Assignment #1: Lesson Plan
This lesson plan helps students to learn about the history of this American icon of freedom. Students gain an appreciation of the size of the statue, what the statue represents, and how it is an important symbol to our country and our state. This lesson plan, which includes a drawing lesson, is intended for use as part of the study of New York State, required in the 4th grade Social Studies curriculum. Learning objectives are included in the lesson plan. Reflection: I love teaching about New York State. My students have been very interested in learning about where they live, and often do not have much prior knowledge. Most of my students had heard about the Statue of Liberty, but were enthusiastic to learn her history and what she represents to our state and nation. Several of my students and their families have made the trip to visit the Statue after learning about her in class. I am happy to have this lesson plan written down for my use and for others – I had the information on bits of paper in a folder before now! Click here to see the Statue of Liberty lesson plan. Click here to see the Statue of Liberty drawing lesson. Assignment #2: Excel Spreadsheet Description: Dark Chocolate Taste Test ResultsWhen my office decided to host a dark chocolate taste test for the staff and faculty of Wilber Hall, I realized it would be the perfect topic for my Excel project. The “subjects” anonymously tasted several brands of dark chocolate and rated them according to a rubric. I gathered the data and created a spreadsheet and graph to illustrate our ratings. The winners surprised us – check the spreadsheet to see our results! Reflection: This project took me several hours to complete because Excel was so new to me. I needed help to get the graph to show what I wanted it to show. I posted the graph in our office; the participants of the taste test really enjoyed seeing the test results. Several people have asked about having a milk chocolate taste test! It was very helpful to me to learn how to use Excel, since I need to use it as part of my job. Click here to see the Dark Chocolate Taste Test Results. Assignment #3: PowerPoint Presentation Description: Team-building Campout PowerPoint PresentationOur group chose this topic because of our interest in outdoor education. The three of us have several years of experience in this area, and have observed how “camping out” can help students and teachers become part of a cooperative team with many healthful benefits to the children. Campouts can be done with any school-aged group with adequate adult supervision. Various subject areas can also be included with a team-building campout: science, social studies, math, health, wellness, safety, art, music, and more. We shared how to set up a tent, outdoor cooking, and team-building activities in this project. Reflection: This was my first PowerPoint presentation. I enjoyed putting the slides together and learning how to insert pictures and add a background. After experiencing success with our own student campouts, our group hoped to encourage other teachers to consider planning a campout for their own students. Campouts can promote positive relationships between students (and teachers) and help students to achieve in non-competitive ways. After I helped put this PowerPoint together, I was assigned to work on a PowerPoint to present at SUNY Oswego Orientations. Click here to see the Team-building Campout Powerpoint presentation. Assignment #4: WebQuest Description: The Daily Life of a Colonial Child at
Plimoth Plantation WebQuest Amy and I have both visited Plimoth Plantation and were impressed with what we learned there. We especially love Kate Waters’ photo-illustrated books representing the lives of a “Pilgrim” boy and girl during the 1620s. Plimoth Plantation and Kate Waters’ books attempt to accurately depict life at the Plantation during the time of the English colonists (often called “Pilgrims”). Our WebQuest is appropriate for grades 2-5, and primarily uses the Scholastic and Plimoth Plantation sites, which are based on first-person accounts of this time in history. This WebQuest could be done during the month of November as a way of exploring the first Thanksgiving, however both sites state that they are extremely busy at that time. Reflection: There is much misinformation about the “Pilgrims” and their Plimoth colony. We developed this WebQuest as a way to communicate more accurate information to elementary students. Our own students have shown great interest in this topic, especially learning about colonial children. This WebQuest provides practice in the skill of comparing and contrasting, and gives opportunity for student creativity through creating their own books starring themselves as colonial children at Plimoth Plantation. Click here to see The Daily Life of a Colonial Child at Plimoth Plantation WebQuest. |