Lesson Redesign Featuring Google Docs
Overview
What is it?
Google Docs is one of the many cloud-based apps created by Google. It is essentially a word processing document but its unique features go way beyond the average word processor. Users can create, share, and collaborate on a Doc with other Google users. Since it is cloud-based, users can access their documents from any computer or smart phone.
If you are a Howard County teacher, you are in luck! Google Docs (as well as the other GAFE apps) are accessible by all Howard County employees and students. You and your students can start using this app tomorrow!
How is it beneficial?
Here are some of the benefits of Google Docs compared to Microsoft Word:
Google Docs is one of the many cloud-based apps created by Google. It is essentially a word processing document but its unique features go way beyond the average word processor. Users can create, share, and collaborate on a Doc with other Google users. Since it is cloud-based, users can access their documents from any computer or smart phone.
If you are a Howard County teacher, you are in luck! Google Docs (as well as the other GAFE apps) are accessible by all Howard County employees and students. You and your students can start using this app tomorrow!
How is it beneficial?
Here are some of the benefits of Google Docs compared to Microsoft Word:
How to Access Google DocsClick below to view a screen cast I created to help HCPSS employees access and create a Google Document.
Click Here! |
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Memoir Writing Lesson Redesign
Below is the lesson plan provided by HCPSS, which I used as a resource throughout the unit.
The first writing genre in the 5th grade writing curriculum is the memoir. My students were exposed to several exemplary models of memoirs and discuss common elements among them. From there, students generate a class rubric for the genre and participate in many short writes to practice various writing skills. From there, I pulled small groups for "Writing Workshops" to work on areas of need. After I felt my students had a good grasp of the genre, we began working on a big writing piece where the students would go through the entire writing process to create a well-developed memoir. This is where I decided to integrate Google Docs.
I chose to integrate Google Docs because I knew it would make it easier for me to monitor my students and help them through the writing process. I also wanted my students to be able to collaborate and offer suggestions for revisions and editing.
Writing Standards:
W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.5.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language)
I believe W.5.5 was enhanced by collaboration on Google Docs, and it meshes well with ISTE-S Standard 2a. Communication and collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
I chose to integrate Google Docs because I knew it would make it easier for me to monitor my students and help them through the writing process. I also wanted my students to be able to collaborate and offer suggestions for revisions and editing.
Writing Standards:
W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.5.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language)
I believe W.5.5 was enhanced by collaboration on Google Docs, and it meshes well with ISTE-S Standard 2a. Communication and collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
First, Students Brainstormed Ideas:
This year, I created a document on Word for my students to use to brainstorm. Next year, I will use the same type of organizer on a Google Doc. After students finish their brainstorm on Google Docs, they will share it with other students who can comment on which memory he or she likes best for a memoir topic. The student author will then take his or her classmates' opinions into consideration when choosing the memoir topic.
Here is a sample of what a finished Brainstorm using Google Docs might look like:
Here is a sample of what a finished Brainstorm using Google Docs might look like:
These are the instructions I would give my students for how to use Google Docs for their brainstorm:
How to Brainstorm Your Memoir Pt. 1
How to Brainstorm Your Memoir Pt. 2
How to Insert Images into your Google Doc Drawing
If you would like to learn how to merge a Google Drawing with a Google Doc, click here.
How to Brainstorm Your Memoir Pt. 1
How to Brainstorm Your Memoir Pt. 2
How to Insert Images into your Google Doc Drawing
If you would like to learn how to merge a Google Drawing with a Google Doc, click here.
Next, Students Used a Flow Chart to Organize Their Memoirs
After students chose their memoir topics, they began organizing their ideas in a flow chart graphic organizer. I had the students do this using paper and pencil. Next year, they will use Google Docs. The reason I want to change this is because it will provide my students with more opportunities to work on typing skills. Also, typing is neater than handwriting. Here is what a completed Graphic Organizer might look like:
Then, students type their rough drafts on a blank Google Doc
After students finish their graphic organizers, they began typing their rough drafts. My class did this on Google Docs because it made monitoring student progress easy, the drafts were neater than if they were handwritten, and it made editing and revising a cinch. The students used their graphic organizers to guide their writing. Once they were done, they shared their rough drafts with a partner and left comments for editing/revising suggestions. Here are some samples from my class:
Finally, the students made final edits and revisions, conferenced with me, and published their memoirs.
The students read the comments from their partner and made final edits and revisions to their drafts. I then conferenced with each student individually to make sure there were no major errors and to praise them for their hard work. I offered some suggestions for revisions, and edited some punctuation. Using Google Docs made this easy because I had every student's memoir on my Google Drive in an organized fashion. I could read the memoirs at home without having to worry about lugging around a stack of papers. Also, it was easy for myself to make changes to the students' memoirs during the conference. I would rather work on Google Docs than having to pass a rough draft back and forth that would inevitably have too many editing marks to make sense to my students.
Printing the memoirs from my Google Drive was also very simple! In the past, I would have to talk my students through the drop-down menus to print their work. Now, since my computer is already hooked up to my team's printer, it is easy for me to select the document I want to print and send it to the printer I want it to go to.
Printing the memoirs from my Google Drive was also very simple! In the past, I would have to talk my students through the drop-down menus to print their work. Now, since my computer is already hooked up to my team's printer, it is easy for me to select the document I want to print and send it to the printer I want it to go to.
Reflection
Incorporating Google Docs improved the unit and deepened my students' understanding of the genre. The writing process can be very daunting for both teachers and students. Teachers dread reading through stacks of paper, and students can feel overwhelmed by the steps and can get writer's block. Google Docs makes the process virtually paperless and portable for teachers, and allows for students to collaborate on ideas and offer suggestions. When the students collaborate on a focused topic, like a memoir, their understanding will deepen. Some of the main focuses of the memoirs was thoughts, feelings, and lessons learned from the experience. The students included these things in their own memoirs. However, this is only one layer of understanding. Sometimes, students struggle to see certain characteristics in their own writing. I told the students to look for these things in each other's brainstorms and rough drafts. This added another layer of understanding, because they were hunting for those elements in someone else's writing. While this kind of collaboration can happen through discussions and reading paper versions of rough drafts, Google Docs allows for students to work on the same document at the same time from their own device. The students are constantly focused on a different step of the writing process without having to wait for others to catch up.
Using Google Docs in the classroom definitely shifts learning more onto the students. During the brainstorming stage, students are critiquing their classmate's idea against the elements of a memoir. This is something that a teacher might take on herself, but collaboration through Google Docs can take that off her plate (and offer a deeper level of understanding). I was very surprised by the depth of comments I saw on the students' rough drafts. I saw comments like "You're saying your feel happy a lot. Can you think of another word for happy that is a juicier word?" and "This paragraph is confusing because it is a run on sentence." This showed my that my students will rise to the occasion and will grasp onto the concepts I want them to learn, if given the opportunities!
So Where Does This Fit on SAMR?
Using Google Docs in the classroom definitely shifts learning more onto the students. During the brainstorming stage, students are critiquing their classmate's idea against the elements of a memoir. This is something that a teacher might take on herself, but collaboration through Google Docs can take that off her plate (and offer a deeper level of understanding). I was very surprised by the depth of comments I saw on the students' rough drafts. I saw comments like "You're saying your feel happy a lot. Can you think of another word for happy that is a juicier word?" and "This paragraph is confusing because it is a run on sentence." This showed my that my students will rise to the occasion and will grasp onto the concepts I want them to learn, if given the opportunities!
So Where Does This Fit on SAMR?
I believe redesigning this unit with Google Docs is a Modification. The collaboration and critiquing of other students' work deepens understanding in a way that would be hard to achieve with the paper/pencil alternative.
How Does This Unit Address ISTE-S Standards?
How Does This Unit Address ISTE-S Standards?
The ultimate barrier in this lesson is time. If I had and unlimited amount of time, I would implement many things to push the lesson above the line. For example, I would allow students to come up with a way to present their memoirs using technology. Students could use digital story telling, create a stop motion animation, or customize an avatar to tell their story. Students could also write a skit to re-enact the memory, or create a colorful poster. We would post their projects on our class website and attempt to reach out to another school in another country to see if kids in that area share similar experiences. I think these additions would meet several ISTE-S Standards including Creativity and Innovation, Communication and Collaboration, Digital Citizenship.
Thanks for reading!
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