Technology Plan for Building Communication Skills



Technology Plan for Building Communication Skills

Jordanne Gardner

Assignment 5

TEC 525 Schools in a Multicultural Society

Sam Sortore

February 6, 2006

High school mathematics classes do not always lend themselves to rich language study, but the language of mathematics, reading and writing skills, and oral presentations are all important to the study of mathematical concepts. In order to incorporate technology into teaching oral communication, reading skills and writing comprehension I will develop activities that will be used weekly to strengthen my student’s abilities. In order to comply with Washington State Grade Level expectations for 9th and 10th grade students, I must incorporate reading, writing and communication standards into my math curriculum. The following standards will be the objectives of the listed activities in my plan.

Washington State Reading Standards:

1. The student understands and uses different skills and strategies to read.

2. The student understands the meaning of what is read.

3. The student reads different materials for a variety of purposes.

Writing Standards:

1. The student writes clearly and effectively.

2. The student writes in a variety of forms for different audiences and purposes.

3. The student understands and uses the steps of the writing process.

4. The student analyzes and evaluates the effectiveness of written work.

Communication Standards:

1. Listen and observe purposefully in order to analyze and to make adjustments to communication.

2. Adjust content and delivery based upon a careful analysis of audience, specific purpose, topic, context, and verbal and nonverbal cues.

3. Utilize a broadening range of media to enhance presentations.

4. Analyze, select, and use resources and organize content and select language which are appropriate for audience and purpose.

5. Analyze mass media for purpose, content, technical strategies, and persuasive techniques.

In order to best prepare my students for the mathematics section of the Washington State Assessment of Learning, a graduation requirement, I must be careful not to sacrifice math content for reading and writing skills. My classroom curriculum will be a delicate balance of incorporating skills and practice into the mathematic concepts I must teach my students. I will not ask students to work on the technology portions of their assignments at home, but will expect them to complete any work they do not get done in class on their own time. All of my students have access to technology resources after school Monday through Thursday at a program run by Americorps volunteers. The following list of activities and assessments can be used to enhance student’s communication skills throughout the course of their 9th and 10th grade mathematics courses.

Oral Communication Activities and Frequency:

1. Power Point Mini-Teach – Every fourth and eighth week

Students will work in groups on a set of math problems. Students will “mini-teach,” a term I use in my classroom, the mathematical concept presented in the problem set. Students will be scored based on the attached rubric titled Mini-Teach Rubric. Students must present their teaching using a Power Point presentation in which each student is responsible for creating and teaching three slides. Mini teaches occur at the midpoint and end of each unit, which correlates to approximately every fourth and eighth week.

2. Cognitive Tutor Lab – One or two days a week

One or two days a week students work in the computer lab. Cognitive Tutor will assess students as they input answers. When they have 95% mastery of the section skills, they will be moved on to the next section. Students must participate in their group settings by communicating with their peers when in need of help. Students abide by the classroom rule of “ask three before me” (Carnegie).

Reading Comprehension Activities and Frequency:

1. Cognitive Tutor Lab – One or two days a week

Student must show knowledge and use of reading strategies when beginning a problem set on Cognitive Tutor. Problem sets start with an Input section that describes the main ideas of the problems that are going to be solved. Problem sets are real world problems that the students can often relate to. Cognitive Tutor will assess students as they input answers (Carnegie).

2. Interactive Vocabulary – Once every three weeks

Students will participate in an interactive online vocabulary activity. Students are given a passage to read with up to ten new math vocabulary words used in context. Some in context words can be found at . Students must match the words to their definitions after investigating the words using the Internet. Students may not use online dictionaries for this activity.

3. Cognitive Tutor Lab – One or two days a week

One or two days a week students will work in the computer lab on the Cognitive Tutor. They must ask their computer for help. The computer gives written hints that the students must comprehend and then apply. Cognitive Tutor will assess students as they ask for help and input answers (Carnegie).

Writing Skills Activities and Frequency:

1. Senior Mentors – Once every week or two

Students will participate in a senior mentoring program through emails and chat rooms. Senior students are matched up with two or three younger students. Senior students become these student’s mentors and tutors. Students are required to have one mathematical post during their sessions, and can post other questions to their mentors after that. Students are graded on their writing skills by how well their meaning is conveyed.

2. Writing Comparison – Once each week

Students are required to explain their mathematical reasoning in sentences after working out about three problems. The questions ask something like, write a sentence explaining how you got your answer. Students must prepare formal written explanations or comparison analyses once every week.

Collaboration of Oral, Reading and Writing Skills Activities and Frequency:

1. Unit Assessments – Every eight weeks

Unit assessments will take place about every eight weeks. Each time a unit assessment is given, students will be given three options for meeting standard on the assessment. Two of these options will be technology based in Power Point, graphic design, or video. Each assessment option will require research, study skills, demonstration of mathematical ability related to the content, and presentation of work to peers.

2. House Web Page – Once every week, alternating curriculum

In collaboration with my other house teachers, we will develop a house web page in which students are required to log in once a week and complete an assignment. The assignments on the web page will be in rotation with subject matter. Each student must log-in, read, research, complete, print, and turn in their assignment to the specified teacher. These weekly assignments must meet our Washington State reading standards in evaluation, summary, prediction, or inference in all content areas.

References

Butler-Pascoe, M., & Wiburg, K. (2003). Technology and teaching English language

learners. Boston: Pearson Education.

Carnegie Melon University. (2005). Cognitive Tutor (2005). Retrieved October 30, 2005 from

Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (2005). Washington State Standards. Retreived November 20, 2005, from .

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