Lesson Plans

Embedded below you will find lesson plans for each of the four lesson topics within the Communities Unit. Information is kept purposely brief on the lesson pages as detailed information is need by the teacher only. Lesson plans can be downloaded and revised to suit your needs.

Time spent becoming used to some of the tech tools would be time well-spent, in the weeks preceding the beginning of the unit. Most of the activities for this unit integrate technology. If those technologies are not available, or you're just not quite ready to try them all with the kids yet, plans can be easily modified. Feeling overwhelmed? Pick a couple tools that have the most to offer your students educationally, and use them as your starting point. There are a variety of learning activities from which to choose and others that you have likely taught in the past that will fit in very well, should you choose to incorporate additional learning activities.
 
Most learning activities have a technology component:
  • Low Tech: Many tech tools used in the Communities Unit require you to simply open a browser and paste in the URL. Becoming familiar with the resources at ahead of time will make it easier to plan what you want to fit in when. So, read an eBook, look over some online resources or check the Video Library and Vuvox player on the embedded in Additional Activities page, for easy access to a variety of resources.
  • Higher Tech: Mapping tools like GoogleEarth, ScribbleMaps, and MapSkip will take a bit of time to get used to. New to online map tools? Try out each one for five minutes and see which is more user friendly. Whichever one is easiest for you to use, is likely the one your students and their families will have the easiest time with as well. This unit will work best in the second half of the year, so there is plenty of school year available for planning and prep.
  • Homework: The Skype and Wiki activities will likely be the most time-consuming to prepare for but also have the greatest opportunity for authentic sharing and collaboration. I know you and your teammate are right across the hall, but why not schedule a few Skype meetings to get used to how it all works? Skyping outside of Kipling  will require that you to actually find another classroom. That, in my opinion, will be the greatest challenge of the unit. Some suggestions are included in the lesson plans.

Lesson Plans on SlideShare

The four lesson plans for this thematic unit can be viewed here, downloaded, or viewed on the SlideShare Web site. The menue bar at the bottom of each embedded document gives you the following choices:
  • Menu - Click on the menu icon to comment, favorite, embed, share, or download the presentation. Sharing is via e-mail and all other options require signing in to your SlideShare account (free, registration required).
  • Embed and E-Mail - Open the corresponding tabs in the menu (as above).
  • Full - Click on the icon to open the presentation in full-screen mode. Press esc to exit full-screen and return to this page.
  • Play - Use forward and back arrows/buttons to navigate through the document. The slider can also be used.
  • Zoom - Zoom in and out within the embed window.
  • Search - Search for key words within page text. Click on arrows to find next/previous iteration of the search term.
  • View on SlideShare - Links to document on the SlideShare Web site; further options available there.