Going global with ePals

Taking the notion of user-generated content seriously, ePals does a wonderful job of connecting teachers and students in an online global community that has something for just about everyone. One of the things I thought about doing with my fourth and final lesson plan on North Korea had to do with somehow connecting with a school in that country to find out what their educational system was like. A teacher from the U.K. had posted a similar request, although considering how isolated and closed-off North Korea is, that's probably a long shot.

Still, it's a noble idea, something that ePals specializes in. Although ePals doesn't just traffic in ideas. It puts them into motion. There's a very strong interactive quality to ePals that's attractive for teachers. One of the real interesting activities I noticed was in one of the forums. Called "Ask Elia," it gave students a chance to send questions to a global explorer who was in the process of climbing Mount Everest. What an amazing opportunity to be able to talk with someone who is attempting such a monumental task - one that students might even dream of doing themselves one day.

The Learning Centers area is also packed with activities for students connecting with others around the world. Along with interactive games, there's a section called "Global Citizens" that gets students thinking about how they can actually become global citizens, which is something that is often talked about but also an idea that's hard to act on. Also, the area that deals with current events offers a wealth of articles on topics ranging from the Boston Marathon bombing to cyber bullying and gun violence in schools. Many of the subjects relate to what children see on the news, what they are going through in their daily lives or what they are talking about to their friends. I can see this area being of great value to social studies teachers, much like the Smithsonian section.

A social studies teacher could set up a virtual tour of the Smithsonian through ePals and have students research a number of topics, including the music of the Bahamas. There's a link to an area on the Natural World, which gets students to start thinking like scientists. This would offer classes a wide, almost never-ending range of cross-curricular opportunities for those educators who can think creatively in planning imaginative lessons for their students. Those teachers who use ePals would benefit greatly from it.

Final lesson plan

The following is my fourth and final lesson plan for TCH 632. It is designed for sixth grade, but could be used for any upper elementary or junior social studies class, I believe. The students will be making a Glogster showing what they've learned about North Korea. Of course, the country has been in the news a lot lately, making nuclear threats toward the U.S. and South Korea. But not much is known about the nation, which has a totalitarian government based on a cult of personality unique to North Korea.

Here is my lesson, with my Jing screen capture describing how to make a Glogster.

http://screencast.com/t/hiIkTsOwemL

Lesson Plan for TCH 632

Marian University

Name   Peter Lindblad                                                                                        Date taught:  May 15, 2013

Lesson Title: Understanding North Korea                                                                         Course Title/Grade level(s) Social Studies, 6th grade

School      Marian University                                                          

Type of Lesson:      __X_ introduction                  _ continues development       ___ completes instruction

Big Idea or Essential Question   Why are we in conflict with North Korea?
Learning Target /Objective(s)    Define and distinguish between key vocabulary words related to North Korea. Give examples of similar standoffs between the U.S. and other nations’ leaders. Understand the history of North Korea and its relations with the U.S. and its ally, South Korea. Locate on maps the cities of North Korea. Analyze primary source documents related to North Korea.
Standard(s)     B.8.4 Explain how and why events may be interpreted differently depending on the perspectives of participants, witnesses, reporters, and historians B.8.10 Analyze examples of conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among groups, societies, or nations
Academic Language/Vocabulary for this lesson (define) Demilitarized zone, annex, sovereignty, armistice, cease-fire, Juche, Communism, Songun, nuclear-weapons state, socialist republic, totalitarianism, cult of personality, isolation.
Lesson Rationale     Tensions between North Korea and the United States have been on the rise lately. Little is known about North Korea, however. It remains a mystery to most people in the U.S. By demystifying it, students can gain a greater understanding of the issues that have caused such friction between the U.S. and North Korea and why they are coming to a head now.
Student prior knowledge and prior thinking (include student misconceptions about what will be taught): - Students should be aware of the current events regarding North Korea, its leader Kim Jong-un, and the U.S. - There is a misconception that North Korea is a Communist state, but the government operates under a different ideology and is considered a Socialist Republic. Students will understand the differences.
Instructional Materials, Resources, and Technology
Plan Access to Glogster site Internet Computer lab Technology links (see descriptions at end of lesson plan): http://punk79.edu.glogster.com/north-korea-cult-of-personality-9911 http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/northkorea/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/14/opinion/lee-north-korea-refugee http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15256929 http://www.mapsofworld.com/north-korea/culture/ http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/North-Korea.html#b	Rationale Glogster offers students the chance to organize their information in an easy-to-digest format. Using the Internet, students can find the information they need for their studies of North Korea. This glogster link shows an example of a finished piece. These links help students gain an understanding of North Korea and its politics.
Classroom Management Considerations Students will pair up after the video. Each pair will be assigned a topic related to North Korea that they will research, using Internet sources, so a computer lab will be needed. Access to Glogster will be needed, as each pairing will work together to complete a Glogster on their particular topic. The pairings will then be broken up, with each student pairing with a different student and presenting their Glogster to their new partner. Students will be asked to assess the work of their fellow students in an exit ticket.
Learning Tasks • aligned with learning targets, state standards,  big idea and/or essential question • aligned with  students’ learning needs of  individuals and  whole class • aligned with the academic language demands of this lesson.
Plan 1.  A 12-minute video will be shown from the CNN web site on Hyeonseo Lee, who fled North Korea. Students will start class by writing their reactions to the video in their journals. 2.  Breaking into pairs. Each will choose an aspect of North Korean life to research using web resources and then create a Glogster on their respective topics.   3.  Students will then be paired with a different student from the class. Each one will present the Glogster they worked on to their classmate. Each student will fill out an exit ticket in which they assess their new partner’s Glogster and their own work in a one-paragraph write-up.	Rationale 1.   Students will understand how difficult life is in North Korea.    2. Students will research a particular topic related to North Korea and create a Glogster featuring the information. 3.  Students will be able to assess the work of their fellow students.
Questions to elicit higher thinking in students during the lesson and provide opportunities for students to engage in dialogue about their learning:   - What were some of the causes of the recent conflict between North Korea and the U.S.? - Compare and contrast this nuclear showdown with others the U.S. has faced in the past. Are they different? Are they similar in some ways? - Describe the difficulties North Koreans face in their everyday lives.
Assessments • assessing prior knowledge and readiness for lesson • assessing learning during lesson and at end of lesson including student self-assessment of learning as associated with the learning target. • planning the next steps of learning based on the data or information gained through the lesson’s assessments.
Plan Students will have a checklist of items related to their particular topic about North Korea that they will have to address in their Glogster. Exit ticket allows students to assess the work of their classmates. Teacher will observe and listen to students’ explanations of their different Glogsters.	Rationale Creating a Glogster will help them focus on important information and images they need to address their topics - Exit ticket will allow students to self-assess their work and that of their colleagues. - Listening and observing students at work will give the teacher an idea of how well students are collaborating.
Accommodations / Differentiation to support student learning
Plan The mix of students in each pairing would be heterogeneous, with students of varying learning levels put together. Sight-impaired students will be assigned to tasks involving audio for their Glogster. Make sure each student has access to Glogster and the Internet.	Rationale This mix of students allows them to work with those on a different learning level from their own, perhaps giving them the chance to benefit from each other’s strengths while working on their own weaknesses.

Question everything

Chapter 13 of John Lee's "Visualizing Elementary Social Studies Methods" deals with assessment, and one of the informal techniques that's closest to my heart has to do with questioning. Lee talks about how questions should be framed in such a way as to lead to meaningful responses and how they ought to be open-ended and inviting.

Of course, this got me thinking about my time as a journalist. That's what reporters do. They ask questions. And they don't even have to be deep thoughtful questions. No, the questions a reporter asks are designed to do one thing above all else, and that is, they are supposed to get the subject talking. It's important to get the interview subject to drop their defenses and open up about themselves, their work or their lives. It's not exactly the Socratic Method, but it's important to get students used to provide thoughtful, reflective answers on various subjects addressed in class. Even the shy ones must be prodded, very carefully, to voice their opinions or provide a cogent response.

One time, a few years ago, I was invited to be interviewed on a radio station in the Twin Cities. Michael Jackson had just died, and the station wanted an "expert" to talk about how his death would affect prices for Michael Jackson memorabilia. It was a half-hour show, and I was pretty nervous. See, it's comfortable for me to be the interviewer, but up until that time, I had rarely ever been interviewed myself. The fact that I was not really much of an expert on Michael Jackson memorabilia made it all the more nerve-wracking, but I was representing my magazine, so I needed to be on. Somehow, I got through it, although it was a bit rough. It helped that only days beforehand I had interviewed an actual memorabilia expert about this exact topic.

The morale of this story, if there is one, is that as adults, we're often called on to do things that we aren't comfortable doing. Using questioning in the classroom can at least prepare students for these types of situations they will probably face later on in life. So, as educators, we're not just assessing. We're preparing students for life after school. Assessing a child's learning serves a couple of purposes: one, it helps teachers figure out where their students are at as far as their educational development; and two, assessment just might help them when confronting difficult situations in the working world.