Teaching A Christmas Carol through technology and performance-based learning

Integrating Technology Into the Classroom

Integrating Technology and Multimedia into the Classroom

Dickens of a Task!"

According to the lesson plan website ReadWriteThink (2006), A Christmas Carol by the 19th century British author Charles Dickens is an ideal, accessible literary vehicle to present the values and history as well as the literature of the Victorian era to students between the grades of 6-8. This technologically integrative lesson plan will seek to approach this tale, a popular recycled myth around Christmas time, to help students both understand the era that produced it as well as to apply its philosophical values to their own lives in a critical fashion.

Description of the Dickens project:

The class will first listen to sections of Dickens' original tale A Christmas Carol, read aloud by the teacher. The teacher will then assign different chapters to different sections of the class (past, present, and future). The three different class sections will summarize the sections, dramatizing the sections they read to the other part of the class. They will be required to use one aspect of technology to make this presentation, either using music to dramatize the piece, or research about how people dressed from the Internet. They will be required to present a reference for their research.

Then, the class will collectively use the Internet to research Dickens and a variety of movie and cartoon versions of the tale. The class will democratically 'vote' as to which of these versions will be viewed collectively one afternoon, and discuss what was left out and what was added from the original to this new cinematic or cartoon version of "A Christmas Carol." Finally, the class will compose a contemporary play of the Scrooge tale, to be performed and videotaped. The contemporary play may be extemporaneous, and simply arise from a summary composed by the class or teacher. Or the students, depending on the classes' collective literary ability, may write the play in a more structured form. Everyone will view the video, and the class will discuss how their version's values are similar or different to the original version.

Goals: Applying literature to the issues of contemporary life

Features: Trying to encourage students to better understand a perhaps over-familiar story that they may never have read in the original version, or thought about on a critical, moral level in a contemporary context.

Results/findings: Who would be a 'Scrooge' type of personality today? A Bob Crachit? A Tiny Tim? Does A Christmas Carol only apply to Christians, or to Christmas time? These are accessible questions for middle school children, taking the specific (a story) and applying them to more general concepts.

Expected long-term outcomes: Fostering a love of literature, using auditory, kinesthetic, and performance-based techniques to teach a class how to understand a story in a meaningful yet critical fashion.

A concise explanation/illustration of how this project relates to key educational theory and pedagogical concepts: Performance is an ideal way to use all of Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner's theories of multiple intelligence -- from reading, to listening, to music, to kinesthetic, spatial, and other abilities not used in classes devoted to literature or history. This hands-on, team-based approach also encourages students to think critically about their own world.

Your insights and reflections of the experience: While a challenging lesson plan, this is also fun, and an ideal 'December project' when students might otherwise be diverted to thinking about plans for the holidays rather than school.

DID STEP 1- KNOW THE LEARNER

What are the personal demographics (ethnicity, socio-economic level, cultural background) that might impact learning?

Students not from a Christian background might be initially resistant to the subject matter. However, the universality of the value of charity, and critical reflection upon one's past should be stressed, and the notion of the 'holiday season' rather than the Christian season is important to emphasize, when applying the lessons to today.

What can learning be made active?

All learning should be active -- even the initial reading requires the students to meet in groups and present their section to the other students.

How should students be grouped for positive interaction?

Students should first be grouped in varying degrees of academic strength -- some who are strong verbally, others who are confident, others who are shy, to avoid an imbalance, and to allow different intelligences to play off of one another. Then, when the initial groups come together and are reintegrated to design a full-length contemporary version, students can still use their different intelligences in terms of designing the music, the sets, and help writing a basic script.

STEP 4 - IDENTIFY TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES

What pre-organizers are you planning?

Reading A Christmas Carol, prelimary research on Dickens.

What prior knowledge do you need to connect to as a prerequisite for the lesson? Knowledge of performance-based activities, using sound technology, videotaping the presentation.

How will you introduce the new information?

Before every section of the lesson students will be briefed on how to use the Internet more effectively for research, and students responsible for the technical aspects of the production, like integrating music or set design will receive ongoing support.

What media, materials, or technologies will support the content?

Literature, Internet sources, video-based technology, and sound technology are all necessary to incorporate into the lesson.

What teaching and learning strategies will support active learning?

The teaching must actively respond to the student's ideas and response to the story, as well as direct them to appropriate sources, especially during the initial historical research.

How will you reinforce the new knowledge?

Each section of the lesson has a feedback session -- the short performance of the original tale, the report on the intial research, the discussion of the new version, as well as the final performance.

What practice will be necessary to ensure mastery of the content?

Students must find a contemporary context and figure to discuss charity, and the nature of reform.

How will you perform a culminating review?

When receiving a final grade, the teacher will meet with the student one-on-one to discuss his or her contribution and effort.

STEP 5 - IDENTIFY AND SELECT SUPPORT TECHNOLOGIES

What technologies and related materials are needed for this unit?

Internet, video recording, DVD player.

Which technologies are required for each strategy?

The Internet research is required for the first component, and the more hands-on video-based technology for the second component. In creating the performances, students will be required to use technologically derived research, and ideally use technology to create a more effective presentation, incorporating sound effects, music, and other hands-on ways to make their performances come alive.

STEP 6 - EVALUATE AND REVISE THE DESIGN

How will you know the design is effective?

Do students seem critically engaged in the discussion? Are they able to work creatively in teams? Do they offer new insight after conducting research?

What assessment instruments are needed to measure effectiveness?

Supervision in the classroom, even during team-based activities, as well as more conventional grading methods. Using "Stage One: Rubric for Group Invesigative Roles" can be helpful here, a grading rubric that stresses the ability of students to present information aloud and on paper to with sources correctly cited, with understanding, etc. During the performance, students should be assessed not simply on acting ability, but as denoted in "Stage Three: Rubric for Peformance," that they can understand and morally evaluate what is going on, such as clearly explaining several ways in which a character 'saw' things differently than other characters. This may require teachers to meet with students one-on-one, before giving a final grade, so as to discuss what students learned from the project.

What is the revision process once you have the results from your evaluation?

Students can fill out a questionaire, reporting and assessing their contribution to the experience to allow the teacher to assimilate new information into the lesson plan next year.