Spreadsheet/Database Lesson Ideas
Part 1
Spreadsheets and databases have many uses in education, even in an English Language Arts classroom. As a teacher, I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my 900+ book classroom library. I have columns for the title, the author, the format (hardback or paperback) and a section for student sign-out. Because I do not want students to edit my spreadsheet, I print out the, currently, 21 page list every time I add new books. It is easy to add new books to the list. I simply add them below the last entry and then have Excel sort the author column alphabetically. Another use I have for spreadsheets is keeping track of spelling words each student has missed. When I grade spelling tests, I add the words a student missed to their column. This helps me keep track of whether they are using appropriate words on their personal spelling tests, which they take every 8 weeks.
I have recently begun using Google Forms to conduct surveys. One benefit of Forms is that it automatically creates a spreadsheet with the results of the survey, and it creates an analytics page that summarizes the results with charts and graphs. Seeing the ease with which a spreadsheet collates information, I wish I had used it two years ago when my students were writing proposals (letters to their senators about smoking laws, letters to the FDA about "pink slime," and letters to their parents about bedtimes and babysitting, etc.). We created a survey which covered all of the students' topics and asked all of the students at the school to complete the survey in their English classes. It took us more than 3 weeks of sorting papers and making tally marks to collate the data. The few students who used charts or graphs had to create their own. If we had used a spreadsheet to collate the data, the students could have use the spreadsheet program to create graphs and charts for them.
Spreadsheets and databases have many uses in education, even in an English Language Arts classroom. As a teacher, I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my 900+ book classroom library. I have columns for the title, the author, the format (hardback or paperback) and a section for student sign-out. Because I do not want students to edit my spreadsheet, I print out the, currently, 21 page list every time I add new books. It is easy to add new books to the list. I simply add them below the last entry and then have Excel sort the author column alphabetically. Another use I have for spreadsheets is keeping track of spelling words each student has missed. When I grade spelling tests, I add the words a student missed to their column. This helps me keep track of whether they are using appropriate words on their personal spelling tests, which they take every 8 weeks.
I have recently begun using Google Forms to conduct surveys. One benefit of Forms is that it automatically creates a spreadsheet with the results of the survey, and it creates an analytics page that summarizes the results with charts and graphs. Seeing the ease with which a spreadsheet collates information, I wish I had used it two years ago when my students were writing proposals (letters to their senators about smoking laws, letters to the FDA about "pink slime," and letters to their parents about bedtimes and babysitting, etc.). We created a survey which covered all of the students' topics and asked all of the students at the school to complete the survey in their English classes. It took us more than 3 weeks of sorting papers and making tally marks to collate the data. The few students who used charts or graphs had to create their own. If we had used a spreadsheet to collate the data, the students could have use the spreadsheet program to create graphs and charts for them.
One example, then, of using spreadsheets in an ELA classroom is creating charts, graphs, or pictograms to be used in informative or persuasive writing. Students could conduct a survey, enter the data in a spreadsheet program, and create a graph or pictogram (picture graph) to illustrate the data in their proposals or essays. The accompanying directions come from Kim Overstreet at Fayette County Public Schools.
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Another use for spreadsheets in an ELA classroom is creating timelines. Students can create timelines that allow them to see how political, economic, and social events in the background of a novel align. This idea comes from Internet4Classrooms.
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One creative use for spreadsheets is to have students write a branching, or "choose your own adventure," story. Students would create parts of the story on different sheets in the spreadsheet program. They would include 2 choices at the bottom of each sheet that lead to different events or endings to the story. Students would use hyperlinks to connect these choices to the appropriate sheet. This idea also comes from Internet4Classrooms. The attached xls story is from their website.
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Spreadsheets can be a fun way for students to review the parts of speech. Most 7th graders enjoy MadLibs and can create their own MadLib templates, or use teacher created templates, to write funny stories. This idea from Internet4Classrooms also uses hyperlinks. The students fill in blank cells in Sheet one. Each blank cell corresponds to a blank cell in the story on sheet 2. When students are finished filling in the blanks, they click on an arrow that contains a hyperlink which takes them to sheet 2.
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Part 2 - Sample Spreadsheet Lesson Framework
Standard: California CCSS for Reading Literature grade 7 #3 - Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
Goal: Students will analyze how setting details affect the mood of The Giver by Lois Lowry.
Data: Students will enter setting details they encounter as they read The Giver. They will write a brief analysis of how the setting detail affected the mood.
See the sample worksheet below:
Standard: California CCSS for Reading Literature grade 7 #3 - Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
Goal: Students will analyze how setting details affect the mood of The Giver by Lois Lowry.
Data: Students will enter setting details they encounter as they read The Giver. They will write a brief analysis of how the setting detail affected the mood.
See the sample worksheet below:
Kjersti Withers ©2015