Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETSSTemplate I
(More Directed Learning Activities)
Template with guiding questions
Teacher(s)
Name
Teresa Bailey
Position

STEM Enrichment Specialist

School/District

Clark Creek Elementary STEM Academy Cherokee County

E-mail

Teresa.bailey@cherokee.k12.ga.us

Phone

404 502 1530

Grade Level(s)

4th

Content Area

Technology and Language Arts

Time line

5 class periods

Standards (What do you want students to know and be able to do? What knowledge, skills, and strategies do you
expect students to gain? Are there connections to other curriculum areas and subject area benchmarks? ) Please
put a summary of the standards you will be addressing rather than abbreviations and numbers that indicate which
standards were addressed.
Content Standards

Language Arts:
Students will support a point of view with reasons.
Students will use technology to publish work and collaborate with others.
Students will add visuals to presentations.
Science:
Students will identify simple machines and explain their uses.
ISTE Standards

Students
Students
Students
Students
Students

will
will
will
will
will

use creativity and innovation to produce a product.

use digital media to communicate and work collaboratively.
use critical thinking and digital tools to solve problems.
select and use digital applications.
troubleshoot technical problems.

Overview (a short summary of the lesson or unit including assignment or expected or possible products)

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Clark Creek is a school of choice for Cherokee County so every student in the county can request admission.
There are also three other STEM Academies if students and/or parents are interested in a
science/technology/engineering/math focus. The 4th grade students will be challenged to produce a video that will
persuade others to decide to attend Clark Creek. School pride and a recollection of the many activities included at
our school should make this lesson relevant and keep students engaged.
Students will use the Engineering Design Process to brainstorm, plan, create and improve their videos. Multiple
technologies will be used for parts of the video. Tagxedo or Padlet will be used to create a pictorial of simple
machines. An attractive title page and persuasive paragraph will be created using Microsoft PowerPoint or Word.
Pictures from school files and Flickr will selected as visual evidence of school activities. The snipping tool will
be used to create JPEGS of student work from other sources (Lego Digital Designer, Code.org, Scratch and Lego
Mindstorm). All creations and images will be saved into a student folder and used as components of a video
produced with Animoto or Movie Maker.
Students learn persuasive writing as part of their second and third grade standards and this lesson will build upon
that skill as they try to accomplish the same task with technology, visuals and videos.
The technical component will add interest and a real world experience of writing and publishing because
several of the videos will be selected to be posted on the Odyssey Lab and Clark Creek Elementary websites.

Essential Questions (What essential question or learning are you addressing? What would students care or
want to know about the topic? What are some questions to get students thinking about the topic or generate
interest about the topic? Additionally, what questions can you ask students to help them focus on important
aspects of the topic? (Guiding questions) What background or prior knowledge will you expect students to bring
to this topic and build on?) Remember, essential questions are meant to guide the lesson by provoking inquiry.
They should not be answered with a simple yes or no and should have many acceptable answers.
Essential Questions:

How is education at Clark Creek STEM Academy different from other elementary schools?
How can technology tools be used to communicate and share information?
How do you organize information on a computer?

Interest Building Questions:

How can you persuade someone without writing a classical five paragraph essay or giving a speech?
How do you use internet resources to create visuals?
How do you make a video without a recording device?

Prior Knowledge Students will need an understanding of the additional labs, teaching methods and STEM
principles used at Clark Creek STEM Academy.
Assessment (What will students do or produce to illustrate their learning? What can students do to generate new
knowledge? How will you assess how students are progressing (formative assessment)? How will you assess
what they produce or do? How will you differentiate products?) You must attach copies of your assessment and/or
rubrics. Include these in your presentation as well.

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As a culminating project, students will create a video to persuade other students to come to Clark Creek. New
technology knowledge will be introduced throughout the lesson and then applied as students create multiple
visual components to use in their videos.
Formative assessments will be made with student observations and discussions throughout the lesson as new
technologies are introduced. Additionally, student folders on the computer will be monitored for progress to
ensure that each step of the project is being completed. A rubric will be used for the summative assessment of
the video. Students will also evaluate their participation and that of their partner(s).
Differentiation will occur in several ways. Throughout the project, students will be able to choose to complete the
entire assignment or separate parts independently or with a partner. Students will have options to choose various
topics and formats for individual parts of the project. The final product will be a video, but students may choose to
use Animoto or Movie Maker.
Resources (How does technology support student learning? What digital tools, and resourcesonline student
tools, research sites, student handouts, tools, tutorials, templates, assessment rubrics, etchelp elucidate or
explain the content or allow students to interact with the content? What previous technology skills should students
have to complete this project?)
Computer skills will be modeled allowing students to learn basic organizational skills on the computer to include
creating folders, splitting screens, copying files, moving files, saving files and making screenshots.
Tagxedo and Padlet will be introduced as an option for creating word graphics.
Bing Classroom and Flickr (creative commons) will be introduced and used for supplemental visual options.
Animoto and Movie Maker will be introduced for creating videos.
How To Videos about each skill will be available for students to use for review as needed.
Video Assessment Rubric will describe clear expectations for the video.
All students have Office 365 to use with collaboration outside of the lab and prior experience with Microsoft
PowerPoint, Word, Sway and copyright rules.
Instructional Plan
Preparation (What student needs, interests, and prior learning provide a foundation for this lesson? How can
you find out if students have this foundation? What difficulties might students have?)
Persuasive writing is a standard skill taught during Language Arts in 2 nd and 3rd grades so students should know
the basic principles. A graphic organizer will be available for students needing assistance with this aspect,
however the complexities of writing will not be necessary for the project. Students have used Microsoft
PowerPoint for presentations inside and outside of the lab while attending Clark Creek, however the student
population is quiet transient and peer tutors will be necessary for this skill for some students. Copyright rules
have been covered during Media Center lessons, but Bing Classroom and Creative Commons in Flickr will aid
with this concern. New technologies (Tagxedo, Padlet, Animoto and computer skills) will be modeled and also
have How To Videos available. Office 365 components (email, Sway, and PowerPoint) have been taught within
the last two months and should be fresh in students memory.
Management Describe the classroom management strategies will you use to manage your students and the use
of digital tools and resources. How and where will your students work? (Small groups, whole group, individuals,
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classroom, lab, etc.) What strategies will you use to achieve equitable access to the Internet while completing this
lesson? Describe what technical issues might arise during the Internet lesson and explain how you will resolve or
trouble-shoot them? Please note: Trouble-shooting should occur prior to implementing the lesson as well as
throughout the process. Be sure to indicate how you prepared for problems and work through the issues that
occurred as you implemented and even after the lesson was completed.
Students will have the option to work independently or with a partner throughout each stage of the project. This
arrangement will allow for students to select different partners if collaboration is a difficulty. Digital equity will be
achieved with 1:1 student to computer access with internet with the technology available in my lab. There are
also at least 3 spare laptops available for each class in case of technical difficulties with the regular computers.
Milestones Testing will occur during the lesson, but I have received assurance that my computers will not be used.
Copies of all How To Videos will be housed on my personal computer so instruction to the new technologies and
skills can be completed even if the internet goes down. File backups for student photos and folders will be made
after each class as a precaution.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities Describe the research-based instructional strategies you will
use with this lesson. How will your learning environment support these activities? What is your role? What are the
students' roles in the lesson? How can you ensure higher order thinking at the analysis, evaluation, or
creativity levels of Blooms Taxonomy? How can the technology support your teaching? What authentic,
relevant, and meaningful learning activities and tasks will your students complete? How will they build knowledge
and skills? How will students use digital tools and resources to communicate and collaborate with each other
and others? How will you facilitate the collaboration?

The lesson has real-world applications because students can choose to attend Clark Creek if they live anywhere
in Cherokee County. The lesson has an authentic application because several videos will be selected for
inclusion on the Clark Creek Website to promote the school. Throughout the process collaboration with different
partners is encouraged to allow for cultural/student preferences and encourage respect for others. Higher levels
of Blooms taxonomy are utilized throughout the lesson. Students are evaluating the different components of a
STEM education setting and analyzing various photographs/graphics for their persuasive abilities. Students are
synthesizing the various aspects of a video (visuals, music, and topics) to create an original persuasive video.

Differentiation (How will you differentiate content and process to accommodate various learning styles and
abilities? How will you help students learn independently and with others? How will you provide extensions and
opportunities for enrichment? What assistive technologies will you need to provide?)
Even though the final product is a video in Animoto since Movie Maker is not available on my computers now,
content is differentiated with student choice of the visuals, music and style of their video. Students are also given
choice of application to achieve different components of the lesson. In addition to the choices provided, students
will be able to propose their own applications. The process is differentiated according to student IEPs and
individual needs. Individual assignments will be modified based on student ability. Students may propose
alternate technology options for extension opportunities. Word banks will be available to assist ELL students with
key vocabulary and students with reading and/or written expression difficulties can open Solo 6 to use
ReadAloud, CoWriter, and DraftBuilder for the writing portion of the lesson. How To Videos are provided for
remediation of instruction. Peer tutors will be provided for students needing assistance. Additional time to work
on the project will be provided in the mornings before school starts for those needing extended time or those
wishing to perfect their products.

Reflection (Will there be a closing event? Will students be asked to reflect upon their work? Will students be
asked to provide feedback on the assignment itself? What will be your process for answering the following
questions?
Did students find the lesson meaningful and worth completing?
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In what ways was this lesson effective?

What went well and why?
What did not go well and why?
How would you teach this lesson differently?)

Classroom comments and the total engagement of the students during this lesson indicated to me that the
students found the assignment meaningful and worthwhile. The students appeared genuinely happy as they
located pictures of themselves and events from the Odyssey Lab for the last three years. Reflecting about the
amazing opportunities they have been given at Clark Creek filled the students with pride. The project ended with
a Premier Day where all students eagerly shared their videos with their classmates. Some students were also
able to email/share their creations with parents and relatives. Next year, this group of students will develop
personal websites with Weebly and they will have these videos to embed into their sites.
One aspect that did cause concern was that all of the computers in my lab were updated to Windows 10 in the
middle of the project. I was not aware of the minor technical differences with formats. Several students actually
had experience with Windows 10 at home and were able to teach me and their peers about some of the changes
and the students adapted easily. A major mishap with that software update was that I intended for students to
have Movie Maker as an option for their videos, yet Windows 10 did not support that option and I was forced to
eliminate that choice. I was able to create additional student accounts with Animoto but that was a time
consuming endeavor. Animoto provided to be a great option since it had predesigned styles and music options
for the students to use and I will have those additional student accounts to use in the future.
I consider the lesson to have gone quite well because the students were able to independently use the technology
that was introduced and were proud of their creations! Introducing new technologies individually and then having
students create a product to file away for the video worked great and they were able to transfer knowledge from
one setting to another. Peer collaborations worked well, but I think in the future I will modify the lesson to be a
small group effort where students select specific parts/roles for the video and then collectively create one product.
I would also like to offer students some freedom with the topic for their video based upon the interests of their
groups. Finally, I would like to add a screencast of the student explaining their thinking as another choice for the
project because Animoto does not allow for extended time on a slide and reading their persuasive thoughts
quickly enough was difficult.
Closure: Anything else you would like to reflect upon regarding lessons learned and/or your experience with
implementing this lesson. What advice would you give others if they were to implement the lesson? Please
provide a quality reflection on your experience with this lesson and its implementation.
I truly enjoyed implementing this lesson and look forward to modifying it for use next year. At times during the
project, I was very touched by the reactions and excitement of the students with their work. The lesson truly
reminded me why I love teaching and how uniquely special each child is. The project also showed me that I need
to not only keep photos of each childs journey in my lab, but that I need to establish electronic portfolios so that
each students work may be accumulated over their years at Clark Creek. Ultimately this lesson might be
modified to be a culminating project for 5th graders as they complete their elementary education and used as part
of their graduation ceremony.

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