This is my 100th overall post on this site since I created it about 4 years ago. I started this blog as a way to reflect on my teaching and lesson designing. This particular post is a reflection for my new unit on the Industrial Revolution in relationship to Northern and Southern states.
I have the unit set up for students to learn about the Northern and Southern region differences from 3 perspectives geographical perspective, economic perspective, and transportation perspective. Ultimately, students need to understand how geography contributed to the types of jobs and economies of each region, they need to understand how the Industrial Revolution impacted the North versus the South, and they need to understand why the North had different means of transportation from the South.
I’m writing this post to share my thought process on a daily basis with my lessons. For me it’s an ongoing reflective process throughout the day. Here was my initial plan:
- Begin with an 8parts – I wanted the students to choose an image representing the North or the South. Students gave it a 3 word title, focused on nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. They would also list out an example of geography, economics, and transportation.Students finished the 8parts by writing a descriptive paragraph about the image.
- Transition to a Quizizz – the Quizizz had 12 questions, 5 vocabulary words and 7 questions related to Geography. If students did well with vocabulary that meant I didn’t have to waste time doing vocabulary activities.
- CyberSandwich – The CyberSandwich would be a 10 minute read and note take, 5 minute discuss, and a 10 minute summary. One students would read about northern geography and their partner would read about southern geography.
This plan would change throughout the day…
8Parts
I began the day with this period and took a chance with the 8Parts. I broke a golden rule and used the 8Parts for the first time this year with actual content. I should have known better. It’s interesting, though, because students that had me last year did an excellent job with this activity. However, I didn’t like some of the results and the 8Parts took entirely too long. Again, I should have known better – low cognitive load to begin and more reps!!
I decided that I needed something simpler and quicker. As a result, I switched this to a Thin Slide. However, the Thin Slide was done with a NearPod Collaborative Board. I uploaded the same images and gave students 3 minutes to share one word and one picture of a geographical feature they observed. This proved to be more effective as we looked for similarities in the posts…thank goodness for the Thin Slide in my toolbox. Plus, the setup on Nearpod was super easy!
Quizizz – Fast and Curious
The Quizizz I put together had 12 questions – 7 questions related to geography and 5 related to vocabulary. I included vocabulary questions to see how the students would do. The class average on vocabulary questions was 90% or higher across all classes. The class averages on geography questions was 40% or lower across all classes.
The goal was to run the Quizizz twice before the end of class. Here were the class averages the first time taking the Quizizz – 62%, 57%, 49%, 40%, 33%. After completing the CyberSandwich, the class averages were: 82%, 86%, 89%, 79%, 77%. This was a significant jump and shows the power of the Fast and Curious reps.
CyberSandwich
The CyberSandwich evolved throughout the day. We began the day with a completely digital CyberSandwich using Google Slides. One student read about northern geography and their partner read about southern geography. I felt bad that I didn’t have paper copies of the reading available of a physical copy of a note taking sheet. I try to have these things available for students. For 4th period and beyond, I had the copies available.
By the time 7th period rolled around, I had to switch up the CyberSandwich. This class is made up of 50% or more of students with an IEP and it’s tough for me to get around to everyone. With this class differentiation and UDL is a must. As a result, I created a CyberSandwich on Nearpod.
The Nearpod adaptation was such a great mixup!! I shared my Nearpod link and gave every student a Venn Diagram on paper and had them takes notes. I also had physical copies of the readings as well. There’s no doubt if I left the CyberSandwich as a Google Slide, it would not have gone as smoothly. I set up my Nearpod like this:
1st slide – I can statements.
2nd slide – Thin Slide with a Drawing Slide
3rd slide – Thin Slide with a Drawing Slide
4th slide – Read about Northern Geography – takes 4-5 notes.
5th slide – Collaborative Board – share 1-2 important notes you wrote
6th slide – Read about Southern Geography – takes 4-5 notes.
7th slide – Collaborative Board – share 1-2 important notes you wrote
8th slide – type a summary, write a summary on paper, or record audio of your summary.
All in all, it was cool how this lesson evolved throughout the day. My goal is to strive for better for my students and myself on a daily basis. Switching the CyberSandwich to a Nearpod was a huge move that proved to be effective for my 7th period students.
Moler's Musings 