District/School Administration PK-16 Program Support Educational Technology
Technology Toolkit

The Literary Pyramid
Mohawk Trail Regional School District

Instructional objective: Students will write stories based on the elements of the Literary Pyramid and then create movies using the stories, bendable figures, and technology.

Evaluation: The teacher evaluated the students' understanding of the Literary Pyramid, their ability to work cooperatively, and their final products. The teacher had the students label and define elements of the Literary Pyramid, and she used observation and a rubric to evaluate cooperative learning. The teacher also used rubrics to assess the final video projects.

Student improvement: The use of technology greatly enhanced this English Language Arts unit. It enhanced students' knowledge of the Literary Pyramid, literary terms, and computers. The unit generated enthusiasm and motivation and therefore was satisfying for both students and teacher. Students were motivated to create stories based on the Literary Pyramid. Struggling students worked productively and efficiently when they and others in their cooperative groups shared computers. Students demonstrated imagination and creativity when they translated their word-processed stories into storyboards and then into video form. Students learned to do digital video editing. For the three-week duration of the project, the students were highly engaged. The teacher observed that, almost universally, students accomplished thorough and high quality work.

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