Prompts

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 * 1. Why did you choose this lesson? Brief summary of original lesson plan design/goals of lesson.**

I chose this lesson for several reasons all of which deal with student readiness (late January), student interest in this Greek tragedy, and student variation of response (choices). By late January, my Freshman Honors classes have completed a major unit on Greek mythlogy, which leads into the study of ancient Greek drama and the nature of the tragic hero. Students genuinely love reading //Antigone// and can readily appreciate the delimma faced by the play's central characters. Consequently, there is very high interest in the content matter. Furthermore, there are no "right" or "wrong" answers to the play's fundamental conflict. I use the play //Antigone// to show students that having a postion or perception of a particular conflict may vary but it is the clear and strong support for that positon that truly matters.


 * 2. Define new lesson plan design/goals of lesson.**

GOAL: The student will be able to use digital technology to critically evaluate the effectiveness of a formal essay which defends a position (i.e.the character responsible for the tragedy in //Antigone//).

OBJECTIVES:

1. The student will be able to complete a Peer Editor's Sheet digitally as a means of providing feedback on formal essay structure.

2. The student will judge the quality and effectiveness of literary analysis using small group digital confernecing.

3. The student will provide brief digital feedback to a peer's essay concerning FCA's (Focus Correction Asreas).

4. The student will model the use of digital technology to visually demonstrate revision strategies as a means of enhancing a formal essay.


 * 3. Which tool or tools did you chose to incorporate into this lesson to potentially improve it?**
 * 4. Tell why you chose** **these tools.**

1) E-Mail

//I chose e-mail because it would be manageable for students to exchange e-mail addresses and send each other// //their finished essays and Peer Editor's Sheets as attachments. The reading and completion of the Peer Editor's// //Sheet will be done at home as an assignment. Students would also be able to make constructive changes for their// //peer writer.//

2) My class wiki site

//I chose my class wiki site because it would be a quick and manageable way for students to provide direct feedback to// //a specific feature in an essay that I would place on an ELMO. I would place several essays on the ELMO and then have the students provide direct feednack via the DISCUSSION drop down menu//

//3)// Meebo: Audacity

//I chose Meebo: (Audacity) because students would be able to use this tool for podcasting the peer conferencing which// //will take place in groups of four. Each group will conference about an essay (from another group) and record the// //conference. Then the writer will be able to view and respond to the conference. Required technologies include basic digital microphone & USB Port; software: Windows=Audacity or Mac=Garage Band; Odeo or Podomatic.//


 * 5. What standards were you using to guide your decision on this? NETS? Mass Frameworks?**


 * NETS Teachers:**

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity c.Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking. d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

2. Design and develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments d. Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.


 * NETS - Students**

1. Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop processes using technology. Students: a.apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes

2. Communication and Collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collectively at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. a.Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing digital environments and media.


 * Massachusetts English/Language Arts Frameworks - Grade 9**

Students will write with a clear focus, coherent organization, and sufficient detail.
 * Standard 19: Writing**

For informational/expository writing: 19.26 Write well-organized essays (persuasive, literary, personal) that have a clear focus, logical development, effective use of detail, and variety in sentence structure.

19.27 Write well-organized.....papers that prove a thesis statement, using logical organization, effective supporting evidence, and variety in sentence structure.

Students will write for different audiences and purposes.
 * Standard 20: Consideration of Audience and Purpose**

20.6 Use different levels of formality, style, and tone when composing for different audiences.

Students will demonstrate improvement in organization, content, paragraph development, level of detail, style, tone, and word choice (diction) in the compositions after revising them.
 * Standard 21: Revising**

21.8 Revise writing by attending to topic.idea development, organization, level of detail, language/style, sentence structure, grammar and usage, and mechanics.

Students will use knowledge of standard English conventions in their writing and revisions.
 * Standard 22: Standard English Conventions**

Students will organize ideas in writing in a way that makes sense for their purpose.
 * Standard 23: Organizing Ideas in Writing**

23.13 Organize ideas for a critical essay about literature (or research report) with an original thesis statement in the introduction, well constructed paragraphs that build an effective argument, transition sentences to link paragraphs into a coherent whole and a conclusion.

Students will develop and use appropriate rhetorical, logical, and stylistic criteria for assessing final versions of their compositions before presenting them to varied audiences.
 * Standard 25: Evaluating Writing and Presentations**

25.5 Use group-generated criteria for evaluating different forms of writing and explain why these are important before applying them.


 * 6. Do you feel this will improve your teaching? If so, why?**

I strongly believe that integrating this technology will improve my teaching because it will provide a medium or vehicle which is very student friendly. As a result, students will be more open to having their writing critiqued if they see the process take place in a social, more collaborative setting. Furthermore, I will be modeling sound feedback that is supportive, constructive, and, hopefully, helpful to students. This building of student self-confidence will spill over to other writing assignments that will follow in the second half of the school year.

I believe that student learning will be improve because students will have numerous opportunities to read and evaluate the effectiveness of several students' essays. In doing so, they will be able to judge their own writing ability and learn from the collaborative efforts of their peers.
 * 7. Do you feel this will help improve student learning? If so, how and why?**