3...2...1... Action!

3...2...1… ACTION! Implementation Plan for 4th Grade Students

Now, here comes the fun part...,...... IMPLEMENTATION!

The plan I created incorporates disciplinary vocabulary with Social Studies standards,

specifically about the Southeast Region of the United States. There are many reasons I

chose to create a plan with a cross-curricular approach. I created this plan after

referencing several research articles about 21st Century digital practices, disciplinary

vocabulary, and personal digital inquiry. As we know, (research supports) all students

need to be exposed to disciplinary vocabulary and reading the different kinds of texts

prior to middle school, (Uccelli, P. et. al, 2015) as it plays an important role in student

comprehension, which this plan includes. This time of the year I need to be working on

the Southeast Region with students so we are also aligned with standards that have to

be taught. This plan is aligned with Oklahoma Academic Standards for English

Language Arts and Social Studies. My hope is that the fourth grade teacher I work with

will also be interested in using this plan after I have tweaked it based on reflections

made from my own experience of how it works with students. There is a balance of

traditional inquiry (KWL chart, asking questions, etc…) and digital inquiry practices

(using online resources, creation of multimodal texts, etc…) which research supports for

finding a, “pedagogical sweet spot” (Bruce, B.C., et. al, 2012) in a 21st Century classroom.

There are many opportunities for students to practice using digital and multimodal texts

when reading and creating a representation of their learning. 


Ms. Bell's Implementation Plan 


From my peers, I am very appreciative of what they considered to be strong points in

my implementation plan. Suggestions and questions facilitated my reflection process,

and what I could change in my implementation plan to better aid student learning. 

In the past I have not spent as much time on disciplinary vocabulary and how it relates

to reading comprehension of various types of texts. Typically vocabulary instruction in

my classroom consisted of surface level teaching, and students were not retaining

vocabulary knowledge. The lessons in this plan create opportunities for students to keep

a vocabulary log of new words as they learn their meanings that they can refer back to

as needed. This year I have also seen the importance of teaching students how to use

online resources (texts with hyperlinks, digital dictionaries) in order to learn new words

and have used that in this plan.

As for student collaboration roles, I think structured roles would be a great plan. Groups

will be no more than 3 students, so I will have to consider that as I develop the

structured roles or discussion rules. 

In the upcoming week prior to implementation we will be developing rubrics for the

creation of their final project. This will be quite an undertaking, so I will likely share

rubrics with students and allow them to “grade” pre-made examples.


Approximate Schedule

November 16-20

November 30-December 3


Schedule for Implementation


Materials:

Student devices

Southeast Region texts (digital and print)

Word Journals

Seesaw Journal

Sticky notes

Anchor chart paper

Poster paper

Interactive Whiteboard 

Note taking handout


Web Resources:

Kids encyclopedia facts 

www.google.com 

  Merriam-Webster's Word Central 

Pics4Learning: Free Photos for Education 

Southern States Interactive Map  

SOUTHEAST US REGION - over 20 interesting key facts

EpicBooks (app or website)

Google Slides


References 

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