Lesson
Plan for TPACK integration
Application
Constructing and writing a 5-paragraph essay.
First, provide some details regarding:
- Learners: This activity will be optimal
for 5th or 6th grade reading students, as reading
often incorporates writing in the elementary and early intermediate
classrooms.
- Learning
outcomes: After
this lesson, the students will be able to state the process of writing a
5-paragraph essay as well as creating their own with the proper formatting,
use of complete sentences, and grammar.
- Assessment: As a 5-paragraph essay has a
standard format, I can easily gauge whether students understand the format
of the essay. With the aid of the apps, students will be able to map a
story properly as well as write in complete, grammatically correct
sentences, and I can gauge their progress on these as well. I’ll check for
the formation of ideas, the development of ideas, and the understanding of
the essay format.
The lesson will begin with the
introduction of the two educational apps, Idea
Sketch and Sentence Builder. This
will take approximately 5-7 minutes as I’ll explain the apps to the students
and provide examples. Idea Sketch
offers students an easy way to map out their ideas to more quickly get them
onto paper. Sentence Builder provides
students a tool to ensure that their sentences are complete and grammatically
correct. Students will use both apps when writing their papers. Next, I’ll
introduce the structure of a 5-paragraph essay: introduction, body, and
conclusion, and explain each section and its purpose. This will take
approximately 10 minutes. I’ll now give the students an example prompt, my
favorite summer break, and give them a couple of minutes to come up with an
idea. While the students contemplate, I’ll walk around the classroom and offer
aid, answer questions, etc. Finally, I’ll ask the students the 3 parts of an
essay and their purposes. If extra attention is required, I’ll go over the
process again.
Reflection
The two
technological aspects of my lesson plan, Idea
Sketch and Sentence Builder,
serve predominately as supplemental or supportive elements for the lesson.
Writing stands as a more old school field of study where students rely on their
own thoughts and opinions to strive. However, both Idea Sketch and Sentence
Builder aid students’ abilities to develop their writing processes and—hopefully—eliminate
the need to use these apps in the future.
Idea
Sketch provides students with the opportunity to easily create a brainstorm
chart or “spider web” as we used to call it in school. The app allows students
to create a main idea and branch off supporting details for their main ideas to
create a helpful diagram for which to build their papers. Sentence Builder allows students to check their spelling and some
minor aspects of grammar as well. Students merely type a sentence into the program,
and it informs them if their sentence contains a misspelled word or where they
should place a comma or apostrophe. Again, both apps serve as supplementary
avenues of thought when it comes to writing a paper; writing still requires a
large amount of effort from the writers themselves.
I employ
examples along with lecturing and some self-guided learning in my essay
activity. I use the examples alongside the lecturing in my activity to provide
the students with a correct way to write the exampled material. For example,
when I discuss a thesis statement, I provide the students with a sample thesis
statement to show them a correct example. This shows the students what is
expected of their writing, and explains the process of writing it correctly.
The self-guided learning stems from the students’ own ability to develop their
arguments and topics. I allow the students to rely on their own experiences
when writing, and I cannot tell them how their experiences have affected their
own lives. Writing is quite a personal process, and students must develop their
own style and voice to succeed with a paper. Developing their own style and
voice requires the students to practice and refine their skills, so self-guided
learning is an essential part of the process. A person’s own style and voice
lasts as one of the most unique and beautiful aspects of writing. A writer
employs his or her own personal experiences, ethnic backgrounds, and memories
to create a writing voice as unique as his or her own speaking voice. Writing
is akin to thinking, and writers own thoughts bleed through on the page to
create a distinct, personal work of art.
