Standards and Key Concepts

Content Standards:
Common Core State ELA Standards
Writing Standards:
W-2: Write informative/ explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and
information clearly
W-4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are
clear to task, purpose, and audience
W-5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing
as needed by planning, revising, and editing
W-6: With guidance and support from adults use technology to produce and publish
writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others. (digital presentations)
W-8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather information from print and
digital sources, take notes, and organize information and evidence into categories (ePals,
2014).

National Education Technology Standard for Students NETS (S):
ISTE Standards
1. Creativity and innovation
b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
2. Communication and collaboration
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of
digital environments and media.
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of
media and formats.
c. Develop cultural understandings and global awareness by engaging with learners of
other cultures
5) Digital citizenship
a. Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology
b. Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration,
learning, and productivity.
c. Demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning
d. Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship

This project ties into the theme of Race
and Ethnicity: Human Commonality and
Diversity, by asking students to
compare/contrast their educational
experiences and the world around them.
Through this activity, students will be able
to see commonalities surrounding their
worlds and learn to respect the differences
that make each culture unique. Thus
beginning the breakdown of stereotypes,
prejudices, and biases. Once the students
see that innately we are all the same just
from different places, this will open up the
opportunity for further collaboration, the
shattering of stereotypes, and embark
upon a celebration of diversity.

Pre-Lesson Steps: What steps are necessary to connect with another classroom and teacher
before introducing the lessons to your students?
According to the ePals project, I must first email the host teacher. After, I will await a response
from the teacher to make sure that we are on the same page as far as the timeline and project
outcome. I would like to learn a little about the student body that we will be working with and
share information about our student body as well. I would also like to discuss implementation,
outcomes, and big ideas that we would like to cover for this project. This would be the time to
work out all the kinks, especially the time zone issue since Russia is 8 hours ahead of us.
Therefore, when we are in school, 7:30 - 2:50 they are leaving school. All of these details would
have to be addressed before we could begin this project.

Technology Use: How will you integrate technology into this unit to assist in the student
learning?
Students will use the ePals site for correspondence. No emails may be sent from
personal email accounts. I will enlist the parents assistance in monitoring their childrens
personal email accounts. Thus a parent meeting on the importance of internet safety will
be needed.
Students will also be allowed to use digital cameras, iPods, iPads, mobile devices, etc. to
photograph images outside their classroom window.
Students can also choose to draw the images, thus needing to scan and upload them to the
site.
Students can use sites such as www.powtoons.com to create animations of their work.
Global Theme:
8. Race and Ethnicity: Human
Commonality and Diversity.
Most of the sources consulted feel this topic
should be studied by all students, but few
provide details. In most cases, "reducing
prejudice," "avoiding stereotypes," or
"eliminating discrimination" are listed as the
goal for such studies. Others stressed
"celebrating diversity" or "enhancing students'
self-image/concept" as the primary goal.
(Collins, Czarra, & Smith, 2000)
Students will create a BLOG in order to share their images and writing with the students
in the other classroom.
Essential Question (s): What are the key questions you want your students to be able to answer
successfully as a measure of whether the unit was effective or not?
How has the use of digital tools improved opportunities for collaboration and
communication?
How do visual images help us to identify and compare similarities and
differences?
What is unique about the view that could help others living in different parts of
the world understand something about the landscape, culture, or other aspects of
where you live? (ePals, 2014)