Thematic Unit Diagram

Thematic Unit Table

Your Name: Maria Stapleford Leah Bjornstad, Tim Wood, Brendon Pond

Course-Section: TEAC 259 Section 007

Your ID:



I. Unit Context

1.Summary of the description of the unit theme :

Our unit centers on fractions, and understanding basic parts of fractions. Using a pizza pie example we will present the idea of wholes and parts. We teach them terms using the different pieces of the pizza. This will give them a visual representation of parts and wholes that will help them visualize and identify the different parts of fractions (with the added benefit of excitement). They will benefit by learning the different parts of a fraction and be able to identify the different parts in order to use, understand and represent parts and wholes using fractions.


2.Target subject area/class: The target area are students in 1st or 2nd grade; a classroom of about 15-20 students. The presentation would occur in the math section of the day.

3.Classroom and Equipments : An elementary school classroom with a projector, computer, and paper towels or plates.



II. Audience

1.General characteristics

Size: 15-20 Students



Age: 6-7 years old



Demographics: Variable

Experience: Limited previous experience needed.

Attitudes toward your class: Normally positive, engaged, and enjoy interactive activities.

Interests: Talking, playing, eating, using hands on activities.

2.Entry competencies

They'll need knowledge about whole numbers, counting, and shapes.







III. Objectives

1. State Goal: After completion of the lesson, students will understand fractions, their basic parts, and how to represent parts and wholes using fractions.

2. Objective 1:
(C) After cutting the pizza, (A) the students in the classroom (B) will observe and verbally answer questions, for (D) 5-10 minutes.

3. Objective 2:
(C) After watching the instructional video, (A) the students in the classroom (B) will practice recognition of numerators and denominators by writing down responses to questions for (D) 5-10 minutes.

4. Objective 3:
(C) After receiving a practice worksheet, (A) the students in the classroom (B) will fill out the worksheet on their own either at home or in the classroom [to be corrected the next day] (D) for the remainder of the math period and [if they do not complete it in class] at home.







IV. Instructional Strategies and Methods

Objective
The Names Of the Strategies
How to use?
1


Demonstration


We are using pizza as a visual aid, so that the students will actively want to be involved in understanding what fractions truly are. The students will be able to learn faster if they have something that they can work with that is hands on.

2


Presentation



We are going to show a video with a song that goes along with it and we’ll play the video a few times over so that it will get ingrained into the students heads, so that the students can refer to the song if they are getting confused with what they are doing.
3


Simulation


We will have the kids pick out there favorite kinds of pizza and draw them on a piece of paper, and have them make a fraction out of the pizza and label it. This will allow the students to independently show that they know what fractions are.









V. List Resources


Fraction Song
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtA2IhrGeFQ)

Papa John’s Pizza

Internet

Practice Worksheets

Technology in the Classroom

Group Name: Freaks & Geeks
Members:
1. Brendon Pond
2. Leah Bjornstad
3. Tim Wood
4. Maria Stapleford

Members Blogs:
Maria's: mstaple90.blogspot.com
Leah's: leah3bjorn.blogspot.com
Brendon's: brendonpond.blogspot.com
Tim's: teac259timsblog.blogspot.com


The culture we are living in today is very much different than the culture of the past. Technology is advancing in an increasing rate every day and the technology of today will quickly be put aside by the technology of tomorrow. This is of huge importance for the teachers of today's society. We are going from a society of teachers who use chalkboards and transparencies to a new age of teachers who are utilizing Microsoft PowerPoint and projectors. The youth of today are leading the way for this new technology in most cases, and unfortunately the teachers seem to be one step behind. The advancements of the internet seem to be endless as well.
It seems as if the youth of today are taking the technology of today and utilizing it more then the education system is. According to Richard MacManus "96 percent of students with online access use social networking technologies." Students are utilizing social networking websites such as Facebook and Myspace, as well as taking full advantage of texting, blogging, and online chatting.
Students are not only using these social networking sites as a place to waste time, but are using them to post writings, make art work, or even work on classroom assigned projects. They are even utilizing the abilities of the internet and these social networks to upload pictures and videos. According to MacManus 41 percent of students post messages weekly, 32 percent of students download music weekly, 30 percent of students download videos weekly, and 25 percent of students update their online profile weekly.
It is very important to know all of these things as teachers because it is our job to not only teach our students material, but it is also our job to be able to relate to our students, so that we can teach in the most effective way possible. For instance, if an English teacher knew that 25 percent of his or her students were updating their online profiles on web sites such as Facebook, then the teacher could utilize this knowledge and have their students create online portfolios which they could continue to work on online and continue to update them weekly. In college we see teachers increasingly moving toward computers as a valuable resource. Whether it be professors having their students turn in papers online or even having students take quizzes online, the internet is showing to be a great asset. MacManus makes it a point to point out the fact that "students aren't passive couch potatoes online" in his article about online creativity and E-learning.
It is also important to realize technological usage simply because it is the newest thing, is not purpose. It's a new "toy". Is it worth the added distractions? Cell phones, laptops, iPods, etc. can be major distractions for students. So many options and things at a touch can make it hard for young students to focus on the task at hand. If your in a classroom setting keeping an eye out for kids "passing notes" it's an easy thing to spot and then take the proper embarrassment technique to make sure the student thinks twice before choosing to ask a girl "Do you like me, check yes or no?" and not finish his school work. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to catch someone texting a note to someones phone, and if you do, one hit of a button and it's deleted. With a paper note, well...the only way to try and hide it is to "eat it", literally, before the teacher gets you to open your mouth.
Technological advances, and it's uses, are clearly limited by the purpose they can provide in a practical sense within a classroom. Questions you may ask when considering using a piece of new technology...

Does this make it easier for me to explain the subject matter to my students?
If a student needs help, can they get it in a timely manner?
If a student decides to make a poor decision that gets in the way of learning, can I see to redirect them?
Does it make the subject matter easier to understand?
5. How many distractions will this new technology introduce, and do the benefits outweigh the liabilities?

By using the most recent technologies in a classroom setting, it will allow students to be able to transition into the working world where new technology is applied daily. Being able to use online resources will allow teenagers to not only transition into the working world better, but into a college or university setting as well. Knowing how to use different software will also make students more marketable, when it comes time to looking for a job.
In his article, Researchers question school in high-tech age, Dean Bennett points out that classrooms have remained the same over hundreds of years while the world of technology has transformed the world outside schools. Teachers are beginning to integrate technology into the classroom and students are continually bringing their personal gadgets into class. Bennet suggests that should strive to include technology in their lessons, and ask the students to use their cell phones and other devices to engage in class instead of sharing notes. As teachers we can ask older students to text answers to the teacher, or ask use their laptops to e-mail assignments, or look up maps in a geography class. The teacher can easily incorporate technology into the lesson plan to engage students growing cultural knowledge.





Works Cited
2007. MacManus, Richard. New Study Shows that online creativity and E-Learning Popular with Kids. Web: http://www.readwriteweb.com
Researchers question school in high-tech age
DEAN Bennett Canadian Press Aug. 29th, 2007

My Video

My Picture

About Me

Name: Leah Bjornstad
Class: TEAC259SEC007

About Me:
I am a freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
I am blonde, and I am definitely blonde.
I love meeting new people.
I enjoy working with children, so I am majoring in Elementary Education.
I am Catholic and I love living out my faith.

My University: Universtiy of Nebraska-Lincoln

Career Aspirations: I want to become an Elementary Teacher, and hopefully teach 4th grade.

Reasons I am a group member:

1. I like people
2. I like groups
3. I need to learn how to use a computer

Ethics Paper

Group Name: Freaks & Geeks

Members:

1. Brendon Pond

2. Leah Bjornstad

3. Tim Wood

4. Maria Stapleford

Members Blogs:
Maria's: mstaple90.blogspot.com
Leah's: leah3bjorn.blogspot.com
Brendon's: brendonpond.blogspot.com
Tim's: teac259timsblog.blogspot.com

Ethics is a very important aspect when it comes to creating a piece of work. It is important that we use ethics regarding other people's work but also our own work. Our world today has become very lazy and we have developed an attitude that we don't want to wait for anything, or work hard for anything. We have been able to receive everything at our fingertips or with the click of a button. Unfortunately people think this way when they are working on a project. Using other people's work is unethical and disrespectful, but because it is at our fingertips it has become more common.
As a world we have grown tremendously with technology. We have gone above and beyond what people 50 years ago could hardly imagine. Online publishing is a great way to let one's work be known and seen, but there are also risks in publishing things online. Not everyone believes in using ethics when viewing and sharing work through the internet.
Plagiarism has become a huge problem and it has increased with the use of technology. Plagiarism is using another person's work or idea and claiming it as your own. We must be careful to research correctly and give credit where it is due. Using work produced by someone else, and presenting it as our own idea is considered a form of plagiarism; even though you may not specifically take something word for word from a piece of work.
Plagiarism is, yet, just one of the issues one must keep in mind while "blogging". You may ask yourself, "What can I share with my friends without it being plagiarism?" As a general rule, it is safe to share anything not copyrighted, as long as it follows the rules of public decency. The laws of eminent domain are often cited to justify this, but in fact "eminent domain" is more commonly used to describe the governments right to take private property for public use. This is loosely used by private citizens to justify using non-copyrighted images, and artwork, to enhance personal blogs and websites. Unless contacted, it is understood that permission of such materials is granted without notification otherwise.
So, yes, you "can" share certain things on your blog, but "should" you? How do I know if it is ethicProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

to use something on my blog? Obviously, anything illegal is not ethical. This means any copyrighted material you have not gotten permissions FIRST before publishing them...including passages from published books, images used in commercials, company logos, etc...things of this nature. The right people have to protect their identity has lead to the need to gain permissions to even publish pictures of kids at your son's birthday party, for example. Of course, odds are your friends will not complain if you put a picture of "little Bobby" with a silly hat on eating cake, but unless they had a clear understanding that by attending that party their son's image would be put up on the web, they "could" force you to take it down. And not done in a timely manner, they could bring legal action against you. In an example, such as this, the "ethical" thing would be to make sure everyone knows at the birthday party you are taking pictures for your blog and you'll be posting them up in the near future.
It's not just pictures, artwork, and logos. As mentioned earlier in this paper, technology has made it easy to "cheat" and simply copy the work someone else has done. Suppose you were writing a paper for a class. For example, in this paper, on "Internet Ethics", you found a set of online lectures about intellectual property as it pertains to the internet. They were done by William Fisher, of Harvard University, and you think it would be fine to use them in your paper. But just like in writing off line, unless you cite the work you refer to as HIS work, it would be assumed that it was yours. In other words, upon reading it people would take it as YOUR ideas, and YOUR experience that led you to produce these ideas you are publishing. This is of course not fact, and in effect you would be guilty of "stealing" the ideas of Dr. William Fisher. More often than not, it is not the person being plagiarized, but a reader of the "copied" work that brings the indiscretion to light. In this case, our very own professor would see it as "plagiarism" and deal out the appropriate punishment.
As future teachers, we should not only consider plagiarism violations but also consider the idea of fair use when dealing with copyrighted materials. While it is inappropriate to plagiarize, many individuals assume that it is okay to copy chapters for books to teach classes, this is only occasionally true. One website, in an article entitled "Fair Use and Copyright for Teachers," for teachers clears up the issue by explaining the "fair use" boundary/loophole that exists for educators in the copyright laws. The website names four different criteria for determining fair use for educators. They ask what is the "purpose of use," the "nature of the work," the "proportion/extent of the material used," and "the effect on marketability." The authors of the article, determine that selected portions of works are appropriate to use (in the classroom setting). Copying select paragraphs, only about 10% of the work, and using the work in a way that would not detract from its overall sales would be considered fair use, but only in face to face interactions (Fair Use).
This fair use loophole does not seem to exist in online posting. The information posted online is available to a world wide community, and therefore does not meet the face to face requirement of the fair use conditions. Online postings often detract from sales, especially when large portions of a work are shared. We can see this when we examine the music industry. Sharing music with others obviously hurts the profit of the producer, as songs that are posted online can be played at any time. In the same way that we cannot share music with our friends, or papers with our friends (violating plagiarism rules), we cannot share documents, programs or files without the permission of the author or producer.