Students Take the Helm

When my parents think of learning, they think of acquiring information from an expert, but what my lesson is aiming for is a type of learning that taps into students' previous knowledge, allowing them to build on what they know and tap into the strengths of their peers (including their teacher). My parents were given information, but I will ask students to build and construct knowledge. 

The secondary English Language Arts lesson I have written is an attempt to give students a chance to become the expert peer in the classroom by presenting information that they have researched, synthesized, and expanded upon the topic of their choice within the perimeters of the class. 

Students will be showing their competency in communicating ideas using technology. Students are creating a PowerPoint that makes the information (that they have learned about their topic) accessible to their peers. Students will be pooling their web-gained knowledge to construct a context for the novel that we will then begin to read as a class.