Frog and Toad Facts

1. Frog and Toad Facts Sarah Simon Quail Glen Elementary School 1st Grade Teacher

2. Introduction • Students will research frogs and toads on web sites and will use the writing process to demonstrate their understanding of frog and toad facts. • Subjects: Science and Writing • Topic: Researching on the Internet and using the writing process to show knowledge • Grade Level: First Grade • Student Lesson URL: • http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~ssimon/students

3. Standards Addressed • LANGUAGE ARTS CONTENT STANDARDS: • First Grade • 1.0. WRITING STRATEGIES: • Students write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea. Their writing considers audience and purpose. They successfully use the stages of the writing process (i.e., pre-writing, drafting, revising, and editing successive versions). • Organization and Focus: • 1.1. select a focus when writing • 1.2. use descriptive words when writing • Penmanship: • 1.3. print legibly and space letters, words, and sentences appropriately

4. Instructional Objectives • 1. Students will visit websites to research facts about frogs and toads. • 2. Students will use information found on internet about frogs and toads to write facts about frogs and toads. • 3. Teacher will use the primary six-traits rubric to evaluate how the students write.

5. Activities • INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY • Students will brainstorm all they know about frogs and toads. • ENABLING ACTIVITY • Students will choose a frog or toad link to find more information about the amphibians. • Frogs • Toads • Amphibiville

6. Activities • CULMINATING ACTIVITY • Students will write at least five sentences about frogs or toads, using the Six traits.

7. Assessment • Pre-Test • Students will write what they know about frogs and toads. • Post-Test • Students will write about frogs and toads and include information learned from the websites.

8. Student Performance Before

9. Student Performance After

10. Assessment • This is the rubric used for scoring Pre-test and Post-test data:

11. Internet Integration • The Somewhat Unusual Things About Frogs • The Virtual Zoo

12. Lesson Plan Revision • It took a lot of revising to figure out a lesson plan integrating the internet that 1st Graders could use and understand. Frogs and toads are always a hit with my students and it fits into our writing program very well.

13. Lesson Implementation • Writing Pre-Test 1 Period • Internet Research 2 Periods • Writing Post-Test 1 Period • Writing Scoring of Data Many Hours!

14. Student Performance Analysis Students learned more information about frogs and toads using the internet. Many of the students’ writing improved from the pre to post tests. The majority of writers were in the “Emerging Writer” category to begin with. However, after the lesson plan implementation, the student data showed the majority of the students were now in the “Capable Writer” category.

15. What I Learned from CTAP 295 I learned how to use the internet and Office tools to design and implement effective lesson plans for 1st graders. My students were fascinated with the internet as a tool for learning. I became more comfortable with FTP software and Composer for web pages.

16. SUMMARY Students can benefit from using technology to stimulate their learning. Technology encourages creativity. I am looking forward to the continued use of technology throughout most subject areas.