Learner Description - The students are third and fourth graders at Eisenhower Elementary School. One class is a straight 3rd grade class. The other three classes are combo 3rd-4th grade. For this unit, each class is paired with a buddy class, becoming an expert on either the inner or outer planets. Reciprocal teaching will take place.

Overview -

What will be taught

The inner and outer planets of the Solar System

How will it be taught / What will the students do and learn

• One class will become the experts on either the inner or outer planets. They will be responsible for teaching the other class the information they gather.

• The plan will come from the children.

• We will introduce the two inner planets expert groups to each other to share their ideas.

• Cooperation and Social skills along with speaking and research will be included in the project.

Rationale -

We chose to teach this part of our curriculum in a manner that would give the students ownership of their learning.

Engaged Learning Indicators

Vision of Learning -

* Responsible for learning - Learner involved in setting goals, choosing tasks, developing assessments and standards for the tasks; has big picture of learning and next steps in mind.

* Strategic - Learner actively develops repertoire of thinking/learning strategies

* Collaborative - Learner develops new ideas and understanding in conversations and work with others

Tasks -

* Authentic - Pertains to real world: may be addressed to personal interest.

* Challenging - Difficult enough to be interesting but not totally frustrating usually sustained.

Assessment -

* Performance-based - Involving a performance or demonstration, usually for a real audience and useful purpose

* Generative - Assessment having meaning for learner; maybe produce information, product, service.

Instructional Model -

* Generative - Instruction oriented to constructing meaning; providing meaningful activities/experiences

Learning Context -

* Collaborative - Instruction conceptualizes students as part of learning community; activities are collaborative

Teacher Roles -

* Facilitator - Engages in negotiations, simulates and monitors discussion and project work but does not control

* Guide - Helps students to construct their own meaning by modeling, mediating, explaining when needed, redirecting focus, providing options.

Student Roles -

* Teacher - Students develop products of real use to themselves and others

* Producer - Students develop products of real use to themselves and

others.

How is technology going to be incorporated into the unit?

Students will have internet access with bookmarked sites available.They will also have access to CD roms in the school library, the telephone, a word processor with monitor, along with a variety of software programs designed to meet the needs of their projects. Technology is used in a meaningful way in this unit for research and for presentation purposes.

By giving our students the responsibility for teaching each other, the project becomes an authentic experience for them.

Goals - Content, Cognitive and Social

• What new knowledge do we expect the students to learn

-facts about planets and their relationships in the solar system

-develop research skills using technology

-enhance presentation skills

-to develop peer- and self-assessment skills

• What state standards does the unit address

1C: Comprehend a broad range of reading materials.

2B: Read and interpret a variety of literary works.

4A: Listen effectively in formal and informal situations.

4B: Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.

5A: Locate, organize, and use information from various sources to answer questions, solve problems, and communicate ideas.

5B: Analyze and evaluate information acquired from various sources.

12D: Know and apply concepts that describe force and motion and the principles that explain them.

12F: Know and apply concepts that explain the composition and structure of the universe and Earth's place in it.

13B: Know and apply concepts that describe the interaction between science, technology and society.

Learning Activities - The activities required to achieve the goals.

As a class, the students were responsible for teaching either the inner or outer planets to another class. The class then decided how to accomplish this goal.

All four classes determined that they would break up into small groups which would each research one planet. The children brainstormed and prioritized important facts to be covered in their presentation.

As a group, the students completed their research using a variety of media sources. They collated their information to develop a presentation. Expert classes met together in planet groups to share information and enhance their own research.

As a class, the students then developed rubrics with criteria that would assess the group work as well as the content of the presentations.

Time was set aside for each class to give their final presentations to their buddy class. Learning was determined through various assessments developed by each planet group and administered as part of the presentation.

Student Assessment-

•What types of ongoing assessment will be used?

-Anecdotal records

-Student learning: what the "teaching" students have learned, as well as what the other class of students learns from them. (An assessment to give to the other class will be part of the project assignment.)

•How will students be engaged in their own assessment?

-Student generated assessments (teaching class generates for the other class).

-Student generated rubrics for the project.

•How can technology be used to aid in assessment?

-To generate student-made assessments and rubrics.

Resources - human, technological, community-based, school-based and traditional.

•Teachers, librarians, and parents as facilitators.

•Computers, monitors, websites, and various software programs for research, and various additional props for presentations.

Management

Students were heterogeneously grouped to facilitate different abilities and learning styles. Materials were maintained by the students for easy accessability. Students worked in various areas around the classroom, in the library, and in the computer lab.

Unit Evaluation

What was effective?

The students were empowered by their choices and responsibilities in this project. As a result, the information they learned was more meaningful to them. Interest level was high.

What wasn't effective?

Due to the fact that this was our first engaged learning project, we as teachers found that the students needed more specific guidelines for the project. This would assure that all standards, objectives, and curriculum content were met.

What will I do differently next time?

We will create a more complete structure for the unit before presenting it to the children. We will provide more prior knowledge as base for the unit, such as vocabulary.