Interactive+Whiteboard+Lesson

=IWB Lesson=

When planning for a unit or a lesson, it is important to try and engage as many students as possible. The students in the class are growing up in a very technical age, with it having some form of influence over most aspects of life. Often it was the case that schools we're trying to keep technology out of the classroom, banning mobile phones, iPods etc. As students are often engaged with technology outside of school, schools have recently been moving to embrace it, and try incorporate it into as many aspects of schooling as possible, with most classrooms having access to an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB). With this in mind as a classroom teacher, finding creative ways to incorporate technology into lessons to engage as many students as possible is important, which is the reason behind this interactive lesson, as well as the whole unit we have just completed.

__ICT lesson Plan__
Our unit on bush fires, with the focus being on Black Saturday, is a great lesson to use interactive technology to enhance its engaging appeal to students. With access to footage on the internet, making fire escape plans, safety videos and information on websites provided by the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE).


 * Question:** The use of this polling question at the beginning of the lesson is used to gain insight into what the students are aware of, and provides a baseline of knowledge to compare future assessments to. It is also a great lead into the rest of the lesson.


 * Video:** Students sit down to watch a video about the ‘Think. Prepare. Act’ bushfire resource aimed at helping people plan and prepare during the fire season, as well as house fires for the whole year.


 * Take it or Leave it:** This activity involves students having to make decisions about items that they would take or leave if a bush fire threatened their home. Students select the pictured items on the board and drag them to the appropriate side of the board.


 * Fire escape plans:** This is an important stage in the lesson as it is a way for the students to put into plan their knowledge of fire safety by identifying the safest route out of a house that is on fire. Students have the opportunity to place the ‘fire’ in any part of the house to provide multiple opportunities for students to discuss and plan fire escapes.


 * Word find:** This is a quick class activity where students identify and highlight the featured words in the word find when they locate them. The students can have a discussion prompted by the teacher about the meaning of certain words in relation to bush fires.