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Title:
Monarch Butterfly Unit Utilizing Edmodo
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Concept
- During first quarter, the
second grade completes a unit on Monarch butterflies as a science exit
outcome. The unit is integrated
into the language arts block. An
online Web 2.0 tool called Edmodo will be used to guide discussions
between students and as a way to administer an assessment following the
unit.
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General
Goal(s)
- The primary goal of this
unit is to meet the first quarter science exit outcome on lifecycles.
- A secondary goal of this
unit is to introduce the students to Edmodo and allow them to become more
familiar with the program in order to utilize it within other units and
lessons throughout the year.
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Specific
Learning Outcomes
- The students will be able
to explain each of the four stages in the lifecycle of a butterfly.
- The students will be able
to write short expository paragraphs using facts and information learned
about Monarch butterflies.
- The students will be able
to transfer this information to a future unit of study where they will
have to compare and contrast insects and arachnids.
- The students will be able
to log-in to Edmodo.
- The students will be able
to blog with their classmates and answer and discuss questions related to
the theme of the unit.
- The students will be able
to take a quiz on Edmodo.
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Characteristics
of your Learners
- This unit is designed for
a regular education second grade class.
The unit will be taught during the early part of first
quarter. Because it will be taught
during the language arts block, a majority of the special education
students will probably be out of the room.
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Required
Materials
- Multiple copies of
nonfiction books about Monarch caterpillars/butterflies
- Multiple student
computers/tablets
- Access to Internet
(including Edmodo)
- Pencils and writing paper
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Introduction
to the Activity
- This unit is
designed to last for multiple days during the reading and writing portion
of the day. This specific
activity, however, only covers the portion of the unit that incorporates
Edmodo. The students will have
already read several nonfiction books on Monarch butterflies, completed
numerous class discussions and assignments, and watched on-line
educational video clips on the topic.
- On this
particular day, the students will be divided into four small groups-each
group will be completing a separate literacy activity related to the
topic of butterflies. The groups will rotate until everyone has completed
each of the four activities. This
lesson plan explains the step-by-step procedures for the teacher-led
group using Edmodo.
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Step-By-Step
Procedures
- The first step in this
activity will be to walk the students through logging in to the Edmodo
site. Prior to the lesson, I will
have collected permission slips from parents, created accounts for each
student, and written user names and passwords on notecards for each
student. I will show the students
the icon on the desktop that will take them directly to Edmodo, where to
type their username and password, and where to click to login.
- Next I will explain that
we will only be using two features on Edmodo for this lesson, but that
there are numerous other features we will be using throughout the school
year. The features we will be
using today are the quiz and the newsfeed. First I will show the students where to
click to take the quiz. This quiz
will actually be the end of the unit test, covering all of the
information in the unit. There
will be a variety of short-answer, multiple choice, and matching
questions. Because this is the
first test they will be taking in this format, I will have them do it in
a small group while I circulate, observe, and answer questions.
- Once all of the students
have completed the quiz, I will show where I posted a comment on the
newsfeed. The comment will act as
a prompt for the students to brainstorm a list of facts that they could
use to write an expository paragraph about butterflies. They will add to the list that their classmates
and I have started. I will ask
each of them to add at least one comment to my post and to try not to
repeat any of the ideas already listed.
- Next, I will explain that
after everyone has had a chance to take the quiz and contribute to the
brainstormed list of facts, we will come together as a whole class and
use the list to fill out graphic organizers. They will later use these graphic
organizers to write a six or more sentence paragraph on Monarch
butterflies.
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Assessment
- Formal: I will use the
results of the online quiz as well as the written paragraph as a formal
assessment to the butterfly unit.
The online quiz is a combination of short-answer, multiple choice,
and matching questions. Each
student will receive a score based on the number of correct responses
given. Edmodo automatically grades
the quiz and reports the score to me.
I will use a rubric to assess the paragraphs written. The students will be graded primarily
on the content, however, some points will be awarded for mechanics,
sentence structure, and organization.
- Informal: I will
informally assess the use of the Edmodo site using a checklist. First, I will look to see that each
student participated by replying to the brainstorming post. I will also take notes as far as the
ease of use of the program and things to change or improve upon for
future use.
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Conclusion
- Following this
activity, the students will be familiar with the Edmodo site. They will be able to log in
independently and know how to take quizzes online. If this activity is successful, I would
plan to use it again and incorporate more features of the site. For example, I could assign discussions
and poll questions as homework. A
majority of the students would be able to complete it at home, and for
those who could not, I would provide time either at the end of the day or
before school the next morning.
Another way to extend on this activity would be to load or create
graphic organizers for the students to complete online rather than by pencil
and paper. The students could then
type their paragraphs directly on the computer from time to time rather
than always writing them out by hand.
