Technology Integration Plan

The original lesson plan I chose to use was from a lesson on the United States Constitution, which estimated it would take three lessons to complete. It was intended for 8^th grade students. With a lot of lecturing by the teacher and reading assignments, the lesson was pretty dull. There was only one group activity, and even then, no technology was involved. The lesson started out with a lecture and discussion about the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, which went into a lecture on the Resolution of the Continental Congress. After learning about the Constitution, students were to read draft that the continental congress then and compare it to final draft and chart the differences. The second lesson was a lecture on the Bill of Rights, which included a discussion about why a bill of rights would need to be added. The last lesson was linking the past to the present to show how the constitution allows for change over time. In my modified version of this lesson, students will use the information they have taken away from the lectures, as well as additional research, to create a final video project. This video project can take many forms (talk show, news piece, debate, etc.), but students will be excepted to portray the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, the issues that arose while drafting the constitution, and the compromises that were made in the final draft of the constitution, as well as how the constitution was established in a way that makes is elastic.  After adjusting the lesson to use technology, I have transformed the look and feel of the lesson, without losing any of its essential elements. You can see my completed matrix here.

The first content-standard started I chose for the first row on my Matrix asked students to compare and contrast the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution, specifically in regards to the decision-making powers of the national government. The lesson would begin with a lecture to teach the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and the drafting Constitution. The smart board will allow the teacher show a presentation (PowerPoint/prezi), while also adding notes provided from student participation. After the lecture, the students would participate in a Think-Pair-Share activity regarding the powers of the national government under the Articles, as well as the Constitution. While still in their pairs, the students would fill out a Venn Diagram so that they can visually represent the differences and similarities. In the original lesson, students would work alone to complete a similar task. By adding the smart board, the lesson became more interactive with the students. And the addition of the partner work introduced collaboration, as well as higher thinking by asking them to complete a Venn diagram. The group work and the use of the diagram also meet the NETS-S standard, which asks students to work in teams to solve problems.

 The content-standard that I used in the second row of my matrix deals with geography and how it led to some of the debates that arose during the drafting of the Constitution. This part of the lesson would be dedicated to research in groups so that the students could gather information about the New Jersey and Virginia Plans, which will provide material for their final video project. While researching, students should be filling out a “story board,” sheet to organize their thoughts and where they want to go while filming.  This portion of the lesson speaks not only to the NJCCCS, but also to the NET-S because students will create original works, and collaborate with peers and use technology to do so.

The third standard I chose for the next row of my matrix calls on students to determine the role compromise played in the creation and adoption of the Constitution. Students will already have some pervious knowledge on the issues that surrounded the drafting of the constitution through their research in the previous row. The first part of the lesson will have a lecture using a smart board/projector. After the lecture, students can keep researching in groups using the computer.  Groups that are done can use their storyboard sheets and begin filming. The technologies used in this part of the lesson fulfill the NETS-S portion of the standards, and in turn, will help students master the content standards as well.

The last row of the matrix will be mainly student orientated. The content standard aligned with this part of the lesson asks students to evaluate the effectiveness of the Constitution in establishing a government that could change over time. Not only do students have to recognize what principles allow for change, but also make a judgment about how effective they were. The lesson will begin with a discussion about how the Constitution was made so it can change over time. This will help students with the last part of their video projects. After the discussion, students will have time to finish their videos. At this point, students should be done filming and should continue onto editing their projects. The nature of the project (video recording, group work, video editing) aligns with the NETS-S standards I have chosen.