Jessie Holtzman-Rich

Wiki Assignment Lesson

November 17, 2014
I. Standards lesson is addressing
A. IRA
1.2 Candidates understand the historically shared knowledge of the profession and
changes over time in the perceptions of reading and writing development,
processes, and components.
2.2 Candidates use appropriate and varied instructional approaches, including
those that develop word recognition, language comprehension, strategic
knowledge, and reading-writing connections.
3.3 Candidates use a wide range of texts (e.g., narrative, expository, and poetry)
from traditional print, digital, and online resources.
4.2 Candidates use a literacy curriculum and engage in instructional practices that
positively impact students' knowledge, beliefs, and engagement with the features
of diversity.
5.1 Candidates design the physical environment to optimize students' use of
traditional print, digital, and online resources in reading and writing instruction.
B. NETS*S
2. Communication and collaboration: Students use digital media and
environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance,
to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
3. Research and information fluency: Students apply digital tools to gather,
evaluate, and use information.
C. KTS6
6.1 Uses available technology to design and plan instruction.
6.2 Uses available technology to implement instruction that facilitates student
learning.
6.3 Integrates student use of available technology into instruction.
6.4 Uses available technology to assess and communicate student learning.
6.5 Demonstrates ethical and legal use of technology.
D. CCSS for ELA
Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the
ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or
speak about the subject knowledgeably.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and
information clearly.
Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge
through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from

print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and
finished work, and provide a list of sources.
With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing
as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the
Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with
others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum
of two pages in a single sitting.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization
are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in
presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or
themes.

II. Grade Level: Fifth

III. Time Needed: 12, 70-minute class periods stretched across three weeks
IV. Materials: chrome book, composition notebook
V. Learning Targets
Students will
A. locate, gather and share data that will help them prepare to write a compare
and contrast essay
B. upload relevant pictures, research, hyperlinks, and documents to wiki page to
deepen their understanding of topic(s)
C. view and comment on shared information
D. recognize similarities and differences
E. make predictions based on evidence gathered
F. write compare/contrast essay based on understanding of gathered information
VI. Procedures
A. Prior to lesson, students will have already had instruction on and been given time to
practice on the Wikis. During each day of the lesson, the teacher will monitor the
students by circulating around the room and assisting when needed.)
B. Day 1(at the beginning of the first week)
1. After class managers pass out composition notebooks, the teacher will ask
students to journal a response to the following prompt: If you had to explain to
someone from another planet what life is like for a fifth grader attending our
school in the year 2015, what would you say? (Students will have five minutes to
journal.)
2. After five minutes pass, the teacher will ask students to share their responses
with their table groups.

3. The teacher will ask the managers to pass out the chrome books and log in to
the class Wiki page. The teacher will ask the students to generate a list on the A
Stereotypical Fifth Grader in 2015.
4. The teacher will then ask the say the following: Have you ever wondered what
it would have been like to be a fifth grader during the 1990s or 80s or 70, or even
60s? Think about a family member or family friend who is older than you are. It
could be a mother or father, aunt or uncle, grandparent, or an older family friend.
What would you want to know about this persons fifth grade life?
5. Together, students will generate a list of good interview questions on the
Interview Questions page. (The teacher will remind students how good
questions are ones that cant be answered with a simple yes or no.
6. The teacher will explain the project that they will be starting and then give the
students five minutes to explore the wiki pages and ask questions pertaining to
assignment/project.
Homework: Select ten questions and interview the person of your choice by the
end of the week. Students are to write interviewees answers down in writing
notebook. (Make sure you know the year that your interviewee was a fifth grader!)
C. Day 2 (at the end of the first week)
1. After class managers pass out composition notebooks, the teacher will ask
students to journal a response to the following prompt: What did you learn about
the person you interviewed? (Students will have five minutes to journal.)
2. The teacher will ask the managers to pass out the chrome books and log in to
the class Wiki page. The teacher will review the wiki pages with the students and
tell the students that today they will post at least five interesting facts about the
person that they interviewed on the appropriate decade page. In addition, each
comment must include a relevant hyperlink (Youtube video, image, website, etc.)
to provide further understanding of the information provided in the sentence. For
example, if a student writes, When my mother was in the fifth grade, she listened
to music on cassette tapes, the student could decide to post an image of a cassette
tape and a short Youtube video about cassette tapes to help his/her classmates
better understand what they are.
D. Day 3 and 4 (at the beginning of second week)
1. The teacher will ask the managers to pass out the chrome books and log in to
the class Wiki page.
2. The teacher will tell the students that today their goal is to make each decade
page even more informative then it already is. The teacher will tell the students

that they are going to review their peers posts and links and then make comments
and add additional information and hyperlinks.
3. The teacher will model what the students are to do. The teacher will skimming
one of the decade pages, make a comment and post a relevant hyperlink. When
modeling the teacher will emphasize the importance of adding new information,
not repeating information that is already there.
4. The teacher will tell the students that by the end of the class period they should
have completed the following tasks:
a. on each decade page, make at least one comment on one of your peers
posts
b. on each decade page, post at least one relevant hyperlink to one of your
peers posts
c. add hyperlinks to the Stereotypical Life of a 5th Grader in 2015
E. Days 3, 4, and 5 (of second week)
1. In the days that follow, students will compare and contrast their own life in
2015 with the fifth grade lives of children in different decades. They will consider
clothing styles, popular games, hobbies, interests, sports, available technology,
newsworthy events in history, education, etc. As students get into the project, they
may choose to add more categories. It will be an organic process.
2. At the end of the week, students will add predictions on the Predictions Page
in a response to the following question: Based on what you now know about how
life has changed (and stayed the same) over the last 50 years, how do you predict
life will be like for a fifth grader in 2065? Support your prediction with the
gathered evidence. When answering this question, consider the following
questions: What inevitably will be different? What will be similar? What can we
predict with some accuracy? What is impossible to predict?
F. Week 3 (5 days)
Students will write an essay comparing and contrasting their fifth grade life with the life
of a fifth grader from a different decade of their choice. Students will go through the
writing process and use word processing skills to complete final product.
G. Post lesson, students will evaluate the information and hyperlinks that they posted on
the wiki page and evaluate which ones were the most and least helpful.
VII. Student Assessment
Rubrics will be used for each of the following:
a. meeting comment and hyperlink requirements
i. one comment per decade page?
ii. one hyperlink per decade page?
b. posting relevant, on topic posts (comments and hyperlinks) to each decade page
c. supporting 2065 prediction with gathered, relevant evidence

d. writing compare/contrast essay (according to a holistic 0-4 writing rubric)

VIII. Student Accommodations and Modifications
Extra time should be offered for students who are allotted extra time in their learning
plans. Students who are having difficulty with any part of the assignment, including
pacing and time management, may have their workload reduced by being required (for
example) to comment on and add a hyperlink to three decade pages instead of all of them.
Enrichment activities like creating a presentation, creating a product (timeline, poster,
booklet, power point, etc.) can be added in for advanced students.