Attribute Level, goals and skills Materials Procedures/Activities Assessment Analysis Reflection on this lesson Reflection on the Semester

Total

Points Available 14 15 25 6 15 15 10 100

Points Awarded 13 15 25 4 dont forget content accuracy 15 15 10 98 Linda, you did a great job!. I am glad you listed the content standards that go along with your information literacy standards. The information literacy standards should complement the content you are teaching which you have realized. The webquest was colorful and student friendly. The activities are thoroughly and clearly described. The rubric is aligned to your activities. Reflections are good.

Please visit the following URL for the Information Literacy Unit Plan created in the form of an interactive WebQuest: http://polaris.umuc.edu/~ltavares/edtc/RainforestWebquest.html Name: Linda Lavinder Tavares A. Format of the Information Literacy Unit Plan Academic Subject(s): Social Studies Topic(s) of Unit: Tropical Rainforest Grade Level(s): Third Grade Learning Objectives for 5-Day Unit: The students will read a story in order to identify a topic which requires further study The students will create a graphic organizer (KWLH) in order to identify prior knowledge

Linda Lavinder Tavares

The students will develop a plan for how to answer questions about a topic using keywords and search engines The students will identify animals and plants the rainforest. The students will use journal entries to state reasons the rainforest is important. The students will perform research using technology in order to organize facts and data to support a topic The students will identify a problem and develop a plan for how to answer question about the problem The students will cooperatively create a classroom mural depicting the strata (layers) of the rainforest including illustrations of indigenous plant and animal life.

Information Literacy Objectives: Define the information need: In Charles County, Maryland, during the fourth quarter of the school year, the Social Studies Curriculum focuses on the Tropical Region. During this time, we study different parts of the tropical region including the tropical rainforests. Students are asked to learn the location of the tropical climatic region, what countries and continents are located in that region and to compare the climate to that of Maryland. They are asked to research the differences between geographical regions during the school year including the polar, temperate and tropical climatic regions and to show differences and similarities between them all. I determined the format of the lesson would be a WebQuest. Many of the goals of Social Studies lessons can be successfully achieved through the use of this format. In my lesson, I am asking students to locate the necessary information to meet these objectives. The lesson requires answers to specific questions regarding the rainforest including: Where is the tropical region located? Where are the rainforests located? What is the equator? Why is the rainforest important? What kinds of people, plants and animals are found in the tropical rainforest? In order to locate information for this project, I used several search statements including: tropical rainforest + information, rainforest activities + elementary, tropical rainforest + printable or worksheets. Locate information: My research plan was to begin with the content standards found in the Voluntary State Curriculum (mdk12.org). Once I located the objectives I wanted to address, I used the information found in Chapter Six of the textbook Teaching with the Internet K-12 (Leu, pg. 219 ). This chapter contains a list of Social Studies resources on the internet (pg.246). After visiting several resource links, I began my research at the National Council for Social Studies (http//www.ncss.org). Process the information: I carefully evaluated each of the internet resources to make sure they were good sources of information for the students. I used sources which were appropriately geared
EDTC 605 Final Exam Page 2

Linda Lavinder Tavares

toward student use and clearly related to my lesson objectives. The information at each resource site is clearly stated and easily accessible to the students. The materials are comprehensive and allow students to complete each aspect of the lesson requirements. The internet resources which are used provide motivation because of the interesting photographs and graphics, sounds and easy to locate information. The linked resources are organized in a logical, sequential manner related to the guiding questions. Students are asked to visit these internet resources to extract information. The required information is listed on the site as questions. The students are asked to create and add two of their own questions to be answered. While visiting the internet resource links, they are required to evaluate which portions of the site are needed to answer the questions and record their answers on the worksheets provided. Create and communicate results: Once the students have gathered the required information, they are asked to organize the answers into two written paragraphs and cite their sources. These paragraphs culminate in the creation of a Rainforest Adventure Booklet. Along with the paragraphs, which share information about the rainforest, they are asked to create and illustration to show how the rainforest looks. Concerning citations, since this is third grade, it is easy to overwhelm students with too many requirements at a time when they are concentrating on learning and understanding basic information (for instance writing a complete sentence). With this in mind, I asked students in this lesson plan to simply keep track of the title of each web resource they used to answer the questions and to write these titles at the end of their booklet as their form of citation. When they are completed these booklets will be added to a Classroom Rainforest Mural. Added to the mural will also be the other projects created from this lesson which includes an illustration and information card explaining facts about their favorite rainforest animal, a postcard they will create allowing them to share their knowledge of the rainforest and its value to a United States Congressman, and the products they bring in from home which are made from materials that originate in the tropical rainforest. At the end of the unit lesson, parents, guardians and family members are invited into the classroom to hear from the students all they have learned about how important the tropical rainforest is to the earth. Students will share the classroom mural and all of the projects they have produced. Assess process and product: By using a rubric which identifies the goals of the unit lesson, and sharing this rubric with the students before beginning the lesson, I hope to set a foundation for learning. While analyzing the rubric, the students are given an opportunity to talk with the teacher and with each other to ensure better understanding and an awareness of what needs to be done to meet the requirements of the lesson criteria. They can compare their work and ask themselves questions like, Do I have all the information listed on the rubric? or Should I perform more research or write stronger sentences. Giving the students the responsibility of checking and evaluating their own work and that of their peers allows the opportunity to reflect on their assignment and to fine tune each segment. Prerequisite Student Skills: This lesson plan requires that the students be given explicit instruction on how to navigate the Webquest website before attempting to read and locate information on their own. Each student must have turned in a signed release form their parents allowing them to use the internet for educational purposes and they also sign stating they will not use the
EDTC 605 Final Exam Page 3

Linda Lavinder Tavares

internet access inappropriately. This is standard procedure at most schools in Maryland. Students must be able to use specific research techniques including how to return to a previous page using the back arrow, and how to recognize a link (underlined and in blue type). They must also understand they are not allowed to visit any site other than the ones allowed by the teacher. They need to understand how to turn on and off a laptop or desktop computer. Materials: I used many resources to create this Rainforest Lesson, including worksheets for note taking, worksheets for creating the booklet, printable rainforest plants and animals, printable post card (for sending to Congress). The internet resource links were embedded in the questions themselves as hyperlinks. They are also listed on the web page as descriptive links. To view a comprehensive list of all materials used including these as well as books required, maps, globes, and other classroom supplies, please visit the Rainforest WebQuest website and click on Comprehensive Materials List at the top of the Teacher Page. Also at this URL: http://polaris.umuc.edu/~ltavares/edtc/RainforestWebquestMaterials.html

Brief Overview of Unit The students will ask and answer questions about the tropical climatic region as they perform investigative research using a variety of internet resources. They will take notes and turn those notes into a research report (in the form of an illustrated booklet), work as a group to create a classroom mural of the tropical rainforest, investigate the animals of the rainforest and create an animal poster with facts about the animal using a graphic organizer. They will share their knowledge and projects with family members. The students will write a post card to a local Congressman explaining the importance of the rainforest and what each of us can do to help save this valuable resource. Teacher To Teacher: If teachers do not have a full set of classroom computers to use, they have the option of pairing students to work together sharing a computer. Also, students might be placed in small groups and use computers in a rotational manner. The lesson timeline should be used as a guide and the teacher should keep in mind the actual time required to meet all the objectives in this lesson may take more than the allotted five days. Before beginning this project, please read through the teacher instruction page and make sure a complete understanding of the lesson has been obtained and all the necessary materials have been gathered and organized. A letter will need to be composed by the teacher to the parents explaining the project and asking that items be donated to use for the project---including a display of items produced using the materials found in the tropical rainforest. Procedures/Daily Activities Since my school has a supply of laptop carts (two carts with 30 laptops on each), my students will use laptops. However, if they are not available on any given day, I may need to use the desk top computers in the media center. In either case, the students will work together in pairs. They will be positioned in groups of four and encouraged to
EDTC 605 Final Exam Page 4

Linda Lavinder Tavares

discuss their ideas and share their research findings throughout the lesson. For detailed, step by step instructions and detailed information regarding the lesson, please visit the student and teacher pages at the following Rainforest WebQuest URL: http://polaris.umuc.edu/~ltavares/edtc/RainforestWebquest.html Student Assessment and Evaluation I chose a rubric for assessing this project. Please visit the above URL to locate a link and citation for the Rubric or follow this link: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/rubrics/elemresearchrubric.pdf The rubric used for this lesson was located through The WebQuest Portal (http://webquest.org). Rubrics can be written to relate specifically to the objective outcomes and they limit subjectivity that is sometimes present when grading projects because they outline the goals of the lesson. I was careful to use a rubric which related well to the lessons goals and projected learning outcomes. Rubrics help to highlight students strengths and help teachers plan future lessons that may better meet the needs of the students. B. Analysis of Information Literacy Lesson Plan Rationale for Activities: The information literacy standards addressed in my Rainforest unit lesson are: Standard 1: Accesses information efficiently and effectively: The students are provided with several avenues which allow them to access the information they need quickly by clicking on the highlighted links in the questions and effectively because I made sure the questions could be answered in a single click. Standard 2: Evaluates information critically and competently: Students are asked to read the information found at the various resource links, evaluate what portion will help them reach their project goals, and which part is interesting information but not needed for the assignment. They are also asked to evaluate the work of their peers. Standard 3: Uses information effectively and creatively: Students are asked to synthesis their knowledge by creating a booklet, poster, mural and postcard. The activities used to help students master each of the information literacy standards are as follows: Task definition-- I acquired the information needed by analyzing the Voluntary State Curriculum requirements and related that information to the development of tasks which would meet those objectives. I selected important questions for the students to use which would successfully guide the students research. I also asked them to create two of their own questions to answer. In this way, the information needed was identified. Information Seeking StrategiesThe students were asked to use online resources which were carefully selected with the students ages and intellect in mind. They will be
EDTC 605 Final Exam Page 5

Linda Lavinder Tavares

introduced to using keywords to search for information and keywords are actually used in the step by step instructions and are displayed in bold type. The website links were embedded in each question to simplify their searching, which is necessary when teaching at this grade level. Also, a list of linkable resources was added with a brief description containing the website page title. Location and access informationThe students were given links for easy access to information including resources they would need for project building. They were given links to websites which contained the answers to each question and printable information worksheets they can print and use for note taking, booklet creations, animal prints, and post cards. Process informationStudents are encouraged to read and evaluate which parts of the information would be useful in answering the set of questions. The websites are engaging with colorful sights and sounds. Students will not only see photographs of the rainforest and its inhabitants but they can also hear what it sounds like to be in a tropical rainforest. Create and communicateThe students are expected to organize the information they find into a report by creating a booklet about their rainforest adventure. They are asked to use notes taken to write complete sentences and organize the information into paragraphs. They include illustrations of the rainforest sights. They are then asked to create an illustration of their favorite rainforest animal and attach an index card with information about that animal. All of these projects will be added to a classroom mural of the rainforest and included are items produced from materials found growing in the rainforest (cinnamon or chocolate for instance). To communicate their learning, they are asked to do two things: a) they will write a post card to a local congressman telling of the rainforests importance and what we can do to help the rainforests, b) invite parents and family members to come into the classroom for our presentation of what we have learned. Assess process and productThe students will evaluate the work of their peers through continual peer editing. They will read and judge each others products and offer constructive suggestions to the work at stages throughout the unit. They will peer edit the paragraphs, animal index cards and post cards. They will reflect on their work and make revisions before committing to a final graded product. This unit lesson will fit perfectly into my curriculum. In Maryland, we are required to teach about the tropical climatic region and this lesson is a comprehensive grouping of information and materials that will greatly assist with my teaching goal of meeting the curriculum requirements. This Rainforest WebQuest is appropriate for my third grade students because of the design of the WebQuest and the resources which are used. The design was created to allow students to focus on investigation in an interactive and interesting manner. My students are thrilled anytime they use technology for research. Since the school does have an ample number of computers, we may schedule to use them in our classrooms for any amount of time we need. Even though this lesson was created for five days, the first day is spent on lesson engagement activities and demonstrating how to use the webquest so they may take full advantage of all the components. Many students do not have access to computers at home, so I try to incorporate the use of technology as often as possible so
EDTC 605 Final Exam Page 6

Linda Lavinder Tavares

these students have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the capabilities of computers. Explanation of the Information Literacy Component: The focus of an information literacy lesson is to allow the students to become the center of their learning. According to the article K-12 Education: Restructuring and Information Literacy by Spitzer (1993), to be prepared for the workplace of the future, teachers are now taking on new roles as facilitators, instructional designers and collaborative researchers allowing the students to learn from the content (Spitzer, pg. 132). I feel I have developed a unit lesson which allows students to create their own knowledge and perform the necessary investigations to that end. Instead of traditional teaching methods of providing information to the students, as with a lecture, the students are instead asked to seek out and find the answers for themselves and in this way provide themselves with the knowledge. I feel this kind of lesson encourages students to have a better understanding of the material and in this way own the knowledge instead of renting.

C. Reflection on Unit Lesson Plan Your Learning about Information Literacy: The information literacy component in my unit which was new for me was the process processing the information. Evaluating materials is something that, as a teacher, I have not been asked to do very often. Most of the time my lesson materials are evaluated by other learned individuals, and board of education staff members. Then the resources are provided to me for use in my classroom. Asking students to evaluate material and resources is something I have never done. In this lesson, I ask students to decide if the technology resource they are using will be useful to them in answering specific questions. This is vastly different from my traditional instruction, which demands I provide the resources and the student is confident that it is what they will use for the assignment. My philosophy of teaching is that all students can learn and this lesson gives them the opportunity to learn and to own their own knowledge in the process. Future Explorations: I would like to explore having the students create their own graphic organizers using software programs, such as Kidspiration. I would like to take the necessary time to have them learn how to use the program and practice sufficiently so they could not only learn and gain information on the lesson topic, but construct the materials to help them with their learning. Annotated Citations: Please find at the following URL: http://polaris.umuc.edu/~ltavares/edtc/RainforestWebquestMaterials.html Also linked from the home page of the lesson website. D. Reflection on the Semester

EDTC 605 Final Exam

Page 7

Linda Lavinder Tavares

The most important ideas and skills learned this semester are research skills, lesson plan evaluation, lesson plan creation, and evaluating effective resources. Developing an understanding of research skills is crucial for laying the ground work required in locating scholarly articles. Using keywords and search strategies like Boolean method of using and/or and including synonyms and how to determine an article is truly scholarly are very important skills which I have developed. Locating quality resources for teaching is a necessary component for the professional instructor. Locating and evaluation appropriate and effective resources in another important skill I have learned this semester. I have learned to evaluate educational resources using the criteria outlined in The Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) to analyze resource lessons for accuracy, appropriateness, clarity, completeness, motivation and organization. I have learned to evaluate the information literacy components of lesson plans by the information literacy standards (mentioned above). Lesson plan creation is another critical skill I have learned. As a teacher, I am creating lessons on a regular basis and have been incorporating many of the Big 6 guidelines unknowingly. Having the structure of the Big 6 allows lesson to be broken down into smaller portions and analyzed and detailed so the lesson are organized to promote information literacy (http://www.big6.com). Having access to quality materials, well defined assignments, scholarly articles and interactive resources has allowed me to learn in an effective and comprehensive manner. The ideas and skills gained through this learning will tremendously benefit my teaching. I am not being trite when I say the impact of taking this course is so great that I am left wondering how I ever taught classes without using having the technological advantages I have learned in this course. I am better motivated and more confident in my teaching abilities as a result. My goal in the future is to continue studying and creating information literacy lessons using technology for the other content areas I teach including reading, writing, math, social studies and health. I feel confident enough in my technological abilities now, I can envision a time when, instead of creating backboards with learning centers, I will replace them with computer access to interactive lessons I have created which will strongly promote information literacy. Before this class, I relied on ready-made WebQuests that may or may not have fulfilled my lesson needs. Now, I feel I do not have to rely on others to create lessons. Realizing it will take some time, my plan is to pace myself and encourage other third grade teachers to assist in this process. I would like to set up my own media start page where every teacher will have access and will contribute to its creation. The start page will be organized by content area and will include the best quality resources so students will be able to effectively take more responsibilities and control over their learning. They can work independent of the teacher and work cooperatively to learn from and with each other. My goals are still to teach but I would like to step aside somewhat and allow students to create their own knowledge and feel more empowered and enthusiastic about their learning. If I spend the time and with the help of my peers, I believe my goals can be reached within a two-year period. Without this class, I would have never had such lofty goals. References
Biography insert pages printable worksheet: Busy teachers caf. (2004). Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.busyteacherscafe.com Facts, questions, response worksheet, printable: EDTC 605 Final Exam Page 8

Linda Lavinder Tavares Busy teachers cafe. (2004). Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.busyteacherscafe.com Rainforest worksheet that is printable: Busy teachers caf. (n.d.) Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.busyteacherscafe.com Printable rainforest animals and strata worksheets: Enchanted learnin.. (n.d.) Retrieved August 7, 2009 from http://www.enchantedlearning.com /subjects/rainforest/Animals.shtml Information literacy standards for student learning. (1998). Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslproftools/informationpower/ InformationLiteracyStandards_final.pdf 100 ways you can save the earth information sheet: P2pay. (n.d.) Retrieved August 8, 2009, from http://www.p2pays.org/ref/15/14300.pdf Rainforest alliance: 10 easy ways you can save the rainforest . (n.d.). Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/education/documents/kids_easy_ways.pdf School improvement in maryland: Voluntary state curriculum. (1997-2009). Retrieved August 8, 2009, from http://mdk12.org/index.html Teacher vision: Foods and spices from the rainforest. (1993). Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.teachervision.fen.com/rain-forest-ecology/printable/6254.html Time for kids: Cluster map (n.d.). Retrieved August 9, 1009, from http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/class/pdfs/2007S/go/ns2004_4_go.pdf Time for kids: KWLH chart. (n.d.). Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/class/pdfs/2007S/go/ns2004_3_go.pdf Wequest.org: A+ rubric research process rubric elementary . (n.d.) Retrieved August 10, 2009, from http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/rubrics/elemresearchrubric.pdf What is the big6? (2009). Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://polaris.umuc.edu/~solson/GEM_criteria.doc.

EDTC 605 Final Exam

Page 9