Mrs. Nelson’s Third Grade Class

Spanish Oaks Elementary

Technology in the Classroom

By: Carisa Fawcett

lessonobjective

Standard 8: Writing-Students write daily to communicate effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences.

Objective 1: Prepare to write by gathering and organizing information and ideas (pre-writing).

b. Select and narrow a topic from generated ideas.

d. Use a variety of graphic organizers to organize information.

Objective 2: Compose a written draft.

a. Draft ideas on paper in an organized manner utilizing words and sentences (e.g., beginning, middle, end; main idea; details; characterization; setting; plot).

c. Use strong verbs and vivid language.

Objective 3: Revise by elaborating and clarifying written draft.

The main purpose was

to teach the students

how to use a story-

mapping chart to help

them organize

information.

This specifically included

identifying the parts of

a story.

The other objectives

were accomplished in

the process and

helped to enhance the

lesson.

***This lesson took place

over two weeks.

Story-mapping is a way to organize ideas before writing.

selecting a

topic

After the powerpoint, we got together as a class to work

on the first step in the process: selecting a topic.

At this time, I also explained that the students would be

writing this as a class and everyone needed to agree on

the topic. I also told them we would be illustrating the story

and making it into a movie. This got them excited and

helped them begin brainstorming.

It was a challenge because all of the students had ideas

that they wanted to share and we had to narrow it down to

one. We voted and the most popular was “love and

chickens.”

Topics suggested by the class:

•adventure in the desert

•adventure in space

•medieval times

•adventure to disneyland

•the baseball game

•love and chickens

After the topic was

chosen, the class

came up with a

title:

assigning

sectionsEach table was in charge of

a section.

After they were assigned,

they worked as a group to

fill in details for their

section.

writing details

rough drafts----final drafts

As groups, the students put

their ideas together and

wrote a rough draft of their

section.

Once everyone finished the

rough draft, the groups

lined up and read what they

had in order. At this stage,

students revised and fixed

parts of the story.

After they approved their

section with the rest of the

class, they split it up into

different parts so that each

person in the group could

write a section.

illustrating

recording

After I organized the illustrations and text on my

computer, I had the students come out in their

groups and record their sections on my laptop.

The students really enjoyed this part of the

project.

final product

The movie was the final product. The students were excited to see how their story turned out.

The movie is a fun way for students to see how organizing information can lead to writing a fun story. Even when you are working with a large group.

4 principles of technology Student Use of Technology:

In this lesson, I was the main user of technology because I taught the lesson using a powerpoint. However, as I taught I invited student participation by asking questions.

At the end when students recorded their section, they had an opportunity to use the technology and then listen to themselves. I thought this was very beneficial for them because they could hear how fluent or jumbled their reading sounded. I think its important for them to hear themselves because it will motivate them to read more fluently.

Technology Use is Essential:

I don’t think it was absolutely essential, but I think that it increased the amount of learning that took place. They don’t interact with a lot of technology, so this unit was special for them.

Because they don’t have many opportunities to use technology, the technology did act as a motivational factor. But I think that it was a success because the students enjoyed the learning experience.

Focus on Learning Task:

The powerpoint specifically focused on the graphic organizer. It taught them how to use it. As I showed the powerpoint, I modeled by giving an example topic, subtopic and supporting details.

I think the powerpoint is much more interactive than writing on the whiteboard and allows students to have a visual stimulation in the lesson.

Added Value:

It was not hard to use the powerpoint to teach about story-mapping, it did require more time to prepare though.

I think it added value by giving the students specific information to focus on at one time. The lesson flowed more smoothly because the students could read and watch the powerpoint, as well as hear what I was saying to explain the assignment.

I wouldn’t have been able to put a movie together without technology. I think the movie part of the assignment was exciting and helped the students look forward to writing the story.