Lesson Plan Overview
Lesson Title: Disasters and the Community
Lesson Activity Author: Cynthia R. Bowman
School: Meadowlark Middle School
Intended Grade Level: 8th
Main Content Area: Language arts
Type of Activity: Research and develop a visual chronological time-line of the different disasters presented on Digital Forsyth
Instructional Goal:
· Analyze the effects of natural and man-made disasters including their effect on individuals.
· Use inference to determine how disasters change people, change community, change lives.
· Develop a visual chronological time-line of the different disasters presented on Digital Forsyth.
· If you have previous permission, students will upload pictures that they have found about a natural or man-made disaster in Forsyth County to http://flickr.com/groups/digital_forsyth
Alignment to the NCSCS:
Language arts: 8
Goal 1: The learner will use language to express individual perspective through
Analysis of personal, social, cultural and historical issues.
1.02 Analyze expressive materials that are read, heard, and or viewed
1.04 Reflect on learning experiences by evaluating how personal perspectives
are influenced by historical issues
Goal 2: The learner will use and evaluate information from a variety of resources
2.01 Analyze and evaluate information materials that are read, heard and/or
viewed
2.02 Use multiple sources of print and non-print information to explore and
create research products in both written and presentational forms by
· understanding the focus
· evaluating information for extraneous detail, inconsistencies relevant facts, and organization, using notes and/or memory aids to structure information
· noting and/or citing sources used
Goal 4: The learner will continue to refine critical thinking skills and create criteria to
evaluate print and non-print materials.
4.02 Analyze and develop (with limited assistance) and apply appropriate criteria
to evaluate the quality of the communication by using knowledge of
language structure and literary or media techniques.
Computer/Technology Skills: 8
Goal 1: The learner will understand important issues of a technology-based society and
will exhibit ethical behavior in the use of computer and other technologies.
1.18 Recognize, discuss, and model correctly formatted citations for copyrighted
materials and adhere to Fair Use Guidelines.
Goal 3: The learner will use a variety of technologies to access, analyze, interpret,
synthesize, apply, and communicate information.
3.05 Select and use WP/DTP features/functions to develop, edit/revise, and
publish documents/assignments.
3.09 Plan, select, evaluate, interpret and use a variety of digital resources to
develop assignments/projects about North Carolina History.
Materials/Resources Needed:
Time Frame: Three days
1. Contact your principal at least one week before you want to use this activity to be sure you have permission to allow students to use Flickr.com for educational use. Explain that you want students to upload pictures they have for disasters that relate to man-made or natural disasters that have not been documented on Digital Forsyth.
2. Poster board
3. Colored markers
4. Rulers
5. Data projector
6. Computer lab or mobile computer cart—one computer per student
7. Scanner for pictures
8. PowerPoint or Microsoft Movie Maker computer program
9. Rubric for grading the PowerPoint or Movie Maker. Give one to each student on day 2.
10. Web address for Digital Forsyth: http://digitalforsyth.org
11. Address for disasters in Forsyth County: http://www.digitalforsyth.org/photos/stories/disasters-in-forsyth-county
Activity steps and timeline:
Day 1--45 minutes
Explain that the lesson for the next three days will deal with non-fiction.
Choose one of these prompts to activate prior knowledge or provide all three and give students the option of choosing one. Have students write their response in their writing journal. 10 minutes
1 Give an example of how natural or man-made disasters affected someone in your family?
2 How might a tornado affect you? In what ways would you, your family, your neighborhood be affected?
3 What types of man-made disasters can happen that could cause people a major concern?
Discuss as a class after 5 minutes.
Think/Pair/Share 15 minutes
1. What is the difference between man-made disasters and natural disasters?
Give the first question to the students and have them think about an answer. Give them 1 minute to brainstorm. Have them share with the student who is next to them, or across from them (2 minutes).
2. Who in your family has been affected by a natural or man-made disaster?
Give students the second question and allow them another 1 minute to brainstorm. Allow the students 2 minutes to share their responses.
Have the two students pair-up and make a chart with their responses to the first and second question. One person records and the other will present to the class. Give them approx. 10 minutes to brainstorm and write their responses on the poster board. One person from the pair should come and get poster board, ruler and colored markers.
Presentations 15 minutes
Each pair will then present their posters to the class. Students share their chart with the class. 10-15 minutes depending upon the size of the class.
(The teacher should explore this site before showing it to the students so that you know how to navigate through the Digital Forsyth website.)
Teacher Lead Instruction (10 minutes)
Using the data projector show the students the website for Digital Forsyth. Explain how to search through the site for information.
Go through the home, photos, stories and communities tabs.
Students should take notes in their journals. Write the web address for tomorrow’s class and any directions that will help them navigate smoothly on day 2.
Reflection/Closure (5 minutes)
Ticket out the Door: They are to answer the three following questions.
1. Tell one thing they learned in class today.
2. Write one question they have that needs to be answered before they go on the computer tomorrow.
3. Explain how this activity was non-fiction.
Homework Day 1:
Discuss with a parent, grandparent, neighbor or relative about a natural or man-made disaster that happened in Forsyth County. Write a short paragraph about that incident. If you can find a picture of that disaster, bring it to class in the next two days.
DAY 2 and 3:
(10 minutes) Review the Ticket out the Door cards with students (only on day 2). Answer any questions that students have about yesterday’s activity. If a student was absent, have a student show one of the poster boards to that student and have the student explain what the class did in yesterday’s lesson.
Handout rubric and explain grading to students so that they know what they will earn as a result of the PowerPoint or Movie Maker presentation.
(45 minutes on Day 2 and 50 minutes on Day 3) Students will access a computer and get out their journals where they wrote down the website for Digital Forsyth. If they have forgotten their journal, write on the board, or using a data projector have the website available for students to copy.
www.digitalforsyth.org
Students will access the Stories section of the home page and find the link to Disasters in Forsyth County. They should click on the link, read the article and scan all pictures on the site that are available.
Based on the story, students will make a chronological chart of events that happened in Forsyth County and label the events as Natural or Man-made disasters.
The time line may be on PowerPoint or Movie Maker.
Homework Day 2:
Continue to discuss with family and friends about natural and man-made disasters that have been experienced. Gather pictures to upload to Flickr.com to help gather more data for Digital Forsyth.
On Day 3:
If students are allowed to upload photos to Flickr.com then that should be done after finishing their time line.
Go over the rubric again with students to remind them of what is required to earn an A, B, C, D or a F on this assignment.
Assessments:
Rubric for project with grading scale
4 / 3 / 1Introductory slide with Title of project and student name / Project has title and name of student / Project has title or student name / Missing title and student name
Events from Digital Forsyth / 12 events are listed in chronological order, pictures are included with the events and properly labeled with the type of disaster / 9 events are listed in chronological order, pictures are included with the events and properly labeled with the type of disaster / 8 events are listed, some out of chronological order, some pictures are missing and/or disasters are labeled incorrectly
Summary of opinion how each event affected people, community, or city / All 12 slides after the event explain how that disaster could affect people, community, and city. / 8-9 slides after the event explain how that disaster could affect people, community, and city. / 6 slides or less explain how each disaster could affect people, community and the city.
Type of disaster is labeled correctly / All events are labeled with the correct type of disaster. / 8 events are labeled with the type of disaster listed correctly / 7 or less labeled or labeled incorrectly
Works Cited slide / References are correctly cited in MLA format. / References are listed, but not in MLA format / Only Digital Forsyth is listed, but no other sources.
20 points will earn an A
19 points will earn a B
17 points will earn a C
15 points or less will be a D
No F’s unless a student does less than 5 points
This rubric may be modified to fit your needs. This is a rough idea of how a student might be graded for this activity.
Additional comments and appendices:
For students with special needs the article may need to be read aloud to them, and modify the amount of work and the grading scale as needed.