Using Technology to Differentiate Instruction
Lesson Plan Outline
1. Lesson Title: Introduction to the Newspaper
2. Date of Implementation: Start of unit-March
3. Lesson Author(s): Karen Kammerdiener
4. Subject Area(s): Reading
5. Grade Level: Seventh
6. Approximate Time Needed: 1 day
7. PA Content Standard(s):
1.1 Learning to Read Independently
1.2 Reading in the Content Areas
8. Objectives/Lesson Outcomes:
1. The students will activate prior knowledge on what they know about the newspaper through an online survey. (Zoomerang)
2. The students will complete a scavenger hunt finding various items in the newspaper.
9. Materials and Resources Required:
A. Technology (include location and equipment):
Zoomerang survey- Newspaper- Use of mobile labs
Excel spreadsheet- tables and graphs- use teacher’s computer
B. Printed Materials:
Copies of the Express-Times Easton Edition newspaper
Copies of the scavenger hunt
C. Other Supplies:
Pencils
10. Lesson Procedures:
1. Introduce students to the newspaper by having students take the Zoomerang survey called Newspaper. This will allow the teacher to see at a quick snapshot who reads the newspaper and who does not.
2. To familiarize students with the newspaper, students will complete a scavenger hunt on finding various items in the newspaper. This would allow students to become familiar with the newspaper setup as well as for them to realize the wealth of information found in the newspaper on any given day.
3. Once the surveys are completed, the teacher will create an excel spreadsheet using a table/graph in order to show which sections of the newspaper are their favorites and which sections of the newspaper are their least favorites. This would be reported by each class and in percentage format.
11. Modifications for Differentiated Instruction:
A. Remediation:
For these students, before completing the survey, the various sections of the newspaper would be discussed so students are familiar with them. Also, scavenger hunt could be done in pairs so students could help one another.
B. Enrichment:
Students could create their own scavenger hunts and give to other students. Once results from the surveys are tallied, students could help with the excel charts.
12. Student Assessment:
Completion of the surveys; observations; accuracy on the scavenger hunt.