Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETSSTemplate I
(More Directed Learning Activities)
Template with guiding questions
Teacher(s)
Name Christy Jacobs & Brenda Parker

Position Media Specialist

School/District Fitzgerald High School/ Ben Hill County School District

E-mail Christy.jacobs@benhillschools.org

Phone 229-409-5538

Grade Level(s) 9th and 10th

Content Area Honors English Language Arts

Time line 4th Quarter

Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and strategies do you
expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject area benchmarks? ) Please
put a summary of the standards you will be addressing rather than abbreviations and numbers that indicate which
standards were addressed.
Reading Literary: 9th-10th Grade ELA GSE
L1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
L2: Determine a theme and/or central idea of text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped
and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
L10: Read and comprehend literature, 9-10 text band proficiently, with scaffolding
as needed at the high end of the range.
Reading Informational
I6: Determine an authors point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an
author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
I8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing
whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify
Content Standards false statements and fallacious reasoning.

Empowered Learner:
1.1d Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations,
NETS*S demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and
Standards: are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.

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 Digital Citizen:
2.2a Students cultivate and manage their digital identity and reputation and are
aware of the permanence of their actions in the digital world.
2.2b Students engage in positive, safe, legal, and ethical behavior when using
technology, including social interactions online or when using networked devices.
2.2c Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and
obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.

Knowledge Constructor:

3.3d Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and

problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.

Creative Communicator:

6.6b Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital

resources into new creations.
6.6d Students publish or present content that customizes the message and
medium for their intended audiences.

Overview (a short summary of the lesson or unit including assignment or expected or possible products)

The students will be introduced to an entirely digital unit for the remaining fourth quarter of school. The unit will
take place with the reading of George Orwells 1984 and include digital reading, digital responding, and digital
submitting. There will be no hard copies provided to students for the duration of the unit to prepare students for
higher education beyond high school. This lesson plan will only take place with 9 th and 10th grade honors
literature classes as approved by the principal for the incorporation of higher levels of digital use. Each student
will be instructed on how to use and create a digital notebook through Office 365 for the unit. The notebook will
be organized in a fashion for students to view digital handouts, submit essays, write and respond to peer blogs
(using Delve), take notes, and view the questions asked in Twitter chats after the chats have taken place. The
unit will push the envelope of technology use and incorporate a required text of our English Language Arts
department. By the end of the unit, students will have full understanding of the use of Office 365 student
notebooks, a gallery of blogs and responses, and an understanding of the use of social media and its
incorporation into the literature classroom to allow for peer collaboration.

Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care or
want to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or generate
interest about the topic? Additionally, what questions can you ask students to help them focus on important
aspects of the topic? (Guiding questions) What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring
to this topic and build on?) Remember, essential questions are meant to guide the lesson by provoking inquiry.
They should not be answered with a simple yes or no and should have many acceptable answers.

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Essential questions were presented to students through a beginning unit Twitter chat using social media as a form
to excite students regarding the upcoming unit and text study of 1984. The questions included various levels of
depth of knowledge and were implemented to provoke inquiry into the upcoming unit. The questions included:
1. What would you view as big brother today?
2. In order for an idea to exist, we must have the words to express it. Do you agree or disagree? Think of
an example to support your reasoning.
3. In order to ensure peace, we must prepare for was. Name the figure of speech and in what sense
someone would argue the above statement to be true.
4. Those who would exchange freedom for security deserve neither one. Under what circumstance(s)
would you be tempted to exchange freedom for security? Explain your reasoning.
5. Is it morally justifiable for a county or government to conduct some degree of surveillance of its citizens?
Current Examples: Traffic cameras to catch speeders. Security cameras in public places to catch crimes in
action. Monitoring telephones and email communications to screen for potential terrorists.
6. Name a famous event in history that happened before you were born and that you did not witness
yourself. Include the information below.
What were your sources of information about this event? How do you know this event actually occurred?
7. Why do young adults like to read Dystopian Novels?

Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to generate new
knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)? How will you assess
what they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?) You must attach copies of your assessment and/or
rubrics. Include these in your presentation as well.

Students will generate blogs on a weekly basis to illustrate their learning and their connections from the text to
personal experiences and current world events. Student blogs and responses to their peers will be assessed
through a rubric that grades based on the original post of ideas and content, the writing of the students that
includes quality of and grammar, and the peer response that incorporates communication between students and
the exchange of ideas. (Blog Rubric Attached)

Students will also be assessed on the Twitter chats that take place throughout the unit. The Twitter chats and
blogs are mediums for the students to generate new knowledge based on their conversations and how each
student brings in their own background, opinions, and current political and social situations of our environment.
(Twitter Rubric Attached)

A final assessment will take place on the culminating activity for the end of the unit. Students will have the
availability to choose from a variety of options and rubrics will be available to grade students based on their
project of choice. (Culminating Activity Rubric Attached)

Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resourcesonline student
tools, research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etchelp elucidate or
explain the content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology skills should students
have to complete this project?)

Technology is the medium upon which the unit is based as it is entirely digital. Through the incorporation of
technology, students are employing higher levels of Blooms taxonomy including analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation. The unit incorporates the following digital tools: Microsoft Office 365, OneNote Notebook, Delve
(blogging), and Twitter which allow for online collaboration, student interaction, and engagement. To be most
effective and productive within the unit, students should know basic keyboarding skills and computer shortcuts
when blogging, the basics of Twitter (using hashtags, re-tweeting, responding, etc.), and how to find pictures and
documents from their devices and upload them in the appropriate fashion.

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Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson? How can
you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)

To be successful within the unit, students need to be prepared for full digital use. While there are not any steps to
prepare for a digital environment, self-awareness and the knowledge that digital exploration will take place is an
important precursor to the unit. Most teenagers are already so immersed in technology and social media, that I do
not see their interest level being an issue but rather being a more comfortable medium to give everyone a voice.

Students can read eBooks on their phones, tablets, or laptops to prepare for reading online and acknowledge
that one will most likely feel confused, frustrated, or overwhelmed at some point during the study as a healthy
precursor to understanding the rigor of which they will be faced. This unit is designed to stretch the boundaries of
what students are used to when reading text in the ELA classroom by producing a product (using technology as a
medium) that proves higher levels of Blooms taxonomy and depth of knowledge have been pursued. Throughout
the unit, students may struggle with appropriately posting or importing content in the correct area, deleting
content, or other means which will cause them to become frustrated. However, it is important to note that through
saving content (which is essential), corrections can easily and quickly be fixed.

Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and the use
of digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (Small groups, whole group, individuals,
classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the Internet while completing this
lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet lesson and explain how you will resolve or
trouble-shoot them? Please note: Trouble-shooting should occur prior to implementing the lesson as well as
throughout the process. Be sure to indicate how you prepared for problems and work through the issues that
occurred as you implemented and even after the lesson was completed.

Students will be assigned a laptop number for use based on the desk that they sit in daily. The laptop will remain
the same throughout the unit to ensure there will not be connectivity issues due to low resources or new users
(common issues found within our network and technology department). Twitter is being enabled for the classroom
laptop cart for the duration of the unit and will be turned off during standardized testing to ensure students are not
on the schools network accessing Twitter at inappropriate times during the instructional day. Students will work
individually building their own digital notebooks, writing and responding to blogs, and being proactive Twitter users
during our class chats.

Before the students were introduced to their individual classroom notebooks, I created the full unit notebook and
included the necessary tabs for each student. The blog was created prior to student use to determine trouble-
shooting issues that might arise and to provide a detailed example of what is to be expected. As I am not a
regular classroom teacher, the classroom teacher was in the room which will allowed me to troubleshoot issues
on an individual basis whereas the teacher could continue with the ELA curriculum and the expectations regarding
the text.

Several issues came up during the unit that allowed corrections to be made before precursor classes would
begin. Four classes are involved in the unit and therefore issues that would arise during first period could be
corrected before fourth, fifth, and seventh period students came to class. As a Microsoft Office 365 administrator
for the school, I had the capability to troubleshoot student accounts as they came up and did not have to turn
anything over to the technology department; which allowed for smoother transitions and the ability for all students
to be on task and not get behind due to technology issues.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities Describe the research-based instructional strategies you will
use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your role? What are the
students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the analysis, evaluation, or
creativity levels of Blooms Taxonomy? How can the technology support your teaching? What authentic,
relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students complete? How will they build knowledge

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and skills? How will students use digital tools and resources to communicate and collaborate with each other
and others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?

As a media specialist, my role in this lesson plan was to construct the digital notebook for the unit and setup the
notebooks that students would be using. I compiled all resources: video, pictures, handouts, etc. needed for a
complete unit study of George Orwells 1984 and created the unit in an online digital format. When the notebook
was complete, it was my role to teach the students how to operate their notebooks, set up and create blogs, and
create and appropriately and effectively use Twitter in the classroom.

Instructional strategies incorporated throughout the unit included inquiry-based learning, providing students with
clear and effective learning feedback, higher-level questioning, and response notebooks. Inquiry-based learning
took place as students were given two to three questions per blog topic that would require students to find
resources and/or interpret the information and report their thinking through a blog post. Students were given clear
and effective learning feedback in real-time as the students were responding to Twitter as the chats took place
during the instructional day. Students were also given digital feedback from the primary teacher regarding their
submitted essays. Higher-level questioning was incorporated through the Twitter chats and blog topics as they
required an analysis of the text and real world applications along with evaluations of the questions and topics
presented where students could pull in videos, pictures, etc. to enhance their creativity of their individual blog.
Technology supports the all instructional strategies and learning activities used as it is the medium to which the
entire unit revolves around. All submissions, feedback, and creation takes place in an online environment that
relies on the use of technology.

Students completed authentic, relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks by comparing 1984 to
present day. Several of the questions that were presented to students are hot topics in our society today which
required students to think for themselves and represent their opinions effectively. By analyzing George Orwells
work of dystopian literature, the students could create relevant and meaningful comparisons through blogging to
the social and political structures in the book and those of present day. Through blogging, students could
communicate (following a rubric) and collaborate with each other to expand conservation that they may or may
not agree with. Twitter chats were another avenue for students to communicate using technology. Facilitation of
the collaboration took place as it was happening. Tweetdeck was displayed on the board to follow along with the
responses to the chat and facilitate and build upon what the students were already communicating to one another.

Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process to accommodate various learning styles and
abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide extensions and
opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)

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Blog responses were differentiated by providing students a choice of three different topics to choose from. Also,
content added to the unit notebook included videos, pictures, and text to accommodate various learning styles.
Students could have the online reading of 1984 read to them or they can read the text on their own.

Students were encouraged through independent work by completing their assigned blogs on time and posting the
link to the classroom notebook. Students were equally encouraged to communicate with their peers through
commenting on a peers blog acknowledging something their peer stated, building on their comment by adding
personal experience, and concluding with a critical thinking or Socratic question to the individual or class.

Students could complete extension or enrichment activities by completing only blog topics with a depth of
knowledge of three or four to make sure all students were being challenged. Twitter chats were also differentiated
in the types of questions asked. The questions spun from depth of knowledge levels two through four.

Students would have their own earbuds to listen to videos and if needed to listen to the text read aloud. I was
present in the room to assist students with technological issues and troubleshoot until all students were
comfortable with using the technology to complete the required coursework.

Reflection (Will there be a closing event? Will students be asked to reflect upon their work? Will students be
asked to provide feedback on the assignment itself? What will be your process for answering the following
questions?
Did students find the lesson meaningful and worth completing?
In what ways was this lesson effective?
What went well and why?
What did not go well and why?
How would you teach this lesson differently?)

Students will have a final presentation at the end of the unit as a culminating activity for the text. Students will
have various options available to complete and rubrics that comply with each of the options. Students will also
complete a final unit reflection blog for the entire unit. This blog will cover how well they liked or did not like the
fully digital unit. Students will have to go into detail into what aspects were those that they liked or did not like.
They will also have to reflect on their personal growth or lack of during the unit by looking at their blogs, Twitter
chat responses, and essays. Through their reflection blog and culminating activity, myself and the content teacher
will be able to sit down and reflect upon the usefulness of the unit and any changes that need to be made for the
digital unit to be most effective to the majority of students.

Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience with
implementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson? Please
provide a quality reflection on your experience with this lesson and its implementation.

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I was completely blown away when working with the students and incorporating blogs, Twitter chats, and the use
of online notebooks. There were points during the lessons that I would have chill bumps from the complete one-
hundred percent engagement from every student in the class. The format was exactly ideal and I was fortunate
enough to have the principal complete a walk-through during my lesson. My principal is completely on board with
the use of technology and would like myself and the content teacher to present the information to the English
department at the end of the unit to encourage more technology use throughout the department (besides students
simply typing essays) for the following year.

It is important to note that the three technology devices that I choose to implement were all very complicated in
nature. None of the tools were those that students had used before in an educational format. Every tool had to
be taught in depth which added to the timeline for the entire project to be completed. Due to not having access to
my own classroom, I also partnered with a classroom teacher and came in to teach the various tools. I had to
prepare and complete all of the upfront work with setting up the notebook and having the unit ready for students,
setting up the blogs and having an example and rubric made, and creating the Twitter cards to use for our
Twitter chats all based on the content that the teacher wanted to present. All of this upfront work was very time
consuming before any teaching began, however, once the notebook was complete, the entire unit study was
ready which took the four honors classes to the end of the year! All of the upfront work was certainly well worth it
when you are allowed to watch how interactive students are when using technology as their medium to work
through a text and make connections to the world.

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