OLPC UK/Pilots/London2009/Proposal/Lesson Plan

Lesson Plans

These are to be developed in conjunction with pilot and deployment schools. However, as a start to the process we have assembled some basic lessons from other OLPC deployments to form a core for teachers to work from.

A sample below; currently being formulated into full pilot lesson plan with associated assesment.

Lessons

Diary

Subjects and Skills Collaboration - the children "buddy up" with each pair being an older and a younger child, and then the buddies critique each other's work before presentation to the class. This introduces new vocabulary, spellchecking, and peer support. Literacy - by documenting their activities the children are continually using and expanding their vocabulary and spelling. Media skills - children should be encouraged to use photos, video, & audio as part of their diaries. Goals and Objectives This is very simple: a weekly diary of the child’s activities and projects, to be presented to the class and done in collaboration with a "buddy". Teachers can also use the content for yearly review and reports to parents.

Resources Just the XOs and some imagination.

Activity Simply ask the children to start keeping a weekly diary using the Write activity, ensuring they save the entries under something appropriate like "Diary - Sept 28th 2009 so they can easily search for and find their diary entries from the Journal. Instruct the children on adding photos, changing the text, and other basic Write functionality if they don't already know. Get the children to present their diary entries every week in the classroom. If you choose to introduce the buddy system, allow children time in class to buddy-up and write their entries so they get the positive feedback from their peers and class time to ask any questions of the educator.

Extension Activity 1 Children could be encouraged to do an end of year report in groups or 4 or so that could be presented to the parents and teachers. This would encourage pride in their activities and provide some tangible reporting back to the parents and teachers.

Spelling Lists Subjects and Skills Literacy - spelling, vocabulary, new language skills.

Goals and Objectives Every lesson the child covers words from a list of words defined by the teacher, and also words that the child has noted down throughout the day/week that they didn't know. The teacher can connect to the children's Write activity in which they are doing their spelling lists and help with corrections real time.

Resources XOs.

Activity First ask the children to keep a running list of words they hear that they don't understand. It may be from class activities, from their parents, radio/TV/Movies and any other life experiences. Write a list of appropriate spelling words for your class to complete every week. Provide classtime for the children to go through the set words, and then through their own spelling words. Ask the children to work in groups of two and to share their work "with the neighbourhood" and you as the teacher can join each group's Write activity and monitor their progress. Alternatively you could have all the children in the same shared Write activity working on different sections. Ensure the children know to save their work locally with an appropriate name for later review.

Making Reports

Subjects and Skills This activity can be used for a variety of subjects: history, science, language studies, any topic that requires a report to be written at some point. Below is a series of how to make a report using the XO.

Goals and Objectives The goal of this activity is to make a useful report that the student can present, share, collaborate on, and that the teacher can mark easily.

Resources XO laptops per child and the teacher The Write activity, Record activity

Activity Define a topic for the children to write a report on E.g. - "Rainforests", "Going to the beach", "What is condensation?” etc Explain to the children that you will go through the process of creating one report together in the classroom, and that they will then need to create their own activities Set some guidelines for the report you want. E.g. - Ask the children to ensure they include at least one photo, to include particular words you are trying to get them to integrate into their vocabulary, to make the report at least 100 words, or whatever is appropriate Ask the children to open the Write activity and to type a few sentences. Ask the children to go to the Desktop and open the Record activity. Get them to take a photo, then hold their mouse pointer over the photo in the bottom left corner and then "copy to clipboard". For their reports they could use the Record activity they could take photos out in the field for their report. Of the beach, or trees, or family, or whatever suits their report. Ask the children to open the Frame (the top right keyboard button) and then click on the already open Write activity to go back to what they wrote already. If the Frame is still open you'll see the photo in the clipboard of the Frame (left hand side of the Frame). They can then drag and drop the photo into the Write activity. Then close the Frame again (the top right keyboard button). There they can resize the photo if they wish. If students have access to the Internet, they can do research for their report using the Internet, and copy and paste photos from the Internet (although students should be educated about getting photos with appropriate licences like Creative Commons) If all the children share their activities with the neighbourhood (from the Activity tab) then you as the teacher can join their activities to do spell checks, and help with grammar. To save the report simply go to the "Activity" Tab (top left of the screen), then in the white bar in the top get them to give the report a suitable name like "Report on rainforests" and then click on the Keep icon (top right of the screen). Students can reopen their report from their Journals.

Extension Activity with Class Collaboration Get the children into groups of 2 or 3 Ask them to get one child from each group to start the Write activity, and invite the other two children to their activity (once the activity is started, the first child can hold their mouse over their team mates and invite to the Write activity) Follow the rest of the instructions above

Copying Report to Computer for Printing The XOs aren't really set up to print, so if you want to print, then you'll need to: 1. Put a USB stick into the XO, and then from the Journal you can drag and drop the report to the USB key 1. On a computer with printing functionality, simply copy the report from the USB key 1. If you have OpenOffice installed (which is free) then OpenOffice will by default be able to open the Report. If you only have Window Office, you'll need to install an ODF Converter plugin to read the document format used by the Write Activity.

Typing and Mouse Skills

Subjects and Skills This activity is for developing typing skills for young children.

Goals and Objectives To develop better typing skills, and help improve basic literacy. Students can also engage in competitions for the best times and fastest typing if appropriate.

Resources An XO with the Gcompris activity loaded. This is not one of the core applications for the XO. Some young children (5-7) find the touch pad quite hard to get used to. It can take some getting used to. If required and possible, you can purchase a small children size USB mouse which will help the younger children gain the fine motor skills.

Activity Start the Gcompris activity Click on the "Discover the computer" activity Click on the Keyboard Use the "Simple Letters" activity to build up basic skills Falling words is a good step up once children become comfortable with "Simple letters" To move to Mouse activities, you can click on the "Discover the computer" activity icon up the top of the application, and then click on the Mouse The Fish mouse activity is an excellent way to help young children in particular use the mouse The rest of the mouse activities are all very useful Ask the children to report their scores at the end of the class, and teachers can then use the scores for some basic markers of improvements in these skills

Cartoon Builder SOW: Overview

Cartoon Builder lets you explore the cartoon-making process called “cell-animation” which uses a sequence of pictures with small differences to create the illusion of movement. You can create your own cartoon by placing different pictures of a cartoon character inside the squares (“cells”) of a filmstrip, adding different backgrounds and sound effects, and playing the pictures back in order like a little movie. You can save your cartoon on the XO laptop, and share it with friends and family. Cartoon Builder helps you explore how cartoons are created, and learn how to put creative ideas into action. Creating a story with pictures can also help you to express ideas that you may not yet have words for. In the process of creating and sharing your cartoons, you will also learn how to use many XO activities, including Paint, Camera, and Microphone. Throughout the school year, the Cartoon Builder can be integrated into different subject areas (example: creative writing, art and drama). You can make Cartoon Builder images that relate to a subject the class is studying, and share them with peers. Skills:

	Practise working with a partner 
	Learn to translate ideas into artistic images 
	Learn how to act out stories 
	Learn to articulate creative ideas to peers 
	Learn from classmates 
	Learn how to use specific programs of the XO Laptop 
	Learn how to use the Paint Program 
	Learn to express ideas you are studying through an original project 
	Learn the sequence or order of a story 
	Learn about cell animation 

Lesson Plan 1: Explore Animation with Cartoon Builder Do you like cartoons? Who are some of your favourite cartoon characters? A cartoon is made from a series of drawing with small differences that, when viewed quickly, seem to move. This movement is called animation. Try the Cartoon Builder to learn more about how animation works. 1. Open the MaMaMedia Activity Centre from the XO Home screen. 2. Open the Cartoon Builder from the MaMaMedia Activity Centre. 3. A space alien will appear in the activity. You can play with this character, or choose a different one using the Character chooser on the right. Click on the arrows to see more characters. 4. After you choose a character, decide which 6 movements you would like your character to make. 5. Click on the first box in the filmstrip at the top of the screen, and then click on an image in the pose gallery on the left. The image you chose will appear in the first box. Repeat this process for all six boxes. 6. Press the Play arrow under the big picture to make your cartoon go. 7. Explore the backgrounds and sounds on the right of the screen. Click on the arrows to see more backgrounds and hear different sounds. 8. Save your animation when you are happy with it. Click the “Save” (computer disc) button in the top right corner of the screen. Give it a name you will remember, like “Cartoon1” and click “Save.” 9. To find “Cartoon1” later, click on the “Open” (folder) button in the top right corner (next to “Save”). Click “Cartoon1” on the list that appears to load your animation in the Cartoon Builder. 10. Share your cartoons with classmates, and look at the cartoons they made. Talk about making the cartoons. What was hard? What was fun? What did you learn? 11. Record the ideas your class had using the “Write” activity on your XO. If you have poster paper, you can create a set of ‘Cartoon Making tips’ to put up on the wall.

Lesson Plan 2: Make a Spinning Thaumatrope

Animation is an illusion that happens when you look at two or more pictures and they seem to blend into one moving image. A thaumatrope is a piece of paper with two pictures, one on each side. If you have access to paper or note cards, tape and a pencil, a thaumatrope is fun and helpful tool for understanding how pictures appear to become animated.

Materials: 1. Index card (cut in half) 2. Pencil, crayon or marker to draw with 3. Stick to tape cards on (pencil is OK too) 4. Tape, glue or something to stick paper to the pencil or stick.

Instructions: 1. Think of the animation that you want to make. For example, a fish in a bowl or a cat in a tree. 2. Draw one part of the picture on one half of the card (example: fish) and draw the second part of the picture (example: the fish bowl) on the second half. 3. Tape the pencil or stick to the back of one card and then tape the second card to the pencil so that the drawings are back-to-back. 4. Spin the thaumatrope by rolling the pencil between your hands. What do you see?

Lesson Plan 3: Create “Dancing Pictures”

Cartoons are like dancing pictures. When you dance, you move your body through a set of poses. Each pose is a little bit different from the one before it. When you make a cartoon, you draw a set of picture poses where each one is just a little bit different than the one before it. Flipping through all the pictures quickly creates the illusion of movement.

Materials 6 index cards (or one piece of paper cut into 6 pieces) Pencil, crayon or marker

Instructions: 1. Think of a dance (or an exercise or a silly movement) with six poses. 2. Slowly demonstrate the poses of that dance for your class. Then do the dance faster. (If you prefer, you could ask a volunteer from the class to demonstrate the dance.) 3. Invite the whole class to get up and try the dance. Remind them to think about each of the poses as they dance. 4. After a few minutes of dancing, ask everyone sit back down. 5. Now take out a pencil and six index cards. 6. Draw a stick figure doing each pose on separate index cards. 7. Act out each pose to help other students draw. 8. Put your 6 cards into a stack and either staple it or hold it tightly by the upper left corner. 9. You can make the cartoon stick figure “dance”, by holding the book on the stapled edge with you left hand and flipping the lower left corner of the stack with your right thumb. 10. Flipping the images trick your eye! It seems like the stick person dances, but it is an illusion caused by looking at the pictures quickly. 11. Customize your cartoon flipbooks further by colouring them or adding more poses.

Alternative to dancing: Try acting out the movements of a non-human character, like a frog hopping. Perform these movements for your class and have them guess who your character might be.

Lesson Plan 4: Add Your Own Backgrounds to Cartoon Builder

Use the Paint or Camera activity on your XO to make your own original background images for your cartoon.

Make a background picture with Paint: 1. Open the Paint or Camera activity from the Home screen of your XO. 2. With Paint, draw a scene (place where the character can be) such as a school room or a field or the edge of a river. 3. With Camera, take a photo of a place, such as school or your house. 4. Save the picture with a name you will remember like “background1”

Add your background to the Cartoon Builder: 5. From the Home screen of your XO, click on the Mama Media icon. 6. Open the Cartoon Builder activity from the MaMaMedia Activity Centre. 7. Click on the “My Background” button and find your picture called “background1” in the list of files that appears. Click on it and then click the “Open” button. 8. Your “background1” picture will load into the Cartoon Builder 9. Choose a character and place it in your background. Add sound and save it. 10. Show it to your friends and classmates, and tell them how you did it Help others to create their own background pictures.

Lesson Plan 5: Draw and Animate Your Own Character

You can use Paint to make your own original cartoon character in lots of poses. Then you can use the “My Own” functionality in the Cartoon Builder to import the poses and create original cartoons. Learn the steps by creating a simple cartoon face.

First create four face pictures using Paint on your XO: 1. Open the Paint activity from the Home screen of your XO. 2. Use the Paint tools to draw a face with eyes, nose, ears and hair. Do not draw a mouth yet. 3. Click “Save Image” button 4. When the Save window appears, click on the button “New folder” and type “Face” into the folder name field. Click the “Create” button. 5. A new folder called “Face” will appear in the list of places where you can save your picture. Double click on “Face” to open it. 6. Save the picture here with the name “Face1” and click OK. 7. Now draw a frowning mouth on the face and save it as “Face 2” 8. Erase the frown and draw a straight line mouth. Save it as “Face 3” 9. Erase the straight line mouth and draw a smile. Save it as “Face 4”

Now put your pictures into the Cartoon Builder and animate the face: 10. From the Home screen of your XO, click on the MaMaMedia icon. 11. Open the Cartoon Builder from the MaMaMedia Activity Centre. 12. Click the “My Character” button, find the “Face” folder and open it. 13. The three facial images you created will appear in the poses list on the left side of your screen. 14. Place them in box 1, 2, and 3 in the slides on top of your screen, and then press Play to see the face animate. 15. Save this cartoon and share it with your class. 16. Discuss what you were able to do with your images. Did you learn anything new about animation? 17. Open the “Write” activity on your XO and write down the ideas from your discussion.

NOTE: Drawings you make with Paint only have one layer, so your character will completely cover the backgrounds offered in Cartoon Builder. Try drawing a background around your character in Paint.