Battle Spheres: Gather, Create, Share, and Evaluate

Kelsey set up the first four phases and now I will pick up with the remaining 4 phases, Gather, Create, Share and Evaluate.

Since we have not actually implemented this unit, these are the ‘best laid plans’ at this point, however; the team has spent a lot of time really processing the standards, thinking about Guided Inquiry, allowing for all team members to contribute and what has unfolded is a wonderful plan for a very engaging unit.  We actually meet tomorrow to develop the session plans and I am really looking forward to it because there is great energy when we get ‘toGather’.  Oh, speaking of Gather, let me move into discussing it.

GATHER

Using the Inquiry Circles that were determined in Identity, students will gather information learning about the sphere and the interactions between the two spheres chosen by members of their group. Recall students would be grouped according to the combination of spheres THEY were most interested in learning about — self-selection of topic supports the idea of 3rd Space! Each inquiry circle will complete a hands-on task along with further research to add to their understanding and answer their questions. While most students will use the resources provided during the exploration phase, students who want to use outside resources will need to use a website evaluation form before including the source. So part of the Gather phase will be reviewing how to evaluate resources to ensure information is reliable.  One thing the team wanted to do was to make sure that we included a scientific investigation as outlined in the standard for this unit.  Typically, Gather takes longer than anticipated because as student begin to really learn and discover information, they tend to want to learn more and more (which is a very good thing!) but even given that, the team planned 2 to 3 sessions for Gather.

CREATE

The objective in this phase is that students will create a product that shows the interaction between 2 systems demonstrating their understanding of the content.   Students will work in pairs to create an infographic showing the interaction between their two selected spheres using Piktochart. A screencast of how to use Piktochart as well as a template will be created to scaffold student learning.  The team felt that using a template would provide the ‘basics’ and groups could add more as appropriate. A rubric will be used to assess the student’s work, so to avoid a moving target for the students, the rubric will be shared so they understand expectations and objectives. To further challenge students, they will have the option once they finished their first infographic, to build on it and create an infographic demonstrating how 3 systems interact.  The team selected Piktochart as the format for the project because of the versatility of what media can be included giving students the freedom to express their creativity.  In addition, the final products can be shared electronically and/or downloaded as pdf for sharing.

SHARE

Sharing is the time where students and schools learn from each other and celebrate their success! The objective of sharing is for  students to share their product with one another and other schools in the district – and even broader if possible.  Using a shared folder in Google Drive, students will upload their infographics (saved as pdf) to one of 12 ‘sphere combination’ folders.  To assist students with uploading their infographic, a ‘how-to’ screencast will be provided and students will also be free to do peer-to-peer training helping each other along the way.  Teaching someone else, as we know, is the best way to internalize new information!

EVALUATE

After viewing infographics from their class and around the district, using a reflection log, students will evaluate their own work and learning reflecting on what they did well and what they wish they could improve upon.   Teachers will use a rubric to assess content and product.  

Tomorrow this skeleton plan will become much more concrete with daily session plans. Kelsey and I will reflect together to bring our two weeks of guest blogging to a close.  The planning of this unit has been collaboration at its best and I appreciate the chance to work and share with the team.  We know there is a gap between a lesson plan and the reality of implementation but the key difference for the potential of success is the time spent in preplanning, preparing, and organizing – the heart of this unit!

Yours in Guided Inquiry Design,

Buffy