Lesson #2 Evaluation

My lesson aimed to teach how to multiply fractions by a single digit whole number in a 4th grade, math lesson. My lesson activity involves pretending the classroom is now a bakery, and the students are bakers. Depending on their skill level assessed by you while you were teaching the lesson, students are split into three differentiated groups: decorator, cupcake baker, cake baker. Decorator being the low end for skill level, cupcake baker being on-level, and cake baker being a high-level learner. Each group will get a worksheet with fraction times a single digit whole number problems to complete together. They are able to use an interactive fraction bar tool to compare fractions and help them work through the problems. This tool can be displayed on the board for the teacher to use with the whole class or specific group, and on individual Chromebooks/tablets if available. This is such a great tool to include because it is very intuitive to use, allowing for individual use of it. It helps the student visualize the size of fractions and then to drag the visualization next to another fraction helps the student compare for value.  

Some limitations of this lesson are sight, sound, and time restrictions. If students have limited sight that is a problem because of how small the numbers on the blocks are in the interactive technology tool. There is also no sound options in the interactive tool. Also, the time given is the time of the class period, so if the student needs more time it would have to be at home or during another part of the day. 

I found three great resources to help these limitations: 

• Vision Assist
• Beeline Reader
• Voice Dream Reader

Playing around with these tools, I can see how they perfectly cater to the problems that appear in my lesson naturally. Vision Assist is all about catering to vision disabilities. Allows for the problem of small numbers to be solved in a fast and simple manner. Then there is Beeline Reader which is such a useful tool for anyone whose eyes go cross-eyed after reading off a screen for so long. It also makes an easier format to read if audio is not an option for the student. Lastly, there is Voice Dream Reader which is for students that have more trouble with sight than hearing. By automatically reading what is on a document and transferring it into an audio file allows for the student to have more time actually working on the problems, and not trying to translate, taking work time away.  

Assessment/Tool Design

With Kahoot! I was able to make an assessment for my alphabet lesson plan to review what the students have learned and what they still need to learn. This will definitely be played in a small group due to the fact the students are preschoolers. I will have to read the questions to them and go over the answers with them. With a smaller group it's easier for me to be more hands on with them. There are 5 questions with 2-3 answers each, and they select one correct answer. At the end of the quiz I can see what they did well on and what they still need to work on.
https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/ab88b4e9-7218-4139-b45a-f6f90c974f46
With Plickers I can use it as a whole class activity where the students work together to come up with the answer and shout them out compared to each student doing it on their own or working in small groups.
https://www.plickers.com/library

Assessment Tool/Design

After playing with assessment tools in class today, I decided to create a 5-question assessment using Quizlet. I created an assessment on my activity plan 2 which is on 'The Life Cycle of a Butterfly'. This tool was very easy to use and I think that students in the elementary grades would enjoy using these online flashcards to study for an assessment. The answers to the questions are displayed on the back of the card so that students are able to check their answers. The link to my assessment is below. Feel free to check it out! :)

https://quizlet.com/_5nxczg

In addition to creating a quiz using plickers, I also created on using Kahoot. This site was always a hit even when I was in high school, and I kids of all ages love it. Why mess with something that is working, right? My quiz is a very basic one about the names of different animal's homes. I found that both tools worked about the same for creating the quiz and both were equally as simple to sign uop for and create a quiz on.

The code for my Kahoot quiz is: 395784

Quiz Design Plan

I decided to use Quizziz for my quiz. I thought that creating the quiz was very easy to do and also like the fact that you could incorporate images into the quiz. After creating the quiz the teacher can present the quiz in multiple ways. One that was most appealing to me was the live quiz. Once the instructor forms the live quiz students simply go to join.quizziz.com and enter the game code that is provided by their teacher. This code is auto generated each time you initiate a live quiz. Students can join the game on any device that has access to the internet. Overall I think the experience using was Quizziz was very pleasant. It is user friendly and offers a lot of features. It is also integrated with your google account as well.

Activity plan 2 part 2

My activity plan is intended for preschool age students (4-5) and is on letter sounds. Not all of this lesson involves technology, but it is integrated. The first portion opens with a video played on the smartboard or projector for the whole class. The next part does not involve technology (for most - I will address this later) because students will be interacting with one another. After that portion, technology will be involved. Students will play a game on the website abcya.com which they will access on their own. Once they complete that, they will select a tool on their own to use to create an illustration representing an assigned letter.

None of the tools on the Free or Low-Cost Assistive Technology paged seemed reasonable for teaching my lesson o,r having all of the students use because of heir young age as they focused a lot on writing (which my students will not quite be doing yet). However, there are two tools that I would use for hearing or vision impaired students. Sound AMP R for the hearing impaired while watching the video, finding their partner in the first portion of the lesson and listening to instructions. The main limitation I see with this tool is that students will have to have their tablets with that at all times so it can convey the sound to them. For vision impaired students, they will use Turn off the Lights while working on their tablets, not only for this lesson, but for all other lessons that involve their tablets. Although, I am not sure if this will work for every app and website they need to access. 

Lesson Plan 2

7. Digitize content with Office Lens

I can use this tool in my lesson to take pictures of pages in a textbook or number learning book for my students to access at home. I can make it accessible through their parents’ email or through the schools’ online portal for my students to practice at home. I can also find a worksheet online to print out and take a picture of to make accessible for them as well. I can play around with the pages or worksheets I find to change any font sizes, add any color to the text, and add or delete any pictures to assist students with any visual impairments.

With technology advancing, many phones, laptops, or tablets have a feature where you can take a screenshot of a picture and use a digital pen (using your finger) to write on the screenshot. With any worksheets that require tracing over the number, the students can screenshot the worksheet and trace over the number. They can then send me the screenshot via email or the online portal, so I can grade them and track their progress.

This has a huge positive impact because since it offers students to do work outside of the classroom, it is more flexible for them and their parents. With that, their parents are more involved with the lesson because they can assist them on their own time.

Both these tools get students really involved with technology. With the smartboard activity, it allows students to work together with their peers. Not only are they learning the material, but they are also learning social skills.

With the smart board activity, it can only be done in class. It limits students to work outside of class. However, they can access abcya.com at home which is great.