In this week’s lesson we learned about Renee Hobbs’ communication competencies that she outlined in her book Digital and Media Literacy: Connecting Culture and Classroom (2011). I found myself drawn to her ideas about access, creating, and acting. These three ideas then became the focus of a Simple Machines lesson plan for my students.
To begin, students are given a problem that they must solve using only the tools provided in class (the tools being a variety of simple machines). For each situation, there is no right or wrong answer and students could come up with many different ways to solve one of the problems. They will create a brainstorm that will be shared with the class via Padlet. From there, they must act on their plan. There will be time for students to play with the objects and troubleshoot their original design. As they are working, they will be showing their creative process through posts to Padlet. Their final assignment will be to take a photo or video of their machine in action. They will post this to Padlet along with an explanation of why the made the decisions they did. Posting this information to Padlet will allow all students to access the thinking of other groups. In the next lesson we would be able to analyze each group's decisions.
My goal through this lesson is to allow students the ability to be creative in solving a problem, and in doing so, show me that they understand simple machines. Their assessment is created in a shared space so that all students are able to reflect and analyze choices made by each group. Padlet also allows me to see the changes in their thought process. The project itself involves a level of “play” which Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown (2011) note as an integral part of learning in the digital age. In this case, their play is problem solving and troubleshooting, however since it is presented in a more creative way students are more likely to treat it as they do playing and enjoy their time on the project. I also incorporated a game into the warm-up for class as a way to foster the “play” environment.
In the end, my hope with this lesson plan is to encourage students to be creative and have fun finding ways to solve everyday problems using simple machines. This is accomplished through open-ended problems, fostering a sense of play, and having students represent their ideas using technology.
References
Hobbs, R. (2011). Digital and media literacy: Connecting culture and classroom. Thousand, Oaks, CA: Corwin/Sage.
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Lexington, Ky: CreateSpace?.
To begin, students are given a problem that they must solve using only the tools provided in class (the tools being a variety of simple machines). For each situation, there is no right or wrong answer and students could come up with many different ways to solve one of the problems. They will create a brainstorm that will be shared with the class via Padlet. From there, they must act on their plan. There will be time for students to play with the objects and troubleshoot their original design. As they are working, they will be showing their creative process through posts to Padlet. Their final assignment will be to take a photo or video of their machine in action. They will post this to Padlet along with an explanation of why the made the decisions they did. Posting this information to Padlet will allow all students to access the thinking of other groups. In the next lesson we would be able to analyze each group's decisions.
My goal through this lesson is to allow students the ability to be creative in solving a problem, and in doing so, show me that they understand simple machines. Their assessment is created in a shared space so that all students are able to reflect and analyze choices made by each group. Padlet also allows me to see the changes in their thought process. The project itself involves a level of “play” which Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown (2011) note as an integral part of learning in the digital age. In this case, their play is problem solving and troubleshooting, however since it is presented in a more creative way students are more likely to treat it as they do playing and enjoy their time on the project. I also incorporated a game into the warm-up for class as a way to foster the “play” environment.
In the end, my hope with this lesson plan is to encourage students to be creative and have fun finding ways to solve everyday problems using simple machines. This is accomplished through open-ended problems, fostering a sense of play, and having students represent their ideas using technology.
References
Hobbs, R. (2011). Digital and media literacy: Connecting culture and classroom. Thousand, Oaks, CA: Corwin/Sage.
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Lexington, Ky: CreateSpace?.