Presidents Day Computer Lab Research Project for Beginning ESL Students
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the lesson, the student will:
-research about one U.S. President using guiding questions provided by the teacher
-interpret the information on the web about the President
-create a WORD document or Google Docs in complete sentences
-add an image to the document
-use Brainshark (or other recording tool) to create a Voice over for the document
-demonstrate knowledge of the U.S. presidents that the students in the class have chosen though a game (Kahoot it) with at least 75% accuracy
Teacher Preparation
Time preparation is about 1 hour.
If you choose to create a quiz in Kahoot, this will take additional time.
Materials and Resources
Computers
Internet
Printer
Google Drive
Pre-Activities
The teacher can set up a Google account so that all students can access it. Each student should have their own folder. Because this is a Beginning ESL and computer class, and often technological abilities may be at a minimum, I create a single class Google email account and all students use the same log in and password. Within the Drive, each student has their own folder. The students understand that other students in the class may look at each other's work. For this activity, this sharing is important because the game (Kahoot it) has questions based on everyone's contributions. So students will need to access and read over their peer's work.
You can have students sign Release Forms that they give permission for their picture to be taken and their work be published or shared on internet for teaching purposes and educational or professional development purposes.
The teacher should have a model of the final product. I use George Washington as an example. See Supplemental Section.
Teacher should have explained plagiarism and being a good digital citizen.
The teacher should have appropriate websites ready for research information for students.
The teacher can remind students how to use Google translate.
The teacher can remind students how to use the Google tool bar ie insert an image, change font size, and center alignment.
Teacher should have guided questions ready (See my handout in the Activities Section).
The teacher may want to set up a BrainShark account or find an alternative to recording the student voice overs.
The teacher will need to create a Kahoot it account and create the game/quiz.
Activities
Teacher will provide the students with some direct links to information about U.S. Presidents.
The links below are useful links for information about about Presidents.
Us President List
http://www.easyfunschool.com/IndexPresidentUnits.html
http://www.classroomhelp.com/lessons/Presidents/
Each student should should a different President to write about.
Students will use the guided questions sheet and search for answers on the internet.
Assessment
Students will print out their President Document. Post it Student Work Wall.
Students will review the Presidents their classmates wrote about to prepare for a game/quiz in Kahoot it!
Supplemental Information
Here is my example:
Standards
Reading Basic Skills by Content Standards
Writing Basic Skills by Content Standards