Three Technology Lessons

For the three lessons I tried to find one lesson per grade level I am going to teach as well as one that would cover both grades. All three lessons were found on www.ideas.wisconsin.edu.

For my first graders I found a lesson on Friendly Letter Writing. Within the letter the students have to insert a kidpix drawing about a hobby he/she has as well as a few sentences describing hobby. These letters are then forwarded to high school students for a response. I liked this lesson because it allowed the students time to edit pre-computer lab time and yet utilize the lab.

For my third graders the lesson Does Your Book Make the Grade? applies. The students are making a chart of books they have read with a rating for each book in Excel. I liked this lesson because I have never worked with Excel and felt it would challenge the students as well as myself. Once the chart is done students will then copy the chart into a letter in Microsoft Word. This letter is addressed to a friend. At the completion of the letter students do a self-eval using a rubric.

The lesson that would cover both of my grades was not intended for 1st grade but I feel it could be adapted to them. Animal Quest gives students an opportunity to design a newly discovered animal. The students are then to make a presentation of 4 slides using HyperStudio. There are requirements for all slides. (physical characteristics, habitat, diet and name of animal) When slides are complete, the students then present to the class. The lesson also has students making a model of animal. My only issue with this lesson is that it calls for 8 or 9-45 minute sessions. It seems a lengthy unit for spec. ed. students so that may need to be adjusted.

Mainly these lessons are geared towards Lang. Arts. However, the letter writing could be used in a social studies class for a community lesson or Animal Quest could be used in Science. Does Your Book Make the Grade? would be a great way to evaluate at the end of the year to make adjustments in reading assignments.