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Similar to Blended instruction the roaring twenties meets coursesites capstone
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Blended instruction the roaring twenties meets coursesites capstone
- 1. Blended Instruction: The Roaring Twenties Meets Coursesites Prepared by Diane Waldron For EDU 699 Professor Waters
- 3. Entering “AmericanLit 2013: Junior English”
- 4. What students see when they enter “Junior English”
- 5. Resources
- 7. “The Great Gatsby” Course Folders
- 8. Contents of the Pre-reading Folder
- 9. What the Survey Looks Like
- 10. The Pre-Reading Discussion Forum
- 11. At the discussion forum, students click on “Create Thread”
- 12. An example initial post… Is it okay to stay with someone who you simply stopped loving for the rest of your life? No it is not okay! I strongly disagree that "when two people get married they should stay together no matter what". If you stay with that person I can guarantee you that you will live a miserable life. You will be subjected to lack of love and affection. We are humans and having someone else's love is vital to us as an individual. Yes, I know that there are some circumstances where there are children involve in the relationship, but it does not define whether staying together or getting a divorce would be the best solution. Just to let you know there have different options. For example sharing the custody of the child but living separately is one. What do you think? Today society plays a major role in "brainwashing" humans mind. There is a dilema on whether a male has the right to physically abuse a women. In this case I certainly agree that "It's never all right for a man to hit a women." First of all, on the minute a male puts his hands on a women he his envading her personal space as well as her unalienable freedoms. Why would you personally hit a women? Just to shut her mouth when you are mad? It is not worth! you are better off by leaving the setting. Sit down and think about your action, what would be the consequences. It is proven that women are much smaller and weaker than guys. And how can a women defend herself? By kicking a guy on his testicles? Trust me my fellow guys, you better respect a woman! Show them that your mother and father tuaght you how to treat a women.
- 13. Two Replies… I absolutely agree with your statement that it doesnt matter if two people are married, they should totally have the option of not being together anymore. Alot of times, people who have been married just stop loving each other for whatever reason. Or even in some situations, they feel that they should end it because it will avoid bigger issues in the future. There are many different scenarios of this touchy subject but overall i feel that even if two people are married, they should have the right to seperate if thats what they wish. I would also have to agree with you and *****, if two people decde to not be together so be it. Communication is the key to LOVE without if its just two people and thier feelings not really a relationship. As i witness to my parents reunion i can honestly say that thier is more communication and that was the reason for the break up. ten years later they have repaired the love with communication and the skills nessasary to keep a relatonship.
- 15. “View Rubric”, a handy feature
- 16. Discussion Forum Rubric 1 The Discussion Forum Rubric The Discussion Forum Rubric assesses students in five areas: Analysis of Question/Topic Responses to Classmates Respect Mechanics Length Analysis of Question or Topic • Novice 1 (5%) points • Posting is inaccurate or does not address question or topic. • Competent 2 (10%) points • Initial discussion board lacks accuracy and detail • Proficient 3 (15%) points • Initial discussion board post lacks some accuracy or detail • Advanced 4 (20%) points • Initial discussion board post is written accurately and with detail
- 17. Discussion Forum Rubric 2 Responses to Classmates • Novice 1 (5%) points • Responds to 1 classmate; demonstrates little awareness of initial post • Competent 2 (10%) points • Responds thoughtfully to 1 classmate • Proficient 3 (15%) points • Responses (2 or more) are thoughtful and on topic but do not advance the discussion • Advanced 4 (20%) points • Responses (2or more) are thoughtful, on topic, and advance the discussion Respect • Novice 1 (5%) points • Postings and responses are disrespectful in tone • Competent 2 (10%) points • Postings and responses are somewhat disrespectful or sarcastic • Proficient 3 (15%) points • Most postings and responses are respectful in tone • Advanced 4 (20%) points • All postings and responses are respectful in tone
- 18. Discussion Forum Rubric 3 Mechanics • Novice 1 (5%) points • Postings contain more than 6 spelling, punctuation, or grammar errors • Competent 2 (10%) points • Postings contain 4-6 spelling, punctuation, or grammar errors • Proficient 3 (15%) points • Postings contain 1-3 spelling, punctuation, or grammar errors • Advanced 4 (20%) points • All postings are mechanically and grammatically correct Length • Novice 1 (5%) points • Initial postings are fewer than 75 words and responses are fewer than 30 words • Competent 2 (10%) points • Initial postings are fewer than 100 but more than 75 words in length and responses are fewer than 50 but at least 30 words in length • Proficient 3 (15%) points • Initial postings are at least 100 words in length and responses are fewer than 50 but at least 30 words in length • Advanced 4 (20%) points • Initial postings are at least 100 words in length and responses are at least 50 words in length
- 21. Chapter Two Blog Entries • The best type of narrator is the third person omnicent, there are multiple reasons why this is the best type of narrator. For one this narrator tells you about the story without being involved, while the third person limited is told by someone who has some type of involvement with the story and their version could be biased of, wrong because they can become inebriated. The third person omnicent compared to the first person point of view is the same as the third person limited, but the first person also dosn't have as much info as the third persons. Though overall the Third person omnicent is the best as it is told by a narrator that has nothing to do with the story, and probably has all the information already.
- 22. Blog Entry #2 • I believe that the third person omniscient point of view is the most reliable because they may know the thoughts and feelings of two or more characters. Unlike first person point of view and third person limited point of view, the third person omniscient ideas are not based just on one character perspective. On the contrary, ideas are based on the combination of many characters perspectives. Here the narrator’s reliability might help us understand the theme better than the first person point of view or third person limited point of view could have. I think including more than one type of point of view will help us understand a character with more depth as well.
- 23. Blog Entry #3 • I believe the best narrator is first person. Although, compared to third person omniscient who may know more character's thoughts and feelings, when its coming from within that ONE person you get more reliable information. With third person omniscient they can be possibly hiding certain key points from us, thus making it harder to believe in them because what would be their reasoning as to keeping something away from the reader ? Would they be so reliable then ? The information being hidden may be exactly what's needed to further understand a situation or character. When you tell a story first-hand, some may believe its bias, but technically whether the narrator is talking about his own thoughts or someone else's its based on his/her perspective. We will never be able to know what the third person omniscient narrator is hiding or how much they know that they are not willingly sharing with the readers. Some people may not have the gift of being able to CORRECTLY read a person and determine how they think so i don't think it makes them RELIABLE. If i'm asking you personal questions about YOU i have a bigger chance of finding out the truth rather than you guessing what someone else's answer might be since they're on the outside.
- 25. Chapter Three: Introducing the Group Project
- 26. Chapter Four
- 27. Chapter Five
- 28. Chapter Six
- 29. Chapter Seven
- 30. Chapter Eight
- 31. Chapter Nine
- 33. Completed with many thanks to Professor Waters and the students in Honors English.
Editor's Notes
- Welcome to Blended Instruction: The Roaring Twenties Meets Coursesites. This presentation documents a unit of blended instruction created for a Junior English class for their study of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel, The Great Gatsby.
- Coursesites is a free online learning management system that can be used as the technology component of blended instruction. In Coursesites, the instructor creates an online classroom with learning activities students can access at any time, wherever they can connect to the Internet.
- Instructors can access courses to learn more about how to use Coursesites to create effective online instruction. Coursesites is very user-friendly, but with so many features and tools, a little guidance goes a long way toward the successful design and implementation of blended instruction.
- When students enter the “Junior English” course, this is the page they encounter first. On the left is a list of course features that students can access with a click of their mouse. By clicking on the “Chapters” folder, students access the learning activities for the unit.
- The unit Resources link is on the left, under Discussion and Blogs. In Resources, students can find a rubric for their final group project; a chart to help them monitor their progress through each chapter…
- …as well as links to the online text of the novel; an audio recording of the novel; Purdue OWL; chapter vocabulary; dictionary.com; and the Lesson Plans for the unit.
- This course, or unit of study, has eleven folders; a pre-reading folder, a folder for each of the nine chapters of the novel, and a post-reading folder. Students click on the folder for the chapter they are currently studying to access the learning activities for that chapter.
- By clicking on the Pre-reading folder, students can access the three pre-reading activities. The first activity is an online survey, the second is a discussion forum based on the survey questions, and the third is an informational reading and summarizing activity designed to familiarize students with the novel’s setting.
- The online pre-reading survey is a Likert type survey.Students click on the circle beside the word(s) that describe the degree to which they agree or disagree with each statement. When they have clicked a choice for each statement, students click “Save and Submit” and the instructor receives notification that the student has submitted the survey.
- Students click on “Pre-reading Survey Reflections” to enter the pre-reading discussion forum.
- After clicking “Create Thread” students read the forum discussion question or prompt. Then, students write an initial post, responding to the question or prompt by writing in the Message box. When they have written and edited their post, students click “Submit” to create a new discussion thread in the forum that other students in the class can read and reply to.
- Student “A” wrote this initial post (misspellings are original student text), addressing two items from the pre-reading survey. As you can see, this student had a lot to “say” about these concepts that will be encountered in the novel.
- In the online discussion forum, students can engage in deep, respectful sharing of ideas. Students can take the time they need to think over what other students have written before formulating a reply. This type of reflective sharing and development of understanding is one benefit of using online discussion forums.
- In the Setting Assignment, links to History.com, Purdue’s Online Writing Lab , and a “map” of the fictional East and West Egg allow students immediate, any time access to resources that will help them understand the setting of the novel. Students can also view the rubric for the informational text summary at any time while they are writing the summary.
- Clicking “View Rubric” opens the scoring rubric for the Informational Text Summary. The summary was assessed for summarizing skills, organization, source citation, mechanics, and length. Descriptors at each score level guide students as they write the summary.
- The Discussion Forum Rubric assesses student discussion forum posts in five areas: analysis of question or topic, responses to classmates, respect, mechanics, and length.Analysis assesses the student’s initial post for understanding of the text or concept being addressed.
- Responding to classmates requires that students read and understand what other students have written, then develop and share their own ideas in written replies. Respect for another’s ideas, and using language that is respectful to the whole class is essential when writings are publicized in a discussion forum.
- Whether or not to require students to write in Standard English is a topic of debate. Which is more important, the development of student critical thinking, or the development of basic writing skills? Does attention to form lessen student creativity? This instructor prefers that students understand that grammar will be graded; the message box for the discussion forums is equipped with spell check to make basic editing convenient for students.The length requirement sets the standard for how long a “good” response should be. The word count feature in the text box allows students to keep track of their word count as they are writing.
- Students are expected to view the instructional video prior to class. During class discussion, students have the opportunity to ask questions and clarify misconceptions. Chapter One also has an online chapter quiz, a discussion forum question that links the text with the literary concept in the instructional video, and a chapter vocabulary quiz.This pattern of instructional activities is repeated within each chapter folder, to facilitate student use of Coursesites.
- The Chapter Two folder includes an online quiz about the instructional video, and a blog entry. These are in addition to the chapter quiz, discussion forum, and vocabulary quiz.
- The blog in chapter two is another tool that encourages students to share their ideas in a public forum. The requirement for the blog was very simple: one hundred words minimum, on topic.
- The blog was helpful for students who were struggling with the chapter concepts. Students could read blog entries written by other students in order to clarify their understanding before writing their own entries.
- For students who do not have ready internet access, the idea of contributing to a blog was somewhat overwhelming. Contributing to the blog helped students to find their online “voice”.
- In the Chapter Three folder, the final group project is introduced. Students will complete the final project in lieu of an end of novel test. The final project requires students to work collaboratively to apply all of the unit concepts to the creation of a Great Gatsby wiki or website.
- A closer view of the final group project shows how the suggested group roles provide a structure for students to work to their strengths while collaborating within their groups.
- The Chapter Four folder begins with an instructional video reviewing the idea of themes in literature, followed by a quiz to assess student understanding of the presentation. Chapter four also includes a chapter quiz, a discussion forum, the first assignment for the group project, and a vocabulary quiz. The first group assignment is a character gallery. Students will use Power Point or Prezi to create their character gallery, then link or upload their presentation to their group wiki or website.
- The Chapter Five folder opens with an instructional video about figurative language and using context clues. Like preceding chapters, Chapter Five contains a chapter quiz, a discussion forum, a reference to the final project, and a vocabulary quiz.
- In the Chapter Six folder, the video had to be linked without creating a mash-up. Students click the link to access the You Tube video about tragic heroes. The chapter quiz and discussion forum, and vocabulary quiz follow, and the second section of the final project is introduced. The second section of the final project directs students to analyze symbolism in The Great Gatsby. Students choose the three most important symbols in the novel then add them to their wiki or website in a creative way.
- The PowerPoint “Climax in Literature” was created specifically for this project. The Chapter Seven folder also includes a chapter quiz, a discussion forum, a vocabulary quiz, and an introduction to the third section of the final project. The third section of the final project is a figurative language montage, to be linked or uploaded to the group wiki or website.
- The Chapter Eight folder revisits the complex characterization video, as students analyze how the characters have changed from the beginning of the novel. This folder includes a chapter quiz, discussion forum, vocabulary quiz, and the fourth section of the final project.The fourth section of the final project directs students to determine one main theme of The Great Gatsby, then add it to their wiki or website.
- The Chapter Nine folder brings the novel to a close, with a look at plot structure, a chapter quiz, a vocabulary quiz, and the last section of the final project.For the last section of the final project, students will create a plot presentation to illustrate the parts of the novel’s plot.There is no discussion forum for Chapter Nine, as students are already collaborating on their final projects.
- The post-reading folder directs students to complete their final projects, and includes a final survey. This survey, a Likert-type survey, with the same responses as the pre-reading survey, seeks student feedback and perceptions of their experiences using the online classroom.