The New Flashcard 

A secondary level Spanish unit using technology to develop study methods

Lesson Plan by: Hannah Moran and Will Zirkle

Target Grade/Subject

This project is directed towards a Level 1 Spanish class. Most students will be in 9th or 10th grade. These early high school students would fall under Piaget's Formal Operational stage in his Four Stages of Cognitive Development. During this period the person becomes more able to solve abstract problems in logical fashion. The main skill that begins to appear during this stage is hypothetico-deductive reasoning. In other words, the student can begin to consider hypothetical situations. By ninth or tenth grade, the student is in the middle of this change in thought processes. Our project will suit this type of student because it challenges him/her to think about their modes of thinking, which is a higher order of. By considering different techniques of learning and creating a presentation, they are hypothesizing about which method of memorization might best suit them. When the students share the presentations with eachother in class they must use inductive reasoning to select a method of study that they will use for the upcoming exam. This reasoning is also characteristic in the formal operations stage. Lastly, another characteristic of this stage is adolescent egocentrism. While the students don't deny that other people have different ideas, they are focused on their own. This self-focus will motivate them to create their own methods of study in the computer lab. However, sharing of the presentations will force them to begin thinking about others ideas, something they may have not done before.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

1) Working in groups of 3, students will develop a study strategy to help them memorize the Spanish vocabulary list or explain an important grammatical concepts of the Unit.

2) Working in groups of 3, students will use technology to creatively develop and clearly communicate the strategy.

3) Students will use the strategy to study the Unit's concepts and examine the effectiveness of their own strategy and others' strategies as indicated by a self-report.

Teachers Notes:

A. Notes regarding Objective 1:

Discussing previous strategies they have used to study with will help them brainstorm, and then they can expand on those strategies or create a completely new idea. The goal: By having students develop a strategy they will begin thinking about how they best learn. This will assist them in the future study of topics in foreign languages and possibly save them time.

B. Notes regarding Objective 2:

While discussing the strategy or after creating it, each group will combine their strategy and knowledge of computers to display the method. Some students may choose to use tools like clip art, charts, photos from the Internet, Power Point, or Excel to create and display the strategy. They will use these projects and craft it into a program of study using a computer. The goal: Technology is not only helping the student make and display the strategy, but is motivating them to explore this important skill by making it interesting. Also, by discussing and displaying the Unit's concepts, they are reinforcing the things already learned.

In a class presentation following the development of the project, students will share: their strategies with one another via technology in the classroom. Each student of the group must actively participate in the presentation, so that it is evident that all understand the strategy. The goal: By challenging the students to share the strategy, they are being pushed to express in words strategies of the mind. This may be difficult at first, but it is important to emphasize that the strategy does not have to be too complicated. It just needs to be explained well! Students will also be asked to look at other strategies and examine them too.

C. Notes regarding Objective 3:

Students will be asked to use that strategy and will be given a normal book quiz. The "quiz" will NOT count in the tallying of the grade. The goal: Students can see that their efforts in development of a strategy are useful. While mastery of a given list or grammar concept is crucial for learning Spanish, the learning of "this specific week's words" is merely a peripheral goal.

At the end of the "quiz students" will be asked a few questions regarding how helpful their skill was. If so, why? If not, which one will you choose next time? The goal: Students may not do successful on the quiz, but will be forced to think of another strategy they may want to try next time. What is ultimately more important is the development of study skills for their future in their foreign language acquisition.

Summary of Assessment:

Because of the project and its critical thinking nature, students will be assessed on a "complete/incomplete" type scale. If students have met the goals of the objectives, as demonstrated in their presentation and the answering of the final quiz question, they will receive a passing grade. If they have not met the objectives, they will have an opportunity to resubmit the assignment. The group can meet with me after class to do a short presentation that will demonstrate they truly have mastered the skills and clearly communicated it. They will retake the quiz using the strategy. They will also be asked to comment on why it was not helpful before and if it is now, why?

Materials

1. Preparation of Presentation (In the lab):

Students will be encouraged to use PowerPoint primarily. PowerPoint will assist them in making the actual presentation. They are free to use the web in order to find attractive photos. A scanner might also be useful for bringing in photos from outside of class. They are not limited to Power Point because they may choose to use Excel to organize helpful charts, etc.

2. Sharing Presentation (In class).

a. Supplies:

For sharing the presentations, the teacher will need to have a computer, projector (hooked up to computer), and a screen. In this case, one student can work from computer, while the others are up front doing the presentation. If available, students would benefit greatly from touch screen whiteboard (as seen in Lafayette computer lab).

b. Teacher Evaluation Sheet:

1. Has the group developed a strategy? Yes _____ No______

2. It was clearly communicated as follows ______________________

3. If unclear, what are some confusions? ______________________

4. Was technology used to assist in displaying the strategy? (Aka: Did it truly add to the creation of the strategy?) Yes ______ No ________

5. Was the project presented in creative way? _______________________

c. Peer Evaluation (to make sure all in group participated equally)

1. Do you feel that everyone in your group participated equally throughout the creation of the project? Yes _______ No _______

2. If not, who do you think did not and WHY? (Give examples).

3. Friday's Quiz:

Questions included at end of Quiz:

Did you use your study strategy last night to study?

Did you find it helpful?

Will you use this strategy next time or try a new one? If so, which one?

The Lesson

Monday &endash;Introduction of unit

1. Review vocabulary and grammar concept from the Unit (ex: sports, the verb "to be")

2. Lead class discussion: How would you study this for a quiz? Does your method usually work?

3. Introduce the concept of "developing a lesson strategy" by giving some examples (Ex: put helpful pictures next to vocabulary, organize verbs in a chart). Note: Be sure not to give too many hints. We want the students to brainstorm on their own.

4. Explain the expectations for the week:

a. Split into groups of 3 persons each (assign different topics: divide vocabulary list and grammar concepts)

b. Give them 15 minutes to begin brainstorming their strategy. (Tell students they will go into the computer lab and be able to use technology to assist them)

c. Explain what will happen for the rest of the week (see following information) and emphasize what they will be graded on (aka: development and explanation of a strategy)

d. Explain Evaluation procedure

Note: It may be helpful to inform the students of the difficult nature of the assignment when doing it the first time. Encourage them to try their best.

Tuesday - Production Day

1. Tell the student groups to continue work on the project using the computers. Remind them that they can use Power Point, Excel, the Internet, etc to work on the project

2. As student groups work, look around and make sure ALL are participating. Note the students who are not. You may use these comments to verify the students' evaluation of group involvement later (see Evaluation Procedure for further details).

Wednesday- Presentation Day

1. Each group presents the project. (All students in the group must participate).

2. Teacher assesses completion of project (see Materials sheet)

3. After all presentations completed, students fill out peer evaluation to make sure all students have participated equally (See Materials Sheet)

Thursday &endash; Study Day

1. Split students up into groups and allow them to study using their study strategy for part of the class period.

2. Explain that the quiz will be counted as complete/incomplete. (In other words, if they complete all blanks and answer the final questions they pass).

Friday &endash; Quiz Day

1. Give the students a normal short quiz (provided by the textbook or your own).

2. Include the following questions at the bottom of the quiz to get the students thinking:

Did you use your study strategy last night to study?

Did you find it helpful?

Will you use this strategy next time or try a new one? If so, which one?

Beyond the week &endash; Wrap Up

1. Encourage the students to continue trying new strategies.

2. Make the presentations available throughout the year so students can refer back to them.

Evaluation Procedure

Brief Explanation:

Students will be evaluated based on the proper completion of the assignment as stated in the objectives. If they clearly demonstrate that they have met the objectives then they will receive all possible points. If they have not met the objectives, the group will be allowed to resubmit the assignment until they have. Both teacher and peer evaluation will allow the teacher to evaluate the students. The majority of the evaluation will take place on Wednesday during the class presentations. Friday's quiz must simply be taken and all questions answered to receive maximum points.

Part I. Teacher Evaluation: (Wednesday)

There will be an evaluation sheet to be filled out. The completion of this sheet will allow the teacher to clearly determine if Objectives 1 &endash;3 have been completed on Presentation Day (See Materials sheet)

Part II. Peer Evaluation: (Wednesday)

Each student will be required to fill out a peer evaluation form at the end of Presentation Day. This will verify that all students had contributed well to the given assignment. If the Peer Evaluation sheets show that a few students have not participated well, those students will be met with individually outside of class. Use the specifics given by the peers to ask the student if he/she did or did not do what the accuser wrote. Use your own comments from Monday to see if you jotted that students name down too. Based on his/her response and the comments on the Peer Evaluation sheets, use your discretion to determine which students truly did not participate well enough. To calculate their grade, offer the option of using Friday's quiz and the submitting of a 1-page paper explaining the study strategy their group used and how it was presented.

(Explain these penalties on Monday to ALL students so they will be informed of possible negative consequences for lack of involvement)

Part III. Quiz (Friday).

If students complete quiz and answer the last three questions, they will have shown that they completed Objectives 4 and 5. (See Materials sheet)