understanding, order, and certainty. Piaget describes this need for understanding as the drive for equilibrium. For example, when we can explain new experiences, we remain in equilibrium; when we can’t, our equilibrium is disrupted and we are motivated to reestablish it. When our thinking advances as a result of regaining equilibrium, development occurs. To achieve and maintain equilibrium, people use two related process: organization and adaptation. People create schemes in order to reach equilibrium. Equilibrium must be maintained with new experiences through the processes of accommodation (scheme modified) and assimilation (stimulus modified).
Vocabulary Terms:
Equilibrium: A state of being able to explain new experiences by using existing schemes.
Schemes: Actions or mental operations that represent our constructed understanding of the world.
Organization: The process of forming and using schemes.
Adaptation: The process of adjusting schemes and experiences to each other to maintain equilibrium.
Accommodation: A form of adaptation in which an existing scheme is modified and a new one is created in response to experience.
Assimilation: A form of adaptation in which an experience in the environment is incorporated into an existing scheme.
Instructional Activities:
· Keep the developmental needs of the students in mind when designing and implementing instruction.
· Use social interaction to help students verbalize their developing understanding.
· Design learning experiences as developmental bridges to more advanced stages of development.
· Provide concrete experiences that represent abstract concepts and principles.
· Provide students with developmentally appropriate practice in reasoning.
Learning Preferences and/or Styles:
The concept of learning style has at least three implications for teachers. First, it reminds us of the need to vary instruction, since no instruction strategy will be preferred by all students. Second, it suggests that we should help students understand how they learn most effectively. Third, awareness of learning style can increase our sensitivity to differences in our students, making it more likely that we will respond to our students as individuals.
Many descriptions of learning style distinguish between deep and surface approaches to processing information. Deep-processing approaches result in higher achievement if tests focus on understanding and application, but surface approaches can be successful if tests emphasize fact learning and memorization. Students who use deep-processing approaches also tend to be more intrinsically motivated and self-regulated, whereas those who use surface approaches tend to be more motivated by high grades and their performance compared to others.
Learning Styles: Students’ personal approaches to learning, problem solving, and processing information.
Learning Styles: (students’ learning preferences vary)
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Tactile
Blooms Levels of Learning
Bloom’s Theory of Learning
Benjamin Bloom thought of the idea of six steps to learning, the levels pertain to thinking and are also the cognitive domain. They start at the bottom then move up as the learner acquires more knowledge. This is a picture representing Bloom’s levels:
This staircase starts with the idea of recall, or knowledge. This expresses the natural urge to discuss previously learned material and provides a basis for future learning and higher levels of thinking. Basically, people need to know information and be able to recall it for use in order to achieve most things in life from a conversation to a degree. An example of this is when a student can tell you a dictionary definition of a vocabulary word.
Another step up is to grasp an idea, otherwise know as comprehension. One can know facts, but in order to be a higher level thinker that person must be able to translate that knowledge wisely and have an understanding of what they mean. Comprehension is only complete once a person is able to explain or restate ideas, proving they grasp a certain topic. To exhibit this level a student might define a word for you using their own language, not just from a dictionary.
After a person has recalled correct information and translated it into meaning, they are then able to apply that knowledge to a new situation. This step involves not only knowing information but then using it to solve problems in appropriate settings. Another way to look at this is if the same student who can describe a word’s meaning to you can then use it in a new sentence or a conversation.
Once a person has mastered the previous levels, then they are able to analyze what has happened. This involves breaking up the known information into helps bits of knowledge, such as the roots to a word. If a student can explain that a particular word can be broken up into parts which together mean the whole, then this step has been accomplished for that word.
Synthesis is the ability to have new innovations and piece together new wholes from parts of an idea. Basically, using the vocabulary reference, if a student can start with two root words and create a new meaningful word they have reached this stage or learning. In order to synthesize something an emphasis is put on unique understandings and creative relationships.
The last and most difficult stage of learning, according to Bloom, is that of evaluation and judgment. This type of learning involves every step in order to review and pronounce evidence and ideas so one can then make appropriate judgments and statements based in fact.
I got this information mostly from: http://oaks.nvg.org/taxonomy-bloom.html
Benjamin Bloom thought of the idea of six steps to learning, the levels pertain to thinking and are also the cognitive domain. They start at the bottom then move up as the learner acquires more knowledge. This is a picture representing Bloom’s levels:
This staircase starts with the idea of recall, or knowledge. This expresses the natural urge to discuss previously learned material and provides a basis for future learning and higher levels of thinking. Basically, people need to know information and be able to recall it for use in order to achieve most things in life from a conversation to a degree. An example of this is when a student can tell you a dictionary definition of a vocabulary word.
Another step up is to grasp an idea, otherwise know as comprehension. One can know facts, but in order to be a higher level thinker that person must be able to translate that knowledge wisely and have an understanding of what they mean. Comprehension is only complete once a person is able to explain or restate ideas, proving they grasp a certain topic. To exhibit this level a student might define a word for you using their own language, not just from a dictionary.
After a person has recalled correct information and translated it into meaning, they are then able to apply that knowledge to a new situation. This step involves not only knowing information but then using it to solve problems in appropriate settings. Another way to look at this is if the same student who can describe a word’s meaning to you can then use it in a new sentence or a conversation.
Once a person has mastered the previous levels, then they are able to analyze what has happened. This involves breaking up the known information into helps bits of knowledge, such as the roots to a word. If a student can explain that a particular word can be broken up into parts which together mean the whole, then this step has been accomplished for that word.
Synthesis is the ability to have new innovations and piece together new wholes from parts of an idea. Basically, using the vocabulary reference, if a student can start with two root words and create a new meaningful word they have reached this stage or learning. In order to synthesize something an emphasis is put on unique understandings and creative relationships.
The last and most difficult stage of learning, according to Bloom, is that of evaluation and judgment. This type of learning involves every step in order to review and pronounce evidence and ideas so one can then make appropriate judgments and statements based in fact.
I got this information mostly from: http://oaks.nvg.org/taxonomy-bloom.html
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