The Writing Process- Reading Research

Description of Classroom

This semester I will be a long term substitute teacher for an eighth grade ELA classroom at Allen Jay Preparatory Academy in High Point, North Carolina. The teacher who I am covering for is going out on maternity leave and planned all of the lessons that I am to teach. She has four classes, each with about twenty students. For this blog I will be taking the lessons that she has left for me to teach for their major project and infusing technology the way I would have planned. At the school, each student is issued a tablet/laptop so technology is not scarce.

Citation

The Project

The students have been doing a genre study on Science Fiction. When I arrived, the teacher left plans for me to introduce the project: writing a science fiction children's book. Throughout the 6 weeks that I am teaching, students will learn and work on various skills in the writing process in relation to their genre study. To begin this genre study, students need to understand what science fiction is. The first skill students are learning in the writing process is reading research. Students are tasked with reading a variety of science fiction children's and young adult books in order to identify key aspects of science fiction. The original plans had students reading books and filling out a summary sheet.

Technology Infusion

What is Science Fiction
Students will begin by learning a little bit about what makes a story science fiction. Students will create a Popplet to keep track of the details and ideas about science fiction. Popplet is an online mind map creator. Students can create a popplet online through their website or download the app. The free version of the app allows users to create one popplet at a time. Students can easily add text, pictures, or links to their mind map and customize it by changing the colors of the boxes and linking them in various ways. Users can then save and export their popplet as a PDF or JPEG. Popplet is a quick and easy tool to keep those thoughts straight!

Skill: Reading Research, Science Fiction

The first skill students are practicing is reading research. Students develop ideas and learn about science fiction by sampling books in the genre. Instead of simply writing summaries of each book, students can use the Goodreads app or website to write summaries, rate books, give peers suggestions, and much more. 

Goodreads is a great way to transform this lesson with technology. Students are able to read and sample books by creating their own account. Accounts can be created through google which all of the students have through the school. Goodreads will then recommend books and keep track of any books they have already read. Here is a list that Goodreads compiled of the best children's science fiction books as rated by users. As a teacher, Goodreads can also be used to check student progress in their reading. For the classroom teacher, this can be a great way to check in with students for their independent and in class reading even though she is not physically at the school to check in with them.

When looking at the SAMR model, the use of Goodreads is a redefinition of the lesson. Students and teachers are able to communicate and collaborate in a way that was not plausible before. Goodreads also creates a connection between technology and reading. Students are able to share their reading and broaden their knowledge of books and science fiction. It also allows students and teachers to bring the teaching outside the classroom and encourage students to talk about reading more.

Follow updates on this lesson through the Writing Process label on the bottom of this post or the side of the page!