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Book group website lesson plan
- 1. BOOK GROUP WEBSITE TECHNOFIEDLESSON PLAN KATHRYN READ C&I 515
- 2. LESSON PLAN OVERVIEW •A traditional literature circle consists of specific roles such as discussion director, illustrator, connector, summarizer, and vocabulary specialist. While these roles are a good way to introduce students to topics that they can discuss as they read their novels, I find them somewhat stiff and at times artificial. • My technofied lesson takes the basic collaborative idea of a lit circle and has students create different ways to communicate their ideas and musings about the text through a group website.
- 3. RESEARCH • Bowers-Campbell’s (2011)virtual literature circles focused mainly on discussion threads regarding a specific text. She concludes, “Virtual literature circles reward student autonomy, encourage responsible active learning, and provide heat and energy to discussions … Virtual literature circles facilitated collaborative, socially constructed affiliations while also compelling students to engage deeply with text” (p. 565). • Grisham and Wolsey (2006) also conducted an experiment with threaded discussions and determined, “the electronic community created a sense of home where authentic student voices were encouraged; the social setting offered students comfort and context for learning, the opportunity to demonstrate competence, and the chance to contribute to the learning of the group members” (p. 659).
- 4. LESSON OBJECTIVES • Studentswill be able to • Identify events of a novel’s plot structure • Use textual evidence to support opinion and to substantiate ideas about a novel’s characters and purpose • Collaborate with classmates to create a book group website • Express their ideas clearly with standard English • Use technology to communicate about a text in meaningful and creative ways
- 5. LESSON PLAN BASICS– ACTIVITIES OVERVIEW • Divide students into groups of 3 to 5 based on book choice or mixed abilities if everyone is reading the same text. Post their groups along with the assignment website on Google Classroom. • Introduce Google Sites to the class. Explain the basic how-to’s such as adding pages, text, images, and other files. Show students assignment website with different topics to be considered. • Answer any questions and then have students begin the reading and discussion process. Each student will make individual contributions to several of the website pages, but there are others which will require close collaboration. • Review as a class what each topic requires for completion. One topic per day is recommended so students can focus easily. Providing a calendar on Google Classroom with suggested due dates will help pace students as they complete their website work. See table below. • Likewise, mini-lessons on how to use different features of Google Sites is helpful as students post their insights. Advise students who know how to navigate Google Sites to help those who are new to this technology. • At the end of each class have students quickly reflect on the work they completed as well as the work they still need to finish. • After each group has completed reading their texts and working on their websites, provide time for them to polish each section of the website before they official publish it and send it out for review. • Mini due date calendar for pacing could be posted on Google Classroom so students aren’t scrambling to finish everything in one class period.
- 6. ONE EXAMPLE OFTRADITIONAL VS. TECHNOFIED • Vocabulary Finder or Word Wizard • Find words in the text that might be confusing • Write down the word and page # where you found it • Look for a definition of the word and record it with the word • Share your words with the group • Vocabulary Google Slide • In your groups, find a word in the text most of you don’t understand • Try to decide what it might mean, then search for a definition you understand • Construct a sentence with the vocabulary word • Take a picture of the group acting out the sentence. • On a Google Slide include the picture labeled with your sentence. Once there are 10-12 vocab slides, include your slideshow on your website.
- 7. SECOND EXAMPLE: • Summarizer •Write a short summary of the most important events that happened in this section of the text. • Present your summary to the group • Create a Storyboard That six-panel cartoon that highlights the main events of this section of the text • Or, after finishing the story, create a digital six-panel cartoon that highlights all elements of a plot diagram • Post to your website
- 8. LINK TO ASSIGNMENTWEBSITE • Click on the link to view the assignment website. Students can model their own website on how this is organized. Book Group Assignment Website
- 9. EVALUATION Although it isa group website, students’ contributions can be evaluated individually. 3 2 1 Content All examples and commentary included on the website are appropriate with relevant connections, insights, and show thoughtful consideration and understanding of the text in all aspects of the website. Every assigned topic has been thoroughly completed. All examples and commentary are appropriate. Some connections or insights might lack thoughtfulness or deeper understanding of the text. However, it is clear the student understands the basic ideas in the novel. One or two topics might not be complete. The content is somewhat inappropriate. There is little if any thought put into contributions. Because of the lack of insight and/or examples, it is unclear if the student has even read the text. Collaboration Student works equally and positively with others in the group to create an effective website and to gain understanding of the text. Student asks questions when needed and helps others when s/he can. Student is mostly positive. At times, interactions with other group members may seem terse. Help may not be sought out or given whenever necessary. Student is a reluctant contributor to the group- maybe even refusing to cooperate when necessary. Conventions Spelling, punctuation, grammar are used correctly throughout. Sources are cited correctly. There are a few mechanical errors, but not enough to distract the reader. Most sources are cited correctly with only a few errors, Content is riddled with incorrect spelling, punctuation, and/or grammar, which distracts the reader. Sources are incorrectly cited or not cited at all. Use of citizenship Student understands the ethical and legal issues of using technology appropriately and is mindful of what s/he chooses to include on the website. Student may not completely understand some of the ethical or legal problems that can occur when not using technology in a thoughtful manner, but contributions are not offensive or inappropriate. There is a blatant disregard for using technology appropriately.
- 10. REFLECTION There were acouple difficult things to work through with this technofied lesson: • Finding a short lesson to upgrade was a challenge. This is definitely not a one class period lesson, so it was a bit problematic trying to figure out how to condense everything that might need to be taught, as well as the number of topics to include on the website. • Wikispaces no longer exists, so I defaulted to using Google Sites and changing the assignment from a wiki to a website. Because our school has one-to-one Chromebooks, the Google option made sense. Ultimately, I think the idea of creating a book group/lit circle website could work well. There are all sorts of other topics that could be added (e.g. theme, Google Earth tour, buy a character a present), but what I included covered some fundamental ideas most literature teachers talk about when discussing a fiction text.
- 11. SOURCES: • Bowers-Campbell, J.(2011, May). Take it out of class: Exploring virtual literature circles. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54, 8, 557-567. • Grisham, D.L. & Wolsey, T.D. (2006). Recentering the middle school classroom as a vibrant learning community: Students, literacy, and technology intersect. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49, 8, 648-660.