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FRIT 7090 FINAL PROJECT1

FRIT 7090 Final Project Daryl Allison, Sterling Baldwin, Aaron Parker Games and Instructional Design July 18, 2013

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Instructional Goals and Objectives This lesson and gaming system will be designed increase student understanding of the Government and Civics section of the GPS as expressed on the Georgia Department of Education website. The following GPS will be addressed: https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Georgia%20Performance%20Standards/Gr8-SocialStudies-Standard.pdf SS8CG1 The student will describe the role of citizens under Georgias constitution. b. Explain the concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances. S8CG2 The student will analyze the role of the legislative branch in Georgia state government. c. Evaluate how the legislative branch fulfills its role as the lawmaking body for the state of Georgia. SS8CG3 The student will analyze the role of the executive branch in Georgia state government. c. Evaluate how the executive branch fulfills its role through state agencies that administer programs and enforce laws. SS8CG4 The student will analyze the role of the judicial branch in Georgia state government. e. Evaluate how the judicial branch fulfills its role in interpreting the laws of Georgia and ensuring justice in our legal system. Goal: 1. At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to evaluate the role of each branch of government and describe how power is divided and shared. In addition, students will be able to

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explain how each branch interacts with the other two in order to effectively govern the country/state. Objectives: 1. After completing the game titled Branches of Power located at icivics.org, the student will be able to explain the concept of separation of powers with minimal to no errors in content. 2. After completing the game titled Branches of Power located at icivics.org, the student will be able to evaluate the basic structure and functions of each branch of government with minimal to no errors in content. 3. After completing the game titled Branches of Power located at icivis.org, the student will be able to evaluate how the legislative branch fulfills their role as the law making branch of government with minimal to no errors in content. 4. After completing the game titled Branches of Power located at icivis.org, the student will be able to evaluate how the executive branch fulfills their role of enforcing laws in government with minimal to no errors in content. 5. After completing the game titles Branches of Power located at icivis.org, the student will be able to evaluate how the judicial branch fulfills their role by interpreting laws in government with minimal to no errors in content.

Learner Characteristics: The children and adolescents of today can be a challenge to teach. They can be distracted by their world of video and violence but most in this classroom have experienced fast-paced entertainment that results from the fact that most of todays K-12 learners do not know a world without computers. Such is the case with this class of 28, 13 and 14 year old eighth grade students. These students enter this class with two years of middle school social science where

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they would have touched on different types of governments that exist throughout the world. One of type of government that has been previously presented is a democratic republic, which the State of Georgia embodies. The income level of this class of students range from a medium income level to a small number considered poverty. The percentage of free and reduced breakfast and lunches for this is 65%. Special consideration will be given to the students who come from lower income families, because issues of health, homelessness, violence, abuse and neglect could exist based on statistics. (Childrens Defense Fund, 2002, pp.iv-v) The demographic makeup of the class is 80% Caucasian, 10% Latino, 7% African American and 3% other. The teacher will have access to previous Criterion-Reference Competency Test, along with Axcess Scores as a gage to identify any possibilities of students who may struggle in specific areas. Also, if needed, ELL accommodations for those that may fall in this category along with extended testing time any 504 plans that may exist. Additionally students will be interviewed to determine how to better meet their needs. Students want ownership in responsibility for their learning process, which will be accomplished through the strategy of the game Branches of Power by icivics.org. By empowering the students through this gaming strategy the classroom will ultimately become a learner-centered practice for teaching. This game teaches the federal government. However, we can use this to teach about the state government because the roles of each branch are similar between federal and state. Also, by playing this game, students will be able to interpret the roles of each branch of government as well as understand the impact that each branch has on another.

Content and Instructional Strategies:

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The teacher will have created five presentations for the students. Each presentation will be different. Each presentation will consist of key terms and resources to explain each term. The first presentation will be a Prezi on the concept of separation of powers in the state of Georgia. The second presentation will be a Slide Share on the legislative branch of government and its role in the state of Georgia. The third presentation will be a Powtoon on the executive branch of government and its role in the state of Georgia. The fourth presentation will be a Slide Bomb on the judicial branch of government and its role in the state of Georgia. The last presentation will be a Photo Peach as a short review of basic facts, key terms, and situational scenarios. After all presentations are complete the teacher will proceed to introducing an epistemic game as in instructional strategy to enrich and put into practice, what the students learned from the five presentations. The teacher will introduce the game titled Branches of Power. The teacher will walk through the instructions and the tutorial game with the students, making sure to read and discuss important details along the way as well as answer any questions that students may have about the government or the game. Once the teacher is finished with the guided tutorial game, the students will be required to complete the regular game in a given amount of time. Learner Assessment: The students will identify the powers of each branch of government and how each branch fulfills its role. In groups of 3, students will identify the powers of each branch of government, the roles of each branch, and create a presentation listing the powers by each branch of government. The students will create the presentation using their choice of presentation tool. Presentation options are as follows: Powtoon, Prezi, Smore, Photo Peach, Flip Snack, or Glogster.

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Evaluation In 8th grade Georgia Studies, the government and civics section of our content is always the most difficult for students to understand. The difference in achievement can be seen in the following data set taken from USATestPrep.com, an online testing site designed to prepare students for CRCT.

The data is based on a summative assessment taken weeks before CRCT was administered and it shows a large achievement gap when comparing the other three strands with that of Government/Civics. Therefore, our lesson plan is designed to combat that achievement gap and incorporate a game that will help students learn the material in a much more engaging and effective way. We will evaluate the effectiveness of our lesson through the use of a summative performance task and a student survey. First, the performance assessment will be completed in a group of 3 and will be presented to the class upon completion. To increase accountability we will include an individual accountability portion designed to maximize participation. Once all presentation have been

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completed, we will sit down as a department, break down the assessments presented by the students and discuss the areas of weakness the students still have as a collective group. We will use this data to reteach key components of government in an attempt to fill in the gaps of learning. Depending on the amount of students needing help, we will group them according to weakness and have a class that focuses entirely on that weakness. If knowledge is displayed at 80% for any one single area of the assessment (Legislative, Executive, Judicial, Separation of Powers), we will consider the students proficient in that single category and additional instruction will not be provided. Next, we will make the students take a survey at surveymonkey.com regarding the alignment of the game with the objectives required in the assessment. In addition, we will obtain their suggestions regarding improvements to the lesson to include, but not limited to, preview of the content, preview of the game, and ease of game. Survey Monkey provides free 10 question surveys and compiles data of up to 100 survey takers for viewing. We will meet as a department and disaggregate the data provided by surveymonkey.com and amend our instruction and use of the game accordingly.

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