Engaged Learning with Technology
Title: S.A.V.E.
Subject and Level: Drug Prevention and Life Skills- Fifth Graders
Learner Description – A small group of five female fifth grade students at Eisenhower School.
Overview - The S.A.V.E program is a drug prevention program led by Eisenhower’s Social Worker and a Prospect Heights Police Officer. This program’s goal is to teach students skills to refuse peer pressure and learn to make good choices.
What will be taught? Students will learn positive ways to handle peer pressure and apply these strategies to every day life. They will gain confidence in how they solve problems and deal with difficult situations.
How will it be taught? The social worker will model appropriate ways to handle peer pressure as well as teach the students how to reduce their stress so that they can make positive choices when faced with pressure. The students will learn how to role play different scenarios to better prepare them for future pressures. The use of visual cues will be integrated into the lessons.
What will students do and learn?
Rationale - Purpose for the unit as a whole. The WHY questions.
Why would you teach this unit? Peer pressure is becoming more apparent in the lives of young students. As the fifth graders approach middle school it is important that they learn positive and appropriate ways to deal with future pressure. Not only does this unit increase students’ awareness of peer pressure such as bullying, gangs and drugs/alcohol but also focuses on positive ways to deal with pressure. This unit will increase students’ interpersonal, communication, social, problem solving and presentation skills.
Why would this qualify as an Engaged Learning unit? The following engaged learning indicators were addressed: Responsible for learning, Strategic, Energized by Learning, Collaborative, Authentic, Challenging, Performance-based, Generative, Seamless and On-going, Interactive, Knowledge Building, Empathic, Guide, Facilitator, Explorer, Teacher, and Producer.
Why is technology an important component of this unit? Technology was important in this unit because it increased students’ knowledge of facts and statistics as it related to drugs and alcohol. The website www.Imagechef.com was used to aid in the use of visuals. The software program, Comic Life, was used to increase the students’ creativity and present engaging and realistic information. The use of a digital camera was used to capture students’ ideas about what peer pressure may look like.
Why is this project authentic/meaningful, and challenging for students? As students become older, there will be increasing pressure that they may face. This project was meaningful to these students because it encouraged creativity, decreased anxiety towards possible peer pressure, increased self-awareness and self-esteem and promoted positive ways to handle problems. It was challenging to students who fear social situations and presentations.
Goals - Content, Cognitive and Social - The WHAT questions
What new attributes (knowledge, skills, attitudes) do you expect students to gain? The students will increase their knowledge of current statistics regarding drugs and alcohol. The students will increase their interpersonal, social, problem solving, communication, coping and presentation skills. They will increase their self-confidence as they have learned positive ways to deal with pressure and face difficult situations.
What school, district, state and national standards/benchmarks are addressed? The Illinois Social Emotional Learning Standards (Use social-awareness and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationships--2D.2a., 2D.2b., Demonstrate decision-making skills and responsible behavior in personal, school, and community contexts-- 3B.2a., 3B.2b.) were addressed with the students during this project.
LearningActivities – The students were given background information regarding the dangers of drugs/alcohol and peer pressure. They were asked to research new statistics on drugs and alcohol thus using researching skills. They were asked to either pick a statistic or use pictures from their classroom role plays to make a comic (Comic Life program). This comic could integrate warning signs/pictures from the website—Image Chef—and ways to say no to peer pressure. The students were able to navigate their way through Image Chef and the Comic Life Program.
StudentAssessment-
What are my scoring characteristics? (What do I want to measure? What is an important outcome of this unit?) I want to measure the students’ knowledge of handling difficult situations and peer pressure. I will do this by having the students repeat back to me what has been taught throughout the SAVE program. I will also measure this by reading their classroom essays regarding the SAVE program.
What will indicate that students are novices, practitioners, or experts? The students’ abilities to role play appropriate peer pressure situations and their ability to verbalize ways to handle difficult situations.
How will I measure and communicate student progress on the goals? I will measure the students’ goals through verbal feedback and discussion.
How can students be involved in establishing goals and criteria for the assessment? The students can be involved via discussion and motivation to learn.
How will the assessments be implemented to ensure that they are generative? Seamless and ongoing? Equitable for all students? An authentic task? The assessments will be implemented on a weekly basis and through classroom discussions, personal questions directed to the social worker and SAVE essays.
How will students demonstrate their knowledge and skills? The students will demonstrate their skills when they present their visuals to the class, write their essays, demonstrate via role plays and participate in discussion.
Management
How will you manage student work individually and in groups? - What resources will you need to do this unit? The resources needed will come from social work resources, internet research and handouts. Laptops and a digit camera will also be needed.
How will the room(s) be arranged? The students will use the social work office and the classroom to complete their work. They will sit at a round table close to one another where they can use appropriate discussion and help one another if needed.
Where will equipment and materials be located to promote maximum use? The digital camera will be provided in the social work office as well as in the classroom for the students’ use during SAVE lessons. There will be laptops available for students to use in the classroom and social work office.
Where will students need to work and how can they be accommodated? The students will work in the classroom when taking pictures. They will work in the social work office while using the software program and the internet. This setting allows the students’ research to be monitored.
How will students with special needs be helped? They will be given visual cues, encouragement, verbal feedback, positive reinforcement, a small group setting and extra time to work on the project.
Unit Evaluation
Overall, this unit went well. Each student involved appeared engaged and excited about learning. They are able to use their creativity and feel proud of their work. They were also able to build leadership skills as well as focus on the following skills: problem solving, coping, interpersonal, social, communication, and presentation skills. This unit helped prepare them for their transition to middle school. It also increased their self-confidence.