Lesson 2

  1. Lesson Title

Writing My Letters-Upper and Lowercase

  1. Lesson Author

Sarah Baldwin

  1. Grade Level/Subject Area

The grade level for this lesson is first grade and the subject is writing.

  1. Time Allotted for Lesson

30 minutes for each lesson in a three day period

  1. Description of Lesson

In this lesson the first graders will be working on writing their letters the correct way. On day 1 we will work on lowercase letters and on day 2 we will focus our attention on uppercase letters. On day 3 the students will complete writing that puts the letters together.

  1. Classroom Layout and Grouping of Students

For this lesson there are only three students participating. We will be in my RTI room all at the same table. The students will complete this lesson as a group with my instruction. The students will complete independent work, but will all be done at the same time.

  1. Grade Level Content Expectations

Handwriting

Students will…

W.HW.01.01 legibly write upper and lower case manuscript letters.

Writing Attitude

Students will…

W.AT.01.01 be enthusiastic about writing and learning to write.

  1. Michigan Educational Technology Standards for Students

PK-2.RI. Research and Information Literacy

PK-2.RI.1. interact with Internet based resources

PK-2.TC. Technology Operations and Concepts

PK-2.TC.6. understand that technology is a tool to help him/her complete a task, and is a source of information, learning, and entertainment.

PK-2.TC.7. demonstrate the ability to navigate in virtual environments (e.g., electronic books, games, simulation software, web sites).

  1. Instructional Objectives

-Students will be able to correctly use lowercase letters in their writing.

-Students will be able to use uppercase letters where appropriate in their writing

-Students will write legible sentences in their writing booklets.

-Students will understand where to use lowercase letters and where to use uppercase letters.

-Students will be able to use apps to help with practicing writing their letters.

-Students will be able to write at least three sentences about a specific topic.

-Students will be able to complete a worksheet on capitalization with the teacher’s assistance.

  1. Materials, Resources, and Technology

-mini whiteboards (with lines)

-dry erase markers and erasers

-Ipads (4 total)

-lined paper (writing booklets)

-pencils

-computers (4 total)

-making letters board

-dry erase crayons

-colored pencils/crayons

-giant whiteboard (for teacher)

  1. Students’ Present Level of Performance and Skills

In order to complete this lesson content the students must know the names of the letters and have experience writing the letters. Prior to this unit/lesson these students have had similar instruction in the classroom as well as in an RTI session with me. They have been writing letters since Kindergarten and they know how to write the letters, but they sometimes confuse when to write a lowercase and when to use an uppercase. In order to complete this lesson students will also need experience using computers and Ipads. They use computers every week in technology class and have used Ipads with me.

  1. Instructional Procedures

Day 1

  1. To begin today’s lesson let the students know we will be continuing our writing unit with a new topic. This lesson will focus on writing our letters and will be split up into three days. Today’s lesson is going to be about lowercase letters. Can anyone tell me what I mean when I say “lowercase” letter? Have a short discussion with the first graders on what a lowercase letter is and when they are used. Write a few examples on the board and ask the students what letter it is. Call up each student and ask them to make a specific letter.
  2. Give each student a “making letters board” and a dry erase crayon. On the making letters board it shows what the letter looks like and then next to it shows the letter in a way that you can trace it. Give the students about 10 minutes to trace over their letters. Today they will only be doing the lowercase letters.
  3. Following this the students will watch a video on BrainPop Jr. Since we used this website a lot in the last lesson the kids should be very familiar with it. Still assist them with getting to the site and with signing in. Once the kids get to BrainPop Jr. they should go to Reading and Writing, then sentence, followed by capital and lowercase. Once they get here they should then watch the Annie and Moby video. This video will also give the students some information about capital letters.
  4. After each student has finished the video ask them to close BrainPop Jr. and log off the computer. Pass out an Ipad to each student. They have used these before. The appropriate app will already be downloaded onto the Ipads so assist students with locating it. Do a quick explanation of what they will be doing. The app they are using is called ABC Writing Zoo Animals Game. Using this app they practice writing both lowercase and uppercase letters. Give them about 10 minutes to play with this app.

Day 2

  1. To begin today’s lesson I want to engage the students with a kinesthetic activity. Ask the students to stand up and find a space in the room where they have enough space to move around. Yesterday we learned how to make lowercase letters. Lets use our bodies to help us make those letters. Call out a letter and ask the students to make that letter using their body. For example, call out the letter “t” and show the first graders how to make a “t” using their arms. A lowercase “t” crosses in the middle of the line going up and down so bend your right arm at the elbow so that your arm goes up and down and then turn your left arm sideways and make it go across your right arm. Now you have made a lowercase “t”! Do this with other letters. Ask them to show you how they think we could make the letter, but also offer help. This can be difficult and the letters do not need to be perfect.
  2. Now that the students have practiced lowercase letters using a physical activity do a quick review of what was taught yesterday. Pass out a whiteboard to each student and a dry erase marker. Each will write the lowercase letter that you dictate to them. Do this for about 5 minutes.
  3. Today we are going to focus on uppercase letters. What do I mean when I say an “uppercase letter”? Have a short discussion with the first graders on what an uppercase letter is and when you use them in a sentence. Write a few examples on the board and ask the students what letter it is. Call up each student and ask them to make a specific letter.
  4. Again get out the making letters board and give one to each student along with a dry erase crayon. Give them about 10 minutes to practice tracing the uppercase letters. As they work offer help when the letter is not being made correctly.
  5. To end today’s lesson on making letters the students will complete an activity. The activity will be a short worksheet that asks them to fix a letter written from Annie to Moby. They will need to underline the letters that need to be capitalized. This will be done as a group activity. The worksheet is from BrainPop Jr. so pull this up on the computer and have it on the board so that all three students can see it. Then give each student their own worksheet. The teacher reads the sentences and then asks the children what needs to be capitalized. Underline on the board with a marker and each student will do the same on their own paper with a colored pencil of their choice. This should only take about 5 minutes and ends today’s lesson.

Day 3

1. The final day of this lesson will begin by having the first graders practice making letters. Give each student a whiteboard (with lines) and a dry erase marker. Begin with lowercase letters and ask them to write a-z. After they are done they can erase and do the same thing again but with uppercase letters. This shouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes. Walk around and help the three students by giving advice and help with making the letters the correct way. Show them how the letters fit between the lines.

2. Next pass out their writing booklets that they created during the previous lesson. Today ask them to turn to a clean page and ask them to write about a friend. They should write at least three sentences and need to remember what we have learned over the last week. Use the correct punctuation, uppercase letters and make sure your letters are made correctly! They can include a picture to go with their writing, but the picture comes last. They can use crayons or colored pencils to color. After giving them sufficient time to complete their writing, collect their booklets. Their writing will be used to assess what they have learned.

  1. Supplemental Activities: Extensions and Remediation

These students do not receive homework from me since I am not their classroom teacher, but each student knows that what they learn from me will also carry into their classroom work. They are expected to use the writing mechanics from this lesson in their classroom writing assignments. I will be talking with their teacher to check their progress in the classroom to see if there have been any improvements in their writing. We will revisit this topic many times throughout the RTI session as they create their own writing.

  1. Adaptations for Special Learners

This lesson has already been adapted for special learners because the small group I work with are special learners. We are using computers and Ipads with interactive games and videos in order to change up their learning environment. This specific lesson is also broke up into three days. Normally this could be taught within a much shorter time, but it is imperative that these students are given ample time to learn and fully grasp the material. I broke the lesson up in order to give repetition and enough time for them to practice the specific writing mechanic.

  1. Assessment

Students’ success will be measured in a couple different ways. I will measure their success on making letters from the worksheet they complete, by discussions we have and by checking their writing. In this lesson the students practice making lowercase and uppercase letters each day using different mediums. I will assess their progress by watching them write their letters using the making letters boards, when they come to the big whiteboard as a whole class, watching them use the app on the Ipad and when they write the alphabet on the mini whiteboards. Also, I will do a progress monitoring test that will allow me to check their understanding. The progress monitoring test will have the students write three sentences dictated by me. They will be awarded a point for each correct capital letter, correctly spelled words, spaces between words and punctuation. The total points students can receive is 30.

  1. Student Products

-Capitalization worksheets

-Writing in booklets

-Making letters board work

TPACK Analysis

  1. Content

-Writing

-Lowercase letters

-Uppercase letters

  1. Pedagogy

-Explanations/a lesson on the content

-Discussions and practice

-Kinesthetic activity

-Supplemental activities

-Assessment

Overall day 1 and 2 are taught with similar teaching processes. I begin the lessons by explaining what we are doing. Then I teach the material, give the students something to extend on what I taught and then they are asked to complete an activity. On day 1 I begin by introducing the lesson and then generate a short discussion to get their brains working about the subject. We then practice, followed by a supplemental video to reiterate the content. At the end of the lesson the students complete more practice on the Ipads. On day 2 I begin by using a kinesthetic activity to get their minds and bodies working. This is followed by an explanation of the lesson and a short discussion about the new topic. Once again the students do a lot of practice with making the letters. Day 3 uses a different pedagogy because it is just a day to practice what they have learned. There is no new information introduced.

  1. Technology

-Ipads (writing app)

-BrainPop Jr on computers

  1. Content Knowledge

I have an elementary teaching degree and have taught the content many times before during student teaching and substitute teaching. I know what lowercase and uppercase letters are and when to use them in a sentence. I have also worked briefly with these students on the topic before.

  1. Pedagogy Knowledge

I understand these particular students learn in ways different from most students. I have worked with these students for over a month at this point, so I am getting to know them and their learning style very well. They perform best when working in a small group and not being overwhelmed by too much content. It is important to mix up the types of things they do when learning and not just sticking to the same pencil and paper activities. Even though the content being taught is writing there are other ways to teach the writing mechanics that these students struggle with. My main focus for this lesson was practice. These particular first graders need repetition when it comes to the content. They need to practice the skill again and again, but with different mediums.

  1. Technology Knowledge

BrainPop Jr. is an educational website to help with all subject areas. BrainPop Jr is directed at younger children which is why I chose to use it with this particular group of students. For this lesson the purpose of using it was for the video on making letters and for a worksheet. I used BrainPop Jr. in the previous lesson with these students so I chose to use it again because I already know how to use it and to make the students even more familiar with it. I know how to use the basic functions of the Mac computer and for the purposes of this lesson. This lesson also uses Ipads. I own my own Ipad and have experimented with it. I frequently download educational apps and test them out to find if they are appropriate for the students I work with.

  1. PCK

The main focus for the pedagogy for this lesson was to space out the lesson. Making letters is a huge task for these students because they are still beginning writers and one of the most difficult tasks for them at this point is writing their letters correctly and using them correctly in a sentence. They use uppercase letters when not appropriate and the letters are not following handwriting rules. This lesson could not be taught in one day and it will be an ongoing task for myself and these students. “Since slow learners struggle with focus, make the times of learning compact, and do several smaller segments of learning rather than one long session” (Powell).

It was also important to allow for repetition in this lesson because that is the way these students will learn how to correctly write and use their letters. This group of students are “slow learners” so repetition is key to their success in mastering writing mechanics. “According to experts, repetition is a key to a slow learner's success. According to Erin King, a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, ‘It may feel like you are saying the same thing over and over, but it helps make the concept concrete’” (Powell).

I also chose to include a kinesthetic activity into this lesson because it is important for these students to do “out of the box” activities. It is a good way to get the students warmed up for the lesson they are going to be learning. “With simple movement games and activities, give students the time to link their minds, their bodies, and their multiple intelligences to work together before following complex requests, especially in front of the whole class” (Glynn, 2001).

  1. TCK

I chose to use Ipads and BrainPop Jr. to teach this specific content because I feel that these technologies fit the best with what the students need work on. They are only in first grade and I am restricted on what technology I have available. The skill that they are working on is not complex, but it is important. “A recent study commissioned by developer Motion Math suggests that significant learning can occur with the right apps. In fact, kids who used their app for 20 minutes a day over a period of 5 days increased their test scores on the subject matter by 15% on average. That’s the difference between a B and an A+ student. Perhaps more significantly, the kids changed their attitudes on the subject matter as well. If you’ve ever had to teach something to a child, you know how much easier it is if it’s something they feel good about, rather than something they hate and think is a waste of time” (Quirky Tech). The app on the Ipad is the right technology to help them with writing letters because it gives them a different way to do it rather than paper and pencil everyday. It is a more engaging activity for them as well.