#5: Middle School Language Arts

Lesson Title: African American Achievers

Level: 8th Grade

Stage: 2 - Adoption

Experienced Teacher Technology Standard(s): 10.6

Discussion: Although fully appropriate for some learning goals, simple research papers are usually, at best, Stage 2 in terms of technology use. Virtual libraries and the Internet have replaced periodicals and encyclopedias, and the word processing program has replaced the pen and lined paper, so "...teachers will use new technology to support traditional instruction..." describes this lesson perfectly.

Enhancements:

• To move this to Stage 3, a teacher would need to have a presentation or desktop publishing document as the goal - something that allows the student to produce something more uniquely technology-based.
• This lesson has elements of Stage 4 already embedded within it, since the students will be generating the list of possible "African American Achievers." Some ideas which more firmly empower the students might include allowing them to select the categories/areas of achievement, making it a part of their assignment to justify their choices.
• As has been true for many of the examples, Stage 5 requires that the technology not be designated in advance, allowing the students to choose how they research and present based on their topic's needs.