Web-Enhanced Lesson Plan


Lesson Title: Guess My Friend

Holly Matthews
Charlotte Park Elementary School
[email protected]

Grade level:  kindergarten EL

Content area:  science

Problem:  1. What features does my friend have?  2. Can others guess my friend by viewing the cartoon I have created? 3.  Can I guess another friend based on another cartoon?
(This lesson will be conducted after students have explored their own features, in order to give them an introduction to using their senses to explore and describe.)

Objectives: Students will explore the features (skin, eye, hair color, clothing, etc.) of another student within our "Myself and Others" science unit. Students will create an accurate representation of their friend.  Students will identify one other cartoon character by comparing its features and those of other students.

Standards: 0007.2.1 Use senses to explore and describe.
NETS standard: Students interact, collaborate, and publish with peers.

Materials:
basket with student names
student checklist (to determine features of that student)
toondoo.com

Instructional strategy: Collaborative learning
In collaborative learning, students work together to "reach a shared solution" (Mills, 2006). I chose collaborative learning because it meshes well with the English language learning goals of my students. Content is made more meaningful when students are allowed to collaborate. This strategy facilitates cooperation and communication as students work towards a shared goal (Mills, 2006). This strategy also helps students work towards meeting the social and emotional goals of kindergarten.

Procedures:  Students will be put into pairs for this collaborative learning activity. Each pair will draw the name of a student in the class. They will complete a checklist about the student regarding the eye color, hair color, skin color, and what color/kind of clothes the student is wearing. Then they will use the data they collected as they create a cartoon character of the student on Toondoo (students will have been given a tutorial of how to create a character and practice/explore time on a previous day.) The characters will be printed out and displayed and each pair will be given one printout.  The pair will need to use the drawing (namely, the features of the student) to "guess the friend."

Student product:  Cartoon character of another student based on collected data

Information literacies:  Students must use visual literacy to create and analyze the cartoons.

Safety and ethics: Students will be monitored by the teacher and the computer teacher as they work in pairs. A direct link to Toondoo will be placed on the school's page so that the students arrive there safely. Accounts will be pre-made using a username that is not the student's name (students are used to entering usernames and passwords because of an online reading program.) Students will be informed of the importance of original work and collecting accurate data (a pre-safety and ethics primer of a sort!)

Assessment Rubric:

Criteria

Students include all elements (eye color, hair color, skin color, and clothing color/type) in an accurate manner on the checklist and in the cartoon. 
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Students include most elements in an accurate manner on the checklist and in the cartoon.
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Students include some elements in an accurate manner on the checklist and in the cartoon.
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Students include no elements in an accurate manner on the checklist and in the cartoon.
Student sample (The avatar is the sample.)

Score

E (Exceptional)


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S (Satisfactory)

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N (Needs Improvement)

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U (Unsatisfactory)
References

Mills, S. (2006). Using the Internet for active teaching and learning. New
      Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.