1.a. Read literary texts including tall tales

1.b. Identify the characteristics of a variety of literary texts.

2.a. Identify the main incidents of a plot and their cause and influence of each

event on future actions.

2.b. Recognize and examine the characters (traits, actions, how the illustrator

categorize, and store information for efficient retrieval.

II. Communication: Students will use technology to collaborate with peers and to receive

feedback on a project produced using Palm software.

Maryland Teacher Technology Standard Focused Upon:

V. Integrating Technology into the Curriculum and Instruction:

(4) Use appropriate instructional strategies for integrating technology into instruction.

Students will generate a graphic organizer using Pico Map on their Palms. The web that they create will be connected to our current unit in reading: Tall Tales. We have been discussing elements of tall tales, and we have been comparing and contrasting each of the characters we have read about in class. The use of technology in relation to the character of Pecos Bill will enable students to understand yet another format for organizing details and sharing products with peers. This lesson would be a natural progression within our tall tale unit.

Since this activity will be completed during a reading class when many students will be out of class for T.A.D., I intend on having the remaining students complete this task and later beam their product to a friend (T.A.D. member) so that they may have an understanding of the main ideas related to the character, Pecos Bill.

**Sample Prototype – I have several samples of the webs on my personal Palm. In addition, the students saved their products on the student Palms. I would be happy to share these if you might explain how to forward these samples.

Pecos Bill Video

Student Reading Logs

Stephen Kellog’s version of Pecos Bill (children’s book)

Class Set of Palms

Pico Map Software

Students should be able to construct a graphic organizer: web

Students should be able to beam a specific set of data to another Palm.

Students should be familiar with the usage of Pico Map.

Students should be able to activate and utilize the keyboard for the Palm.

Students will expand their familiarity with the program, Pico Map. Although we have completed a sample web on Pico Map in class, students will problem solve to discover how to link related ideas together using the tools in Pico Map.

The objectives for this lesson are outlined as the Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum Standards for Grade 4 – Reading. These standards are listed at the beginning of this lesson.

In general:

Students will be exploring another tall tale, a genre of literature that relates to our fourth grade content standard.

Students will understand how to pick out key ideas from a visual depiction of a tall tale (video) and organize these ideas into a graphic organizer web.

Students will utilize technology to translate their written notes into a document in Pico Map.

1. Anticipatory Set: Students will begin by listening to a set of several different clues that

describe the tall tale characters we’ve read about thus far. They will verbally respond to each clue to identify the character being described.

2. Introduce to students that they will be viewing the animated version of yet another tall tale character. Students will set up a matrix in their reading logs in order to take notes while viewing the video. The goal will be to have at least 3 notes below each heading. The matrix will consist of the following categories:

Exaggerated Events

Phys. Traits

Accomplishments

Other facts

Students will receive and discuss the scoring tool to be used for assessment. Students will view the video on Pecos Bill.

3. As a class, students will share some of the items they recorded on their matrix. Then, have students share how this information might be able to be translated to a document on the Palm.

4. Distribute a Palm to each student. Students should use the main menu to route them to Pico Map. Have students create a "new" document. Give a name and title to the file. The title should contain the student’ s name so as to be able to identify each web once each has been beamed.

5. Students will verbally revisit the procedure used to add new information and connect ideas within this program.

6. Students will be given independent work time to translate their hand-written matrix into a web on the Palms. Before beaming products, students should reflect back on the scoring tool that was distributed at the beginning of the class to ensure that their task has been completed accurately.

7. Once finished, students should beam their product to the teacher’s Palm.

Follow-up: Students will be asked to beam their web (from Pico Map) to another student in the class who was in T.S.D. during this lesson. This sharing will allow other students to have a general overview about Pecos Bill, in addition to an understanding how Pico Map can be used to organize information.

Students who finish the organizer in Pico Map may go into the program called Idea Pad to organize information from a tall tale that we’ ve already read in order to become more proficient at using another graphic organizer tool. This will also enable students to share their products with other students as a form of review.

Reciprocal Teaching Technique - Students who are more comfortable with typing on the keyboards and finish at a faster rate, may assist other students who may need a few hints or reminders with typing or using the program itself.

It might be beneficial to have the Palms to utilize for more than one day per cycle. More frequent exposure might enable students to become more comfortable with the Palms. Also, students might be able to practice with Pico Map as a morning warm-up activity. A peer tutoring relationship may be able to be established to assist particular students.