Digital Story

A Webquest!!

Lesson Plan : American Politics

Grade:	Grade 9-10
Subject:	Social Studies

Topic:	American Politics
Title:	Current Events in American Society and How They Effect American Politics
GSE’s/GLE’s	·         CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information. ·        CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text. ·        CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.3 Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them. ISTE STANDARDS: ·        3. Select digital tools or resources to use for a real-world task and justify the selection based on their efficiency and effectiveness. (3, 6)
Goals:	Student will demonstrate ability to do following:  1. Pick 2-5 related current events (oldest must be no more than 5 years old, newest must be less than 12 months old)  2. Explain how these events are related  3.Explain their positions on these current events  4. Debate both sides of each issue (both their own and other students’)  5. Compare and contrast their ideas with others through classroom discussion
Objectives:	Internet Research Discussion and debate with peers Notes (On other students’ presentations) Understanding and Analysis of the importance of current affairs
Materials:	Access to Internet and Print Materials
Introduction:	Student’s will be paired together and will be informed of today’s task, to work in pairs to select and analyze multiple (2-5) RELATED current events within appropriate time frame and will work in pairs to create a presentation to the class about their selected current events as well as their assessment of the events and what impact they have had (thoughts on future impacts is acceptable as well, however cannot replace current or prior impacts) on current American society and politics, citing specific examples.
Development:	Each pair of students will access the internet via a computer lab or computers in classroom to select which events to choose and research said events as well as the impact they have had on current American society and politics.
Practice:	Teacher gives example of series of related current events (ex. Shootings in Ferguson Missouri, NYC, Zimmerman case) then guides students to websites with possible choices for current events to choose from (Yahoo News, ABC News, Etc.) as an introduction of simple ways to find beginning information on current events.  Students are then directed to pick a series of related current events and before delving into topic, must inform teacher of their events they have chosen and how they are related (as well as a brief summary of their overall purpose of topic).  Students will then begin project as described.
Accommodations:	Students with special needs or those facing difficulty on this topic will be accommodated through additional assistance from teacher and aide (if available) with regards to selecting events which are less difficult to find information on, associating events with one which they have chosen, and presentation methods are variable dependent upon the students’ choosings.
Checking For Understanding:	Teacher will be mobile in room as students are researching, offering assistance when desired as well as asking poking/prodding questions to students when teacher believes their chosen events and thesis should be changed, developed more fully, sources are not reliable or simply to evaluate students’ appreciation and understanding of lesson and their pair’s efforts.
Closure:	Teacher directs students to present their events and explain their choices as well as how they have had impacts on current American society and/or politics by doing the following: (AFTER REMINDING EACH GROUP THAT NOTE TAKING ON EACH GROUP OTHER THAN THEIR OWN IS A GRADED PART OF THIS ASSIGNMENT) 1.Ask each group to share the event which they found most important or impacting, describe this event as well as others, citing how they are related and how they have had impacts or effects on current American society/politics  2. After each group, get input from students from other groups, thoughts, feelings, assessments, etc.  3. Explain why it is important to be aware of events taking place throughout the country (how US events are important to the world and vice versa as well, briefly) - how they impact our daily lives, and why we should participate in politics.
Evaluation:	Teacher will collect the individuals’ notes regarding other students’ presentations, will then accompany this with their own group presentation as well as participation regarding other students topics (participation will be secondary to understanding of their own and other students’ topics and impacts) and grade for completion. Students will write a 1 page summary discussing how current events affect us, using examples from their topic as well as other students’ topics, which will be evaluated with their notes and presentations.

My Digital Footprint

Kids These Days With Their Interwebs!

Today’s children have access to the internet in ways which were not able to be dreamed of just a few years ago.  Nearly every child has an iphone or an android phone which garners them instant access to the internet anywhere anytime.  Because of this ease of access, and the ability to access without being on the family desktop, it is becoming more and more difficult for parents to track what their children are doing online.  With new social media and other websites being created daily, having your child’s facebook password is simply not enough to have a good representation of what their online life is actually like.  I believe that the potential for both good or bad to come from this constant connectedness are ever present and significant.

 Because of this I feel it is the responsibility of everyone who has a vested interest in a child to teach them proper internet etiquette and how to avoid the potential pitfalls associated with the internet.  While I feel parents hold the lion’s share of responsibility for telling their children which websites to avoid and how to prevent being abducted or having information stolen by others, I feel that the teacher’s responsibility lies mainly in showing children proper venues of the internet which can improve their ability to learn or simply create or design projects better.  I feel that the government’s role in this would largely be one of helping to prevent and remedy illegal activities on the internet, not so much dealing with the individual’s specific website selection.

Everyone has a responsibility to act in a good manner while online, as many of us use the internet to email a coworker or supervisor and are connected to our parents or children on our social media accounts. We also owe it to ourselves and to others to ensure that we are not neglecting the actual physical world we live in for the electronic world of our computers, tablets and cell phones.