Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: Self-Publication: Narrative

Content Area: ELA
Grade Level(s): 6th Grade
Content Standard Addressed: ELAGSE6W3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or
events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

Technology Standard Addressed: ISTE-S 6d: Students publish or present content that customizes the
message and medium for their intended audiences.

Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity: KidPub

URL(s) to support the lesson: http://www.kidpub.com/

Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity in your
classroom:

During a unit covering how to write a narrative, I would have several classes over the course of a week
dedicated to workshopping. Students will participate in drafting, peer editing, small group sharing, and
ultimately publish on KidPub. They will save the links to their narratives and share them with the class. It is
important to note, however, that these stories will be publicly published – and the students should know this
when they write them.

Because KidPub is publicly available, it can be accessed at home. The lesson will not end at the classroom, and
students will be encouraged to continue working from home.

What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a classroom?
A computer.
Describe how the following features are addressed in this learning experience (note: all of them may not be
addressed in the project, but most should be if you are reaching a high LoTi Level).
a. Collaboration with peers, near-peers, mentors outside their classroom and often beyond their
school: Students will engage in peer-editing and sharing their stories as they are written. They will be
encouraged to do this by using Google Docs shareable links during the drafting process.

b. Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or producing original
products as a result of engaging in a project): Students will create original narrative stories.

c. Higher-order thinking: Students will be engaged in synthesizing original narratives based on the
elements and qualities of narrative writing they have been taught, but also on the stories they have
read.

d. Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product: KidPub is a
self-publication platform that a massive audience of other kids can read.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☒ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☒ Evaluating ☒ Creating

Spring 2018_SJB
 Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities
Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):
☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☐ Level 4: Integration
☒ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

Engagement: Students will be engaged through freedom of choice and through authentic learning tasks.
Publication makes the task literally authentic, and the content being their own choice makes the content
meaningful.

Representation: Students will be working with partners and small groups at different points throughout the
drafting process, allowing them to learn from each other. The product itself may be worked on at home, at
the students’ own individual paces. The final product will also be differentiated based on learning profile.

Action and Expression: The drafting process acts as a scaffold for students who need support in planning and
management.

Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies:

Parents and admin will be made aware of this activity before students engage in self-publication, and
permission will need to be granted by both. The teacher will make sure to check each and every student’s
account information/profile to ensure no identifying information is being disseminated on the internet. The
narratives will be completely fictional and no identifying information should be revealed within them either.
Reflective Practice:

I do believe Google Docs would be a wonderful resource in making their work accessible from any computer
prior to the publication of it. The products created in this activity may also be useful to take excerpts from to
teach grammar concepts later in the semester.

Spring 2018_SJB