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Abstract
This Engaged Learning Project is designed for third grade students to creatively show mastery of being
able to compare and contrast Georgia's natural habitats. Students will explore the similarities and
differences between plants, animals, and habitats found within Georgia's 5 geographic regions. Students
will engage in collaborative discussions with other students who live in various areas of Georgia to gain
real-world information. Students will also connect with the Georgia Wildlife Federation to support their
need for promotional materials for Georgia’s regions. Students will use their knowledge to develop and
substantiate an opinion piece on the geographic region they would prefer to inhabit. The teacher and
school's instructional technology coach will guide the students in communicating with other classrooms
across Georgia and the Georgia Wildlife Federation, developing their collaborative skills/structures,
conducting research, developing their opinion piece, and using a variety of tools for creating a digital
project to show their understanding of Georgia's habitats. Students will use digital resources to explore
various concepts of Georgia's habitats. Students will also act as guides/teachers by sharing their digital
project via Flipgrid/Padlet with other third grade classes and community members (parents) where they
will seek feedback. Once students have made adjustments to their products, they will showcase their
work in an exhibit where the Georgia Wildlife Federation will make final selections for their facilities.
Learner Description/Context
The learning environment is located in suburban Union City, Georgia located approximately 17
miles from the city of Atlanta. This project will occur in a third-grade general education classroom at
Liberty Point Elementary School, a culturally and socioeconomically diverse school located in Fulton
County, GA, where students, in general, meet or exceed established expectations. Family involvement
. Grades 3-5 are 1:1 in this environment and this provides each student with a Dell Latitude
Laptop. This will aid the students in developing their opinion pieces, digital project, and conducting
their research. Although students only have access to the laptops at school, most students have devices
in their homes. This school supports the usage of Office 365 and Google Apps for Education's cloud
based services which supports the transference of content between the school and homes. With a great
deal of support at home, students will be able to rely on their family members during the development of
their projects.
published by The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement- as well as records located at Liberty Point
Elementary School, the following tables outline demographic data for the school, the third-grade team as
a whole, and the particular third-grade class for whom the project was designed.
Ethnicity:
White: 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Hispanic: 50 7% 7 6% 4 18%
Asian: 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Multiracial: 14 2% 4 4% 2 9%
Time Frame
The students will need 8 weeks to complete the project. Students will work on this project 1-3
times (45 minute sessions) throughout the week. Students will develop their research skills from their
prior knowledge (the teacher has already provided foundational concepts for the science standards) to
build their opinion piece/digital project using graphic organizers. They will also go through a round of
Flipgrid/Skype sessions with 4 other 3rd grade classrooms in other geographic regions to collaborate and
gain insight. There will also be a Flipgrid/Skype session where students will speak with representatives
from the Georgia Wildlife Federation where students will assess the depths of what their representatives
are looking for as far as promotional materials. Based on their interests, students will develop a focus
solely on the region of their choice where they will finalize their opinion piece and digital product.
Through the duration of this project, students will also have opportunities to complete components of
Standards Addressed
Content Standards
S3L1: Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the similarities and
differences between plants, animals, and habitats found within geographic regions
(Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plains, Valley and Ridge, and
Appalachian Plateau) of Georgia.
a. Ask questions to differentiate between plants, animals, and habitats found
Learner Objectives
b. Identify features of grass plants that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of
Georgia.
c. Identify features of animals that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia.
e. Synthesize information from their research, prior content knowledge, and first-hand accounts
f. Create a digital product showcasing their understanding of key concepts of Georgia’s regions.
Assessments / Materials
All assessments, resources, and activities will be listed below. Details corresponding to the items
○ Teacher observation and monitoring will be provided during designated classroom times.
○ Content review:
Note: This project occurs after major content has already been taught and assessed
● Rubrics/Checklists:
● Summative Assessment:
○ Digital Product Rubric (example rubric, as students will collaborate to design their own):
https://goo.gl/seJhEL.
○ Quizziz: https://goo.gl/S9FF7H.
● Resources:
Introduction: “Hook”
concepts, the teacher will share an email written from a correspondence at the Georgia Wildlife
Federation indicating that support is needed for their Georgia Habitats/Regions Exhibit. The letter will
mention that the federation has had a decrease in visitors over the last year and is revamping their public
relations approach. The letter will not detail exactly what the federation is seeking, instead it will focus
on the necessity of receiving any type of digital content that could be displayed or disseminated digitally
to the public. The students will conduct a think-pair-share to brainstorm on how they can use their
knowledge of Georgia Habitats and digital creation tools (Sway and Adobe Spark Video) to develop
materials/resources for the federation. Students will be encouraged to ask questions during this time, as
well. The objective here is to have them decide if what they previously learned is enough information or
if connecting with the federation and other people (for first-hand experiences) would help them with
their tasks.
Process
Week 1
Day 1:
● Teacher Action(s):
○ Teacher will present letter/email from Georgia Wildlife Federation to
students to prompt their thinking.
● Student Action(s):
○ Students will collaborate with one another through the think-pair-share
Hook model to construct methods on supporting Georgia Wildlife Federation
with digital products.
● Assessment(s):
○ Students will utilize chart paper to brainstorm and share their thinking
for developing digital products for the Georgia Wildlife Federation.
Day 2:
● Teacher Action(s):
Week 2
Day 3:
● Teacher Preparatory Action(s):
○ Teacher will coordinate times/schedules with corresponding classrooms
from the following habitats:
■ Mountains
First-hand ■ Atlantic Ocean
Experiences/ ■ Marsh/Swamp
Research ■ Coastal Plain
○ Teacher will coordinate time/schedule with Georgia Wildlife Federation.
○ Based on input from teacher/GWF, teacher will plan to use Skype or
Flipgrid as the medium to communicate.
● Teacher Action(s):
○ Teacher will inform students of the connections that have been made
with other classrooms and the Georgia Wildlife Federation.
○ Teacher will ask students to brainstorm appropriate ways to engage
classroom guests.
○ Teacher will prompt students to draft 2-3 questions to ask the
classrooms to gain a better understanding of life in their habitats.
Teacher will encourage students to focus on weather/climate, wildlife,
landforms, and organisms.
○ Teacher will prompt students to develop questions to ask Georgia
Wildlife Federation to gain an understanding of how their digital
products can best support them.
● Student Action(s):
○ Students will brainstorm questions for corresponding classes and
Georgia Wildlife Federation in their interactive journals.
○ Students will use engagement checklist to ensure their work aligns to
what’s expected: (https://goo.gl/136N7k).
● Assessment(s):
○ Appropriate completion of task in interactive journal.
Day 4-5:
● Teacher Preparatory Action(s):
○ Teacher will ensure that all technology for collaborative sessions are
prepared prior to class session (Flipgrid/Skype links).
○ Teacher will ensure that partnerships are prepared for prior to starting
session.
● Teacher Action(s):
○ Options:
■ Flipgrid (if partners choose to communicate via Flipgrid):
● Teacher will review/model the appropriate steps to post
to Flipgrid.
● Teacher will inform students that responses may not be
instantaneous and that the next class session will be their
time to review responses.
● Teacher will review engagement checklist.
■ Skype (if partners choose to communicate via Skype):
● Teacher will model appropriate engagement during live
Skype sessions.
● Teacher will review engagement checklist with students.
● Student Action(s):
○ Depending on the session that occurs, students will utilize the
questions/concerns they previously created in their interactive journals
to engage partnering classrooms.
■ Students will have 30 seconds to post to Flipgrid .
■ Students will speak one at a time during Skype session and
model appropriate classroom expectations/procedures.
● Assessment(s):
○ Students will gather the first-hand experiences from their partnering
classrooms in their interactive journals.
Week 3
Day 6:
● Teacher Preparatory Action(s):
○ Teacher will ensure that all technology for collaborative session is
prepared prior to class session (Flipgrid/Skype links).
○ Teacher will ensure that Georgia Wildlife Federation is prepared for
session prior to starting.
● Teacher Action(s):
○ Options:
■ Flipgrid (if GWF chooses to communicate via Flipgrid):
● Teacher will review/model the appropriate steps to post
to Flipgrid.
Follow-Up / ● Teacher will inform students that responses may not be
Developing instantaneous and that the next class session will be their
Opinion time to review responses.
Pieces ● Teacher will review engagement checklist.
■ Skype (if GWF chooses to communicate via Skype):
● Teacher will model appropriate engagement during live
Skype sessions.
● Teacher will review engagement checklist with students.
● Student Action(s):
○ Depending on the session that occurs, students will utilize the
questions/concerns they previously created in their interactive journals
to engage Georgia Wildlife Federation.
■ Students will have 30 seconds to post to Flipgrid.
■ Students will speak one at a time during Skype session and
model appropriate classroom expectations/procedures.
● Assessment(s):
○ Students will gather the specific details on what the Georgia Wildlife
Federation is looking for from their digital products in their interactive
journals.
Day 7-8:
● Teacher Preparatory Action(s):
○ Teacher will develop a padlet for students to have a repository for all
digital resources they may need for developing their opinion writing
(templates, example, processes, and rubrics).
○ Teacher will need chart paper for 5 Regions of Georgia selections.
● Teacher Action(s):
○ Teacher will inform students that based on the notes they gathered from
the previous sessions with the classrooms from other habitats that they
will select their favorite habitat.
○ Teacher will inform students that they will declare their habitat/region
via the provided chart paper. Teacher will inform students they will also
indicate their rationale for selecting that particular region.
○ Teacher will share opinion writing rubric (https://goo.gl/uDpo1G) and
model how to use graphic organizer to start brainstorming their
thoughts.
● Student Action(s):
○ Students will declare their habitat/region via chart paper.
○ Students will use https://goo.gl/F7JWgy (graphic organizer template) to
begin to brainstorm.
○ After teacher approval and if students elect to do so, they may use
Coggle (https://coggle.it/) to collaboratively brainstorm and create their
graphic organizer.
● Assessment(s):
Week 4-5
Day 9-14:
● Teacher Preparatory Action(s):
○ Teacher will need padlet used as a repository for all digital resources
they may need for developing their opinion writing (templates, example,
processes, and rubrics).
● Teacher Action(s):
○ Teacher will revisit opinion writing rubric to share the expectations for
their drafts.
Developing
○ Teacher will model transferring information from graphic organizer into
Opinion Piece
written draft.
Drafts
○ Teacher will revisit writing process expectations and that students will
need to access their writing stamina during this process and utilize all
available resources.
○ Teacher will provide support with resources and conferring with
students throughout this process.
● Student Action(s):
○ Students will utilize available resources to develop their opinion drafts.
Week 6-7
Day 15-16:
● Teacher Preparatory Action(s):
○ Teacher will need padlet used as a repository for all digital resources
they may need for developing their opinion writing (templates, example,
processes, and rubrics).
● Teacher Action(s):
○ Teacher will revisit opinion writing rubric to share the expectations for
their final drafts.
Finalizing ○ Teacher will model using Google Docs or Office 365 Word to transfer
Opinion Piece opinion drafts to digital portals.
Drafts / ○ Teacher will provide support with resources and conferring with
Developing students throughout this process.
Digital ● Student Action(s):
Products ○ Students will utilize available resources to finalize their opinion drafts in
Google Docs or Office 365 Word.
Day 17-20:
● Teacher Preparatory Action(s):
○ Teacher will need padlet used as a repository for all digital resources
they may need for developing their digital products (direct links,
examples, processes, and rubrics)
● Teacher Action(s):
○ Teacher will engage students in conversation to revisit the
communication with the Georgia Wildlife Federation.
○ Teacher will share a template for the digital product rubric
(https://goo.gl/seJhEL).
○ Based on the dialogue, the class will edit and develop their own
requirements for their digital products.
■ Differentiation: Students who need more support will use the
teacher created digital product rubric. Students who need less
support will work in group to create different pieces of a
collective rubric based on the guide.
○ Teacher will model appropriate uses of Adobe Spark Video and
Microsoft Sway for students.
● Student Action(s):
Product
Outside of the students developing their final opinion pieces, students will also be creating
will share the organisms, landforms, wildlife, and weather/climate associated within its habitat. These
digital products are being created to share with the Georgia Wildlife Federation. These products will be
meaningful, because students’ work will be reaching an audience outside of their classroom. Their work
will be shared inside of the Georgia Wildlife Federation facilities and on their website. Throughout the
phases of this unit, students will have also developed a greater understanding of the state in which they
live through various first-hand experiences. Technology is being integrated in a variety of ways.
Students will gain their information through a variety of formative assessments Web 2.0 tools such as,
Nearpod, Quizlet, Kahoot!, and Quizziz. Students will collaborate with students across Georgia and
members of the Georgia Wildlife Federation via Flipgrid and Skype. Student opinion pieces will require
the use of Google Docs, Office 365 Word, and Coogle. Students will have the option to create their final
products via Adobe Spark Video or Microsoft Sway. Student mastery will be assessed in a variety of
ways. Students will receive constant feedback between the teacher, their classmates, and their audience
via observation, checklists, conferencing, and Google Forms. Formally, students will complete a digital
assessment via Quizziz. Their writing and digital products will be assessed through teacher/classroom
created rubrics.
Technology Used
● Internet:
o Communication/Collaboration/Publishing Tools:
▪ Flipgrid
Federation.
▪ Skyping
Federation.
▪ Google Slides
▪ Padlet
▪ Kahoot!
▪ Quizziz
▪ Quizlet
▪ EdPuzzle
o Writing Tools:
o Creation Tools - optional tools for students to create their digital product:
▪ Microsoft Sway
o Feedback/Rubrics Tools:
▪ Google Forms
o Brainstorming Option:
▪ Coogle
Supporting Materials
Materials:
● Quizziz: https://goo.gl/S9FF7H.
References
Georgia Department of Education. (2015). 3rd grade English language arts Georgia standards of
https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Frameworks/ELA-Grade-3-Standards.pdf
https://www.georgiastandards.org/Frameworks/GSO%20Frameworks/3%20Science%20Framew
ork%20Habitats.pdf
Georgia Department of Education. (2016). Science grade five standards. Retrieved on November 5,
2017 from
https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Documents/Science-Third-Grade-Georgia-
Standards.pdf
International Society for Technology in Education. (2016). ISTE standards for students. Retrieved on
http://www.iste.org/docs/Standards-Resources/iste-standards_students-2016_one-sheet_final.pdf
?sfvrsn=0.23432948779836327
The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. (2016). 2015-2016 Annual report card. Retrieved on