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NOTE: Replace all of the << >> throughout the lesson plan with your input
Lesson:
Main Idea
In this lesson plan, student will use the BrainPop app to use their resources and explore main ideas. Either in the app or on pages
printed from the website, students will be able to read short stories, books and watch movies or videos and be asked to find the
main idea. They will be provided with a graphic organizer to help them find the main idea of the media they chose.
The students should like this lesson because they get to interact with the app and have the choice in what type of media they
want to look at. Students like to have a choice and some may like reading and others may like to watch videos. I will engage the
student who are not interested in the lesson by showing them that they can watch any movie clip or video they want or they have
the choice of what topic they want to read about.
Part 1
Essential Question:
List the question students should be considering as they complete the project. This is a driving question that hooks the students
into lesson or unit and is what they can answer at the end of the lesson. You should have ONE.
How do I find the main idea and why do I need to be able to identify it?
Learning Objectives:
Write your learning objectives (see (LO) & identify the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) level (DOK is listed later in this document).
LOs start with a verb (NOT students will). Do not use the words
understand or learn
One objective per (dont use and).
Do NOT mention the task.
What are students able to do or know at the END of the lesson?
DOK is how much critical thinking the STUDENT is doing.
Seeing the main idea and knowing what the details are that back up the main 3
idea
Finding the main idea and incorporating technology use into the lesson
Context:
Think about who your students are, you need to know the needs and levels of your students along with their personal interests
when you design your lessons. Create a fictional class in detail. Consider the diversity your class WILL have.
Grade Level:
Part 2
Materials:
List materials required
This lesson plan is required to integrate technology
I will start by showing the short clip provided by BrainPOP giving a quick explanation on how to find the main idea. I will
activate prior knowledge by reminding students what a main idea is and depending on the grade what they should know before
moving on to the next step with main ideas. You can build off of them first finding the main idea and then finding the key details
and showing how they support the main idea. Also they can build off of that and find the main ideas for multiple paragraphs.
Teaching Steps:
1. Describe the scope and sequence of the activity; listing step by step what will be occurring both by the teacher
and by the students.
2. Do NOT mention the teacher. Your lesson should come from the student perspective.
3. For each task, list the DOK level. How much critical thinking is the student involved in?
Watch a video on BrainPOP showing what the students are going to learn 1
Students will hear an explanation about what a main idea is and how to identify it 2
As a class pick a type of media off of the app and have the class go through an example 1
Pull up the BrainPOP organizer on the app and let students work individually to chose a type 3
of media
Have them determine the main idea and complete the organizer activity 1
Compare your types of media and what you got as the main idea and why 3
Ask any questions that may come up when comparing main ideas 2
Closure:
How will the lesson end?
The lesson will end by going over the what a main idea is and how they can be identified in all different types of media. Making
sure each student understands the lesson and can clearly identify the main idea. If the activity is on a printed worksheet they can
hang a few of those around the room as a reminder to the students of what a main idea is.
Modern Lesson Design: 4 Cs
Student connections to the 4cs: Describe how your lesson
addresses each of the 4 Cs
Critically think: Be able to watch or read different types media and find what the main idea is by
Students are asked to... finding the details and seeing what idea they are all supporting
Critical thinking is coming up with their own ideas and defending them or creating something new or applying to a new situation.
Collaborate: The students are working with a partner after they identify the main idea to
Students are... compare and see if they both agree that they got the right main idea of that
certain media
Collaboration is not just working together, but to be reliant on each other. There should be some level of task switching.
Communicate: Students will communicate the new ideas they learned through the worksheet by
Students will... writing the main idea and supporting details
Create: Students will develop the knowledge of how to find the main idea of several
Students will develop... different types of media such as videos and paragraphs. This shows students that
they can apply this knowledge to everything and not just school related writing.
Create is how students are being CREATIVE. This is NOT creating art. This is NOT creating a PowerPoint.
DOK Levels
What DOK levels are addressed in this activity?
Remember it is NOT how HARD the task is, but the complexity of thinking.
DOK 1: Memorize/Follow steps Following the steps of watching or reading the media
and then completing the questions on the worksheet
DOK 2: Think Analyzing the media and looking at all the details and
seeing what idea they all surround
DOK 3: Critically think Piecing together a main idea that all of the details in the
rest of the media support
Research:
What will your students be researching? What search/research techniques will your students need to know?
What is the main idea? Using the BrainPOP app to watch and read different
types of media that will help students find the main
idea by completing a worksheet with questions
Assessment:
How will you know students have learned?
How does your lesson show that the student is the most
important?
RESOURCES:
What is the difference between formative and summative
assessment?
Formative assessment
The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be
used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically,
formative assessments:
help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work
help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately
Formative assessments are generally low stakes, which means that they have low or no point value.
Examples of formative assessments include asking students to:
draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a topic
submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture
turn in a research proposal for early feedback
Summative assessment
The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by
comparing it against some standard or benchmark.
Summative assessments are often high stakes, which means that they have a high point value. Examples of
summative assessments include:
a midterm exam
a final project
a paper
a senior recital
Information from summative assessments can be used formatively when students or faculty use it to guide
their efforts and activities in subsequent courses.