Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Final Project Team: Tech 4 Kids

Heather, Melissa, Mindy and Andi A. Identified Students
Our primary audience are kindergarten students. Ages: 5-6 Gender: Boys and Girls Skill Level: Pre-reading skill level, introductory level on plant and life science and emergent writing skills, and with beginning knowledge of computer skills Our secondary audience are students and teachers learning/teaching about plants of all ages groups. College degree or higher Elementary Educators Skill Level: Intermediate computer skills, Web 2.0 tools knowledge, knowledge of best teaching practices related to the Core Curriculum

B. Students Needs: Characteristics

1. Communication skills: Ability to understand written and spoken English at an elementary school level. 2. Attitudes: Most learners are positive towards the topic as it relates to life around them at home as well as at school. 3. Knowledge level: Most learners will have basic prior knowledge about plants and seeds. Basic computer skills-smartboard skills, basic computer usage with keyboard, mouse skills, and navigation skills will be required for the students. 4. Social-cultural system: Learners are diverse in ethnicity, socioeconomic level and genderVarying classroom populations based on school. 5. Physical condition: Basic visual, auditory and motor skills. If necessary, accommodations can be made upon request. (receiver/microphone for hearing impaired, assistance for utilizing the computers) 6. Formative evaluation plans: Dr. M and Dr. Z will evaluate the podcasting plan before the final version is submitted to see if any changes need to be made. Cohort peers will be asked to answer questions about our product. Each member of the team will go through the project and share their opinions on changes, content, and design. 7. Learning environment: Small group, large group and/or individual setting

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

C. Define Expected Outcomes (standards) Iowa Core

Understand and apply knowledge of the characteristics of living things and how living things are both similar to and different from each other and from non-living things. Living things share some common characteristics that are both similar to and different from non-living things. Different species of plants and animals have different observable characteristics by which they can be classified. Understands and apply knowledge of life cycles of plants and animals. Plants and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. Plants and animals closely resemble their parents. Understand and apply knowledge of the basic needs of plants and animals and how they interact with each other and their physical environment. Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients, and light. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met.

D. Performance Objectives:
1. Students will sort a variety of seeds from 10 fruits and vegetables into categories by color, size and shape, and describe the characteristics of different seeds. 2. Students will describe the basic life cycle of a plant (seed, seedling, plant, flower, seed). 3. Students will locate seeds in flowers, fruits, and vegetables. 4. Students will locate and name the parts of a plant. (roots, stem, leaves, petals) 5. Student can identify 4 things which seeds need to grow into plants. 6. Student can explain why plants need water, sun, air and soil to survive. 6. Students can locate the parts of a fruit or vegetable that we eat. 7. Students will explain a life cycle moves in a circle and never ends.

E. Assessment: Informal Retelling/Anecdotal Records (Rubric-see below), journal writing, voicethread comments

Plant Unit Rubric for _______________

Accomplished 3 Developing 2 Beginning 1 Needs Developing 0 Score

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012 Names the basic needs of plants. Is able to tell all four of the plants basic needs. (Sunlight, water, soil, space) Is able to tell two of the plants basic needs. (Sunlight, water, soil, space) Is able to tell one of the plants basic needs. (Sunlight, water, soil, space) Is unable to tell any of the basic plant needs.

Can explain the reasons for a plants basic needs. Can locate seeds in a variety of fruits, vegetables and plants.

Is able to describe why plants need all of the basic needs.

Is able to describe why plants need two of the basic needs.

Is able to describe why plants need one of the basic needs.

Is unable to explain any reasons for basics needs.

Is able to locate seeds in all 10 fruits and vegetables.

Is able to locate seeds in 4 or more examples.

Is able to locate seeds in 3 or more examples.

Is not able to locate any seeds in 2 or fewer examples.

Can describe the basic plant life cycle.

Is able to tell all Is able to tell 5 parts of the 4 parts of the life cycle. life cycle. (seed, seedling, plant, flower, seed)

Is able to tell 3 Is able to tell 2 parts of the life or fewer parts cycle. of the life cycle.

Can sort seeds into groups by a property and describe seeds using their properties Can locate the part of

Can sort and describe seeds 4 or more ways. (size, shape, color, type, etc.)

Can sort and describe seeds 3 ways.

Can sort and describe seeds 2 ways.

Can sort seeds one or fewer ways.

Can locate the part of the plant

Can locate the part of

Can locate the part of the

Can locate the part of the

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012 a plant that we eat. Can locate and name the parts of a plant. we eat in 4 or more fruits and vegetables. Can locate and name all 4 basic plant parts. (root, stem, flower, leaves) Is able to give a detailed explanation of a life cycle. the plant we eat in 3 fruits and vegetables. Can locate and name 3 basic plant parts. plant we eat in 2 fruits and vegetables Can locate and name 2 basic plant parts. plant we eat in 1 or fewer fruits and vegetables. Can locate and name 1 or fewer basic plant parts.

Can explain what a life cycle means.

Is able to give a somewhat detailed explanation of a life cycle, but may be missing some aspects.

Is able to give a brief explanation of a life cycle, but is missing many aspects.

Is unable to give an explanation of a life cycle.

E. Strategies for Teaching: This unit will combine whole group learning activities with small
group break-outs, in which the students will have the opportunities to view videos, play online games, and engage in more in depth learning about the subject of plants. Student will have hands-on opportunities with plants and seeds in the classroom. They are planting, observing, and recording as a class. Students will be able to share what they have learned using on-line tools- Storybird, Flipbook, LittleBird Tales, and Voicethread. They will also use pencil and paper for recording in journals, making observations and sharing their knowledge.

F. Content Outline

Life Science
Lesson 1Identifying Seeds

Technology
Reading: Garden Shop Writing: Seed Notebook Listening: Seeds!
Sorting Seeds

1. Students are able to identify and describe seeds. 2. Students understand that seeds grow into plants.

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

3. Students are able to locate seeds in flowers, fruits, and vegetables

Read Aloud Books: Anno, Mitsumasa, 1999. Anno's Magic Seeds, Putnam Juvenile Hutts, Dianna, 2007. A Seed Is Sleeping, Chronicle Book Doing: WikiEducation: A deeper Look into SeedsA Lesson Fruits with SeedsStudent Interactive
Foss: Gallery of Seeds

Extracting Seeds from Fruits and Vegetables Resources needed: -a variety of fruits and vegetables, pictures of seeds, sorting mats, large venn diagram, KWL chart
Lesson 2Parts of the Seed 1. Students observe that beans contain a baby plant and leaves- the beginnings of a new bean plant. Student will open bean seeds and observe the parts and share observations. Actions/Experiment: 1. Students set up a mini-sprouter/paper towel plant experiment 2. Students explore a soaked seed and identify its parts.

Reading: Foss Web: Structures of Life- Seeds Are Everywhere Writing: Little Bird Tales Sample
**Note: you must have Flash 11.3 to view thisClick Here for Update A tutorial is available The students will share the parts of a seed using this tool. See sample.

Listening: Paper Towel Plants Doing: Inside the SeedA Lesson What Plants Need to Grow- A Lesson Parts of the Seed Cutout Student Interactive

Identifying: Seed Coat, Embryo, Food

Resources needed: -bean seeds, paper towels, ziploc baggies

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

Lesson 3What Plants Need

1. Student can identify 4 things which seeds need to grow into plants. Sunlight, water, nutrients (soil) and a place to grow. Actions/Experiments: 1. Students help gather materials needed for plant growth- soil, water, cups and a sunny place. 2. Students plant seeds in the classroom. 3. Students will make observations of the growth of the plants over the next week or so.

Reading: Sunflower Life cycle Great Plant Escape Writing: Storybirdwith teachers help, students as a class will show the plants getting their needs met using the storybird tool. Tutorial Listening: From Seed to FlowerPodcast Doing: Watch it Grow

Identifying: 4 of the plant needs Resources needed: -bean seeds, paper towels, ziploc baggies Lesson 4What Part of the Plant We Eat 1. Students can locate the parts of a fruit or vegetable that we eat. Actions/Experiments: 1. Students sort collected fruits and vegetables into their proper classification. (fruit or vegetable) 2. Students identify the part of the fruits/vegetables that we eat. Reading: The Great Plant
Escape- Parts The Enormous Turnip

Read Aloud Books Blackaby, Susan,

and Charlene Delage, 2005. Plant Plumbing: A Book About Roots and Stems, Picture Window Child, Lauren, 2007. I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, Candlewick Lisa, and Ben

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

Mantle, 2010. Perfect Soup, Random House Salas, Laura Purdie, 2008. Lettuce Introduce You: Poems About Food, Capstone Stevens, Janet, 1995.Tops & Bottoms, Harcourt Brace

Writing:
Plant Part Drawing/Matching

(Kays, 1991) Identifying: Parts of the plants we eat- stems, flowers, leaves, roots Resources needed: -variety of fruits and vegetables (see lessons on right side), sorting mats

Listening: Plant Parts We

Eat What Parts of the Plant Do You Like?

Doing: Plant PartLesson

Plant Parts We Eat- Lesson What Parts we EatInteractive Supermarket BotanyInteractive I didn't Know I ate that! Interactive

Lesson 5Plant Life Cycle

1. Students will understand that plants, like humans, have a life cycle. 2. Students will understand that a life cycle moves in a circle and never ends. Actions/Experiments: 1. Students play the Plant Game with small groups, creating the plant life cycle with their bodies. 2. Students will view the Voicethread tutorial and add comments to the voicethread.

Reading: The Tiny Seed Writing:VoiceThreadPlant Life cycle

Flipbookwith teachers help, students as a class will show the plants getting their needs met using the flipbook tool. Tutorial

Listening: From Seed to Fruit

The Life Cycle of an Apple

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

The Life Cycle of a Plant

Doing: Plant Game

Dr. Seuss Flower Finder Sorting Leaves

Resources needed: -plant life cycle cards/pictures for each group (scroll down to plant life cycle)

Treatment This project is designed for the 2012 EIT Cohort, as an example of a complete elementary unit that integrates and utilizes technology throughout. Students will be introduced to several Web 2.0 technologies, such as Voice Thread, Voki, Blabberize, Storybird, Little Bird Tales, Flipbook as well as interactive games. They will also view and listen to videos and podcasts. Teachers will have the opportunity to learn more about these tools and how to use them in the teacher project page with tutorials created by the team. The unit will be organized within a google site with links to the content for both students and teachers. The homepage serves as a starting page for the students, but also contains information about using the unit within the classroom as it is written or as a supplement for teachers who may want to use it within their own curriculum. There is a teachers page that contains more details and lesson. The intention would be that this website be a work in progress for our team, and can be used as a link to resources for other educators with the same learning goals. Our groups focus is Life Science: Plants. We geared the lessons toward the lower elementary (K-1st grade) however much of what is on the site could be used for intermediate students (2nd-3rd grades). The lessons consist of What is Inside a Seed, Parts of the Seed, What Plants Need to Survive, and Plant Parts that we Use, and The Life Cycle of a Plant. Each of these lessons will be presented using large group lessons, however there are many smaller group activities that reinforce the concepts on the student page. Technology will be utilized throughout, both for student activities as well as for teachers to use as an assessment of the benchmarks associated with the

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

lessons. The purpose for this webpage is for easy access for both teacher and students to the materials, videos and links to supplement individual curriculum. Beta Test: Kindergarten Teacher: Abby Here are the comments/feedback I received from Abby after she spent time on our site:
WOW!! I am impressed! I love all the different activities that it takes you to! At the same time that may the biggest problem. If a kid was actually doing this site getting back to the home page may be a challenge for them. For some reason they are not good at using the back arrow and once they have navigated to another site then they will get distracted and stay on that site. However, if you only do one lesson a day then it would be fine. I really like the assignment expectation page. That would work great for assessing. I was also going to suggest using picture cues, on the kids page, for each category. I noticed you did that on the RWLDS link, (I guess it is just the first 3 links in the reading section) which maybe you were still planning on doing that on the kids page also. If not, it would just help them navigate it a little bit easier. OR if you can get the computer to read the activity or just the category under each section to the kids, that would also help. If you don't use pictures then I would do the voice, but you probably would NOT have to do both. I also love the VOCI animals! that helps a ton! However, NONE of it really needs to be changed! The few suggestions I made would just make it a little easier for the kids to navigate through the site. Let me know if you need anything else. AND I LOVE the sharing page!!!!! What a great idea!!!!! I like how you guys used visuals on that page. As you can tell I am ALL about the visuals;-0

Kindergarten teacher: Krista

LIKES: I really liked the rubric except I might change the part about explaining the life cycle to be more specific, such as: can explain the life cycle of a plant... I liked the tabs to click on: reading, writing, doing, sharing, etc.

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

I liked all of the reading and video and game links for the whole website. I liked the use of the flipbook and story board. I liked how it was teacher friendly easy to use. I liked how it looked, very nice. CHANGES: Some of the writing parts of the lessons are going to be hard for kindergartners to do on their own, such as the seed notebook or lesson 4 writing, supermarket botany, what parts we eat, etc. I am not sure if you intended for them to do these on their own, but they will need teacher help with a lot of them. Lesson 5 voice thread might be a little hard for them, and it was really hard to hear.

These things would not work for me... I didn't know I ate that Little Bird Tales, parts of the seed, seeds are everywhere

One more thing... it might be too abstract to compare the plant life cycle to a human, not sure about that, it might be easier to compare it to a chicken or a frog life cycle, the whole human life cycle might bring up things you don't want to discuss in your kindergarten room, if you know what I mean, just a thought anyways...

Response to beta test: -added pictures to front home page- will continue to add more. -removed section in outline about comparing the life cycle of a plant to a human life cycle -removed links that were not working (and we couldnt fix) -moved links that were thought to be too difficult to extensions link

Plants Tech4Kids Work Product Page

All products will go on the google site Tech4Kids

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

All video/Audio completed as a whole group(where collaborating) will be completed in Aviary, so all have access to project Task Original video x 3 (at least) Person/People Responsible 1. Mel-video on seed sorting activity 2.Mindy-Video for LifeCycle of an apple 3. Heather-Jing on VoiceThread 1. Heather - teacher domain videos 2. Mel-found videos for older age students Other videos were added as well. done 6/13 done 6/14 done 6/10 student completed 6/11 Entered 6/6 done 6/12 Done?

Found video x 2 (at least)

Original Audio/Podcasts x 3 (at least)

1. whole group created Entered 6/6 podcast 2. Andi- Plant parts we eat. Done 6/8 done 6/8 3. Mel- podcast about life cycle of a plant 1 Mel-audio for older kids 2. Andi-Science stories, Foss Web 1.Heather-VoiceThread-for sharing; Smartnotebook File 2. Mel-voki, storybird 3. Mindy-Blabbersize a different song or poem to teach plant parts or plant life cycle. 4.Andi-Symbaloo Littlebird Tales Other technologies were used through-out: ie. games and interactives done 6/6 Done 6/8 Done 6/7 done 6/12 done 6/11

Found Audio/Podcasts x 2 (at least Other technologies to teach/assess (at least 4)

Done 6/8- able to modify Sample in Plans

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

Formative evaluation (for cohort) Beta Test summary

Mindy (with group help) Mel-kindergarten teacher Heather-kindergarten teacher whole group whole group

done 6/11 done 6/11

Domain reflections Team member evaluations

MC done 6/13 done 6/8

Final Statement of Purpose Mel (with group help) Many changes made and revisions Final Treatment Final Content Outline Mel (with group help) Mel (with group help)

done 6/12 done 6/8

Response to Alpha Test (done 6/11) TO do before Tuesdays class: **Strikethrough your name when you are finished. -finalize formative assessment for cohort - Everyone go through site and look for holes and links and make sure things are in right place. Heather, Andi, Mel, Mindy - Everyone look over the assignment sheet one more time to check on requirements Heather, Andi, Mel, Mindy

*** Strikethrough when you have completed TO DO before Friday (final project due!) -final treatment-Mel (with group help) Andi go through on Tuesday -all links updated on both front page and RWLD pages -video for seeds-Mel -assessment option for students-Mel - Write descriptions on the RWLD pages for different programs - Go over copyright on everything on site and make sure it is okay-- Meet once to discuss only Copyright and make sure we are in compliance -extension page for older kids--Mel (and anyone that has links for 2nd-4th graders) -add links for forms that teachers can print (on lesson plans/outline) -add to front page treatment for explanation of site -make sure doc and site match for content outline, statement of purpose, treatment -remove items from RWLD that were removed from homepage (move to extensions?)

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

-video on apple life cycle-Mindy **fix links for I didn't know I ate that
Little Bird Tales, parts of the seed, seeds are everywhere

Citations and Resources

Content
"Build Wild Self Avatar" http://www.buildyourwildself.com/ "Foss: Gallery of Seeds" http://www.fossweb.com/modulesK-2/NewPlants/gallery/seeds/photo_gallery.html "Flower Finder" http://pbskids.org/catinthehat/games/flower-finder.html "Fruits with Seeds" http://www.playlearnschool.com/Science/1/Food-Nutrition/How-Many-Seeds-In-Fruits-2.aspx "Garden Shop" http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/gardenshop/load.htm?f&n=main

"Growing Plants" http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/5_6/growing_plants.shtml

"I didn't know I ate that" http://www.naturegrid.org.uk/plant/foodparts.html "Magic Watering Can Game" http://www.sproutonline.com/generic-kids-content-pages/games-overlay.aspx?id=25730 "Photos of Seeds" http://seeds.sciencenetlinks.com/seeds/ "Planting Vegetables" http://pbskids.org/sid/fablab_vegetableplanting.html "Sorting Leaves" http://www.meddybemps.com/Leaves/Index.html "Sunflower Cycle"

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012 http://www.iboard.co.uk/iwb/331 "The Enormous Turnip" http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/fimbles/stories/fimbles-enormousturnip/

"The Great Plant Escape" http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/facts.html

"The Lucky Seed" http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/short-stories/the-lucky-seed "Vegetable Matching Game" http://www.sproutonline.com/generic-kids-content-pages/games-overlay.aspx?id=25805 "Wonderful Worms and other nature stories" http://pbskids.org/lions/stories/nature.html "Flipbook" www.flipbook.com "BBC- Story Plant" http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/credits.shtml "Label the Parts of the Plant" http://www.ngflcymru.org.uk/vtc/factors_plant_growth/eng/Introduction/InteractiveWhiteboardActivity.htm "Plants Galore" http://www.catie.org.uk/plants_galore_page.html "Life Cycle" http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2science.html#lcycles5b "Flipbook Tutorial" http://www.ehow.com/how_8594549_make-flip-book-animation-online.html

Images
iClip Art http://www.pics4learning.com/

Podcasts/Video

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

"From Seed to Flower?" http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.plantsgrow/ "Plant parts we eat" http://vimeo.com/14809890 "Seeds" http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=203566&title=seeds "What is a Seed? Finding and describing seeds?" http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.stru.sockseeds/ "Whats inside a Seed? Sprouting Seeds?" http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/lsps07.sci.life.gen.cgtowelplant/ "What Plants Need Song?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQT6piZOX7c "The Life Cycle of a Plant" http://carnamaa66141.podomatic.com/entry/2012-06-10T11_46_03-07_00 "Little Bird Tales Tutorial" https://vimeo.com/35596080 "Storybird Tutorial" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T00YjRBIcIw "Photosynthesis" http://www.neok12.com/php/watch.php?v=zX4b7a504d047d5b6e660173&t=Plants

The Tiny Seed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWH4bg5_Fqg

Technologies Used:
Voice Thread Whiteboard Lite: Collaborative Drawing Symbaloo Voki YouTube TeacherTube Podomatic LittleBird Tale iClip Art Blabberize QuickTime

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012 iMovie Google Doc StoryBird With the creation of the Tech4Kids site our team hopes to give the students a rounded educational experience that includes a mixture of online activities. We want the student and teacher interaction with our site to be visually inviting (voki, iclip art, symbaloo), as well as informative (youtube, teachertube). The technologies we chose to use also cover many different learning styles, including visual (storybird, little bird) kinesthetic (flipbook, whiteboard lite), auditory (blabberize, podomatic) and visual (voki, imovie, quicktime). Although some of the technology chosen may be difficult at first for the younger students, our expectation and hope is that this site is a place that will not just be used during a week long plant unit, but would be a site that will be used over and over in the classroom. We also hope that with the tutorials and introduction of many different emerging technologies, teachers will find our site informative and use it as a guide to their own teaching and lesson planning.

Formative Assessment Questions:

Did the site grab your attention? Is it clear what the purpose of the site? Was the site easy to navigate? Were the links on the site helpful? What is the quality of the videos used in the site? Which video did you see? What is the overall quality of technology used in the site? Please leave any other comments here. The Tech4kids grabbed my attention with all of the Voki videos providing student instructions on how to navigate the website. The website works great on the computer and is easy to click on the links. Our website is easy to navigate as the student homepage is the first resource which appears when navigating to the website, and the teacher resources are off to the side. When entering the site it provides clear evidence that this Unit is based on Plants. All the RWLDS are resources in which the students will be able to use within their classroom as an educational resource tool for teaching. Although if a teacher is going to hook this website up to an interactive whiteboard as a center we might want to increase the font size for the links to make it easier for students

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012

when clicking on the websites.

Statement of Purpose Final Project Assignment- Cohort 2012