Instructional Goals:

1.  Students will become experts on a significant American author.

2.  Students will be able to find reliable information through print and online resources.

3.  Students will be able to organize and present information through the use of PowerPoint.

Learning Objectives:

1.  Students will present a minimum of five researched facts about the personal and professional life of their chosen author in their presentation to class.

2.  Students will perform and online search to retrieve three credible resources on their chosen author as well as two print resources from the library’s holdings.

3.  Students will demonstrate a basic knowledge of PowerPoint as a presentation medium, organizing their research into three main topics:  author’s personal background, professional works, and significance in American literary history.

4.  Students will produce a bibliography of sources used to be provided at the end of their class presentation.

Motivational Goals:

1.  Generate students’ interest in the lives and works of various American authors.

2.  Promote students’ confidence in their research ability through the combined use of print and online resources.

3.  Build students’ confidence in the use of PowerPoint as an information presentation medium.

Introduction:

Session I

1.  Walk in at beginning of class dressed like Mark Twain.  Select three to four famous/humorous quotes from www.twainquotes.com to recite for the class.  Explain to students who Mark Twain is and why his works are significant to American literary history.

2.  Explain to students that in coordination with material they are learning in class during their unit on American Literature, we will be researching various American authors in the library and presenting our research through the use of PowerPoint.

3.  Provide students with an advance organizer in the form of a handout which itemizes the elements they will be required to include in their presentations, such as a title page, bulleted lists, an image of their author, a resources page, etc.

4.  Present a completed PowerPoint on Mark Twain as an example.  The presentation will include all minimum required elements and will serve as an example template for students as to how their information should be organized and presented to the class by the end of the lesson.  Make the template available to students throughout the lesson as a ready reference.

5.  As part of the Mark Twain example presentation, pose two to three questions about the author to the class.  Questions must be thought-provoking and must explore the author’s significance to American literary history.  Use these questions to lead a brief discussion on Mark Twain.  Students will be required to conduct a similar Q&A session at the end of their author presentations.

6.  Provide students with a list of American authors that they will be allowed to choose from during the next class.  Have students think about and decide on two or more authors from the list that they would be interested in researching for this lesson.

Body:

Session II

1.  Students will be working in pairs to complete this lesson.  Using the American author list, ask students to raise their hand when their author of interest in called.  Based upon hands raised, assign two students to each author (20 students in 10 pairs utilizes 10 authors from the list).  If a student does not receive their first choice they are still likely to claim their second choice author.  This will give students a level of control and will give the teacher-librarian some control over group pairings.

2.  Provide students with a basic tutorial on the use of PowerPoint.  Review the itemized handout that was provided in the previous lesson.  Show students how to complete each requirement on the list by having them work with their partner to build their own PowerPoint example presentation as they follow along with my instruction.  Students may choose to create their example PowerPoint by using themselves as a subject.  They will create a title page, a bulleted list of personal interests or hobbies (one for each student in the pair), and they will be shown how to capture images and paste them to their presentation.  Students will also learn to create folders in which to save their work.  Periodically move around the room to check on progress and answer any individual questions.  Once the tutorial is complete, students will have two separate examples to refer to while creating their author presentation (their own example and my Mark Twain example).

3.  For the next class, let students know they will be starting their research so that they may begin to think about any research strategies they will use.

Session III

1.  Provide a brief review of the previous class, specifically addressing any questions regarding requirements or the PowerPoint tutorial.

2.  Students will begin their research during this class period.  Explain that they will need to find information on their author’s personal life, professional accomplishments, and a list of at least three of their most significant works.  Students must use at least three online and two print resources in their research.  Remind them to keep a list of the resources they use as they will be required to provide this list at the end of their presentation.

3.  Before beginning independent research, conduct a brainstorming session with the class on evaluation criteria of resources.  Since students have prior knowledge on this topic, ask them to list strategies they use to determine the credibility of a resource (credibility of the author and/or publisher, currency of the information and how often it is updated, corroboration of information through other credible resources, etc.)  Make this list available to students throughout the lesson.

4.  The remainder of the class period will be devoted to independent research.  Remain available to answer questions and provide assistance to students when needed.

5.  For the next class, let students know that they will be expected to complete their research and begin working on their PowerPoint presentation.

Session IV

1.  Review the resource evaluation criteria list that students brainstormed during the last class.  Encourage any questions students may have regarding their initial research.  Students will be given the remainder of the class period to continue and complete their research and should begin development of their PowerPoint presentations.

2.  Walk around and assess students’ progress, both on their research and as they begin developing their presentations.  Provide encouragement and feedback which will help to build students’ confidence as they work through the various tasks.

3.  Near the end of the period, reconvene the class and ask each group to report on the progress they have made towards their research and presentation development.  This will not only give the teacher-librarian an idea of the progress of each group, but will also allow students to gage their progress in relation to that of the other groups.  This type of reflection will help students determine what they will need to accomplish by the end of the next class.

4.  For the next class, encourage students to continue to think of ways in which they will deliver the information in their presentation.  Also ask students to begin thinking of questions they would like to ask their classmates regarding the information they will be presenting on their author.

Session V

1.  Review with students what requirements need to be completed by the end of class.  By this point in the lesson, students will have already completed their research and begun developing their PowerPoint presentations.  All groups will need to finalize their PowerPoint presentations and practice the delivery of their presentations in preparation for lesson completion.  Be available at all times to provide assistance, feedback, and to answer questions.

2.  Encourage all groups to conduct a brief run-through of their presentation with the instructor.  This will allow the instructor to provide any final feedback, remind students of anything they have forgotten to include, and will give each group a chance to practice their delivery in a non-threatening manner prior to their delivery to the class.

3.  Remind students of the Mark Twain presentation given during the first class and the brief discussion that was held afterward regarding the author’s significance in American literary history.  Students will be asked to conduct a brief Q&A session with the class about their author at the end of their PowerPoint presentation.

4.  The next class will be the final one for this lesson.  Students will deliver their PowerPoint presentations to the class and lead a Q&A session on their author.  Encourage students to continue practicing their delivery and to continue thinking of ways to engage the class in a discussion on their author.

Conclusion:

Session VI

Day of class presentations on My Great American Author!

1.  Greet students with excitement, reminding them that it is “presentation day.”  Be sure to stress to the class that the students in each group are the “subject-matter experts” on their author.  This will help give presenters a feeling of confidence and control over the information they will be presenting.

2.  Give students the task of writing down any comments or questions they have while watching other students’ presentations so that they can better participate in discussions and pose questions of their own to the presenters.

3.  Ask groups to volunteer for the order in which they would like to present.  Have the computer and projector ready for the first presentation. 

4.  As students deliver their presentations and conduct the Q&A sessions afterward, act only as a mediator for discussions, providing additional guidance where needed and keeping students “on track.” 

5.  Once all presentations have been given, ask students to reflect on their impressions of the overall lesson.  What did they find most interesting about the lesson and/or their author?  What were the most useful skills they learned?  What problems did they run into along the way and what did they do to resolve those problems?  Looking back, what would they have done differently in their research, their presentations, or their leadership of the Q&A discussion session?  Use this as a debriefing tool for the summation of the lesson.