Shauna Sanders

FRIT 7737: Practicum in School Library Media Centers

Information Literacy Unit

Dr. Repman

Fall 2010

UbD Stage 1

Title of Unit Reading, Writing, and Blogging…Oh my!

Grade Level

3rd Grade

Curriculum Area

English Language Arts Time Frame

As long as needed…

Stage 1 – Identify Desired ResultsGeorgia Performance Standards:

ELA3R3: The student uses a variety of strategies to gain meaning from grade-level text. The student makes judgments and inferences about setting, characters, and events and supports

them with evidence from the text. The student identifies and infers main idea and supporting details.

ELA3W1: The student demonstrates competency in the writing process. The student writes a response to literature that demonstrates understanding of the text, formulates

an opinion, and supports a judgment.

ELA3C1: The student demonstrates understanding and control of the rules of the English language, realizing that usage involves the appropriate application conventions and grammar in both written and spoken formats.

The student uses appropriate capitalization and punctuation (end marks, commas, apostrophes and quotation marks.)

Standards for the 21 st Century Learner by AASL:

Standard 3: Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society. 3.1.3 Use writing and speaking skills to communicate new understandings effectively. 3.1.6 Use information and technology ethically and responsibly.

Understandings

Students will understand that: Talking and writing about what they are reading will help them to better understand the text. Responding to literature requires more than just summarizing the text. Blogging about what they are reading can be a different way to share their thoughts and

questions and to gain new understanding from their peers. Using technology ethically is their responsibility as a citizen. When using technology, the rules of using appropriate capitalization and punctuation still

apply.

Related Misconceptions: You don’t have to use periods and punctuation when blogging (typing). It doesn’t matter what you say to others online, because they can’t see you.

Essential Questions

Overarching Questions:

Why do I need to think about and ask questions about what I am reading?

Topical Questions:

How is writing about my thoughts going to help me better understand what I am reading?

Why is it important to listen to what others have to say?

How is asking other students questions about the book we are reading going to help me?

Why do I have to be respectful online?

Knowledge and Skills

KnowledgeStudents will know:

Key terms: blog, respond, punctuation, capitalization, ethically, inferring, judgments

How to login to their blog account

How to blog

How to be respectful to each other online

How to comment on their blog

Skills Students will be able to:

Respond about what they are reading Answer questions about what they are

reading Infer about what they are reading Pose questions to others in their group Provide details to support their

opinions Construct appropriate grade level

sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation

Stage 2 - Evidence

Performance Task(s)

Goal: Your goal is to create a blog that reflects your thoughts, questions and responses to your group’s current book you are reading together in your guided reading group.Role: You are the author and designer of your blog.Audience: Your audience is the other members of your reading group along with your teacher, Mrs. Sherman and your media specialist, Mrs. Sanders.Situation: You have been asked to create and maintain a blog that will reflect your understandings of the books you read within your guided reading group. The blog should also demonstrate your ability to infer and make judgments about the book as well as cause your group members to really think about the book in a different way.Product Performance and Purpose: You will create and maintain a blog that will demonstrate your understanding of the books you are reading.Standards and Criteria for Success: Your blog should…

Include vocabulary words that you have come across during your reading Include main characters and plot descriptions when necessary Includes supporting details from the story Poses questions to other members about the story Answer questions that others ask you about the book Include appropriate capitalization and punctuation Demonstrate your understanding of the story

Other Evidence

Observation: The media specialist will conduct quite a bit of online observations to make sure students are respecting others during their comments and entries.

Observation: The teacher will continue to monitor students’ ability to infer and identify main ideas through guided reading lessons within the classroom with each group.

Follow-up Assessments: Due to the nature of this assignment and the students’ reading levels, the students will be given another reading benchmark assessment in compliance with the Literacy Collaborative Framework around mid-year. This assessment will either show

improvement in comprehension and fluency or lack of improvement. Third grade will also be evaluated on their writing skills around March with a statewide rubric. This blogging unit has been one of the biggest focuses the classroom teacher has and is continuing to use to help with

writing skills.

Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences

Collaboration and Test Score Analysis

For this unit, a third grade teacher, Mrs. Sherman, and I, the media specialist decided

to work together to help her students improve their reading comprehension and

writing abilities. We looked over the students’ CRCT scores (attached below) from

the previous school year and determined that they need lots of assistance with

comprehension. Through individual benchmark testing conducted by the teacher at

the beginning of this school year, the teacher had more specifically determined that

one need in reading deals with being able to infer and identify main ideas of the

texts. She also mentioned that many of her students lack the ability to write a

cohesive sentence correctly, with capitalization and punctuation. This particular

teacher is also very interested in learning all kinds of new technology. She was one

of the first teachers to use an airliner in her classroom and has requested to use the

school’s new ELMO.

These third grade students have also been learning about responding to literature in

their classrooms. In the third grade Literacy Collaborative Framework, the students

begin to use and keep a readers’ notebook. The students are required to write a

letter to their teacher once a week about the book they are reading during their

guided reading group. The teacher then responds to the child each week and asks

further questions in a follow up letter.

After meeting several times with this teacher and discussing some possible options

to assist her students with these skills/standards, we finally decided to introduce her

and her students to the world of blogging! The students will work on improving

their reading comprehension skills of inferring and identifying the main idea and

their writing skills by maintaining a weekly blog about their books. The students will

also learn that one can use their writing skills to communicate new understandings

and how to use technology ethically and responsibly.

Introductions

Mrs. Sherman and I will take the time to set up her class blog at www.kidblog.org.

We will set the class up into their reading groups. We will also make sure all of the

logins work and that we understand how to make posts and comments. The first

lesson with the students will be co- taught together. We will meet with the students

in her room during their reading block and show them how to find the website, login

and create a post. Mrs. Sherman is going to create an index card for each student

with all their login information. She is also going to create a schedule for the use of

the computers within her classroom for blogging. Students will know which day is

their group’s day to blog.

The first media center lesson will focus on using technology/online resources

responsibly and ethically. We will watch a few videos about online safety and being

respectful to each other online and will have a discussion. I will create a wiki for

these videos and other resources for this unit.

http://shermanthirdgrade.pbworks.com/w/page/32664580/Blogging-Unit

During the Process

Once the students have successfully logged in and created their first blogs, then we

will begin to redirect the content of their blogs. We will provide checklists of things

to include in their blog depending upon the genre of the book they are reading at the

time. In the media center, I will pull the blog up periodically and show examples of

questions that I can ask another student about the book they are reading. I will also

have a lesson on finding the main idea. We will visit the website,

http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/rcmi1.htm

and use the practice to help improve the students’ ability to identify the main idea. I

will also read short chapters from some of their favorite books like The Diary of a

Wimpy Kid and then talk about the main ideas. Throughout the entire unit (year), I

will continue to blog with the students along with the teacher to help pull deeper

thinking from the students.

The classroom teacher will continue to conduct her guided reading groups in her

classroom and lessons on inferring, identifying main ideas and constructing proper

sentences with capitalization and punctuation. The teacher will also decide when a

student is ready to advance to the next guided reading level based on their

performance in their groups.

During the Process

The teacher and I will meet periodically to discuss directions that we need to work

on with the students. We will guide the students into these directions with our

questions we provide them in the blogging environment. This unit will basically run

for the course of the year. However, based on the mid-year benchmark testing and

the teacher’s discretion, the group members may change throughout the year. Also,

if some groups become quite successful and confident with inferring and main ideas,

then we may add a new skill to their checklists when blogging.

Notes to the Instructor

Addressing differentiation: For students who are below grade level in reading and/or

writing, there will need to be some additional assistance with completing their performance

task. Most of the students should be able to create their own blog and maintain it.

However, there are two groups of students that may need one-on-one assistance with

blogging each time.

RETHINK, REFLECT, REVISE: The nature of the performance task lends itself to having the

students constantly rethink, reflect and revise their work. The intended goal of the task is

for the students to realize that they are improving their reading abilities by writing about

what they are reading. The students will use the checklist to make sure they have included

all parts of the assignment before they turn it in. This checklist will provide another

opportunity for the students to revise before turning in their completed assignment.

Sources Used for this UbD Unit

ALA | AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. (n.d.). ALA | Home - American Library Association. Retrieved September 30, 2010, from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/standards.cfm

GPS by Grade Level, K-8. (n.d.). GaDOE. Retrieved September 30, 2010, from https://www.georgiastandards.org/standards/Pages/BrowseStandards/GPS_by_Grade_Level_K-8.aspx

http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/rcmi1.htm

www.kidblog.org

http://www.ikeepsafe.org/iksc_kids/

http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/commonsense/

http://www.ikeepsafe.org/psa/#gotovideo

Learner Analysis

Mrs. Sherman’s Class CRCT Data from 2nd Grade Spring 2010 (Date of test)

Name ELAGrammar

30

ELASentence

12

ELAResearch

8

ReadingVocab.

8

ReadingComprehen

32

Compos.ELA

Compos.Reading

JA 29 11 7 7 31 857 861LB 26 11 6 6 27 835 827AC 19 7 7 8 28 807 843AF 22 8 3 6 22 807 809MG 21 6 6 4 19 807 794AJ 20 9 5 5 26 809 819NM 28 9 7 7 28 839 836IM 25 7 6 8 26 819 831EO 29 11 7 7 26 857 827HP 24 10 8 8 25 831 827JPSpring 2009 10 7 4 4 9 780 767

BQ 10 6 7 7 25 786 822RR 28 10 8 6 26 850 822LR 26 11 7 8 22 839 815CR 8 3 1 4 14 761 781SR 25 10 8 7 25 835 822KS 17 8 6 6 23 802 812FT 26 11 6 7 27 835 831MV 28 11 7 7 28 850 836EWSpring 2009 12 5 4 1 14 780 773

AW 18 9 4 7 24 802 819KW 26 9 8 5 29 835 831

*Repeating Third Grade

Name ELA Gramm/Sentence

30

ELAResearch/

Writing Process 20

Reading Literary Comp.24

Reading Reading for Informa. 8

Reading Skills and Vocab. 8

ELA Reading

J P.Spring 2010 7 4 14 1 1 765 792

J P. Retake 11 4 2 796EW.Spring 2010 14 9 9 2 6 797 795

EW Retake 9 3 5 796Learner Anaysis

Sherman’s Original Benchmark Results used for Reading GroupsSeptember 2010

**Note: Beginning Third Graders should benchmark around an L-N.Students with * receive assistance with reading, writing or speaking through ESS

services.

Student Benchmark LevelJA LAC LAF* EMG KAJ MNM MIM MGO* PreAEO LHP MJP* HBQ* ERR LLR MCR* HSR LKS KFT MMV LEW* KAW KKW K