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- Building
Treehouses for Learning:
- Technology
in Today's Classroom
-
- By Annette
Lamb
When you were growing up, did you ever build
a treehouse? You may have built your treehouse
in an old oak tree using odd-shaped pieces of
wood, leftover housepaint, and old blankets and
pieces of carpet. Adding a portable radio, some
Twinkies, and a big "KEEP OUT" sign made your
world complete. If you didn't have a tree close
by or preferred your fun without mosquitos, a
blanket over a cardtable in the living room
worked just as well. Think about the learning
that takes place in this kind of environment:
from the mathematics of calculating the length
of boards to the physics of keeping the
treehouse from tipping over. Consider the social
interactions with friends and the art of
interior decorating. Building a treehouse is the
ultimate active, authentic, interdisciplinary
activity. Children are doing what they want to
do, using materials around them, and dealing
with real-world problems without "social
studies" or "language arts" tags.
Think about how often parents buy their
children "prefab" playhouses that are built and
painted by adults, then placed carefully in the
corner of the yard. Parents end up having all
the "fun". Educators invest a lot of effort
building treehouses for children too. An
alternative would be to provide a wealth of
materials that students can use for exploration
and construction. A multimedia learning
environment focusing on particular concepts,
topics, or themes can focus student learning
without distracting from exploration.
Are you building treehouses for your
students? Or, are you giving students the chance
to create their own treehouses for learning?
This book will discuss how you can create
learning environments that provide students with
the tools they need to create their own
treehouses for learning. We'll explore tools you
might use in planning, producing, and presenting
information in your classroom. Technology tools
range from chalkboards and overhead projectors
to computers, laserdiscs, and Internet. You'll
develop materials yourself as well as integrate
materials that have been produced by others.
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Lesson Building
- Where's the focus?
- Standards, Concepts, Content, Motivation, and/or
Technology
- Brain
Pop
- Overview
- Organization: Course, Unit, Lesson, Activity
- Motivation: Themes, Interest
- Physics
Class
- Lesson Plan Format
- Topic/Title/Theme
- Learners: age, entry skills
- Expected Outcomes/ Purpose
- Lesson Resources
- Learning Environment
- Teaching/Learning Strategies
- Connections to Outcomes
- Extensions Treehouse, 13
- California SCORE
Lessons
- Needs Assessment
- How did students do last time?
- How would I like them to do?
- What's the problem?
- How can technology help?
- Know Your Students!
- Typical Problems
- They didn't "get it"
- They fell asleep
- They didn't get enough practice
- They can't apply it
- Before You Start...
- Know Your Students
- Identify Objectives
- Establish the Environment
- Individual Differences
- Age and Grade Level
- General Characteristics: rural?
- Cultural Background
- Multiple Intelligences
- Learning Styles
- Interests
- Talents
- Reading Level
- Entry Skills
- Content
- reading & writing
- basic skills
- background KSAV
- Technology
- hardware: keyboarding
- software: basic skills
- information processing
- Ph
Factor
- The "Real World"
- Writing directions on the board
- Typing on the computer
- Locating careers on a CD-ROM
- Topic/Theme - Poke Into Good Stories
- Concepts/Content
- A magnet is...
- Magnets are attracted to steel ...
- Magnets are not attracted plastic ...
- Learning Objectives
- Action Words
- Analyze
- Debate
- Distinguish
- Modify
- Revise
- Treehouse Page 26
- Polling
- Goals
- + Calculate the area of simple geometric
shapes.
- + Identify the continents on a globe.
- - Assign a research paper to students.
- - Appreciate great scientists.
- - Teach about decimals.
- ABCD Objectives
- Audience - Who The student will ...
- Behavior - Will what? identify,
compare
- Condition - With what? given a
calculator
- Degree - How well? 3 out of 4 times
- Objective
- Given five fossils and lists of names, the student
will correctly match the fossil with its name.
- Given sample quilt blocks, students will identify
Colonial period quilt patterns by name.
- Lesson Resources
- Teacher Technologies/Resources
- web ideas, clipart/wdprocessor
- Student Technologies/Resources
- web bookmarks, HyperStudio
- Materials & Supplies
- markers, paper, pine cones
- Selecting Resources
- Don't just do technology, integrate technology
- Website
- CD-ROM Encyclopedia
- Microsoft Word
- HyperStudio
- http://eduscapes.com/42explore/dinos.htm
- http://www.dinodon.com/index.html
- http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/dinosaur.html
- http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/dinos/dinos_home.html
- http://www.ZoomDinosaurs.com/
- http://www.clpgh.org/cmnh/discovery/imposters/index.html
- http://www.clpgh.org/cmnh/discovery/puzzle/index.html
- http://www.clpgh.org/cmnh/discovery/dinoscience/index.html
- http://www.mungopark.com/container.asp?issue=199708&sec=contents
- http://www.nis.net/cgi-bin/artifacts
- http://www.arlington.k12.va.us/schools/longbranch/Web/Dinosaur/webquest.html
- http://www.ced.appstate.edu/whs/goals2000/projects/98/bob/webdinosaurs2.htm
- http://www3.guilford.k12.nc.us/webquests/dinosaurs.html
- http://www.grahec.org/dinosaur.html
- Before You Select
- Who will use the technology?
- How will it be used?
- read, skimmed, summarized,
- evaluated, reviewed, applied, synthesized
- Use search tools...
- Search Tips
- Teacher Resources
- Learning Strategies
- Springboard
- Information Exploration
- Active Involvement
- Closure/Transition
- Springboard
- Connect to Prior Knowledge
-
- Categorize foods into health and unhealthly snack
categories
- Connect to Prior Knowledge
- Does anyone have a fish tank?
- What creatures live in fish tanks?
- Has anyone visited an aquarium?
- What sea creatures did you see?
- Has you been to an ocean?
- Has anyone ever collected shells?
- Information Exploration
- Present Information
- Explore Information
- Information Vs Instruction
- Provide guidelines
- Direct attention in software
- Relate content to objectives
- Apply to new situations
- Draw conclusions
- Do it three times...
- Active Involvement
- Require students to think and do
- Problems presented
- Virtual field trip, simulation
- Students synthesize, calculate, communicate
- Demonstrate procedure or experiment
- Do It!
- Closure/Transfer
- Project Development
- Sharing/Reflection
- Leave a positive impression
- Bring information together
- Apply it to new situations
- Review new skills/relate to new situations
- Vietnam
Webquest
- Sharing
- Create
- a brochure
- a presentation
- a debate
- an action plan
- Living
Things
- Collaboration & Communication
- Multiple Intelligences
- verbal-linguistic
- logical-mathematical
- visual-spatial
- musical-rhythmic
- bodily-kinesthetic
- interpersonal-social
- intrapersonal
- Air
Travelers
- Build Treehouses
- What do students need to be able to do or talk
about?
- What resources can help teaching &
learning?
- What guidance do students need?
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- Return to
the main eduscapes page
Feel free to use these materials for
workshops or your own professional development. However,
keep in mind that these materials were created for use by
participants in Annette Lamb's workshops, not as
stand-alone materials. For additional information about
the "live" workshops, contact Annette
Lamb.
- This workshop is a companion to
the book, Building
Treehouses for
Learning.
- This workshop contains elements
from the following presentation: Technology Tools in
Teaching and Learning.
Developed by Annette Lamb,
6/00.
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