Classroom Blog and Website Creation Tools

Lesson Idea Name: Plant and Animal Cells

Content Area: Science
Grade Level(s): 5th
Content Standard Addressed: S5L3. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to compare and
contrast the parts of plant and animal cells.
c. Construct an explanation that differentiates between the structure of plant and animal cells

Technology Standard Addressed: 3 – Knowledge Constructor

Selected Technology Tool:

☒ Blog ☐ Wiki ☐ Other: Website Creation Tool (list):

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable):

http://briannacollins1.edublogs.org/flipped-classroom/
Audacity

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

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

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: This lesson addresses engagement as it not only allows students to research and choose which
facts they want to present about the differences between plant and animal cells, but also fosters community
as students must comment on each other’s posts to communicate what they liked, found interesting, etc. All
students are engaged in learning as they are listening to a podcast and sharing information and pictures they
found to with their peers.
Representation: This lesson offers many means of perception as students must listen to the podcast about
plant and animal cells, find a visual to represent the differences between the two, and write a short summary
of their findings. There is a transcript of the podcast displayed on the blog as well, giving students alternatives
for both auditory and visual information. Students background knowledge with be activated and built through
this flipped classroom activity, providing options for comprehension as well.
Action and Expression: Action and expression are addressed in this lesson as students are given different
ways to express their findings and their interests about plant and animal cells. They can create a visual or find
one, watch videos to find information to write about, and communicate with their peers about what parts of
their posts they related to or found interesting. Students can use different technology tools to complete this
assignment, including computers or tablets, as long as they have internet access.

Lesson idea implementation:

In this lesson, students will complete a flipped classroom activity in which they will listen to the podcast I have
created introducing the differences between plant cells and animal cells. After the students have listened to
the podcast, they will have to research some more differences between plant and animal cells that I did not
mention and find or create a picture showing the differences between the two. The students will then
comment on the blog post and share the information they found about plant and animal cells in at least two
paragraphs. They must also include their picture and comment on one classmate’s post to show that they

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have read another’s information as well. This project will be introduced in class and the students will be given
at least 5 days to leave their comment on the blog. Student learning will be assessed by reviewing if the
students have met all the criteria for the project – a comment sharing more ways plant and animal cells are
different in two paragraphs, a picture, and a comment on another classmate’s post. Since this project is an
introductory activity to plant and animal cells, the students will be building their background knowledge for
when I start teaching this standard so they are ahead of the game.

This lesson is differentiated by having the students write about and find a visual for plant and animal cells. It
also incorporates a podcast that students must listen to. This allows for multiple means of representation, so
all students have a chance to learn the content. Learning is extended to a higher level as the students must do
online research to complete their post on the differences between plant and animal cells. Later in the unit, I
will also have the students use apps or software such as Audacity where they must create their own podcast
on plant and animal cells and publish them on the blog. This will extend learning to a higher LoTi level and
allow me to share student work with parents. I will provide feedback to the students about their work by
commenting on each student’s post telling them what they did well and what they could improve next time.

Importance of technology:
The blog is critical to this project because without it, the students would not be able to complete the flipped
classroom activity at home and create their comment. Although this activity could be done in the classroom,
it would not allow students to comment on their peer’s work or utilize the technology skills they will need in
the future. The other types of technology that will be used in the learning experience are search engines such
as Google. Students must research differences between plant and animal cells using these search engines.
Without this technology, students would struggle to complete this activity. Finally, the use of Audacity is
critical to this project as it is an introduction to the new standard students will be learning. If Audacity was not
used, the project would not reflect the UDL framework, as there would not be multiple means of
representation.

Inspiration (optional): N/A

Internet Safety and Student Privacy:

This activity could possibly cause fears by parents or administrators as the students are commenting on a
website, however I would first obtain parental consent before implementing this project. I would also
password protect the area where students would be commenting just to be on the safe side and protect their
privacy. Since the students are not commenting any personal information that might violate the Internet
Safety/Acceptable Use Policies, I do not think this project is high-risk for students. Something that I could do
to take student privacy a step further is in class, give each student a nickname or number in which they use as
their name on the blog, so no one knows who is commenting what. I would write these nicknames down so I
could go back later and confirm that each student completed the assignment. All of these things will protect
student information and maintain their privacy while also upholding the educational goals of the project.

Reflective Practice:
I believe this lesson idea can impact student learning by having the students learn independently through a
flipped classroom setting before learning the content in class. This allows them to have an ample amount of
background knowledge, so they have more opportunities for deeper learning in the classroom. It teaches
students how to research a topic and write about it as well. Since this activity was an introduction to learning
about plant and animal cells, I believe the lesson could be extended by having students create their own more
detailed podcast sharing their findings about plant and animal cells. I could publish the student podcasts to
the blog so students can use them as study guides or extra learning resources outside of the classroom. In
order to create their own podcast, I would have the students learn about and utilize Audacity so their
podcasts sound professional.
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