The Unit Plan that I chose was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and focused on characterization and point of view.
*Note: The lesson plan I chose was only to help guide my organization and almost all of it was adapted so I could effectively incorporate digital technology.
Session I:
This first session focuses on Access, Analyze and Produce sections of the Media Literacy Cycle. After students have completed reading To Kill a Mockingbird, the teacher will begin the lesson with a "Do Now" in which the students are asked to write about what it would be like to live in someone else's life for a day (they would choose the person they would "become" for the day). This would start off the PowerPoint lecture that would ensue. The PowerPoint lecture (on a SmartBoard) would include information about characterization (focusing on characters in the novel) and how point of view affects the interpretation of the novel. The SmartBoard would be used to toggle from presentation to YouTube videos which would give students a visual aids to assist in their understanding of the lecture. This would be the Access portion of the class.
After the presentation was completed, there would be a large group discussion in regards to the characters of the novel, and how the point of view in which the novel is told helps or hinders the telling of the story. The SmartBoard would have threads/topics on screen to help students gather ideas to start the discussion. This large group discussion would focus on the Analyze portion of the Media Literacy Cycle. The discussion would go from student run to teacher run when it comes time for the Formative Q & A. This would be done prior to handing out the homework sheet so that I could determine whether or not the students were on par with the lesson for the day/clear up any last minute misunderstandings. The Homework Handout would be the student's first digital technology interaction of this lesson. This Produce section asks students to pick a person of their choosing (perhaps the same person they wrote about in their "Do Now"), research them on the internet, and complete the handout.
Session II:
The second session of this lesson would focus further on Analyzing and Producing sections of the Media Literacy Cycle. In this session, the Analyze and Produce sections are listed together because I feel that through their activity they are analyzing information in regards to the novel. Students will be broken into small groups after a brief "reinforcement" lecture about point of view and characterization to make sure that students have the necessary knowledge to move forward with their group projects (The SmartBoard will have the PowerPoint on "repeat" so it will be accessible for the students throughout the class period). Students will then start creating a blog from one character's point of view, using www.blogger.com as their platform. In the classroom they would only be asked to produce one blog post so there would (hopefully) be time for students to present their blogs. The students would use SmartBoard for their presentations and are asked to explain why they chose the format of the blog, what their blog was focusing on (for instance; Scout grappling with attempting to understand issues and events beyond her years), and the language in which they chose to write the blog. This blog would create a bridge between eras and make the angst and issues of the novel understandable in today's society. Students will be asked to finish their blogs in alignment with the rubric passed out to them (so they have an idea of how to structure their blogs) and be ready to present them.
Session III:
This final session would focus on the Communication and Evaluation sections of the Media Literacy Cycle. The students will present their blogs using the SmartBoard as their presentation tool. The SmartBoard was chosen because unlike a PowerPoint, the SmartBoard can be manipulated with the interactive "pens" so a student can zoom in/out, drag, and do all kinds of interactive things to their blogs which will enhance their presentations. After each presentation, the students in the audience will be asked to do a peer-assessment of the group which will be read and used by the teacher to assess the presentations and then furnish a final grade for each group.
After the presentations, there will be a Formative Q & A session so I can ascertain whether or not the students gained any knowledge and technical understanding from the group presentations. The students are encouraged to provide feedback on whether or not they liked the projects (providing they have reasonable opinions to back up their answers) and if they have fully understood the objectives of the lesson.
