Action+Research

Using the information collected from the eMetric data, I will design a pre-test for Standard R.5 using the Achievement Series and administer the test to students prior to teaching the unit. I will then incorporate technology into the unit by creating a daily current event science "twitter"which will be located on the class website. Each Friday students will vote on their favorite current event through a survey question on PollDaddy.com. Each Monday, students will read the selected current event and answer reading comprehension questions about the article. Other reading strategies will be used on a daily basis. These include, but are not limited to standard strategies, such as concept maps, graphic organizers, K-W-L (know, want to learn, learned) maps, SQ3R (Survey, question, read, recite, review) and relection strategies.

I will also incorporate technology into this unit through the use of Google Sketchup to design a "community" in which residents are protected from natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes. In order to design this project, students will be required to read about the natural disaster. They will create a presentation for the class using PowerPoint, Movie Maker, or SMART board to describe what the disaster is, where and why it happens, what type of damage it causes and acceptable ways to protect people and property from the disaster. Using teacher led tutorials, students will practice creating simple objects with Sketchup. They will design their sketchup project, providing the rationale for their design. Finally, they will create the Sketchup project and present it to the class for peer and teacher evaluation and questioning. They must be able to support their designs with reasons related to their reading research.

Following the activities, students will take a teacher created (Achievement Series) post-test. My goal is a 10% improvement in test scores from pre- to post-test. Hopefully this will translate to a 2% improvement in STEP test scores.

__Timeline__ August 2009: attend 21st Century Classrooms class October-December 2009: attend Transforming the Classroom workshops December 2009: create e portfolio for STAT 21 classroom project January 2010: develop achievement series pre- and post-tests; develop technology-infused lesson plans January-April 2010: complete classroom lessons, incorporating reading strategies and technology methods April 2010: administer post-test May 2010: complete e portfolio-- results of action research