Ashley Watkins

http://ashleyrwatkins.weebly.com
EDU-225
1/24/16

Raft Task Card

This RAFT Card is designed for _4th___ grade level.
ROLE (student)
Everything that is
Row 1

AUDIENCE
Parents, friends,

FORMAT
An informative

TOPIC
Have you ever

family

podcast report

thought of how

alive needs water to

hard it would be to

survive

survive if we had

Animals plants and

Parents, friends

An informational

no water?
You learn about

and family

story

everything that

people

needs water to

Row 2

survive and tell

your friends and
family why water

Row 3

Everyone around
Clean air and water

you

A speech

is so important.
You are telling the
community and
everyone around
you why it is so
important to make
sure the air and
the water stays
clean because
everything needs

clean air and water

to survive.

RAFT Row 1
Objective: Students will be able to explain how the water cycle works and why it is so important
to have water to survive.
AZ STATE STANDARD Grade 4: Concept Three: Changes in the Earth and Sky
Students will be able to identify the sources of water within an environment
ISTE STANDARD 1. Creativity & Innovation

Student Role: Everything that is alive needs water to survive.

Audience:

Parents, friends, family

Format:

An informative podcast report

Topic: Have you ever thought of how hard it would be to survive if we had no water?

Directions: Visit The Water Cycle: A Guide for Students to learn more about the water cycle.

Resources: Water Cycle Diagram

http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/watercycle/
http://www.watereducation.utah.gov/watercycle/water_cycle.asp
The Hydrological Cycle
http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/GlobalWarming/Tutorials/HydrologicalCycle/
The Water Cycle
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/water-cycle.htm

Assessment: Prepare at least a one minute storyboard or script explaining how important it is for
every living thing to have water.

RAFT Row 2
Objective: Students will be able to explain why plants, animals and people need water and what
will happen to them if they do not have water to live.
AZ STATE STANDARD Grade 4: Concept Three: Changes in the Earth and Sky
Students will be able to identify the sources of water within an environment
ISTE STANDARD Research & Information

Student Role: Animals plants and people

Audience:

Parents, friends and family

Format:

An informational story

Topic: students learn about everything that needs water to survive and tell their friends and
family why water is so important.

Directions: Visit The Water Cycle: A Guide for Students to learn more about the water cycle.
Resources: Water Cycle Diagram
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/watercycle/
http://www.watereducation.utah.gov/watercycle/water_cycle.asp
The Hydrological Cycle
http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/GlobalWarming/Tutorials/HydrologicalCycle/
The Water Cycle
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/water-cycle.htm

Assessment: Prepare at least a one minute storyboard or script explaining how important it is for
every living thing to have water.

RAFT Row 3
Objective: Students will be able to explain why it is so important to keep our air and water clean
to survive.
AZ STATE STANDARD Grade 4: Concept Three: Changes in the Earth and Sky
Students will be able to identify the sources of water within an environment
ISTE STANDARD Communication & Collaboration
Student Role: Clean air and water
Audience:

Everyone around you in your community

Format:

A speech

Topic: Students are telling the community and everyone around you why it is so important to
make sure the air and the water stays clean because everything needs clean air and water to
survive.

Directions: Visit The Water Cycle: A Guide for Students to learn more about the water cycle.

Resources: Water Cycle Diagram

http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/watercycle/
http://www.watereducation.utah.gov/watercycle/water_cycle.asp
The Hydrological Cycle
http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/GlobalWarming/Tutorials/HydrologicalCycle/
The Water Cycle
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/water-cycle.htm

The

Global Hydrological Cycle

http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp58/5802001.html

Assessment: Prepare at least a one minute storyboard or script explaining how important it is for
every living thing to have water.

Section Four: Differentiating Instruction through Technology

(Your audience for this blog is myself or your future administrators. This is a scholarly academic
paper, so it is NOT appropriate to use first person (I, me, my, we, us, our), slang, or contractions.
YOU MUST USE PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES FROM THE LIBRARY.)
(Remember only this essay part of the assignment will be included in the Topic 07 Benchmark)
Introduction (4-6 sentences)
Integrating technology into the comprehensive classroom can be very helpful or useful for
the teachers to use and help them teach the students according to each of their needs. (Liu, L., &
Cheng, M. 2015). There are a lot of students or even adults who learn the best from visual
learning, a lot of younger children like kindergarteners learn from seeing something being done.
(Liu, L., & Cheng, M. 2015). As children get older and move up in school their learning styles
might stay the same or they may not change. (Liu, L., & Cheng, M. 2015). As teachers it is
important to make sure that each and every student gets the tools that they need to be successful
learners, so that they can do their work and understand what it is that they are learning. (Liu, L.,
& Cheng, M. 2015). Using technology has not proven to be better than the traditional way of
learning but for visual learners it is a lot more helpful for them to be able to see how things are
done. (Liu, L., & Cheng, M. 2015). Technology should be student based and student centered
different students might need different forms of technology to be successful.

Technology to Differentiate Instruction (300-400 words)

Computers:
Computers are great for students who focus better researching and looking for
information. (Liu, L., & Cheng, M. 2015)The computers will be kid friendly and easy for the
students to use and find what they are looking for. (Liu, L., & Cheng, M. 2015) Looking up
information on the internet is helpful for a lot of students because pictures also pop up along with
the definition so that the students get a clear understanding about what they are learning about.
(Liu, L., & Cheng, M. 2015). Computers are agreat wayto look up and access information from
all over the world about everything that students need to know. (Liu, L., & Cheng, M. 2015)
ISTE Standards
Number 3: Research and information fluency from the ISTE standards can be connected
to using the computer for researching of topics that students are learning about. Students can
look up information and find the information they need for what they need in their class.
Iste.org/standards
Promethean and smart interactive boards:
Children can work as a group on projects or do hands on learning activities as a group where
they can interact directly with the smart board or promethean board by writing or drawing on the
board or even doing math problems. (Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. 2014). The boards can play
movies and videos and have audio for books as well students can watch movies videos and even

books come to life through smart boards and promethean boards. (Hutchison, A., & Woodward,
L. 2014).This is very effective for students who are hands on learners or visual learners.
(Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. 2014) Students can use smart interactive boards from
kindergarten up to high school. (Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. 2014)

ISTE Standards
Number 4 Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making from ISTE
standards children and students work together to problem solve and come up with information
for decision making and projects as a group figuring out how things work and why things happen
using the smart board or promethean interactive learning boards. Iste.org/standards
Ipad and read along stations:
Using IPads or audible or listening or read along stations is a great way to help students who
learn while reading along to stories or books in the classroom. (Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L.
2014) Reading stations are good for reading and writing practice. Students are able to move
around read as buddies in a system practice their spelling words and learn new words
(Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. 2014). If students can see read and hear a word they will be
able to remember it better. (Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. 2014) IPads are also good practice
for spelling there are word and letter games and apps available on IPads for these purposes.
(Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. 2014)These tools of communication are also very important for
students who are learning English and students who speak different languages. (Hutchison, A., &
Woodward, L. 2014)

ISTE Standards

Number 1 Creativity and Innovation from the ISTE standards students are using
previous knowledge with new existing knowledge through technology to help them read write
and spell words correctly.
Pros and Cons (150-250 words)
Some pros and cons of using technology is the pros are that technology can be student
based and easy for the students to use in the classroom or even at home on their own computers.
(Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. 2014) The internet and technology is fast and easy to use most
games or applications walk you through the steps for use and how to download information.
(Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. 2014)Technology helps the teachers because it allows students
to work in groups or independently so the teachers can work with some students one on one.
(Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. 2014)Teachers can use technology to incorporate right into their
lesson to keep the students attention and keep them interested in the lesson. (Hutchison, A., &
Woodward, L. 2014) Cons are that technology may be used all of the time and there is no teacher
and student connection time or student to student connection time. (Hutchison, A., & Woodward,
L. 2014) It is still good for the teacher and student to connect and communicate and students still
need to work together and communicate with each other. (Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. 2014)
Concluding Paragraph (4-6 sentences)
Technology is a great tool and should be used to help differentiate instruction in the
classroom for all age groups. I feel that technology can be used by all age groups all over the
world. Technology is important for teachers and for students to help us all learn and grow.
Technology makes a lot of work easier and gets things done faster it is a huge part of education
and continues to grow and get better with time.

References
Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. (2014). A Planning Cycle for Integrating Digital Technology
into Literacy Instruction. Reading Teacher, 67(6), 455-464.

Liu, L., & Cheng, M. (2015). Interactive Projector as an Interactive Teaching Tool in the
Classroom: Evaluating Teaching Efficiency and Interactivity. Turkish Online Journal Of
Educational Technology - TOJET, 14(2), 110-115.
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf

References
Ex. Author Last, First (year). Title of the article. Title of the Journal should be in italics, volume
number should be in italics (issue number), page numbers only.