Eric Rosenthal SCED 694 Internship II Professor Moos

Sample Lesson Plan and Reflection 2

The Fun They Had: How Should we Learn?

Grade Level: 7 Number of students: 12 Time: 80 minutes Topic: This lesson is a full PAR lesson for a short story written by the Science Fiction giant

Isaac Asimov titled “The Fun They Had” and written in 1951. Rationale: This short story, written in 1951, predicts the future of schooling in the year 2157. The author’s prediction is that students will be educated alone with personalized curricula by a robot in their home. Paper books have become relics and in the story our main character’s brother discovers one concerning past forms of education. The education referred to in the books is mostly consistent with our current modes of education. Students attend schools together, are grouped according to age and ability, children work together to complete their work and the teachers were humans. The main character, a young girl named Margie is in awe of the way that schools once were. She imagines a happy, rich learning environment as compared to her isolated and boring situation. It is important to note that the main character absolutely hates her education and is quite wistful about the perceived fun that children of the past must have had. This short story is relevant to my students for a number of reasons. To begin with, if we place it in context of our unit of study on science fiction, it is a very accessible first short story to read. It is four pages long, has some useful and teachable vocabulary and presents a few themes that can be reflected upon. Firstly, this story investigates the nature of education and what the best way to learn is. Secondly, the story investigates the potential dangers of advancing technology and its implementation in our society. This second theme is particularly relevant as the use of digital devices pervades the lives of young people (especially when compared with the 1950s, the time of writing). Prior Knowledge: Coming into this lesson, students have completed an introductory lesson on the Science Fiction genre. This lesson served primarily to clarify their understanding of science fiction rather than completely expose them to the genre. Science fiction is everywhere and many students didn’t realize how much experience they reading or viewing science fiction. In the first lesson, we developed a working definition of science fiction and created a list of the common elements that are found in a science fiction story. This is important because students will be asked to reflect on the findings/clarifications of the introductory lesson when reading “The Fun they Had” in an effort to determine its viability as a science fiction story. Relating to the themes that

are present in the story, I expect students to have a strong amount of prior knowledge, whether they are aware of it or not. If we think about the educational question that the story poses, my students have a great deal of experience in the educational system. The educational system is arguably the single most influential factor in their lives. I expect most of them to have their own unique perspectives on an ‘ideal’ education system. When we think about the question the story raises about the dangers of technological use, I also expect my students to be drawing on a lot of prior knowledge. Nearly all of my students bring their smartphone to class and occasionally use them to research a vocabulary word or concept. When I informally polled them prior to this lesson regarding the amount of time they spend using a digital device each day I was astounded. I received answers ranging from 2 hours to 9 hours per day. My students will be able to take their own personal experience with technology and use it to inform their response to the questions posed in this short story. When looking at the vocabulary that will be taught in the lesson, I expect students to have some experience with dispute and sector but not with scornful, nonchalantly or loftily. During the lesson I will be drawing student’s attention to –ly endings and the function of adverbs. I expect most students to know the function of an adverb and will use this knowledge to instruct them in a way to help discern an unknown word’s meaning. Big Ideas: In this piece of fiction we see the investigation of at least two themes that are relevant to middle school students. In one, we see an investigation into the nature of human learning and the manner in which a particular society educates its populace. The story forces us to question our own beliefs about the nature of learning and the best way to raise our children. The other major theme present in this story is the dangers of technological advancement. The story presents us with a mode of education that has been completely mechanized and ultimately dehumanized. There is a clear warning about the pitfalls of pervasive reliance on technology. This is extremely relevant to modern day children as most societies rely on technology, particularly digital technology, at a rate never before seen in the history of mankind. The story forces us to consider the possible drawbacks, not just the benefits, of mechanization and human ingenuity. Essential Questions: What are the benefits and disadvantages of technology in the modern world? What is the best system of education? How does a prediction of the future reflect the circumstances of the present day? Pre-Class Assignments: Students have homework due from the previous lesson. Students were tasked with creating their own personal definition of what science fiction is. In the last class, this homework assignment was closely tied into an activity in which students read short passages and identified elements of science fiction within.

Seating Arrangement: The students will sit in 4 rows of 3 students. Throughout the lesson there will be a

combination of teacher to individual student interaction, student to student interaction and pair to teacher interaction. This is a well behaved group and generally don’t present any disruptions. There are a group of boys on the left hand side of the class who are particularly close with one another but their work is always completed on time and with attention to detail. I choose not to interfere too much with them until the quality of their work is affected. Materials: Markers, whiteboard, projector, computer, power point presentation, vocabulary slips (cut out), and worksheets. New Jersey State Common Core Standards: Language: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. Literature: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.9 Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history. Speaking and Listening CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Objectives:

Behavioral Objectives Assessments

To activate student’s prior knowledge and opinions related to the themes of the short story: nature of learning, technological advancement, role of technology.

Informal, the teacher will monitor students while they write their journal responses and will elicit responses during a feedback session.

To determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words using a range of strategies.

Informal, the teacher will check that each group has correctly matched definitions with vocabulary and pictures before the students progress to the next stage of the activity.

To draw conclusions between fictitious plot elements and real world scenarios.

Formal, this will be assessed on a reading handout that the teacher will collect and mark.

To interpret how setting affects character development and plot.

Formal, this will be assessed on a reading handout that the teacher will collect and mark.

To make connections between fictitious plot elements and personal experiences.

Formal, this will be assessed on a reading handout that the teacher will collect and mark.

To analyze the author’s purpose in writing a short story.

Formal, this will be part of a homework assignment that will be collected and graded.

To synthesize real world experience and understanding of the text in order to make a judgment about modes of education.

Informal, this will assessed during the reflection discussion that happens at the start of the next lesson.

Lesson Procedure

Hook: The teacher will show a picture of a robot on the projector, and ask the question: What if

this robot was teaching you today? What would your reaction be? How would our class be

different?

(5 minutes)

Activate Schema: The teacher will post value statements on the board. Students have 10-15

minutes to choose one and decide whether they agree or disagree with it and explain why in

their journals.

Prompt: Choose one of the following statements and write about it in your journal. Do you

agree or disagree with the statement? Why? What does this statement think you of? Can you

give any examples that support your ideas? What are some problems with the statement?

True learning is best accomplished through individual work.

We learn best when working with other people.

Computers can take the role of teachers.

Everyone learns the same way.

Pair Check- Students will share their responses with a person sitting near them.

Whole Class Feedback – Students will share their responses with the group at large and the

teacher will provoke discussion as necessary.

(15 minutes)

Vocabulary: In order to clarify the meaning of five new vocabulary words that will be found in

the short story, students will participate in a variation of a previous vocabulary activity. In this

activity each student is given a slip of paper with one of the following: a new vocabulary word, a

definition, or a visual representation of one of the vocabulary words. The teacher has posted

example sentences for each vocabulary word around the room on the wall. As an entire group,

students will meet with their classmates and try to find the correct matches for their slips of

paper. When they believe that they have found the correct matches (vocabulary word with

definition and with visual representation) they will go and stand next to the example sentence

posted on the wall for their vocabulary item. At this point the teacher will check to make sure

the students are correct. Once all of the groups have grouped themselves properly, students

will use a graphic organizer to move about the room, copying down the new vocabulary item,

creating their own visual representation, identifying the number of syllables and writing their

own creative sentence.

(30 minutes)

Assisted Reading- Students will read the short story in pairs and work on a graphic organizer

with the following questions to assist their understanding while reading.

1. Read Page 82: What does Margie write in her diary? Why does she choose to write this?

2. Read Page 83: What does the county inspector do to Margie’s teacher? How is her

“mechanical teacher” similar to a desktop computer of today?

3. Setting Draw a picture of Margie’s school setting. How does the setting affect Margie

and her feelings about school?

4. Text to Self: In “The Fun They Had,” Tommy tells Margie about what schools were like

long ago. This information is new and fascinating to Margie. Think of a time when you

found information fascinating. What did someone tell you about? Why did it fascinate

you?

(25 minutes)

Closure- Exit/Homework (On the reading questions graphic organizer)

Students will work on a summary chart, which requires them to summarize the short story in 25

or less words and identify major plot elements. This skill was explicitly taught in the previous

unit. Students will also be prompted to work on the following two questions:

With which statement would the author most likely agree? Why? (2-3 Sentences) a. Children will learn faster and better in the future with technology.

b. Computers are much better teachers than human teachers.

c. Schools of the past did not do a good job of teaching children.

d. Learning with others posing different ideas results in true learning.

Is this science fiction story believable? Why or why not? (1-2 sentences)

(5 minutes)

NOTE: This lesson was originally planned an 80 minute PAR lesson plan. We did not have enough time in the lesson to cover the reflection phase. The following is my plan for reflection, which was done at the start of the next lesson.

Reflection Stage: In groups of 3-4, students will receive one of the following discussion

questions. Students will work together to come up with an answer to the question and then

present their question and response to the entire class.

1. How do you feel about a system of education where students learn only by

computer? What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of such a system

would be for middle school students?

2. The author of "The Fun They Had" wrote in the 1950s about life as it could be in the

2150s. How accurate do you think his predictions may be? What do you think school

will be like in the 2150s?

3. How does the old book's portrayal of school compare to your school life? How is it

different? What is your idea of a perfect school?

4. Think about Margie’s reaction to school. What do you think the author is trying to say

about how we use technology? What are your thoughts, what are the benefits and

disadvantages of technology in today’s world?

Reflection I was less pleased with this lesson than nearly all of the other lessons I taught during the

science fiction unit. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t aspects I feel were well thought out

and executed properly. The factor that disappoints me was the level of student’s engagement

with both the formatting of lesson and with the text itself. I’m pleased with the direction of the

class, it proceeded orderly and logically. My favorite activity of the lesson was the journal

writing time and I will explain about that in further detail later.

If I were to teach this unit again, I might consider leaving “The Fun They Had” out

because it appears to be a pretty boring story for a seventh grade student. I had thought that it

was a ‘safe’ introduction to classic science fiction literature and while it was quite accessible,

the story itself had little plot development or action. The themes within the story ---- nature of

education and advancing technology --- were valuable enough for us to put under the

microscope as a class and our discussions were thoughtful. I did notice, however, that the

students were less engaged with a warning about technology than I had expected. This might

show my own bias towards technological use but I really expected to see student’s more

interested with the degree that technology has taken over their lives. I seem to forget that a

world with constant digital use is all that they know and it is probably unrealistic to ask them to

reflect on something they have never experienced (a classroom without a computer, a

cellphone without the internet, a day without use of a device). As I move forward as a teacher it

is important for me to remember my own biases on particular issues and make sure that it does

not stifle the opinions of students who may think differently. This did not happen in the lesson,

I’m generally pleased to hear any response from any student in my class (as long as it is

positive).

The other aspect of the lesson that I wasn’t thrilled with was the formatting. I have used

this format with other lessons that I have taught to this class in the past. My cooperating

teacher uses a similar format and I liked having a model to follow. I think that combined with

the excitement of text, and the predictable nature of the order of the lesson, students were a

little bit bored with the lesson. The only activity that really changed things up was my variation

of the vocabulary hunt. This was interesting because the classroom became quite chaotic for a

few moments while students tried to match their vocabulary items. I didn’t give the students

any direction about how to discuss their item in hopes to find the correct match. If I were to

teach this lesson again, I would coach them briefly on a few ways to ask questions to help them

achieve their goal. As for the other steps of the lesson, the reading activity and reflection

activity, these were very much part of a normal routine. I could feel that students weren’t very

excited with the lesson and this disappointed me some. However, it was good food for thought

as I thought about how to structure the following lessons in the unit and I made some nice

adjustments as we moved forward. The final aspect of the formatting that wasn’t satisfactory

was the questions that I put together for reflection. When I wrote them, it seemed to me that

they were diverse enough to cover a range of aspects from the text. However, when we

reflected them in the class, a few of the group’s responses were very similar and it became

apparent to me that the questions were not different enough. This is one other reason that I

might shelf this lesson in the future, I’m not sure that this text is rich enough for a full 80

minute block.

Something to note is a comment that my cooperating teacher made. She commented on

a particular student that tends to dominate the class conversation, and occasionally bullies or

chastises his peers. I struggle a bit with finding an effective way to keep a balanced class

conversation going. We all are thankful for those students who can get a conversation going but

at what point does it become too much? This student is a more proficient English speaker than

his peers as he is capable of using sarcasm. In one instance he made a sarcastic remark to his

partner and I reminded him use kind words when working with someone. My cooperating

teacher made a point that his influence tends to quiet his peers. I make sure that I call on

students randomly or ask quiet students to read directions for the class. This is something that

I’m going to look further into because I certainly don’t want students to be drowned out by

another student who requires heaps of attention.

So far this reflection has portrayed the lesson primarily in a negative light. It wasn’t all

doom and gloom with this lesson. I liked the journal prompt at the start of the lesson for a few

reasons. First off, it activated student’s prior understanding of some of the big ideas that we

worked with in the lesson. This was essential when preparing students to read a text and all of

the statements were general enough for my students to connect with at some level. I also like

having a classroom of children quietly writing for 15 minutes. As a teacher I’m a bit of a

micromanager and sometimes try to control learning activities too much. This was great

because I gave the students a prompt, and they took over. This activity benefited some of the

quieter and more reflective students. I encouraged students to let their words flow, to not

worry deeply about spelling or grammar. I told them explicitly that the goal of the activity was

to start thinking about some of the big ideas that we were going to come across shortly in the

text. I think that the activity was successful because pencils were scribbling for the entirety of

the 15 minutes. This is a real break from my past teaching experiences (4th grade) where this

type of activity would be hard to orchestrate. It was a good reminder that in the 7th grade,

students are independent enough to take an idea, stay on task and work it out.

My overall assessment of the lesson is that I met my aims and learned a lot about how

to go forward with the science fiction unit. It is possible that the following lessons were

successful because this lesson was a bit lackluster. My student’s reaction to the lesson forced

me to think about different ways to present the material in a more in engaging way. This

directly led me to do a listening of a text in our next lesson and this was a real success in the

classroom.

Scornful- Having an

attitude of dislike or

disgust

Loftily - In a proud or

superior tone of voice

Nonchalantly - In a

relaxed or unconcerned

manner

Dispute - Disagree with

Sector -Area or division

By no means should we make others the object

of scornful laughter.

The professor spoke loftily about the complex

subject.

Lou’s nonchalant attitude to school made his

teacher worried.

The judge listened carefully to the dispute

between the two business people.

I think there is something wrong with the

geography sector.

The Fun they Had by Isaac Asimov

Name _______________ ELA _________ Due Date ___________

Vocabulary Word

Syllables Definition Picture Your Creative Sentence

Nonchalantly

Scornful

Loftily

dispute

sector

Summarizing a Sci-Fi Short Story Note from Your Reading

Title

Author

Main Characters

Conflict

Main Events

Resolution

Summary (20 - 25 words)

{Review} With which statement would the author most likely agree? Why? (2-3 Sentences) a. Children will learn faster and better in the future with technology.

b. Computers are much better teachers than human teachers.

c. Schools of the past did not do a good job of teaching children.

d. Learning with others posing different ideas results in true learning.

Is this science fiction story believable? Why or why not? (1-2 sentences)

Read Page 82: What does Margie write in her diary? Why does she

choose to write this?

Read Page 83: What does the county inspector do to Margie’s

teacher? How is her “mechanical teacher” similar to a desktop

computer of today?

Setting Draw a picture of Margie’s school setting. How does the setting

affect Margie and her feelings about school?

Text to Self: In “The Fun They Had,” Tommy tells Margie about

what schools were like long ago. This information is new and

fascinating to Margie. Think of a time when you found information

fascinating. What did someone tell you about? Why did it

fascinate you?

Reflection Prompts

Think about Margie’s reaction to school. What do you think the author is trying to say about how we use technology? What are your thoughts, what are the benefits and disadvantages of technology in today’s world?

The author of "The Fun They Had" wrote in the 1950s about life as it could be in the 2050s. How accurate do you think his predictions may be? What do you think school will be like in 2050?

How does the old book's portrayal of school compare to your school life? How is it different? What is your idea of a perfect school?

How do you feel about a system of education where students learn only by computer? What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of such a system would be for middle school students?