Project TELL Unit Plans

areas with an asterisk (*) are required; all other areas are recommended. Template Description

Unit title* Developing Informational Reading Skills Through PowerPoint
Subject area*Social Studies
Secondary subjectLanguage Arts
Grade*8th
Duration/time*1-2 weeks
Overview*This unit focuses on developing student's ability to understand and apply informational text in Social Studies.  Using the software program PowerPoint (this also can be done without using the program), students will become the "experts."  Instruction involves students in manipulating information and ideas by synthesizing, generalizing, explaining, or arriving at conclusions that produce new meaning and understanding for them.  (Teaching and Learning Standard - Higher Order Thinking)  Students are engaged in extended conversational exchanges with the teacher and/or peers about subject matter in a way that builds an improved and shared understanding of ideas or topics.  (Teacher and Learning Standard - Substantive Conversation)
Technology overview*

click on level for description

 

Level 1: Students will access information 
Students make use of their social studies textbooks, CD ROMs, the Internet, or other sources of information on a particular topic.
Level 2: Students will collect data for research
Students organize information on note cards by taking notes as they read.
Level 3: Students will analyze information
Students work in groups to determine the big ideas in a reading passage and use a story board to help them narrow the reading to truly big ideas.
Level 4: Students will synthesize and communicate information
Students will create PowerPoint presentations in small groups as a tool for developing their informational reading skills.
Focus questions* Grade specific to social studies (The technique in this lesson can be used in any subject area):

Where and why did the first industrial revolution take place?  How did the industrial revolution fuel the growth for America? What was the major effects of the cotton gin? How might history have been different if Nat Turner would have held a peaceful rebellion instead of the violent rebellion against slavery?

Content standards and benchmarks*

(Mastery)

Michigan Social Studies:
I.1.MS.1: Construct and interpret timelines of people and events.

I.1.MS.2: Describe major facts that characterize the following eras in United States history: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)

I.2.MS.1: Use narratives and graphic data to describe the settings of significant events that shaped the development of the United States as a nation during the eras prior to Reconstruction.

Technology standards and benchmarks*

(Mastery)

 T.MS.5: Apply productivity/multimedia tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, group collaboration, and learning throughout the curriculum.

T.MS.6: Design, develop, publish, and present products using technology resources that demonstrate and communicate curriculum concepts to audiences inside and outside the classroom.

Resources*  Materials include: Textbook or other secondary source, storyboards, note cards, PowerPoint (optional). 
Two useful websites:
http://www.americaslibrary.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi  

http://www.yahooligans.com/ 

Title of Lessons/ resources*Lesson 1: Introduction to PowerPoint (45 minutes)

Lesson 2: Modeling Storyboards (45 minutes)

Lesson 3: Small group brainstorming (45 minutes)

Lesson 4: Creating a PowerPoint (45 minutes)

Lesson 5: Student created quizzes (45 minutes)

Lesson 6: Student Presentations

Example student materials Student Power Point presentation:   The Stamp Act
Assessment*A PowerPoint Rubric was used for assessing this unit: Rubric

This is a great site that allows you to easily create assessment rubrics.  http://teachers.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/presentation/  

ReflectionStudents working together through this process become engaged with their work.  The presentation is something that they are proud of and take ownership of.  When students are able to take information from a secondary source, such as a textbook, and make it look more appealing, the information itself becomes more appealing.  When students are able to work together to pick out the "big ideas," they can come together with an idea that has grown from all of their ideas put together.
Home activities 
Credits Deb Lehto

8th Grade Social Studies, Escanaba Junior High School, Escanaba, MI  49829      dlehto@dsisd.k12.mi.us