Brainstorming+Page

[|WallWisher Storyboard]

3/22: Joe: Here is the lesson plan template. We can up load new versions as we go. [|A.3.4_ Lesson_Plan_Template.doc]

3/22: Joe: Check these documents out. I don't have a lesson plan written out but if you like it I can do it. [|Cult of Personality.doc] [|COP Rubric.doc]

3/28: Valencia: I had a closer look at the original assignment sheet and made some notations on it. Have a look at them and let me know what you're thinking. Joe [|Joe Feedback.doc]

4/4: Valencia: Here's something I began working up today. Have a look at it. If you like it's "direction" then we could work with it. I've basically taken the Cult of Personality concept and changed it into a "Leaders Who Affected Children" concept. This plan is the beginning of the "2nd part" of the unit, after the students have already read Anne Frank.

For unit assessments, I was thinking of these things: 1) A children's book (to go into the "museum"); 2) The museum set-up; 3) A week in the life piece of writing, where they place themselves as a young person living in that country at that time (this could be narrated on VoiceThread with art from the children's book, maybe?); and 4) a letter to the leader of the country in which they discuss the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. These combine Social Studies, English/Language Arts and Visual Arts.

Anyway, have a look. I referred to a couple of worksheets in the Lesson Plan, but only actually made one today, which I've included below. Let me know what you think. I'd still like to get this finished by next Saturday, since I'll be in Singapore on a break/conference from April 11-15.

If you like it, it should be pretty straightforward to finish. The main thing we'll need is our own Pathfinder to sites that are appropriate for 8th graders that have info about the leader, the country, how people were affected or whatever. If you want to think of that, it would help. We'll also need to complete the actual lesson plan form, with Extensions/Modifications (the rest of the unit and how we help kids who need help, Resources (web and other), unit assessments,

Joe

[|Sample Lesson Plan.doc] [|Leaders Who Made.doc]

 4/5: Joe: I see your chat feature still isn’t working L. However, this looks great! I like how you have combined both of our ideas! I’ll begin working on the Pathfinder site and searching for additional resources. Valencia

==== 4/6: Still no chat, Valencia. The poor tech guys have spent about 6 hours trying to figure out why it's not working. They can get it under the Administrator profile just fine, but under mine, no dice.====

====4/8: Joe: Here are the Social Studies, English, and Tech TEKS. Please feel free to delete the ones that you think don't apply to our lesson plan. ====

[|TEKS.doc]
Valencia  4/10: Valencia: Busy day today on this thing. Here’s what I did: 1) I finished a “draft” of the Lesson Plan. Can you look at it pretty closely and see if it makes sense? I mean, I think it does, but that doesn’t mean too much. If you could have a look at it and maybe make notes right on it in a different color, that would help. I got the standards and everything from TEKS (thanks for those!) and the AASL on there and on the Unit Plan, too.

2) I did a Unit Overview linked to the Lesson Plan. We didn’t have to do this, according to the assignment sheet, but I thought it might help both us and our readers. Can you read that, too, and make comments on it?

Thoughts: We seem to be in good shape. The Lesson Plan is kind of simplistic, but it’s the beginning of a 6-week intense unit, after they’ve already read Anne Frank and thought about that. It seems like most of the work for the unit will be in the classes after our little lesson. I tried to include a lot of co-teaching, but if you see room for any more, make a note of it.

3) I also changed the name of the StoryBoard Page to Brainstorming Page and moved all of the stuff (CoP, TEKS, earlier messages) to that. Hope that’s OK with you.

What do we need to do to get this thing done by next week? We need Resources. After you read through it and check out the assessments, you’ll probably have some ideas about resources. Right now, I’m thinking a Pathfinder for “Evil Leaders” and one for our “Countries and their Histories” accessible to 8th graders would be good.

1) a list of nonfiction and fiction books featuring young people at risk in some of these countries might be a good idea. If they lived at the time of these leaders, so much the better. We’d want them to read those to get a “flavor” of the country. As for books I mention in the plans, //Rose Blanche // would have to be in there (mentioned) and maybe other children’s books that show the countries.

2) can you get a MS Word document with the TEKS standards for Grade 8 Art and post that, so I can add it to the Unit Overview? What you did with the others was helpful, actually made things a lot easier than playing with the formatting on the TEKS website.

3) can you start filling out that Collaborative Lesson Planning Form? I can help when I get back. I’m leaving tomorrow for Singapore for four days, where I won’t be on the Internet that much. (I sort of need a break, and it’s our Cambodian New Year holiday. Plus, I’ve got a two-day conference.)

If you could work on resources, that TEKS Art thing and that Planning Form, that would be great. Let me know what you think of what we have so far. Seriously, any feedback positive or negative is helpful.

Take care, Joe

4/11: Joe: Here is the document with the Art TEKS. -Valencia 

4/15: Thanks, Valencia...you're a magician...

4/12: Joe: We need to adjust our lesson plan so that it is 40-50 minutes. Ours is currently 80 minutes. -Valencia

4/13: Joe: I've added the Pathfinder and Resource pages. Take a look and let me know what you think. -Valencia


 * 4/14: Joe: I need your ideas for the following questions on the collaborative lesson planning page (especially, since we need to make our lesson into 40-50 minutes instead or 80 minutes). We need to cut some things out of our lesson and that may affect how I answer the questions. **
 * **In what specific learning experiences do we want them to engage? Who will be responsible for each? Learning Tasks/Responsible Educator **
 * Have a look at what I did today and let me know if that helps you answer this question, Valencia. If you're stuck--or if you don't like it or something-- let me know and we can sort it out tomorrow. **
 * **How will they communicate what they learned? Learning Process/Products **
 * They'll be doing the self-reflections, and eventually, they'll be using the research to write and display their knowledge in the assessments. (That museum idea of yours, by the way, fits in well.) **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">When you get a chance check out the Resource Page and let me know what you think. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">-Valencia

4/15: Valencia: I'm back from Singapore. Here's what I did today: 1) Got the lesson plan "refined" to 50 minutes. Have a look and let me know what you think. Be brutal if you have to...;-) 2) Cut some stuff (like the rubric) and made the "assessment" a self-reflection. ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let me know what you think about that, too.

Just had a look at your stuff...Wow! Have you been busy! I like how many different things you've found. A couple of questions?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Also, according to the Rubric, __one of us needs to send the Rubric + Self-reflection__ and the __other person just the Self-Reflection__. I'm good with either way. Let me know.
 * Do we organize it by country? **I can try that if you want me to take a crack at it.**
 * Can we add any non-fiction/fiction to the "Countries" one? Or does that belong on the Resources page? Can we even find fiction/non-fiction for each country? Do we have to? (Or should we.) Off the top of my head, I can think of AK for Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sudan, and First They Killed My Father, The Stone Goddess (Cambodia). **I can try to find some more resources, too, if you'd like. I plan on working on this all day Friday (my time), Thursday night yours.**

Finally, let me know if there's anything you want me to change about this, OK?

Take care, Valencia. --Joe

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">4/15: Joe: I hope you had a great time in Singapore! Today, I organized the Pathfinders by country and evil leader. Take a look and let me know what you think. I've also found additional books (fiction & nonfiction) on the countries. I am unsure of where to add them (Resource Page or Countries Page) so I added them to the Resource Page for now.

I'll turn in the Rubric and Self-reflection if that is okay with you. -Valencia

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">4/16: Valencia: Shoot me if you get a chance...yesterday, while "playing around" with the lesson, I got to thinking about King Leopold. With what he did in the Congo, he was sort of evil--I had my AP English students research him when I taught //Heart of Darkness.// Anyway, he wasn't 20th century enough for me, so I changed him to Foddy Sankoh-- who led the RUF in Sierra Leone and recruited child soldiers. Here are some child soldier stories I did with my 8th graders a few years ago before we read //AK// by Peter Dickinson. There's also a good .pdf giving a lot of background on the issue. They would probably be good for Liberia, too. If you wanted to add them to the Pathfinders. (Or I could, too.)

[|Case Study Sierra Leone.pdf] [|Child Soldier Writings.doc]

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pathfinders: I like it...nice and organized. I also think adding the books to the Resources page makes the most sense, since that leaves the Pathfinders for Internet sources.

Another thing I was thinking of for the Pathfinders pages were links to survivor stories...to give a sense of what life was like during the leader's rule. I know of a few Cambodian ones, and I can use the link above to childsoldiers.org. I can do that, if you'd like, and add them directly to the country or leader pathfinders. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ** This is a great idea! Please add them if you have time. ** **I added them just now, Valencia.**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here's what I see as our "final" jobs: 1) Skim the Lesson Plan one more time. (Check for errors and flow.) <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**Done...Will do this again before submitting the assignment.** <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**I checked it over, too...it's not very "exciting," but it's a start to what students have to do. It also seems to have a "flow" to it**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**.** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">2) Update the Collaborative Lesson Planning form with the latest Lesson Plan changes. **<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I've updated the Collaborative Lesson Planning form with the exception of the question: <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In what specific learning experiences do we want to engage them? ** <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**I gave that a shot...it seems to "work" as it is**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**. Have a look and let me know what you think... It looks great! ** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">3) Add some titles to the Resources page, maybe some fiction and nonfiction? (We also have to add //Rose Blanche//, since we mention it as part of the Art assignment.). ** I've added additional fiction and nonfiction titles to the Resource page. I add some others and //Rose Blanche// morning. ** <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">**Excellent** <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**, thanks. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I've added Rose Blanche and two titles about Sierra Leone to the Resource Page. ** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">4) Get the rubrics/reflections in.

It's 6:27 am here. I plan on going home and returning by 9 or so, maybe earlier. I can do all of this stuff, if you want. I'm figuring on 2-3 hours total. Let me know.

Joe

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**4/16: Valencia: I used RED above for the things I did when I came back this morning**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**. Joe**

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">4/16: Joe: Take a look at what I've done. 1) I added Rose Blanche to the Resource Page. 2) I added 2 books about Sierra Leone to the Resource Page. I saw the internet pathfinders you added. Great Job! 3) I added Foddy Sankoh to the Evil Leaders Pathfinders page.

I used BLUE above to respond to what you said this morning. If we're all done I'll go ahead and submitt the rubric/reflection around 4:00pm my time. I've enjoyed working with you!

Valencia <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">

4/17 (Saturday morning, Cambodia time): Valencia: I had a look at everything just now, and it looks solid. (With the museum display part of the Lesson Plan, I added "produce" when talking about the artifacts.

I'd say we're finished. I've enjoyed working with you, too. Thanks for sprucing up the pages with those Wordles...they give it a great look. Take care of yourself...get some rest and gear up for the next things.

Joe