My Technology Lesson Plan & Supplemental Materials

For my final project in Educational Technology, I designed a standards-based, 9th grade English Language Arts lesson called "Finding Your Fairytale." I'll include the complete plan and some supplementary materials in this post. 

Lesson Plan

This lesson applies the knowledge students learned about fairy tales into an online, interactive project. Students will analyze how fairy tales change over time and through different mediums by exploring the website, Finding Your Fairytale. They will evaluate which fairy tale characters resonate with them and why, will create an online profile on which they upload an avatar of themselves in character-appropriate costume that puts their own spin on the character, and will write about connections between the character's story and their own life. Finally, the class will review each other's work and will review each other's work and leave affirmative comments. 

The purpose of this project is for students to see themselves in the cultural stories that resonate with them. They will consider how fairy tales teach problem-solving, resilience, courage, and independence, and are not just about the "happily ever after." They will connect their lives to a fairy tale that matters to them and reflect on how the tale teaches a life skill that they struggle with or have recently learned. Finally, this project teaches empathy and community-building by asking students to share their profiles with the class and respond to each other's projects in writing with compassion and humor.

EDUC2220-LessonPlan-MarlaineBrowning by Anonymous tOLHHCbnR2 on Scribd

Supplemental Materials

My 3-part "Finding Your Fairytale: My So-Called Fairytale Life" project prompts: 

Finding Your Fairytale, Part 1: Website Analysis
Finding Your Fairytale, Part 2: Create a Profile for My So-Called Fairytale Life
Finding Your Fairytale, Part 3: Share & Respond to Classmate's Profiles

My pre-assessment review game and quiz:
KAHOOT! REVIEW GAME: "Once Upon a Time: Fairytale History"
QUIZ: "Once Upon a Time: Fairytale History"

One sample journal prompt from SeeSaw:
SEESAW JOURNAL ENTRY: "Pixar's Boundin' & Fairytales"

I'm including the 3-part project prompts because these are the core of the lesson. I was originally inspired to design this lesson based on the incredible work done by Angie Kupper to create the site Finding Your Fairytale. The purpose of this site is for adults to see themselves in story, and to create a map for themselves to overcome a particular life challenge. The site has garnered lots of well-deserved attention and I hope others continue to peruse its magical pages. For me, I wanted to bring a project like this to kids, and make it something that connects mental health, story, and community-building.

My Kahoot! game is a fun way to review fairy tale history using one of my favorite ed tech apps. It's a great way to engage kids in teams using technology. But it's also just a wonderful old-fashioned way to teach them content! Sure, students come for the game element, but they stay for the learning. Or rather, the learning stays with them. I follow the game with an online quiz using Google Forms which automatically curates and grades this low-stakes assessment. Sure, I will review the answers for partial credit or misspellings, but it's also nice to give students feedback and not grade All The Things when my time can be better spent in other ways.

Finally, I recently discovered SeeSaw in an Adolescent Literature class. It's a good resource for journal entries and activities. Student responses can be shared with the class on a "whiteboard" space, or kept private so only the teacher sees it. The mechanics are a little clunky, but it works for now and I'm willing to use it until I find another product I prefer.

Overall, this lesson is a personal project combining many of my loves -- fairy tales, writing, empowering student voices, creativity, and building self-efficacy. I hope you enjoy!